Many people are still perplexed by what the metaverse is or could be. Millions of dollars, however, are being invested in this virtual universe. BusinessToday.in reported on November 29, 2021, that Tokens.com, a Canadian investment firm, spent $2.5 million on a virtual land in the metaverse. The property was purchased on Decentraland, a blockchain-based virtual…
Tingg, the all-in-one super payments app, was named ‘Overall Mobile App of the Year’ in Kenya at the inaugural Mobile App Summit and Awards, which took place on Friday, October 10th, at a prestigious gala dinner. At the event, held at the Pride Inn Westlands Banquette Centre, they also won the ‘Mobile App of the…
Zoom has joined a counter-terrorism organization formed by major US tech companies such as Meta, formerly known as Facebook, and Microsoft, the group announced on Wednesday. The Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) is an independent organization whose members share information on their websites to combat terrorism and violent extremism. Zoom, whose usage skyrocketed…
Apple has introduced Security Lockout mode, which allows users to reset and erase data from their locked iPhone or iPad without the need to connect it to a PC or Mac. The feature is included in iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2, both of which were released earlier this week. It also activates only after several…
Moove, an African mobility fintech, has opened its first office in East Africa and its sixth on the continent in Nairobi, Kenya, as part of its efforts to expand operations across the continent. This move came after a collaboration with Uber that allowed ride-hailing and delivery drivers to acquire motorbikes for Uber Connect, UberEats deliveries,…
ATG Digital, a leader in identification verification software, has announced a new tool for employers and public establishments to use at access control points to verify visitors’ vaccine status. Vaccine mandates are on everyone’s mind this season, but ATG Digital’s R&D department had already completed their vaccine verification feature before the first fourth-wave headline. Visitors…
The Adaptation SME Accelerator Project (ASAP), a program for SMEs and startups scaling market-based and contextualized solutions to critical climate adaptation and resilience challenges, is now accepting applications in Africa and Asia. ASAP, which is led by Village Capital and The Lightsmith Group, will help 16 SMEs and startups scale climate adaptation and resilience solutions…
In the next three months, 2,400 Nigerian girls will be equipped with basic information and communications technology (ICT) skills thanks to a grant from the United Kingdom government, which will be administered by Cybersafe Foundation through the DigiGirls Digital Empowerment program. Confidence Staveley, Founder, Cybersafe Foundation, said at the program’s opening ceremony in Lagos that…
Offline test preparation centers in Nigeria have been providing after-school guidance and tutoring to students attempting to pass entrance examinations for many years. Edtech platforms such as Edukoya have emerged with the goal of bringing these models online while keeping costs low for students. The Lagos and London-based startup, which creates online education content and…
Founder Institute, a pre-seed accelerator, has opened applications for its South Africa program, which is looking for ambitious entrepreneurs to help build a sustainable future through technology. The Founder Institute, founded in 2009 by Adeo Ressi and Jonathan Greechan and based in Palo Alto, California, connects startups with experts who share equity in their success,…
Wowzi, a Kenyan startup, has secured new funding to expand the reach of its platform, which turns social media users into brand influencers, to West and Southern Africa — as it capitalizes on the continent’s rising social media usage, driven by the proliferation of smartphones and increasing internet penetration. Wowzi, which connects social media users…
Google has announced Android 12 (Go edition). According to the company, the lightweight operating system (OS) will be available in affordable entry-level smartphones in 2022. The news comes just two months after Google released Android 12 for its Pixel smartphone lineup. Google claims that over 200 million people are actively using the lightweight Android (Go…
Automatic captions for videos are now available on Twitter. On Wednesday, December 15, the much-anticipated functionality began rolling out globally for iOS, Android, and the Web. Currently, 37 languages are supported by the auto-captions feature. Because translation is not yet available on Twitter, the captions will appear in the language of the device used to…
Ogow Health, a Somalian e-health startup, is improving care pathways, access to patient data, reporting, and public health information for major interventions like maternal health and immunizations through app and web-based tools that are now affecting thousands of patients. ogow health creates digital health solutions that empower and equip healthcare providers, caregivers, and governments in…
The Financial Times and Seedstars have announced the startups that have advanced to the final round of the FTxSDG Challenge, with the winners receiving US$500,000 in funding and growth support. According to Disrupt Africa, the Financial Times and Seedstars partnered in September to launch the FTxSDG Challenge, which aims to find impact-driven entrepreneurs and ventures…
South Africans are big fans of televisions and home entertainment systems. In fact, according to Nielsen, the average citizen watches 165 minutes of television per day on top of working from home, home schooling, and other adulting responsibilities, and that doesn’t include time spent on mobile devices. With nearly three hours of viewing time per…
Networks Unlimited, a subsidiary of Exclusive Networks, has continued its end-of-year tradition of assisting the students and parents of Nokuphila School in Tembisa, Midrand. According to Managing Director Anton Jacobsz, the school is a beneficiary of the non-profit educational organization The Love Trust, which is Networks Unlimited’s 53 percent broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) partner….
Treepz, a mobility startup, has announced a partnership with CMS Taxi and Motor Nigeria Limited (CMS T&M), a Lagos-based traditional bus company, just a few weeks after raising $2.8 million in seed funding and acquiring Ugabus, a Ugandan bus company. Through this collaboration, CMS T&M passengers will have access to convenient payment options and predictable…
Salaam Somali Bank has set aside US$4 million for Somali entrepreneurs to be distributed over two years beginning next year in an effort to jumpstart economic growth. Salaam Somali Bank, Somalia’s first privately-owned bank, was established in 2009 and now has more than 20 branches throughout the country. Through specialized, zero-interest micro-loans, the Salaam Entrepreneurs…
MTN and MAFAB COMMUNICATIONS emerged as the winners of the Federal Government’s 5G spectrum auction held yesterday at the Transcorp Hotel in Abuja. A mock auction was held at the same location to prepare participants for the main event, which was a success. Using the Ascending Clock Auction System, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) auctioned…
A cross-party group of British lawmakers has said that Google, Facebook, and other online services should be held legally accountable for advertisements on their platforms in order to prevent fraudsters from duping millions of consumers. Britain has proposed a landmark online safety law to punish abuses such as child pornography, racism, and violence against women,…
When it is released, the Samsung Galaxy M33 5G will reportedly have a 6,000mAh battery. The upcoming smartphone is expected to be the successor to the Galaxy M32 5G, which was released in August. The existence of the Galaxy M33 5G was first revealed in October, when the smartphone’s internal model designation was leaked online….
Climate change is the most pressing issue of our time. Every one of us, from policymakers to individuals, has a responsibility to do our part to ensure that sustainability and green practices are implemented throughout society. Indeed, governments around the world, from the United States to China, are increasingly taking a proactive stance on climate…
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has been named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” for 2021, a year in which his electric car company became the most valuable carmaker in the world and his rocket company soar to the edge of space with an all-civilian crew. Musk is also the founder and CEO of SpaceX,…
Bitcoin’s value fell 3.43 percent on Tuesday, December 14, continuing its trend of greater losses and smaller gains. Kuber, the world’s oldest cryptocurrency, is currently trading at $50,553 on the Indian exchange CoinSwitch. Bitcoin’s value is currently hovering around $47,235 on international exchanges such as CoinMarketCap. This is the fourth week in a row that…
Medicise, a South African startup, has opened a cutting-edge medical facility in Somerset West, Western Cape, that can measure and monitor a wide range of heart and lung functions and then present a complete clinical picture using complex diagnostic algorithms. Medicise, which claims to be Africa’s only such facility, uses highly specialized equipment to measure…
The fourth quarter is drawing to a close, the holiday season has arrived, and Kenyan businesses are closing their books for the year. Transport and logistics, which support many sectors of the Kenyan economy, appear to be on the rise in many ways. The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) reported a 4.4 percent increase in container…
Pepsi has chosen to commemorate its birth year, 1893, with a series of one-of-a-kind non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The company’s NFT series, titled “Pepsi Mic Drop,” will include 1,893 pieces of a microphone visual inspired by Pepsi flavors such as Classic Blue Pepsi, Silver Diet Pepsi, and Red Pepsi Wild Cherry, among others. An algorithm will…
WaffarX, an Egyptian cashback marketplace, has raised an undisclosed but multi-million US dollar funding round to help it grow its user base and geographical presence. WaffarX, which was founded in 2018 by Ezz Fayek, Mahmoud Montasser, and Ahmed Kamal, uses cutting-edge technology to distribute cashback rewards, allowing shoppers to save money on every dollar spent….
Horizon Worlds is now available to the general public, a year after it was first tested privately. Horizon Worlds, on the other hand, is available for free to anyone with an Oculus Quest 2 headset, which Meta sells. People over the age of 18 in the United States and Canada will be able to download…