Gricd, a cold chain technology company that uses the Internet of Things to enable last mile delivery of temperature-sensitive products, has partnered with Nigeria’s National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) to distribute 4.2 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. This batch of Moderna vaccines…
Gmail’s Undo Send feature has been updated for both Web and iOS users. The feature that allows users to recall emails will now be available in a variety of time frames. Users can ‘unsend’ an email by tapping the send button 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 20 seconds, or 30 seconds before it is delivered to…
Twitter announced the acquisition of Slack competitor Quill on Tuesday in order to help the social networking company improve its own messaging tools. The acquisition comes as Twitter recently appointed a new CEO, Parag Agrawal, to replace co-founder Jack Dorsey, who stepped down from the helm last week. Agrawal, who previously served as chief technology…
Panda, a South African startup, has launched a mental health support app that provides users with online tools, activities, and support to help them manage their mental health. Panda is the brainchild of Alon Lits, former GM and director of Uber South Africa, and Allan Sweidan, a mental health expert and clinical psychologist who co-founded…
Plstka, a waste management startup based in Egypt’s delta region, has received seed funding to help it scale. Plstka, a company founded earlier this year by Ahmed Elnagar and Mahmoud Youssef, has created an app that rewards customers for recycling their solid waste. People can use the app to exchange waste for discounts and coupon…
Women in Africa are using online platforms as a critical source of income now more than ever. Jumia, Africa’s largest e-commerce platform, recently announced that women make up 51% of its vendors and account for 33% of total merchandise sales between 2019 and 2020. The African ecommerce sector was valued at $20 billion (pdf) in…
eHealth Africa is a non-governmental organization that was founded in 2009 with a simple goal in mind: to provide access to healthcare to hard-to-reach communities and underserved areas in Africa. To effectively design, implement, manage, and evaluate health projects, the organization employs appropriate technology. With offices in Kano and Abuja, eHealth Africa has projects in…
Wages for formal-sector employees in Nigeria are paid monthly; however, wages for informal-sector employees are paid daily. When salaried employees are unable to make ends meet between paydays, they now have three options: borrow, take out a loan, or request a salary advance. However, most loans have exorbitant interest rates, and salary advance schemes can…
On Monday, Israel stated that countries interested in purchasing its cyber technologies would be required to commit to using them only to prevent a limited number of terrorist acts and serious crimes. The announcement by Israel’s Defense Ministry was the latest step in strengthening its oversight following concerns about possible abuses of a hacking tool…
As the digital and physical worlds continue to merge, the internet’s new age — the “metaverse” — is reshaping the fashion industry. Balenciaga is one of the luxury houses leading the charge. The company (known for its embrace of virtual clothing) recently announced plans to establish a business unit dedicated to exploring opportunities in the…
Thanks to cutting-edge 3D printing technology, a new neighborhood near Mombasa, Kenya, will be built in record time. 14Trees, a joint venture between Holcim and CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution, announced today that it will develop Africa’s largest 3D-printed affordable housing project. The 52-house Mvule Gardens project will be built in Kilifi, Kenya,…
Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), the world’s digital infrastructure company, today announced its expansion into Africa through its intended acquisition of MainOne a leading West African data center and connectivity solutions provider, with a presence in Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. The acquisition is expected to close in Q1 of 2022, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions including…
Flat6Labs, a Cairo-based accelerator program that provides companies with access to funding, mentorship, and other benefits, has introduced nine startups at its most recent demo day. The Flat6Labs Cairo programme, which was launched in 2011 as the first office of the Flat6Labs MENA regional startup accelerator, provides startups with cash funding of up to EGP1.5…
TradeDepot, a B2B e-commerce and embedded finance platform based in Nigeria, has raised US$110 million in an equity and debt Series B funding round to support the delivery of buy-now-pay-later services to five million SME retailers as well as the further expansion of its merchant platform across the continent. TradeDepot, which was founded in 2016,…
Laurin Nabuko Hainy is the co-founder and CEO of FairMoney MFB, Nigeria’s largest digital bank. FairMoney recently announced at its inaugural Investors’ Conference in Lagos that they have disbursed over N71 billion in loans so far in 2021, more than doubling the amount in 2020, in order to drive financial inclusion in Nigeria. Laurin discusses…
Herconomy is leveraging fintech to empower women, from creating a women-focused social media community to planning Africa’s largest financial services platform for women. Women make up half of the world’s population, but they face greater barriers to financial products and services that can improve their well-being and economic empowerment. According to UNCTAD, based on World…
President Hakainde Hichilema declared a “new dawn” for Zambia in his inauguration speech on August 24, 2021. It is critical that this transformation extend to the realm of the internet. According to recent Freedom House and Paradigm Initiative research, digital rights in Zambia suffered under former President Edgar Lungu. Zambians witnessed this during the August…
Firefox Monitor, Mozilla’s password breach detection service, could be used to remove personal information from the Internet in the near future. Firefox Monitor users who want to use the service can sign up for a waitlist. Sign in to your Firefox Monitor account, or create a new one, and then click the join waitlist button…
Consumer data is priceless, especially in today’s rapidly changing business landscape. Gathering customer insights and using them to make well-informed, forward-thinking business decisions is what separates mediocre brands from those that continue to pivot and innovate. By enabling companies to better understand who they are targeting, how and where to reach existing and prospective customers,…
Checking off that gift list this holiday season will look a little different than in previous years. Many shoppers intend to do a significant portion of their holiday shopping online. Digital gift card sales are also expected to rise. However, given the expected increase in digital activity over the holidays, cybercriminals will be making their…
MarketForce, a Kenyan B2B retail and financial services distribution startup, has expanded into five more African markets to grow RejaReja, its retailer’super app’ that allows informal merchants to order and pay for inventory digitally, accept payments for utility bills, and access financing for their businesses. After successful pilot programs, the startup has announced the expansion…
Mastercard and Meta are collaborating to support the digitization and growth of SMEs in the MEA (Middle East and Africa) region by hosting a training webinar with industry experts and a masterclass on how to manage uncertainty with renowned author and academic Nathan Furr, Associate Professor of Strategy at INSEAD. SMEs face numerous challenges, including…
On Monday, Alibaba announced a reorganization of its international and domestic e-commerce businesses, as well as the appointment of a new chief financial officer. The changes come as Alibaba faces multiple headwinds, including increased competition, a slowing economy, and regulatory scrutiny. In order to become more agile and accelerate growth, Alibaba announced the formation of…
Pariti, a Kenya-based community-led marketplace that is building digital infrastructure for startup ecosystems in emerging markets, has raised $2.85 million in seed funding, the company confirmed today to TechCrunch. Harlem Capital, based in the United States, led the round. It is the first deal in Africa for the diversity-focused fund, which raised $134 million for…
BeXel, an Egyptian cloud-based inspection management software company, has raised a six-figure US dollar round of funding in order to expand into Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries. beXel is a SaaS digital cloud-based inspection management software that focuses on industrial services such as energy, oil and gas, and construction. It was founded in early…
The winners of the third edition of the African App Launchpad Cup, aimed at supporting African tech startups in the field of digital applications and game development, have been announced by Egypt’s Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA). ITIDA, the executive arm of Egypt’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT), founded to spearhead the…
Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey stepped down earlier this week. He named CTO Parag Agrawal as the company’s new CEO, effective immediately. According to an internal email obtained by The Washington Post, Agrawal, who joined Twitter as an engineer in 2011, has already announced a major reorganization of the company. Twitter also confirmed the…
Adidas Originals has joined a number of other lifestyle brands in entering the metaverse. The company has partnered with two non-fungible tokens (NFTs) players — Bored Ape Yacht Club and Pixel Vaults Punks Comic — as well as crypto investor Gmoney for its metaverse entry. After replacing the official Twitter handle’s profile picture with a…
Living with a disability can mean different things to different people. Faustina Urassa, Programme Officer at Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro Association of Spinal Cord Injury (KASI), sees it as an opportunity to assist others who have lost their ability to walk. Urassa teaches people with spinal cord injuries how to use wheelchairs. “If you have the appropriate…
Payourse, a Lagos-based blockchain startup that develops products and tools to accelerate cryptocurrency adoption in Africa, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $600,000 in pre-seed funding to scale its products, hire more talent, and expand into new markets. Micheal Ugwu, one of Africa’s largest NFT collectors, Flori Ventures, Olumide Soyombo’s Voltron Capital, and Allegory…