All about Business.
The Financial Times is hosting the first FTxSDG Challenge in collaboration with Seedstars, a Swiss-based organization that invests in and supports startups from emerging countries. The competition was created to provide learning and financial opportunities to innovative, impact-driven firms and entrepreneurs. The application period is now open. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are being…
Written by Luis Monzon A new report by The Financial Times Focus and Mambu shows banks must redesign their role in society to avoid extinction. More than two thirds (67%) of banks think they will lose market share within two years if they fail to digitally transform, according to a new report from cloud banking platform Mambu…
Written by Joan Aimuengheuwa Fintech unicorn, Flutterwave, has partnered with Currencycloud to stimulate expansion in Europe and the United States. Interestingly, Flutterwave was listed as one of the 100 Most Influential Companies in Time’s recently published magazine. The current partnership with Currencycloud will help the company increase its customer base, gaining wider traction. The company…
Written by Luis Monzon The unprecedented speed of development of the COVID-19 vaccines can be attributed to multiple factors including record levels of international collaboration and swift action on the part of many governments and regulatory bodies to provide a conducive framework. As every nation across the globe faced impending economic doom, massive cross-sector funding…
Written by Luis Monzon Microsoft has revealed the launch date for its Office 2021 consumer release on 5 October 2021. The tech giant also announced that its Microsoft Office Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) for Windows and Mac will be available for commercial and government users from today. According to The Verge, Office LTSC is designed for…
Written by Taylor Hatmaker Facebook is in the hot seat again. The Wall Street Journal published a powerful multi-part series on the company this week, drawing from internal documents on everything from the company’s secretive practice of whitelisting celebrities to its knowledge that Instagram is taking a serious toll on the mental health of teen girls. The flurry of investigative…
Written by Luis Monzon Logitech has today announced a partnership with Mustek Limited, one of the largest assemblers and distributors of personal computers and complementary ICT products in South Africa, to meet the growing demand for high-quality video conferencing technology across the region. “Through this partnership, even more businesses across South Africa will benefit from Logitech’s…
Written By Luis Monzon A South Korean competition regulator, the Korea Fair Trade Commission, on Tuesday announced that it has fined Alphabet Inc’s Google $177-million for allegedly using its dominant position in the mobile operating system (OS) market to stifle competitors. Google’s Android OS currently holds the majority of the smartphone market share, being the…
In Africa, internet data is expensive currency Sudan leads nine other African countries that charge its citizens less than $1 for a gigabyte (1 GB) of mobile data, a report by British technology research firm Cable shows. The Northeastern Africa nation offers the lowest cost of internet access over a smartphone anywhere in Africa and…
Written by Alex Wilhelm This afternoon Intuit confirmed persistent rumors that it was in the process of buying Mailchimp, detailing a $12 billion transaction that will bring the well-known email infra company to its corporate remit. Intuit is not a well-known player in the email marketing space. The company is instead best known for its TurboTax software…
The medical wire business within Sandvik was looking to expand operations in the US, but the pandemic hindered our search for a new site. So, they did it entirely virtual instead. Biotech is booming right now, and many companies are looking to expand into new locations and markets. Certainly, this was the case for Sandvik…
Written by Joan Aimuengheuwa Focused on metamorphosing sustainable and resilient changes in the African tech ecosystem, Google for Africa plans to develop an environment where the internet would be more beneficial to individuals, businesses, and organisations in Africa. The ultimate goal is to keep unlocking the benefits of the digital economy globally, while simultaneously accelerating…
Glovo, a Spanish on-demand delivery service, has announced that it will invest $60 million over the next 12 months to extend its footprint in Africa, including Ghana and Tunisia. “Our mission is to provide everyone simple access to anything in their city, and our platform is at its best when it is linking users and…
Written by TOM JACKSON The Kenya National Innovation Agency (KeNIA) and Villgro Africa have opened a call for healthcare innovators with the potential to improve optimal health outcomes or make healthcare more, with the best solutions to be awarded cash prizes and access to other resources. The Kenya Healthcare Innovation Programme awardees will be given the opportunity…
Written by Luis Monzon One of South Africa’s big four telcos, Vodacom has announced the installation of new solar-powered sites in Polokwane, Vereeniging, and Bloemfontein as part of its energy and carbon management strategy and commitment to reducing its impact on the environment. Vodacom, in a statement today, says it has invested over R8-million ($564K)…
Written by Russel Ayugi Alliance Microfinance (AMAS) has signed a grant agreement with Norad, based on an application form submitted in partnership with Norwegian Church Aid, Norwegian tech company Bakken & Bæck, and a leading industrial conglomerate in Ethiopia East African Group. AMAS is the lead partner and grant manager running the project and aims to provide farmers across…
Written by Luis Monzon MTN today announced a new mobile money partnership with one of Africa’s leading payments technology companies and unicorn startup, Flutterwave. This partnership will allow businesses integrating Flutterwave in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia to receive payments via MTN Mobile Money (MoMo), the South African telecom behemoth said in a…
Plentywaka, the Toronto-headquartered shared mobility startup which provides hassle-free shared rides on-demand, is making a significant shift in its business today as it announced that it has changed its name to Treepz. The name change which is effective as of now presents an opportunity to align the company name with its Pan-African expansion plan. It…
Written by Michael Ajifowoke Owning a personal vehicle is of economic importance. Next to housing, transportation is often the second largest expenditure for the majority of urban households anywhere in the world. But insufficient purchasing power among middle-class Nigerians coupled with limited or no access to vehicle financing puts cars out of reach for over…
Written by Luis Monzon The way we communicate socially has changed, thanks to social media and mobile technology. For many, this has also translated to changes in the way we communicate professionally this digital world. Digital has removed the typical boundaries associated with geography and time zones, and people expect to be able to use…
Written by TOM JACKSON The Financial Times has partnered with Seedstars to host the first FTxSDG Challenge, aimed at empowering promising, impact-driven startups and entrepreneurs with learning and funding opportunities. The event will bring together early-stage startups from emerging markets and individual entrepreneurs to take part in the FTxSDG Challenge competition, with a focus on…
Written by Kate Park PayPal Holdings, the U.S. fintech company, announced an acquisition of Paidy, a Japanese buy now, pay later (BNPL) service platform, for approximately $2.7 billion (300 billion yen), mostly in cash, to enhance its business in Japan. The transaction completion, including the regulatory approval, is expected in the fourth quarter of 2021. After the acquisition,…
Written By Luis Monzon Zip Australia has announced its intention to fully acquire South African buy now pay later (BNPL) fintech Payflex as part of its global expansion plans. With a presence in twelve markets across five continents, Zip plans to grow its South African business and expand into other African markets with sizable underbanked, digitally savvy…
By Luis Monzon The mobile money service of Kenya’s largest telco has officially reached 50-million active users across Africa, according to an announcement by Safaricom. M-PESA is now, by the sheer size of its active user base, the most popular mobile money platform on the continent and the largest financial technology in Africa, according to TechWeez. The…
Sequoia Heritage, Stripe and others invest $200M in African fintech Wave at $1.7B valuation Written by Tage Kene-Okafor The largest Series A in Africa by a long shot is geared towards taking on telecom-led mobile money Francophone Africa has its first unicorn, and if you’ve been following tech on the continent, you will be very unsurprised…
eTranzact secures ISO 9001:2015 renewal Written By Yinka Okeowo eTranzact International Plc, Nigeria’s leading payment service provider, has received the ISO 9001:2015 validation. This makes it one of the few Nigeria’s companies that have received the certification. ISO 9001:2015 standard is the world’s most recognised quality management systems, which outline a set of standards that help…
Nigeria’s Ustacky is getting Africans career market-ready with tech-focused digital micro-degrees Written by TOM JACKSON Nigerian ed-tech startup Ustacky is teaching Africans industry-relevant IT skills and providing them with micro-degrees at an affordable price to make them job-ready. Launched in 2019, Ustacky delivers training in programming through its website and mobile app using high-quality instructor-led video courses…
Egyptian beauty startup Glamera launches B2B product Written by TOM JACKSON Egyptian beauty service booking platform Glamera has launched a new B2B product that helps customers with beauty salon management. Launched in September 2019, Glamera allows users to book appointments with hundreds of contracted providers covering all beauty sections, including salons, clinics, spa, gym, and dental. The…
Make accessibility part of your startup’s products and culture from day one Written by Joe Devon The world of accessibility has experienced a tipping point thanks to the pandemic, which drove people of all abilities to do more tasks and shopping online. For the last year, the digital world was the only place brands could…
Nigerian VC firm LoftyInc announces first close of $10m fund Written by TOM JACKSON Nigerian VC firm LoftyInc Capital Management has announced the first close of its US$10 million LoftyInc Afropreneurs Fund 3 (LAF3) as it seriously scales up its activity in the startup space across the continent. LoftyInc Capital Management is a venture capital firm…