ECOWAS Block, West Africa to scrap roaming charges from January 2020

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) says its citizens travelling within the sub-region will from January 2020 pay no roaming charges, following the implementation of the ECOWAS Roaming Initiative, reports Ghanaweb. The initiative is aimed at creating an enabling environment for the international mobile roaming market to ensure affordable access to roaming services …

South Africa’s surveillance act RICA unconstitutional, inconsistent finds Court

The South Gauteng High Court has found that parts of the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information (RICA) Act are unconstitutional. In April 2017, media group amaBhungane filed an application in the High Court challenging the constitutionality of the act. This, after it emerged that journalist Sam Sole’s communications were intercepted …

Study: How Social Media Shed Light on Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis

Over the past two years conflict has escalated in North West and South West Cameroon. Cameroon is a bilingual country (English and French) and these two regions are the country’s English-speaking areas. The conflict started when lawyers and teachers held strikes over the increasing use of French in English courts and schools. Since then, what …

ZADNA suspends its CEO Vika Mpisane

The CEO of the .ZA Domain Name Authority (ZADNA), Vika Mpisane, has been suspended. ZADNA is a not-for-profit organisation that manages and regulates the .ZA namespace, including domains like co.za, net.za, org.za, and web.za. Motlatjo Ralefatane, the chairperson of ZADNA’s board, confirmed the suspension of the CEO. Reports MyBroadband ZA Sources have stated there are …

Mogadishu gets its first motorcycle hailing app

You can now hail a motorcycle service in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. The Go! app launched in the Indian Ocean city today (May 1) promising affordable and convenient options in the city’s bustling transport sector. The e-hailing service is starting out with 20 motorcycles, allowing customers to order their rides online or hail them on …

African nations are among the world’s worst perpetrators of internet shutdowns

When it comes to internet shutdowns, African nations are among the world’s worst violators. Its countries are regularly cutting off connectivity for extended periods than any other region globally, the 2018 Transparency report from Facebook shows. Cameroon is the perpetrator of the Africa’s longest internet blackout. What started off January 2017, connections in the Anglophone …