In Africa’s top tech news this week, we look at headlines like flying cars coming to Kenya soon, a partnership between UNICEF, Nokia and Safaricom to boost internet connectivity for primary schools, applications for the Wazo challenge are now open and more.
Kenya Airways Signs Deal to Launch Flying Taxis in Nairobi: Kenya Airways has signed an agreement with Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer to launch flying taxis in the capital city of Nairobi in a move aimed at spearheading this transport innovation in the market. According to Business Daily, the vehicles are expected to cut travel time from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to Nairobi’s city centre down to just six minutes.
Nokia, Safaricom and UNICEF connect more primary schools to the Internet across Kenya: Nokia has come together with multiple stakeholders, including Safaricom, UNICEF and the Kenyan Ministries of Education and ICT, to connect close to 90 schools to the Internet in Kenya.
Both rural and disadvantaged urban settlements have benefitted from the initiative, which also supports digitization and digital literacy. The initiative aims to ‘connect the unconnected’, with the ultimate goal of supporting the Kenyan Government’s plans to scale broadband connection to all schools by 2030.
Jumia Partners with SolarTaxi to Provide Eco-Friendly Deliveries to Ghanaians: One of Africa’s largest and most ubiquitous e-Commerce platforms, Jumia has partnered with Accra-based eco-friendly mobility facilities company SolarTaxi to provide affordable and eco-friendly delivery of online orders to consumers. Jumia says that the new partnership further speaks of the company’s commitment to going green.
Kenya and South Africa top targeted African countries by malware attacks, Kaspersky: South Africa and Kenya are the most targeted African countries by malware attacks. This is according to a new report by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky. The report, which was released today revealed that malware is rife across Africa with various countries exhibiting strong growth in all malware types in the first half of 2021 when compared to the same period last year.
Applications open for Wazo Challenge East Africa: The Wazo Challenge East Africa is aimed at 18-to-30-year-old entrepreneurs from 19 countries across the UN-designated Eastern Africa region, and is open to startups that are leveraging technology and building innovative and scalable solutions across financial services, healthcare, agriculture, energy and education.
Read more: Week 30: African tech news in the region and on the continent
Read more: Week 31: Africa’s tech news this week