This week, find out about the innovations about to take off in Uganda – the Smart Pen aimed at improving fisheries, the electric bus that could well soon be seen on the streets of Kampala and the hubs that are making all this digital entrepreneurship possible – read on…
Police set up cyber-crime unit – free speech activists raise concern (Monitor) ++++ Ugandans abroad vie for top international positions (New Vision) ++++ Opposition presses M7 on electoral reform (Monitor) ++++ Uganda’s forests are in danger, say environmentalists (Monitor)
19/03/2014
TRANSPORT: Over the last three years, Jonathan Kasumba has designed and developed the first electric car to come out of East, Southern and Northern Africa. But as the Observer reports, he is not resting on his laurels – a five-seater hybrid and an electric bus are on their way.
FISHERIES: A digital pen is being targeted at Uganda and other East African countries to try and reduce post-harvest losses. Assessors using the pen add to a central database which all involved – fishermen, fish farmers, fishmongers, processors traders and researchers – can access, as Standard Digital reports.
INNOVATION: Uganda’s tech scene has seen remarkable growth in the last few years – thanks in part to the establishment of tech hubs across the country. Ventures Africa tracks the success of the innovators coming out of this system.
SOLAR: Two jeeps are touring Uganda’s primaries, armed with solar panels and a pop-up classroom, to bring top technology to those schools where lack of electricity has proven a barrier, as the BBC reports.
Meanwhile, in Kampala, the Monitor discovers city beautification initiatives in trouble: newly-installed sun-powered fountains and streetlights are falling victim to thieves, who steal the expensive solar panels.
TELECOMS: According to East African Business Week, not all is rosy for Ugandan telecoms firms. After massive growth in the sector, questions are being raised as to whether enough has been invested in up-scaling the infrastructure. Cable cuts and service interruptions are also on the rise – in part thanks to vandalism and theft.
LANGUAGE: Is English on the wane as Uganda’s dominant language? Uganda has signed the protocol of the East African community adopting Kiswahili as the common tongue. Acting Minister of East African Affairs Shem Bagaine has launched, according to New Vision, the first classes in Kiswahili language training.
TELEMEDICINE: Virtual doctors are having a positive effect on healthcare in remote Karamoja: a new telecentre is allowing faster, more accurate diagnoses of such conditions as advanced AIDS and malaria, which often baffle nurses. AllAfrica continues the story.
