This is the last Big 5 Daily of the year!
As usual, we are here to bring you the latest regarding the goings on in African and World Technology. We begin.
Nanosatellite, a provider of innovative remote sensing and communication services has been launched in South Africa. Dubbed ZACube-2, the continent’s most advanced nanosatellite was taken into space by a Soyuz rocket last week. The satellite is a technology demonstrator for “maritime domain awareness” that will provide critical information for the country’s oceans economy. It seems quite interesting, right? You can read more here.
As the year finishes today, we believe it is important for us to look back at all the amazing things that shaped the tech ecosystem in 2018 across Africa. From the Google Impact Challenge to weighty investments into bright ideas and ground-breaking innovations made in Africa, here is the list of our most memorable moments of 2018.
Also, Africa’s tech sector received global attention this year as numerous VC companies made investments in the budding ideas in the current ecosystem. TechCrunch ran quite an interesting piece on plentiful fund rounds, start-up acquisitions and global expansions that shaped the tech ecosystem on the continent. Read the article here.
According to data gathered by the digital advocacy group, NetBlocks on the 21st of December, The Sudanese government is attempting to block social media platforms like Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram on mobile networks. The internet had earlier been blocked on major telecom companies like MTN Sudan, Zain Sudan, Kanartel, and Sudatel.
This comes with the crisis of protesters in major cities demonstrating against rising bread prices, rising inflation and fuel scarcity in their economy. This action is assumed to cost the economy over $7.5 million per day, says NetBlocks Cost of Shutdown Tool (COST).
China has permitted the release of 80 online video games after withholding their approval for months. This is a big development since China is known to censor creative content in their ecosystem. The approved titles were listed on the website of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, but it is worth knowing that they did not include games from Tencent Holdings Ltd, an industry leader.
And this is where we draw the curtain for this year’s Big 5 Daily. We had such a lovely 2018 with you guys… See you in 2019!