Wrap-Up: Our pick of main stories, Thursday June 4th, 2015

You can now pay cash on Uber Taxis in Nairobi…Government to hire 400 ICT graduates to boost public service delivery…African Union calls for cheaper Internet charges in Kenya…and much more.

You can now pay cash on Uber Taxis in Nairobi

Taxi app Uber has today debuted the cash payment option in Nairobi. Uber customers in Nairobi will now be able to pay cash after using an Uber taxi. Customers will just need to choose the cash payment option and the pay the driver in cash at the end of their trip. Customers can also pay the driver via MPESA but to his personal account. The cash payment option will not be available to all customers in the beginning as Uber are doing a gradual roll out of the feature in the next few weeks.

Government to hire 400 ICT graduates to boost public service delivery

The Government will employ 400 Information, Communication and technology (ICT) fresh graduates by October this year to help drive ICT agenda in public institutions. Information, Communication and Technology Authority board member, Dr Matunda Nyanchama, said the graduates will be employed as management trainees for a period of one year before fully engaged to help enhance service provision at various public departments.

African Union calls for cheaper Internet charges in Kenya

The African Union has urged the Kenya government to reduce the cost of the Internet by cutting that of spectrum. Ms Souhila Amazouz, senior policy officer for radio communications at the union, said the cost of acquiring rights to transmit is still very high in the country and parts of the continent. This has hampered faster and proper connectivity.

“Countries within the continent must lower Internet costs; demand for spectrum is increasing with time and regulation also becomes an issue,” Ms Amazouz said during the 10th African spectrum management workshop in Nairobi Wednesday.

‘Cyberharam’ – can Nigeria prepare for the next generation of terrorists?

As of today, it is unbelievable that only one tertiary institution in Nigeria currently administers cyber security as a course of study. A large proportion of Nigerian PhD holders in Computer Science related courses are not Cyber Security experts. The expertise is lacking and hence a defence strategy cannot work with the status-quo. It is only a vision of cyber-war and cyber-peace that will make the United States embark on a Cambridge Vs. Cambridge cyber challenge; a new competition geared at improving cyber security initiatives between MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Cambridge University in England.

UK firm to boost TCTL’s broadband coverage

UK-based Avanti Communications has signed a new contract with Tanzania Telecommunications Company Ltd (TTCL), for satellite broadband via satellite. The contract will expand TTCL’s high-speed broadband network to customers beyond the reach of the firm’s fiber-optic cable. TTCL is the incumbent national telecoms operator of Tanzania.