Google has announced that applications for Class 2 of the Launchpad Accelerator Africa program are open. Google also announced it is extending the program to include startups from a further 12 African countries. Launchpad Accelerator Africa now accepts applications from startups located in Algeria, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote D’ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

Applications for Class 2 will close on 8 July. To qualify, startups have to be a technology startup, based in Sub-Saharan Africa, targeting the African market, and have raised seed funding. Google additionally considers the problem the startup is trying to solve, how it creates value for users, and how it addresses a real challenge for its home city, country or Africa broadly.

Interested startups can apply here

Launchpad Accelerator Africa was announced less than a year ago by Google CEO Sundar Pichai at Google for Nigeria on 27 July. In terms of his announcement, the Google Launchpad Accelerator Africa programme will provide African startups with over $3 million in equity-free support, working space, and access to expert advisers from Google, Silicon Valley, and Africa over the next three years. Participants receive travel and PR support during each three-month program.

National Aviation Services (NAS), the fastest growing aviation services provider in the emerging markets, announced a joint venture agreement with Rwanda’s national flag carrier, RwandAir. The JV titled NAS RwandAir Limited will be the exclusive lounge management company at Kigali International Airport (KIA).

NASRwandAir is tasked with the construction and development of two new lounges at KIA, the RwandAir Dream Lounge dedicated to the airline’s premium passengers and an arrivals lounge. The JV will also take over management of the existing NAS Pearl Lounge in the departures area which caters to other airline passengers as well.

“The NASRwandAir JV is part of many initiatives RwandAir is putting in place to upgrade its business class service across its value chain, from dedicated areas at its town offices to fast track and quality services at airports, upgraded amenities and full-flat bed seats in our wide-bodied aircraft.” said Yvonne Manzi Makolo, CEO of RwandAir.” She added, “Business class passengers are extremely important to us and we have chosen to partner with NAS due to their track record in delivering results to premier customers.”

The different lounges at KIA offer arriving and departing passengers an opportunity to relax, refresh and enjoy a meal before heading out of the airport or onwards to other destinations. For those wishing to catch up on work, the lounges are also fully equipped with Wi-Fi and business services. NASRwandAir will also extend meet and assist services to passengers at the airport allowing for smoother passage through check-in and immigration processes.

Hassan El Houry, Group CEO of NAS said “By partnering with RwandAir, one of Africa’s fastest growing airline, we have reaffirmed our commitment to the aviation sector in Rwanda. Rwanda, as a country has demonstrated remarkable development and is an important geography for NAS in Africa. As we grow our footprint in the region, we continue to drive efforts to bring high-quality international services into the country and further contribute to its growth.”

Yesterday, When the all country engaged on the state of the nation address Uganda Communications commision (UCC) issued a new licensing price for the pay-TV providers in the country from shs22m annually to shs95m. Earlier at the beginning of the year, the commission had asked the pay-TV providers to pay shs550m in-license a proposal that sparked controversies eventually leading to another negotiation that harmonized the license fee to shs95m ($25,000).

The new licensing regime could impact a high-end users subscription rates despite the fact the country moved to digital broadcasting about 3 years ago two years after the international dateline. The list of pay-TV providers increased significantly over the past couple years following the government decision to go digital which saw the end users (citizens) benefits a lot from the fight for clients which entailed favourable prices and more channels to view. The drastic increase in the license could see an overhaul change in the subscription fee which makes the life of an average citizen unbearable to enjoy the pay TV services.

Here are some of the requirements for the new licensing regime. Agreements between pay TV and UCC.

1. UCC agreed with the submission by pay-TV operators that operators without the physical infrastructure in Uganda shall not be allowed to obtain public infrastructure provider (PIP) licenses.
2. Only operators providing services through Terrestrial, cable and other transmission infrastructure shall be required to obtain PIP licenses.
3. All broadcasters providing services to the final consumers shall be required to obtain a public service provider (PSP) license.
4. PIP license shall be for a period of 15 years, renewable upon satisfactory performance of the license terms and conditions.
5. PSP license shall be for a period of 5 years, renewable upon satisfactory performance of the license terms and conditions.
6. Existing pay-TV operators in Uganda not be required to pay initial entry fees for any of the license applied for.
7. Pay TV operators shall pay an annual license fee of $25,000 or 0.65% of the operators gross annual revenue. Every pay TV operators shall be required to submit audited books in accordance with the reporting requirement.
8. Pay Tv shall carry a minimum of 20% local content on their broadcasting platforms.
9. Where, for whatever reason, a pay TV operator failed to meet the 20% local content threshold, the commission shall determine the amount of monetary contribution to be made by the respective operators towards the content development fund.

Source: Daily Monitor

Itel a company that has positioned itself to release a budget-friendly smartphone has released yet another banger, the Itel A32F and is already a banger even before it fully solidified. Fronted with “fingerprint for everyone”, slogan, the Itel A32F is of indeed a major upgrade and a clear sign that itel has indeed come of age and have revolutionized the business.

Most Importantly, the Itel A32F will be going for only UGX 255,000 in stores across the country.

In a quick view….

The whole new itel A32F that comes with a fingerprint scanner also flaunts The A32F Android 8.1 Oreo Go edition out of the box, Which works seamlessly with Go apps. There’s 8GB storage and 1GB RAM onboard as well.

The A32F design comes in a metallic back cover, curved edges and sides that gives a comfortable grip. Although the highlight of the device is the rear fingerprint scanner security feature, there is more to enjoy from this new release.

On the inside…….

The Itel A32F has a MediaTek MT6737 and with Quad-core processor and 64-bit CPU architecture. The 4-Cores of processor here clocks at a standard speed of 1.3GHz with 28nm process technology. The ARM Mali-T720 MP2 graphics processor handles graphics and clocks at 600MHz.

Multitasking of light and Go apps shouldn’t be a problem with just 1GB RAM space available here, it has a memory speed of 533MHz. It packs a standard 8GB storage space, with a remaining storage space of 4.6GB. Nonetheless, you can upgrade up to 32GB with a memory card. The A32F runs on Android 8.1 Oreo Go Edition out of the best.

Camera

It has a 5MP rear camera for all your photography needs, the camera has f/2.4 aperture and a dedicated LED flash for night shots. While the 2MP selfie camera has a front LED flash as well, for night selfies and video calls.

There is more to look out for this smartphone and here is a full list of the Specs.

Bloomberg has reported that Microsoft has acquired GitHub. GitHub is an online service that allows developers to host their code in the cloud using the popular Git source management system, invented by Linux founder Linus Torvalds in 2005.

Github has been the home to the overwhelming majority of open source projects, it’s also used by developers within companies to privately collaborate on software. It’s not inaccurate or hyperbole to call GitHub the epicenter of the software development universe.

The code sharing platform was last valued at $2 billion in 2015, and it’s not yet known how much Microsoft paid for the site. It wouldn’t surprise me if it’s vastly north of that figure. Despite the company’s money woes and lack of a CEO, Github holds a privileged position in the development world.

Bloomberg reports that GitHub’s leadership chose to allow Microsoft to acquire it, based on the performance and leadership of Redmond CEO Satya Nadella, who has moved Microsoft beyond its “embrace, extend, and extinguish” days.

Under Nadella’s rule, Microsoft has enthusiastically embraced open source, with several of its projects released on Github under permissive licenses.

It’s worked hard (and spent a fair bit of cash) on bringing Ubuntu and BASH to Windows, and has ported several of its popular applications to Linux and macOS, like SQL Server and Visual Studio.

Credit: TNW

As the World Cup beckons, Uganda’s leading online retailer, Jumia has not been left out of the festivities, with the Jumia Cup, a football tournament organised by Jumia.

Dubbed “The battle of the brands”, the football event saw teams from Simba Telecom, Adidas, Jumia, Kwese, Syinix, Blue Flame and Euroflex meet head in a series of friendly matches to be crowned the Jumia Cup champions.

While speaking at the event on Saturday, Jumia Country Manager , Ham Namakajjo said “We have already been celebrating the World Cup with great deals on our website and wanted to transfer some of that energy offline, which is why we invited some of our vendor partners to participate in the Jumia cup.”

Simba Telecom Retail Supervisor Francis Balya said, “It is important for organisations to interact outside of the business environment and even more so with customers.”

A total of 8 teams participated in the mini 5-Aside tournament, which culminated with the Adidas team being crowned champions of the 1st edition of the Jumia Cup after beating Euro flex 4-2 in an exhilarating final.

In addition to the Jumia Cup, Jumia as part of the world cup campaign has been offering customers free pay TV subscriptions on Kwese and StarTimes to watch the World Cup in the World Cup sale running until 10th June 2018. This has been complimented by discounts on various items like televisions from top brands like Samsung, LG and Sony.

MTN has been announced as one of the most admired home-grown brands in Africa, this is according to research done by Brand Africa in association with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. In the 6th annual “Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands” research report, telecommunications brand MTN was been announced as the #1 African brand spontaneously recalled irrespective of the continent of origin.

The Brand Africa 100 ranking is based on a survey among consumers 18 years and older, conducted in 23 countries across Africa. The countries, representing all African economic regions, collectively account for 75% of the population and the 74% of the GDP of Africa.

In the survey, African brands rose slightly to account for 17% of the Top 100 brands in Africa, while non-African brands retained their firm position in Africa with 83% share of the Top 100 most admired brands in Africa.

Overall, the 2017/18 Brand Africa 100 list, which started out with over 15,500 brand mentions covering over 2,200 admired brands, illustrates a very diversified portfolio of categories and brands in Africa.

Apart from MTN, other most admired brands in Africa include Nigeria’s Dangote and Glo, South Africa’s Shoprite, Kenya’s Tusker and Ethiopia’s Anbessa.

Dangote was voted as the #1 most admired African brand recalled when consumers are prompted about the continent of origin while MTN retained its position as the #1 Most Admired African brand spontaneously recalled irrespective of country of origin.

“African brands have an important role in helping to build the African brand,” says Thebe Ikalafeng, founder, and chairman of Brand Africa and Brand Leadership. “These rankings are an important metric of the progress Africa is making in creating home-grown world-class brands that are changing the narrative on African competitiveness, image, and reputation and contributing to its socio-economic transformation.”

Brand Africa 100 was developed by pan-African branding and reputation advisory firm, Brand Leadership Group supported by GeoPoll, the leader in mobile-based market research throughout Africa, and strategic analysis and insights by Kantar TNS, the world’s largest information research firm and Brand Leadership, Africa’s premier brand, and reputation consultancy.

GeoPoll used their sophisticated mobile survey platform to identify the most admired brands in Africa among a representative sample of African consumers in 23 African countries. These countries collectively represent an estimated 75% of Africa’s population across all political and economic regions.

“Success for brands is about establishing an emotional connection, creating intimacy and being more present in consumer’s everyday lives. This survey is a critical assessment of the various brands that play that vital role in Africa,” says Karin Du Chenne, CEO, Kantar.

In conclusion, Zeona Jacobs, director marketing, and corporate affairs at the JSE, commented: “The JSE is a platform of African and global companies alike to raise capital and grow their businesses and brands. It is our continuous aim that as an exchange we continue to provide a platform for growth with innovative products to meet the needs of our clients and grow the African continent from strength to strength.”

Troubled Telecommunications company K2 Telecom has been given a ‘big lock’ by the country’s tax collecting organ, Uganda Revenue Authority over failure to pay taxes totalling to Shs95.8m, reports Chimpreports

Ian Rumanyika, the Manager Public & Corporate Affairs at Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) confirmed the closure.

“K2 telecom was closed last week. It has a debt of Pay As You Earn (PAYE) totalling to Shs77.8m. It also has a debt of Local Excise Duty (LED) totalling to Shs17m,” Rumanyika said, adding that in total, the telecom firm that entered the Ugandan market on the eve o 2013 owes the tax body about Shs95.8m.

He added: “We have had a long discussion with K2 telecom from 2013 up to 2018 until we realized that the Memorandum of Understanding that we had [with them] was not being fulfilled as expected, so we had to close in last week and closed them. We expect them to come back on a table and probably clear the debt and then we shall re-open them.” The offices will remain closed until K2 Telecom clears its debt.

K2 Telecom which is Buganda owned by major shareholders including Maria Kiwanuka and Kiwalabye Male. The telecommunications company which was established in 2013 offers both SMS and data service and has over 150,000 customers.