Independent News Express

Category: Science & Discovery

  • African Academy of Sciences Conference charts new path for continental scientific renaissance

    African Academy of Sciences Conference charts new path for continental scientific renaissance

    The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) 15th Bi-Annual General Assembly and Scientific Conference opened with powerful calls for African scientific sovereignty and renewed investment in the continent’s research capabilities.

    The four-day event, themed “Empowering and Advancing Africa’s Scientific Enterprise,” features prominent voices in African science and development policy.

    The 15th Bi-annual General Assembly and Scientific Conference was held in Abuja, Nigeria, from December 9–12, 2024.

    In opening remarks, Professor Kevin Chika Urama, Chief Economist and Vice President of the African Development Bank Group, highlighted Africa’s rich scientific heritage while emphasizing the urgent need for reform in how the continent approaches scientific enterprise.

    “Africa had great beginnings in shaping global science and technology,” Professor Urama noted, citing historical achievements from early toolmaking to astronomical observations. “However, the current state of STI in Africa raises many questions. Less than 1 percent of all patents granted worldwide in 2023 were for African individuals or enterprises.”

    The conference comes at a crucial time, with AAS President Professor Lise Korsten reporting a 135% increase in African scientific publications between 2014 and 2022. Despite this progress, Urama emphasized several substantial challenges facing the continent.

    He pointed to the continued marginalization of African scientific knowledge and voice in global discourse, coupled with the persistent underfunding of research institutions. Most African countries still fall short of the African Union’s 1% GDP investment target for Research and Development. The situation is further complicated by significant brain drain, with annual losses of approximately $2 billion in the health sector alone in the continent, according to the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.

    Urama explored strategies to enhance the productivity and relevance of Africa’s scientific enterprise to Africa’s development. He emphasized the importance of restoring confidence in African science and scientists while accelerating public and private investments in R&D and scientific infrastructure to enhance factor productivity in Africa. His recommendations include reforming monetary and fiscal policies to make scientific investments more attractive, reorienting research toward practical solutions for African development challenges, leveraging brain circulation and international partnerships, and mobilizing domestic savings and capital for science and innovation.

    AAS Secretary-General Professor Friday Okonofua emphasized the conference’s comprehensive approach to rebranding the Academy and enhancing its impact on Africa’s development.

    “Together we can make African Scientists work for Africa’s development,” Urama concluded, emphasizing the need for Africa to build its scientific and technological capabilities to avoid remaining “an impoverished appendage to the global economy.”

  • Navigating Change And Fostering Collaboration With Raykis

    Navigating Change And Fostering Collaboration With Raykis

    Change is inevitable in the business world, and organisations must be prepared to navigate it effectively. However, managing change and fostering collaboration can be daunting tasks without the right tools and strategies in place.

    This is where Raykis comes in. Graham Williams, CEO of Raykis, explains: “The Raykis blueprint, strategically aligned with the overarching vision and mission, empowers all levels of management to navigate change effectively.” By providing teams with access to contextual intelligence, Raykis enables organisations to adapt to external factors while maintaining strategic focus.

    Furthermore, with the advancements of AI technologies, Raykis enhances its capability to manage change seamlessly. AI algorithms analyse vast amounts of data to provide real-time insights and predictive analytics, enabling organisations to anticipate change, identify potential risks, and proactively implement strategies to mitigate their impact. This AI-driven approach ensures that organisations can navigate change with agility and precision, staying ahead of the curve in an ever-evolving business landscape.

    Raykis facilitates collaboration and problem-solving on defined goals, improving confidence to embrace changes within the market. Workspaces within Raykis create focus for business teams, ensuring that objectives are strategically aligned through the alignment tree. These capabilities empower organisations to react faster to competition and external factors, providing a structured and agile approach to management in the face of uncertainty.

    In essence, Raykis is a powerful tool to navigate change and foster collaboration within organisations. By providing teams with the insights and resources they need to work together towards common goals, Raykis helps organisations stay ahead of the curve in an ever-evolving business landscape.

    The Raykis team of experts would welcome the opportunity to show you how Raykis can help your business utilise contextual intelligence to inform and empower its strategy. For a demo contact [email protected].

  • Nigerian Student’s Water App Wins At Xylem Ignite Global Student Innovation Challenge

    Nigerian Student’s Water App Wins At Xylem Ignite Global Student Innovation Challenge

    More people understand the value of saving money or planning groceries than conserving water. But a new app concept from Prosper Ukachi, who hails from Abuja, Nigeria, could change our perception about looking after water. His work has since been recognised in the Xylem Ignite Global Student Innovation Challenge.

    Prosper and his team collaborator, Gabriel Portas from Spain, developed a prototype phone app called BlueHub. This innovative application helps people calculate how much water they potentially use, then provides numerous ways to reduce their water usage, gain awards, and connect with other water-conscious people.

    “The UK’s environmental agencies estimate that people there waste up to three billion litres each day! Much of that is lost through simple things like inefficient handwashing. We created this app to encourage individuals to conserve water by observing how their behaviours affect water and by providing them with actions to follow to enhance water conservation,” says Prosper.

    BlueHub combines conversational information with a handy usage calculator. Users can answer a few basic questions to calculate their average water usage. The app then provides the means to track consumption and reduce usage. It also provides ways to connect to others through forums and direct private messages, enabling them to create water-saving communities. Using gamification, the app rewards participants for improving their water usage, and they receive push notifications of their achievements that they can share with others.

    This app concept would go on to win one of the categories in the Xylem Ignite Global Student Innovation Challenge. This annual competition invites students worldwide to submit projects that help conserve water. Students from all expertise levels competed for eight cash prizes from the US$20,000 prize pool, including US$5,000 grand prizes for the top secondary (high school) and tertiary (university) projects.

    Facing tough competition, BlueApp went on to win the Awareness to Action category for tertiary student projects. It is a big moment for Prosper, who is highly ambitious and lives by his personal slogan, “Data, Education and Integrity. That sums me up!”

    Prosper was studying civil engineering at a private University in Nigeria but had to drop out due to a family tragedy. However, this did not stop him from acquiring more knowledge and achieving certifications in technology courses. His drive for knowledge and betterment created the insight and connections to participate in the challenge, collaborating with Gabriel, based in Spain. Prosper is currently volunteering as an intern Marketing Officer, and he has established skills in business administration, leadership, people management, active listening, customer research and project management.

    This win proves that anyone can succeed if they put their mind to the task, and that no obstacle in life is so big that we should give up. The same message resonates with water conservation. The world faces enormous challenges around its most precious resource. Without water, there is no life. Unfortunately, our wasteful and polluting habits are pushing water ecosystems to the brink.

    The BlueHub app is a shining light, showing how to bring more people to appreciate water conservation. Prosper’s story is also an excellent example for Africa’s people, showing how combining technology, ambition, and knowledge can help solve the continent’s biggest challenges.

    “We are very proud of the work done by Prosper and his teammate, Gabriel. It’s exciting that a solution that initially targets the UK was developed here in Africa. That shows that with the right mindset and resources, we can tackle problems as well as any other part of the world,” says Chetan Mistry, Xylem Africa’s Strategy and Marketing Manager.

    Xylem Ignite Global Student Innovation Challenge

    Students aged 13 to 25 create projects that tackle one of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges: water. This 8-week virtual #hackathon offered access to informative webinars and mentoring by leading water experts to develop projects addressing issues such as the water impact of Green Hydrogen production, the Water Energy Emissions nexus in the built environment, and waterways pollution. Participants also have the opportunity to develop water awareness content to further drive engagement on the ‘Water Heroes Hub’ platform.

  • Liquid Dataport Launches First Terrestrial Data Superhighway Tech In South Africa

    BY GBADAMOSI ABIODUN ABDULLAHI

    Liquid Dataport, a business of Cassava Technologies, a pan-African technology group, today announced it has launched the first terrestrial fibre connecting Mombasa to Johannesburg.

    This new route, including a breakthrough and unique fibre link across DRC between Goma and Kananga, provides multiple landlocked countries with extra redundancy, resilience, connectivity to numerous data centres and cloud resources, and, most significantly, an alternative option in the event of a subsea cable outage between Kenya and South Africa.

    “Cassava Technologies is committed to making digital inclusion a reality on the African continent. This milestone achieved by Liquid Dataport reiterates our commitment to a digitally connected future that leaves no African behind through our continuous investments towards improving and expanding our digital infrastructure. This route will not only bring increased access to high-speed connectivity, but will also improve lives and allow businesses to create and sustain millions of jobs,” says Hardy Pemhiwa, President and Group CEO of Cassava Technologies.

    The exponential demand for connectivity directly results from the increasing adoption of digital technologies by enterprises across the continent. Consequently, there is an urgent need for service providers and international carriers like Liquid Dataport to cater to this growing demand seamlessly. This route that will connect South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the DRC is yet another testament to Liquid Dataport’s commitment to improving access to digital services for everyone in Africa dramatically. 

    Commenting on the launch of this new route, David Eurin, CEO of Liquid Dataport, said, “This is the first terrestrial-only cable connecting Mombasa to Johannesburg via DRC. It is the result of our significant fibre infrastructure investments in several countries, including Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, DRC, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. With this new route, we are able to provide our existing and future customers access to an intelligent network with increased resilience and low latency. It not only provides redundancy but was designed to provide additional capacity to the landlocked countries on the route with direct access to cloud resources on the African continent and beyond”.

    This route offers hyperscalers, enterprises and wholesale carriers direct connectivity to data centres in Johannesburg and Nairobi. Investments on the Equiano Sea cable and significant capacity on the PEACE and 2Africa undersea fibre cables together with its extensive terrestrial cross-border fibre brodband network ensures that Liquid’s customers benefit from low-cost international capacity landing on both the Kenyan and South African shores wherever they need it on the Continent. 

  • KamaPay To Showcase Cross-Border Payment Solutions At GITEX Africa 2023

    BY DOSUNMU BOLUWATIFE EZEKIEL

    KamaPay, will be participating in the highly anticipated GITEX Africa 2023, taking place from 31 May – 2 June 2023 at Bab Jdid, Boulevard Al Yarmouk, Marrakech.

    GITEX Africa 2023 brings together industry leaders, researchers, and technology enthusiasts from around the globe. By taking part in this prestigious event, KamaPay seeks to further solidify its position and forge valuable partnerships with key stakeholders within the global technology community.

    KamaPay, a fast-growing fintech company, launched its revolutionary payment solution for Africa in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, and Togo earlier this year with the aim to change the way individuals and businesses make cross-border payments in Africa. KamaPay’s solutions make it faster, easier, and more convenient to send and receive money, pay bills, and conduct business, locally and internationally.

    “We are thrilled to be launching KamaPay in Africa,” said Elie Zoghaib, COO of KamaPay. “Our goal is to provide a payment solution that meets the needs of businesses and individuals across the continent, from the bustling cities to the remote villages. With KamaPay, we aim to make payments as easy as sending a text message.”

    KamaPay’s platform offers four payment solutions. KamaPortal is an online payment processing platform that enables businesses to accept customer payments using debit and credit cards. KamaWallet is a mobile wallet that allows individuals to make payments directly from their e-wallets for goods and services, and businesses to collect and send payments online via Mobile Money to more than 25 countries in Africa. KamaLink is a platform that allows sellers to accept online payments without a payment gateway or merchant account. KamaCash is an electronic voucher system that enables clients to easily generate, design, and issue digital coupons or e-vouchers.

    KamaPay’s solutions are fast, efficient, and cost-effective, enabling businesses to streamline payment processes and improve results. The platform is built on cutting-edge technology and offers a simple and intuitive user interface, with features such as digital wallets, payment gateway, bill payments, recurring payments, payment links, POS, loyalty program, and many more.

    The company aims to delight its customers through its value-add based offering, which caters to scalable business models and provides high-value features such as Mobile Money coverage in more than 25 countries in Africa, quick integration, fast disbursements to sellers, 24/7 customer support, secure payments through local and international bank cards, Mobile Money and e-wallets as well as customized and detailed reporting and analytics.

    “Although an emerging market, entering and conducting business in Africa remains a challenge for many international and regional companies,” said Elie Zoghaib, COO of KamaPay. “Our solutions allow businesses to establish a solid presence in Africa, reach over 1.4 billion Africans, reduce costs and delays, manage legal obstacles, and adapt to local payment systems. We are thrilled to bring this innovative solution to Africa, and we are excited to witness the positive impact it will have on businesses and the fintech landscape.”

    With an extensive experience of over 20 years in the African market and a team of highly skilled professionals, KamaPay is in a great position to revolutionize the way people make payments in Africa. The company is experiencing rapid growth and plans to launch operations in 15 African countries by June 2023 and further expand to 30 countries by the end of the year.