Ecobank Group is announcing the launch of the 2022 Ecobank Fintech Challenge which offers early-stage and mature startups the potential to partner with Ecobank across 33 African countries. Applications for the fifth edition are open from now until September 16th. The finals and awards ceremony will take place in October 2022.
The challenge welcomes Fintechs that align with the Bank’s strategic objectives. The top winner stands a chance to win a cash prize of US$50,000 and the opportunity to partner and scale their solutions across Ecobank’s 33 African markets. The top ten finalists will also get to join the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship.
Fintech companies and developers originating from any of Africa’s 54 countries, as well as global Africa-centered Fintechs, are eligible to enter the 2022 Ecobank Fintech Challenge.
In addition, all Fellows will qualify to explore the following opportunities with the Bank and its partners:
Multinational products roll out: an opportunity to pursue integration with Ecobank and potentially launch products in all or part of Ecobank’s pan-African 33-country ecosystem.
Service provider partnerships: Ecobank may select some Fintechs as pan-African service partners within the Bank’s ecosystem.
Access to Ecobank’s Pan-African Banking Sandbox. Fellows will get access to Ecobank’s APIs to test and improve their products for the pan-African market.
Priority Access to Ecobank’s Venture Capital partners for funding exploration.
Dr. Tomisin Fashina, Operations and Technology Executive, Ecobank Group said, “The uniqueness of the Challenge is that it welcomes both early stage and mature start-up Fintechs alike and seeks to align them with different kinds of partnership opportunities within Ecobank that match their differing levels of maturity.”
The Ecobank Fintech Fellowship program currently has 46 fellows including 2020 winner Nokwary.
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Microsoft is announcing the general availability of Azure Availability Zones in its United Arab Emirates(UAE) datacenters in Dubai. The investment will enhance the competitiveness of UAE businesses through the vital provision of business continuity and disaster recovery solutions. This reinforces Microsoft’s commitment to the UAE government, its business community, and its population.
Azure Availability Zones will build on the capabilities and benefits offered through Microsoft’s enterprise-grade datacenters in Dubai which began operations in June 2019. Organizations already using the zones in the UAE include Emirates Group, Commercial Bank of Dubai, and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
“With the advent of the always-on economy, uptime and continuous access to critical data, applications and workloads have become front-of-mind concerns for the region’s technology stakeholders,” said Naim Yazbeck, General Manager, Microsoft UAE.
“As businesses move forward amid increased industry upheavals and competition from market disrupters, competitiveness hinges on the ability to remain operational even as external issues destabilise markets and supply chains. Backups alone will not deliver such capabilities. Rapid recovery requires strategy-focused infrastructure and solutions to work effectively. That is what Azure Availability Zones delivers.”
Naim Yazbeck
Microsoft notes the launch of the zones shows its readiness to form the backbone of organizations’ futureproofing programs.
“The new availability zones will allow us to enhance the way we use Microsoft Cloud, says Srinivasan Sampath, Acting Group CTO of First Abu Dhabi Bank. Offering us a greater level of data security, resilience and flexibility. Which in turn, will support our customer-centric ethos, and allow us to provide greater benefits for our clients.”
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Microsoft is announcing the general availability of its newest datacenter region in Qatar, located in Doha. The new Qatar Central region will start offering Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365 and Power Platform services. The Qatar datacenter region includes three Azure Availability Zones, which will offer additional resiliency for customer applications. Other available non-Microsoft technology services are SAP, NetApp, Snowflake, Adobe, and MongoDB. The investment was first announced in 2019 in partnership with the State of Qatar.
The new Qatar region offers the following to customers:
Data residency in country.
In country Disaster Recovery through zone to zone synchronous replication.
High Availability of computing and storage by deploying in three zones allowing a higher service level agreement on virtual machines availability and storage durability.
Improved performance through minimal latency for workloads deployed within Zones, to meet our most exigent customer latency-sensitive workloads.
Microsoft says it has delivered on its promise to help in Qatar’s journey to becoming a regional data hub with the launch of the datacenter. Additionally, the company is introducing a skilling program to help improve the technical skills of Qatarians to meet the about 24,000 new jobs the industry will need.
Microsoft notes this will be its first cloud region to launch with two ExpressRoute points of presence (Edge nodes). AI and machine learning services such as Azure Cognitive Search and services, computer vision are expected in Q3 of 2022.
In June, Microsoft opened an advanced innovation hub in Lusail City as it seeks to increase its investments in Qatar.
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In May, UMIDIGI announced its new F3 series smartphones which come in 3 variants; the F3, F3S and F3 SE. Offering customers more device choices to choose from. Now the fourth member of the F3 series, the F3 5G is out and on global sale at $199.99. However, UMIDIGI is offering it for $170 as part of the Mega Brand Sale, more details on this later.
UMIDIGI F3 5G specifications
The second 5G smartphone from the company sports a dazzling design resemblance to the iPhone and promises exceptional performance. It looks thin and sleek with a matte finish and a 3D curved edge design. The phone presents a 6.7-inch full view display with a screen ratio of 20.6:9 for a cinematic viewing experience. It runs on an advanced Dimensity 700 processor with up to 2.2GHz clock frequency. In terms of memory, it spots an 8GB RAM and 256GB large storage. The smartphone comes in three color designs, matte silver, sunglow gold, and starry black.
It is equipped with a 5150mAh battery and 18W fast charging, so it can provide longer support than most devices. UMIDIGI F3 5G features a triple AI camera system, including a Sony 48MP main camera, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera and a 5MP macro camera. On the front, it has a 16MP selfie camera and a 6.7-inch ultra-large display, allowing you to take clear photos with high resolution and present what you captured on a stunning screen.
UMIDIGI F3 5G comes with Android 12 OS, supports dual 5G bands, and has multi-function NFC technology. Side fingerprint and face ID unlock to improve security. Furthermore, some practical special functions, such as considerate independent custom keys, and allowing you to enjoy music anytime anywhere wireless FM radio.
UMIDIGI F3 5G sale price
UMIDIGI says you can buy the F3 5G at the ongoing Mega Brand Sale at $179.99. On top of that, the first 200 (F3 5G) orders will get wireless UMIDIGI AirBuds for free. You can also enjoy up to a 56% discount for all purchases on UMIDIGI’s official store. Which includes the top-selling A11 Pro Max, A13 Pro, and entry-level phone A13S. You can also get the 5G rugged phone BISON GT2 5G series, super species BISON 2, BISON X10 and so on.
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Microsoft has been at the vanguard of the technical revolution for a long time. And to celebrate the 15th anniversary of OneDrive, the cloud-based system will be given a massive revamp.
Over the coming months, there will be a new landing page – OneDrive Home – which will be the focal point of the app. It will contain a whole host of innovative features to simplify the file-sharing experience.
In many ways, OneDrive Home mimics the Office web app, where you can organize all the files you recently accessed, and this will be split into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF file types.
The OneDrive home experience will be more efficient, so you will be able to catch up on any work or tasks you have missed while you have been away on holiday.
There will also be an array of updated collaboration tools so that colleagues can work on active tasks remotely. This will include threaded comments, @mentions, real-time co-authoring, and highlighted changes. These features will all be available in the Activity tab, so you can see any updates in real-time.
To a certain extent, there are elements of OneDrive Home that will mirror Google Docs as you will be able to view any edits made and any issues can be resolved.
The new home page will act as the central hub, and the OneDrive home landing page will be rolled out to schools and offices.
But it’s not just the OneDrive home page that will be given a makeover. No, Microsoft is also expected to roll out a special photo story feature for the OneDrive mobile app, which will essentially replicate the stories section of Instagram. While this will be available to Australian users soon, US users won’t benefit from this service until later in the year.
Companies are always finding new and intuitive ways to make tweaks so that they can remain relevant and connect with their target audiences. This is prevalent with technology businesses, as software updates need to be carried out to ensure computers can run to optimal performance. The same could be said of the retail industry where shops want to tailor the experience for clients especially when buying products online.
However, the same can be said of digital casinos. Gamblers will want to play at the best sites that are user-friendly, have a good collection of titles, and rewards them for the time spent there. Many of the top operators will be well stocked with an array of casino promotions to tap into, such as no deposit bonuses as well as free spins to entice new players and retain the loyalty of existing players.
Microsoft’s plans for the OneDrive home are bold but exciting. If anything, it will enhance the user experience and make collaborating with colleagues easier.
If you have enjoyed what you have read, you should check out the OneDrive home page when it is finally released. In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled on Microsoft for any further updates about the remodelled product.
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Microsoft is announcing the appointment of Phyllis Migwi as the new Kenya Country Manager. She will head the company’s operations in Kenya and develop and maintain relationships across Microsoft’s subsidiaries. She takes over from Kendi Ntwiga-Nderitu who took up a new role as the Global Head of Misrepresentation for Meta.
I am thrilled at the opportunity to play my part in Africa’s economic growth story, Phyllis shares. To position Microsoft as the premier partner for that growth, while developing the leaders who will overcome present challenges and build memorials for the future, she adds.
Phyllis holds an MBA from Hult International Business School and a Bachelor of Commerce from the Catholic University of East Africa. Before this role, she spent more than 12 years in various positions at IBM across Kenya, Ireland and the USA. In her last role at IBM, she served as the Regional head for Hybrid Cloud & AI – Africa Growth Market. She also previously held leadership roles in Fast Moving Consumer Goods and Information Communication Technology sectors in India, Europe, Africa and North America. Phyllis is also the recipient of the 2015 CfC Stanbic Bank Rising Star award for the ICT sector.
I am delighted to welcome Phyllis Migwi to the Microsoft Africa Regional Cluster team as the new Kenya Country Manager, notes Wael Elkabbany, Microsoft Africa Regional Cluster General Manager speaking about her appointment.
I am confident that her extensive experience in Technology in Africa will help us scale partner and customer business impact through the value of Microsoft Cloud. As a strong advocate of Africa’s potential, I believe that Phyllis is a critical addition in unlocking the unique opportunities on the continent.
Wael Elkabbany, Microsoft Africa Regional Cluster General Manager
She’s passionate about delivering efficient business models, growth strategies and ecosystem value creation.
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