Dr Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy has inaugurated the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. The centre seeks to position the country for the Fourth Industrial Revolution that dwells on emerging technologies. The minister said at the inauguration that the establishment of the centre was in…
Author: AdeO
Pacer Ventures, a venture firm for sub-Saharan Africa, has launched a USD3 million fund for early-stage startups, aimed at solving the most critical problem on the continent. Registered in Delaware, with operational offices in Lagos and Johannesburg, Pacer VC is focusing on verticals that are expedient to the African continent,…
Future Africa has announced that it invested $1 million in 9 African startups in Q3 2020 from its Future Africa Collective – a syndicate for angel investors, Future Africa Rolling Fund – an investment subscription product and the Future Africa Fund – its own fund. These investments include fresh and follow-on funding…
Orange has launched a new fiber-optic network in West Africa that will deliver superfast broadband and other high-speed telecoms services across a region that is home to over 300 million people. The network, called Djoliba, couples a 10,000 km cross-border terrestrial fibre optic network with 10,000 km of undersea cables…
e-Conomy Africa 2020, a new report released today by Google and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), estimates that Africa’s Internet economy has the potential to reach 5.2% of the continent’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025, contributing nearly $180 billion to its economy. The projected potential contribution could reach $712 billion…
WhatsApp has rolled out a shopping button to make it easier to see a business’s catalogue of goods and services. In the past, to see what products or services a company offered when messaging a WhatsApp business account, a user would have to click on the business profile to see if a…
Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM) is set to launch its brand of ride-hailing service, IVM Cruise on Friday, November 13th, 2020. This new service offering from the company is set to commence from the city of Enugu with other cities consecutively coming on stream. The IVM Cruise ride-hailing service from Nigeria’s…
Kuda, a Nigerian digital bank has announced that it has raised $10 million investment. The new funding was led by Target Global, the giant VC out of Europe, with Entrée Capital and SBI Investment also participating, along with a number of other notable individual fintech founders and angels. The list includes Raffael Johnen (founder…
Twenty-five young African agripreneurs have advanced to the “boot camp” final round of the African Development Bank’s AgriPitch competition, stepping closer to a share of $120,000 in seed funding prizes, training, and other benefits.The final round offers young entrepreneurs in Africa’s agricultural sector the opportunity to pitch their agribusiness proposals…
Audiomack has today announced a partnership with Transsion Holdings, the manufacturer of popular smartphone brands, Tecno, Infinix, and Itel. This partnership will further drive the growing need for a tech-enabled platform for entertainment especially for the growing market of music lovers in Nigeria. With a presence in all 54 African…
Cairo Angels, an Egyptian angel investment network, has launched a micro VC fund that will invest in early-stage startups in the Middle East & Africa. Zeina Mandour, the General Manager of Cairo Angels said that they already have a few commitments and expect to close the fund in the first…
Access Bank has shown its commitment to advancing the frontiers of industry-agnostic technological innovation across Africa with Nigeria in focus. This position is entrenched by Access Bank’s sponsorship of the Nigerian Fintech Week 2020. The week-long event sought to highlight FinTech as a solution to problems across different industries, including…
WhatsApp Pay has finally gone live in India. The company on Friday announced that the feature will be available in India starting today. WhatsApp in its blog has mentioned that it wants to make money transferring as easy as sending messages on the app. India currently has many payment apps…
Illa (ILLA), an Egyptian tech startup, has raised $500,000 in a seed round from Averroes Venture Capital, AUC Angels, and some local and regional angel investors. The round also includes follow-on funding from Flat6Labs Cairo. Illa was part of Flat6Labs Cairo’s Spring 2019 cycle. Launched in March 2019, Illa offers full-stack delivery…
The Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF), leading pan-African entrepreneurship and innovation non-profit, has announced the top finalists for the 2020 edition of its AWIEF Awards. The annual AWIEF Awards, through a nomination process, identifies and celebrates the best female entrepreneurs across multiple industries in Africa. Promoting and supporting…
Lagos State Government (LASG) has approved Internship Programme for 4,000 unemployed graduates under the Internship Placement Programme, GIPP, aimed at reducing the rate of unemployment in the state. Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Mrs Yetunde Arobieke, who spoke during the commencement of the programme on Thursday, said the initiative…
MTN Nigeria has added a new network prefix to its pre-existing 13, which brings the tally to 14. Earlier this year, the telco added three network prefixes, 0704, 07025, 07026 to its Network. The prefixes, which were formerly for Visafone numbers were launched 3 years after the acquisition of Visafone…
Jumia (NYSE:JMIA) has announced that its logistics service is now available for use by third parties. Until today, Jumia’s logistics services were reserved for eCommerce and food vendors operating on its marketplace. Jumia’s logistics services are now open to third-party businesses who wish to leverage its network, technology, and expertise…
Operating a business is never an easy thing, with so many different elements that you need to consider. If you are opening a business such as a retail store, a café bar, or restaurant, then you will need to consider the various ways in which you are going to attract…
Airtel has disclosed that it will be exiting Ghana and selling its 49.95% stake in its joint venture telco in the country to the government. It made this announcement in a recent stock market filing. “Airtel is voluntarily taking an impairment charge of [₹184.1 crore],” the company said. The telco has…