👨🏿‍🚀TechCabal Daily – Senegal blocks internet access

SENEGAL SHUTS DOWN INTERNET AMID RIOT

Senegal has shut down its internet again. 

Starting Thursday, several social media platforms, including WhatsApp, Instagram and YouTube, started facing serious access restrictions in Senegal. On Friday, interior minister Antoine Diome acknowledged the blockages, citing “the dissemination of hateful and subversive messages on social networks”.

What happened? Senegal’s government cut access to mobile internet services following violent protests that began on Thursday after an opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, was sentenced to two years in prison after a prolonged legal dispute since 2021, which began with accusations of rape and the issuance of death threats by a former beauty salon worker. His supporters claim the prosecution was politically driven and he denies any wrongdoing.

By Sunday, Reuters reported that Senegal’s minister of communications, telecommunications, and digital economy issued a statement, expanding the outage to include mobile internet data in specific areas and at certain times. NetBlocks, an internet observatory, has analysed traffic data and also confirmed the suspension of mobile internet access in Senegal.

Zoom out: In 2021, TechCabal reported that Senegal blocked social media apps after the death of a protester in a scuffle with police. This is the second time the West African country is shutting down its internet connection in three years.

A THIRD ROUND OF LAYOFFS FOR CHIPPER CASH

Last week, fintech Chipper Cash underwent its third round of layoffs, resulting in the departure of the company’s chief operating officer (COO).

How many people were laid off? In its third round of layoffs within a year, Chipper Cash let go of a minimum of 10 employees. 

A source told TechCabal that global chief operating officer Alicia Levine and Kenyan country director Leon Kiptum were part of those affected by the layoff. Chipper Cash acknowledged the layoffs in an email communication with TechCabal, but refrained from disclosing the precise number of employees impacted. 

Reason for the layoff: A part of Chipper Cash’s email to TechCabal also stated, “As part of our previously announced restructuring as an organisation to focus on core products and markets, we recently made redundant a very small number of roles across our global teams.”

Previous layoffs: In December 2022, the company had its first layoff and fired over 50 of its employees. At that time, the reasons behind the company’s decision to downsize its workforce remained unclear. Barely two months after, in February 2023, Chipper Cash had a second round of layoffs and made the decision to terminate more than 100 employees, impacting around a third of its workforce, justifying the layoffs by citing ongoing economic difficulties and the uncertain outlook for the future. 

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DATA BREACH AT SHOWMAX

Another day, more data stolen by hackers. 

Per South African tech publication MyBroadband, hackers recently got into MultiChoice’s streaming platform Showmax and made public over 27,000 usernames and passwords of people who use the platform. 

MultiChoice confirmed that the usernames belong to their customers, but added that they have automatically logged the affected customers out of their Showmax accounts. The streamer went on to ask the hacked subscribers to reset their passwords. 

On the other hand, MultiChoice also claims that the data wasn’t taken from its platform. MyBroadband suggests that the usernames and passwords were taken by criminals using a method called bruteforce attack. Interestingly, in 2022, a report showed that Showmax is vulnerable to bruteforce attacks because it wasn’t limiting how many times someone can try different passwords.

More data breaches: MyBroadband reports that upon investigating the matter, it discovered another data breach potentially affecting 67,000 Everyshop customers. 

Additionally, they discovered that a popular group known for leaking data had shared a second database containing the information of over 500,000 JD Group customers. The information included contact details inclusive of email addresses, gender, tax and VAT numbers, ID numbers as well as country, state/province and physical addresses of individuals who made purchases at its subsidiary stores. JD Group has acknowledged the breach and placed a notice about the “Data Security Incident” on the affected stores’ websites.

TC INSIGHTS: AFRICA’S DATA PRIVACY CONCERNS

As the wave of tech disruption sweeps across Africa, the number of people with internet access is increasing—at the rate of 39.7%, as of 2021. However, this rise in connectivity also brings the risk of data breaches and compromised privacy without users’ consent.

For example, according to Surfshark’s global study, Nigeria ranked 32nd among the most breached countries in Q1 2023, with 82,000 leaked accounts.

Africa’s status as a huge market for tech innovation has led global tech firms to exploit the weak data protection laws of African countries to build extensive databases for advancing their products and services. Unfortunately, many African countries lack comprehensive legal frameworks for data protection, leaving the personal information of internet users as a valuable commodity in the global market. TechHive Advisory‘s report reveals that out of the 54 countries in Africa, only 35 have privacy laws, and among them, only 25 have data protection authorities.

However, there is an increasing awareness among African countries about the risks and consequences of data breaches. Dorcas Tsebee, a lawyer specialising in data privacy, believes that while Africa has made tremendous progress in the data protection space, it has not stopped privacy concerns. “What really matters is the approach of organisations to remediate whatever breach that has occurred. Organisations need to take data privacy more seriously, especially in countries with data protection laws because there are increased efforts by the government to track these breaches, investigate and issue sanctions where appropriate,” she said.

There is no better time for African governments to intensify the legislation and implementation of data protection laws in their countries. As this contributes to the legal foundation of Africa’s digital economy, the continent needs proactive governments and Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) to enforce the regulations and issue sanctions. This will also ensure strict compliance by firms in the tech industry and avoid data breaches to address emerging digital risks. As Africa moves further in its era of rapid digitalisation, countries must follow best international practices to improve their laws and safeguard citizens’ data responsibly.

THE WORLD WIDE WEB3

Bitcoin	$25,615	– 6.03%
Ether	$1,806	– 5.23%
BNB	$275	– 9.29%
USD Coin	$0.99	– 0.01%
Name of the coin Price of the coin 24-hour percentage change		Source: CoinMarketCap

* Data as of 23:00 PM WAT, June 5, 2023.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued global crypto exchange platform Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao. CoinDesk reports that Binance and Zhao offered unregistered securities to the general public in the form of the BNB token and Binance-linked BUSD stablecoin, said the suit, which also alleges that Binance’s staking service violated securities law. 

This is the second suit against Binance after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), in March, sued both Zhao and his company for operating an illegal digital asset exchange. 

Since the suit was announced, withdrawals on Binance have surged, with the exchange experiencing $231 million in outflows within hours. 

The value of several altcoins have decreased since the announcement, with Solana, Cardano, Polygon and more experiencing a 5%–10% drop.

EVENT: THE MOONSHOT CONFERENCE

This is Moonshot by TechCabal.

Moonshot is a conference that will bring together Africa’s tech ecosystem to network, collaborate, share insights and celebrate innovation on the continent.

Click here to join the waiting list to get more news and updates about this conference.

OPPORTUNITIES

• The SaaS Accelerator Programme: Africa 2023 has opened applications for its accelerator programme to enable early startups in Africa to receive funding. Selected startups will receive up to $70,000 in funding. Apply by September 7.

• Wise Guys SaaS Accelerator Program is looking to help SaaS startups level up through tailored guidance and support from world-class mentors and experts. Apply before September 7.

• The AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards 2023 ($5,000 prize)  is now open to applications from reporters doing work for independent news organisations around the world, with articles readily accessible to the public by subscription, newsstand sales or online access, with the submitted work available in English, are eligible to Apply by August 1.

• Applications are open for the US $100,000 Africa Food Prize. Applicants must contribute to reducing poverty and hunger or improving food and nutrition security in measurable terms. They must also make a contribution to providing a vital source of income or employment in measurable terms. Apply by June 17.

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