According to an advert on the official twitter handle of Joy News and Adom TV on Sunday, 29th July 2018, members of ICGC who are unable to attend church on Sundays can pay their offering through the online bill payment platform – ExpressPay. (more…)
Several nations have already drawn their plans and reports on Artificial Intelligence(AI), Canada first published its AI plan in March 2017. China later published its detailed AI plan, A Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan in July 2017 where they outlined initiatives and goals to become equal to other AI powerhouses by 2020, lead the world in some aspects of AI by 2025 and entirely dominate as the primary centre for AI innovation by 2030.
Other nations and bodies have reacted by drawing theirs since then, among them are France, UAE, South Korea, India, EU, Germany, Mexico, Australia and the USA. In just 17 months, at least 23 nations and bodies have published some form of plan for AI development. Kenya and Tunisia are the only nations from Africa among them with any attempt towards developing an AI plan.
The importance of such AI plans lies in the power that AI currently has and would have on the future. AI would add $15.7 trillion to the Global Economy by 2030 and potentially increase labour productivity by up to 40% by 2035. AI also has the potential to double the economy of a nation like the USA (GDP: 18.57 trillion) in just 20 years. This has led to the AI Race among nations. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin recently said “Artificial intelligence is the future, not only for Russia, but for all humankind, It comes with colossal opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world.”
It’s important for Africa to start planning now towards an AI future. Developing Economies like ours are the most threatened by such developments when not addressed properly. For example, a report recently showed automation technologies could perform 65% of the jobs in Nigeria, 67% of the jobs in South Africa and 85% of the jobs in Ethiopia by 2030, compared to 35% and 47% of the UK and USA, respectively.
Even if we fail to locally develop AI systems, just like Africa consumes software and services from America like Facebook or Google, institutions in Africa would end up as consumers for foreign AI systems and we would all just be data points. In the long run, when the world starts approaching the Post-Work era due to high levels of automation and many countries begin implementing systems such as Universal Basic Income (UBI) by heavily taxing AI and Automation companies, we would likely be left even poorer and incapable of implementing such social safety nets since there aren’t enough local AI companies to tax.
The recent most complete GDP of the whole Africa (excluding Eritrea and Western Sahara) was $2.74 trillion which was less than that of France in that same year, 2014, which was $2.83 trillion. We could end up with an even larger economic gap when compared to Western and some Eastern nations, too large to ever be realistically closed if we don’t plan towards the 4th Industrial Revolution.
AI, especially Deep Learning has the potential to solve a broad array of problems, which is why a large portion of Industry, Academia and Governments around the world are already investing so much into it. Africa has some of the worst and largest problems in the world. 501 million people, 47 percent of the population of sub-Saharan Africa lived on $1.90 a day or less in 2012 and 233 million people in sub-Saharan Africa were hungry/undernourished in 2014-6. In 2015, 9.2 million deaths were recorded in Africa, majority being caused by communicable and non-communicable diseases, whilst some places like Ghana have close to 11,000 people to 1 doctor ratio and Malawi has close to 60,000 people to 1 doctor ratio.
We therefore potentially can benefit the most by focusing on and investing in Artificial Intelligence and its many applications. As my team and I at minoHealth are focusing on, we can solve our lack of Quality and Accessible Healthcare issue with AI and Deep Learning. We can also solve poor Food Production and Distribution issues plaguing us and someday solve our transportation issues and high records of road accidents with Autonomous Vehicles.
There are several things that Ghana and Africa as a whole needs to start doing in order to get into the AI Race. We need to start getting the general public informed about AI and how they can use it to improve their labour productivity and value today in an Augmented Intelligence approach. This is applicable to all Africans, be they small scale farmers using AI apps to ensure their crops are healthy, marketers using predictive models for Market Forecasting or medical doctors using AI to improve their Healthcare Delivery.
Additionally, we need to galvanize existing African AI talents into planning towards AI for Africa and deploying AI in Africa. My team and I at minoHealth develop and research AI systems mainly for healthcare in Africa in order to ensure we enjoy some of the benefits of AI.
We have also started conversations about AI in the forms of seminars, lectures and interviews in order to get the Ghanaian and African public informed about AI and get the attention of the government so we can start developing national plans. We have to start planning towards developing the right infrastructures and frameworks in Africa in order to enjoy great national and continental developments from AI and curb possible repercussions.
Written by Darlington Ahiale Akogo
Founder, Director of Artificial Intelligence
minoHealth, minoHealth AI Labs
Darlington Ahiale Akogo is a Deep Learning/Machine Learning Engineer & Researcher who founded minoHealth in order to democratise Quality Healthcare in Africa. With minoHealth, he and his team develop Artificial Intelligence systems for medical diagnoses and prognoses. They also use Data Science and Cloud Computing to collect, analyse and visualize health data.
Now in its 8th year, the Ghana Information Technology & Telecom Awards is the most prestigious awards program in the industry. Most times called the “Oscar Awards” recognises innovation and excellence in the Ghana ICT sector.
The 8th Ghana Information Technology and Telecom Awards (GITTA) was held on Friday, June 29, 2018, at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra.
Over the years, besides promoting excellence in the telecom sector, GITTA has evolved and extended its reach to include companies which have taken efforts to innovate its business through the adoption of technology.
Guest speaker for the awards night, Deputy Minister of Communication, Mr George Andah in his remarks charged the awardees to continue in their quest to be the best and create growth that will sustain the economic development of the country.
Here are all the winners at GITTA 2018:
| Category | Winner |
| Best Bank Award for Cyber Security Risk Management | UMB |
| Best Government Website |
Ghana Police Service
|
| Best Government Use of Social Media |
Ghana Police Service
|
| Best payment gateway provider | Hubtel |
| Cloud Service Provider | IBM |
| CSR Company | MTN |
| Customer Experience Company | MTN |
| Cyber Security Company | e-crime Bureau |
| Data Service Provider | MTN |
| Digital Bank |
Standard Chartered
|
| Enterprise Solutions Provider | Comsys |
| Financial Technology Company (Fintech) leader | Hubtel |
| I.T Personality |
Executive Chairman of GCNet
|
| ICT Company | Comsys |
| Internet Service Provider | Internet Solutions |
| IOT Initiatives | Vodafone |
| Managed IT Services Provider | Liranz |
| Mobile cloud service provider | Hubtel |
| Mobile Distributor | MobileZone |
| Mobile Money Service | MTN |
| Mobile Operator | MTN |
| Mobile Phone Retailer and Gadget Provider | Telefonika |
| Most Popular Phone Brand of Year | Tecno |
| Public Sector e-Solutions Provider | GCNET |
| Public Sector e-Solutions Provider | GCNet |
| System Integration Company | Spearhead |
| Telecom Brand | Vodafone |
| Telecom Business |
Vodafone business
|
| Telecoms hall of fame award | MTN |
| Tower Company | ATC Ghana |
Infinix Note 5, the latest addition to the flagship Infinix Note series is being rumoured for release on June 24th. Boasting advanced technology and exciting new features, the new release will have the potential to give its competitors a real challenge.
The Note 5 is expected to maintain its history of bringing something extra to the market. Offering a plethora of new and upgraded features, it is heard that the phone will provide a full HD+ display based on an 18:9 screen ratio. (more…)
The Huawei Y7 Prime has a 5.99-inch 1440 x 720 FullView display with 269 PPI pixel density and 18:9 aspect ratio. The device is powered by a 1.4GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor and comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage with the option of an expandable memory of up to 256Gigs. Y7 Prime has a 3,000mAh Li-ion battery.
Yeah, that’s all just specs. Last week. while at the Accra Mall. I happened to pass by the Huawei Shop there and spent a few minutes with the device. Well, the time spent was enough to convince me to get one.
Here are the top reasons why I will be getting the Huawei Y7 Prime 2018.
Dual Cameras have become the norm, almost a convention and Huawei is already on that ship. Huawei Y7 Prime 2018 comes equipped with 13MP + 2 MP rear cameras. The wide-aperture feature gives DSLR like depth to your photos (those photos with a very blurred background; the ones you see off professional DSLR cameras).
I spent a great deal of time testing the front camera. I mostly find myself taking selfies always and for me, the front camera is very important in making a buying decision. The 8-Megapixel front camera was awesome. It also has a LED flashlight – which I never used, but the quality of the photos it gave out was amazing. Lots of details and great colour.
I never had the chance to use last years Y7. However, what I do know is that it was powered by the Snapdragon 435, higher than the Snapdragon 430 processor in the 2018 model. That notwithstanding, the current 2018 model was so smooth to use. Juggling between the already installed applications, the camera, recording videos and playing them back all went well. There was no lagging or freezing.
The device that I got my hands on was in Huawei’s signature blue colour. Bear in mind that the Y7 Prime 2018 comes in 3 solid colours: Black, Blue and Gold. Although the rear cover of the phone felt like it was made of plastic, the finishing and colour gave it a design, while mastering a premium look.
Then comes the 18:9 screen ration, what Huawei calls the FullView Display. 18:9 displays are perfect for multitasking using multi-window where each app is rendered in neat squares of 720 x 720 pixels each. The FullView Display, together with the bezel-less design affords the phone a modern 2018 design.
On the Huawei Y7 Prime 2018, the fingerprint is not used to just lock or unlock the phone. It can also be used to answer calls, capture videos and photos, stop the alarm as well as browse photos.
Selfie Toning Flash, even in low light
For all of the great features and functionalities, you would think the Y7 Prime 2018 will cost a fortune. Well, the good news is Huawei is making it possible for everyone to use this wonderful phone. With only GHS 859, you can get yourself a brand new Y7 Prime 2018 at any phone retail shop in Ghana.
In addition, you get free MTN Data – 2GB every month for the next 6 months and a gift box from Huawei.
Over the years, many Ghanaians have had to depend on family, friends and paid volunteers for blood donations. This is sadly due to an inadequate stock of blood in blood banks across the country. To address this challenge, the National Blood Service and BISA have partnered to develop the WALA health App to drive voluntary blood donations.
On Friday the 4th of May, 2018 Wala Health application was launched at the Efua Sutherland Park. The event was graced by the Second Lady of the Republic of Ghana, H.E Samira Bawumia.
She encouraged the public to download the application and also to donate blood to help save lives. Minister of Communications, Hon. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful stated that technology has to have a practical application for our people and the Wala App is a practical application for the people and the government is ready to support practical app developers.
Other dignitaries available at the launch were The Ministry of health through its representative, and the Mayor of Accra, Mohammed Adjei Sowah.
On the 3rd of August 2017, the National Blood Service Ghana signed an agreement with Bisa, to partner in the development of Wala Health Application. Developed by Raindolf Owusu a Ghanaian based software developer and founder of Oasis Websoft and Dr Denis Addo a healthcare practitioner. Wala simply means Life in one of the Ghanaian dialects, Ga. The app basically serves as a platform for blood donation, which provides information on various blood donation events across the country.
It also enlightens its users on blood donation and its importance. With other features available its users have access to frequently asked questions, data on blood donations and daily tips on other diseases such as diabetes and stroke. Users can also call the National blood centre call centre directly from the app.
The mandate according to the National Blood Service Ghana is to ensure an effective and coordinated national approach to the provision of safe, adequate and effective blood and blood donations making it accessible and affordable to all patients.
Voluntary blood donations in Ghana currently stands at 36% which is 3.6 over ten donations and also a blood collection inverse per thousand population of 6.1. Which means out of every thousand population only six people donate, which does not meet the blood donation requirement of 270,000 units of blood that is a percent of the population.
Technology has transformed many nations positively and as the world is evolving we must evolve with it. Developed countries have more effective health care systems as a result of the efficient use of technology and as the developing country, Ghana is, we have to adopt such methods to improve the healthcare systems.
As the number of mobile applications is increasing every day and people spend more time on their phones, creating an awareness and equally providing an effective means to ensure blood donations as an application can help meet the requirements of the blood service as more individuals donate blood to save lives.
During the launch of the application, there was free health screening and also blood donations. Let us accept voluntary blood donation as a civic responsibility. Together we can achieve the WHO target of 100% voluntary donation by 2020. Wala, Get Empowered To Save A Life Today.
Click here to download or go to their website for more: www.walaapp.org
Disclaimer: “The views/contents expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of Priscilla Maame Yaa Owusu and do not necessarily reflect those of Mfidie.com. Mfidie.com will not be responsible or liable for any inaccurate or incorrect statements contained in this article.”
The 21st century has seen lots of development in tech. This advancement is primarily due to more knowledge and human demands.
Back in the early 2000s, the world saw a few adjustments made to the mobile phone devices and only a handful of these brands were tried to become trusted devices. But to the surprise of both mobile phone manufacturers and users, these old and trusted brands are almost nonexistent in a bigger part of the world. This is due to the emergence of other mobile phone brands.
TECNO and Infinix mobility are two mobile phone brands from the theTranssion Holdings parent company. Their devices are scattered all over the Asian continent. Since its first product till the last and the upcoming ones, the mobility has gone from small and undiscovered brands to one of the largest used brands in the world, particularly here in Ghana. The secret behind their skyrocketing popularity is due to the affordability and super cool specs of the phones they put up for sale.
Both brands have come out with exceptional qualities that most brands never put much emphasis on. Let’s look at their respective flagships, released in the last quarter of 2017.
| Tecno Phantom 8 | Infinix Zero 5 | |
| Body Cover | Plastic cover | Metal cover |
| Display Size | 5.7 inches FHD (1080 by 1920) | 5.98 inches FHD (1080 by 1920) |
| Screen Protection | 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass (unspecified version) | 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| SIM Capacity | Dual SIM with 4G | Dual SIM with 4G |
| OS Version | Android 7.0 Nougat with HiOS | Android 7.0 Nougat with XOS |
| RAM and Memory | 6GB RAM and 64GB ROM | 6GB RAM and 64GB/128GB ROM |
| CPU and Speed | Octa-core 2.6 GHz | Octa-core 2.6 GHz |
| Chipset | MediaTek Helio P25 | MediaTek Helio P25 |
| Back Camera | Dual 13MP + 12MP with LED flash | Dual 13MP + 12MP with LED flash |
| Front Camera | 20 MP with soft flash. | 16 MP with soft flash |
| Finger Print | Yes(back Mounted) | Yes(back Mounted) |
| Battery | 3,500 mAh | 4,350 mAh |
These brands are here to stay and you’d agree with me after you compare the specs above of their latest flagships – The Tecno Phantom 8 and the Infinix Zero 5.
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This past weekend, the University of Cape Coast held it’s 2nd – 4th Sessions of the 49thCongregation for the 2016 graduands of the University. The Congregation brought a lot of people from far and near to the University as many were awarded for their hard work, and some used the opportunity to make some money.
Fashion! Style!! Vogue! Setting Trends was not meant for only Graduands.
There is no fashion without Photography, right? Photogees seem to be the new cool and they make all the money. Forget Selfie Sticks, these photographers make memories last for a lifetime.
Lemme swag with the robe small. Let people admire my dress, afterall i earned it.
What attraction did I miss? Let me know in the comments below. Congratulations to the UCC class of 2016.