Author: Staff Writer

After a successful pilot run with select Fintechs in early 2020, the Pan-African Banking Sandbox of Ecobank Group is now live and acessible, on request, to the African Fintech community. The Sandbox allows Fintechs to access Ecobank’s Application Programming Interface (APIs) for the development of innovative solutions. The Sandbox is…

Today sees the launch of a new mini documentary and case study series about very young African entrepreneurs designed to enable high school and university educators to engage students meaningfully about entrepreneurship as a career path. #ItStartsWithYou sheds light on eight very young Africans whose passions, commitments and grit showcase…

US based fintech firm Esusu has raised $2.3 million in seed extension bringing total capital raised to $4 million. The startup closed $1.6 million seed funding in 2019 for expansion and product development. Investors included Acumen Fund, Concrete Rose Capital, Global Good Fund, Impact America Fund, Next Play Ventures, and Zeal Capital Partners According to the…

The Lagos State government through the Office of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education (OSAE); in partnership with LoftyInc Allied Partners Limited, Advent Management Solutions Limited announced the launch of the first phase of its Digital Skills Initiative Lagos program, aimed to strategically train and equip young Lagos…

Microsoft has launched a new feature that allows you transcribe conversations to word. With this Transcribe in word feature, you can record your discussions directly in Word’s web version and transcribe them automatically. Transcribe has the ability to detect different speakers and transcribe them separately.  To get started, go to the dictate button…

South African owned cable operator, MultiChoice, announced that it is increasing its DStv packages subscription prices effective 1st of Spetember 2020. This price adjustment will be the second time in three months. The first was in June 2020. In May, the company announced and effected the increase of the subscription…

Farmz2U, ColdHubs, Farmspeak, TradeBuza, AgroHive & Beatdrone have been selected for the final of the event. They will pitch to an impressive line-up of judges on Demo Day (August 28th 2020) for a chance to be among the winners and receive a share of the seed grant of ₦1.5 million as well as access to workspace and networks for innovation and collaboration through Hub One.

Global Startup Ecosystem (GSE): is the world’s first digital accelerator and leads today as one of the largest digital ecosystem development platforms. With a mission to educate, inspire and prepare individuals and organizations for the digital age, GSE brings together both private and public stakeholders to address humanity’s greatest challenges…

Ghana’s Nokwary Technologies beat nine other competitors to win first prize of $10,000 in the just concluded Ecobank Fintech Challenge 2020. The first and second runner up spots were taken by Ukheshe Payment and Solutions Growth Factor Technologies, winning $7,000 and US$5,000 respectively. Nokwary is a fintech that uses Artificial…

Public notaries are all those government institutions through which the records and certifications of all types of legal activity (contracts) are carried out, all with the main objective of preventing fraud within a given society. Within this cluster of legal activities, the following stand out: sworn statements, stamps and signatures…

Helios Towers, one of the telecommunications infrastructure company operating in Africa, has agreed to acquire over 1,200 sites from Free Senegal – the second largest mobile operator in Senegal backed by a consortium of investors including NJJ, the founder of the Iliad S.A. group Xavier Niel’s private holding company, Teyliom…

Apple has just crossed the $2 trillion market capitalisation mark today when its shares climbed 1.2 percent to $467.78 in morning trading. , This makes it the first US company to achieve this feat but the 2nd one globally after Saudi Aramco. Saudi Aramco achieved this feat in December 2019…

Ikeja Electric, Nigeria’s largest power distribution company has unveiled a WhatsApp messaging solution, which offers real-time customers complaints resolution and 24-hour customer support service. The IE WhatsApp Chatbot works like regular WhatsApp platform and enables seamless two-way communication between customer and the DisCo through the chat interface. Ikeja Electric, while explaining the…

Uber Connect has launched in Cairo. Egypt. This is the first market in the region for Uber to launch Connect. Uber Connect is an easy, same-day, no-contact delivery solution that allows people to send items whether it’s a care package for a loved one, a gift for a friend’s birthday,…

Nigeria’s leading multi-merchant rewards company ThankUcash is pleased to announce that serial investor Brandon L Drew has joined the company as an investor and advisor. Drew is the co-founder and General Partner at Saas Growth Ventures, a San Francisco-based venture fund. He specializes in operational efficiency, building and scaling of…

Both short- and long-term disability insurance are designed to protect a portion of your income if you’re in a situation where you can’t work because of an illness or injury. These types of policies are typically associated with your job, or perhaps your membership in an organization. However, there are…

Tech giant Oracle is the latest in the race to buy TikTok operations in the US after the ultimatum given to ByteDance by the Trump administration. Microsoft and Twitter are some of the other companies that we know that have announced their intentions to vie for the company which must…

HYBR Group has released a new research report “Assessing the next innovation ecosystem normal: an African perspective beyond hubs” – which focuses on the challenges and opportunities posed by Covid-19 in Africa. The global public health pandemic, coupled with a looming economic crisis, are rapidly reshaping the innovation and investment…

Facebook launched Avatars in Africa to give people new ways to express themselves online. Avatars are digital personas that enable people to engage across Facebook and Messenger in a more personal and dynamic way.  You can use your personalised avatar to share a range of emotions and expressions via a…

Egyptian payment startup, Paymob, has announced its partnership with Holyo, a German-based provider for global branded payments to facilitate payments for millions of gamers in Egypt. The global gaming market size in 2020 is expected to reach $159 billion in revenues with an increase of 9.3% over the preceding year;…