Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
5glatest news & developments

Africa Tech Festival 2024: Putting African tech on the global stage

Africa Tech Festival showcases how tech and strategy are transforming Africa’s diverse industries, from telecoms and financial services to healthcare and retail

South Africa’s mobile network users will join consumers in leading global markets with access to next generation networks as domestic mobile network operators (MNOs) prepare to switch off legacy 2G and 3G for more advanced 4G and 5G technologies. Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images

SA must tread carefully as it leads Africa to next generation network technology

Poorer South Africans will not be able to upgrade to smartphone devices without state assistance

5G connections in Africa to increase 50-fold by 2028

Investment is being driven by a youthful population and high demand for connectivity

Unlocking the full potential of the 5G ecosystem

New mid-band spectrum additions need to complement low- and high-band spectrum and they must be universally available.

Asus ExpertBook B7 Flip: A powerful machine packed into a 1.44kg, compact exterior with several nifty features essential for today’s business laptop. (Supplied)

Laptop review: Asus ExpertBook B7 Flip

A powerful machine packed into a 1.44kg, compact exterior with several nifty features essential for today’s business laptop

On the spectrum: Telkom’s incoming chief executive Serame Taukobong says broadband spectrum release is critical to economic growth, stating that internet access has a direct impact on a country’s GDP. (SIMZ)

Telkom’s new CEO calls for end to spectrum auction delays

Serame Taukobong says, if done right, the auction of new broadband spectrum will help level the playing field

Surveillance capitalists overthrow the sovereignty of individuals

Disinformation — turbocharged by social media algorithms — buries lies and propaganda in ‘facts’.

Blockchain tech can raise tax revenues

But the South African Revenue Service doesn’t yet have the skills and multiple users to adopt it

Why zero-rated mobile phone content is a nation-builder

The new mobile licence conditions, which insist networks provide educational content for free, will start to bridge the digital divide

Africa’s digital transformation risks becoming trapped in geopolitical competition

As China and the West battle it out for control of Africa’s physical and virtual digital infrastructure, the continent needs to assert its own voice

Beyond the digital cold war: Technology and the future of US-African engagement under Biden

Several African governments have published plans to establish smart cities, including Cairo, Johannesburg, Kigali and Nairobi. They require the most advanced technologies available

Worldwide resistance: Anti-lockdown activists in Dublin, Ireland, protest during that country’s level five lockdown against what they see as impending forced vaccinations. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto)
On Saturday, November 28, 2020, in Dublin, Ireland. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto)

Disinformation harms health and democracy

Conspiracy theorists abuse emotive topics to suck the air out of legitimate debate and further their own sinister agendas

No early jab for this wit ou

Paddy Harper finds his ANC councillor has led him, but much like Donald Trump, it was down a garden path

Do you have to take the Covid-19 vaccine or not?

The South African law does not make it mandatory for citizens to be vaccinated, and the same will apply for Covid-19 immunisation. But experts say people still have the…

A lab technician wearing a full body protection suit inspects a bottle containing growth media for virus production during coronavirus vaccine research at the Valneva SA laboratories in Vienna, Austria. (Photo: Akos Stiller/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Infodemic to infowar: The circus of disinformation will spin on

More people have died in South Africa from Covid-19 than have been murdered. This hasn’t stopped a misinformation pandemic from trying to misrepresent that reality

Huawei is the world’s biggest supplier of telecommunications networking equipment and number-two smartphone manufacturer. (Getty Images)

France won’t bar but may restrict Huawei in 5G network

There has been intense debate in Europe about whether or not to exclude Huawei from supplying equipment for 5G mobile networks