Telecom
PIN Unveils Digital SafeTea for Africa Women to Access Digital Security Training
Digital security trainings are often invite-only sessions geared towards career women like journalists and human rights defenders.
Now, Pollicy and Paradigm Initiative are looking to change this through a new interactive fiction game, Digital SafeTea.
The two organizations hope to reach thousands of African women from all walks of life with lessons and tips on how to keep themselves and their devices safe both online and offline.
The game builds on Ayeta, a proactive toolkit for African digital rights actors, which is an initiative launched by Paradigm Initiative earlier this year.
Digital SafeTea, whose name is a portmanteau of ‘digital safety’ and ‘tea’, is based on the storyline of three characters: Aisha, Goitse and Dami, who are based on different archetypes of African women.
As players step into the world of these three characters, they are faced with digital threats like zoom bombing, impersonation, and even Non Consensual Sharing of Intimate Images (NCII) which is often referred to as ‘revenge porn’.
Once presented with a scenario, players are nudged to pick their response to the threat from available choices, as a way for them to get to the next stage of the game. As players weave through the maze of threats, they are presented with lessons on how to navigate such threats in real life. Players are also directed to sites and toolkits where they can get further learning on their desired topic.
The game style is heavily reminiscent of the ‘pick your own adventure’ type of children’s books, which Neema Iyer, Pollicy founder and executive director, says were an inspiration to her when designing the game.
“Digital security training still remains out of reach for most internet users across Africa. At Pollicy, we’re interested in exploring how creative media can be used as a driver for improving the experiences of users when it comes to using data and digital platforms. We have been experimenting with community murals, dance, poetry, mockumentaries, chatbots and interactive fiction.
” It was important for the team to incorporate elements of storytelling into the game as traditional digital security training is often inaccessible.
“It’s important to use art forms, storylines, and characters that are relatable to the people who will interact with our interactive fiction game,” Iyer said.
One thing that stands out about Digital SafeTea is the vibrant graphic illustrations that the game is rendered in.
The stories are set in colorful backgrounds that are packed with references to the African cities the characters are set in. On one illustration, players can spot a reference to Nigeria’s Feminist Coalition (FemCo).
The game is available in English, Kiswahili, and Luganda, which are some of the widely spoken languages in Africa. French and Pidgin English will be added shortly.
Digital SafeTea comes at an opportune time as conversations on women’s safety in digital spaces are being held worldwide.
In 2020, as more people get online for work and studies, women and girls worldwide experienced a surge of violence and abuse online. In addition, women and girls often do not know where to turn to for information on how to keep themselves safe from such attacks and more.
A study by Pollicy in 5 African countries also found that 29.2% of their respondents did not know where to turn to for information on online safety and security.
Furthermore, the only action that 80% of their respondents took to secure their online safety was frequently changing their passwords.
Against this backdrop, one can see the huge gap that games like Digital SafeTea could fill by arming African women with information on digital security.
However, it is important to note that the onus of online security should not remain with women alone.
Technology companies need to improve how they respond to online Gender-based Violence (OGBV). Recent developments on this include an announcement by Facebook, Google, TikTok, and Twitter at the just concluded UN Women Generation Equality Forum in Paris on their commitment to tackling OGBV. At the same event, Facebook announced their Global Women’s Safety Expert Advisors group which Pollicy’s Neema Iyer was selected to join.
The Digital SafeTea Game was launched today, Monday, July 19th, 2021
Pan African Towers (PAT), a Nigerian infrastructure provider serving 9mobile and Spectranet, has appointed Echezona Osi as chief executive officer.
Echezona Osi
Adefolarin Ogunsanya, company’s, board chairman, explained in a statement that Osi would succeed Oladipo Badru, whose tenure lasted nine months in acting CEO position. Osi has more than 28 years of experience in the telecommunications sector across various regions of Africa.
Prior to his appointment as CEO, he had served as the head of network deployment at Airtel Nigeria, operations director and chief technical information officer at MIC Tanzania, chief technology officer roles at IPT PowerTech Nigeria, Rhino Niger Networks and Biswal Nigeria.
He obtained a degree in electrical/ electronic engineering from the University of Benin and a postgraduate diploma in data science and business analytics from the University of Texas.
Companies sending bulk international text messages, also known as Application-to-Person (A2P) messages, will now have apply for a licence that costs N10 million.
This is part of new rules introduced by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) aimed at cleaning up the system, fighting fraud, blocking spam messages and stopping money from leaving the country unchecked.
These A2P messages are the kind customers get from banks, online stores, hospitals and political campaigns, automated texts sent from apps to their phones.
According to the commission, the bulk international text message system has been poorly regulated, allowing misuse and invasion of privacy.
“The International SMS Service Ecosystem in Nigeria has not been fully brought under regulatory control. It has been observed that the excessive use of the Short Message Service has led to fraud, spam and illegal activities,” the NCC said.
The regulator warned that without action, the problem would worsen as more people use mobile phones and digital services.
To solve this, the NCC is creating a central platform, or gateway, through which all international bulk text messages must pass through.
The agency said this would help to monitor messages in real time, ensure proper fees are paid, and make sure the money stays in Nigeria where it can contribute to the economy.
As part of the incoming change, service providers must follow strict rules, including strong data protection, spam filters, and message encryption.
Also, they must also work with local mobile networks and make sure all messages come from a verified sender
The NCC warned that any message without a proper sender ID will be blocked and not delivered to users.
To protect users from unwanted texts, the new rules say companies must get clear permission before sending any promotional content.
The rule also says people must also be able to choose whether they want to receive such messages or not.
Companies are now required to keep records of all messages for at least six months and must clearly state all charges involved.
The NCC said fees for help requests, cancellations, or service info must be transparent and not include hidden charges.
The commission will issue licences to several providers to encourage healthy competition but may limit new licences if needed.
Only companies that show they can stop fraud and safely deliver messages will be allowed to operate. They must also regularly report their message traffic and finances to the NCC.
It warned that any company that breaks the rules risks getting fined, suspended, or having its licence revoked.
Offences like charging illegal tariffs, ignoring security rules, or avoiding taxes will be punished, the NCC said.
The commission added that the new rules follow the Nigerian Data Protection Act 2023 and support the federal government’s goal of strengthening cybersecurity and controlling Nigeria’s digital space.
The framework will also be reviewed from time to time to keep up with new technology and market trends.
MTN Nigeria has launched what it claims is the country’s largest prefabricated modular data centre, marking a bold push into the country’s fast-growing cloud market and taking aim at global giants such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.
Karl Toriola, CEO, MTN Nigeria.
The shift comes as demand for cloud services in Nigeria soars — driven by the uptake of mobile apps, fintech tools and e-learning platforms — while foreign providers have become costlier in the wake of the naira’s sharp devaluation.
“This is one of the biggest data centres in West Africa and probably one of the biggest in Africa,” said Karl Toriola, CEO, MTN Nigeria.
He described the new Tier III-certified facility, with locally hosted cloud services, as “transformative for the technology ecosystem in Nigeria and very supportive of the federal government’s agenda”.
MTN Nigeria, the country’s largest telecoms provider, has so far invested $120m in the first phase, delivering an IT load of 4.5MW. A second phase, set to double capacity to 9MW, is budgeted at $135m.
“We already have data centres that are running our existing capacities,” Toriola said.
“We will go to 9MW in short order, possibly 14MW, and we can expand even further.”
He said the facility would allow local hosting for tech developers, large enterprises including banks and oil companies, and government agencies — markets long dominated by foreign cloud providers.
“Multinational companies such as Netflix, Facebook and Instagram can also host a lot of their data here. That improves the quality of service and reduces the cost of storage,” he added.
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