Media, Internet, and Technology

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On 4 January 2015, India’s Acting High Commissioner in Nigeria, Kaisar Alam, announced that the Indian commission is facilitating a partnership between Nollywood (Nigeria’s movie industry) and Bollywood (India’s movie industry).  Mr Alam noted that the two industries contribute greatly to their respective countries’ gross domestic product and stated that “India can use its more…

Today, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights issued its judgment on the landmark freedom of speech case, Lohé Issa Konaté v. Burkina Faso.  In a major victory for media and human rights organizations in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Court “has ruled that imprisonment for defamation violates the right to freedom of expression…

Although it groups the African region within its “Rest of World” operating segment, Facebook’s attention to — and resulting successes on — the continent indicate that Africa has the potential to play a significant role in the company’s future.

This month, Facebook reached 100 million active users in Africa, a figure that represents half of…

As various African countries seek to engage their sizeable youth populations, this human capital investment will prove as important as the other types of investments being made on the continent.  The e-Curriculum portal in Nigeria demonstrates how the public and private sector can work together to ensuring that these youth have the skills needed to…

Similar to the growing U.S. interest in exploring civilian uses of unmanned aircraft systems (“UAS”), efforts are underway across the African continent to deploy UAS in innovative ways such as protecting wildlife, expanding internet connectivity to isolated communities, and delivering humanitarian aid.  In Kenya, Dickens Olewe and his African SkyCAM project is…

One of the most effective and innovative uses of mobile technology in recent years has been in the delivery of government services.  Yesterday, during the Corporate Council on Africa’s “Leading the Way in U.S.-Africa Investment” program, the Nigerian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dr. Akinwumi Adesina detailed how mobile technology has been used to…

Electrical and electronic waste (“e-waste”), which includes discarded technology equipment and parts, contains contaminants that are hazardous to human health and the environment.  E-waste management is a growing concern for a number of African countries which, in addition to generating e-waste domestically, also receive millions of tons of (often illegally) exported foreign e-waste.  In…

There are many significant aspects to the recent recalculation of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which has nearly doubled in size to become the largest economy on the African continent.  It is worth noting that the country’s film industry, known as Nollywood, had not previously registered statistically. According to the new calculation, it now…