In this second edition of HubFocus, we talk to Barrett Nash, co-founder of the Creative Entropy Lab. The CE Lab is based in Kigali, Rwanda, and is motivated by its founders’ commitment to “positively working towards a global equality of opportunity”. Nash and fellow co-founder Pedro Reyonolds-Cuéllar are looking to create “something organic that evolves, able to positively iterate on creative ideas from anyone […]
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ICTrees
In the popular imagination, “desertification” in the Sahara conjures up an image of inexorable walls of sand advancing, as the climate warms, southwards into the Sahel. In reality, the situation is more complex. Climate change does have an impact on land degradation in the semi-arid belt that skirts the desert: but it is only part of the picture. Global warming increases the frequency of […]
Dynamic low-cost mobiles give African entrepreneurs access to training
Imagine you are a young entrepreneur in East Africa and have a great idea for a start-up, but don’t know how to implement it. A little training would help and probably be even more effective combined with a loan or a grant. You live near Mount Kenya, 150 kilometres northeast of Nairobi, and cannot afford to commute. This is where your trusty mobile phone […]
Information is the major driver in development
The Yazmi story starts with two satellites, in orbit above Africa and Asia, originally used to broadcast radio across the Eastern hemisphere. It is in these two satellites that company Chairman and CEO Noah Samara has found a solution to one of education’s major global problems: that of delivering quality content and information where it is most needed. “The problem is not the organisation […]
ICT builds bridges
The morning’s catch of fish has been heaped up to roast on a griddle over an open fire. Smoke rises, filling the hut. Daniel, a member of the Ago-Egun fishing community in Ajeromi Ifelodun, Lagos, gets out his phone and starts making calls: he needs to tell his many customers that the fish are nearly done. In a business like fishing communication is vital. […]
Julius Caesar in Africa – ICT helps reinvent Shakespearean drama
Tech-savvy students at Leqele High School in Maseru, the capital of the mountainous kingdom of Lesotho, are using ICT to revolutionise their English literature classes. Their adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar in an African setting is making literature more enjoyable and accessible for everyone. by Pauline Bugler Opening up the centuries-old drama to students was proving a complex task. The archaic […]
Electrifying Uganda
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 […]
Origami meets microscopy
In this week’s Uganda News Review, find out about the dangers of high-tech crops and the blessings of low-tech health equipment, and how Uganda is planning to boost science teaching, libraries and eLearning. All this – and one reason why you’re never too old for school – read on… Uganda News in brief: Civil society activists petition the Constitutional court over anti-gays bill (Monitor) […]
The World Wide Web at 25: how Africa connects
Today marks 25 years exactly since Tim Berners-Lee first proposed the concept of the World Wide Web. To celebrate the News Team has put together this infographic showing the major arteries of Internet communication that (alongside satellite links) give Africa access to the Web, and the effect they have on the countries they serve. The story of Africa’s undersea cables goes back fifteen years. […]
UAVs with ISPs
This week, find out about what drones could do for internet in Africa and the image makeover needed in technical colleges. Meanwhile, rivalry with neighbour Kenya seems to be all the rage in Uganda’s printed media – see how the two countries compare on higher education and on tourism, below… Uganda news in brief: M7 and PM Mbabazi relations reach all-time low (Observer) ++++ […]