Sierra Leone News Update |
Sierra Leone’s telecom regulatory body, NATCOM, has denied claims it shut down internet access ahead of the country’s presidential elections.
The first round election on 7 March failed to produce an outright winner with no candidate securing 55% of votes as required by local electoral laws. A run-off election was called for Saturday 31 March.
As counting started, internet access…
News Update|
A recent study has found there’s $408 million sitting in unused funds across Africa – money that could be used to get millions more women and girls online. The Alliance for Affordable Internet’s Dhanaraj Thakur explains how.
Africa has the largest gender gap of any region in the world when it comes to internet use: 25 percent fewer women are online than men, and…
By Daniel Mwesigwa |
Uganda has become the latest East African country to threaten access to information and free speech online by putting in place measures that require the registration of online content providers. In a noticeissued earlier this month, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) called for online publishers, news platforms, radio and television operators to “apply and obtain authorization” for provision…
By Juliet Nanfuka |
Many African countries are caught between developing policies that support the unfettered use of the internet as a tool for social, economic and political growth, and laws that threaten citizens’ rights and use of digital technologies. Often, this is partly due to limited evidence upon which to base policies and decision-making, which results from the scant availability…
Egyptian parliamentarians will soon review a draft anti-cybercrime law that could codify internet censorship practices into national law.
While the Egyptian government is notorious for censoring websites and platforms on national security grounds, there are no laws in force that explicitly dictate what is and is not permissible in the realm of online censorship. But if the draft law is approved, that will…
Report|
KAMPALA- Almost 24.8m or 70.9 per cent of Ugandans own mobile phones, a report by the National Information Technology Authority Uganda (NITA-U), has revealed.
The report dubbed the National IT Survey 2017/2018, sampled 2,700 people among government ministries, departments, agencies, local governments and households across the country in 2017.
The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) 2014 Access and Usage of Communication Services Across Uganda…
By Juliet Nanfuka |
The push back against internet shutdowns in Cameroon has recently taken a new turn with advocacy organisations filing formal submissions before the Supreme Court of Cameroon. In their January 2018 submission, AccessNow and Internet Sans Frontières (ISF) highlight Cameroon’s commitment to international and regional human rights law and urge judges to recognise that disrupting or blocking the internet…
News Update|
February 27, 2018–the Committee to Protect Journalists said, Nigerian authorities should immediately drop plans to charge Timothy and Daniel Elombah, editor and chief executive respectively, of the independent Elombah news website.
A federal court in Abuja is scheduled to arraign the brothers on cybercrime and terrorism-related offenses on March 1, their lawyer Obunike Ohaegbu told CPJ.
“Timothy and Daniel Elombah are journalists and…
News Update|
As a burgeoning fintech community seeks to marry start-up innovation with mobile money scale, the potential to serve as the gateway to the digital economy is becoming increasingly central to the story of mobile money.
Policy objectives also play an increasingly important role, as the scope of mobile money regulation broadens
https://twitter.com/GSMA/status/968153172819800065
Read more about it here.
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By Juliet Nanfuka |
The conversation and actions on internet related policy in Africa have grown in recent years as has the appreciation of its impact on internet users. However, research to support advocacy for improved internet policy development on the continent remains relatively low despite a growing internet penetration and its resultant impact on the continent’s social, economic and political scenes. This…