By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/kathleen-elkins/">Kathleen Elkins</a>



Between running a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/richard-branson/#4d22de8f6ff5" class="">multi-billion dollar empire</a>, attempting to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/13/richard-branson-hopes-to-be-in-space-next-year-with-virgin-galactic.html" class="">head to space</a>&nbsp;and updating his blog multiple times per day, Virgin Group founder, Richard Branson, gets a lot done.



His top productivity trick is a simple habit that has nothing to do with making to-do lists, checking email or turning off notifications: “The only reason I’m able to do all the things I do and to keep on top of a busy schedule without getting too stressed is because I stay fit,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.virgin.com/importance-being-healthy" class="">the billionaire entrepreneur writes on his blog</a>.



Making time for exercise, he says, <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/10/richard-branson-says-this-daily-habit-doubles-his-productivity.html">doubles his productivity</a>.



“If people are feeling their best, they will be their most productive selves at work,” writes Branson. Plus, there are other benefits: “I find exercise the most natural and effective mood booster there is.”



Science backs him up: Studies show that exercise can help you out professionally by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/regular-exercise-releases-brain-chemicals-key-for-memory-concentration-and-mental-sharpness" class="">improving memory and mental sharpness</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.princeton.edu/news/2013/07/03/exercise-reorganizes-brain-be-more-resilient-stress?section=topstories" class="">reducing stress</a>&nbsp;and even&nbsp;<a href="https://news.stanford.edu/2014/04/24/walking-vs-sitting-042414/" class="">promoting creativity</a>.



Branson, who prefers playing tennis, kite-surfing and lifting weights, dedicates at least an hour a day to working out. “Many people say they don’t have the time for exercise, and you’re right, you don’t have the time unless you make the time,” he says. Make it a priority, he encourages, because “there is nothing more important than looking after yourself.”



He’s not the only <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/29/7-habits-of-highly-successful-people-from-a-man-who-spent-5-years-studying-them.html">highly successful individual who makes time for exercise</a>.



“Staying in shape is very important,” Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said in a&nbsp;<a href="http://time.com/3942073/mark-zuckerberg-arnold-schwarzenegger/" class="">Q&amp;A</a>&nbsp;on his social media site. “Doing anything well requires energy, and you just have a lot more energy when you’re fit.”



Oprah Winfrey, Mark Cuban and Alexa von Tobel are among other top business leaders who&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/preview/104202389" class="">prioritize fitness</a>.



To make it a consistent habit, find easy ways to fold exercise into your routine, says Branson: “Go for a walk around the park with a friend instead of going to the pub, find the health club closest to your house, join a team sport. &#8230; There are so many options — try a few and see what sticks.”



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/26/richard-bransons-top-productivity-trick.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/26/richard-bransons-top-productivity-trick.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Billionaire Richard Branson’s top productivity trick is a simple habit that has nothing to do with email or to-do lists

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/jade-scipioni/">Jade Scipioni</a>



You might assume that as the second richest person in world with a net worth of <a class="" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/">$107 billion</a>, Bill Gates doesn’t have a lot of <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/19/bill-gates-this-is-a-great-way-to-use-your-tech-skills.html">regrets</a>. But there is a big one that still eats away at him, he says.



Gates admitted his “greatest mistake ever” was allowing Google to develop Android — one of Apple’s biggest smartphone competitors — before Microsoft could develop a competing mobile operating system, he told Eventbrite co-founder and CEO Julia Hartz&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&amp;amp;v=W5g4sPi1wd4" class="">Thursday</a>&nbsp;at a Village Global event.



“That was a natural thing for Microsoft to win,” he said.



Gates said he blames his own poor “mismanagement,” since he didn’t guide his team to jump on the opportunity. He also partially blames Microsoft’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/23/technology/antitrust-tech-microsoft-lessons.html" class="">antitrust problems</a>&nbsp;in the early 2000′s for allowing Google to get ahead.



Google moved on mobile shortly after Apple did, when it acquired Android in 2005. Google later released it first Android device in September 2008, a little more than a year after Apple released its first iPhone on June 29,&nbsp;<a href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/14/04/14/exclusive-android-docs-reveal-before-iphone-googles-plan-was-a-java-button-phone" class="">2007</a>.



“These are winner-takes-all markets. So the greatest mistake ever is whatever mismanagement I engaged in that caused Microsoft not to be what Android is,” he said.



Gates added that there is now only room for one “non-Apple” operating system, and that market is worth $400 billion, he said.



He added that if Microsoft would have “got that one right,” Microsoft would be the top technology company in the game right now.



“We would be&nbsp;the&nbsp;company. But oh well, ” he said.



Despite Gates’ blunder, Microsoft still currently has the highest market cap of the contenders at&nbsp;<a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/MSFT?p=MSFT&amp;amp;.tsrc=fin-srch" class="">$1 trillion</a>; Apple currently has a market cap of&nbsp;<a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/AAPL?p=AAPL&amp;amp;.tsrc=fin-srch" class="">$918 billion</a>, with Alphabet Inc. (the conglomerate which owns Google since 2015) coming in at&nbsp;<a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/GOOG/" class="">$776 billion</a>.



“It’s amazing to me, having made one of the greatest mistakes of all time&#8230;our other assets — Windows, Office — are still very strong. So we are a leading company,” he said.



Correction: This story has been revised to correct that Google acquired Android in 2005.



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/24/bill-gates-says-his-biggest-mistake-was-not-beating-google-on-android.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/24/bill-gates-says-his-biggest-mistake-was-not-beating-google-on-android.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Bill Gates reveals his ‘greatest mistake’ that potentially cost Microsoft $400 billion

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/elizabeth-gravier/">Elizabeth Gravier</a>



Apple CEO Tim Cook&nbsp;<a href="https://news.stanford.edu/2019/06/16/remarks-tim-cook-2019-stanford-commencement/" class="">addressed the graduates</a>&nbsp;of the 128th&nbsp;class of Stanford University on Sunday, and borrowed a few words from his mentor&nbsp;<a href="https://news.stanford.edu/2005/06/14/jobs-061505/" class="">Steve Jobs</a>.



“Fourteen years ago,” Cook said, “Steve <a class="" href="https://news.stanford.edu/2005/06/14/jobs-061505/">stood on this stage</a> and told your predecessors: ‘Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.’ Here’s my corollary: ‘Your mentors may leave you prepared, but they can’t leave you ready.’” 



Cook described the time after Jobs’ death as “the loneliest” he’d ever felt in his life, and said he could “sense” the expectations others had for him.



“All I knew,” he said, “was that I was going to have to be the best version of myself that I could be.&nbsp;I knew that if you got out of bed every morning and set your watch by what other people expect or demand, it’ll drive you crazy.”&nbsp;



He urged grads to focus on authenticity and forging something new, rather than imitating others.&nbsp;



“Don’t try to emulate the people who came before you to the exclusion of everything else, contorting into a shape that doesn’t fit,” Cook said. “It takes too much mental effort – effort that should be dedicated to creating and building. You’ll waste precious time trying to rewire your every thought, and, in the meantime, you won’t be fooling anybody.”



Cook had already built an impressive resume in tech prior to joining Apple in 1998, with roles at IBM, Intelligent Electronics and Compaq. But he felt that Jobs had a new and exciting outlook on the tech industry, one he thought he could add value to.



He told graduates that Jobs’ illness and death, and his own takeover as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2011/08/24Steve-Jobs-Resigns-as-CEO-of-Apple/" class="">Apple CEO</a>&nbsp;in 2011, taught him the critical distinction between being “prepared” and being “ready,” and warned grads that when the time came for them to lead, in whatever capacity, they wouldn’t be ready&nbsp;— and that’s OK.



“You’re not supposed to be,” Cook said. “Find the hope in the unexpected. Find the courage in the challenge. Find your vision on the solitary road.”



Cook also addressed the need for tech companies to take responsibility for the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/16/apple-ceo-tim-cook-stanford-commencement-speech.html" class="">“chaos”</a>&nbsp;they create, hinting at (though never mentioning specifically) tech giants Google and Facebook. He warned that in the case that continued data breaches and privacy violations are accepted as inevitable, “we lose so much more than data. We lose the freedom to be human.”



In closing, Cook urged grads to remain focused on their goals and how they want to contribute to society.&nbsp;



“Don’t get distracted,” Cook said. “There are too many people who want credit without responsibility. Too many who show up for the ribbon cutting without building anything worth a damn. Be different. Leave something worthy.”



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/17/tim-cook-and-steve-jobs-time-is-limited-so-dont-waste-it-on-this.html?forYou=true">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/17/tim-cook-and-steve-jobs-time-is-limited-so-dont-waste-it-on-this.html?forYou=true</a> and is republished with its permission.

Apple’s Tim Cook and Steve Jobs agree: ‘Time is limited, so don’t waste it’ on this

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 Introducing technology into the classroom is important, but teachers need proper support.
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By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mmaki-jantjies-457732">Mmaki Jantjies</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-the-western-cape-1018">University of the Western Cape</a>

South Africa says it is pushing ahead to grasp the many opportunities presented by the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/what-is-the-fourth-industrial-revolution/">fourth industrial revolution</a>. President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed a <a href="http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/press-statements/president-appoints-commission-fourth-industrial-revolution">commission of experts</a> to explore what this fusing of the physical, digital and biological worlds, driven by technology, will mean for the country. 

One of the areas in which technology is already playing a major role is the school system with some South African schools having already embraced it. President Ramaphosa announced in his <a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/president-cyril-ramaphosa-2019-state-nation-address-7-feb-2019-0000">2019 state of the nation address</a> that tablets would be rolled out to all South African schools. There’s also been <a href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/saje/article/view/143683">extensive research</a> in recent years into the potential role of electronic and mobile learning in the country’s schools. 

And there have been other initiatives such as introducing <a href="https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/292316/tech-overhaul-for-sa-schools-will-put-a-tablet-in-the-hands-of-all-learners-report/">robotics education</a> in primary schools as well as ensuring the provision of <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2018-06-15-00-the-future-of-ict-is-in-gautengs-classrooms">digitising learning resources</a>. 

But are all South Africa’s public schools ready for this shift? As an academic <a href="http://www.mmakij.co.za/">whose research</a> focuses <a href="https://theconversation.com/marrying-technology-and-home-language-boosts-maths-and-science-learning-104587">on educational technology</a>, I would suggest that five important factors must be considered before the answer is a resounding yes. 

<hr>

 
 
 Read more:
 <a href="http://theconversation.com/marrying-technology-and-home-language-boosts-maths-and-science-learning-104587">Marrying technology and home language boosts maths and science learning</a>
 
 

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Of course, schools in the country are not <a href="https://www.schoolguide.co.za/for-parents/school-review-guidelines/1036-education-guide/10975-school-fees-quintiles.html">homogeneous</a>. But, broadly speaking, infrastructure, ongoing teacher training and support, appropriate localised content, technical support and safety and security must all be prioritised so that educational technology actually does what it’s supposed to: <a href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/edutech/countries-to-watch-and-learn-from">enhances teaching and learning</a>.

<h2>Focus areas</h2>

The first important area is infrastructure.

Schools need technical infrastructure to support both online and offline access to digital resources. That physical infrastructure needs to managed and properly maintained. For this, proper planning is needed: hardware tends to be the last priority for schools when they have many other financial needs. A sustainable financial plan for hardware maintenance is crucial in the introduction of any technology in schools.

<a href="https://www.iol.co.za/weekend-argus/news/data-costs-still-too-high-in-south-africa-19606374">Data costs</a> are another major concern. Software, related applications and learning content need to be available offline so that pupils can keep working beyond the school premises. 

The second area that needs attention is teacher training and support. This is not a once off process – it must be continuous. But as it stands, many of the teachers in the education system received <a href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/saje/article/viewFile/143683/133397">very few or no</a> technology infused learning experiences while they were studying.

And, crucially, introducing more educational technology is about more than the addition of a piece of hardware or some software. It also means introducing novel approaches to teaching and learning. Universities that train teachers need to be cognisant of this. 

In my own work with the <a href="https://peoyap.org/">Peo Ya Phetogo</a> Foundation, a non profit organisation aimed at empowering teachers with computer and digital literacy skills, my colleagues and I have learned that teachers need local <a href="https://wiki.lib.sun.ac.za/images/f/f3/Teaching-in-a-digital-age.pdf">communities of practice</a> where people work together and learn from each other. This can support their journey of transition from older teaching materials to modern technology. There is also <a href="https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/42311/Vandeyar_Practice_2013.pdf?sequence=1">extensive South African research</a> which reflects this issue. 

Then there’s localised content. There’s already a lot of local learning software in South Africa but a lot of this is in English. Most South African pupils don’t speak English as their first language, and have to battle with <a href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/saje/article/viewFile/143683/133397">translating difficult concepts</a> into their native language to try and understand what’s being taught. This is made even tougher when they are also learning new platforms and methods, like digital education tools.

Content and education technology developers need to provide adaptable systems which consider the context of use, the culture of use as well as language of use. The design process needs to follow a co-design process which also involves teachers. After all, a potential mobile learning user in South Africa can be some non-English speaker, accessing the mobile learning content in a cattle <a href="https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/kraal">kraal</a> in a village.

<h2>More support and security</h2>

The fourth area is technical support. Technology introduction in schools needs ongoing “help desk” support. This task is often left to <a href="https://www.education.gov.za/Portals/0/CD/National%20Curriculum%20Statements%20and%20Vocational/CAPS%20FET%20_%20COMPUTER%20APPLICATIONS%20TECHNOLOGY%20_%20GR%2010-12%20_%20Web_6AC6.pdf?ver=2015-01-27-154348-193">Computer Applications Technology</a> or Computing subject teachers. These teachers become burdened: they are seen as the the all round computing experts, expected to always be able to handle help desk questions. 

My colleagues and I have heard this often in our teacher workshops – these teachers’ colleagues also expect them to keep and remember their passwords on their behalf. Schools in urban, peri-urban and rural schools will need dedicated technical support services which teachers will be able to rely on when facing any technical difficulties.

Finally, there’s safety and security. The use of high-end technology within and beyond schools not only affects teachers and learners but also the affects communities in which the schools are based. In a <a href="https://time.com/longform/south-africa-unequal-country/">highly unequal society</a>, crime becomes a challenge for schools, teachers and learners who have to make use of such technologies. Any introduction of technology must be accompanied by a sustainable security plan.

<h2>Policy review</h2>

This is not to say that technology doesn’t belong in schools. On the contrary, the renewed focus on introducing technology to schools should be celebrated. But it also requires a review of South Africa’s existing technology in education policies and a sustainable plan to ensure that no child is deprived of a skill that is no longer a luxury.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118612/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important" />

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mmaki-jantjies-457732">Mmaki Jantjies</a>, Senior Lecturer in Information Systems at the University of the Western Cape, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-the-western-cape-1018">University of the Western Cape</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-things-south-africa-must-get-right-for-tech-in-schools-to-work-118612">original article</a>.

South Africa needs to get these five things right in order for tech in schools to work

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/julia-boorstin/">Julia Boorstin</a> 



Facebook is unveiling an ambitious plan to create a new digital currency and financial system to transform the way money moves around the world, and not just on its own apps.



It’s leading a consortium to create an open-source digital currency called Libra, set to launch in the first half of next year. The goal is for developers to create services for consumers to send money around the world easily and for free — with the same convenience as sending a photo or a message.



The Libra currency will not be run by Facebook, but rather by a nonprofit association supported by a range of companies and organizations. But&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=FB" class="">Facebook</a>&nbsp;does have a plan to profit from it with a new subsidiary, Calibra, which is building a digital wallet of the same name for storing and exchanging the currency.



The financial information from your digital wallet will not be used for ad targeting on Facebook’s platforms because the two divisions will be kept totally separate, the company said.



“We’ve seen internet change the game for everything that could be digitized, except for money,” said David Marcus, the leader of Facebook’s Calibra division.



“The numbers really speak for themselves. There’s 1.7 billion people around the world that are unbanked, the same number are underserved by financial services,” said Marcus, who before taking over Facebook’s blockchain initiatives ran its Messenger division and was previously president of PayPal. “Now, anyone with a cheap smartphone has access to all the info they want in the world for free with a basic data plan. Why doesn’t money work the same way?”



The announcement comes after Facebook has faced a slew of privacy issues, raising real questions about whether people will trust the social platform with their financial information. Marcus says that’s why it’s so important that Facebook not be in control of the currency.



“It may sound super controversial but there’s no better way to demonstrate the evolution of our thinking, what we know we should control and what we should not and can not control,” Marcus said. “A network that enables billions of people to move money around the world should not be something we can or should control.”What is Libra?



The new digital currency is set to launch in the first half of 2020. It will be run by a nonprofit, the Libra Association, based in Geneva, Switzerland. Its goal is to be broadly accessible, stable and secure.



Unlike bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which can be hugely volatile and speculative, Libra will be backed by relatively stable government-backed money.



“If you buy $50 of Libra, your $50 makes its way to the Libra Reserve,” said Marcus. “It’s designed to be stable and confer values on Libra that makes it more like a traditional currency than any of the digital currencies are now. This is the way paper money was created.”



The fact that the Libra blockchain is open-source means that anyone can build a service or app that uses the currency. The wallets that are developed to use the service will be interoperable, so you’ll be able to send money from Facebook’s Calibra wallet to any other system that accepts Libra.



Consumers will not interact with the Libra Association, but will only interact with Libra through a digital wallet or an operator. For people who don’t have the ability to digitally purchase Libra with a credit card or digitally linked account, Marcus says he expects companies in emerging markets to create locations where people can exchange Libra for cash.Who’s involved in this digital currency?



Facebook is joined by 27 other companies and organizations that are founding members. The goal is to have at least 100 companies and organizations on board for its launch next year. Each member of the association will manage one of the “nodes,” or locations where transactions involving Libra are validated.



Founding members include companies in the payments space:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=V" class="">Visa</a>, Stripe and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=PYPL" class="">PayPal</a>, which will be able to help merchants accept Libra. Some tech companies are also on board, including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=EBAY" class="">eBay</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=LYFT" class="">Lyft</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=UBER" class="">Uber</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=SPOT" class="">Spotify</a>, and Latin American payments platform Mercado Pago, which could drive adoption of acceptance of the currency. Two European telecom companies are also involved, Iliad and Vodafone.



Venture capital investment companies involved have experience with digital payments: Andreessen Horowitz, Breakthrough Initiatives, Ribbit Capital, Thrive Capital, and Union Square Ventures. Nonprofit and academic organizations on board are focused on helping people who don’t have access to banking: Creative Destruction Lab, Kiva, Mercy Corps, and Women’s World Banking. And four blockchain companies are involved: Anchorage, Bison Trails, Coinbase and Xapo Holdings.



“The idea is that [Libra] has mass adoption — lots of trusted companies that want to join the journey, so there’s a chance of this becoming mainstream,” Marcus said.



This list of founding members invested a minimum of $10 million to fund the operating costs of the nonprofit association as well as to launch an incentive program to jumpstart the underlying Libra blockchain and to drive adoption of the currency.Facebook’s Calibra digital wallet



Facebook’s Calibra is a digital wallet that will be accessible as a stand-alone app and integrated into Messenger and WhatsApp. Facebook says it’s designed to enable anyone to securely store money for free on their phone and to allow people to securely send and receive Libra around the world, with no fees for consumers, although Facebook is considering “very low” fees for merchants.



Down the line, Marcus anticipates Facebook will offer other financial services, such as loans, from which it could profit: “If the network is successful, it will be a big opportunity for us to provide lending to all these consumers,” he said.



Facebook’s larger goal is to get people to spend more time on its platforms. This launch will enable the 2.7 billion people who use its various apps every month to more easily make purchases from the 90 million businesses on its platform. The easier it is for these businesses to drive sales on Facebook, the more likely they are to buy ads.



Although Calibra is fully owned by Facebook, it’s operating as a subsidiary kept separate from Facebook’s advertising businesses, so it can be regulated appropriately.



One key use case for Calibra is remittances. Facebook says that every year $25 billion is lost by migrants on fees from the likes of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=WU" class="">Western Union</a>. Marcus says the current process is antiquated: Immigrants send a photo of their receipt from Western Union to family members via WhatsApp so they can collect the money, minus a fee. Calibra would cut Western Union and other money-transfer services out of the equation.



A key for Calibra’s adoption is making it easy to understand exchange rate and transfer money in and out of the currency, says&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/15/instagram-kevin-weil-helped-facebook-beat-snapchat.html" class="">Kevin Weil,&nbsp;</a>Calibra’s VP of Product who formerly oversaw Instagram Stories, Facebook’s successful attempt to battle Snapchat.



“The easier it is to go back and forth [from the local currency to Libra] the more confidence people will have,” he said. “If you’re banked you can imagine connecting your bank account, if you’re not banked then you can imagine a map that shows nearby money transfer experiences.”





Will this whole thing take off?



Libra is the first new cryptocurrency that has a real opportunity to bring digital currency to the mainstream, according to one of Libra’s founding partners, Anchorage, which acts as an institutional custodian for crypto assets.



It solves some of the underpinning issues that other cryptocurrencies have not been able to, to reach this promise, ” says Anchorage President and co-founder Diogo Monica.



“It’s based on a very scalable, highly efficient blockchain, that can do many thousands of transactions per second. And it’s backed by bank deposits and government securities like the U.S. dollar, so it will have low volatility,” Monica said. “The association has so many big players that already have relationships, which solves the chicken-and-egg problem of adoption.”



Monica says that Anchorage will operate one of the many nodes to handle Libra transactions and could sell its services to other members of the association for safekeeping of their Libra assets.



Marcus says if people don’t want to trust Facebook’s Calibra, there will be other apps to access the currency.



To boost its security, Calibra will have the same verification and anti-fraud processes that banks and credit cards use. To gain access users will have to have a valid government ID and use two-factor authentication, leveraging the likes of FaceID. The service will have built-in fraud production and dedicated live support. And if someone accesses a user’s account, Calibra promises to refund any lost assets.



Launching a whole new system comes with its challenges. “Every direction you look there’s stuff you have to figure out from scratch,” said Weil. “Not everyone is familiar with exchange rates, and even the folks that are, aren’t necessarily familiar with digital currency. I’ll take a lot of time to educate people.”



There’s also the question of regulatory approval. Weil says they’re talking to regulators and are in the process of getting money-transfer licenses, which they expect to have secured for a launch next year.



“People will misunderstand and think this is a Facebook thing, ” said Weil. “We incubated it, but it’s designed to be run in a decentralized way.”



This article first appeared on CNBC  <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/17/facebook-announces-libra-digital-currency-calibra-digital-wallet.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/17/facebook-announces-libra-digital-currency-calibra-digital-wallet.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Facebook leads consortium creating Libra digital currency, launches Calibra digital wallet

Content supplied 



By Magdi Amin, an Investment Partner with <a href="http://www.omidyar.com/">Omidyar Network</a> 



Africa’s digital revolution is transforming our economy at a record pace. Africa is home to the 10 fastest growing cities in the world,<a href="#_ftn1">[1]</a> and for nearly a decade, we’ve had the world’s fastest rate of internet adoption – gaining 20 percent more users in the last year alone.<a href="#_ftn2">[2]</a> This expanded access has given rise to a powerful digital economy—one that’s expected to grow by more than US$300 billion by 2025.<a href="#_ftn3">[3]</a> But all this change begs the question: How do we ensure that Africa’s transformative technology fulfills its promise as a force for good?



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As Africa’s economy moves online, so do the people who engage with it. And in this digital age, we need a modern way of proving that we are who we say we are, establishing trust, and transacting from afar. Increasingly, we will access a common digital market with our “digital identities,” often via a finger scan or a digital wallet.  



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The African Union (AU) has recently recognized digital identification systems as essential infrastructure to unlock access to profound new social and economic opportunity, such as education, employment, financial services, mobile communication, travel, and voting. Sixty percent of Africans believe their governments will introduce new or revamped identity systems in the next two years, in part to support the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and to deliver public goods and services more effectively.<a href="#_ftn4">[4]</a> 



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Studies show that Africa
stands more to gain from the adoption of digital identity than any other region
in the world; it also risks a lot if the systems are designed without
safeguards. How we treat our identity data will determine if digital identity
empowers or exploit Africans. 



Will we have choices? Will we
be required to submit so much information, including DNA, that it puts our
privacy and security at risk? Will we be consulted to ensure everyone is
included, especially the 500 million Africans who do not have a foundational form of ID today?<a href="#_ftn5">[5]</a>
Does the digital identity system design reflect the rights and protections
afforded by law? Will our data be shared with foreign companies or governments,
and if so, will the rights I enjoy in my country with respect to my data still
protect me?



Human and digital rights groups have raised these questions in response to recent ID-related decisions in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria. On April 1, Kenya’s High Court suspended some of the contentious design decisions, such as making ID mandatory for public services, pending a hearing. When ID is mandatory, we have seen less pressure on governments and businesses to ensure the system is useful, safe, and trusted by individuals.



Digital identity is a complex
task with many moral, economic, political, and technological choices. The AU, <a href="https://medium.com/positive-returns/why-we-invested-un-economic-commission-for-africa-c55b824f09f3">UN Economic Commission for Africa</a>, Smart Africa, Internet
Society, Africa Digital Rights Hub, the World Bank and others are actively equipping
governments, businesses, and civil society with tools and training that can
lead to good outcomes for people. 



For example, they are helping
all 54 AU governments define and implement a shared set of principles for Good
Digital Identity in Africa. The principles convey an African view on inclusion, data
ownership, interoperability across borders, compatibility with existing
systems, privacy, security and safeguards, governance, neutrality, and
accountability. Building on both the AU Data Protection Guidelines and the
Principles on Identification for Sustainable Development, the framework also
addresses exclusion, discrimination, surveillance, consent, and other key
issues of our time. 



As technology shapes the very
notion of identity and introduces new risks and dilemmas, civil society,
businesses, and other stakeholders should engage in this conversation. It’s up
to all of us to help ensure governments and companies deliver solutions that
protect and empower citizens. 



It’s an opportunity Africans cannot
afford to miss. Digital identity systems could unlock as much as 6 percent GDP
growth,<a href="#_ftn6">[6]</a>
and up to 50 percent of that economic value can go straight into the hands of
citizens. But those gains are possible only if digital identity is implemented equitably
with trust, transparency, and accountability.<a href="#_ftn7">[7]</a>




If we truly want to escape from hunger,&nbsp;disease,&nbsp;illiteracy,&nbsp;gender
inequality,&nbsp;and&nbsp;other global
challenges,&nbsp;everyone must have equitable access to engage in the
daily transactions that power societal and economic progress. And they must be
able to do so fearlessly—with privacy, security, and individual control. A good
digital identity will lay the foundation for the future we want.&nbsp;&nbsp; 



Africans must ask for all ID
to be Good ID. They must trust that ID and, therefore, use it voluntarily
because it empowers without putting them at risk. Without this, Africans will continue to suffer from
unequal access to employment and educational opportunities; health and
financial services; and many of the critical social
protections they need to succeed. Good ID provides a framework to improve the quality of our
digital identities with important safeguards embedded in technology, policy,
and practice while helping millions of Africans participate in and benefit from
today’s digital economy. 



With Gambia’s ratification,
the AfCFTA has drawn enough signatures to go into operation. This milestone
makes Africa the world’s largest free trade area. And with increased connectivity,
shared government platforms, entrepreneurship, and skills, our digital economy
is building to become a powerful force for good. Now, our challenge expands
beyond keeping pace with the digital revolution—we must enable Good ID to
thrive by placing the interests of Africans at the center of our social and
economic future. 



Transparent, accountable, and
trust-building practices lead to Good ID. System planners, technologists,
program managers, policy makers, and investors can either build or erode trust
with digital ID holders with every choice they make. An emphasis on privacy,
inclusion, user value, user control, and security will ultimately create the
foundation for impact and mitigate most risks of digital identity. 



Magdi Amin is an Investment Partner with <a href="http://www.omidyar.com/">Omidyar Network</a>, focused on digital identity. Prior to joining the
Omidyar Network, he worked for the World Bank Group for over two decades –
living and working across Africa, East Asia and MENA. He led the development of
the World Bank’s Africa Digital Economy strategy and recently spearheaded
Omidyar Network’s first investment in digital identity in Africa, in
collaboration with the Economic Commission for Africa. 



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<a href="#_ftnref1">[1]</a> United Nations Department of Economic and
Social Affairs: <a href="https://population.un.org/wup/Publications/Files/WUP2018-KeyFacts.pdf">2018 Revision of the World Urbanization Prospects</a>



<a href="#_ftnref2">[2]</a> We Are Social &amp; Hootsuite: <a href="https://digitalreport.wearesocial.com/">Digital in 2018 Report</a>



<a href="#_ftnref3">[3]</a> McKinsey Global Institute: <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/high-tech/our-insights/lions-go-digital-the-internets-transformative-potential-in-africa">Lions go Digital: The Internet’s Transformative
Potential in Africa (2013)</a>



<a href="#_ftnref4">[4]</a> ID4Africa: <a href="https://www.biometricupdate.com/201804/id4africa-survey-shows-near-universal-support-for-biometrics-elections-among-african-identity-community">2018 survey</a>



<a href="#_ftnref5">[5]</a> World Bank: <a href="https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/dataset/identification-development-global-dataset">2018 ID4D Global Data Set</a>



<a href="#_ftnref6">[6]</a> McKinsey Global Institute: <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/innovation-and-growth/the-value-of-digital-id-for-the-global-economy-and-society">Digital Identification: A Key to Inclusive Growth</a>



<a href="#_ftnref7">[7]</a> McKinsey Global Institute: <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/innovation-and-growth/the-value-of-digital-id-for-the-global-economy-and-society">Digital Identification: A Key to Inclusive Growth</a>

As more Africans go online this is what needs to be done to protect their identities

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/jade-scipioni/">Jade Scipioni</a> 



Jeff Bezos started Amazon as an online bookstore in his&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/15/photos-inside-seattle-house-where-jeff-bezos-started-amazon.html" class="">garage</a>&nbsp;in 1994. Today, Amazon has a more than $900 billion market cap and Bezos is the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/13/jeff-bezos-launches-day-one-fund-charity-how-he-spends-his-billions.html" class="">richest person in the world</a>&nbsp;with a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/profiles/jeffrey-p-bezos/" class="">$116 billion fortune</a>.



Along the way, Bezos has learned a thing or two about what it takes to be someone who succeeds in business. Here is some of his top advice.



Be a missionary



While there is a debate among billionaires on whether or not you should follow your passion — “Shark Tank” star Mark Cuban says such advice is one of the “<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/16/mark-cuban-follow-your-passion-is-bad-advice.html" class="">great lies of life</a>, ” for instance — Bezos believes its vital to being a successful entrepreneur. In fact, it’s the people who care who win, he says.



“You have got to have some passion for the arena that you are going to develop and work in, because otherwise you’ll be competing against those who do have passion for that, and they’re going to build better products and services,” Bezos said at Amazon’s re:Mars conference in Las Vegas on June 6.



He added that it’s essential for an entrepreneur to “be a missionary,” you “can’t be mercenary,” meaning that you have to mission-motivated, not money-motivated.



“Missionaries build better products and services — they always win,” said Bezos. “Mercenaries are just trying to make money, and paradoxically the missionaries always end up making more money.”



 Embrace risk and failure



To be successful in business, you also must be willing to take risks, and therefore to fail.



“If you come up with a business idea and there’s no risk there&#8230;it’s probably already being done&#8230;[and] being done well&#8230;. So you have to have something that might not work and you have to accept that your business in many ways is an experiment and it might fail,” Bezos said. “And that’s ok.”



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/08/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-boldest-business-moves.html" class="">Bezos is known for making bold moves</a>: For example, skeptics doubted customers would pay $79 a year for Amazon Prime when it launched in 2005; as of April 2018 the service had 100 million subscribers worldwide.



He’s also had some fails, like Amazon Restaurants, which will&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/11/grubhub-shares-jump-amazon-shuts-down-its-restaurant-delivery-service.html" class="">shut down</a>June 24, or the recent demise of Amazon’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-is-closing-all-pop-up-stores-2019-3" class="">pop-up kiosks</a>.



And Bezos continues to encourage risk-taking at Amazon. In fact, the size of the risks and the failures need to grow with the company, he said.



“We need big failures if we’re going to move the needle” — “billion-dollar scale failures,” Bezos said at re:Mars. “And if we’re not, we’re not swinging hard enough.”



Change your mind



Bezos has learned from interacting with the world’s most influential minds that the people who usually get things right are those who listen the most and who change their minds often.



“What I have found that people who are right change their mind even without getting new data. They have the same data set that they had at the beginning, but they wake up and they reanalyze things all the time and they come to a new conclusion and then they change their mind.”



In fact, people who win typically have worked hard to recognize what beliefs or biases they hold and “actively try to look for evidence that disconfirms” them, Bezos said.



Billionaire Ray Dalio is an example. He built Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge fund in the world, to function as an “idea meritocracy.”



“The greatest tragedy of mankind — or one of them — is that people needlessly hold wrong opinions in their minds,” <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/12/ray-dalio-says-greatest-tragedy-of-mankind-is-people-clinging-to-wrong-opinions.html">Dalio has said</a>.



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/13/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-on-how-to-succeed-in-business.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/13/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-on-how-to-succeed-in-business.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

gettyimages-1066734506-594×594

Billionaire Jeff Bezos: This is who ‘always wins’ in business

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/lucy-handley/">Lucy Handley</a>



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=AMZN" class="">Amazon</a>&nbsp;has overtaken&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=GOOGL" class="">Google</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=AAPL" class="">Apple</a>&nbsp;to become the world’s most valuable brand at $315.5 billion, according to a ranking of global companies, up 52% on last year.



Apple comes second, valued at $309.5 billion, with Google in third place, at $309 billion, according to the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brand ranking 2019, compiled by WPP research agency Kantar and released Tuesday.



Google and Apple had spent a combined 12 years at the top of the list, with Google taking the top spot in 2018.



Doreen Wang, Kantar’s global head of BrandZ, said Amazon’s jump was due to it selling a variety of services. “Amazon’s phenomenal brand value growth of almost $108 billion in the last year demonstrates how brands are now less anchored to individual categories and regions. The boundaries are blurring as technology fluency allow brands, such as Amazon, Google and Alibaba, to offer a range of services across multiple consumer touchpoints,” she said in a statement emailed to CNBC.



<a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/17/amazon-makes-several-start-up-investments-revenue-growth-slows.html">Amazon has been increasing investments in a range of companies</a> as its core business slows, including self-driving car start-up Aurora and electric truck company Rivian, as well as expanding <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/15/amazon-will-compete-with-fedex-and-ups-to-become-logistics-company.html">Amazon Air</a>, its airplane business. It bought online pharmacy PillPack for $753 million in 2018 and last month led a $575 million funding round into food delivery company Deliveroo.



Four of the BrandZ top ten were made up of more traditional brands including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=V" class="">Visa</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=MCD" class="">McDonald’s</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=T" class="">AT&amp;T</a>. Microsoft comes in at fourth place, as it did in 2018.



Technology companies have always dominated the ranking, with <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=MSFT">Microsoft</a> taking the top spot when BrandZ began in 2006. This year, Alibaba (valued at $131.2 billion) overtook Tencent ($130.9 billion) to become the most valuable Chinese brand. There is a total of 15 Chinese brands in the list of 100 companies, including mobile handset company Xiaomi (valued at $19.8 billion) and Meituan ($18.8 billion), a tech platform people can use to order food deliveries, book hotel rooms and arrange bike rentals.



David Roth, chair of BrandZ, said the companies that did well were those that mastered this new model of different services. “Brands need to understand the value this type of model can create and should embrace its approach to be successful in the future,” he said in an emailed statement.



Tech, finance and retail brands dominate the overall ranking, making up more than two-thirds of its value, while&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/04/the-luxury-sector-is-growing-faster-than-many-others-and-gucci-leads.html" class="">luxury is the fastest-growing category</a>.



To qualify for the ranking, brands must be publicly traded, or publish their financial results. BrandZ’s list combines measures of brand equity based on interviews with more than 3 million consumers about thousands of brands, with analysis of each company’s business and financial performance, using data from Kantar Worldpanel.



The world’s most valuable brands 2019



<ol class="wp-block-list"><li>Amazon $315.5 billion</li><li>Apple $309.5 billion</li><li>Google $309 billion</li><li>Microsoft $251.2 billion</li><li>Visa $177.9 billion</li><li>Facebook $159 billion</li><li>Alibaba $131.2 billion</li><li>Tencent $130.9 billion</li><li>McDonald’s $130.4 billion</li><li>AT&amp;T $108.4 billion</li></ol>



Source: BrandZ



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/11/amazon-beats-apple-and-google-to-become-the-worlds-most-valuable-brand.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/11/amazon-beats-apple-and-google-to-become-the-worlds-most-valuable-brand.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Amazon beats Apple and Google to become the world’s most valuable brand

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/kathleen-elkins/">Kathleen Elkins</a>



Warren Buffett is anything but average: The legendary investor has an approximate&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett/#19540ea74639" class="">net worth of $82 billion</a>, making him the third richest person in the world. At 88, he still runs Berkshire Hathaway, his holding company that owns businesses like Geico, Dairy Queen and See’s Candies.



A key to Buffett’s extraordinary success, though, is a refreshingly simple habit and “something anyone can do,” his longtime friend Bill Gates&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gatesnotes.com/About-Bill-Gates/Grilling-and-chilling-with-Warren-Buffett?WT.mc_id=06_01_2019_00_BerkshireHathaway2019_BG-EM_&amp;amp;WT.tsrc=BGEM" class="">pointed out in a recent blog post</a>: He reads every day.



Buffett, who spends between <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/15/warren-buffett-and-mark-cuban-agree-reading-is-key-to-success.html">five and six hours a day paging through books</a> and newspapers, finds it “enjoyable to think about business and investment problems,” he says in HBO’s documentary <a class="" href="http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/becoming-warren-buffett">“Becoming Warren Buffett.”</a>



Plus, staying up to date on business news and current events is a relatively simple way to gain a competitive advantage. “Everybody can read what I read. It is a level playing field,” Buffett used to tell his late wife,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/14/6-influential-people-in-billionaire-investor-warren-buffetts-life.html" class="">Susan Buffett</a>, according to the HBO documentary.



“And he loves that because he is competitive,” Susan said of Buffett. “He’s sitting there all by himself in his office, reading these things that everybody else can read, but he loves the idea that he is going to win.”



Tech entrepreneur and self-made billionaire Mark Cuban is also an avid reader and has used the habit to get ahead in his career. He recognized the value that reading could return early in his career, while building his first technology business, MicroSolutions.



“I remember reading the PC DOS manual (I really did), and being proud that I could figure out how to set up startup menus for my customers,” he writes&nbsp;<a href="http://blogmaverick.com/2011/04/07/shark-tank-success-motivation/" class="">on his blog.</a>&nbsp;“I read every book and magazine I could. Heck, $3 for a magazine, $20 for a book. One good idea that led to a customer or solution and it paid for itself many times over.”



“Everything I read was public,” he adds. “Anyone could buy the same books and magazines. The same information was available to anyone who wanted it. Turns out most people didn’t want it.”



For Cuban, taking the time to “get a knowledge advantage” helped him outperform competitors, he says. “A guy with little computer background could compete with far more experienced guys, just because I put in the time to learn all I could.”



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/03/bill-gates-this-is-the-key-to-warren-buffetts-success.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/03/bill-gates-this-is-the-key-to-warren-buffetts-success.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Bill Gates: A key to Warren Buffett’s success is ‘something anyone could do’

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/alicia-adamczyk/">Alicia Adamczyk</a> 



Pour one out for your high school mix tapes: <a class="" href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/06/apple-previews-macos-catalina/">Apple announced Monday</a> at its annual <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/03/apple-mac-pro-look.html">Worldwide Developers Conference</a> (WWDC) that it’s shutting down iTunes, its 18-year-old digital media software. In its place, Mac users will have three individual, dedicated apps for music, podcasts and TV, similar to the current iPhone setup.



The transition will take place when the macOS Catalina, the latest version of Apple’s Mac operating system, debuts in the fall. While the news initially alarmed users, you can rest easy: Apple confirmed to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/make-it/" class="">CNBC Make It</a>&nbsp;that your iTunes content isn’t going to just disappear into the digital ether.



“Users will have access to their entire music library, whether they downloaded the songs, purchased them or ripped them from a CD,” reads a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/06/apple-previews-macos-catalina/" class="">press release</a>.



The company confirmed that when Mac users update their software, music currently in your library will transfer to the Apple Music app and TV and movie purchases will migrate to the Apple TV app. Mac users will be able to access the iTunes Music Store within the Music app, and buy movies and TV shows in the TV app. Windows users will see no change in their iTunes experience, and&nbsp;iTunes Store gift cards are still valid.How to ‘own’ your digital files



While the company promises that users won’t lose content, it’s a good reminder that digital files can come with quirky ownership rules.



When you lawfully buy a physical CD, DVD or book, for example, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#109" class="">Copyright Act</a>&nbsp;allows you to sell, lend or give away your copy, because you own it. But that’s not the case for digital copies, as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/us/terms.html" class="">Apple’s terms and conditions</a>&nbsp;explicitly states.



So if you buy a movie via the iTunes store or to stream on Amazon, for example, you’re essentially buying a license to watch the film as long as it remains on the platform — you’re not buying ownership of the file itself.



As for music, as Apple states, you “may burn an audio playlist of purchased music to disc for listening purposes up to seven times &#8230; Other Content may not be burned to disc.”



In order to keep your digital files forever, you can download them onto an <a class="" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/04/technology/personaltech/moving-your-music-out-of-itunes.html">external hard drive or upload them to a cloud service</a>.Of course, you could always go the old-fashioned route and buy physical copies of your favorite books, albums, movies and TV shows.



This article first appeared on CNBC  <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/04/apple-is-shutting-down-itunesheres-what-will-happen-to-your-music.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/04/apple-is-shutting-down-itunesheres-what-will-happen-to-your-music.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Apple is shutting down iTunes—here’s what will happen to your music

By Strive Masiyiwa



Africa’s tech entrepreneurs are generating a
global buzz with home-grown start-ups now being mentioned in the same breath as
the likes of AirBnB and Uber. Some see emerging technologies as a threat but I
see the day coming when visionary young African tech-preneurs will also find
themselves launching billion dollar unicorn IPOs with the potential not just to
create wealth for themselves but transform the lives and livelihoods of their
customers, communities, and even nations.



Last year&nbsp;<a href="https://qz.com/africa/1419107/times-50-genius-companies-list-shows-five-african-startups/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">six African ventures</a>&nbsp;made it onto Time Magazine’s&nbsp;<a href="http://time.com/collection/genius-companies-2018/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">50 Genius Companies List</a>. They include a Kenyan mobile
battery-powered&nbsp;<a href="http://time.com/collection/genius-companies-2018/5412125/brck/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wi-Fi modem</a>&nbsp;bringing the internet to remote areas,
a&nbsp;<a href="http://time.com/collection/genius-companies-2018/5412105/bitland/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ghanaian platform</a>&nbsp;using blockchain to help create land
purchase records, and a&nbsp;<a href="http://time.com/collection/genius-companies-2018/5412103/babymigo/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nigerian startup</a>&nbsp;providing expectant mothers with
pregnancy-related information and contacts.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Exciting tech-enabled innovations like these
are springing up across the African continent, spearheaded by a young
generation with solution-mindsets, launching edgy start-ups and increasingly
using tech skills to tackle some of the continent’s most intractable
challenges, such as quality health and education for all.



However, “smart” questions need to be answered
– particularly around how countries can bring digital solutions to scale so
they reach the poorest and most marginalised, not just the privileged
few.&nbsp;Without vision and collaborative development with key
stakeholders across different sectors, there is no guarantee, for example, that
emerging digital technologies will improve day-to-day life of the people most in
need.



It’s a topic of debate in government circles,
especially when it comes to the role of digital technologies in transforming
education and health as the cornerstones of our human and economic
development.&nbsp;



Last month, the World Bank weighed in with
a&nbsp;<a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/31499" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2019/04/13/world-bank-launches-human-capital-plan-to-propel-investment-in-africas-people/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">human capital plan&nbsp;</a>for
Africa, arguing&nbsp;GDP&nbsp;per worker in sub-Saharan Africa could be 2.5
times higher if everyone were healthy and enjoyed a good education from
pre-school to secondary school.&nbsp;



One key question that we and policymakers
across the world must increasingly ask is this: What comprises a “good”
education in the digital age? What jobs are our education systems preparing
young people to do? I have long argued that financial literacy, tech skills,
and entrepreneurship classes should be taught before young people graduate from
secondary school.&nbsp;



This month, the Oxford University based&nbsp;<a href="https://pathwayscommission.bsg.ox.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pathways for Prosperity Commission</a>, (of which I am a co-chair), releases new
research on how countries need to take charge and make positive and deliberate
strides to capitalise on the potential of new technologies in education and
health to make lives better for everyone.



The report Positive Disruptions: Health and
Education in a Digital Age considers examples of tech being used in health and
education in Africa and beyond. While it finds many success stories, too often,
the research reveals that new technology is introduced (the hardware in a
clinic or classroom, for example) without adequate analysis of the problem
they’re supposed to solve and the wider management systems they’re supposed to
transform.



Systems and processes may not sound exciting
but they matter!&nbsp;&nbsp;



An example is Peru’s &#8220;One Laptop per
Child&#8221; programme. In spite of heavy investment, it had little effect on
children’s math and reading test scores as it wasn’t supported by necessary
changes across the education system; in particular the teachers were not really
included in a consultative way.



In Kenya, on the other hand, they’ve had a
lot of&nbsp;<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10833-018-9325-4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">success</a>&nbsp;with a national literacy programme
called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tusomeafrica.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tusome</a>&nbsp;that uses digitised teaching
materials and a tablet-enabled teacher feedback system. It’s boosted students’
learning performance by more than a quarter.&nbsp;&nbsp;



In Malawi, a personalised EdTech learning
programme delivered via solar powered tablets by&nbsp;<a href="https://onebillion.org/onecourse/app/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">onebillion onecourse</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;(who just won the Elon Musk <a href="https://www.xprize.org/">Xprize</a>
for global education) is having a proven impact on math and literacy for
children in grades one to three. It has also closed the gap between girls and
boys in reading and math in first grade.



In health too, there are measurable impacts.
In Uganda, the&nbsp;<a href="http://mobilevrs.co.ug/home.php" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mobile Vital Records System</a>, a mobile web-based application has helped
raise the proportion of births being registered from 28 to 70 per cent, helping
authorities to track – and improve &#8211; individuals’ health.&nbsp;&nbsp;



And in Mali, digital monitoring and
case-tracking tools used in a program designed by the non-profit&nbsp;<a href="https://www.musohealth.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Muso</a>&nbsp;have cut child deaths in peri-urban
areas where community health workers have used them to seek out the most
vulnerable.



These successes are only a brief glimpse of
what could be achieved in the near future, given the amazing pace of
technological change. Innovations in machine learning, algorithms and
communication technologies, for example, will very soon allow us to reimagine
the delivery of health and education services, opening digital doors to
understanding never possible before.&nbsp;



Used wisely, and scaled successfully, they
could help countries across Africa to develop highly responsive, data-driven
learning systems with feedback loops at all levels, targeting the most at-risk
individuals, to offer personalised &#8211; and sometimes virtual &#8211; learning and
health solutions.



Looking forward, it’s not just about the
amount of money spent. Efficiency and sound strategy count for more than
dollars. African governments can learn much from this powerful evidence about
emerging opportunities in the digital age as well as lessons learned so far.



As the new Pathways report concludes: Data-driven new technologies
have huge potential to be positive game changers in service delivery of health
and education. But now is a critical moment to reflect on lessons learned to
ensure, for example, that technology procurement choice and&nbsp;service delivery
is efficient, equitable, appropriate, cost-effective, and genuinely improves
lives, especially of the poor and most marginalized. Data privacy and other
issues&nbsp;also need to be tackled urgently.



In short, smart choices are required by citizens and policymakers alike, so millions of men, women and children who have been left behind, can have better access to better education, better health and get better jobs, thanks to innovations of the digital age. #PositiveDisruption isn’t just a hashtag. It’s an imperative for future generations across the world.



*Strive Masiyiwa is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Econet Group, a pan-African telecommunications, media and technology company with operations and investments in over 20 countries.&nbsp;



Masiyiwa serves
on a number of international boards including Unilever Plc, the Rockefeller
Foundation, the Council on Foreign Relations’ Global Advisory Board, the Africa
Progress Group, and the Hilton Foundation&#8217;s Humanitarian Prize Jury. Masiyiwa
also serves as Chairman of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa
(AGRA), a position he took over after Kofi Annan’s term.&nbsp;



As a philanthropist, Masiyiwa is a member of the Giving Pledge,
and his contributions to education, health and development have been widely
recognized. Masiyiwa and his wife finance the Higher Life Foundation, which has
supported the education of over 250,000 African orphans in 20 years. Their
family foundation provides scholarships to over 40,000 African orphans every
year.&nbsp;



Masiyiwa has been selected twice, in 2014 and 2017, to Fortune
Magazine’s list of the “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders”. Over the last few years,
Masiyiwa has devoted his time to mentoring the next generation of African
entrepreneurs through his Facebook page, which has a growing followership of
nearly 3-million young people from across the continent. Facebook has
identified his platform as the most engaging of any business leader in the
world.

Op-Ed: It is time to create positive disruption in Africa

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Microsoft Corp will invest $100 million to open an Africa technology development centre with sites in Kenya and Nigeria over the next five years, the company said on Tuesday.



Global tech giants, including Alphabet Inc and Facebook, have been increasing investment on the continent in recent years to take advantage of growing economies with rising access rates to the internet by a youthful population.



Microsoft will hire more than 100 local engineers to work in the new Africa facility in both countries to customise its applications for the African market and to develop new ones for the continent and beyond, it said in a statement.



“In addition, it is an opportunity to collaborate with partners, academia, governments and developers, driving impact and innovation in sectors important to the continent,” the company said, citing financial technology, farming technology and off grid energy.



Engineers at the new Africa development centre will build applications using artificial intelligence, mixed reality and machine learning, Microsoft said.



The company already has six other development hubs located elsewhere in the world. The new Africa development hub will also support Microsoft’s established businesses such as Office, Azure and Windows, the company said.



Reporting by Duncan Miriri, editing by Louise Heavens

Microsoft is planning on spending $100 million on Kenya, Nigeria tech development hub, what you need to know

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/shawn-m-carter/">Shawn M. Carter</a>



Apple&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/01/reuters-america-apple-results-beat-sets-eyes-back-on-1-trillion.html" class="">shares gained almost 5%</a>&nbsp;Wednesday, following the release of its&nbsp;<a href="https://grow.acorns.com/stock-market-outlook-for-may/" class="">earnings report</a>&nbsp;Tuesday, with the company’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=AAPL&amp;amp;qsearchterm=app" class="">current share price</a>hovering around $210.



If you invested in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=AAPL" class="">Apple</a>&nbsp;10 years ago, that decision would have paid off. According to CNBC calculations, a $1,000 investment made on May 1, 2009, would be worth more than $13,000 as of midday May 1, 2019, for a total return of more than 1,200%.



Over the same period, the S&amp;P 500 returned just over 300%.



And, thanks to trade-ins,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/01/apple-slashes-iphone-prices-in-china-by-as-much-as-5percent.html" class="">lower prices on iPhones</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/01/tim-cook-says-the-improved-tone-in-trade-talks-is-boosting-apples-china-business.html" class="">improved trade talks between the United States and China</a>, some analysts seemed optimistic about the company’s stock overall.



“We believe Apple has locked up strong share of the premium tier market and will continue to dominate high-end smartphones sales and capture the vast majority of smartphone profits for the next several years,” according to<a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/01/reuters-america-apple-results-beat-sets-eyes-back-on-1-trillion.html"> financial services firm Canaccord Genuity</a>.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cnbc-apple.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-335595"/><figcaption> CNBC: Apple stock as of May 1, 2019. </figcaption></figure>



Still, while Apple’s stock has ticked up recently and done mostly well over the years,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/30/how-amazon-became-one-of-warren-buffetts-biggest-investment-regrets.html" class="">any individual stock can over- or underperform</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/03/avoid-these-4-investing-mistakes.html" class="">past returns do not predict future results</a>. And even though the company&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/01/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-premarket-boeing-wynn-resorts-cvs-apple-estee-lauder-more.html" class="">reported earnings of $2.46 per share</a>&nbsp;for its most recent quarter, beating estimates by 10 cents a share, it saw its second consecutive overall quarterly revenue decline.



Apple is looking outside of smartphones to increase sales. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/30/apple-earnings-show-company-moving-beyond-iphone.html" class="">underlined two growing businesses</a>&nbsp;during his call with analysts: Apple Services, which includes things like Apple Music and iCloud, and Apple Wearables, which includes AirPods and the Apple Watch.



“It was our best quarter ever for services, with revenue reaching $11.5 billion,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/tim-cook/" class="">Cook</a>&nbsp;said. Services revenue was up 16% from $9.19 billion in sales from a year earlier.



If you’re&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/11/when-the-stock-market-tank-dont-do-these-3-things.html" class="">looking to get into investing</a>, seasoned investors such as Warren Buffett&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/17/warren-buffett-and-tony-robbins-agree-on-the-best-way-to-invest-your-money.html" class="">suggest you start with index funds</a>, which hold every stock in an index, meaning they’re automatically diversified and tend to be low cost. Plus, because they fluctuate with the market, they’re typically less risky than picking individual stocks.



Here’s a <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/markets/">snapshot of how the markets look now</a>.



This article was first published by CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/01/what-a-1000-in-apple-in-2009-would-be-worth-now.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/01/what-a-1000-in-apple-in-2009-would-be-worth-now.html </a>and is republished with its permission.

If you invested $1,000 in Apple in 2009, here’s how much you’d have now

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/todd-haselton/">Todd Haselton</a>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Google keeps a log of everywhere you go if you use Google apps and services on your phone.</li><li>It has a creepy level of detail that might surprise you.</li><li>Google makes it easy to find this information and limit how it can track you, though. Here’s how to do that.</li></ul>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Google-CNBC-plain.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-335210"/></figure>



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=GOOGL" class="">Google</a>&nbsp;knows a lot about you and, if you use Google Maps or other Google apps, it stores a copy of everywhere you go. I recently performed Google’s “Privacy Checkup” to learn a bit more about what it knows about me, and was pretty surprised at the level of detail it had on my exact locations.



I picked a random date: April 16, 2019. It knew everywhere I went, including that I took Interstate 95 to our office in northern New Jersey and that I arrived at 7:58 a.m. It knew that at 1:02 p.m. I drove to Jersey City and took a train in to Manhattan to the New York Stock Exchange before returning home at 4:38 p.m. And it has a copy of the pictures I took at each location.



It’s a creepy level of detail.



Google says it uses location history to “create a private map of where you go with your signed-in devices even when you aren’t using a specific Google service.” It also says the “map is only visible to you.” The data, it says, provides “improved map searches and commute routes, as well as helping you to rediscover the places you’ve been and the routes you’ve traveled.”



I don’t really care about that information. I know the roads I drove on April 16, and I can’t see any reason why Google should store it, even if it’s only for my use. I never know who might be able to access that data, even if Google promises it’s private.



You can stop Google from storing your location history and delete what it has already stored. Here’s how.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Google-CNBC-1110x727.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-335207"/><figcaption> Google keeps a creepy amount of information on where you’ve been. Todd Haselton | CNBC </figcaption></figure>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>First, go to&nbsp;<a href="https://myaccount.google.com/privacycheckup" class="">myaccount.google.com/privacycheckup</a>. This is a good page to bookmark, since it gives you granular control over lots of privacy settings.</li><li>Next, scroll down to “Location History” and choose “Manage Location History.”</li><li>This is where you’ll see everywhere you’ve been. It’s a freaky level of detail.</li><li>Tap “Manage Location History” at the bottom of the screen again.</li><li>Toggle the button to turn off Location History.</li></ul>



To delete your history, do this:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Tap the settings button on the “Location History” map.</li><li>Select “Delete all location history.”</li></ul>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Google-CNBC-2.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-335208"/><figcaption> Turn off the option that allows Google to track your location history. Todd Haselton | CNBC </figcaption></figure>



That’s not it, though.



Google will continue tracking your location unless you also turn off a separate “Web &amp; App Activity” tracker. Google says it tracks your location from apps to provide “better recommendations, and more personalized experiences in Maps, Search, and other Google services.”



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Google-CNBC-3.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-335209"/><figcaption> Turn off the option that allows Google to track your web and app activity. Todd Haselton | CNBC </figcaption></figure>



To turn off web and app activity, do this:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Go to <a class="" href="https://myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols">myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols</a></li><li>Turn off the “Web &amp; Activity” toggle</li></ul>



This article was first published by CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/25/how-to-stop-google-from-storing-your-location-history.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/25/how-to-stop-google-from-storing-your-location-history.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Google knows everywhere you go — here’s how to stop it from tracking you and delete the logs

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/ryan-browne/">Ryan Browne</a> and <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/eustance-huang/">Eustance Huang</a> 





KEY POINTS



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>The cryptocurrency market shed about $10 billion in value in the space of an hour late Thursday, CoinMarketCap data showed.</li><li>New York’s top lawyer alleges Bitfinex used at least $700 million from Tether’s cash reserves to cover up an $850 million loss.</li><li>Questions have arisen over whether Tether has enough dollar reserves to justify its token’s dollar peg and whether it was used to manipulate prices.</li></ul>



Cryptocurrencies fell amid reignited regulatory worries and questions around the legitimacy of so-called “stablecoin” tether.



The entire market shed about $10 billion in value in the space of an hour late Thursday, CoinMarketCap data showed. This after the New York attorney general&nbsp;<a href="https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/attorney-general-james-announces-court-order-against-crypto-currency-company-under" class="">accused</a>&nbsp;the operator of bitcoin exchange Bitfinex and tether issuer Tether Limited of hiding an $850 million loss.



The state’s top lawyer alleges Bitfinex used at least $700 million from Tether’s cash reserves to cover up the apparent loss of $850 million of client and corporate funds. Its findings were detailed in papers filed with the Manhattan Supreme Court.



Tether is a cryptocurrency that is meant to be pegged to the U.S. dollar — otherwise known as a stablecoin. Worries have been raised over whether Tether Limited holds enough dollars to back all the tokens in circulation.



The price of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=BTC=" class="">bitcoin</a>, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, has fallen 4% over the last 24 hours, according to industry website CoinDesk. In the same time period, the prices of ethereum and XRP — the world’s second and third-largest virtual currencies by market value — also dropped 6% and 3%, respectively. Tether’s price fell over 1%, coming off its dollar peg.



The attorney general’s office said Thursday that Bitfinex handed $850 million to a Panama entity called Crypto Capital without disclosing it to investors. Executives at Bitfinex and Tether then allegedly “engaged in a series of conflicted corporate transactions” — where Bitfinex gave itself access to Tether’s cash reserves.



“Those transactions — which also have not been disclosed to investors — treat Tether’s cash reserves as Bitfinex’s corporate slush fund, and are being used to hide Bitfinex’s massive, undisclosed losses and inability to handle customer withdrawals,” the attorney general’s office said.



A court order issued by New York’s legal chief requires the operators of Bitfinex and Tether Limited to cease further losses of its U.S. dollar reserves. They are also barred from deleting or permitting others to delete potentially relevant documents and communications.Bitfinex’s response



Bitfinex said in response that the attorney general’s court filings were “written in bad faith” and “riddled with false assertions.” It flatly denied the alleged $850 million loss, stating the funds were “not lost but have been, in fact, seized and safeguarded.”



“Bitfinex and Tether have been fully cooperative with the New York attorney general’s office, as both companies are with all regulators,” the crypto exchange said in a <a class="" href="https://www.bitfinex.com/posts/356">statement</a> on its website. “The New York attorney general’s office should focus its efforts on trying to aid and support our recovery efforts.”



The company added that both Bitfinex and Tether are “financially strong,” and that it would challenge the order by New York.Why it matters



Tether is one of the most notable stablecoins on the market. It’s meant to be backed 1:1 by U.S. dollars to provide a stable value, and is often used as an alternative to government-backed money for crypto trading.



But it’s not been without controversy. Questions have arisen over whether it actually has enough dollar reserves to justify that dollar peg and whether it was used to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/13/much-of-bitcoins-2017-boom-was-market-manipulation-researcher-says.html" class="">manipulate bitcoin’s huge price spike</a>&nbsp;in 2017.



Charles Hayter, CEO of digital currency comparison firm CryptoCompare, said the New York fraud probe into tether was affecting the market. He said it creates a knock-on effect as tether is “so ubiquitous and so enigmatic.”



Cryptocurrencies have slumped massively from a monster rally in late 2017. Bitcoin, once worth almost $20,000, has fallen steeply to just under $5,300 as of Friday. It had a <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/02/bitcoin-rallies-14percent-to-its-highest-level-since-november-last-year.html">recent pop</a> last month that experts attributed to algorithm-driven trading.



This article was first published by CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/26/cryptocurrency-bitcoin-price-falls-on-ny-ag-bitfinex-probe.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/26/cryptocurrency-bitcoin-price-falls-on-ny-ag-bitfinex-probe.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Cryptocurrencies shed $10 billion in an hour on worries over ‘stablecoin’ tether

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/sarah-berger/">Sarah Berger</a> 



The benefits of getting quality sleep are well-known and touted by moguls from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/21/why-jeff-bezos-makes-getting-8-hours-of-sleep-a-top-priority.html" class="">Jeff Bezos</a>&nbsp;to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/22/what-time-successful-people-to-go-bed.html" class="">Richard Branson</a>. And on Sunday’s episode of “Shark Tank” on ABC, Mark Cuban — who is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/19/mark-cuban-on-longevity-aging-and-what-he-does-to-stay-healthy.html" class="">interested in health and wellness</a>&nbsp;— was so impressed by an invention to help improve sleep, he invested half a million dollars.



The main purpose of the&nbsp;lightweight, breathable Somnifix mouth strips founder Nicholas Michalak pitched to the Sharks is to reduce or eliminate snoring and mouth-breathing at night. (The hypoallergenic adhesive strips are applied over the mouth and cause you to breathe through your nose, though there is a vent in case mouth-breathing is necessary.)



And that’s no small market: About 40 percent of adult men and 24 percent of adult women&nbsp;<a href="http://sleepeducation.org/essentials-in-sleep/snoring/overview-and-facts" class="">are habitual snorers</a>, which&nbsp;<a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-squeaky-wheel/201109/is-snoring-harming-your-marriage" class="">can take a toll</a>&nbsp;on relationships with sleeping partners and also cause a litany of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/snoring-basics" class="">health issues</a>. Plus, the strips are beneficial to non-snorers too, because nose-breathing has benefits like helping to achieve a deeper sleep,&nbsp;<a href="https://somnifix.com/pages/benefits" class="">according to the company</a>.



Cuban is especially impressed that Michalak and his family invested $1.4 million in the business, including running clinical studies of the product at Harvard Medical School.



“Good for you for doing that,” Cuban says. “Most companies won’t invest that, and they’ll just wing it.”



Michalak — who is seeking $500,000 in exchange for a 10 percent stake — also notes that Somnifix has nine granted patents and intellectual property protection in over 70 countries.



But Barbara Corcoran isn’t sold, and actually sees spending that much money on the product as a negative.



“Nick, I think you spent about twice as much money then you needed to to get this off the ground,” Corcoran says. “That always causes concern for me, in terms of financial judgement.”



She’s out, as are Daymond John (who says it isn’t for him), Lori Greiner (who is unsure of how the market will respond to the product) and Kevin O’Leary (who says the company doesn’t align with the other investments in his portfolio).



That leaves Dallas Mavericks owner Cuban, who asks whether a sports version of the strips is a possibility. Michalak agrees that proper breathing is important for performance and says the company is already working on an adhesive that doesn’t dislodge when it comes into contact with liquid, like sweat.&nbsp;



There’s just on caveat for Cuban: The product’s marketing materials read, “Your nose is for breathing and your mouth is for eating,” which “sucks,” according to Cuban. With Michalak willing to change the slogan, Cuban offers a non-negotiable $500,000 for 20 percent of the company and the deal is made.



This article was first published by CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/22/shark-tank-cuban-invested-six-figures-in-invention-to-stop-snoring.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/22/shark-tank-cuban-invested-six-figures-in-invention-to-stop-snoring.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

‘Shark Tank’: Why Billionaire Mark Cuban invested $500,000 in this invention that helps stop snoring

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/shawn-m-carter/">Shawn M. Carter</a> 



All eyes are on video-streaming giant Netflix, which faces new competition from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/15/what-a-1000-dollar-investment-in-disney-10-years-ago-would-be-worth-now.html" class="">Disney’s highly anticipated streaming platform,</a><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/11/disney-plus-will-be-available-starting-november-12-for-6point99-a-month.html" class="">Disney+,</a>&nbsp;as it reported its<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/16/netflix-reports-earnings-tuesday-after-the-bell.html" class="">&nbsp;first-quarter earnings</a>&nbsp;Tuesday.



Its stock fell more than 1% in after-hours trading, after closing with a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=NFLX&amp;amp;qsearchterm=netfli" class="">share price around $360</a>.



Still, investing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/16/technology/16netflix.html" class="">in early 2007</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://media.netflix.com/en/about-netflix" class="">when Netflix first began streaming</a>, would have proved to be a good bet. A $1,000 investment made on Jan. 15, 2007, would be worth more than $110,000 as of midday April 16, 2019, according to CNBC calculations, fora total return of about 10,000%. Over the same period, the S&amp;P 500 was up just over 100%.



While the company’s stock took a slight dip after hours Tuesday, following its earnings release, it reported quarterly revenue that beat estimates and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/16/netflix-reports-earnings-tuesday-after-the-bell.html" class="">shares are up more than 34 percent</a>&nbsp;as of Tuesday’s close.



Many investors relayed optimistic messages early this week. In a note, analysts at banking firm KeyBanc <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/16/netflix-reports-earnings-tuesday-after-the-bell.html">seemed skeptical that new streaming competition could pose a significant threat</a>.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/NFLX_chart-4.1555438177659.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-334850"/></figure>



CNBC: Netflix stock as of April 16, 2019



“While other services may carve out valuable add-on positions, we do not expect the launch of new services from Apple, Disney, AT&amp;T, or others to meaningfully impact Netflix,” they said. “We continue to view Netflix’s strategic positioning very favorably.”



Investment banking company Deutsche Bank&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/16/deutsche-bank-buy-netflix-as-it-becomes-a-global-cultural-necessity.html" class="">raised its rating on Netflix shares from “hold” to “buy”</a>&nbsp;early Tuesday, saying the service is becoming more like a “platform” every day.



“Platform status brings network effects not available to peers and competitors,” analyst Bryan Kraft wrote in a note. “Specifically, this is making Netflix even more of a go-to destination when consumers want to watch something, and it means having Netflix is becoming more of a cultural necessity for people around the world. It also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/16/netflix-earnings-how-much-is-netflix-spending-on-content.html" class="">makes Netflix a magnet for talent</a>. ”



That means “consumers stay captive within the Netflix walled garden for significant amounts of time,” Kraft added. “Aside from pay TV, which is losing audience share, there are no other competing platforms that approach Netflix’s reach.”



Netflix had a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/13/netflix-will-double-subscribers-in-10-years-to-335-million-credit-suisse.html" class="">whopping 148 million total subscribers as of February</a>, and some analysts predict that number will grow to 335 million by 2028. By comparison, Disney+, which will&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/11/disney-plus-will-be-available-starting-november-12-for-6point99-a-month.html" class="">officially start streaming mid-November</a>, expects&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/12/disney-shares-are-surging-but-some-analysts-are-not-sold-on-the-streaming-service.html" class="">to reach 60 million to 90 million subscribers</a>&nbsp;by 2024.



While Netflix’s stock has shot up recently and has mostly done well over the years, though, any individual stock can <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/30/how-amazon-became-one-of-warren-buffetts-biggest-investment-regrets.html">over- or underperform</a> and <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/03/avoid-these-4-investing-mistakes.html">past returns do not predict future results</a>.



Not everyone is sanguine about the company’s prospects. While many believe Netflix’s platform won’t see major disruption thanks to Disney+,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/15/netflix-shares-look-risky-ahead-of-earnings-warns-technician.html" class="">shares fell a little more than 1%</a>&nbsp;following Disney’s announcement.



The “action obviously has nothing to do with anything other than a big competitor joining the ring, but what’s important here about Netflix is how poorly it’s been acting over the past one, two, three months and more,” analyst Carter Worth said on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/options-action/" class="">CNBC’s “Options Action.”</a>



Worth, chief market technician at market research company Cornerstone Macro, acknowledged that Netflix’s stock is “one of the great winners of all time,” but added, “I think it’s risky to go into earnings long, at least full long. I’d reduce or buy puts or some other strategy to protect oneself.”



Disney+ will also be more affordable to consumers than Netflix, which&nbsp;<a href="https://grow.acorns.com/netflix-subscription-price-increase/?gsi=611kqv" class="">recently raised its prices</a>. Disney+ will start at $6.99 a month or around $70 a year for popular content such as the “Star Wars” franchise, as well as the original content it is spending heavily to produce. Netflix, which aimed to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/16/netflix-earnings-how-much-is-netflix-spending-on-content.html" class="">spend up to $8 billion on content last year</a>&nbsp;— including on original content — is priced at $13 per month for its standard plan.



Netflix also faces competition from streaming services by Amazon and Apple. However, some analysts at bank-holding company SunTrust say more streaming options could be a positive,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/12/netflix-is-falling-on-concerns-of-competition-from-disney.html" class="">causing consumers to “accelerate cord-cutting”</a>&nbsp;and focus on their favorites.



If you’re <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/11/when-the-stock-market-tank-dont-do-these-3-things.html">looking to get into investing</a>, seasoned investors such as Warren Buffett <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/17/warren-buffett-and-tony-robbins-agree-on-the-best-way-to-invest-your-money.html">suggest you start with index funds</a>, which hold every stock in an index, meaning they’re automatically diversified and tend to be low cost. Plus, because they fluctuate with the market, they’re typically less risky than picking individual stocks.



This article was first published by CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/16/what-a-1000-dollar-investment-in-netflix-in-2007-would-be-worth-now.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/16/what-a-1000-dollar-investment-in-netflix-in-2007-would-be-worth-now.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

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