#AfricaCom: Day two highlights
At the Connecting Africa stage, Eva Andren, vice president and head of managed services - market area Middle East & Africa Ericsson, talked about the power of connectivity in Africa. She shared more about Ericsson's journey in Africa an how the company is utilising the power of internet connectivity in making people's lives better.
Some examples included the use of technology and connectivity in fighting the Ebola virus where Ericsson supplied about 1000 phones to affected areas. These phones were programmed with applications to assist and guide health professionals on the ground.
Then there's also the impact of education. The company provides teachers in rural and underserved communities with suitcases containing various technology and equipment to assist them in educating people and even reach out to larger groups outside of the immediate community.
The power of technology is massive.
Yaron Tchwella, senior vice president, sales and marketing at Global IP took to the stage with his presentation 'Revolutionising the way the internet is utilised in Africa'. He says Global IP's offering includes commitment to the region, capacity, coverage, and cost savings.
In the IoT Africa track, Phathizwe Malinga, executive director of SqwidNet shared thoughts on 'Keeping it real, asset-based view of IoT'. His presentation showed how IoT can support businesses and he elaborated on the idea of omni-channel applications to group certain assets together.
A panel discussion between Raj Wanniappa, CEO and founder of Future Horizon Technologies, Gavin McDougall, senior solution architect at Red Hat, and Ehizogie Binitie from Clearspace Labs touched saw each panel member identify and discuss their three major trends driving IoT innovation.
Some announcements on the day included Angola Cables expanding its operations in South Africa. It expects to establish a Point of Presence (PoP) in Cape Town before the end of the year.
Eutelsat Communications and Sigfox Foundation announced a partnership on the "Now Rhinos Speak" project for the protection of the endangered rhinoceros population.
Truecaller revealed it will be setting up headquarters in the region and hire key personals for its operations. It also launched its developer program with Truecaller SDK, its mobile identity product for digital startups and app developers, and announced that it will be doubling down on its monetisation initiative in South Africa.
A new Express Wi-Fi by Facebook partnership with Tizeti in Nigeria joins Surf in Kenya and Coollink in Nigeria - all aimed at enabling more communities to connect to the internet easily and for an affordable rate.
The day was ended off with the announcement of all the AfricaCom Awards winners.
Get all the #AfricaCom coverage in our special section, sponsored by Macrocomm.
