Bitcoin has smashed through all-time price highs in 2021 – and many other cryptocurrencies have too. Many people hold strong views – that Bitcoin is a scam, a crashing bubble and that it has no intrinsic value at all. What is all the fuss about? Is it just a passing…
Author: AdeO
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos will formally step down as Amazon CEO for Andy Jassy, the CEO of Amazon Web Services (AWS) on July 5. “We chose that date because it’s sentimental for me, the day Amazon was incorporated in 1994, exactly 27 years ago,” Bezos said at Amazon’s annual shareholder meeting,…
OPay, the Chinese-backed and Africa-focused fintech platform is in talks to raise up to $400 million according to a report by The Information. The fundraising will be coming two years after OPay announced two funding rounds in 2019 — $50 million in June and $120 million Series B in November.…
CribMD, a Nigerian healthtech startup, has closed a $2.6 million seed round led by US-based VC, Sputnik ATX; Swedish accelerator, Norrsken; and mass media company, The Guardian Nigeria. This fund brings the startup’s total investments to $2.85 million. Launched in June 2020, the founders Ifeanyi Ossai (CEO), Ngiri Michael (CTO), and…
Startup Wise Guys, Europe’s most experienced B2B startup accelerator, is expanding its programs to Africa. The accelerator has a program currently underway in Namibia, organized jointly with StartUp Namibia and Key2Investors, and will bring an additional four programs to the continent by 2022, with a particular focus on East and…
ByteDance, the Chinese owner of short video platform giant TikTok, has launched a share buyback this week for current and former employees, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The buyback comes after ByteDance announced in April that it did not have imminent plans for a public…
WhatsApp has filed a legal complaint in Delhi against the Indian government seeking to block regulations coming into force on Wednesday (Today). The lawsuit, described to Reuters by people familiar with it, asks the Delhi High Court to declare that one of the new rules is a violation of privacy…
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has slammed new capital requirements for businesses involved in fintech and mobile money. Those in the top category, dealing with switching and processing, as well as mobile money operation, will have a N2 billion shareholders’ funds unimpaired by losses, the regulator announced. According to the CBN,…
MTN Nigeria has announced the introduction of MTN Auto Top-Up, a solution designed to help customers manage their airtime and data availability needs more seamlessly, by setting a time or threshold for automatic airtime and data recharges. Commenting on how central the overall subscriber experience is to MTN’s innovation drive,…
SolarX Africa, a Malian-based solar company, is pleased to announce the closing of additional funding from Energy Access Ventures (EAV), an early-stage fund investing in decentralized energy companies across sub-Saharan Africa. The company develops, finances, and offers operations and maintenance services to solar assets, focusing on commercial and industrial clients…
Egyptian Agri-Fintech platform, Mozare3, has closed a seven-figure pre-seed funding round led by Algebra Ventures and Disruptech Ventures, with participation from EFG-EV, and a group of reputable angel investors. Mozare3 is a platform that serves more than 20 million underserved, unbankable smallholder farmers and their families in Egypt, by providing…
MTN, has announced a partnership with LaLiga, the men’s top professional football division of the Spanish football league system, currently one of the most popular leagues in football, featuring many of the most talented stars and household names in the world. A highlight of the partnership, which also grants MTN…
BTS, the Korean pop group, has broken their own record for most YouTube views in the first 24-hours of release with their new English-language single “Butter,” hitting approximately 113 million views by midnight ET, according to the platform’s public views counter. BTS had set the previous record with their 2020 single “Dynamite,”…
Nigerian fintech startup, Mono says it has raised $2 million to power internet economy in Africa. Launched in 2020, Mono enables its partners — internet businesses and developers — to build apps that make transfers from their customers’ bank accounts instantly, help them understand their users’ cash flow with more…
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has refuted reports that it demanded Nigerians to submit their International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number to it from July. The NCC said this in a press statement by its Director, Public Affairs, Ikechukwu Adinde. The press statement reads: “The attention of the Nigerian Communications…
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said Nigerians will have to submit the International Mobile Equipment Identity of their phones to it from July. The regulatory body said this in the commission’s Revised National Identity Policy for SIM Card Registration. The NCC’s move to start the implementation of the Device…
Spotify has partnered with the Swedish audiobook streaming group Storytel to allow its subscribers to listen to its library of audiobooks from later this year. Storytel offers listening and reading of more than 500,000 titles across 25 markets and competes with the likes of Amazon’s Audible. “We think this is a…
The Senate has asked the Federal Government to suspend plans to deploy the 5G network technology in Nigeria till further notice. The red chamber has equally directed the Nigerian Communications Commission, and the Mobile Network Operators to put the exercise on hold, for now, to enable them to study the…
South African digital fintech enablement provider, Ukheshe Technologies will expand its footprint into the Asia-Pacific region as it introduces innovative digital-first payment solutions via key partnerships in what is emerging as a lucrative growth market for the B2B payment technology specialist. The move comes as Ukheshe continues to build on its solid…
African private equity fund manager Ascent today announced the first rolling close of its Ascent Rift Valley Fund II (ARVF II) at more than USD 100 million, significantly exceeding its initial target of USD 80 million. The final close of ARVF II, with a target of USD 120 million, is expected in December 2021. ARVF II will invest…