As Vuma begins the expansion of its initiative to provide schools with free internet, the company has successfully launched the Free Fibre to Schools programme in Limpopo, South Africa.

Before now, primary and secondary schools situated along Polokwane have been provided with a free 1Gbps fibre line. Polokwane is home to one of Vuma’s fibre deployment infrastructure; thus, making it easy to supply schools in the area with fast fibre internet.

Already, Adsum Academy alongside Laerskool Pietersburg – Oos are beneficiaries of this initiative. Both institutions received fibre installations, and connections with Capricom and the initiative promises to connect more schools shortly.

Recently, Vuma welcomed the fibre-to-home service in Polokwane, and this led to the launch of the free fibre internet in Limpopo. Currently, Vuma’s fibre connections are active in areas like Bendor, Flaura park, Welgelegen, Annadale, Fauna Park, and Sterpark.

The CEO of Vuma, Dietlof Mare says, ‘’Fast fibre internet is the solution to reliable and efficient e-learning experience. Although the fibre internet initiative is still in the early stages of adoption in the country. South Africa is privileged for the steps taken to make fibre technology a reality over the last decade,’’

In partnership with internet service providers in its network, Vuma started the Fibre to Schools programme with Parkhurst Primary School, Hoerskool Linden, and Greenside High back in 2016. Since then, over 380 schools across Johannesburg, Durban, Ekurhuleni, and Cape Town have been connected to the service.

For schools to benefit from this initiative, the school must be registered with either the Independent Examinations Board or the Department of Basic Education.

With a rapid and reliable fibre connectivity, schools are given the opportunity to equip learning environments with smart devices and platforms that ensure learners have access to relevant e-learning opportunities without interruption.

Recently, the South African arm of Hewlett Packard Enterprises appointed two persons to fill up roles at the sales and distribution team. The company selected Tumi Kgonare and Sandile Dube as its new Distribution Team Head and Sales and Channel Manager respectively.

The Enterprise stated that these appointments are to cushion and reinforce HPE’s support in the local market while providing channel partners with their services.

With more than 30 years of combined experience in marketing, channel and distribution, product management, and various ICT roles, Kgonare and Dube bring with them a wealth of industry knowledge.

In a statement, Kgonare commented on her new role; she says she is happy to be the head of the Enterprise’s technology innovation team.

‘’I feel extremely fortunate to be selected for this position in such an exciting time for enterprise technology. I am passionate about my job and look forward to growing our distribution business, especially in the SMB market.’’

Before HPE, Dube was the sales head for Britehouse, a division of Dimension Data Middle East of Africa.

‘’Going forward, I hope to continue building on HPE’s ethos by reinforcing a culture of accountability and ownership,’’ said Dube.

Mipango Fintech just launched a new app that will provide Tanzanians with free personal financial management.

The app is a personal finance mobile application that allows users to monitor and manage their income, expenses, financial targets, help and offerings, and savings. It makes use of Artificial Intelligence to guide users to better financial management towards attaining financial freedom.

The Mipango app operates in Swahili and aims at supporting Tanzanians in managing their expenses and also provides them with the opportunity to set up budgets, analyze their costs, and track their financial life.

In a statement, co-founder of Mipango Fintech, Lilian Makoi said, financial literacy is a crucial gap in the growth of this market. A more significant percentage of Tanzanian adults do not keep track of their expenses and have no financial goals. This leads the majority to abject poverty as they engage in lousy debt practices.

The company aims to change the way the citizens of Tanzania relate to money by launching this application. Apart from the tracking of the user’s income and expenses, the app will also help users manage loans and provide them with access to relevant investment opportunities.

‘’The company expects to have more than 1 million downloads within the first twelve months of launch,’’ Lilian added.

‘’This launch has three features. Create your financial profile, set up your monthly budget, and record your daily to monthly expenses. With swift access to your financial data, you should be in more control of your finances than before,’’ says Chris Rabi, Mipango Fintech co-founder.

During the virtual launch of the NCC’s five-year strategic plan in Abuja, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ibrahim Pantami, stated that the new Strategic Management Plan (SMP) by the Nigerian Communications Commission would be a pedestal to drive the execution of the Federal Government’s digital economy vision.

The event was held virtually in compliance with the Federal Government’s directive on social distancing. Present at the launch was a few officials from the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, critical stakeholders in the telecoms sector, and members of the Nigerian Communications Commission.

In the Honorable Minister’s statement, he mentioned that the launch of the SMP showed the Commission’s effort in fast-tracking the implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy and the National Broadband Plan (NBP) of the Federal Government.

‘’The launch of the SMP is a clear indication that the Nigerian Communications Commission is undergoing great improvement and I’m excited about that,’’ he added.

Earlier, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, said the SMP is the corner-stone that will aid the NCC in driving its telecom regulatory mandate in the telecoms industry.

The SMP (2020 – 2024) is the strategy the Commission is looking to put in place for the planning, monitoring, assessment, and analysis of its set goals and objectives.

This SMP has five pillars and 25 intended outcomes. The pillars include; regulatory excellence, market development, universal broadband, strategic partnering, and development of the digital economy.

The Chairman of Senate Committee on Communications, Senator Oluremi Tinubu who was represented by the Senator Obinna Agbo praised the Commission for its outstanding performance so far. He wished the Commission great success in implementing the Strategic Management Plan.