Tech

Civil society group says planned online regulation under IBA Act, an affront on media freedom (Video)

Published

7 months ago

May 1, 2024

Chapter One Foundation Executive Director, Linda Kasonde, says the planned online regulation under the new Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) Act is an affront to media freedom and freedom of expression.

Kasonde said most of the countries which have regulations in place for online content like Podcasts are well known for dictatorship type of governance.

She said this during the Foundation’s public forum on the IBA Act titled the new IBA Act: “Are media freedoms under threat” in Lusaka on Friday evening.

“It’s worthy listing the countries that regulate online broadcasting and these area as follows China, Eriteria, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Belarus, Burma and Tagministan and if you pay attention to this list you will notice that these are well established dictatorship,” Kasonde stated.

She urged government not to join such countries which do not respect freedom of expression and in the end deny people access to the right information.

She added that the Cyber Security Act also aggravated the situation in Zambia of inhibiting democratic values and media freedoms.

Kasonde advised that government should not create unnecessary barriers to information that would inhibit the market place to ideas from freely being allowed to flow.

“So if Zambia does decide to enact the new IBA Act what would be the potential consequences to freedom of expression in our country,” she asked.

Kasonde noted that with the existing IBA Act, the country had seen the law weaponised and used to shut down private or independent broadcasters such as Prime TV, Komboni Radio and KBN News.

She said the proposal on regulating public broadcasters which had been getting away with a number of issues as a result of politics was welcome and would be supported and not the regulation of online broadcast.

Tech

Orange Egypt earmarks $52.7m to support African startups

Published

23 hours ago

November 19, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Orange Egypt has earmarked the sum of $52.7 million to support African startups in what is going to be the largest investment to drive a youth-focused tech revolution.

According to the company, the mammoth investment will see over 40 startups benefitting from the funds, with most of them being Egyptian companies.

‘It’s a boost for Egypt’s growing entrepreneurial ecosystem and a step closer to cementing its spot as a top startup hub in Africa,” the company said in a statement.

The investment is coming on the heels of the telco signing a deal with the Egyptian government to roll out the second phase of its 5G licensing.

The statement noted that with Egypt’s startup game already strong and ranking as the third most funded country in the MENA region, “the numbers speak for themselves.”

“In 2022, Egyptian startups closed 143 funding deals worth nearly $766.7 million, outpacing the $606.79 million raised the year before.

“Plus over 2,100 startups employing more than 50,000 people, the country’s ecosystem is one of the top 10 emerging startup hubs globally.

“The Egyptian government is all in on this. And since launching initiatives like Egypt Ventures in 2017, they’ve been backing startups to drive innovation and growth in the tech space.

“Orange Egypt’s latest move only adds fuel to this already blazing fire, paving the way for more opportunities and a stronger startup culture across Africa,” it added.

Tech

10 African startups selected for final of Latitude59 pitch competition

Published

2 days ago

November 18, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Ten African startups have been selected for the final round of the Latitude59 pitch competition which will see the winner qualify to pitch at the main event in Tallinn, Estonia, with the chance of winning the grand prize $1.1 million.

The Latitude59 pitch competition which is in 12th edition, is Estonia’s flagship startup and tech event and attracted over 3,500 attendees, including more than 900 startup representatives and nearly 600 investors when it was hosted in Tallinn in May.

According to the organizers,
Latitude59 is seeking early-stage startups from across Africa to compete for the chance to pitch at the next edition of its pitch competition, which will take place at next year’s edition of the event.

The event organizers said a total of 382 applications were received from 37 African countries, with the top 10 now selected and will pitch at an event in Kenya on November 28, where the African winner will be chosen.

Eight of the selected ventures are Kenyan and include Eco Nasi, which transforms pineapple pulp waste into high-quality vegan leather.

Others are Grekkon, a platform which scales up moisture sensors for smallholder farmers; NoMa, a tech platform that digitises school transportation; and Paycloud, which is building a neobank to help MSMEs in Africa to pay, get paid, and access credit through payment aggregation.

The other selected Kenyan ventures are Roadrims, which provides reliable, efficient, and cost-effective logistics; Twiva, a social commerce platform; VunaPay, which provides instant payments to farmers; and Zerobionic, which is developing a human-like robotic arm to help students with hearing impairments.

From Nigeria comes AcemyX, an LMS helping students prepare for exams with personalised learning tools and study materials, with Tanzania’s Afya Mama, which is providing answers to questions pertaining maternal care and reproductive health to women via SMS and web app, completing the list.