Google made global headlines last week when it announced plans to open its very first product development center on African soil in Nairobi. The decision comes just months after the company pledged to invest $1 billion in the continent over a five-year period, with other major tech players following suit….
African internet growth depends on greater engagement, not AFRINIC The Supreme Court of Mauritius recently lifted a freeze on the bank accounts of African regional internet registry (RIR) AFRINIC, but the firm, one of the world’s five IP distributors, remains entangled in a legal imbroglio that has led some commentators…
Repairs on two undersea cables that provide Internet and phone service to southern African nations have finally been completed after more than a month of disruptions. That’s according to Openserve, the infrastructure arm of South Africa’s Telkom charged with coordinating the repairs on two damaged cable lines, the WACS and…
The repairs for two damaged undersea cables that run along the western coast of the African continent – cables that run from South Africa to the United Kingdom – are continuing but they’re not done yet. The work is being done by crews aboard the Leon Thevenin, which left Cape…
There’s light at the end of the tunnel for sub-Saharan Africans who have waited 10 days for repairs to the undersea West Africa Cable System (WACS), but it looks as if the wait is not over yet. The repairs required a ship to leave from Cape Town to travel to…
Sub-Saharan Africa continued to report Internet and data access issues following accidental cuts of the undersea West Africa Cable System (WACS) that runs along the coast – and it looks as if there is no quick fix to a problem that began Thursday. The TENET/NREN research-tech group in South Africa said…
Sub-Saharan Africa reported frustrating difficulties with Internet and data access that began Thursday, following accidental cuts of the undersea West Africa Cable System (WACS) that runs along the coast. The 16,000-kilometer system runs from South Africa to the UK, connecting much of western and central Africa to Europe and each…
Slightly more than half of 65 nations reviewed in the new Freedom on the Net 2019 report show a decline in access, democratic protections for speech, and related Internet and social media rights – with Sudan showing one of the biggest drops and Zimbabwe not far behind. The annual report…
Egyptians were experiencing some Internet disruptions on Sunday as protests against President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi continued into the weekend, with service interruptions that appeared to target news sites and social media messaging. NetBlocks.org, an organization that tracks shutdowns and disruptions across the globe, reported that BBC News and other news…
Legislative elections in Benin were held Sunday without opposition party participation – and without Internet access, after the government shut it down during the day. “The decision to shut down access to the Internet and social media on an election day is a blunt violation of the right to freedom…
For the first time, more than half of the world’s population is using the Internet and it is sub-Saharan Africa that is making the greatest progress. The ITU, a United Nations agency devoted to information and communication technologies, released a report Friday that estimates that 3.9 billion people, or 51.2…
The re-election of President Paul Biya, now 85 years old and the leader of Cameroon since 1982, likely comes as a surprise to no one. Last week, the leaked results suggested Biya was set for a decisive win of the October 7 election with more than 70 percent of the…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Tensions ran high in troubled Cameroon on Sunday as the national election commission, ELECAM, prepared to announce on Monday the final result of the October 7 presidential election. ELECAM has 15 days from the poll closing to report final results according to Cameroon law, and the last of 18 legal challenges…
A high-altitude Google Internet balloon crashed to earth in Kenya over the weekend, alarming residents near the Nthambiro farm where it landed but without causing any damage or injuries. The balloon was one of 10 launched in July as part of Project Loon, all part of program testing in Kenya….
Ethiopians were locked out of social media on Tuesday as new clashes in the Oromia region left at least 15 people dead, with images of dead bodies and gunshot wounds circulating on Facebook and Twitter. Both services were shut down in at least some regions of the Horn of Africa…