Technology Archive

Africa’s technology sector jumped into the global spotlight earlier this year when Jumia, an e-commerce platform that started in Nigeria in 2012 and is often referred to as “the Amazon of Africa,” became the first African start-up to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Jumia’s success underlines the increased prominence of start-up culture and technology entrepreneurs across Africa. For this week’s Trend Lines interview, WPR’s Elliot Waldman is joined by Bitange Ndemo, a professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Nairobi and former official in Kenya’s Ministry of Information and Communication, for a discussion on Africa’s digital renaissance. […]

After a four-year pause, Iran resumed its satellite program earlier this year, although two attempted launches in January and February both failed, followed by a third failed launch in late August. Together, they are a major setback for a space program that has long been hampered by the strains of international sanctions, including the ones these tests provoke, like the latest U.S. sanctions on Iran’s space agencies imposed this week. Even though a failed test is an opportunity for Iranian engineers to troubleshoot their rocket designs, the series of failures this year demonstrate the challenges that Iran must overcome before […]

KAMPALA, Uganda—Pastor Joseph Kabuleta was arrested while drinking coffee in a Kampala shopping center, shoved in the back of a car and blindfolded. Held in police detention for several days in July, Kabuleta said he was tortured by officers, who beat him and drenched him in freezing water. His only crime was a Facebook post criticizing a senior military official, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the son of President Yoweri Museveni. Kabuleta’s case is not unique in Uganda, where Museveni has held onto power for decades by almost any means necessary. The pastor’s arrest was another example of how Ugandans are using […]