Author: Staff Writer

Verifying a job applicant’s qualifications is by far not the only reason to do a pre-hire background check. It has many additional benefits that can add value to an organization. Professional screeners like Check People will make sure you glean these. What’s more, they offer a host of additional advantages…

Recently there has been disclaimers issued by some of the commercial banks concerning two money transfer companies namely Azimo and TransferWise. The first notice was from First Bank of Nigeria. Then Fidelity, Zenith and others followed. Now the Central Bank of Nigeria has now issued a disclaimer also stating that:…

Bitcoin, the world’s most-valuable virtual currency, breached the $20,000 mark for the first time in history today during trading. According to CoinDesk data, the Bitcoin price traded 5.6% higher to a price of around $20,600,  taking its year-to-date gains to more than 180%. The gains for the digital asset was supported…

Estonian based on-demand startup, Bolt, has raised €150 million ($182 million at current rates) in an equity round to expand its operations in Europe and Africa. The round was led by D1 Capital Partners with participation from Darsan Capital Partners. Bolt (formerly known as Taxify) was founded by Markus Villig…

Decagon, a Nigerian software engineering and leadership training institute, founded by Chika Nwobi is partnering with the Edo State government to build a world-class tech park, the Edo Tech park, and train 15,000 people in Edo state to become software engineers over the next 5 years. Edo Tech Park is…

The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has provided up to $500 million loan to the Vodafone-led Global Partnership for Ethiopia that will finance the design, development, and operation of a new private mobile network provider and the acquisition of a mobile network provider license. This loan is part of…

Senegalese-based Solar Pay-As-You-Go startup, Oolu, has raised $8.5million in Series B round led by RP Global, an independent renewable energy developer. Other participating investors included Persistent Energy Capital, Shell-seeded impact investor All On, Gaia Impact Fund, and DPI Energy Ventures. The Y Combinator start-up raised $3.2 million in a Series A round…

Interswitch Group, Africa’s largest digital payment company, has partnered Kenya’s Credit Bank Plc to launch a multi-currency prepaid card. The card is aimed at providing consumers with an excellent alternative banking card that allows for safe, secure and seamless electronic transactions.  Romana Rajput, Country General Manager, Interswitch Kenya, stated at…

Wole Abu has been appointed as the CEO for Liquid Telecom and its new Africa Data Centre in Nigeria. He is scheduled to resume at his new position in January 2021. Before this appointment, Wole Abu was the CEO of Pan African Towers in Nigeria. Prior to joining Pan African…

Today Apple is launching its Apple Fitness+, the first fitness experience built around Apple Watch. The announcement for this service was made at an Apple event in September this year. According to Apple in a statement released days ago, Apple Fitness+ brings studio-style workouts to iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV,…

Global Smartphone brand vivo has announced plans to unveil its latest premium photography-focused device under the V-Series, the vivo V20 in Kenya. The device which will be branded under the slogan ‘’Be the Focus,’’ will seek to offer extraordinary photography and videography solutions and bring the best moment of truth…

Helios has acquired 35% of the Moroccan business of BİM BİRLEŞİK MAĞAZALAR (“BIM”), a Turkish leading discount grocery retailer with the investment of over $200 million in the business. Established in 2009, BIM Morocco has grown into the largest discount grocery retailer in Morocco with over 500 stores across the country.…

Strive Masiyiwa, founder of Econet Global is re-entering Nigeria with the commencement of the construction of a $100 million Data centre facility, named the ADC Atlantic, in Lagos. The Zimbabwe-born founder announced this in a Facebook post over the weekend. According to him, this “will be the largest facility outside…

Nigerian Telecoms giant Globacom unveiled a new ad campaign titled “Heart of a Champion” featuring boxing champion Anthony Joshua and music producer Don Jazzy. The ad features Anthony Joshua in a training session with Don Jazzy using the sounds from the session to form a musical sound beat. Anthony Joshua…

The US Food and Drug Administration granted the emergency use of the Pfizer/Biontech Covid-19 vaccine on Friday. This makes US the sixth country to clear the use of the drug to fight the coronavirus after Britain, Bahrain, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico. The United Kingdom gave its clearance on the…

Airbnb raised $3.5 billion from an initial public offering (IPO) that widely exceeded heightened expectations and made it the largest IPO of the year. The vacation rental online marketplace tripled its IPO price of $68 to reach $149 on its first trading day, valuing the company at around $100 million.…

Apple just unveiled its first iteration of over-ear headphones, the Airpods Max, under the Airpods brand to augment the AirPods and AirPods Pro, and it costs a whooping $549. However this is not the first over-ear headphones from Apple stable as it has many under the Beats label, which it…

Hyundai Motor Group to acquire controlling interest in Boston Dynamics, valued at $1.1 billion

Jumia intends to spin off its logistics and payments units and enter into new African countries. This assertion was made by co-Chief Executive Officer Sacha Poignonnec in an interview as reported by Bloomberg. Sacha says it’s time to lay the groundwork for the next phase of growth. This growth involves…

Access Bank, one of the foremost banks in Nigeria, is said to be in talks with Atlas Mara to buy its assets in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia. According to a Bloomberg report, deliberations are in preliminary stages and no final decision has been made. If the deal goes through, this…