Ghana’s Police Threaten Social Media Blackout (feat. Stephen van Coller)

So, turns out Ghana’s top cop— Inspector General of Police John Kudalor thinks that blocking social media access across the country might be necessary to ensure Ghana’s national security on election day in November 2016.

Mr Kudalor reckons that Ghana might do well to learn from the example set by other countries on the continent and around the world that have take similar steps in the recent past— Uganda no doubt being top of mind.

I sense that the Inspector General’s comments might have been made to test public sentiment on the issue ahead of the polls. However, if the chill I’m picking up on Twitter is anything to go by, Ghanaians don’t seem to be terribly concerned at the prospect of having to survive 24 hours or so without access to Facebook and Twitter come November 7th. Ah, well…

Meanwhile, in place of our discussion segment on the African Tech Round-up this week, we feature part of a recent in-depth conversation I had with Stephen van Coller, who is the Chief Executive for Corporate and Investment Banking at Barclays Africa.

Listen in to hear Stephen tell me how Barclays Plc’s imminent plans to shed its investments in Africa will impact the business he runs, and why he is confident that fintech startups on the continent will never completely disrupt incumbents within the financial services industry.

Bonus: Look out for a comment made by Nigeria’s leading podcaster, Andre Blaze Henshaw, on why he reckons that podcasting as a medium is likely to be a big deal in the media scene of the future.

First published in AfricanTechRoundup.com

Are Kenya And Ethiopia Violating Citizens’ Privacy?

Many people are conflicted about the need for “cyber mercenaries” like Hacking Team to exist. Blind idealism might contend that it is simply not right for corporatised hacking syndicates with dodgy ethical standards to secretly assist government intelligence agencies (and well-heeled private clients) to snoop on targets.

However, living in a world where the modern wonders of the internet and mobile devices are harnessed to conduct criminal activities in increasingly devious ways may demand that we hold a far more pragmatic attitude towards the need for “hackers for hire” firms to stay in business.

This week, iAfrikan Startups Editor and Content Producer for the African Tech Round-up, Peter Peele joins me to discuss how Kenya and Ethiopia have been implicated in Hacking Team’s recent embarrassing hacking incident, and explain how the alleged incompetence of those countries’ intelligence officials– as evidenced in leaked documents archived on WikiLeaks, could mean that companies like Hacking Team will not be short of clients any time soon.

As always, be sure to catch up on all the weeks biggest digital, tech and innovation news from across the African continent:

• Get an update on the headcount at PRASA in the wake of the company’s multi-million dollar locomotive procurement scandal,
• Find out which three big international players have announced major plays for Africa’s growing money remittance and online payments market,
• Discover which recent infrastructural development at SEACOM has led to their claim of being Africa’s leading “telecom enabler and network provider”, and what has given rise to Liquid Telecoms promising its clients “near 100 percent server uptime at much faster speeds than any other ISP in Africa”,
• Learn more about the Nigerian government’s new SIM card registration rules– aimed at curbing fraud, and
• Get the low-low on which African countries Vodafone services never ask them to intercept communications either for for law enforcement or national security purposes?