The 2022 MEST Africa Challenge winner, Senegalese B2B marketplace Kwely, received US$50,000 in equity capital as well as the title of champion. MEST is a pan-African software and entrepreneurship training program, seed fund, and incubator that supports the establishment of technology firms all over the continent. It was established in Ghana in 2008 by serial…
Africa Tech Summit Nairobi 2023 will bring together tech pioneers from the African ecosystem and global players under one roof on February 15–16, 2023, following a sold-out Summit in 2022. Over 1,000 attendees, 450+ companies, and 150+ presenters will be brought together for the fifth edition’s three Summits. Connect with the main players driving business…
The Visa Everywhere Initiative (VEI), a global open innovation initiative and competition for start-ups and fintech companies, has announced the winner as Nigeria’s ThriveAgric, an innovative start-up that champions technology to revolutionize the payments landscape for smallholder farmers. The global finale, which took place in Qatar during the FIFA World Cup 2022, was preceded by…
In order to promote cross-border trading of securities throughout the continent, seven African stock exchanges on Wednesday started an integration experiment in the Ivory Coast. Nigeria, Mauritius, Morocco, South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, and West Africa’s stock markets are all a part of the effort, which is known as the African Exchanges Linkage project. Later on,…
The depreciation of the Rand against the US Dollar reached its highest point of the year in early November, at R18.41 to the Dollar. According to a recent Moneyweb piece, this can be attributed to a number of reasons, with interest hikes in the US and the promise of higher yields causing investors to move away…
An initial $200 million has been pledged to the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund (MFAGF), a fund of funds that works through African investment vehicles to promote early-stage, growth-oriented SMEs on the continent. The Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund seeks to provide young people, especially young women, with access to respectable and worthwhile employment. The…
The $25 million venture debt fund will be launched by Future Africa, a venture capital firm with its headquarters in Lagos, in partnership with TLG Capital, an open-ended credit fund with its headquarters in London. The fund formed from TLG’s current funds will assist Future Africa’s portfolio companies in maintaining their runway in a fundraising…
Women-led small to medium enterprises (WSMEs), as well as community enablers and entrepreneurship support programs in Africa, are encouraged to apply for the Enhancing Women Entrepreneurship in Africa (EWEA) program’s mentorship and skill-building workshop series. African women entrepreneurs have an estimated $42 billion financing deficit across all business value chains, which presents a number of…
During a recent visit to Heifer International’s operations in Africa, Heifer’s new President and CEO, Surita Sandosham, reaffirmed the commitment of the organization to elevate 10 million smallholder farming households globally out of poverty and into economic self-reliance by 2030, in line with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Sandosham visited Africa as the…
Kelvin, the leading collaborative control software company delivering industrial intelligence, has bolstered its executive leadership team with strategic hires and internal promotion. The company is delighted to announce that Suhail Jiwani has been promoted to Chief Technology Officer; Sheena Chandra has been appointed Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer; and Citalouise Geiggar has been appointed…
The social commerce startup Kapu from Kenya has announced the raising of $8 million in early money. As food costs rise nationwide, the firm, which has emerged from stealth, wants to make it easier for Kenyan consumers to shop for food. Sam Chappatte, a former executive vice president of Jumia Group, founded the company. Through…
For its second batch of the VFA Fintech Product Management Bootcamp, Venture for Africa (VFA), an immersion program and talent community designed to help top local and international talent transfer into the African startup ecosystem, is now taking applications. A 12-week program called the VFA Fintech Product Management Bootcamp is aimed to upskill current and…
According to Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning of Nigeria, the 2022 Finance Bill contains a provision to tax cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. In an unusual digital event on Thursday, Zainab Ahmed updated the National Economic Council (NEC) on the fundamental elements of the 2022 Finance Bill, according to a…
The latest edition of the Alibaba Netpreneur Training (“ANT”) Program has graduated 86 African entrepreneurs, according to Alibaba Global Initiatives (“AGI”). The Africa-specific edition, which ran from mid-October to mid-November, was supported by the Africa’s Business Heroes prize competition, a philanthropic initiative that aims to support and inspire the next generation of African entrepreneurs. Ritalee…
Google held graduation ceremonies in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa to honor the 5,000 entrepreneurs who completed its Hustle Academy training program. Google also announced a new speaker series at the events in which successful African entrepreneurs share lessons and advice, demonstrating the company’s commitment to assisting entrepreneurs and small businesses in thriving. The Hustle…
After successfully completing trials of the revolutionary technology over the previous 11 months, MTN Zambia has now launched its 5G network, making it the first mobile operator in Zambia to offer 5G services commercially. In January 2022, MTN Zambia started testing 5G; as of present, a commercial service is available in six Zambian cities. Ralph…
The gaming business in Africa is currently quite fragmented, consisting of only a few tiny studios, but it is still “the next big thing” because of factors like the relative youth of the population on the continent. Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the regions with the fastest-growing mobile gaming markets in the world, according to…
Three young agric-tech innovators in Nigeria have emerged final winners of this year’s Agriculture, Youth and Technology (AYuTe) Africa Challenge Nigeria, an enterprise development program initiated by Heifer International to identify, nurture, and support innovative, relevant, and technology-driven agric-centric enterprises that grow, scale and help smallholder farmers to thrive in Africa. Announcing the winners in…
As part of a holistic ecosystem plan that also sees it create an office in the nation and hire Amal Enan as a partner in Egypt, the international venture capital firm 500 Startups has teamed with the Egyptian IT Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) to operate a number of programs. Venture capital firm 500 Global manages…
Applications are now being accepted for the ygap Kenya Accelerator Programme, which aids businesses in developing and validating their business models, achieving financial sustainability, and expanding their community impact. A needs assessment and bootcamp are the first steps of the ygap program. It then offers ongoing accountability and business development sessions, strategic and operations coaching,…
An African technology company called Cassava Technologies has revealed that Kigali, Rwanda will be the site of its first data center. The data center will be designed specifically to accommodate the region’s expanding demand and will have a 2MW IT load. According to Tesh Durvasula, CEO of Africa Data Centres, “it is an exciting time.”…
Google has announced that its Workspace apps will soon receive updates that include new functionality. According to the search engine giant, updates to Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides have been made, along with minor changes to Gmail. Gmail should make it simpler for users to search, while Google Meet will allow users to share files…
In coordination with the Ministry of Education and iCOG Anyone Can Code, Huawei has launched its flagship initiative in Ethiopia (iCOG ACC). Using its rebuilt 40-foot container as a training center, DigiTruck Ethiopia will undertake a technical tour across the entire nation while outfitting it with cutting-edge electronics like laptop computers, robotic tools, and microelectronics….
Galaxy Backbone, an information technology and shared services provider of the Federal Government of Nigeria, has said that it has almost covered the 36 states of the federation and the FCT Abuja, with its infrastructure backbone connectivity rollout. Prof. Muhammed Bello Abubakar, the Managing Director/Chief Executive of Galaxy Backbone Limited, made this known at the…
The Multichoice Africa Accelerator Programme, which awarded $16 million in funding to six emerging tech companies last year, is now expanding to eight additional African countries. According to a Multichoice statement, the countries that will benefit from the program are Ivory Coast, Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Zambia, Angola, and Ethiopia. The MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme,…
Founders from Tanzania, Kenya, and Egypt have been named Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) competition winners, a flagship philanthropic program established by the Jack Ma Foundation to highlight and support African entrepreneurs. The Africa’s Business Heroes prize competition aims to support and inspire the next generation of African entrepreneurs from all sectors who are working to…
Dr. Oluseyi Akindehinde, the Co-founder and Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of Digital Encode Limited, has identified blockchain and the mobile phone as going to be fundamental to the company of the future. Making a presentation at the just concluded Africa Tech Alliance Forum, otherwise known as AfriTECH 2.0, held in Lagos, recently, Akindehinde said that…
In its attempt to provide free and equitable access to quality STEAM education for young learners in and out of school across Nigeria, Coderina riding on the partnership with the Nigerian National Library Authority, equipped the National library Bauchi with the launching taking place last week. The event at Bauchi brings the number of library…
A second landing of the 2Africa subsea cable is anticipated in Port Said in the Mediterranean Sea at a later time. As members of the 2Africa consortium, Meta and Telecom Egypt announce the first landing of the 2Africa subsea cable in Egypt in Ras Ghareb in the Red Sea. The cable will be stretched to…
Autochek Financial Services has been launched, a new division of the company that will focus on offering a variety of vehicle financing solutions for individuals and businesses all over the continent. Autochek is an automotive technology company that is making car ownership more accessible and affordable throughout Africa. The Marketplace platform, which collaborates with automakers…