Author: Staff Writer

ImaliPay, a startup that assists African freelancers reach their financial goals, announced that it has raised $3million seed funding in a debt and equity round to increase its financial services offering to gig workers. It raised an undisclosed pre-seed investment led by the Australian venture capital firm TEN13 in 2021. Founded…

FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange, valued at $32 billion is set to roll out its operations in Africa. FTX is partnering with East African based AZA Finance to do this and according to Elizabeth Rossiello, the founder of AZA Finance, it will start in West Africa. According to Bloomberg, the Hong…

The Central Bank of Nigeria has fined four commercial banks – Access bank, Stanbic IBTC bank, United Bank of Africa and Fidelity Bank, a total of N814.3 million ($1.96 million) for failing to comply with regulations prohibiting cryptocurrency transactions. According to a Bloomberg report, “the penalties are part of efforts…

Meta-owned WhatsApp is on the verge of introducing a feature which would allow a user to send a message to an unsaved number. Currently, on the WhatsApp platform, you cannot send a message to a number you have not saved onto your contact list. This is about to change because…

You can now apply for the Mo Ibrahim Academy Fellowship. This fellowship is a joint initiative between Chatham House and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. It offers candidates at the early-to-mid-stage of their career the opportunity to spend ten months at Chatham House working on an individual research project of their choosing. The ideal…

SmartWage, a South African innovative HR and communications technology startup, announced that it has raised $2 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round. According to the company in a statement, the funding was “raised to support SmartWage’s vision of transforming Africa’s workforce through digital inclusion, particularly for frontline employees like…

Nigeria and Finland-based ZirooPay announced that its has raised $11.4 million to scale its POS operations across Nigeria. The fundraising was led by by Lagos-based VC fund Zrosk Investment Management. Other participants include private and institutional investors like Nordic venture fund Inventure, Fedha Capital, Exotix Advisory and individual investors like Petri…

The Federal Government (FG) of Nigeria has directed all telecom operators in the country to bar outgoing calls for all that have not complied with the NIN-SIM linkage Policy from the 4th of April, 2022. The directive was given by the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa…

Billionaire tech mogul, Elon Musk, has bought 9.2% of Twitter according to a regulatory filing made public today, Monday 4th of April. Twitter shares soared by 22% in early trading when news filtered into the mainstream media. His stake worth $2.9 billion as of the close of trading Friday increased…

Recently many attendees witnessed the opening of Tesla Giga factory in Berlin. For those who were not invited, of course a lot, Tesla has released a drone footage showing inside the Berlin Giga factory. The event was delayed due to red tape, self-imposed delays, and strong opposition from local groups.…

Helios Investment Partners has announced the sale of 25% of its stake in Axxela the largest private-sector gas distributor in Nigeria, to Sojitz. Helios retains a 75% interest in the company. Helios completed the acquisition of 100% of Axxela in 2019. Axxela is a pioneering energy infrastructure company at the…

Nigerian Indigenous car manufacturer, Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (commonly shortened to IVM) announced that it was increasing its annual production capacity from 10,000 vehicles per annum to 60,000 vehicles after its migration to an automated production plant. Founded by Chief Innocent Chukwuma Nwala in 2007, IVM’s product line includes heavy duty vehicles,…

For any eCommerce store, fulfillment is one of the most critical processes. Customers don’t just expect their products to arrive quickly—they expect them to arrive as fast as Amazon delivers them. The two-day shipping model has moved from a unique offering to a must-have. Order fulfillment can be time-consuming and…

Sustainable Growth Through Salesforce Integration with Legacy Systems If your organization makes use of Microsoft Dynamics NAV, it’s highly likely that they’ve also selected a high-end customer relationship management software such as Salesforce to complement its abilities. If this is the case, then at some point or another, your business…

In yet another move to invest in the film and TV industry in Kenya, Showmax has unveiled four new Original productions to be released in 2022. The impressive slate includes Kenya’s first Christmas feature film, a crime drama series set in Kibera, a high-stakes political thriller series set in a…

Are you planning to buy a laptop or a desktop computer but are skeptical about making the right decision? Although your preferences, budget, and work-related tasks play an essential role in deciding the appropriate device for you, here’s a list of things that you must consider important before making any…

Verod Capital Management Limited announced that it has acquired a significant minority equity stake in Medplus, a leading health and beauty retailer chain pharmacy in Nigeria. Though the amount is undisclosed, the investment is from its latest Fund, Verod Capital Growth Fund III, and is part of its broader strategy…

Dapio, a UK based fintech platform announced that it has raised $3.4 million in a funding round led by Nigeria’s Flutterwave and Techstars. Other participants include Daniel Gould, venture partner at Asymmetry Ventures, and PactVC. Started in 2019 by CEO Kosta Du and co-founder Grigory Gurbanov, Dapio formerly known as Paymob…

Y Combinator has released statistics about the its Winter 2022 Batch. According to Michael Seibel, Group Partner and Managing Director, Early Stage at YC, the Winter 2022 batch received 17,000 applications from founders around the world and funded 414. It is interesting to note that Nigeria has 18 startups in this…

Disney+ has confirmed that it will be launching its service in South Africa in May 18 2022. It had announced in January this year that it would be launching in 42 additional countries and 11 territories in Europe, the Middle East and Africa this summer. In a statement made available…