Written by Matthew Sparkes El Salvador has officially adopted bitcoin as legal tender. Draft legislation may soon lead Panama down the same path, while China, the US and the UK are investigating launching their own cryptocurrencies. Here’s what you need to know. Why are countries adopting bitcoin? President Nayib Bukele hopes bitcoin will alleviate El Salvador’s prickliest…
Written by Matthew Sparkes PayPal has two decades of experience in online payments and manages 403 million user accounts. So, it caused ripples when it announced on 23 August it would allow UK customers to buy and sell four cryptocurrencies: bitcoin prices rose to a three-month high. But will this – and last October’s roll-out in…
Written by Russel Ayugi Alliance Microfinance (AMAS) has signed a grant agreement with Norad, based on an application form submitted in partnership with Norwegian Church Aid, Norwegian tech company Bakken & Bæck, and a leading industrial conglomerate in Ethiopia East African Group. AMAS is the lead partner and grant manager running the project and aims to provide farmers across…
Writteb by Joan Aimuengheuwa Implemented by the Tony Elumelu Foundation, the Women Entrepreneurship for Africa (WE4A) programme is set to improve the business capacity of women-led enterprises, increasing scaling changes globally. The programme is organised by a joint effort from the European Union (EU), the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and the…
Written by Luis Monzon MTN today announced a new mobile money partnership with one of Africa’s leading payments technology companies and unicorn startup, Flutterwave. This partnership will allow businesses integrating Flutterwave in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia to receive payments via MTN Mobile Money (MoMo), the South African telecom behemoth said in a…
Written by Luis Monzon A collaborative project in Botswana is getting essential and emergency healthcare products to remote communities quicker than ever before through leveraging unmanned drones. The Drones for Health project sees a partnership between the country’s Ministry of Health and Wellness, the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST), the United Nations Population…
Written by Yinka Okeowo The #TwitterBan in Nigeria is no news anymore, as the country hits 100 days post-Twitter ban. On Monday, September 13, Nigerians would have witnessed 100 days of #TwitterBan by the Federal Government. The measure taken by the government declaring the platform suspended has been heavily criticized as undermines Nigeria’s corporate existence; a…
Written by Luis Monzon According to an announcement made by South African Health Minister Joe Phaahla, digital vaccination passes will be issued to all eligible vaccinated South Africans in less than a week. The country’s Department of Health says that currently, the digital vaccine certificates are “under development.” According to Mia Malan, editor-in-chief of Bhekisisa Health Journalism…
Written by Luis Monzon Kenya’s job sector took a serious blow last year, having contracted for the first time in over 20 years. Overall, 737,500 jobs were lost as Kenya’s economy shrunk for the first time since 1992 as a result of COVID-19 induced lockdowns and restrictions, reports Business Daily. Kenya Bleeds Jobs in 2020 According…
Written by Luis Monzon Facebook is collaborating with Nigerian companies Big Cabal Media and Comic Republic to launch the #NoFalseNewsZone educational campaign aimed at helping individuals identify fake news and educate them on how to minimise the spread of false information across Nigeria’s internet and otherwise. “We are super excited to be working with Big Cabal Media and Comic…
Written by Manish Singh, Zack Whittaker WhatsApp said on Friday it will give its two billion users the option to encrypt their chat backups to the cloud, taking a significant step to put a lid on one of the tricky ways private communication between individuals on the app can be compromised. The Facebook-owned service has end-to-end encrypted…
Plentywaka, the Toronto-headquartered shared mobility startup which provides hassle-free shared rides on-demand, is making a significant shift in its business today as it announced that it has changed its name to Treepz. The name change which is effective as of now presents an opportunity to align the company name with its Pan-African expansion plan. It…
Written by TOM JACKSON Nigerian auto-tech startup Autochek has expanded to Kenya and Uganda after acquiring the Cheki platforms for each of those countries from ROAM 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…
Written by Sarah Perez Twitter today is introducing a new feature that will allow accounts to self-identify as bots by adding a label to their profile. This feature is designed to help people better differentiate between automated accounts — like bots that retweet the news, public service announcements or other updates — from those operated…
Written by Tage Kene-Okafor We like to buy things online ranging from e-commerce stores to subscription-based sites. However, no one enjoys the hassle when you have to always re-log into different sites and stores. I mean, shopping can be a whole lot more fun if a fast logging and checkout system existed across all your favorite online…
The Stories realize the vision that Snap’s Spectacles dreamed Written by Lucas Matney Facebook’s first pair of smart glasses doesn’t feel like much of a Facebook product. You won’t find the Facebook logo emblazoned on them or even its name in small print by the serial code. They aren’t “Facebook Stories” or “Ray-Ban’s Facebook Stories” or…
Written by Victoria Fakiya Emeka was eight years old when he dropped out of primary school. He couldn’t read and write at the time, and his environment was not conducive for learning. “When I was in primary school, I used to think I wasn’t cut out for school. And the fact that I was living…
Written by Yinka Okeowo Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, director general of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has referred Digital Media as one of the key enablers of Digital Economy, according to him, awareness is fundamental for the growth and development of any nation. Abdullahi said this while playing host to Colonel Aliyu Yusuf, the commandant of the…
Written by Yinka Okeowo Female representation in senior management and executive roles in companies around the world remains low, however in South Africa it is stagnant. Worse still, women make up a mere 10% of CEOs at the world’s biggest tech firms, so one can only imagine how low the number is in South Africa. This is…
Written by Michael Ajifowoke Owning a personal vehicle is of economic importance. Next to housing, transportation is often the second largest expenditure for the majority of urban households anywhere in the world. But insufficient purchasing power among middle-class Nigerians coupled with limited or no access to vehicle financing puts cars out of reach for over…
Written by Luis Monzon The way we communicate socially has changed, thanks to social media and mobile technology. For many, this has also translated to changes in the way we communicate professionally this digital world. Digital has removed the typical boundaries associated with geography and time zones, and people expect to be able to use…
Written by Natasha Mascarenhas When you’re in the mood for a pep talk, who better to turn to than a well-networked, optimistic mentor who is naturally in your corner? That friendly shoulder is the role that “Masters of Scale” wants to play. Inspired by LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock partner Reid Hoffman’s hit podcast, the new…
Written by TOM JACKSON Manufacturing tech leader Guidewheel, which began life as Safi in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, is targeting faster expansion in the United States (US) after raising Series A funding. Disrupt Africa reported in July Guidewheel, which was based out of Nairobi as Safi from 2018-2020, had closed a US$8 million Series A funding round. A…
Written by TOM JACKSON The Financial Times has partnered with Seedstars to host the first FTxSDG Challenge, aimed at empowering promising, impact-driven startups and entrepreneurs with learning and funding opportunities. The event will bring together early-stage startups from emerging markets and individual entrepreneurs to take part in the FTxSDG Challenge competition, with a focus on…
Written by Tage Kene-Okafor In Nigeria, there are more than 40 million micro-businesses underserved in some form or another regarding banking services. Although some of these businesses have registered bank accounts, gaps exist in how banks use the data available to serve the needs of each business. With banks, presenting a series of transactions as statements is all these…
Written by Taylor Hatmaker Twitter is exploring ways to build a more visually immersive experience with its latest test, which brings edge-to-edge tweets to the app on iOS. Full-width images and videos track for the direction the company has shown some interest in going lately. Twitter introduced bigger images with improved cropping controls for its…
Written by TOM JACKSON Kenya-based energy leasing company Solarise Africa has secured EUR5 million (US$5.9 million) in debt financing from Swedish impact investment platform Trine to help it sustain its growth across the continent. Founded by Patrik Huber, Jan Albert Valk and Sakkie van Wijk, Solarise Africa is an energy leasing company for solar and other energy…
Written by Sarah Perez Microsoft today is introducing its own personalized news reading experience called Microsoft Start, available as both a website and mobile app, in addition to being integrated with other Microsoft products, including Windows 10 and 11 and its Microsoft Edge web browser. The feed will combine content from news publishers, but in a way…
Written by Kate Park PayPal Holdings, the U.S. fintech company, announced an acquisition of Paidy, a Japanese buy now, pay later (BNPL) service platform, for approximately $2.7 billion (300 billion yen), mostly in cash, to enhance its business in Japan. The transaction completion, including the regulatory approval, is expected in the fourth quarter of 2021. After the acquisition,…
Written By Luis Monzon Zip Australia has announced its intention to fully acquire South African buy now pay later (BNPL) fintech Payflex as part of its global expansion plans. With a presence in twelve markets across five continents, Zip plans to grow its South African business and expand into other African markets with sizable underbanked, digitally savvy…