P2vest

Nigerian FinTech Platform, P2vest, hits 100,000 users

P2vest Technology Limited reported that their peer-to-peer lending application, P2Vest, has reached 100,000 customers who have access to rapid loans. This accomplishment highlights the organization’s contribution in improving the way individuals obtain credit and lend money by connecting borrowers and lenders. Over the last 15 months, the leading peer-to-peer lending network has employed technology to…

Africa Startup Summit

Applications are Open for startups to Pitch Live at Africa Startup Summit Nairobi

Applications are now open for the 2022 edition of Pitch Live, which will take place at the fourth Africa Startup Summit next month in Nairobi. The Africa Startup Summit is part of the fourth annual Africa Tech Summit, which will take place live and in person on February 23-24 in Nairobi, Kenya. The two-day conference…

WhatsApp for iOS

WhatsApp is Working on a Feature to Enable iOS Devices Import Chats From Android Devices

WhatsApp for iOS may soon allow users to transfer their chat history from an Android device to an iPhone. At the moment, iPhone WhatsApp users may only migrate their talks from an existing iPhone handset and cannot move their chat history from an Android device. Last year, the instant messaging software allowed users of certain…

mobile apps

3 trends that will transform African mobile apps in 2022

In 2021, the mobile sector in Sub-Saharan Africa showed extraordinary resilience against the effects of Covid-19 and sustained rapid expansion. Digital solutions have been essential in assisting communities and organizations in transitioning to a mobile-first strategy to address the majority of the continent’s daily concerns, with fintech applications leading this increase. According to the Mobile…

Chari
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Moroccan B2B e-commerce startup Chari secures bridge round valuing company at $100m

Chari, a Moroccan B2B e-commerce and fintech business, has raised a bridge round of funding valued at US$100 million. Chari, which was founded in 2020 by husband and wife pair Ismael and Sophia Belkhayat, allows traditional local store operators in Morocco to order and have things delivered. It collaborates with more than half of the…

IFC ScaleX

The IFC ScaleX program attempts to close the gender financing gap

IFC and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) announced a new call for applications for IFC ScaleX, a new program aimed at bridging the financing gap that women entrepreneurs continue to encounter, particularly in emerging countries, through supporting accelerators. IFC ScaleX is a performance-based project for which IFC has partnered with Village Capital to launch….

African payment

New pan-African payment platform emerges to bolster local currencies and assist SMEs

A new pan-African payment system eliminates historical complexities, such as the cost of cross-border payments, boosts operational efficiencies, and paves the way for more stable and stronger African currencies, all of which are expected to boost intra-Africa commerce. Following the formal debut of a new payment system in Africa, a Kenyan client can now pay…

Kerry Grimes Global Head of Partners AVEVA subscription economy

How the subscription economy can benefit your business

The subscription economy has come of age. The notion is gaining traction in the United States and Europe for a wide range of services. Subscription models, such as Netflix for TV, Spotify for music, Adobe Creative Cloud for design services, and Ring for home security, have steadily woven themselves into our daily lives and enterprises…

Red Cross

Cybersecurity: Red Cross Attack Exposes Data of Over 515,000 Vunerable People

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is best known for assisting war victims, hackers broke into servers hosting its data and gained access to personal and confidential information on over 500,000 vulnerable people. According to the Geneva-based agency, the hack this week by unknown attackers damaged data on approximately 515,000 people,…

WhatsApp Now Allow Desktop Users to Test Ability to Pause While Recording Voice Messages

WhatsApp Now Allow Desktop Users to Test Ability to Pause While Recording Voice Messages

On the desktop version of the program, WhatsApp is working on a feature that will allow users to pause and resume voice recordings. The ability to evaluate voice notes before transmitting them was recently added to the instant messaging service. WhatsApp Desktop’s latest beta version is currently testing the ability to pause and resume voice…

Carry1st

South African mobile gaming startup Carry1st secures $20m from a16z, Google

Carry1st, a South African mobile game firm, has secured a US$20 million Series A extension round led by Andreessen Horowitz, Avenir, and Google to help it scale across Africa. Carry1st, based in Cape Town, is a mobile games publisher serving the first generation of African smartphone users, with games such as Mine Rescue and SpongeBob:…

buy now pay later

Can Nigerian fintech startups rely on the buy now pay later business model?

Fintech platforms are increasingly looking for new ways to serve their clients, one of which underlines the motivation for the BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) model that many have begun to use. This unique credit offering model has grown in popularity in recent years, owing to the rapid gratification and delayed payment that it offers…

business intelligence

Important factors to note while designing a business intelligence programme for your brand

With digital transformation accelerating faster than ever in the corporate landscape, most organizations now use a combination of business tools to conduct their operations across sales, marketing, finance, HR, and so on. All of these tools, more often than not, have a reporting module that shows department-specific data records and statements. However, isolated data such…

Bumpa

Nigeria’s Shopify for Africa, Bumpa Reveals Post-Funding Plans

Bumpa, a Nigerian business that serves as a one-stop shop for African retail merchants, intends to expand internationally after experiencing rapid development and receiving pre-seed capital from a bank. Bumpa, founded in February 2021 by Kelvin Umechukwu and Adetunji Opayele, assists merchants in moving their businesses online without the requirement for programming knowledge. They may…

female-led startups

100 female-led startups join high-impact acceleration programme

Women Entrepreneurship for Africa (WE4A) has chosen 100 female-led startups to participate in its high-impact accelerator, which focuses on company growth for job creation. The WE4A program intends to improve the business capacities of female-led businesses, as well as their access to capital, market opportunities, knowledge enhancement, and technical training. It is an initiative of…

Pivo

Nigerian fintech startup Pivo secures funding from Microtraction

Pivo, a credit-focused financial services company for SME supply chain players in Nigeria, has acquired an unknown amount of money from early-stage venture capital firm Microtraction. Pivo, founded last year by Nkiru Amadi-Emina and Ijeoma Jacquelyn Akwiwu, provides a novel and more effective approach for SME owners in the supply chain sector to obtain financial…

blockchain technology

How Crevatal is simplifying blockchain technology

One of the main reasons why most individuals avoid using blockchain or crypto platforms is because of the intricacies involved. Many people who have sought my assistance in starting their crypto adventure are put off by the complicated-looking platforms. While data from Chainalysis suggests that crypto use is fast expanding, studies from Triple A, a…

travel agencies

Is Google a competitor to internet travel agencies?

According to GlobalData, COVID-19 had a significant impact on online travel agencies (OTAs), with the OTA market value decreasing by a staggering 60.4 percent year on year (YoY) in 2020. According to the major data and analytics firm, this strain has exacerbated OTA’s previous fears about Google’s rising market position, and how the internet giant’s…

5 women-focused bootcamps for young African women ready to delve into tech

5 women-focused bootcamps for young African women ready to delve into tech

The issue of women’s under-representation in technology is one that will continue to haunt the industry and provide meat for debate. And it isn’t only an African issue; women all across the world are trying to keep up with their male counterparts. According to Statista, just 9.8 percent of start-up founders in West Africa were…

Y Combinator

2 Nigerian startups joins the latest Y Combinator batch

Nigerian businesses Moni and Topship have been accepted into the famed Silicon Valley-based Y Combinator accelerator’s W22 batch. Between now and March, the W22 batch of the Y Combinator program, which has played a role in the early days of firms such as Airbnb, Coinbase, and Dropbox, will take place. At a demo day, participants…

Digital Transformation

4 Must-Have Elements of Digital Transformation

Organizations and enterprises are undergoing digital transformations as a result of a slew of new digital technologies that are gaining traction across all industries. This transition is being carried out with an eye on both the short-term and long-term changes that will arise from these new developments. The most critical aspect in a company’s ability…

Android App

Android App trends that will dominate 2022

With the rise of digital lifestyles, mobile applications have become an essential part of our daily lives. Being able to go to HUAWEI AppGallery and search for and download the latest app, whether for business, leisure, or something completely different, provides for highly productive, and often enjoyable, experiences. So, what are some of the app…

Float

Float, Ghana’s Fintech Startup Closes $17m seed round

Float, a Ghanaian fintech startup that provides a cash flow management and spend platform for African businesses, has raised a US$17 million round of debt and equity seed funding to accelerate growth and the launch of new products. Float offers credit lines to small businesses, as well as solutions for managing business accounts and wallets…

Orda team

Orda, Nigerian restaurant management startup Orda secures $1.1m pre-seed to expand across Africa

Orda, a Nigerian restaurant management business, has raised a pre-seed fundraising round of US$1.1 million in order to accelerate its growth and extend throughout the continent. Orda, which launched in 2020, is a cloud-based restaurant management system provider with the goal of providing a single operating system to power African eateries. The Lagos-based firm has…

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams Releases 5 New Features to Support Frontline Workers

Microsoft Teams is introducing five new features aimed at lowering stress among frontline workers. Walkie Talkie app, organizing virtual appointments, Microsoft Viva, Reflexis Shifts Connector, and audio notice for misplaced device are among the new features. For the Walkie Talkie app in Microsoft Teams, Microsoft has collaborated with Zebra mobile devices, but it will also…

eCommerce

To Ultimate Guide to Kickstarting Your eCommerce Journey

While the complete figures for 2021 aren’t in yet, eCommerce sales in 2020 were 32.4 percent more than the previous year. More than ever before, shoppers are expressing a desire to move their purchases online. This isn’t simply a global phenomenon; over 22 million South Africans click “add to cart” at least once a month….

Malware, Check Point Research

December 2021’s Most Wanted Malware: Trickbot, Emotet and the Log4j plague

In Check Point Research of January 12, 2022, the Threat Intelligence arm of Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP), a leading provider of cyber security solutions globally, has published its latest Global Threat Index for December 2021. In a month that saw the Apache Log4j vulnerability sweep the internet, researchers reported that Trickbot is still the most prevalent malware, albeit at a slightly…

marketing

The digital-first approach is the driving force of a robust marketing strategy in the post-pandemic era

Traditional media has long been the foundation of marketing and advertising campaigns. However, in a post-Covid-19 world where people have comfortably accustomed to a mobile-first, digital consumption model, the consequence of this transformation for this business is already obvious. This sector’s commercial business model has also been disrupted. Today, the digital first strategy provides companies…