Bboxx, a future-minded energy utility that claims to be “tackling the global energy poverty crisis,” has officially launched in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and Bboxx’s largest market to date. Bboxx is set to provide much-needed energy solutions to Nigeria’s electricity challenges by expanding access to clean, affordable and reliable Solar Home Systems (SHS). According…
In the technology industry, the concept of metaverse — a range of virtual experiences — is becoming a buzzword. It generally refers to shared virtual environments that people can access via the internet. Most technology companies, including Facebook, have invested heavily in it. The social media giant says it is planning to invest up to…
Africa’s leading e-commerce platform, Jumia, has published its first Africa e-commerce report, Jumia Africa e-Commerce Index 2021 with a Nigerian section, which leveraged data from the company’s platform to illustrate the importance of shopping online in a pandemic context. The shift to everyday products during COVID-19, is part of a broader economic transformation led by the continent’s…
Professor Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, the former president of Mauritius and Laureate of the 2007 L’Oréal-UNESCO Prize for Women in Science, delivered a trenchant address at the African Export-Import Bank’s (Afreximbank) fifth annual Babacar Ndiaye Lecture on “the importance of science, technology and innovation in the transformation of African economies”. She called on African leaders to close…
IPT Africa launched at the recent Africa Fintech festival as it seeks to position itself as the platform for Frictionless African payments, delivering a continent -wide, multi-channel payment platform tailored to the needs of global corporations doing business on the African continent. The AFF was held as a hybrid event in Mauritius from 13-15 October 2021. The event…
Elon Musk may soon become the first person with a net worth of $300 billion. The Tesla CEO and world’s richest man added more than $36 billion to his fortune on Monday after the automaker’s shares spiked 12.7% following the announcement that Hertz is ordering 100,000 vehicles to build out its electric vehicle rental fleet by the…
Nigeria has once again exhibited her readiness in showing the world her innovative ideas, as the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), under the supervision of Ministry of Communications and Digital, presented nine (9) top Nigerian Innovative Technology-driven Startups that provided solutions to technology problems at the recently concluded 41st edition of the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition…
Internet of Things (IoT) Africa has signed an agreement with the OG network pioneer and leading IoT service provider, sigfox to bring the service to Nigeria. By the arrangement, this then credits IoT Africa as the official Sigfox Operator (SO) in Nigeria. Launched in 2019, IoT Africa’s mission is and has been to enable and…
At a time when cross-border trading is high on the agenda with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, the Chief Technical Officer of Digital Encode Limited, Dr. Oluseyi Akindeinde, believes that the adoption of blockchain for payments will fast-track the achievement of the trade agreement’s objectives. Highlighting the advantages of the blockchain for…
Social Media platform, Facebook and Comic Republic have announced the launch of #NoFalseNewsZone online comic book, an educational comic series designed to help people think critically about the messages they see and read online. The series helps readers to identify false news and what they can do to help minimise its spread. The online comic…
mPharma, a Ghanaian health startup, has taken a controlling stake in Uganda’s Vine Pharmacy for an undisclosed amount, marking the firm’s entry into its latest market in Africa. mPharma disclosed to TechCrunch that it has acquired a 55 percent stake previously held by the Abraaj Group, a private equity firm that collapsed after investors, including…
Less than 48 hours after its official launch by President Muhammadu Buhari, the individual wallet for eNaira has recorded more than 100,000 thousand downloads on Google Playstore alone. Apple’s App Store does not readily show an estimate of downloads. The Nigerian official Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) was initially scheduled for launch on October 1…
Black Friday is the retail holiday in many countries across the globe. The phenomenon was popularised in the US as a means for retailers to sell enormous quantities of stock at lower prices, and it has proven to be a successful event year after year. In South Africa, the Black Friday phenomenon began fairly recently…
Local media in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum are reporting that internet services across the region have been interrupted, with many outright stating that the internet is down. This is after reports that Sudan’s military seized power during a coup on Monday, arresting members of a transitional pro-democracy government that itself overthrew the long-ruling autocrat…
The co-investment fund Catalytic Africa, established in 2019 by the African Business Angels Network (ABAN) and AfriLabs, has concluded a successful pilot and will now launch full operations. The partnership between AfriLabs, a pan-African network of technology and innovation centres, and ABAN aims to increase the pool of capital available to promising African growth-stage entrepreneurs, support the startup…
Nigerian auto-tech startup Autochek has raised a US$13.1 million seed funding round to bolster its core auto loan processing platform and deepen its footprint in West Africa. Autochek aims to build digital solutions that will enhance and enable a seamless and safe automotive commerce experience across Africa, starting with Nigeria and Ghana. It plans to use…
Tesla’s market valuation hit and then surpassed the $1 trillion mark Monday, a milestone reached by the company 11 years after it became a publicly traded company. It also puts Tesla in select company with Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google, all of which have market caps above $1 trillion. Tesla met the $1 trillion market…
Spanning 54 countries, Africa is a powerhouse in the world of natural resources and innovation. Resources like diamonds, sugar, gold, uranium, silver, oil, and petroleum famously make Africa and investments in Africa very lucrative. Oil being an invaluable commodity, its production puts countries like Nigeria and Egypt at the top in terms of Gross Domestic…
Mastercard has appointed Gabriel Swanepoel as the new Country Manager for Mastercard in South Africa. This serves as a promotion from his current role as the VP of Business Integration for Mastercard, Southern Africa. As country manager, Swanepoel is responsible for further driving the company’s strategic vision, innovation and growth agenda, and building on its…
Bitcoin grabbed all the headlines in the crypto world last week marking a new all-time high but ended the week with the slump. But the surge in investor excitement doesn’t seem to have faded just yet. The world’s most popular cryptocurrency opened Monday’s trade at Rs. 47,36,579 (roughly $63,236) rising by 1.41 percent over the…
YouTube is rolling out a designated “New to you” tab on its platform after testing the feature earlier this year. The new tab is now available on the YouTube homepage across mobile, desktop and TV devices. YouTube says the feature will help users discover new creators and content beyond the recommended videos they usually see. The new…
Y Combinator-backed Nigerian agri-tech startup Vendease has raised US$3.2 million in seed funding to expand operations and build out its technology. Founded in January 2020 by Tunde Kara, Olumide Fayankin, Gatumi Aliyu and Wale Oyepeju, Vendease helps to solve food supply chain problems by digitising procurement processes, storage operations and logistics, and offering flexible payment systems to…
Co-Creation Hub (CcHub), the Lagos-based hub, accelerator and investor that has been expanding across Africa of late, has launched its new Seedr programme, the first edition of which will take place in Namibia. CcHub has been on an expansion charge in the last couple of years , and now claims to be the “largest innovation…
South African online student accommodation marketplace DigsConnect has entered into an agreement with the world’s largest student accommodation site, Student.com, enabling the startup to expand its presence to approximately 30 new countries and 400 new cities in the next six months. Launched in 2018, the DigsConnect platform allows landlords, estate agents and property managers to post their property…
South African clean-tech startup Brayfoil Technologies has been selected to take part in the Katapult Ocean accelerator, in addition to securing an undisclosed amount of funding from the Norway-based ocean impact investor. Formed in 2017, Brayfoil Technologies uses biomimicry-inspired compliant structures that change shape like bird’s wings to enable larger wind turbines and lower the cost of…
After two years of operation, DHL Africa is shutting down its pan-African online retail platform, e-Shop, at the end of the month. “We are no longer accepting orders and this service will be closed effective October 30th, 2021. All orders in process will be shipped or refunded. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused,” a…
APO Group, a leading Pan-African communications consultancy has announced a multi-year strategic partnership with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), providing the public broadcaster with sports content from the whole of Africa and bringing sporting stories from the rest of the continent to South African audiences – much of it for the first time. SABC…
Based in Cape Town, South Africa, Skrmiish, a gaming technology startup, has launched an app embedded with BTC blockchain to enable gamers to play and win cash. The Skrmiish app allows the creation of competitive gaming experiences for fun, rewards or cash. Its current innovation, the patented Layer-2 Bitcoin cryptocurrency digital wallet, was developed in…
During the month following its release, Squid Game, a South Korean survival drama TV series, became Netflix’s biggest show, with more than 111-million viewers. Following this unprecedented demand from viewers, cybercriminals were not shy in taking advantage of fans’ eagerness to watch the show, with well-known fraud schemes hitting the web themed after the series. Experts from…
Zoom has now extended its live translation feature to all users — free and paid. The feature that auto-generates closed captions or live transcription during video calls was earlier only available to paid Zoom Meetings users. The option to enable subtitles will be available for Zoom video calls and as well as webinars. The San…