With heavy Internet use comes the tendency to live disparate lives offline and online. A female web developer shares her experience on both ends of the spectrum during and after lockdown…
Burundi shuts down social media amidst tense presidential elections
In keeping with recent actions by some African governments, the East African nation of Burundi has reportedly blocked access to WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Yahoo as election tensions rise.…
These African countries have various forms of Internet censorship
The Internet is regarded by the UN as a basic human right, but several Africans on the Internet are closely monitored and sometimes arrested. We take a look at African countries with various forms of …
60 days or a decade, how long will it take to digitise public data in Nigeria?
As NITDA requires all public institutions holding or processing personal data to securely digitise all personal databases within 60 days, we review existing setbacks and the possibility of meeting suc…
Why remote, virtual court hearings in Nigeria are constitutional
Timi Olagunju is a tech lawyer and policy consultant who tweets @timithelaw. He shares his thoughts on the constitutionality of virtual court hearings in Nigeria.…
With the pandemic, African governments have an excuse to censor the Internet
From Internet shutdowns to the monitoring of Internet activity and subsequent arrests for comments on social media, the fight against the pandemic in Africa seems to be making digital rights violation…
Facebook to build $1 billion undersea Internet cable for faster Internet in Africa
Global social media giant, Facebook in partnership with major telecom companies, is building a 37,000-kilometer undersea internet cable to bring faster connection to Africa, Europe, and the Middle Eas…
How open data can give Nigerian innovation a facelift going forward
The impact of the pandemic and lockdown demands a lot of innovation from entrepreneurs, a process that might be eased with the creation of transparent and open government data across different public …
Social media and African politics: Making sense of Ethiopia’s hate speech law among others
Months before its general election, Ethiopia has passed a law severely punishing hate speech and disinformation. We take a look at the impact of social media on Africa’s democracy and how its benefits…
Ethiopia is positioning itself for prominence in the African tech space
A deep dive into the state of technology startups in Ethiopia and what stakeholders, including the government, are doing to gain relevance in Africa’s tech ecosystem.…
Uganda social media tax draws its first blood with decline in internet subscriptions
The social media tax introduced in Uganda last year is already having negative effects on Internet subscriptions in the country.…
Why Abusidiqu arrest may work against Magu
On the 8th of August, 2016, Mr. Abubakar Sidiq Usman (abusidiqu), the political blogger was reportedly arrested by the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) in Abuja for ‘cyber stalking.’ Us…
Final Year FUTA students launch Open Data portal for Nigeria
Three Final Year students of the Federal University of Technology Akure are launching a Nigeria Open Data Access (NODA) portal, with the support of Connected Development, Open Data for Development and…