The African Innovation Foundation (AIF) in a joint collaborative effort with the Government of Botswana (GoB) represented by the Ministry of Infrastructure, Science and Technology and the Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH) recently announced that the next Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA) event will be held in Gaborone, Botswana in June 2016. The decision to host…
Hotels.ng launched its jobs portal a process that formalized its hiring process into some of the most unusual screening questions, and since then the online hotel booking portal has seen some interesting responses from applicants and online commentators alike. One defining thread of the hotels.ng hiring process is that it is unconventional,and you will need more than…
Money transfer service WorldRemit in a recent press statement to us,has raised $45m in financing from TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC Corp and Silicon Valley Bank. Pioneering a mobile-first approach to remittances,WorldRemit will use the funds to support its rapidly growing transfer volumes.The WorldRemit app lets people send money straight from their smartphone, instead of having to…
Are you creative? Do you stand out from the crowd? Do you value a challenge? Are you brimming with innovative ideas or solutions which can make a difference in Nigeria? Do you have a passion for change? Then you just might be the one we are looking for.As a follow up to the successful launch of…
Lagos State is set to support entrepreneurship and wealth creation with a N25 Billion Fund,this was recently reported in Punch Newspapers and that’s a laudable move and i think every state in Nigeria should do same.The fund is geared towards addressing the challenge of youth unemployment and promoting wealth creation through entrepreneurial development in the…
Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) promotes Smart City Initiatives in Nigeria through the National Smart Cities Initiative which received a boost recently.The National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA has launched a multi-year National Smart Cities Initiative designed to kick-start the drive towards using smart, scalable solutions that will be replicable nationwide to address…
Facebook is gradually deepening its presence in Nigeria and Africa through several initiatives and partnerships.In a recent press release,Facebook announced while celebrating the Friends Day that 16 million people in Nigeria visit Facebook every month with 100% of them coming on mobile. Each day, 7.2 million people visit Facebook with 7 million on mobile.During the past…
Travelstart, a leading Internet travel booking company in Africa, has announced an investment of US$40M led by Amadeus Capital Partners (London). With the new funding comes a strategic partnership with Nigeria’s largest mobile telecommunications provider MTN which has a subscriber base of more than 40 million locally. The funding will be used for Travelstart’s growth in…
“How can we prepare our children—and ourselves—to succeed in a world of robotics, globalization, and digitally driven markets? In this valuable book, Alec Ross analyzes what it will take to survive and even thrive. The future is already hitting us, and Ross shows how it can be exciting rather than frightening.” —Walter Isaacson, author…
INTRODUCTION The Gionee M5 Mini will not just be a new introduction to the Gionee Family; it will be a thoughtful add to the world of Smartphones. From a dimension of 143.5mm and 71X 9.6mm, the Gionee M5 Mini has been specifically designed to merge the best of two worlds by giving an unforgettable…
IBM yesterday announced it has acquired Ustream, Inc., a provider of cloud-based live video streaming services. From the IBM Newsroom,it states that:the move will extend the IBM Cloud platform to help enterprise clients unlock the value of video, a rapidly-evolving digital media and data asset. Financial terms were not disclosed. Ustream provides cloud-based video streaming to enterprises…
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in a recent blog post said that Microsoft Philanthropies, in its commitment to global giving, will donate $1 billion in cloud computing resources over the next 3 years to 70,000 non-profits and NGOs worldwide. According to Nadella,The “public cloud” refers to massive, privacy-protected data and storage services rendered over a network for…
Nigeria mobile payment platform, Paga has announced a partnership with technology company, Uber. The global company that has revolutionized the way people think about travel, which accepts payments for services via its app is looking to broaden its reach across Nigeria by making its services accessible to all commuters, irrespective of how they choose to…
A press release reaching us today states that WorldRemit,a global money transfer app, today introduced instant transfers to Nigeria. In addition to its same-day bank transfer service, WorldRemit now allows people to send money to more than 140 cash pickup locations in Nigeria, instantly. People in more than 50 countries can use the app to send…
According to Nigeria Communications Week NATCOM Development and Investment Limited, new owners of Nigerian Telecommunication Limited (NITEL) and its sister company, Mobile Telecommunication Limited (Mtel), has reportedly spent about $1 billion to revive the beleaguered national carrier. Mr. Olatunde Ayeni, chairman of NATCOM, said that the funds and other efforts would see the company engage 4,000…
2015 was an exciting year for broadband access across the world, and one which saw many of our predictions for the year play out — from increased debate around net neutrality and zero-rated services, to the spread of high-tech innovations to connect the unconnected. What access developments and trends will 2016 bring? Our team members…
Oracle has announced a Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA)recruitment drive to hire 1,400 new cloud sales professionals who will play a vital role in fuelling the growth of the company’s cloud business throughout the region. The new roles will be based in six locations: Amsterdam (The Netherlands); Cairo and Dubai (Middle East); Dublin (Ireland);…
Am sharing this interesting report on impact investing in West Africa Titled:THE LANDSCAPE FOR IMPACT INVESTING IN WEST AFRICA: Understanding the current status, trends, opportunities, and challenges compiled by Dalberg and the Global Impact Investing Network with support from UKaid.Great insight! See the full Report
Budding entrepreneurs across Africa can now apply to join the second annual Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP) for start-up businesses based in Africa. The Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme application portal opened January 1, 2016 and will accept applications until Midnight WAT on March 1, 2016. To apply, entrepreneurs must complete the online application form on…
MainOne , a leading telecoms and network services provider in West Africa, has announced that the high capacity Nigerian-Cameroun Submarine Cable System (NCSCS) connecting Lagos, Nigeria and Kribi, Cameroun has been completed and went live last month. The new submarine cable system will address increasing demand for reliable broadband connectivity in Cameroun, and is a key component…
Few days ago I wrote about the opportunities in Africa for African startups to leverage from in 2016.I also mentioned that 2015 saw social media companies like Twitter and Facebook expanding into Africa and that tells a lot about the opportunities in Africa.Netflix yesterday announced its expansion into 130 countries and most African countries including…
As 2016 gradually unfolds, first I would like to wish you a great success this year in all your endeavors and also take this time to share few insights around Technology Trends that will drive increased opportunity for African Start-ups in 2016.Certainly the year calls for more innovation in Africa. Innovation for any country or…
Jumia one of the e-commerce leaders in Africa formalizes the appointment of Mrs Juliet Anammah at the CEO of Jumia Nigeria.Juliet is taking over from former Co-CEOs Jeremy Doutte and Nicolas Martin, who are taking the reins of Jumia Global across the 11 African countries in which the group operates. “Juliet brings strong leadership capacity…
Pics:Prof Adesola Aderounmu,President Nigeria Computer Society The Nigeria Computer Society (NCS),the flagship body of Information Technology companies and organisations in Nigeria led by Prof Adesola Aderounmu, has made history with the groundbreaking for its N1 billion national secretariat, deemed a technology innovation centre in Lagos. A ground-breaking stone laying for the billion naira six storey…
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on December 14,2015 announced the formation of the U.S.-Africa Business Center (USABC), launching efforts to lead the U.S. business community in a new period of unprecedented engagement with Africa’s regional economic communities, the established African private sector, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). “Since embarking on our initial Africa program…
Editor’s note:This article contributed by Alix Murphy of WorldRemit gives insight into opportunities around Mobile money,FinTech and financial inclusion for 2016 The Top 3 Predictions for FinTech, Mobile Money and Financial Inclusion in 2016 are: 1. Financial inclusion will mean big business. Making serious money and reaching the unbanked have not always gone hand-in-hand. We’re…
As the year 2015 gradually comes to an end we bring you the top 10 articles on our blog.These are the most read articles of the year and interestingly they also form the major opportunities for 2016 especially for Africa. -When Big Data, Cloud and Internet of Things Technologies can enable African Startups become Disruptive….
Its easy to know where the next big thing in technology is by what people are devoting their time and money on.Just recently Elon Musk,Peter Thiel,Amazon Web services are among the notable entrepreneurs that has donated $1 billion towards research on Artificial Intelligence through a non-profit called OpenAI. OpenAI is a non-profit artificial intelligence research company…
Nigerian Team of cyber security professionals “TeamNaija” has been crowned African champions at the just concluded Global Cyberlympics held in Washington DC, USA. The news about Nigeria is not only that of bribery,corruption,extremism.Nigeria is a great country with great minds making things happen all over the world, in Medicine,Education,Science and Tech,Sports you name them..am always…
Information Technology spending in Nigeria-the largest economy in Africa- will top $5.3 billion in 2016 as organizations increasingly embrace digital transformation initiatives in a bid to streamline their costs and bolster their flexibility. This is according to global technology research and consulting services firm International Data Corporation (IDC), which last week hosted an event at Victoria Crown…