Meta, the parent company of Facebook is highlighting key milestones achieved in their 2021 Africa Year in Review. The infographic shows some of Meta’s investments and initiatives across sub-Saharan Africa this year. They focused on driving innovation, connecting communities, helping businesses to grow and supporting the tech and creator ecosystem. Meta notes that it also reinforced its continued commitment to Africa through these projects.
The 2021 Africa year in review highlights includes the launch of Instagram lite, available in Swahili, Oromo and Amharic. The rolling out of Instagram awareness campaign in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal. The rollout of Africa’s first paid online events in South Africa. Spotlighting of content creators in Nigeria and Ghana. Launch of Small Act, Big Impact initiative for community leaders in Kenya. Meta is set to officially launch Facebook Reels and Professional mode for creator profiles in EMEA next year.
Kezia Anim-Addo, Director for Communications, Sub-Saharan Africa, commented, saying: “This year we’ve witnessed an abundance of talent, growth and resilience from across Africa, despite the many challenges due to the ongoing COVID pandemic. It’s been inspiring to witness the development of various communities, from creators to SMBs and tech innovators.Many of whom are using Meta technologies to grow and develop their craft. We believe that Meta sits at the intersection of innovation, technology, entrepreneurship and social connection. We’re excited about the future of the continent, and Meta’s ongoing role in helping to unlock Africa’s potential.”
Some of the key 2021 Meta Africa Year in Review includes:
Facebook Marketplace: Rolled out Facebook Marketplace to 37 countries and territories across Sub-Saharan Africa. Enabling more people to discover, buy and sell items from others in their local communities.
Digital Literacy Trainings: Undertook digital literacy training, focused on online safety, privacy, news, media literacy and digital citizenship, across eight countries training over 65,000 people.
2Africa & 2Africa Pearl: Alongside eight local and global partners, announced the creation of new branches and a new segment of the subsea cable called ‘2Africa Pearls’. Which now connects three continents — Africa, Europe, and Asia. Making it the longest subsea cable system ever developed at more than 45,000 kilometres.
Economic Impact Trainings: Trained over 80,000 SMBs across 13 countries through our economic impact programmes, including Meta Boost (formerly Boost with Facebook) and SheMeansBusiness. Graduated 338 young people through the Digify Pro programme, with nearly 70% getting jobs.
Blood Donations feature: Now available across 12 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Over 3.9m Facebook users in these countries signed up to receive blood donation notifications from local blood donation centers.
Instagram Lite: introduced Instagram Lite for Android and its availability in Swahili, Oromo and Amharic languages.
Made by Africa, Loved by the World: Celebrated Africa’s growing cultural impact on the world through a global campaign that showcased eight African creatives and businesses from Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon.
2021 Facebook Community Accelerator Program: Announced the winners of the 2021 Facebook Community Accelerator Program, featuring 13 community leaders from Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya, who will receive training, mentorship and up to $50,000 USD in funds to invest in their community.
Instagram Reel Ads in 25 African countries: Expanded Reels Ads to countries in Africa with the Reels feature on Instagram – enabling businesses on Instagram to reach greater audiences and allowing people to discover inspiring new content from brands and creators.
SMB WhatsApp Bot: Launched ‘Facebook Business Coach’ on WhatsApp, an innovative and easily accessible way for SMBs in English speaking Africa to learn more about how to grow their business on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Africa No Filter & Meta Virtual Reality Fund: Announced the opening of the grants and mentoring program “Future Africa: Telling Stories, Building Worlds” aimed at boosting the use of Virtual Reality in Africa’s storytelling and helping to shift negative stereotypes about the continent.
Click to view the full infographic on Meta’s investments and activities in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2021. (https://bit.ly/3IuSJCZ). Download Infographic: https://bit.ly/3EGCErg
[jetpack_subscription_form subscribe_placeholder=”Enter your email address” show_subscribers_total=”false” button_on_newline=”false” submit_button_text=”Hi, sign up so you can get the latest in breaking news, reviews, opinions, events, opportunities and community updates right in your inbox. ” custom_font_size=”16px” custom_border_radius=”0″ custom_border_weight=”1″ custom_padding=”15″ custom_spacing=”10″ submit_button_classes=”” email_field_classes=”” show_only_email_and_button=”true”]
Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
TECNO mobile is announcing its latest smartphones with three new devices in the Camon 18 series. The TECNO Camon 18 Premier, Camon 18P and Camon 18 with Camon 18i and Camon 18T being tweaked global variants.
TECNO is introducing an ultra-steady gimbal camera and 60X Hyper Zoom in the flagship Camon 18 Premier. Saying it is the most advanced pro-camera Camon phone yet. It brings its previous best features the super night and selfie camera modes to the new device as well. It is powered by the newest MediaTek Helio G96 Chipset and sports a 6.7″ 120Hz AMOLED display.
In terms of pricing, the Camon 18 series starts at about $160 – $400 covering all the smartphone ranges. We provide you with the country-specific device prices in the following markets; Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Pakistan and India.
The new TECNO Camon 18 series smartphones will be able to upgrade to HIOS’s Android 12 when it becomes available. Here are the full device specifications below. I’m also adding an unboxing video comparing the normal version to the premier version so you can see the differences.
[jetpack_subscription_form subscribe_placeholder=”Enter your email address” show_subscribers_total=”false” button_on_newline=”false” submit_button_text=”Hi, sign up so you can get the latest in breaking news, reviews, opinions, events, opportunities and community updates right in your inbox. ” custom_font_size=”16px” custom_border_radius=”0″ custom_border_weight=”1″ custom_padding=”15″ custom_spacing=”10″ submit_button_classes=”” email_field_classes=”” show_only_email_and_button=”true”]
Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
Interested in getting a job at Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Facebook or any other company? Recruiters or applicant tracking systems get thousands of applications for a role and will have just a few seconds or minutes with your submission. There are things to apply in your resume or CV that will make you stand out, get an interview and land a job. Learn resume writing tips and get advice from DJ Cabeen, a senior recruiter at Amazon that will help your resume get noticed.
How long should your resume be? DJ Cabeen says not more than two pages as it can get wordy and this can turn the reader off. However, tenured applicants with a lot of experience can go a little over two pages. Read on and learn to tailor your resume to what hiring managers and recruiters are seeking.
Resume writing tips and advice
Optimize your resumes for applicant tracking systems. The resume layout should be simple and don’t add too many pictures and colours. Keep your resume as a Microsoft Word document or PDF. Use bullet points. Use a font that is easy to read like Calibre or Times New Roman and 11 or 12 sizes.
Recruiters look out for all that you have been able to accomplish so use examples and results not just detail your day-to-day work. List your accomplishments including the processes and efficiencies you’ve created in your role. What kind of money have you saved for your team or company?
Marketing yourself can be difficult, think about the things you’ll like to say to someone. Be your authentic self, put yourself into your resume. Market yourself in a humble and confident way, be a humblebrag.
Recruiters will stop reading your resume and move on to the next one if they see errors. So proofread your work. Also, have someone proofread them for you to avoid typos and misspellings.
Incorporate your skills into the body of each of your jobs. Doing this lets you lose the skills section columns and get more resume real estate.
Summary sections when done well can be really impactful. Keep it short, sweet and concise so the reader can see what they want to see but will be drawn into the rest of your experience so they learn more about you.
Add lots of links. A link to your LinkedIn page, the company you worked or work for. Recruiters want to be able to access information easily and quickly make a determination.
Watch the video below for more resume writing tips and advice from DJ Cabeen and apply them to land your next gig.
Watch more tips and advice
Got other tips or advice that helped you land your role or job? Share them in the comment section below.
[jetpack_subscription_form subscribe_placeholder=”Enter your email address” show_subscribers_total=”false” button_on_newline=”false” submit_button_text=”Hi, sign up so you can get the latest in breaking news, reviews, opinions, events, opportunities and community updates right in your inbox. ” custom_font_size=”16px” custom_border_radius=”0″ custom_border_weight=”1″ custom_padding=”15″ custom_spacing=”10″ submit_button_classes=”” email_field_classes=”” show_only_email_and_button=”true”]
Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
GEEKOM is introducing its 2021 flagship mini PC the Mini IT8. The mini PC is built with a core i5 Intel processor and comes with Windows 11 OS pre-installed. It is lightweight, has flexible storage configurations, supports up to four 4K displays and has competitive prices.
The Mini IT8 mini PC weighs only 1kg and can fit into the palm of a hand. It is powered by an Intel Coffee Lake processor and Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 GPU. The mini PC supports RAM and storage expansion from 8GB to 32GB and 128GB to 1TB SSD.
The latest GEEKOM mini PC is available for purchase at www.geekompc.com. The least configuration retails at $459 but is currently discounted to $379 till 26th December 2021.
“The launch of our latest mini PC reflects our ambition to provide users with more options for computers that are faster, more powerful, and easier to customize,” says Kom de Olde, founder of GEEKOM.
Mini IT8 specifications
Dimensions
117 x 112 x 45.6 mm, 1kg
Processor
Intel Coffee Lake i5 8259U
GPU
Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655
Memory
8/16GB (Dual Channel DDR4)
Storage
256/512GB (M.2 Kingston SSD)
RAM Brand
Kingston
Operating System
Windows 11
Feature
Support 4 Displays/Quiet Fan
Ethernet
1000Mbps LAN
Wireless Connectivity
Bluetooth 5.1/Dual-Band Wi-Fi
Ports
1 * RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet Port 1 * SD card reader 3 * USB3.2 Port 2 * USB-C Port 1 * HDMI2.0 1 * MINI DP 1 * DC in
[jetpack_subscription_form subscribe_placeholder=”Enter your email address” show_subscribers_total=”false” button_on_newline=”false” submit_button_text=”Hi, sign up so you can get the latest in breaking news, reviews, opinions, events, opportunities and community updates right in your inbox. ” custom_font_size=”16px” custom_border_radius=”0″ custom_border_weight=”1″ custom_padding=”15″ custom_spacing=”10″ submit_button_classes=”” email_field_classes=”” show_only_email_and_button=”true”]
Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
Microsoft Teams Essential is a solution that brings the Teams collaboration platform into an affordable package. It provides an affordable entry point for remote collaboration that small businesses can take advantage of. At $4 USD per month, a user gets 30 hours of group video calls, group chat, file sharing, and calendaring.
This solution will enable teams to seamlessly meet, chat, call, and collaborate irrespective of the device or location. The new offering maximises value while minimising costs for businesses by centralising onto a single platform their collaboration tools at less the cost of a full Microsoft Teams suite.
According to David Behr, CEO of Liquid Cloud and Cyber Security, “Teams Essentials is an entry-level focused version of the Microsoft Office Suite that extends the Teams platform to medium and small businesses, typically twenty-five users and below. Liquid is proud to partner with Microsoft to deliver this affordable solution that supports the collaborative nature of small businesses, promoting enterprise in Africa”.
To enable seamless collaboration Microsoft Teams Essentials gives users access to its Microsoft online tools, i.e., Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Users will also be able to connect to Teams Essentials using a 3rd party email provider.
Liquid says Teams Essentials is another offering it is proud to launch across the African continent. Part of its strategic repositioning as an intelligent technology provider serving its customers’ rapidly evolving communication requirements across Africa.
[jetpack_subscription_form subscribe_placeholder=”Enter your email address” show_subscribers_total=”false” button_on_newline=”false” submit_button_text=”Hi, sign up so you can get the latest in breaking news, reviews, opinions, events, opportunities and community updates right in your inbox. ” custom_font_size=”16px” custom_border_radius=”0″ custom_border_weight=”1″ custom_padding=”15″ custom_spacing=”10″ submit_button_classes=”” email_field_classes=”” show_only_email_and_button=”true”]
Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
The Microsoft AI for Accessibility program is calling for project proposals that advance access to assistive technology for people with disabilities, especially in low- and middle-income communities.
Microsoft says the use of artificial intelligence (AI) is optional for project submissions in this round. The company also urges Universities, non-profits, for-profit companies, startups, and other organizations to apply.
In this Request for Proposals (RFP) Microsoft is prioritizing scalable solutions in three categories. These are Access to affordable devices, Relevant and localized software and Awareness, upskilling and community.
The RFP is open to applicants from any country or region. This round will focus on innovations that empower people with disabilities outside of the US.
The deadline to submit the Microsoft AI for Accessibility Grant application is 11:59 PM PST on January 12, 2022 (7:59 AM GMT on January 13 2022). Selected finalists will be invited to pitch to a review panel in February and award decisions will be finalized in March.
[jetpack_subscription_form subscribe_placeholder=”Enter your email address” show_subscribers_total=”false” button_on_newline=”false” submit_button_text=”Hi, sign up so you can get the latest in breaking news, reviews, opinions, events, opportunities and community updates right in your inbox. ” custom_font_size=”16px” custom_border_radius=”0″ custom_border_weight=”1″ custom_padding=”15″ custom_spacing=”10″ submit_button_classes=”” email_field_classes=”” show_only_email_and_button=”true”]
Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
