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LATEST TECH NEWS: 5 things you need to know today, March 19, 2020

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LATEST TECH NEWS: 5 things you need to know today, March 10, 2020

These 5 latest stories from the tech space will keep you updated with trends today.

1. Villgro Kenya awards $20,000 each to 3 East African tech startups

East Africa’s impact investor and business incubator, Villgro Kenya has awarded $20,000 each in grant funding to three tech-driven innovative health startups operating within the geopolitical reach. Although, launched by an Indian-based health support initiative Villgro Innovations Foundation, the organisation has since 2017 been playing supportive roles in funding early-stage businesses in East Africa’s healthcare and life sciences sector.

In the new $60,000 funding package, 2 of the benefiting startups (Wekebere and A-lite) are based in Uganda while the other startup (Kijenzi) completing the pack is based in Kenyan, the East African seat of the award sponsors. According to Villgro, its vision is to work with early-stage for-profit social enterprises that have an impact on the lives of the poor, incubating companies in sectors such as education, health, energy and agriculture.

2. Further shutdown hits South Africa’s telecoms sector as coronavirus persists

Communications regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has suspended all public hearings until further notice given the due worsening coronavirus outbreak in South Africa. The regulatory body has also suspended all local and international business flights for staff until at least 17 April and barring visitors from its Centurion, Pretoria offices.

According to reports from South Africa, henceforth, only essential domestic air travel will be considered for approval on a case-by-case basis. Accordingly, all employees who have travelled to and entered South Africa from high-risk countries since mid-February have been asked to present themselves for testing.

Read also: LATEST TECH NEWS: 5 things you need to know today, March 18, 2020

3. Opportunities open up for Design Innovation Seed Fund

The Western Cape-based Craft and Design Institute (CDI) has opened applications for another edition of its Design Innovation Seed Fund, calling on designers, inventors, entrepreneurs and product developers based in the Western Cape to pitch in their ideas. According to the team, selected brands can access grant funding up to R800 000 which approximates to $50, 000.

The CDI’s seed fund is aimed at supporting designers, inventors, entrepreneurs and product developers who have pre-revenue innovative technologies and tech-enabled ideas and products. The institute, hereby, looks out for applications that support innovative products and services from a wide range of sectors, to include agri-processing, biotech and health, construction, advanced manufacturing technology, ICT (information, communication technology) and software engineering (such as data analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence).

4. South Africa’s I/T company Contactable attracts undisclosed investment from equity investors

Contactable, founded by Shaun Strydom, has rounded a fresh undisclosed investment from two former Dimension Data executives -Allan Cawood and Scott Gibson. While Cawood’s investment was reportedly via his private equity company, Mast Capital; Gibson’s cut was made in his personal capacity.

Shaun Strydom’s Pretoria-based firm has been gaining momentum since 2009 when it first launched. Today, the company review shows it has a cloud-based platform that assists corporates with the safe and secure handling of the digital identity of their clients, particularly when it comes to the on-boarding of customers. The new development has also led both investors to join the board of the company with Gabson taken up the role of Chief Commercial Officer.

5. Facebook to disburse $1000 stipend as COVID-19 employee allowance

Facebook has announced it will pay a $1,000 bonus to every employee, going forward to become one of the first big tech companies to offer its employees an added stipend aimed at helping them in the period of the coronavirus outbreak. According to Mark Zuckerberg, the company intends to support employees working remotely because of the pandemic.

Facebook has, however, cleared the air that this $1000 stipend goes to full-time staff and not contract 3rd party staff officers of Facebook. In Facebook’s explanation, “the $1,000 is for full-time employees who are working from home. For contract workers, we (Facebook) are sending them home and paying them in full even if they are unable to work, which is much more meaningful than a one off payment.”

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