Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Viasat (NASDAQ: VSAT) launched a new cooperation on Wednesday to help 10 million people gain access to the internet globally, including 5 million in Africa. Global communications giant Viasat is the first satellite partner to collaborate with Microsoft’s Airband Initiative. Together, the two organizations will deepen Airband’s work in the…
Grand Africa Initiative (GAIN) in collaboration with Africa Export-Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK) trained young African Entrepreneurs from across Africa. The program GAIN-AFREXIMBANK Masterclass on Entrepreneurship and Intra-Africa Trade is an empowerment program. This is part of the Africa Export-Import Bank’s effort to increase participation of African young entrepreneurs in cross border trade and expand trading activity…
Startups from Africa are encouraged to apply for the Making More Health Business Accelerator, a structured program for business growth aimed at social entrepreneurs with ground-breaking ideas in the healthcare industry. Since 2011, Boehringer Ingelheim, a family-owned global leader and research-driven pharmaceutical firm, and Ashoka, one of the world’s largest networks of social entrepreneurs, have…
The Africa Innovation Platform, a collection of mentorship, education, and training initiatives developed to assist the growth of Africa’s burgeoning technology ecosystem, was officially unveiled today by Qualcomm Incorporated. Through the platform, Qualcomm Technologies Inc. engineers and its cutting-edge capabilities suite for mobile platforms and technologies, including 4G, 5G, IoT, AI, and machine learning, will…
Visa, a global payments company, has pledged to invest $1 billion in Africa over the next five years. The announcement was made at the ongoing US-Africa Business Forum in Washington, DC, alongside the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit. Visa has ten African offices from which it accepts payments in all 54 countries. The financial services provider says…
JuicyScore, a global leader in antifraud and risk management technologies for online businesses, recently expanded its global footprint to Nigeria, appointing Lawrence Osayemi as Regional Director of Sales and Business Development. Lawrence is a professional risk and fraud management expert and sales guru with a track record of success in the financial and nonfinancial services…
MEST, the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology, has opened applications for the 2024 cohort of the MEST training programme, a 12-month initiative based in Accra that aims to provide young people from across Africa with commercial skills in technology and entrepreneurship. The Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) is a seed fund, incubator, and training…
Grand Africa Initiative (GAIN) on the 28th and 29th October, 2022 held the third edition of her annual youth summit tagged GAIN Youth Summit 2022. This pan-African summit had Prof Benedict O. Oramah, The President and Chairman, Board of Directors, African Export-Import Bank, Egypt as the keynote Speaker who was ably represented by The Afreximbank’s Regional…
Twitter CEO Elon Musk continues to want to take the micro out of microblogging, pledging to increase the platform’s character limit once more. The proposed increase this time is from 280 to 4000, which is more than 14 times the current cutoff. Over the weekend, Musk revealed his latest Twitter plans via his personal account….
The total amount of data created and consumed globally is projected to grow to more than 180 zettabytes by 2025, almost three times the 64 zettabytes of 2020. This makes data the cornerstone of any successful business in a digitally-transformed world. Several trends will help guide organisations on their path to becoming more data-driven. “Increasingly, data science…
E-hailing platforms have become significantly popular because of their convenience and reduced pressure to own a car in today’s tough economic times. As we head into the festive season, e-hailing apps will see an increased demand for rides as people shop and head to various holiday destinations. To ensure that people have a pleasant experience…
Small Foundation and Village Capital have chosen 20 African entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs) that work with rural-impacting businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa to participate in the Rural Impacting Entrepreneurship research project, which aims to identify gaps and solutions to deepen impact within the rural business ecosystem and develop a thriving support community. Small Foundation and Village…
Owoafara, a Nigerian fintech startup that provides digital banking to help the world’s unbanked population gain access to financial products and services, has received funding from gender lens investment firm ShEquity. Owoafara, founded by Tale Alimi, provides financial solutions such as payments, credits, savings, health insurance, and pensions on a single platform. Member businesses are…
Sophos, a global leader in innovating and delivering cybersecurity as a service, has announced the appointment of Gerard Allison as its Senior Vice President of Sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). “We are very excited Gerard joined Sophos to lead and help accelerate our growth efforts in EMEA, one of the largest regions for the company. Gerard has a…
Africa is undergoing a digital revolution at the rate at which various countries keep harnessing emerging technology. More people now have better internet access, making it easier for the younger generation to become tech-savvy. But the continent will continue to lag if we overlook challenges such as outdated policies and weak technology infrastructure. Decision-makers and…
Over the past five years, Africa’s fintech sector has rapidly grown and transformed financial services through mobile payments, digital banking, and other lending platforms. This transformation is due to the high internet penetration of Africa’s young demographics. Customers expect on-the-go financial tools that are as convenient and intuitive as their favourite social media apps. Fintech…
To increase access to digital and fundamental skills, Microsoft has announced the beginning of a global skilling program in Kenya. As a stepping stone to the success of Microsoft’s Global Skills Initiative, which was launched in June 2020 and has since equipped over 80 million people worldwide with digital skills, the Skills for Jobs Learning…
InfraCo Africa, a division of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), has committed US$2 million to expanding the product line of Mobility for Africa, a provider of solar-powered battery charging systems and cargo-carrying e-tricycles for underserved communities in rural Zimbabwe. Shantha Bloemen, the director and chief executive officer of Mobility for Africa, said, “We are…
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…