| From: Glenn Petersen | 12/17/2022 6:23:04 AM | | | | | | See how Kenya aims to becoming the tech capital of Africa
CHINEDU OKAFOR
Business Insider
December 10, 2022 4:00 PM
Nairobi, Kenya
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-- Kenya recently announced that it will be digitizing all its government records.
-- This digitization is set to be achieved completely by 2027. So far, the government has been able to digitize 350 government services and processes.
Kenya’s adoption of tech is almost unrivaled on the African continent. This is evident by the sheer level of tech investments being poured into the country.
For context, around 90% of Africa’s tech investments are won by four countries and Kenya just happens to be one of them alongside Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt.
The country is very keen on adopting tech solutions and exploring the possibilities within the field, and that's why Kenya has become one of Africa’s tech hotspots.
As a result, even the Kenyan government is getting in on the act. The current administration recently announced that the country would be digitizing its government records, and would be done as early as 2027.
The Cabinet Secretary of the ICT and Digital Economy, Eliud Owalo made the announcement, noting that the government would digitize all its records in the next 5 years.
He also noted during the launch of the innovation exhibition at KICC, Nairobi, that the Kenyan government was working to transform the country into a world-class society and Africa's digital capital.
"The government is investing in the necessary institutions and infrastructure, while also creating enabling policy, legal and regulatory frameworks," Owalo said.
He revealed that the Ministry of ICT has so far digitized 350 government services and processes, and over the next six months, the number will increase to 5,000, which will include digitizing the Cabinet.
In addition this project is open to local and international partners.
"We will be looking forward to Public-Private-Partnerships in the ICT and innovation spaces to address all issues within the tech and innovation ecosystem, including training, talent development, placement and creation of digital jobs," the cabinet secretary said.
This project also touted the expansion of the national fiber optic network by 100,000 km. Owalo stated that the ministry had begun providing government-funded Internet to the public, through state-funded hotspots, and by 2027 they expect to achieve 25,000 of the same.
"These hotspots are going to convert villages and marketplaces into digital hubs," the CS said.
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| From: S. maltophilia | 12/20/2022 1:23:22 PM | | | | | | So, unfortunately, it’s time for another one of these. By which I mean both a “ [Country], you were doing so well!” post, and a “ Why [country] is having an economic crisis” post. I thought Ghana was going to be one of my development success stories, and then before I got around to writing about, its economy went into a crisis. The basic story here is that Ghana just defaulted on most of its external debt, and is experiencing very high inflation, and is going to have to be bailed out by the IMF. That’s going to result in financial and economic chaos in the country, a year or two of depressed economic activity, and hardship for the Ghanaian people.
I’m sure Ghana will eventually bounce back. And as I’ll explain, when we look at the particulars of how this crisis has played out, we see that the government is being smarter than many. But overall this is pretty disappointing. So first I’ll talk a bit about why it’s so disappointing, and then move on to the crisis itself.
Why Ghanaian development is important
Obviously Ghana’s development is most important to the ~32 million people who actually live in Ghana. But it’s also important in the broader context of African development, because it’s one of the leading candidates to become the “first mover” in the region.
Africa is really, really poor. Not just compared to rich countries like the U.S., but compared to other developing regions. In 1990, fewer than 1 out of every 7 people living on less than $2.15 a day (the poorest of the poor) lived in Sub-Saharan Africa; by 2019, it was 3 out of 5.....
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| From: S. maltophilia | 4/11/2023 12:32:40 PM | | | | | | His grip on power is nearly unassailable. Since becoming president over two decades ago, he has extended constitutional term limits, shut down the free press and clamped down on dissent. Reporters have been driven into exile, even killed; opposition figures have been imprisoned or found dead. His country has been reduced to tyranny.
But this dictator isn’t a pariah, like Vladimir Putin of Russia or Bashar al-Assad of Syria. Instead, he’s one of the West’s best and most reliable friends: Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda. Since coming to power in 1994, Mr. Kagame has won his way into the West’s good graces. He’s been invited to speak — on human rights, no less — at universities such as Harvard, Yale........
nytimes.com |
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| From: S. maltophilia | 9/30/2023 1:03:28 PM | | | | | | The Gamble: Can Genetically Modified Mosquitoes End Disease?
Working on a remote island, scientists think they can use genetic engineering to block a malaria-carrying species of mosquito from spreading the disease — and do it in just a few months. But governments are wary.
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they moved the scientists one step closer to their goal: replacing the mosquitoes that live here now with ones they have genetically modified so that they can no longer transmit the malaria parasite.
Their idea is to release a small colony of genetically modified mosquitoes, just the way they did with the green-dusted ones, to mate with wild ones. The gene engineering technology they are using could, in just a few generations — a matter of months when it comes to mosquitoes — make every member of the species that transmits malaria here, the Anopheles coluzzii, effectively immune to the parasite.
This team, working with a project called the University of California Malaria......
nytimes.com
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