Articles about Africa

UN digital envoy warns AI influence is concentrated in a ‘few zip codes,’ calls for global action

The UN’s top digital envoy outlined a multi-stakeholder approach to AI governance at Seattle University, warning that computing power and wealth are concentrated in a handful of areas while most of the world lacks the capacity to participate. Read More

Laying down fiber cable in African village

Microsoft backs effort to extend fiber internet access to 20 million in Africa

Microsoft says it’s partnering with a fiber-cable connectivity venture called Liquid Intelligent Technologies to bring high-speed internet access to an… Read More

Gates Foundation’s new nonprofit venture will boost innovations for farmers facing climate change

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is starting up a new nonprofit group that will focus on providing small-scale farmers… Read More

EarthRanger program widens focus from elephant killers to cross-species diplomacy

Years ago, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen backed a project called the Great Elephant Census that highlighted a crisis for Africa’s… Read More

Microsoft will spend $100M to open its first development center in Africa

Microsoft will spend more than $100 million over the next five years to open its first development center in Africa… Read More

Vulcan gets into the drone-building business to fight wildlife poachers in Africa

One of the legacies left behind by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder who passed away last October, is… Read More

This wildlife photographer invented his own devices to capture images of dangerous and elusive animals

What is it like to look up from the feet of an elephant or to see eye-to-eye with a leopard… Read More

DNA evidence zeroes in on three African cartels behind illegal elephant ivory trade

DNA evidence and lots of detective work have revealed the networks behind illegal trade in African elephant ivory, centering on… Read More

Melinda Gates denounces Trump’s immigration comments

As someone who has spent extensive time in the developing world, Melinda Gates thinks President Donald Trump’s alleged comments on… Read More

Gates Foundation and PATH wire up health data in Africa using a novel approach

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the global health nonprofit PATH are working on a groundbreaking initiative in Africa… Read More

Microsoft Cloud to set up shop in Africa with two new data centers coming in 2018

Microsoft plans to open two new data centers in South Africa next year to provide its cloud services to the… Read More

China’s ivory ban marks a jumbo step forward for Paul Allen’s elephant campaign

China’s pledge to shut down commercial trade in ivory within a year comes as welcome news to conservationists who have been… Read More

Why these Microsoft vets decided to launch an e-commerce startup in Rwanda

In July, Joanna Bichsel left a high-level job at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to move from Seattle to… Read More

Photos: Check out a ‘Ring of Fire’ eclipse over Africa, and get set for our turn

An annular solar eclipse swept across Africa today, treating skywatchers to a “Ring of Fire” eclipse and whetting appetites for… Read More

Paul Allen’s Great Elephant Census confirms catastrophic decline in Africa

A first-of-its-kind census of African savanna elephants reveals that populations have declined by as much as 30 percent over the… Read More

Bill Gates: Why young entrepreneurs are Africa’s greatest hope

Bill Gates believes countries throughout Africa can obtain economic prosperity and fairly distributed wealth — but only by mobilizing the… Read More

Better bricks, healthier chickens and more life-changing ideas from the Fledge startup accelerator

Ravaged villages, fires and emaciated people filled the screen at Fledge’s seventh annual Demo Day this week. These horrific images… Read More

Wildlife DNA dragnet widens to protect elephants and pangolins from poaching

WASHINGTON, D.C. – DNA tests conducted by researchers from the University of Washington helped bring down one of Africa’s biggest kingpins… Read More

Parallels opens Johannesburg office, partners with African cloud service providers

Parallels, a privately-held company based in Renton, Wash., today announced an expansion into South Africa to help African service providers… Read More

Into Africa: Microsoft touts new effort to deliver millions of Windows Phones to students, entrepreneurs

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has certainly spent lots of time finding ways to improve life in Africa, and now Microsoft… Read More

Podcast

Mobile tech, social good: How these computer scientists are making an impact

Our latest episode of the GeekWire Podcast featured former Geek of the Week Yaw Anokwa. He’s a graduate of the University of Washington computer science… Read More

Mobile commerce: Innovation in Africa, by way of Seattle

Femi Akinde, the CEO and founder of Seattle-based technology company SlimTrader, is one of the speakers Wednesday afternoon during a… Read More