Salpha Energy

Salpha Energy, a Nigerian solar energy business, has obtained a $1 million investment for solar home system distribution

ByTechTrends

All On, a Shell-backed impact investing organization, has invested $1 million in Salpha Energy, a Nigerian producer of clean and affordable solar energy solutions. The company has an active distribution network of over 350 persons, cooperatives, and dealers around the country, thanks to substantial agreements with payment collection enablers such as InfiBranches, Paga, and Interswitch….

Google Cloud

Cybersecurity: Compromised Google Cloud Platform Instances Are Being Used To Mine Crypto

ByTechTrends

Google has released a new cybersecurity report warning about how compromised Google Cloud instances are being leveraged by cryptocurrency miners for cryptocurrency mining. Threat intelligence observations from the Threat Analysis Group (TAG), Google Cloud Threat Intelligence for Chronicle, Trust and Safety, and other internal teams were used to create the “Threat Horizons” report. According to…

Africa Data Centre

Africa Data Centres has opened a world-class 10MW data center in Lagos

ByTechTrends

Africa Data Centres (ADC), the continent’s largest network of interconnected, carrier- and cloud-neutral data center facilities, has opened its new 10MW data center facility in Lagos, Nigeria. According to the firm, the new facility will pave the path for Africa Data Centres‘ hyperscale customers to implement digital solutions to West Africa. According to Stephane Duproz,…

Fleeti

Fleeti, a Senegalese fleet management startup, has raised $1.1 million to improve fleet management in Africa

ByTechTrends

Fleeti, a Senegalese fleet management startup, has raised $1.1 million in a seed round headed by Newfund, Groupe Clim, Janngo, SkalePark, Mapinvest, and a new investment group. Fleeti, launched in July 2020 by Iban Olçomendy and Gabriel Delerue, brings a new dimension to Africa’s fleet management market. Its technology, for example, helps firms to save…

Nigerian economy

Experts advices on how companies can survive the instability of the Nigerian economy

ByTechTrends

Prof. Pat Utomi, a political economist and management specialist, and professionals in the integrated marketing communication industry have urged businesses to reconsider their strategies and business models, as well as work within legal frameworks, in order to weather the volatility of the Nigerian economy. This was revealed by experts during the second edition of Brandcomfest…

African Tech Vision

African Tech Vision opens applicaations for female-focused mentorship programme

ByTechTrends

African Tech Vision, an entrepreneurial and mentorship initiative to encourage the growth of female-founded firms, is now accepting applications. The six-week African Tech Vision program will begin in January and will be led by an experienced volunteer team from around the world. The program was designed to be truly founder-centric, with founder growth defining its…

artificial intelligence AI

Why does AI require African input?

ByTechTrends

Once upon a time, artificial intelligence (AI) was the stuff of science fiction. However, it is becoming more common. It is employed in mobile phone technologies as well as automobiles. It powers agricultural and healthcare tools. However, questions have been raised concerning the responsibility of AI and associated technologies such as machine learning. Timnit Gebru,…

Black Friday

Online payment fraud to increase by 208% amid the Black Friday season

ByTechTrends

In the run-up to Black Friday, there was an increase in phishing assaults that looked like e-payment pages. From September (627,560) to October 2021 (1,935,905), the overall number of financial phishing attacks disguised as e-payment systems more than doubled, representing a 208 percent rise. This and other discoveries are included in Kaspersky’s paper, ‘Black Friday…

Khadija-Elbedweihy Africa’s Business Heroes

PraxiLabs founder named winner of Africa’s Business Heroes 2021

ByTechTrends

The winners of Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) 2021 were announced during a virtual live Grand Finale, with the top ten finalists getting a grant of US$1.5 million. Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH), the principal charitable program of the Jack Ma Foundation, strives to foster an inclusive and dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem in Africa. The annual competition, now…

Sabi

Sabi, a Nigerian B2B marketplace, earns $6 million in a bridge round and extends to Kenya

ByTechTrends

Sabi, a B2B marketplace, has announced the completion of a $6 million bridge round to support its continuing rapid expansion in Nigeria and beyond. Sabi, which was founded last year as a spin-off from energy startup Rensource, is optimizing Africa’s informal commerce sector by providing merchants and resellers with selected business tools and services that…

Mytherapist

Mytherapist, a Nigerian startup, uses technology to provide mental healthcare services

ByTechTrends

In an age when the internet has become a go-to forum for many people to express themselves, the issue of mental health difficulties remains a sensitive one. However, a promising Nigerian health care startup, Mytherapist.ng, is capitalizing on the situation by harnessing technology to provide Nigerians with accessible, cheap, and stigma-free mental health care services….

FintechNGR

FintechNGR Hosts 2021 Edition of World Fintech Festival, Nigeria, with CBN and NITDA Discuss Digital Economy

ByTechTrends

The Fintech Association of Nigeria (FintechNGR) organized the World Fintech Festival (WFF), Nigeria, on November 11, 2021, in collaboration with the Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF). The event, TechSpark 3.0, Leveraging Emerging Technology for Digital Economy, was one of the breakout events held by important FinTech centers around the world. Ade Bajomo, President of FintechNGR, gave…

WhatsApp

WhatsApp is planning to add message reaction feature for users

ByTechTrends

WhatsApp is said to be iterating on the rumored message reactions functionality. This has previously been discovered, and it appears to allow users to respond to a single message in a chat. A new reaction info page has been discovered in development, allowing users to simply identify who reacted to a message. Message reactions are…

Apple

Apple is rolling out a new self-service repair program in early 2022 

ByTechTrends

Apple has announced that a new self-service repair program for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 models would be available in early 2022, with an emphasis on common repairs such as damaged screens, battery problems, and camera issues. Users will be able to purchase repair components and tools directly from the company. Customers will soon…

OnePipe

OnePipe, a Nigerian financial services company, raises $3,500,000 to enhance its operations

ByTechTrends

OnePipe, a Nigerian fintech startup, has acquired $3,500,000 in seed funding to expand operations throughout Africa, bridge financial gaps, and improve the customer experience for businesses. OnePipe received funding from a variety of sources, including African impact-focused venture capital firm Atlantica Ventures, which co-led the seed round with Tribe Capital and V&R Associates. Canaan Partners,…

Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso extends its ban on mobile internet access in the face of widespread uproar

ByTechTrends

Burkina Faso’s government has prolonged the countrywide ban on mobile internet access for another 96 hours. This comes just days before opposition protests are scheduled. According to a statement issued by the administration of President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, the extension was granted under a legal clause linked to national defense and public safety. Authorities…

Mojapay

SA Startup Mojapay Unveils Digital Banking Platform

ByTechTrends

MojaPay, a South African fintech firm, has released a new app with the goal of changing the way people pay, receive, and save money. MojaPay, formerly known as digiToken and launched last year to assist customers in purchasing items such as power and airtime online, has rebranded and improved to provide seamless transactions and payments…

Absa

Absa is Equipping Over a Thousand Staff Members Across Africa With Cloud Computing Skills

ByTechTrends

According to Absa Group, its cloud incubator effort is on track to exceed its objective of teaching 1,500 staff employees across Africa with cloud computing capabilities this year. Absa launched the cloud incubator program in March to help it along its digital transformation journey. According to Absa, 1,496 individuals successfully completed the training by the…

female founders

African female entrepreneurs need to learn from high-impact mentors

ByTechTrends

Aside from money, African female entrepreneurs want access to high-impact mentors who are eager to share their network and teach what they know. Eloho Omame and Odunayo Eweniyi unveiled their female-focused angel investment fund a few weeks into January this year. The angel fund, appropriately dubbed FirstCheck Africa, is on a mission to “advance equity,…

Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, South Africa's Communications and Digital Tech Minister. Image sourced from News24.

The South African government intends to bring internet access to all homes by 2024

ByTechTrends

Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, South Africa’s Minister of Communications, says the government is considering plans to ensure that all South Africans have access to connectivity at home by 2024. Speaking at the annual Southern Africa Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (SATNAC), Minister Ntshavheni stated that the European Union has committed to delivering 1 terabyte to the home…

Malware

Targeted Malware is Proliferating in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria

ByTechTrends

According to the newest danger landscape trends data from internet security firm Kaspersky, South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria are experiencing tremendous shifts in the landscape. While traditional, self-propagating malware is declining due to its ineffectiveness and inability to fly under security radars, the region will experience an increase in new cybercrime models in the following…

augmented reality AR

Inventor of First AR System Says Metaverse Could Pose More Harm Than Social Media

ByTechTrends

With major tech shifting toward virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), making room for the metaverse, there is a heated debate regarding the limits — or lack thereof — of this new technology. Skeptics are concerned that the metaverse may lead to the end of reality as we know it. Louis Rosenberg, a computer…

IBM

IBM will launch a massive digital upskilling drive in South Africa

ByTechTrends

IBM has announced a new massive commitment and global plan to provide new skills needed for tomorrow’s jobs to 30 million people of all ages by 2030. To accomplish this goal, IBM has outlined a clear roadmap that includes over 170 new academic and industry partnerships. The initiative will make use of IBM’s existing programs…

Airtel Africa
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Airtel Africa’s developer portal aims to broaden digital payments via APIs

ByTechTrends

With its upgraded Airtel Africa Developer Portal, Airtel Money, the mobile money platform, is driving greater efficiency for businesses to engage in seamless mobile money activity. The portal integrates remote payments with Airtel Money wallets using several Open APIs and solutions to provide greater ease of access to Airtel Money services across multiple business sectors…

MNT-Halan

MNT-Halan in Egypt successfully deploys proprietary core banking system software

ByTechTrends

MNT-Halan, Egypt’s leading fintech ecosystem, has announced the successful launch of Neuron, the proprietary core banking software that it developed and launched earlier this year. MNT-Halan began as a ride-hailing app for two- and three-wheeler vehicles in 2018, and has since evolved into a super app, becoming Egypt’s largest and fastest-growing lender to the unbanked….

Kaoun Flouci

Kaoun, a Tunisian fintech startup, has updated its Flouci payments app with new features

ByTechTrends

Kaoun, a Tunisian fintech startup, has added new features to its payments app Flouci as a result of its participation in the Central Bank of Tunisia’s regulatory sandbox. Kaoun was founded in January 2018 by co-founders Nebras Jemel, Anis Kallel, and Rostom Bouazizi, who put their studies in the United States – at Harvard University,…

StartupBootcamp

AfriTech StartupBootcamp and Telecel are now accepting applications for the second ASIP accelerator

ByTechTrends

Startupbootcamp AfriTech and Telecel Group have opened applications for the second edition of the Africa Startup Initiative Programme (ASIP), which provides funding and support to selected companies. Startupbootcamp AfriTech was founded in 2017 as the first pan-African startup accelerator backed by multiple corporations. In March, Disrupt Africa announced a partnership with telecoms firm Telecel Group…

cryptocurrency

The cryptocurrency market has plummeted as a result of reports of an Indian government ban

ByTechTrends

Following reports that the Indian government may ban cryptocurrency, the crypto market price charts were drenched in red on Wednesday, November 24. Bitcoin’s value has dropped by 25.51 percent to $46,601 on the Indian exchange CoinSwitch Kuber. On a global scale, the world’s oldest cryptocurrency has managed to keep its value above $50,000, despite the…

Walmart Twitter

Twitter will combine shopping and livestreaming and will collaborate with Walmart to test a new feature

ByTechTrends

Twitter and Walmart are collaborating to launch an online shopping initiative via livestreams. The latest feature will allow users to make purchases from businesses directly on the microblogging platform while simultaneously watching a live broadcast. On November 28, the company will conduct its first live shopping stream test. Jason Derulo, a well-known R&B artist, will…

Asilimia
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Asilimia, a Kenyan fintech, raises $2 million in a pre-seed round with plans to extend loans to MSMEs and expand in East Africa

ByTechTrends

According to data from Kenya’s bureau of statistics, informal businesses power the country’s economy, accounting for 33.8 percent of GDP and 83.4 percent of total employment outside of small-scale agriculture. These businesses contribute significantly to the country’s economy, but they are underserved by traditional banking institutions, making it difficult for them to obtain the financing…