By Selassie Tay |
The World Bank estimates that 1.7 billion people globally are without any form of financial account as at 2018. In Sub-Saharan Africa, data from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) shows that the level of financial inclusion grew from 23% in 2011 to almost 43% in 2017, with a significant proportion attributed to digital financial services such as mobile money.
However, the…
By CIPESA Writer |
While advances in Information and Communications Technology (ICTs) including the Internet have created avenues of inclusion, for some, especially persons with disabilities, it has also widened the extent to which they are excluded from the social and economic potential of the digital society.
Persons with disabilities are more likely to experience adverse socio-economic outcomes than persons without disabilities,…
Africa News Update |
Africans are still paying way too much for their internet access due to a myriad of challenges including infrastructure investment and weak competitive environments in local markets.
Getting all Africans online by 2030 will require around $100 billion in investment with a majority of that sum pegged for infrastructure-based spending. But most African countries do not currently have policy environments…
By Simone Toussi |
In July 2019, the Chadian government lifted a 16-month blockage on access to social media, which it had imposed in March 2018. While connected citizens are now able to access social media with ease, various concerns remain. Digital communication costs are prohibitively high, the media are routinely muzzled, the country is still autocratic, and President Idriss Déby…
By Sakeus Iikela |
The ideal legislation should clearly define the rules of engagement as well as what constitutes online violence and how internet users can report and take action against perpetrators.
These were the views of some participants at the discussion on politics organised by the Internet Society of Namibia in Windhoek yesterday.
Martha Chilongoshi who spoke at the event on behalf…
By Richard Ngamita |
In August 2018, a video of what appeared to be Ethiopian policemen assaulting a man by the roadside was shared on Twitter. There seems to have been a rapid response from the Addis Ababa Police Department (@Addispolice), leading to the arrest of the culprits due to the virality of the video.
The incident, is one of many which highlights…
By FIFAfrica19 |
For the last 20 years, African countries have been broadening and enhancing control measures that govern the use of digital communications including the internet.
According to a new report by the Collaboration for International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), these controls when viewed collectively, continue to undermine democracy and cement authoritarians hold on political power.
With only…
FIFAfrica19 News |
Season of Changes
We are now just days away from this year’s edition of the Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (#FIFAfrica19) which will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In the lead up to FIFAfrica19, we have witnessed some interesting developments in Africa’s digital landscape.
Among them is the Policy and Regulatory Initiative for Digital Africa (PRIDA) convening at the African…