The 2021 Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) prize, a flagship philanthropic program established by the Jack Ma Foundation, has announced this year’s top 10 finalists. These ten entrepreneurs will take the stage at the grand finale in November for their final pitch to win a share of a US$1.5 million prize pool.…
Author: AdeO
Whitemoney, real name Hazel Oyeye Onou, has emerged winner of the sixth season of Big Brother Naija after polling 47 percent of the votes in the final week. The show’s host, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, announced that the 29-year-old was the winner at this season’s grand finale on Sunday, October 3, 2021.…
According to a report published by the World Bank, it was observed that while Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) create 7 out of 10 jobs in emerging markets, access to finance has remained a key constraint to SME growth. The Report noted that access to finance is one of the most…
Pacer Ventures, a Sub-Saharan Africa venture firm, has announced the launch of Pacer Labs, a software development firm established to support the African digital ecosystem and the growth of forward-looking organisations by harnessing the power of advanced technologies. Projections indicate that Africa will be the world’s next tech talent center…
Zwarttech, a social impact startup that connects businesses with vetted Senior IT experts in Africa, has launched a new website to optimise the experience of hiring new Senior IT experts within 24 hours. The new website, which builds on the previous one, spells out in clear steps how businesses can…
VertoFX, a Nigerian fintech startup, has raised $10 million in a Series A round of funding led by leading fintech investor Quona Capital. Other investors The Treasury, Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), TMT Investments, Unicorn Growth Capital, Zrosk Investments and P1 Ventures. Previous investors include Y Combinator, Accelerated Digital Ventures,…
Sony is ramping up its capacity to produce PlayStation games inhouse as it has acquired yet another game development studio, Bluepoint Games. Bluepoint recently developed a Demon’s Souls remake for the PlayStation 5. The studio has also developed a PS4 remake of the Shadow of the Colossus and has a…
Ukheshe Technologies has announced a new partnership with Chipper Cash, to enhance and accelerate the rollout out of Chipper’s digital payment offerings. This partnership follows the recent expansion of Chipper Cash into South Africa. These include free and unlimited P2P payments across South Africa, value-added services such as airtime and data, and the…
Untapped Global, an investment company focused on emerging markets, has partnered with Paga, the mobile payment and financial services company to finance point-of-sale devices (POS) for merchants in Nigeria. The collaboration between Paga and Untapped focuses on empowering small businesses to accept digital payments and bring financial services to the masses.…
TikTok recently hit one billion monthly active users. What this means is that a whole lot of people are using TikTok. This said, there are a whole lot of exciting videos on the platform for creators and users to download. You can download so many things including your favorite memes,…
Yobante Express, a Senegalese logistics startup, has raised a $1.2 million seed round led by Grenfell Holdings, Launch Africa Ventures, R-Ventures, Libertad Ventures, and Aguila Investments. The round was joined by unnamed local and high international angel investors. Yobante participated in the 2019 Startupbootcamp AfriTech accelerator programme in Cape Town. This startup today is now…
New digital payment trends are ushering in the dawn of a cashless future – and a more inclusive financial landscape. South African e-commerce saw unprecedented advancement last year, outpacing all estimates with a growth spurt of 66%, according to a study by tech research giant World Wide Worx. And, with…
VC4A has announced the selection of 16 finalists for its 2021 Venture Showcase- Seed & Series A Tracks. The finalists have been selected from nearly 1000 applicants by a 72-member strong investment committee representing the continent’s leading VC. They will showcase their businesses to investors during the Africa Early Stage Investor…
China has ramped up its clampdown on cryptos. It recently declared through the People’s Bank of China that all cryptocurrency-related transactions are illegal and they must be banned. The apex bank cited concerns around national security and “safety of people’s assets.” Currently, businesses in the communist country are trying to…
Edves, a Nigerian edtech startup, has announced that it has raised $575,000 funding. Investors in the round include Beta Ventures along with Launch Africa, Chinook Capital (returning) and Future Africa. The new investment will be used to improve products and onboard more schools online by digitizing learning and administration to…
The African Crypto & Blockchain Accelerator – supported by Cardano & Seedstars – aims to identify and invest in ventures with the potential to become high-growth companies and entrepreneurs that aim to build Blockchain solutions based on the Cardano public blockchain platform. Cardano and Seedstars will support ventures with the…
Flutterwave has partnered with 9PSB to facilitate seamless financial services for Nigerians. The partnership seeks to create a seamless payment ecosystem by aggregating and simplifying transactions for banking agents, merchants, and consumers. The collaboration will also support the drive for economic growth through empowerment of the SME sector, entrepreneurs in…
As we move into a new era, and people slowly return to the office, organisations are questioning traditional ideas on how work should be done, the role of the office and what the workspace should look like. Global real estate company JLL’s 2021 Top 10 Global CRE Trends report reveals that…
Sahel Capital has announced the launch of the Social Enterprise Fund for Agriculture in Africa (SEFAA). The fund manager will act as an investment adviser to the US$24 million fund sponsored by the German development bank, KfW. SEFAA is an impact fund with the goal of reducing poverty by investing…
If you want to be more organized and productive than you absolutely need to be — use a calendar. Calendar apps help you keep track of your duties, remind you of meetings and other relevant things that have to do with work. This said, there are different Calendar apps out…