SmartWage, an HR and communications technology business based in South Africa, has acquired US$2 million in a preliminary fundraising round that was oversubscribed to support its ambition of transforming Africa’s workforce through digital inclusion, particularly for frontline workers. SmartWage, which was founded in 2019, began by allowing businesses to provide their employees fast access to…
Threats to cybersecurity are at an all-time high. With more companies adopting hybrid work models, it’s more important than ever to educate employees on the many cybersecurity dangers that come with working remotely. Employees who work from home offer a bigger security risk than those who operate in an office in a hybrid work environment….
PayMint, an Egyptian fintech firm, has received a seven-figure US dollar seed investment to help it expand in its local market. PayMint, a financial technology company founded by Mohamed Yahya and Mohamed Rabie in 2019, offers SMEs salary payments, working capital finance, and supplier payments. The seed round, which was led by AUR Fintech, a…
Sycamore, a Nigerian peer-to-peer (P2P) lending firm, has raised an undisclosed seed round to extend its operations. Sycamore, which was founded in 2019 by Babatunde Akin-Moses, Onyinye Okonji, and Mayowa Adeosun, employs unique risk assessment tools to award business loans the same day via its website and freshly announced mobile app. The company has already…
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc (TSLA.O), has purchased a 9.2 percent stake in Twitter for roughly $3 billion, making him the company’s largest stakeholder. The action comes after he tweeted that he was “seriously considering” creating a new social media platform and questioned Twitter’s commitment to free expression. Musk holds 73.5 million Twitter…
MTN SA has announced an increase in investments to modernize current network infrastructure and deploy new network infrastructure in Limpopo and Mpumalanga, South Africa. The initiative, according to the firm, will benefit ultra-rural areas like Mtititi and Ga Marishane the most. MTN’s “Modernisation of Network South Africa project” (MONZA), as well as improved rural reach,…
Jumia, Africa’s first financial startup and now e-commerce behemoth, and UPS, the world’s largest shipping and receiving firm, have announced a new agreement that will allow UPS to utilise Jumia’s ‘last mile logistics’ capabilities and infrastructure to expand its delivery services in Africa. UPS will provide its clients an expanded choice of delivery solutions, including…
ON Market, an Egyptian e-grocery marketplace, has raised US$215,000 in pre-seed capital to extend its operations in Cairo, Alexandria, Tanta, Mansoura, and other Egyptian towns. ON Market, founded by Moatasem Marzouk, Seif Yasser, Ahmed Najjar, and Moataz Marzouk in Tanta in June 2020, provides food stores with technology solutions to help them start and sustain…
Telecommunication providers in Nigeria obeyed the Federal Government’s order on Monday to block any unlinked Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card without a National Identification Number (NIN) from being used on their networks, in an effort to reduce insecurity, extortion, and kidnappings. According to The Guardian, the Federal Government had ordered the carriers to block all…
Churpy, a Kenyan fintech startup, has raised $1 million in seed funding to support growth into Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa. Unicorn Growth Capital led the seed round, with participation from Antler East Africa, Nairobi’s business angel network, and a group of Rally Cap LPs. Churpy, founded in 2020 by John Kiptum and Kennedy Mukuna,…
Twitter has begun testing the ‘co-author’ tweet feature, which Instagram will launch on its platform in 2021. This functionality comes in handy when two accounts wish to have their names associated with a single post, such as in brand partnerships or influencer campaigns. Once published, collaborative tweets are shared with followers from both accounts, and…
Swvl, Inc. (“Swvl”), a global provider of transformative tech-enabled mass transit solutions, and Moove, the world’s first mobility fintech, announced today a collaboration to scale Moove’s revenue-based vehicle financing model across the MENAP (Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan) region and expand vehicle classes to include electric buses. The collaboration comes on the heels of…
Today, we can attest to the rise in connected consumers who are demanding almost immediate engagement with brands to satisfy their quests. Companies are now investing in ecommerce, moving into social mostly via mobile. Considering all that is going on with digital technology and the impacts, it is mind-blowing. So, evolving consumer behaviour is an…
Stax is a firm that moves banking with Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) from the phone dialer to an offline mobile application, improving the user experience of offline banking. According to Stax’s blog, USSD has been around for 24 years and is largely utilized by telecoms to let them communicate with their clients. Telcos, for…
O7 Therapy is a refined, scientific, and evidence-based online platform designed to assist clients from all over the world in achieving mental wellbeing and positively impacting the workforce. Lead by serial entrepreneur and CEO Ashraf Bacheet, with co-founders Dr Ashraf Adel, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Founder of nine psychology, and Nader Iskander, tech entrepreneur…
Strove, a South African employee wellness firm, is looking to expand further in Europe after debuting in the United Kingdom (UK). Strove, founded in 2020 by Chris Bruchhausen in collaboration with venture builder The Delta, is an activity-based mobile rewards program that enables businesses to urge their staff to live a healthy and active lifestyle,…
Klas, a Nigerian ed-tech firm that allows anyone to create an online school and provide live classes, has acquired $130,000 in angel capital to help it scale. Klas, founded by Nathan Nwachuku in December 2021, enables producers on its platform to teach a variety of courses through online classes, with its software providing everything they…
Africa Data Hub (ADH) is commencing its Community Journalism Fellowship Programme. This initiative aims to improve the coverage of under-reported issues in local communities across Nigeria, paying special attention to potential solutions with lasting impact towards effective public service delivery, grassroot development and improving the quality of life. Community journalism holds the key to bridging…
OXFORD, U.K. – March 31, 2022 – Sophos, a global leader in next-generation cybersecurity, has released findings on how attackers are using the Log4Shell vulnerability to deliver backdoors and profiling scripts to unpatched VMware Horizon servers, paving the way for persistent access and future ransomware attacks. A new technical paper, “Horde of Miner Bots and Backdoors Leveraged Log4J to…
Wura is a mobile app that allows you to give and receive used stuff from people in Nigeria that are close by or far away. Clothing, books, shoes, jewelry, headphones, and other products may be included. On the app, you may give away anything that is still useful and valuable. After multiple scheduling problems, I…
A cyber training project has been launched by USIU-Africa, Kenya Bankers Association, and Serianu. The program will train 2,000 people, bolstering Kenya’s cyber security capabilities. The training program, dubbed Cyber Shujaa, is unique in that it develops and implements a standardized cybersecurity employment framework. It acts as a link between industry and educational institutions. It…
Techiva Technologies, a Nigerian IT consulting firm, was named the winner of the SheTrades Hackathon and received a cash reward of $10,000. In July 2021, the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) established the “ITC SheTrades Hackathon,” an opportunity for entrepreneurs all around the world to leverage technology for sustainable growth…
Andela Wednesday, a talent outsourcing firm, has announced that it is expanding its services beyond engineering to encompass design, data, and product management. The news comes six months after Andela raised $200 million in a Series E round, valuing the company at $1.5 billion and confirming its status as one of Africa’s unicorn startups. “Having…
Tushop, a Kenyan social-commerce site that allows Nairobi residents to buy goods for less money with free delivery, has raised $3 million in a pre-seed round. JAM Fund, Breyer Capital, Chandaria Capital, TO Ventures, Golden Palm Investments, FirstCheck Africa, and DFS Lab were among the investors in the round, which was led by 4DX Ventures….
Khazna, an Egyptian financial super app that provides underprivileged consumers and micro-businesses with easy-to-use, technology-driven financial services, has received a Series A round of US$38 million in stock and debt to accelerate its expansion efforts. Khazna was launched in 2020 as an earned income access product, but it has since evolved into a multi-product that…
What is Skill Gap? The concept of skill gap characterizes the divergence that currently exists in what potential job prospects are required of and what is being offered. Skill Gap Analysis is a method of determining which skills and knowledge gaps exist between the workforce system in Nigeria and its students of higher learning. On a general note, the…
PEACE Cable, in collaboration with Telkom, Kenya’s third largest telecoms company, has landed a new submarine cable in Mombasa. The PEACE Cable aims to provide more reliable and stable communication services between Africa, Europe, and Asia. This new cable will link France to Pakistan via the Europe-Asia route, as well as Mombasa, Kenya. It will…
The GSMA has released its tenth annual ‘State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money’ today. It reveals that mobile money adoption and use will continue to grow in 2021, with a record $1 trillion processed annually. The industry has seen a significant increase in the number of registered accounts, with an 18% increase since…
NowNow Digital Systems, a fintech founded by Sahir Berry in 2018 that provides payment gateways to merchants, announced Wednesday at a media event at its Lagos office that it is now ready to “put a face behind the brand” and expand to everyday Nigerians. American finance personnel, Matt Francis, who joined the company this year…
Intella, the Middle East and North Africa’s first real-time intelligence provider, has announced a $1 million seed funding round led by Hala Ventures and Falak Startups, with participation from the Egyptian Ministry of International Cooperation and its venture capital arm, Egypt Ventures, as well as the Egyptian Ministry of International Cooperation. Other investors have also…