The Ghanaian government has partnered with Zipline, to make use of delivery drones for COVID-19 test in rural areas. This new move is aimed at speeding up the testing process outside major cities in the country. Zipline conducted its first coronavirus test flight on the 1st of April 2020. It will now…
Author: AdeO
The African Development Bank-managed Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), has approved a $760,000 grant to Empower New Energy AS (EmNEW), to develop at least eight small renewable energy projects with capacity ranging from1-10 MW, towards bankability and construction. The grant will support a broad range of project preparation and…
AfriLabs, the largest pan-African network of technology and innovation hubs, has admitted 28 new hubs as members. The network thus goes from 174 hubs distributed in 45 African countries to a total of 202 member hubs in 46 African countries. The impact of AfriLabs in the African technology and innovation ecosystem…
Twenty-two African startups have been selected for the Office Hours programme run by London-based public relations agency Wimbart, which offers webinars and mentorship to equip African tech startups with the PR tools required to achieve their business goals. Wimbart, an independent PR agency specializing in Africa and emerging markets, had…
Ecobank Group, the Pan African Bank, has contributed about US$3 million to the fight against COVID-19 across its footprint in Africa. In line with its commitment to the continent, various contributions were made to support the efforts of governments, the World Health Organization as well as the private sector in…
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is investing up to $20m in a newly independent private equity fund operating in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The investments by the IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, are to help small- and mid-cap MENA companies improve their access…
Facebook plans to introduce the Facebook Gaming mobile app, the social network said, in its most decisive move into the video game business as people seek entertainment during the pandemic. The free app caps several years of investment at Facebook, which said more than 700 million of its 2.5 billion…
Alibaba Business School is now accepting entries from young budding entrepreneurs for its 2020 GET Global Challenge (Digital Solutions During and Beyond COVID-19). The African Leadership University in collaboration with the Alibaba Business School Global Ecommerce Talent Programme is organizing the Africa edition of the GET Global Challenge 2020. The…
Paga, a Nigerian fintech startup has been selected for the fourth Cohort of the Ping An Cloud Accelerator programme. This is a five-month program created by Ping An Group, one of the world’s largest insurance and financial institutions with headquarters in Shenzhen, China. Paga was selected alongside 10 other companies…
PalmPay, a Nigerian fintech start-up, has announced the launch of PalmPay CARES, an N100 million humanitarian response plan to support the fight against the deadly Coronavirus in Nigeria. According to the payment company, part of the N100 million support fund will be deployed to strengthen the efforts of the healthcare…
The Coca-Cola Company has today announced partnerships with leading e-commerce platform Jumia to provide access for consumers to shop for their essentials online as opposed to going to stores. This partnership is coming on the heels of Nigeria Center for Disease Control’s (NCDC) directive, encouraging Nigerians to practice social distancing…
Google is adding a kid-friendly section to the Play Store with apps it says have been reviewed and rated highly by teachers to help children learn during COVID-19 lockdown. The tech giant has also ensured that the apps meet its quality standards, and you’ll see reasons why teachers gave them…
Nairobi is set to host the African headquarters of M-Pesa, putting the Kenyan capital at a vantage position to oversee penetration of the money transfer and payments platform across the continent. The announcement comes after South African telco, Vodacom, and its Kenyan subsidiary, Safaricom, said they had jointly completed the…
Airbnb Inc., the home-sharing platform has received $1 billion in debt funding. This new round adds to last week’s same-size haul and boosting a financial cushion it can use to grow and pay bills as the global coronavirus pandemic crushes demand for travel and diminishes the prospect of an initial public offering. Airbnb…
Bolt, the leading on-demand transportation platform in Europe and Africa, has launched a program to provide free transportation to frontline medical personnel involved in the COVID-19 fight in Ghana. The service aims to support over 5000 healthcare personnel through the program. Shedding light on the idea behind the launch of…
The GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize aims to find Africa’s brightest young agrifood entrepreneurs. We are searching for agribusinesses that bring technology, innovation, and passion to the agriculture and food industries. YOU could win one of two US$50,000 cash prizes that will help you change your world and transform the agri-food business in Africa.…
Over 500,000 Zoom accounts are being sold on the dark web and hacker forums for less than $0.01, and in some cases, given away for free, via Bleeping Computer. These credentials are gathered through credential stuffing attacks where cybercriminals attempt to login to Zoom using accounts leaked in older data breaches.…
In our effort to flatten the curve, we launched a call for COVID-19 projects on March 15, to support the work of entrepreneurs across the continent solving problems associated with the pandemic. Since the launch, CcHUB has provided funding (approx. $11,000) and design support to five startups working on solutions across our…
Kuda, a Nigerian fintech startup has launched a COVID-19 fund to help buy and distribute food and other essentials to people badly affected by the economic impacts of the pandemic in Lagos. Launched in 2016 as a lending platform Kudimoney, Kuda rebranded in June of last year and received a banking license from…
The African Development Bank and partners are set to host an online #AfricaVsVirus Challenge from 16 to 19 April 2020. The 72-hour competition is a global hackathon – or “ideathon” – to develop effective solutions to the coronavirus pandemic. The Challenge is open to entrepreneurs, companies, civil society organizations and…