10 things you need to know in tech across Africa this week, March 9th - 13th, 2020

Nigeria has deactivated 2.2 million improperly registered SIM cards

Nigerian regulatory agency, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said it has deactivated 2.2 million improperly registered Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards from all telecommunication networks nationwide.

Dr. Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications & Digital Economy (Left) and Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, NCC at the event. Pulse Nigeria

The government said it is part of measures to strengthen the security of lives and property for all Nigerians.

Twitter's Jack reconsiders his planned relocation to Africa

Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey has reconsidered plans to move to Africa this year due to the outbreak of coronavirus.

Twiiter CEO Jack Dorsey, Kayvon Beykpour, product leadTwitter & co-founder of Periscopeco, and others in Nigeria (Twitter/@kayvz) Twitter/@kayvz

He told the Morgan Stanley conference in California that his announcement about his Africa plans a year ago was "a mistake" because he failed to explain his reasons for the move.

"I had been working on my plans where I worked decentralised, like my team and I do when we travel, but in light of COVID-19 and everything else I have to do, I have to reevaluate", Dorsey said.

Netflix Drops Money Heist Season 4 trailer

Netflix has just released the trailer for the upcoming season 4 of the Spanish series "Money Heist". The movie will be available to stream on Netflix by April the 3rd of 2020.

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Wimbart founder is one of the most influential communications professionals in the UK

Wimbart PR Founder and Managing Director, Jessica Hope, has been ranked in the 2020 PRWeek UK Powerbook, the UK’s most influential list for communications professionals.

Wimbart works with tech startups and SMEs across Africa, operating primarily in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, Egypt, Togo, and South Africa.

Digital rights activists, lawyers, others head to National Assembly for a public hearing on Nigeria's anti-social media bill

Nigeria's national assembly will host digital rights activists, lawyers, others for a public hearing on the controversial anti-social media bill, entitled, “Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulation Bill.”

In 2019, the bill was introduced at the Senate and has since then received criticisms from various groups and bodies.

Paradigm Initiative, one of Africa's foremost digital rights groups, has listed some of the faulty provisions in the bill.

Nigeria’s Unity Bank Plc launches USSD in 3 local languages

Nigeria’s Unity Bank Plc has launched an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) banking in three local languages – Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo.

The Group Head, Retail, SME & E-Business, Unity Bank Plc, Olufunwa Olugbenga Akinmade said the solution would boost the existing e-payment channels available to the bank’s customers to further drive customer experience.

Submarine Cable DARE-1 lands in Mombasa

A Submarine cable, the Djibouti Africa Regional Express-1 (DARE 1), has finally arrived in Mombasa.

According to Techweez, the cable is expected to deliver a capacity of up to 36 terabits per second.

The project was developed with investment from Kenya’s third-largest mobile operator Telkom, as well as other private operators in Somalia and Djibouti.

Mastercard reveals how Pay on Demand can lift millions of people across Africa

Mastercard recently released a white paper titled, ‘Pay on Demand: The digital path to financial inclusion in Africa’.

The paper reveals how Pay on Demand, a business model that gives people the ability to pay only for what they use, as they need it, can lift millions of people across Africa.

The report is based on research from in-depth face-to-face interviews with Pay on Demand users across Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria.

Paga partners with Visa to accelerate payment solutions

Paga has announced partnership with Visa to enable to work closely in accelerating secure and convenient mobile payments for merchants and consumers in markets.

Tayo Oviosu, Founder and CEO of Paga Tayo Oviosu, Founder and CEO of Paga Pulse Nigeria

According to the company, the partnership is in line with Visa’s goals to drive alternative payment channels, in this case, mobile wallets, within its global ecosystem.

Apply for the 5th Annual Hackathon of Hacklab Foundation

Hacklab Foundation launched the 5th annual hackathon progam.

This year’s Hackathon is scheduled to take place from April 3-5, 2020 at the Great Hall, KNUST, Kumasi.

Over 800 participants from 18 tertiary institutions, 50+ speakers and facilitators, 50 mentors and coaches will discuss solutions to address local problems under the theme:

Solutions will be streamlined under the following verticals: energy, healthcare, agriculture, eCommerce, transportation, climate change, Internet of Things, financial technology.

Winning ideas from the competition will be awarded GHC 20,000 worth of cash prizes, cloud services worth over $60,000 from selected partners, internships and jobs opportunities from our partners. You can apply here: http://bit.ly/HacklabWTGrant