Kenya’s taxman is on the hunt for new revenue collection avenues in a bid to meet projections. Now square in its line of sight is income earned by mobile app developers whose apps are downloaded in Kenya. This is step one into ensuring online businesses fulfill their tax obligations. The…
Author: Charity Mbaka
Bus-hailing service SWVL is planning to introduce dynamic pricing in its Kenyan operations. This will see the service charge different fares for different drop off points based on the distance and time between pickup point and destination. Currently, SWVL which launched in Kenya in 2019, charges KES 200 (US $2) for any…
Estonia-based crptocurrency firm, Totalcoin, has established operations in East Africa, setting up shop in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Sudan. The East African division of the crypto company will be headed by Joshua Mutisya. Totalcoin was first tested and launched in Russia, in December 2018. The firm is registered in Estonia…
As the merger between telcos Airtel and Telkom looms, 52 former staff of Airtel Kenya have written to the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) in opposition of the merger. In the deal between the two companies, Telkom will independently retain part of its business, while Airtel will fully merge to…
Growth Factor, has taken top spot at the Ghanaian leg of the Seedstars regional competition. This win secures a spot for the fintech at the next Seedstars World Competition, where there will compete with other regional winners for USD 500,000 in equity investment. Growth Factor’s main product, Nvoicia, is an invoice…
Zain South Sudan is now partnering with fintech company NilePay PLC, to launch a mobile money service dubbed NilePay. NilePay Mobile Money will be the first licensed mobile money service in the country. Zain South Sudan CEO, Magdi Taha said, “this partnership will bring in more mobile wallet services to…
Nairobi-based Microsoft’s Africa Development Centre (ADC) has appointed Equity Bank’s Jack Ngare as it’s new head. Mr. Ngare previously headed Equity Bank’s Finserve Platform, and will be the first Managing Director of the newly launched research and development facility. Finserve is the fintech company owned by Equity Bank which runs…
WhatsApp is reportedly testing support for third-party stickers for its web platform. A WhatsApp beta tester, WABetaInfo, in a screenshot, revealed that users may soon be able to enjoy sticker packs on WhatsApp Web. Ealier this year, WhatsApp was testing animated stickers for iOS, Android and web. Altogether, WhatsApp is…
The seven week F-Lane accelerator program based in Berlin has selected five startups to participate in the program. The five includes UK-based city safety platform Safe & the City, Indian maternal health platform Together for Her, German diagnostics app Boost Thyroid, Nigeria-based Rubi Health, and Ghanaian company Developers in Vogue. Rubi Health, offers psychotherapeutic care via video chat in rural…
Developers in sanctioned countries could lose access to one of the most valuable tools of their trade. GitHub, a popular code hosting website recently acquired by Microsoft, will block users from Iran, Crimea, Cuba, North Korea and Syria among other blacklisted countries. GitHub CEO Nat Friedman tweeted that much like other…
Nairobi-based sales force automation startup Optimetriks has secured USD 330,000 in debt financing in a bid to expand its user base and add more features to its platform. Optimetrik’s sales force platform helps consumer goods companies and distributors to digitize their workflows and operations. The startup’s co-founder and CEO, Paul Langlois-Meurinne,…
This past weekend saw 45 South African y0uth take part in a STEM Hackathon organized by Accenture over the weekend. The Hackathon was organized with the aim of stimulating youth’s interest in taking on STEM careers in preparation for the 4TH Industrial Revolution economy. Head of Corporate Citizenship and Inclusion…
You could very soon own a blockchain-powered smartphone. Pundi X, a Singapore-based tech startup launched its blockchain-powered smartphone in Rwanda at the GSMA Mobile 360 Africa. The XPhone is the first blockchain mobile phone to be launched in Africa. Zac Cheah, Pundi X CEO, said, “The XPhone allows everyone to make a phone…
2019 is proving to be a year of firsts for South Sudan. Soon after the Liquid Telecom announced its plans to set up South Sudan’s first fibre broadband network, Zain Telecoms has launched a mobile money service in the country. This is set to be the first mobile money service…
Online ride-hailing services such as Uber and Bolt have been at loggerheads with drivers in Kenya and other countries over their poor compensation. In 2018, the drivers held a similar strike which concluded in an MoU with the firms, in which they promised to increase payment made to drivers and…
Chinese mobile phone manufacturer, Xiaomi, has partnered with Aspira Kenya to set up the first Mi Home Store. This will be the first Mi Home Store in Sub-Saharan Africa. Xiaomi alongside other Chinese companies have built quality phones, available to buyers at a reasonable price, and as such have slowly…
In 2018, it came to light that a little known British company named Cambridge Analytica had illegally harvested the data of over 87 million of Facebook users, without their consent, and used it to manipulate them for political reasons. This happened not only in the USA, but in numerous other…
A hundred women-owned businesses from East Africa will have the opportunity to receive funding and grow their operations, through Invest2Impact. The competition was launched by Graca Machel, the children and women rights advocate and founder of the Graca Machel Trust. The competition is funded by leading development finance Institutions (DFIs) from the…
The Government of France has passed a law that taxes tech giants operating in the region such as Facebook and Google. Large tech conglomerates have for a long time now been accused of exploiting loopholes in global tax systems to avoid paying tax. The country will levy a 3% tax…
Blockchain technology has the ability to facilitate the development of solutions for most of the problems faced in Africa, and by people in other third world countries as well. Numerous companies and startups have leveraged blockchain to develop their own products. However, according to Forbes, Africa’s Blockchain potential is largely untapped.…