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…
Sticitt, a South African fintech startup, has received an oversubscribed round of seed funding to help it grow. Sticitt, which was co-founded in January 2018 by Theo Kitshoff, Mitch Dart, and Dennis Wevel, simplifies payments within the South African education market with its simple payment system, Sticitt Pay, which offers niche communities an alternative payment…
In the last few years, we’ve seen great innovation across various industries, breakthroughs for marginalised communities, and a digital revolution that has impacted every aspect of our lives. Although these are milestones to be celebrated, there is still so much more that needs to be done when it comes to developing the presence of women…
After closing a USD300,000 Pre-Seed Round led by StrategicAngel Investors, Xpovi, a Robo-advisory startup, plans to scale-up autonomous financial and business planning services. Xpovi, a newly formed startup, began operations with the release of its “Automated BusinessPlanning” solution, which enables early-stage startups to build financial models and business plans with a few clicks using a…
Otida, an Egyptian health-tech startup, has raised $340,000 in a pre-seed round led by Texas-based VC Lofty Inc., with participation from Flat6Labs Cairo, Afropreneurs, Jedar Capital, OQAL Angel Investors, UI Investments, and some angel investors. Otida is a diabetes app that acts as a nutritionist, fitness coach, and physician for diabetic patients who are struggling…
Grindstone, a South African business accelerator that provides selected companies with access to a structured entrepreneurship development program, is now accepting applications. The Grindstone Accelerator is a structured entrepreneurial development program co-owned by VC fund manager Knife Capital and Thinkroom Consulting, with primary funding from the SA SME Fund. Grindstone Ventures, a ZAR100 million (US$6.5…
CredPal, a digital lending startup, has announced a $15 million debt financing from Credit Direct, a subsidiary of First City Monument Bank (FCMB); Greenhouse Capital, a finance-focused venture capital firm; and a few unnamed financial institutions and new investors including LongCommerce, Uncovered Fund, First Circle Capital, and Adii Pienaar, co-founder and former CEO of WooCommerce….
Climate change has piqued the public’s interest for several decades. As a result, in the recent past, innovations toward engines that do not emit waste products have emerged. eWAKA has launched an electric ‘bodaboda’ in response to the go-green campaign. This new market entrant in Africa not only introduces sustainable mobility options, but also aims…
Al Mada Holding Group of Morocco announced earlier this week the establishment of a pan-African venture capital fund to invest in the continent’s fast-growing startups. With a budget of MAD1.1 billion (€100 million), the Al Mada-backed venture fund aims to attract innovative investors and participate in the rapidly developing African startup ecosystem, according to converging…
Blockchain technology is being used in a wide range of industries, from IT to banking. But what exactly is it, and how should it affect the gambling industry? Here are some of the upcoming changes in online casino games, sports betting, and other forms of online gambling that we can anticipate. Gaming that is Provably…
The African Development Bank Group has invested over $1 billion in Mozambique’s north, including the Liquefied Natural Gas Rovuma Area 1 project, a climate resilience project, the Mueda Negomano Road project, and the Mozambique Energy-for-All program. Akinwumi A. Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, and President of the Republic of Mozambique Filipe Jacinto Nyusi…
When it comes to sharing media files, WhatsApp is edging out Telegram. The popular messaging app is increasing the size of its media file sharing limit from 100MB to 2GB, which Telegram already does. According to WABetainfo, WhatsApp is currently testing the new limit with WhatsApp beta users on both its iOS(22.7.0.76) and Android apps…
According to a feature tracker, Instagram is working on a feature that will allow users to respond to stories with voice messages and images. The social platform for image and video sharing recently added support for liking stories, which would send users a notification instead of a new message in their inbox. While the company…
On Friday, a former Microsoft employee published an essay on Lioness, a whistleblower website, alleging that corruption in the company has spread throughout Africa and the Middle East. According to Tech Central, in 2019, the tech giant company and its former partner, South African EOH Mthombo, were accused of being involved in alleged corruption in…
Applications for the fourth year of the Africa Business Heroes (ABH) prize program are now open in English and French. ABH annually awards a share of a US$1.5 million grant to ten outstanding African entrepreneurs. The fourth annual edition of the Jack Ma Foundation’s flagship philanthropic program highlighting and celebrating Africa’s entrepreneurial excellence, “Africa’s Business…
Waspito, a Cameroonian e-health startup, has raised US$2.7 million in seed funding to expand its user base in Cameroon and to Ivory Coast. Waspito, founded in 2020 by Jean Lobe Lobe, connects users with medical doctors via instant video consultations from their smartphones. It also offers mobile laboratory services, with a lab technician collecting samples…
FreshSource, an Egyptian startup, is a B2B agri-supply chain platform that connects food producers to businesses and exporters, increasing their income, and it is now looking to expand across the MENA region. FreshSource, founded in January 2019 by Farah and Omar Emara, is a B2B agri-supply chain platform that uses technology to transform the way…
Football, or soccer as it is known in the United States, is the most popular and watched sport in the world, with over five billion football fans, according to FIFA, the sport’s governing body. While the World Cup, football’s pinnacle event and arguably the world’s most popular sporting event, displays the sport’s popularity in full…
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have launched the Innovations to Empower Women and Girls Challenge to help scale innovative solutions that can help disrupt inequalities and advance women’s and girls’ empowerment. The Innovations to Empower Women and Girls Challenge, the UNFPA’s first joint innovation…
The Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) has announced that the 2022 .ng Awards is scheduled to hold on Friday, 29th April 2022. NiRA seeks to recognize and acknowledge those who are contributing to the growth of the .ng domain name registration and promotion of the DNS Industry. Using the .ng Awards, NIRA celebrates the achievements and innovation of Nigerian Internet…
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – The launch of Skyhigh Security has been announced this week in South Africa. This is the second new company formed from the splitting of McAfee Enterprise into two separate entities – Trellix and Skyhigh Security – to better focus on the very distinct markets of Extended Detection and Response and the…
Kwik, a French-Nigerian business-to-business startup that provides Software as a Service (SaaS) logistics services to African social vendors and e-commerce platforms, has raised $2 million in its Series A round. With the new funding, the company will be able to focus more on developing digital services for the three core pillars of last-mile delivery, e-commerce…
Betacube, a Tunisian venture capital firm, has launched the second edition of its Women in Fintech pre-incubation program, which aims to help aspiring entrepreneurs shape their ideas and build long-term businesses. The six-week Women In Fintech programme, run by Betacube in collaboration with the US Embassy in Tunisia, enables Tunisian women-led fintech projects to gain…
During the Annual Investment Conference in Johannesburg, Sandton on Thursday, Netflix, the US-based streaming giant, announced an investment of R900 million ($62 million) in South African film and television productions. According to Tech Central, the investment will cover four productions over the next two years, one international and three local. “These productions, which are just…
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has announced that robotics and coding will be added to the South African curriculum. According to the department’s recently released annual performance plan 2022/2023, full-scale implementation for Grades R through 3 and Grade 7 is planned for the academic year 2023. Robotics and coding will be piloted in other…
The LHoFT Foundation has chosen ten African fintech startups to participate in CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa: Special Edition in Dubai, which aims to encourage companies focused on financial inclusion. CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa, created by the LHoFT Foundation, aims to make a real difference in Africa’s financial inclusion by providing education, insight, and connectivity to participating firms…
AVC, founded by a Grammy Award-winning Nigerian musician, has announced the launch of its platform to assist content creators in creating and trading non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The AVC platform, based in Lagos and Accra, aims to make it easy for African creators to create, manage, and sell digital art and assets by collaborating with global…
Gricd, a cold chain technology company that uses the Internet of Things (IoT) to enable last-mile delivery of temperature-sensitive products, has partnered with Haultrac, one of Nigeria’s leading logistics companies, to support USAID’s delivery of essential healthcare commodities to all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja. The collaboration is an indefinite quantity…