The move by Indian regulators to ban “differential tariffs” for data services and in the process effectively end Facebook’s so-called “Free Basics” platform ever taking off in the country may have set a precedent as to how the product will fare in the rest of the developing world.
Bengaluru, India/Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Uber has an ally in its battle against Nairobi’s taxi drivers. James Macharia, Kenya’s transport minister, said the country adheres to free-market principles and pledged to protect anyone against threats to provide services to Kenyans.
Despite the rhetoric that extols the vision of “pan-Africanism” and “one Africa” by their leaders, Africans remain severely disconnected from each other. This is in no small part due to policies by African states that make it difficult for the continent’s citizens to gain access to each other’s countries, a new report by the African Development Bank (AfDB) shows.
A war is brewing between local taxi drivers and Uber in Nairobi, with cabbies protesting against the ride hailing app’s presence in the city. They say its cheap fares are threatening to put them out of business and are demanding the government shut Uber down. Two suspects were arrested this week for allegedly attacking an Uber driver in the city.
Slowing economies, weak currencies, and falling commodity prices. The conditions aren’t great for investment in Africa. Indeed, in 2015 the value of private-equity deals on the continent fell by a whopping 70%, according to the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (pdf).
Ugandan engineers have built a solar-powered electric bus that they say is a first of its kind in East Africa and think it will revolutionize the automotive market in the region. The Kayoola, as its called, is a 35-seater that can run for up to 80 kilometers on two power banks that can also be recharged by solar panels installed on the roof of the bus.
Last week, a story claiming the Eritrean government had issued a ruling forcing men in the country to marry at least two wives was all abuzz on social media. On Facebook and Twitter memes abounded of men around the world apparently wanting to move to the country to take advantage of this new law.
Tanzanian authorities have taken into custody three suspects they say shot down a helicopter on an anti-poaching operation, according to the BBC. The helicopter’s British pilot, Roger Gower, was killed in the attack.
Mass graves were used to bury people killed by Burundi security forces as violence escalated in the eastern African country, according to the human-rights organization Amnesty International.
A poll last month by Transparency International found that a majority of Africans feel corruption on the continent is getting worse.
iROKO TV, the self-declared home of Nollywood, the extremely popular Nigerian films, has raised $19 million from the French cable service Canal+ and the Swedish-based media company Kinnevik AB. The streaming service says it will invest the capital in original content and further expansion across the continent.
The story of global headwinds slowing down Africa’s economic growth is not going away. If anything it is intensifying. The continent saw foreign direct investment (FDI) fall by a third to $38 billion in 2015, recent data from the UNCTAD, the body responsible for international trade. This decline is against the overall trend, where global flows of FDI rose by 36%, with developed economies such as the United States and the European Union showing a sharp increase.
A South African judge on Wednesday (Jan. 20) upheld a decision by a lower court to lift the government’s ban on domestic trading of rhino horns.
On Dec. 21, al-Shabaab ambushed a passenger bus that was heading to Mandera, a town in northeastern Kenya. The militants tried to use what has become a signature tactic of their Somali-based group: separating Muslims from Christians and killing the latter. This time, Muslim passengers refused to cooperate.
Recently-elected Tanzanian president John Magufuli has garnered regional praise for his reformist proposals aimed at rooting out government corruption and incompetence. But his administration is facing its first real test of that agenda following a decision to ban a tabloid for producing journalism it says could threaten the country’s stability.
The attacks in Burkina Faso that left 28 people dead and 55 injured on Friday (Jan. 15) point to an increasing security challenge in West Africa, where, analysts say, militant groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State are taking advantage of fragile and weak states to hit western targets.
The family of the late Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi are suing publishers of the popular video game “Call of Duty” for what they claim is a distorted representation of the man and are seeking a €1 million in damages.
South Africa’s parliament will hold hearings this month to decide whether to regulate messaging service WhatsApp, and other platforms that operate over data networks, following complaints by local mobile carriers that such apps are freeloading on their networks.
President Barack Obama, the self-described first Kenyan-American to have ever occupied the Oval Office, has been criticized for providing a simplistic characterization of Africa during his last state of the union address delivered yesterday (Jan. 12).
A debate has emerged among regulators in Kenya over whether to treat Netflix, the US-based streaming service, like any other broadcaster operating in the country.
Sport has at times acted as a powerful force against the mightiest of divisions. That ability to bring people together may soon be tested once again in Somalia. Abdiqani Said Arab, the chairman of Somalia’s Football Federation (SFF), has suggested that the militant group al-Shabaab could be allowed to join the country’s top league should they declare the desire to do so.
Africa is a mobile-first continent. With almost 70% penetration and the innovations around mobile money, the continent is redefining what one can do with a cell phone. But increasingly there is an emerging perception that the mobile market is becoming saturated. Yet, one of the fastest-growing mobile phone companies on the continent thinks there are millions of Africans out there that still remain left out .
This post has been updated.
