The largest fiber optic cable in the world, 2Africa, has arrived in Amanzimtoti, south of Durban. The 45,000 km cable, which is still under construction, will follow the seafloors of the Mediterranean, Red, and Indian seas, as well as the Atlantic and Indian oceans. The historic initiative, which will go into effect in May 2022,…
In spring 2023, the ThinkYoung Coding School, which operates coding schools for teenagers and young people in Kenya in collaboration with Boeing, plans to expand to Rwanda and Ethiopia with the goal of empowering teens and young people throughout Africa. The interactive curriculum of ThinkYoung’s bootcamp program includes coding techniques applicable to the aviation sector,…
Alphabet, the company that owns Google, plans to compete with Microsoft by introducing a chatbot service and more artificial intelligence for its search engine and developers. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai announced in a blog post on Monday that the business is launching a conversational AI service called Bard to gather user input before going live…
With the help of a partnership with a financial solutions provider based in Dubai, Cellulant, Africa’s leading provider of payment solutions, has made it possible for expats to conveniently recharge airtime for their dependents across Africa. Through KrosPayz, Money Q’s pan-African digital payments platform that enables online payment for purchases and value-added services at the…
In 2022, funding for the African digital startup ecosystem crossed the US$3 billion threshold for the first time, and the industry overcame challenges from the global economy to have a record-breaking year. This is supported by the eighth edition of the yearly African Tech Startups Funding Report, which was published by startup news and research…
A Kenyan business called eWAKA that seeks to enhance sustainable mobility has received strategic investment from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) of the Swiss Confederation. The SECO Start-up Fund has given eWAKA a $540,000 loan to support its 2023 ambitions to accelerate a growth strategy centered on providing innovative and sustainable mobility technologies…
The AYuTe Africa Challenge has identified three African agri-tech firms as winners. These companies, ThriveAgric of Nigeria, DigicCow of Kenya, and Brastorne Enterprises of Botswana, will each get US$1.5 million in grant cash and access to professional advisors. The AYuTe Africa Challenge, run by Heifer International, supports agri-tech innovators on the continent and is a…
Lulalend, a digital business lender based in Cape Town, South Africa, raised $35 million in a Series B funding round that was led by Lightrock, a global impact investor. Other investors included the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Quona Capital, and newcomers DEG, Triodos Investment Management, and Women’s World Banking Asset Management. Lulalend plans to utilize…
The owner of ChatGPT OpenAI said on Wednesday that it is introducing a $20 per month test subscription plan for its well-known AI-powered chatbot, named ChatGPT Plus. Subscribers will have priority access to new features and enhancements, access to ChatGPT during peak hours, and quicker responses. The business announced ChatGPT Plus, which will initially be…
The three-year GrindstoneX accelerator program, which seeks to empower female entrepreneurs while generating jobs, has chosen ten South African firms. Disrupt Africa announced in October that Grindstone Accelerator, based in South Africa, has teamed up with Naspers Labs to introduce GrindstoneX, a new all-female accelerator programme aimed at enhancing the investability, scalability, and exit-readiness of…
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in conjunction with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS), recently introduced the card scheme known as AFRIGO. In order to enable cardholders to use their payment cards to make purchases and access cash at businesses around the world, payment networks and financial institutions form a system known as a card scheme. The…
Sophos, a global leader in innovating and delivering cybersecurity as a service, today released new findings on CryptoRom scams—elaborate financial fraud schemes that prey on and trick dating app users into making fake cryptocurrency investments—in its latest report, “Fraudulent Trading Apps Sneak into Apple and Google App Stores.” The report details the first fake CryptoRom apps —Ace Pro and MBM_BitScan—…
The inaugural ARM Labs Lagos Techstars accelerator, which offers access to up to US$120,000 in equity capital and other sorts of support, has chosen twelve African digital startups. The first edition of the ARM Labs Lagos Techstars accelerator will last for three months. It was established by Techstars, a global investment company that offers early-stage…
The first-ever Google for Startups Accelerator: Women Founders Africa Program is now accepting applications. The program’s goal is to empower female entrepreneurs on the continent by giving them the tools and chances they need to scale their tech businesses and solve problems in Africa. Beginning in March 2023, the 12-week program will comprise one boot…
A suspected NFT initiative appears to be paving the way for e-commerce behemoth Amazon to join the Web3 community. Although the corporation hasn’t released all the information, insider sources claim that it will begin this spring. In order to assist its plans to develop a business focused on digital assets, the company has been looking…
Convergence Partners, the top private equity investor in sub-Saharan Africa’s technology industry, is pleased to announce the $296 million closure of its Convergence Partners Digital Infrastructure Fund (CPDIF), exceeding its original objective by more than 18%. Despite tepid private capital raising across the continent in 2022, this accomplishment was made. Convergence Partners’ largest fund to…
An initiative to provide free structured programs and trainings for students and teachers has been launched by the Alpha Beta Education Centre (ABEC) in Accra as part of a $350,000 STEM project. The two-year initiative, according to Dr. Naomi Adjepong, head of ABEC, would also give the school the chance to expand its current facilities,…
Trade Lenda, a Nigerian fintech firm that provides access to financing for micro, small, and informal retailers’ business needs, has acquired US$520,000 in pre-seed funding to accelerate its expansion. The Lagos-based Trade Lenda was established in 2021 to assist small businesses in obtaining quick and affordable credit with no upfront collateral within six hours. The…
The OPEN fund will consider applications from female founders in the African energy sector for funding of up to $100,000. OPEN is a project of the CSI Energy Group, a diverse network of firms focused on Africa that offers sustainable solutions to the energy sector across the continent. OPEN is looking for women-led energy enterprises…
Yebo Fresh, a South African e-commerce business that delivers fresh goods and food to townships, has secured a ZAR78 million (US$4.5 million) pre-Series A equity investment in addition to a Jobs Fund grant. Yebo Fresh is an online grocery delivery service for township communities that was introduced in 2018 and is based in the garage…
The firm owned by Cassava Technologies, Africa Data Centres, revealed intentions to erect a 20MW data center near Cape Town on Wednesday. The new facility, which is scheduled to debut in the middle of next year, will have an IT load of up to 20MW. The company now has two data centers in Cape Town….
To improve funding of sustainable SME projects in Africa, the African Guarantee Fund (AGF), a market-friendly guarantee program that aims to make financing for small businesses easier in Africa, has teamed with bettervest, a crowdfunding platform based in Frankfurt. The AGF, developed and supported by the AfDB in collaboration with the governments of Spain and…
The sixth AFD Digital Challenge, which is focused on the cultural and creative industries, is now accepting applications. The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) is committed to assisting high-impact tech entrepreneurs in Africa for the sixth year running. All Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) startups and associations that use digital technology at the core of…
Nigeria’s central bank today carried out its plan to introduce the AfriGo national domestic card program. The program, which was first unveiled at a Bankers’ Committee news conference in October 2022, involves the central bank in the market’s triopoly of card payment programs for Nigeria. Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria,…
In setting up a business, various forms of resources are necessary to make the idea a successful one. Businesses require money, time, and human capital for growth. Unlike an established business with traction, startups are like the way they sound – starting from the scratch. This business process requires financing from different sources; both internal and…
Google recently announced the addition of 33 new languages, including nine African languages, to the Google Translate app for iOS and Android. This brings Google’s total number of African languages supported to 12. Since 2018, when Google Translate offline translation tool was launched, Arabic, Swahili, and Afrikaans have been supported. Nigerian dialects The newly added…
The technology world was on fire about the latest artificial intelligence demonstration by OpenAI in the waning months of 2022, ChatGPT. It is truly a remarkable achievement, an artificial intelligence (AI) that you can have a conversation with and ask it to do everything from write essays to code computer programs. As a computer security…
Binance Charity, Binance’s philanthropic arm, has announced a collaboration with Women in Tech to provide Web3 vocational training to 2 800 women in rural communities in South Africa and Brazil, thereby creating future entrepreneurs and job opportunities. Web3 focuses on blockchain education and understanding of key cryptocurrency concepts. Training focuses on a wide range of…
The official opening of the Digital Expert Academy in Lagos was attended by US Consul General Will Stevens, representatives from leading American technology companies, and Nigerian technology and business leaders. The Digital Expert Academy, founded by 21st Century Technologies, aims to train and upskill young Nigerians in artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, machine learning, cloud services,…
Carry1st, an African mobile games publisher, has recently received a $27 million pre-Series B investment to help it grow its business and create more games. Bitkraft Ventures led the round, with backing from Andreessen Horowitz, TTV Capital, Alumni Ventures, Lateral Capital, Kepple Ventures, and Konvoy. Carry1st was founded in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2018…