Yet another Silicon Valley favorite is soon heading to Wall Street. AirBnB is planning to head to Wall Street in 2020 through a direct listing as opposed to a traditional IPO. Most tech firms have often taken the latter as their preferred method to open themselves to public market. IPOs…
Author: Charity Mbaka
In light of the impending privatization of Ethio-telecom, which is currently state run, Ethiopia has appointed a privatization adviser. According to Reuters, Ethiopia is still looking to appoint another adviser to oversee the licensing of other telecom firms seeking to enter the Ethiopian market. Eyob Tolina, Ethiopia’s Finance Minister, said…
Spanish-based on-demand courier company, Glovo, has officially launched its service in Mombasa – Kenya. This comes soon after the firm raised close to KES 17 Billion to fuel its expansion in Africa, and add more categories to its delivery portfolio. Glovo has successfully been operating in Kenya’s Capital, Nairobi and…
Egypt-based beauty service booking platform, Glamera, has raised USD 250,000 from an anonymous Saudi investor. The startup raised the funds to gear up its expansion efforts within Egypt and into other markets. Glamers users are able to make appointments with any of more than 200 contracted providers. These include, salons,…
The We Company has withdrawn its IPO filing after a rough month. Since the IPO was made public, as were numerous allegations against its recently ousted CEO, Adam Neumann. Following immense pressure from numerous investors and the firm’s board, Neumann stepped down from the CEO position. The company’s valuation took…
The Cape Verde leg of Seedstars culminated in events management startup, Passafree, claimed top spot. In so doing, Passafree secured itself a spot at the global seedstars summit, where it would compete for USD 500,000 in equity financing among other prizes. The Seedstars Summit 2020 will be held in Switzerland.…
Little Shuttle users were treated to a rude shock this afternoon when Little CEO, Khamal Budhabatti, announced that Little Shuttle was halting operations due to licensing disparities. The firm sent out an email to users Titled, “Sad news about Little Shuttle” “Normally I put email to my riders with good…
Sports betting giants, SportPesa and Betin, have shut down their operations in Kenya, with Betin firing all 2500 of its employees. The move comes as a reaction to the Kenyan governments continuous frustration of firms in the betting space, as well as heavy taxation. SportPesa cited the above as the…
AliPay and WeChat may soon be integrated into Barclays Kenya’s Timiza Platform. Timiza is a virtual banking platform built by Barclays Kenya, that allows users to get an instant loan, transfer funds or purchase insurance. A Barclays official stated that the increasing relations between Kenya and China create a need…
WeWork’s co-founder and CEO Adam Neumann has stepped down from the CEO position. A press release from the company said he will serve as the non-executive chairman of the board. In his stead, Sebastian Gunningham – WeWork’s vice chairman, and chief operating officer Artie Minson will serve as co-CEOs. The…
SA-based ed-tech, Snapplify, has raised USD 2 million in funding in a bid to step up its growth into the international market and advance its data analytics capabilities to enhance classroom teaching effectiveness. Snapplify is a marketplace for digital education content, related educational services and devices. The firm currently serves…
The Kenya Revenue Authority(KRA) has stepped up its game in the hunt for tax cheats. KRA has indicated plans to track individual mobile money transactions in a bid to catch evaders. Telco giant, Safaricom, said that it will open up its M-Pesa accounts for scrutiny should it be warranted by…
Kenyan MP, Malulu Injendi, has proposed a law that would require the administrators of Facebook and WhatsApp groups to register with the Communications Authority of Kenya(CA) before setting them up. Should the law be passed, the administrators would be required to inform CA of the intention of the groups, its…
WeWork’s long term CEO, Adam Neumann is in hot water as its biggest investor as well as some of the company’s board members want him to step down from the top role. The co-working space company postponed its IPO amid concerns about its business model, valuation, allegations of poor governance,…
All civil servants in Zimbabwe have been given a week to avail themselves for the biometric registration exercise or risk being removed from the government payroll. This move was made in a bid to uproot ghost workers and restore order to the country’s civil service. The project is being run…
Mobile money lender Tala has shut down its operations in Tanzania without prior warning or a reason as to why it has made the move. Tala Tanzania said in a social media statement,“We regret to inform you that Tala is no longer offering loans in Tanzania.” Tala’s shut down does…
The Pitch AgriHack 2019 competition held in Accra, Ghana, saw seven startups receive a total of USD 66,000 in prizes. Pitch AgriHack is run by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation (CTA) alongside the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (Agra), the OCP Group, GreenTec Capital Africa Foundation, GreenTec Capital…
Telkom will be the 2019 Comic-Con Africa’s connectivity and gaming partner. It has also announced a USD 77,000 combined prize pool for the teams taking pace in the Telkom VS Gaming Masters tournament. Each tournament winner will receive USD 38,500. Comic-Con Africa, the 2019 edition being its second one, will…
Seedstars’ Gambian leg ended with solar startup, Nadji.Bi claiming top spot, and as such safeguarding its slot to pitch at the Seedstars global summit, for a USD 500,000 equity investment. The competition selects startups from emerging markets that have the potential to scale widely and effect a social impact. Competitors…
Google and France have had a tumultuous relationship over the past few years over the company’s tax activities in the country between 2005 and 2008. The French prosecutor’s office told Reuters that the case against google had been settled, and the charges dropped. The settlement terms require Google to pay…