AVCA to upskill Africa-focussed private capital professionals Written by Russel Ayugi The African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association will establish an AVCA Training Academy to provide private investment professional development across the continent. As a first of its kind in the industry, the move is aims to support private investment professionals focussed on Africa through an…
Understanding the value and impact of Emerging Technologies Emerging technologies are those technologies that are at the beginning stages of development or are in their early stages, where they are beginning to emerge into popularity from obscurity. Emerging technologies are a class of new technological innovations that are being developed or will be developed over the…
Ghana basks in Twitter’s surprise choice as Africa HQ Written by Ijeoma Ndukwe He has worked in two of the continent’s most vibrant tech hubs, in Nigeria’s main city Lagos, he co-founded the Co-Creation Hub which then acquired Kenya’s iHub – another leading innovation centre. He thinks the proactiveness of Ghana’s president clearly played a…
Facebook Marketplace Rolls Out Across Sub-Saharan Africa Facebook has announced the launch of Marketplace to 37 countries and territories in Sub-Saharan Africa, including: Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Eswatini, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius,…
eSprayMe, revolutionary event management app, goes Live eSprayMe website and mobile application promises to revolutionize the world of event management through virtual conferencing. eSprayMe is a product of eSprayMe Incorporation, headquartered in Texas, USA, and invented by Nigerian-American Information Technology expert, Fisayo Olamigoke. The platform which went Live this weekend, was designed for event hosts and…
CryptoPunks blasts past $1 billion in lifetime sales as NFT speculation surges Written by Lucas Matney The big thing If I could, I would probably write about NFTs in this newsletter every week. I generally stop myself from actually doing so because I try my best to make this newsletter a snapshot of what’s important…
SA prop-tech startup Flow reports impressive growth with further investment on the horizon Written by TOM JACKSON South African prop-tech startup Flow is reporting impressive growth figures as it prepares to take on board further investment to supercharge its development. Founded by Daniel Levy and Gil Sperling, Flow goes straight to the source of the largest social…
This nasty new email scam tricks victims into calling the fraudsters Written by Sead Fadilpaši? No, you didn’t order three new iPhones Experts from security firm Kaspersky have warned of new waves of vishing (voice phishing) scams making the rounds that target users with extravagant purchase demands. The company says that as-yet-unknown criminals are impersonating well-known hardware…
Controversial WhatsApp Terms of Service Could Be Optional Soon Written by Furqan Shahid Remember the controversial terms of service that WhatsApp introduced earlier this year? For those who do not remember, the terms of service would mandate users to share their data with Facebook. Not accepting would have resulted in the functionality of the app being crippled, and…
The architect behind DC’s African American history museum will design 101 hospitals for Ghana Written by Uwagbale Edward-Ekpu David Adjaye, the British-Ghanaian architect best known for designing the National Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington DC, is helping Ghana give its healthcare system a massive face-lift. A design created by Adjaye Associates, the architect’s…
Samsung Is the Latest SSD Manufacturer Caught Cheating Its Customers Written by BeauHD Crucial and Western Digital have recently been caught swapping the TLC NAND used for certain products with inferior QLC NAND without updating product SKUs or informing reviewers of this change. Now, Samsung was caught doing something similar. Samsung is “swapping the drive controller +…
You Can Now Give Amazon More of Your Money in Monthly Installments Amazon is joining forces with buy-now-pay-later company Affirm, which will allow customers to split the total cost of purchases above $50 into monthly payments. Written By Jody Serrano Amazon wants you to buy, buy, buy, so it’s making it easier for you to do that. The company…
Windows 11 shouldn’t run on older PCs – but Microsoft won’t stop you from trying By John Loeffler When Microsoft announced its minimum hardware requirements for Windows 11 back in June, many were upset by the fact that only AMD Zen 2 and Intel eighth-gen processors or later would be supported. After an outcry, Microsoft hasn’t…
A $2 billion fintech startup has become Africa’s fastest unicorn Written By Alexander Onukwue In less than three years, OPay has gone from a curious startup known for its motorcycles in Lagos, Nigeria, to a financial services company worth $2 billion. The latest valuation comes after it raised $400 million from a round led by SoftBank,…
Kenyans lead the world in peer to peer crypto trade Written By Conrad Onyango Kenyans are trading cryptocurrencies directly with each other (“peer to peer transactions” or P2P) more than elsewhere in the world. Residents of other African countries are also jumping at the opportunity to cushion remittances and cross-border businesses from costly transfer fees and…
Work from Home Increased Worldwide Phishing Attacks Written By George Dascalu Palo Alto Network’s Unit 42 cybersecurity team reveals alarming findings about the new work-from-home environment. Over the course of September 2019 to April 2021, Palo Alto Network’s Unit 42 monitored firewall traffic and phishing sites detected by URL filters. The number of new phishing pages per week…
Nigerian startup launches crypto investment robo-advisor Written by TOM JACKSON Nigerian startup ComiBlock has launched a goal-based investing crypto robo-advisor, giving anyone with a smartphone access to planning tools, advice, curated and thematic crypto-portfolios. Launched in February, ComiBlock uses technology to help its users become better crypto investors. “We measure progress by helping our users achieve specific life…
Moroccan B2B e-commerce startup Chari.ma raises funding, acquires mobile credit platform Written by TOM JACKSON Chari.ma, a B2B e-commerce app allowing traditional proximity store owners in Morocco to order products and have them delivered, has closed a round of funding and announced the acquisition of mobile credit book application Karny.ma. Founded last year by husband…
This New Virus Attacks WhatsApp Users Be careful! This malware is downloaded with the unofficial version of “FM WhatsApp.” A new virus is affecting WhatsApp users who downloaded the unofficial version “FM WhatsApp.” Since WhatsApp is one of the most used applications to communicate worldwide, it is of high interest to cybercriminals since it is easy to steal…
Sanwo-Olu set to commission subsidised Cappa hub for Lagos MSMEs in Oshodi As Governor Meets Business Leaders at 7th Corporate Assembly Written by Yinka Okeowo Lagos State Government is set to launch Cappa Hub, a new center for commerce located at Oshodi area to provide subsidised workspaces for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) operating in…
$100,000,000 YouTube Shorts fund now available to creators in Nigeria Written by Yinka Okeowo YouTube Shorts launched in July and has now introduced the YouTube Shorts Fund aimed at creators to earn and build their growing businesses especially during this time when the world is focusing on economic recovery. In other words, YouTube Shorts creators can…
Disrupting the supply chain with better data analysis Written By Yinka Okeowo According to the SAS Experience 2030 research, 65% of South African consumers have indicated that they will not be returning to traditional shopping practices following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 37% of those stating they will use even more online and digital apps than…
SMEs are crucial to economic growth, stability, DG NITDA reiterates Written by Yinka Okeowo Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are predominantly the backbone of economic growth in any country and have accounted for the successes of most businesses globally, with ICT being a major driving force for enhancing efficiency. This was reiterated by no other than Mallam…
South African e-health startup, Quro Medical, receives investment from Life Healthcare Group Writen by Joan Aimuengheuwa Fostering its goal to provide home-based medical services in South Africa, Quro Medical has raised an undisclosed funding amount from Life Healthcare Group. The Johannesburg-based digital health startup leverages technology to monitor the health of patients in real-time. Via its…
Nigerian fintech startup Awabah raises $200k, joins Techstars London accelerator Written By TOM JACKSON Nigerian fintech startup Awabah raised US$200,000 in angel funding in July, which it has followed up by banking another US$120,000 after joining the Techstars London accelerator programme. Launched last year by Tunji Andrews, Tina Ajishebiyawo, and Gboyega Olatunde, Awabah is a digital platform…
Konga co-CEO speaks on e-Commerce in Africa at Global Conference Written by Yinka Okeowo Prince Nnamdi Ekeh, co-CEO of Nigeria’s leading e-commerce giant, Konga Group and Founder, Yudala.com, has been solely selected to speak on a global conversation on e-commerce in Africa. The session holds today, Friday, August 27, 2021 by 5pm. Specifically, the conference which…
New South Africa startup, Fanfire uses NFTs to help sports franchises engage with fans Written by TOM JACKSON South African startup Fanfire has launched to help sports franchises engage with their fans using non-fungible tokens (NFTs). An NFT is a unit of data stored on the blockchain that certifies a digital asset to be unique…
Egypt’s EYouth targets international growth after impacting 750k young learners Written By TOM JACKSON Egyptian ed-tech startup EYouth, which provides online interactive educational programmes for individuals aged between 18 and 35, is targeting international growth after seeing more than 750,000 people complete its courses so far. Founded in 2016 and taken online in 2018, EYouth designs and…
Apple will now let App Store developers talk to their customers about buying direct Written by Catherine Shu Apple announced today it has reached a proposed settlement (embedded below) in a lawsuit filed against it by developers in the United States. The agreement, which is still pending court approval, includes a few changes, the biggest one being…
Welcome to our new Robot, Nurses. Hanson robotics wants to make robots, but not “Lost in Space”. Written by Al Williams Hanson robotics wants to make robots, but not “Lost in Space” [Robby] robots. Think more [Data] from Star Trek robots. They’ve announced [Grace], a lifelike robot made to take on nursing duties for doctors and…