LATEST REGIONAL PROJECT UPDATE
1
EGYPT
The Egyptian Ministry of Planning and Economic Development has allocated 50 million Egyptian pounds ( US $ 3.1 million ) from the public budget of FY 2020 / 2021 for the communication and information technology ( ICT ) ministry to roll out the ‘ Digital Egypt Builders ’ initiative . Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Said , said the move is based on the directives of the political leadership to boost the ICT and telecoms sector , support the Digital Transformation strategy and to step up investments in the sector .
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2
KENYA
Kenya ’ s mobile phone operator Safaricom has suspended plans for the launch of the fifth-generation ( 5G ) mobile Internet service . Peter Ndegwa , CEO , Safaricom , recently said there is no plan to launch the 5G network in the short-term and that the telco ’ s immediate plan is to convert millions of 2G and 3G users to 4G . Safaricom had completed testing and trial of the 5G superfast Internet service and had planned to switch major urban centres to the service before end of 2020 .
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NIGERIA
MiKashBoks , a digital group savings and loan platform has selected the Nigerian market to pilot the digitisation of off-line peer , group savings and lending groups , in partnership with RinDev Consulting . The move comes just as it recently piloted in Ghana and Sierra Leone . The platform was developed in response to the largely exclusionary financial systems that have left out millions of Nigerians who lack identifications , credit history and collateral .
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ZIMBABWE
Zimbabwe will boost investment in the information and communication technology ( ICT ) sector this year as part of efforts towards attaining a digitally enabled economy . The Zimbabwean government intends to fully exploit the opportunities presented by ICTs to ensure a conducive business environment that enables new investments by the private sector to keep pace with the rapid evolving ICT landscape .
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GAMBIA
The International Organisation for Migration ( IOM ) recently presented information and communication technology ( ICT ) equipment and tools worth 2.5 million dalasis ( US $ 48,000 ) to The Gambia Telecommunication and Multimedia Institute ( GTMI ) in Kanifing . Presenting the items , IOM Chief of Mission in The Gambia , Fumiko Nagano , said the equipment and tools donated will contribute to the newly refurbished PC / laptop repair lab , solar , electrical lab and digital video editing lab at the GTMI . The donation was made possible through a project IOM is implementing in the Gambia funded by the Italian government through the Agency for International Cooperation .
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SOUTH AFRICA
Lenovo ’ s Data Centre Group recently launched several new products aimed at enabling end-to-end data management in a move the company said is aimed at helping customers harness data more securely and efficiently with a single set of tools . From Edge to core to cloud , with a single set of tools and capabilities for a smarter way forward . Data management solutions will be extremely beneficial for South African organisations as many are now prioritising cloud migration and data management to assist in the country ’ s economic recovery plan .
24 INTELLIGENTCIO AFRICA www . intelligentcio . com