Nigerian Aba-based e-commerce startup Chooya has secured US$100,000 cash and a further US$850,000 in programme support from Entrepreneurship World Cup. Founded in 2019 by Igwe Uguru as a “search engine for African traditional markets” and bootstrapped since inception, Chooya was one of 100 finalists – chosen from 200,000 participants – for the Entrepreneurship World Cup, organised by…
VC4A is launching another round of the Mentor-Driven Capital (MDC) programs for 2022 in January in Egypt and Somaliland, with MDC in Nigeria kicking off Spring 2022. MDC is supported by the Work in Progress program, funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with Oxfam being the lead program implementer. Mentorship is a critical factor…
Root, a Cape Town-based startup building infrastructure for the digital insurance economy, has closed a US$3 million seed funding round to expand into new markets. Founded in 2016, Root is a cloud-native end-to-end insurance platform that enables organisations of any size to build, sell and manage digital insurance products and unlock modern engagement channels. The startup, which…
There is absolutely no doubt that South Africa is in the midst of a major unemployment crisis. The latest stats show that the official unemployment rate is 34.4%, a record high. The expanded unemployment figure, which includes discouraged job seekers, sits at an even more alarming 44.4%. Such high levels of unemployment are unsustainable and need to…
“How will Africans protect our culture in unexplored places?” This was one of the questions David Alabo, a Ghana-based artist with Moroccan heritage, was thinking about when he created “One Africa Three Futures”. Alabo, an afro-surrealist, used 3D and virtual reality (VR) to help his audience at the recently concluded Art X Lagos to see and interact with…
Global losses from payment fraud have tripled from $9.84 billion in 2011 to $32.39 billion in 2020, according to Deutsche Bank’s 2021 report on the future of payments. And financial professionals are saying COVID-19 hasn’t helped matters, with 65% believing that the global pandemic is to blame for some of the accelerated rate in fraud…
The finalists for the 2021 Ecobank Fintech Challenge have been announced by the Ecobank Group. The fourth edition of the challenge is meant to assist Fintechs with Africa-focused products in partnering with Africa’s biggest pan-African group to bring breakthrough financial services to Africans. Five finalists were chosen from diverse African countries for this year’s final….
Governor Lawrence Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State delivered a keynote address at the 9th German – Nigerian Business Forum (#9thGNBF). The 3-days hybrid event (onsite and online) held in Lagos last week attracted experts from technology, agriculture, finance, construction and other sectors from both countries. The German-Nigeria Business Forum was organized by the Delegation of German Industry…
South African insurtech startup OneSpark has launched what it claims is the world’s first AI-powered, pay-as-you-need, P2P life insurance product in a bid to make policies more efficient and affordable. Disrupt Africa reported late last year on the launch of OneSpark, powered by a “significant, dollar-based” funding round secured in October. At launch, the startup admitted its…
In today’s data-driven world, the capacity to handle and interpret intricate data relationships is more critical than before. Gamaliel Okotie, a senior data scientist with a deep focus on advanced machine learning, has been at the forefront of pioneering methods for complex data representation leveraging Graph Neural Networks. His work in this evolving domain is…
Facebook announced today that it’s rolling out new shopping features: Shops in Groups, product recommendations and a test of Live Shopping for Creators. Shops in Groups enables admins of Facebook groups to set up an online store on their associated Facebook Page. It’s up to the admins where this money goes — in the case…
Digital media in Africa is growing fast: traditional media organisations are finding their way to the internet while digital-only media organisations are taking firm root. More Africans are online, they are spending more time on the internet and relying more on digital media more than ever. According to the Social Flagship Report April 2021, created…
Satya Siba Nayak, 15, uses a debit card to pay for YouTube Premium and Netflix, to download apps from Google Play, and to pay for things when he’s out with friends. Signing up for an app called FamPay enabled Nayak to have his own card for making offline and online payments. “My dad doesn’t live…
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has alerted Nigerians to a new malware specifically attacking Android devices. NCC explained that the malware, named ‘AbstractEmu’, can gain access to smartphones, take complete control of infected smartphones and silently modify device settings while simultaneously taking steps to evade detection. According to the Commission, this discovery was announced recently…
Toshiba’s board has approved a plan to split the storied Japanese conglomerate into three companies, it announced Friday, following tension with shareholders and a controversial takeover offer. The announcement confirms reports earlier in the week that said management was under pressure from shareholders to maximise the firm’s value by dividing its businesses. The proposal aims…
Africa Data Centres, a carrier-neutral co-location data centre provider, has announced a strong expansion in Nairobi. The company has begun the development of a second data centre of up to 20MW of IT load and is securing land for a third facility. This $200-million plus investment will double the country’s data centre capacity and serve…
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and African e-commerce platform Jumia, announced today a partnership in support of Giga’s work to connect every school to the Internet and every young person to information, opportunity, and choice. Jumia’s data science capacity will offer Giga insights into the economic benefits of increased connectivity, helping to make the case for…
The International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) has announced Femi Falodun, the CEO of Marketing, Media and Technology company, ID Africa, as a speaker at the ICCO Global Summit which holds on November 17 and 18, 2021. Femi Falodun will speak on a panel that will examine trends, opportunities and challenges in the African PR and Communications…
Launched in 2019 by Cregital, a Lagos-based creative design agency, Disha Pages gave users the tools with which to build their own one-page websites from the comfort of their smartphones, without worrying about technicalities such as coding or sorting out a domain name. Credit: Disha (Medium) The product was an instant hit and got considerable adoption among creators…
Kenyan ed-tech startup Craydel has raised a US$1 million pre-seed round of funding as it bids to democratise access to higher education in Africa. Launched earlier this year by Manish Sardana, John Nguru and Shayne Aman Premji, Craydel enables students and working professionals to discover, compare and apply to higher education in Africa and abroad. “An estimated…
Present in Africa for more than 100 years, Allianz, one of the world’s leading insurers and asset managers is entering a new phase in its expansion on the continent with the launch of Allianz Technology’s activities in Africa. Indeed, Allianz Technology Africa (AZTA) has started its operations on the continent through the reconversion of an operational…
Being a product leader is no easy feat, and Michel Nkansah knows this all too well. With over four years of experience in developing technology products for lawyers, Michel has proven himself to be a successful product leader and legal technologist. His deep understanding of the standard processes law firms can adopt to save time…
From showcasing of talents, to the art of fashion design, identifying youths in the food business and lots more, Nigeria’s leading financial services providers, First Bank of Nigeria Limited has reiterated its commitment to Youth Empowerment and Entrepreneurship through the celebration of its ongoing 2021 Youth Week. The Youth Week, themed “The Future is Now, Let’s Takeover” started on Monday, 8…
Tesla CEO Elon Musk offloaded a combined $6.9 billion worth of shares in the electric car company this week, taking advantage of a meteoric rally that vaulted the firm’s value to over $1 trillion. The billionaire sold 1.2 million shares held by his trust for more than $1.2 billion on Friday, the latest in a…
Google Trends publishes the top google searches for every day of the week and covers 4 African countries in which it sees the most activity, namely Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. The top search trends from along the week provide an interesting insight into the minds of each country, what captivated users the most,…
BlackHouse Media (BHM) has congratulated Nigerian media and tech executive Alex Okosi after he was named as one of Britain’s 100 most influential black people in the Powerlist 2022. Now Managing Director, Emerging Markets, YouTube (EMEA), Alex Okosi formerly helmed Viacom’s African operations, including music channel MTV Base. The Powerlist is an annual event that recognises…
During COP26 Gender Day on Tuesday, the UK announced £165 million to tackle climate change while addressing the inequalities that make women and girls more vulnerable to climate change and empowering them to take climate action. Around the world, the UN has found that women are more vulnerable to the effects of this than men,…
Tech media organisation, Technext has announced its maiden event, Technext Coinference 2021. The event will provide a visible platform for key players in the African blockchain tech ecosystem and crypto enthusiasts to discuss the possibilities of cryptocurrencies, in order to position for future leverage. The maiden event is billed to hold on Thursday, December 9, 2021, at…
Internet giants, including social media apps Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat, joined several world leaders to issue a global call to better protect children online at a Paris summit on Thursday. The call, initiated by France and the UN child protection agency UNICEF, acknowledges that “in the digital environment, children can come across harmful and violent…
Ericsson has been awarded the Green ICT Champion of the Year Award 2021 at the Africa Tech Festival for its Breaking the Energy Curve initiative. The 14th edition of the Awards acknowledges and recognizes innovations and innovators who are enabling transformation, inclusivity, and digital democracy across the African continent. The Green ICT Champion of the Year…