South African startup abela is supporting the informal economy with the same autonomy and security that banks offer to the formal economy via a QR code-enabled system. Launched in August 2020, abela started as a QR code-enabled payment platform offering users without a bank account the ability to receive tips and payments digitally. Since then, it has…
China, the most populous nation in the world, passed its first significant data privacy legislation in August. Moving forward, any global business or aspiring startup doing any type of trade or offering services online likely will be affected because they’ll be engaging with Chinese residents covered by the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL). Although this seems like…
“New Zealand’s central bank is exploring the possibility of issuing a digital currency, saying the benefits it would bring include its potential use as a monetary policy tool,” reports Bloomberg. The central bank cites “the declining use, acceptance and availability of cash in New Zealand, and emerging innovations in private money, namely stablecoins.”While developing a central…
Last week, the Wall Street Journal published internal research from Facebook showing that the social media company knows precisely how toxic its own product is for the people who use it. But tonight, we learned how the Journal obtained those documents: A whistleblower named Frances Haugen, who spoke with CBS News’ 60 Minutes about the ways Facebook is poisoning…
Over 264 million of the global populations are affected by depression, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) report. It was also noted that the causes of depression include complex interactions between social, psychological, and biological factors. Life events such as childhood adversity, loss, and unemployment contribute to and may catalyze the development of depression….
During his address to the nation on Thursday evening, SA President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the Department of Health would begin rolling out vaccination certificates as the government made its final effort to reach its goal of vaccinating over 33-million people by December 2021. Currently, 17-million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, with…
In July, video conferencing mainstay Zoom announced that it was stepping into its first major acquisition buying cloud call centre service provider Five9 for $14.7-billion in an all-stock transaction. The deal was supposed to be finalised within “the first half of 2022.” Now, CNBC reports that Zoom’s agreement with Five9 has fallen through after Five9’s shareholders rejected the deal….
WhatsApp banned over 2 million accounts in the month of August to curb abuse and prevent harmful behaviour on the platform. The latest transparency report from WhatsApp, published to comply with the new Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, reveals that it banned a total 20,70,000 accounts in one month….
Every user has their pain point, and they’re looking for products or services that can help them address that pain point. When they encounter your offer, it’s a make-it-or-break-it opportunity for you to show them you have the solution. Make the right first impression, and you have a chance to convert your potential customer into…
LAGOS; September 30, 2021: The Nigeria Innovation Summit (NIS) 2021, the virtual edition, scheduled for Tuesday, October 5 and Wednesday, October 6 2021, has received the support of critical industry stakeholders. Nigeria Innovation Summit in its 6th year is an annual event that brings together stakeholders from different sectors of Nigeria’s economy to share ideas, trends,…
Former Vice President Al Gore has invested $600 million of equity into U.K. energy startup Octopus Energy Group via his Generation Investment Management vehicle, taking a stake of approximately 13% in the business. The investment means Octopus has attained a valuation of around $4.6 billion. Octopus has made a name for itself in energy circles largely because of its…
Pan-African fintech startup KamPay has launched a blockchain-based financial platform that is at the same time a payment system, a wallet and a lottery. Launched this year, KamPay comprises a digital wallet and token, which combined with ZymPay, a fiat payment gateway that presently exists between South Africa and Zimbabwe, will facilitate easy crypto-to-fiat exchanges and encourage…
Bitcoin rose on Friday to its highest level since around mid-September, bolstered in part by seasonal factors as well as supportive comments overall from US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Thursday. In testimony to Congress, Powell said the Fed had no intention of banning cryptocurrencies, in response to a question from House Representative Ted Budd. Some…
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has postponed the launch of the eNaira — its digital currency — slated to launch on October 1, 2021. According to The Punch, the launch was postponed to prevent it from clashing with the lineup of events planned for the Independence Day celebration. In a statement attributed to the CBN’s Director of Communications,…
A Nigerian e-Commerce website developed by a startup, Oaklinks.NG has launched its range of services into the market on the month that the nation is celebrating its 61 years of independence with a promise to offer Nigerians top range of goods and services, particularly gadgets. In a statement issued today, October 1st, to launch the e-Commerce website, Mr….
The Internet Society Foundation has launched a new grant program to advance Internet access and connectivity around the world. Known as the BOLT program, these grants aim to support teams of creatives, technologists, researchers, and social/cultural workers to develop solutions to Internet connectivity, particularly among communities where current technologies are unavailable or inaccessible. US$200,000 grants will be awarded to…
High hopes for seamless intra-Africa trade under the terms of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) got a boost this week with the formal roll-out of a payments platform by the Africa Export-Import bank (Afreximbank), the continent’s trade finance institution. The platform is called the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, or PAPSS, and was first launched…
Zimbabwe is cracking down on social media and mobile money platforms to root out alleged “illegal currency dealers” that the government blames for a plunge in the value of the country’s local unit of exchange. But economists and tech experts warn that this amounts to shooting the wrong target. Jee-A Van De Linde, an economist…
Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari announced on Friday that the current Twitter ban would be lifted, but only if the social media giant met certain conditions. The president disclosed this during his televised broadcast to Nigerians on the country’s 61st Independence Day anniversary. He acknowledged the fact that Twitter is used to disseminate information. Still, he warned about…
The NFT space has had quite the year, and while it can be difficult to separate the billions of dollars in crypto speculation from the potential infrastructure shifts, plenty of mainstream tech companies are dipping their toes into the space and signaling future interest. This time it’s TikTok’s turn. The fast-growing social media platform, which…
Africa Tech Alliance Forum 2021 (#AfriTECH) has received support from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), African ICT Foundation (AfictF) and InnovationBed.Africa. The Forum sponsored by Zoho (Platinum sponsor), Rack Centre, CloudFlex Computing Limited Digital Encode, Galaxy Backbone Limited, Notion Technologies, NewWave Ecosystems Limited (Konn3ct.com) and Zinochrome International Nigeria Limited, also enjoys…
Facebook has announced a set of new features to enhance integration between Instagram and Messenger. The new features include cross-app group communication, new group typing indicators, and polls on Instagram DMs (direct messages). The cross-app group feature chat allows people to start group chats between their Instagram and Messenger contacts, while with the group typing…
Cryptocurrency buying and selling platform Luno has conducted a survey of over 1000 of its customers in South Africa in August 2021, along with customers in the UK, Malaysia and Indonesia. Luno found that 82% of South Africans who hold cryptocurrency on its platform expect the bitcoin price to rise significantly, some believe as high as…
Recently, global engineering talent outsourcer Andela reached the highly exalted status as a unicorn startup – a startup with a valuation of $1-billion or more. Andela joins an exceedingly exclusive group as one of Africa’s 5 startup unicorns currently operating. The first startup in Africa to achieve a ten-figure valuation was Jumia. The Nigerian-founded company is…
Andela, a global engineering talent outsourcing company launched in Nigeria in 2014 has secured a $200-million investment during a Series E funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, the venture capital arm of Japanese mega-corp SoftBank. This latest funding round brings Andela’s total valuation to $1.5-billion, officially making it Africa’s fifth unicorn startup. According…
Nigerian startup Verto, a B2B payments platform that provides a fast, simple, and reliable way for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to make payments to their suppliers in over 200 countries across 39 currencies, has raised a US$10 million Series A round to boost its geographical expansion. Launched in 2018 by co-founders Ola Oyetayo and…
Cairo based Pravica, a communication platform using Blockchain technology to empower user privacy and security through decentralised identity, has announced an investment (amount undisclosed) from CV VC (Crypto Valley Venture Capital). CV VC is a leading blockchain venture capitalist and incubator of global tech disruptors who are driving the fourth industrial revolution. Commenting on the investment and…
South African startup Sun Exchange, a peer-to-peer solar leasing platform, has raised a further US$2.5 million in funding by way of a convertible note investment from an existing investor to help it scale more quickly. Launched in 2015, Sun Exchange enables anyone, anywhere in the world, to buy remotely-located solar cells that power schools, businesses and other…
mLab Southern Africa has opened applications for its StartUp Accelerator, offering selected companies access to mentorship, business clinics and grant seed funding. The mLab StartUp Accelerator 2021 is open to startups based in Gauteng, Limpopo and the Northern Cape, and will provide 15 businesses with a range of support mechanisms for a period of six months. It…
Nigerian ed-tech startup Edves has raised a US$575,000 seed funding round to help it improve its product and bring more schools online. Formed in 2016, Edves is an academic portal that automates operations in schools and colleges from admission to transcript generation. The platform reduces teacher and administrator workload and gives them opportunities to mark attendance and…