Amazon.com is seeking approval from US communications regulators to deploy more than 4,500 additional satellites as part of the company’s effort to deliver broadband Internet to areas around the world that lack high-speed service. Amazon had said previously it planned to spend at least $10 billion to build 3,236 such satellites through its Project Kuiper programme. Late on Thursday…
More fuel for social audio: Berlin-based social audio startup Beams, which is building a platform for sharing and consuming short-form audio recordings — as a sort of bite-sized/deconstructed and/or collaborative podcast format which it bills as “audio-based social media” — has doubled its seed funding, adding another $3 million to close out the round at $6M….
Bicycle community delivery platform Errand360, which was built to serve users with demand for quick and short errands within their communities and on-demand delivery services, has raised an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding to expand across Africa. Launched earlier this year, Errand360 bicycles serve users with a variety of delivery services, with the first phase of rollout…
The company formerly known as Facebook has been discussing the possibility of opening retail stores way before it rebranded itself as Meta, according to The New York Times. Apparently, discussions about opening brick-and-mortar shops started last year, though nothing has been finalized, and the project could still end up being scrapped. If Meta does open physical outlets, however,…
Egyptian e-health startup Bypa-ss has raised a US$1 million pre-seed funding round to further improve its platform and accelerate its expansion plans. Founded in 2019 by Andrew Saad, Bypa-ss has developed an end-to-end health information exchange (HIE) platform called HealthTag where healthcare professionals and patients are able to securely access medical records stored in a cloud-based database. Having originated…
Access to affordable, reliable and environmentally sustainable sources of electricity is a pressing issue for the growing number of Data Centre operators across Africa. These facilities need to ensure a high availability of power to mitigate downtime, but many African countries face frequent power outages. Existing Data Centres have relied on diesel-fuelled generators to sustain operations…
Kenyan startup BasiGo, an electric vehicle technology and financing company working to bring electric bus services to Sub-Saharan Africa, has launched operations in Nairobi having secured KES100 million (US$900,000) in funding earlier this year. BasiGo provides state-of-the-art electric buses along with charging and maintenance services for bus operators, making these vehicles affordable through a financing model…
Revital Healthcare (EPZ) Limited, a Kenyan medical supply manufacturer, has received nearly $4 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to expand production of auto-disable vaccine syringes. This funding will enable Revital to increase syringe production volume from approximately 72 million to nearly 265 million annually towards the end of 2022, enough to cover more than…
New Google Ads scam is stealing crypto wallets, a new research from Check Point Research (CPR) warns. The new scam has enabled wrongdoers to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth cryptocurrency in the past weekend. According to the report, scammers are placing ads at the top of Google Search that imitate popular wallet brands, such…
Today, Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon.com, Inc. company, announced that the first operational solar project it has enabled in South Africa has begun contributing renewable energy to the electricity grid. Located in the Northern Cape, South Africa’s largest province, the 10 megawatts (MW) solar project will supply renewable energy to AWS data centres and…
Commercial banks in Nigeria shut down 234 branches and 649 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in 2020, according to reports from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The global financial body disclosed this in its Financial Access Survey 2021 Trends and Developments. According to details from the reports, the closure of banks and ATM service points across…
The AfCFTA Secretariat and its partners on the 4D, ProPer and Caravan Initiatives, AfroChampions and the Arab Bank for Economic Development (BADEA), have announced the winners of the AfCFTA Caravan Prize. A key criterion for the selection of the finalists and semi-finalists is for an organisation and its founders to conceive and implement models, concepts,…
South African startup Michanic is connecting customers and fleet owners with trusted, qualified and vetted mechanics in Gauteng and Cape Town. Formed in 2016, Michanic allows users to request instant service and repair quotes from its online platform, saving up to 35 per cent compared to dealerships and independent garages in the process. The startup was founded…
The ??current leadership of Nigeria’s Digital Economy sector has continued to attract global attention as foreign investors seek partnerships with the Federal Government in that regard. The People’s Republic of China on Thursday, 4th November 2021, expressed interest in long term partnerships and collaborations with the Nigerian Digital Economy sector. This position was made known…
Africa’s telecommunication giant, MTN, has announced its plan to sell 101 billion naira ($244 million) worth of shares in its Nigerian carrier unit as it continues to dispose of its assets to pay off existing debts. According to a statement released by the mobile-network operator on Thursday, it will issue 575 million shares in MTN…
Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen welcomed Facebook’s announcement that it would scrap facial recognition, but urged close government oversight of the move to ensure the social network lived up to its pledge. Facebook made the announcement on Tuesday, partly in response to growing scrutiny from regulators and legislators over user safety and abuses on its platforms. Activists…
There are many uncertainties in business and the more a business begins to grow, the more there is an increase in the number of uncertainties, which could be expanding to a new geographical location, promoting team members to handle more challenging task, engaging in the production of a new line of products or seeking partnerships…
The Lagos State Government has introduced Edutainment – the process of entertaining the pupils while also teaching them at the same time – to enhance better understanding and a further improvement in teaching and learning abilities of teachers and pupils. Speaking at the Y2021 Lagos State Festival of Instructional Materials held Wednesday at the Adeyemi-Bero Auditorium, Alausa,…
Nigerian e-commerce platform, MallforAfrica has announced the shut down of its operations. The MallforAfrica app is no longer on the Google Playstore and Apple Store. A closure notice written on its website read this: “Dear Amazing Customers, At this time MallforAfrica is no longer taking any orders. We appreciate your patronage over the years and…
Earlier this week, the SQUID cryptocurrency, inspired by popular Netflix series Squid Game, raised scam suspicions after its value dipped by 99.99 percent and its website went defunct. Now, the trading value of this Squid token has soared by 600 percent in the last 24 hours, data by CoinMarketCap revealed on Thursday. Currently, the token…
Google trends have shown a surprising increased interest in Halloween by Nigerians. Google Search queries in the week leading up to 31 October 2021 showed top searches like ‘When is Halloween?’, ‘Halloween meaning’ and ‘History of Halloween’ Halloween, regarded as a Western tradition, is celebrated each year on 31 October in the United Kingdom (UK), Ireland, Scotland,…
Applications for Google’s three-month virtual accelerator programme are now open to startups located in Algeria, Botswana, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Successful early-growth stage startup applicants (from seed to Series A) will gain access to equity-free support alongside the best of Google’s…
South African startup FinMeUp has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding to help it add a host of new features to its financial education platform. Launched last year by Higgo van Biljon, FinMeUp has developed a gamified app that aims to take users, either entrepreneurs or investors, on a journey from education to execution. The startup…
AURA, one of South Africa’s leading security and medical response marketplaces, has appointed David Myers as its COO. Previously a GM and Regional Operations Lead at Uber for Europe, Middle East & Africa, Myers brings with him decades of experience that will stand him in perfect stead for this position, according to a statement from…
I have read and digested the very comprehensive independent submission made by e-Live consultant, Kelvin Mulungwe on the e-commerce race in Africa between Jumia and Konga. The submission is one I recommend for all young African entrepreneurs who want to mount the global stage as successful entrepreneurs. This is a very important investigation which basically…
The company formerly known as Facebook just announced its plans to sneak around Apple’s infamous platform fees, the latest beat in an ongoing war between major software companies and the creator of iOS. In a Facebook post Wednesday, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg said that the social network would give eligible creators on its platform new custom links that allow…
Twitter has been steadily updating its rebuilt API following its mid-2020 relaunch. Most recently, the company added support for Twitter Spaces to its developer platform. Today, it’s announcing support that will enable developers to build better Twitter bots by launching new end points that allow you to tweet, delete tweets, post polls, use Reply settings and tag people in images….
Netflix on Tuesday released a set of mobile games playable for free by subscribers of the global streaming service as it strives to be the go-to venue for entertainment. Two of the games are based on the hit Netflix horror series “Stranger Things” and the remaining three are basic card or skill games, according to…
Egyptian tech startups have raised almost US$800 million between them since January 2015, with more than 50 per cent of that – over US$400 million – having been secured in the first three quarters of this year. That is according to the newly-released Egyptian Startup Ecosystem Report 2021 from Disrupt Africa, which dives into the local ecosystem by…
Kenyan startup WorkPay, which builds human resources (HR) and payroll solutions for Africa, has expanded into Nigeria. Originally called TozzaPlus until it rebranded in 2019, WorkPay is a cloud-based human resources management and payroll solution for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Africa. The startup’s time tracking and salary disbursement tools help African businesses save money and time…