Women-led small to medium enterprises (WSMEs), as well as community enablers and entrepreneurship support programs in Africa, are encouraged to apply for the Enhancing Women Entrepreneurship in Africa (EWEA) program’s mentorship and skill-building workshop series. African women entrepreneurs have an estimated $42 billion financing deficit across all business value chains, which presents a number of…
The second closing of the new $25 million fund managed by South African seed capital firm 4Di Capital has recently been finished. In order to form the fund with DotExe Ventures, the Mauritian conglomerate IBL Group provided an undisclosed sum through its investment vehicle, IBL Link Investments. A group of business owners established the venture…
During a recent visit to Heifer International’s operations in Africa, Heifer’s new President and CEO, Surita Sandosham, reaffirmed the commitment of the organization to elevate 10 million smallholder farming households globally out of poverty and into economic self-reliance by 2030, in line with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Sandosham visited Africa as the…
Kelvin, the leading collaborative control software company delivering industrial intelligence, has bolstered its executive leadership team with strategic hires and internal promotion. The company is delighted to announce that Suhail Jiwani has been promoted to Chief Technology Officer; Sheena Chandra has been appointed Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer; and Citalouise Geiggar has been appointed…
The social commerce startup Kapu from Kenya has announced the raising of $8 million in early money. As food costs rise nationwide, the firm, which has emerged from stealth, wants to make it easier for Kenyan consumers to shop for food. Sam Chappatte, a former executive vice president of Jumia Group, founded the company. Through…
For its second batch of the VFA Fintech Product Management Bootcamp, Venture for Africa (VFA), an immersion program and talent community designed to help top local and international talent transfer into the African startup ecosystem, is now taking applications. A 12-week program called the VFA Fintech Product Management Bootcamp is aimed to upskill current and…
According to Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning of Nigeria, the 2022 Finance Bill contains a provision to tax cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. In an unusual digital event on Thursday, Zainab Ahmed updated the National Economic Council (NEC) on the fundamental elements of the 2022 Finance Bill, according to a…
· Introduces Sophos Marketplace and $1 Million Breach Protection Warranty · Sophos X-Ops Identifies LockBit 3.0 Similarities to BlackMatter; Attackers Use Pentesting and Credential Theft to Evade Detection, Requiring Specialized MDR Skills to Spot Them Sophos, a global leader in innovating and delivering cybersecurity as a service, has announced the general availability of Sophos Managed Detection and Response (MDR) with…
Africa’s beauty and personal care market is expanding rapidly as a result of its growing young and fashion-conscious population, rising purchasing power, and urbanization. The market’s potential has attracted major brands in recent years, with Fenty Beauty by Rihanna and LVMH being the most recent entrants. Niche local brands are also arising to provide customized…
The latest edition of the Alibaba Netpreneur Training (“ANT”) Program has graduated 86 African entrepreneurs, according to Alibaba Global Initiatives (“AGI”). The Africa-specific edition, which ran from mid-October to mid-November, was supported by the Africa’s Business Heroes prize competition, a philanthropic initiative that aims to support and inspire the next generation of African entrepreneurs. Ritalee…
Google held graduation ceremonies in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa to honor the 5,000 entrepreneurs who completed its Hustle Academy training program. Google also announced a new speaker series at the events in which successful African entrepreneurs share lessons and advice, demonstrating the company’s commitment to assisting entrepreneurs and small businesses in thriving. The Hustle…
Sophos, a global leader in innovating and delivering cybersecurity as a service, today published findings of a new survey, “The Reality of SMB Cloud Security in 2022.” The survey found that, among Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) users, 56% experienced an increase in the volume of attacks on their organization when compared to the previous…
After successfully completing trials of the revolutionary technology over the previous 11 months, MTN Zambia has now launched its 5G network, making it the first mobile operator in Zambia to offer 5G services commercially. In January 2022, MTN Zambia started testing 5G; as of present, a commercial service is available in six Zambian cities. Ralph…
The gaming business in Africa is currently quite fragmented, consisting of only a few tiny studios, but it is still “the next big thing” because of factors like the relative youth of the population on the continent. Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the regions with the fastest-growing mobile gaming markets in the world, according to…
Three young agric-tech innovators in Nigeria have emerged final winners of this year’s Agriculture, Youth and Technology (AYuTe) Africa Challenge Nigeria, an enterprise development program initiated by Heifer International to identify, nurture, and support innovative, relevant, and technology-driven agric-centric enterprises that grow, scale and help smallholder farmers to thrive in Africa. Announcing the winners in…
Orda, a Nigerian company that develops cloud operating systems for restaurants, has raised US$3.4 million in a seed round to further digitalize the food industry on the continent. Guy Futi, Fikayo Akinwale, Mark Edomwande, Kunle Ogungbamila, and Namir El-Khouri founded Orda in 2020 with the goal of assisting small-scale African restaurants in growing sustainably. After…
As part of a holistic ecosystem plan that also sees it create an office in the nation and hire Amal Enan as a partner in Egypt, the international venture capital firm 500 Startups has teamed with the Egyptian IT Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) to operate a number of programs. Venture capital firm 500 Global manages…
Applications are now being accepted for the ygap Kenya Accelerator Programme, which aids businesses in developing and validating their business models, achieving financial sustainability, and expanding their community impact. A needs assessment and bootcamp are the first steps of the ygap program. It then offers ongoing accountability and business development sessions, strategic and operations coaching,…
An early-stage venture capital business called LoftyInc Capital Management has announced the final close of its LoftyInc Afropreneurs Fund 3 (LAF3), which closed out at US$14.3 million. The fund was oversubscribed. As a venture capital company with its headquarters in Lagos, LoftyInc Capital Management aims to invest in industries such logistics, printing services, business services,…
An African technology company called Cassava Technologies has revealed that Kigali, Rwanda will be the site of its first data center. The data center will be designed specifically to accommodate the region’s expanding demand and will have a 2MW IT load. According to Tesh Durvasula, CEO of Africa Data Centres, “it is an exciting time.”…
Djamo, a fintech firm in Francophone Africa building a personal finance business, has acquired $14 million in equity funding to continue building out a comprehensive range of financial services and to expand into new nations. The fundraising round was co-led by Partech Africa, Oikocredit, and Enza Capital. Other current investors included Janngo Capital, P1 Ventures,…
Google has announced that its Workspace apps will soon receive updates that include new functionality. According to the search engine giant, updates to Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides have been made, along with minor changes to Gmail. Gmail should make it simpler for users to search, while Google Meet will allow users to share files…
iOS users will be able to send voice notes in their status updates thanks to a feature being developed for WhatsApp, the instant messaging service owned by Meta. In their WhatsApp status, users can currently only send images, videos, and links. WhatsApp users on iOS, however, will apparently be able to post audio notes or…
In coordination with the Ministry of Education and iCOG Anyone Can Code, Huawei has launched its flagship initiative in Ethiopia (iCOG ACC). Using its rebuilt 40-foot container as a training center, DigiTruck Ethiopia will undertake a technical tour across the entire nation while outfitting it with cutting-edge electronics like laptop computers, robotic tools, and microelectronics….
For every company out there, there is an in depth goal to increase her market share in both the local and global market space. The profit margin of a company is largely dependent on the audience at her disposal. Before now, companies have used various forms of advertising to promote their product inorder to reach…
Galaxy Backbone, an information technology and shared services provider of the Federal Government of Nigeria, has said that it has almost covered the 36 states of the federation and the FCT Abuja, with its infrastructure backbone connectivity rollout. Prof. Muhammed Bello Abubakar, the Managing Director/Chief Executive of Galaxy Backbone Limited, made this known at the…
Solarise Africa, a pan-African Energy-as-a-Service provider, has received a $33.4 million facility from Lion’s Head managed fund, the Facility for Energy Inclusion (FEI), to help the company solidify its position in Kenya’s solar market and expand across Africa. FEI will contribute USD 21.4 million toward the total amount, with Oikocredit contributing USD 7 million and…
The Multichoice Africa Accelerator Programme, which awarded $16 million in funding to six emerging tech companies last year, is now expanding to eight additional African countries. According to a Multichoice statement, the countries that will benefit from the program are Ivory Coast, Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Zambia, Angola, and Ethiopia. The MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme,…
Founders from Tanzania, Kenya, and Egypt have been named Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) competition winners, a flagship philanthropic program established by the Jack Ma Foundation to highlight and support African entrepreneurs. The Africa’s Business Heroes prize competition aims to support and inspire the next generation of African entrepreneurs from all sectors who are working to…
Dr. Oluseyi Akindehinde, the Co-founder and Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of Digital Encode Limited, has identified blockchain and the mobile phone as going to be fundamental to the company of the future. Making a presentation at the just concluded Africa Tech Alliance Forum, otherwise known as AfriTECH 2.0, held in Lagos, recently, Akindehinde said that…