A selection of tech news from Nigeria and Africa at large.
Egypt’s SideUp raises USD 1.2M | USD 40bn yearly from tech talent | TikTok malware | Meta monitor Nigeria Elections | BCX 5G-enabled Innovation
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Egypt’s SideUp raises $1.2M to grow its e-commerce support platform – TechCrunch
After four years of operating primarily as a logistics marketplace, Egypt’s Voo has rebranded to SideUp and transformed its strategy to offer a complete spectrum of e-commerce support services, including payment gateways, API integration for shipping, warehousing, fulfillment, and advisory. The startup has also expanded to Saudi Arabia, where it will be headquartered henceforth, after raising a $1.2 million seed funding. This latest round had the participation of Launch Africa VC, 500 Global, Riyadh Angels, Alex Angels, Al Tuwaijri Fund, and Saudi angel investor Faisal Al-Abdulsalam.
SideUp founder and CEO Waleed Rashed told TechCrunch he was inspired to link small merchants to e-commerce support after realizing they were ignored by large service providers.
“There is a lot of talk about how e-commerce is scaling, but still, we are not empowering enough of those (micro, small and medium enterprises) that are selling online. Merchants need many services and a complete ecosystem to be successful,” said Rashed. Read more here
Nigeria could earn $40bn yearly from tech talent – Vanguard News
Nigeria holds a huge reservoir of human talent in the technology sector. As such, the country has a competitive advantage to become the global talent factory in the sector, with the capacity to earn over $40 billion annually. There is currently a vacancy of about 4 million programmers globally, and Nigeria has the capacity to produce 2 million of these, which can be plugged to the global value chain.
Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, the director general/CEO of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), stated this during a panel session at the 16th ǼLEX Annual Lecture themed “Digital Economy: Africa’s Catalyst for Regional Growth and Transformation”.
The panel, which was held virtually, had other speakers, including Oswald Osaretin Guobadia, SSA to the president on digital transformation, and Dawn Dimowo, government affairs and public policy manager, Google, while Segun Aina, president of Africa Fintech Network and chairman, Board of Trustees, Fintech Association of Nigeria, moderated the session. Speaking further, Abdullahi referenced a PwC report, which noted that an average tech developer or programmer earns between $30,000 to $150,000 per annum. According to him, PwC confirmed that if Nigeria can have two million developers working remotely, with each earning about $20,000, the country can generate over $40 billion annually, which is a significant amount capable of addressing the country’s forex challenge. Read more here
Invisible Challenge: NCC warns TikTok users on information-stealing malware – The Guardian
Nigerian Communications Commission’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT) has warned about the potential harm of taking part in the ‘Invisible Challenge’ on short-form video hosting service TikTok, saying it exposes devices to information-stealing malware.
An advisory by the NCC-CSIRT said threat actors had taken advantage of the viral TikTok challenge to disseminate a malware known as WASP (or W4SP) stealer.
The commission, in a statement signed by its Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, yesterday, said the WASP stealer, which is high in probability, with critical damage potential, is a persistent malware ‘hosted in discord’ that its developer claim is undetectable. The advisory said: “The Invisible Challenge involves wrapping a somewhat transparent body contouring filter around a presumed naked individual. Attackers are uploading videos to TikTok with a link to software that they claim can reverse the filter’s effects.
“Those who click on the link and attempt to download the software, known as ‘unfilter,’ are infected with the WASP stealer. Suspended accounts had amassed over a million views after initially posting the videos with a link. Following the link leads to the ‘Space Unfilter’ Discord server, which had 32,000 members at its peak but has since been removed by its creators. Read more here
2023 Elections: Meta sets up team to monitor Facebook, Instagram posts – Nairamatrics
Meta, the owners of Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp, said it has set up a cross-functional team spread across the world to monitor posts by Nigerians pre, during, and post-2023 elections in the country, especially on both Facebook and Instagram. According to Meta, the team was put together to tackle hate speech, misinformation, and fake news throughout the election period. It highlighted several other steps it has taken to protect the integrity of the Nigeria elections. Composition of the team: Without disclosing details about the team members, Meta said the team include many Nigerians and others who have spent time living in the country.
“The team also includes individuals with global expertise in misinformation, hate speech, elections and disinformation. These teams are working hard to prevent any abuse of our services before, during, and after Nigeria’s 2023 general elections. Locally, we also have staff who reside in Nigeria and work in public policy, & public policy programmes, and communications,” it added. Read more here
BCX Collaborates on 5G-enabled Innovation Set to Transform Mining – Techeconomy
BCX, one of the largest systems integrators in Africa and a division of Telkom, ushered in a new 5G-enabled era for the Nungu Mine, in collaboration with its industry-leading partners.
The South African mining industry took a crucial and momentous step forward this November. Unparalleled enhancements in worker safety and business productivity have been introduced at the Nungu Mine in Elandspruit – with pioneering 5G wireless-enabled technology, instantly addressing a wide range of challenges faced by the mining industry.
The deployment of the latest 5G-enabled technologies is set to radically enhance the mine’s operational efficiencies and safety. “This is a game changer for the entire industry and the hundreds of thousands of people it employs,” says Neo Phukubje, Managing Executive at BCX Wireless Solutions.
The mine has been revolutionised with wireless connectivity, data analytics, and automation that enables video monitoring via drone technology, integrated connectivity with handheld devices and tablets, and a facial recognition Proximity Detection System. Wireless technology in the form of 5G solves for use-cases within businesses where speed, reliability, and reduced latency are critical. It creates possibilities to transform every area of the operation, from workplace safety to improved productivity, through predictive intelligence. Each of the ecosystem partners, including Huawei, MPI Holdings, Umnotho Technologies, and Dahua, has played a pivotal role in this far-reaching venture. Read more here
