Author: Staff Writer

eClat Healthcare Limited, an Interswitch Group company, has announced its partnership with the Edo State government in its mission to improve healthcare delivery through technology and innovation. This announcement follows the recent launch of the state’s compulsory healthcare insurance scheme, under the direction of Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki, recently. …

If you are hoping to start a new business in the new year, you can easily be swept away in the excitement. The truth is, it is exciting to start a new business, but if you allow yourself to be carried away, you might miss some crucial element that you…

The Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) has approved Uber’s acquisition of regional rival Careem after agreeing to a set of commitments proposed by the U.S.-based ride-hailing service meant to reduce harm to competitors. The deal was first announced in March 2019 and  is expected to close in the first quarter of…

Serial Entrepreneur, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, has come out of early “retirement” to invest his time and resources in another venture – Future Africa We knew it was only a matter of time before he would come out of retirement. This Nigerian who has been behind successful ventures like Andela, Flutterwave has…

Born January 2, 1963, Amaka Igwe was a Nigerian filmmaker and broadcasting executive. She was recognised as one of the second generation filmmakers who helped begin the video film era of Nigerian cinema. She died in Enugu, the eastern part of Nigeria on the 28th of April 2014. Google is celebrating Amaka’s 57th…

This is the last day of the year 2019. This year has seen a lot of activities in the innovation and business space. Innovation Village was there to capture and report a lot of these activities and I hope we have done justice to delivering the information prompt, concise and…

Egyptian fintech startup Dayra has won a $15,000 equity-free grant from Y Combinator’s Startup School. Dayra is one of the grant winners announced by Y Combinator last week Friday. In fact, it is the only African startup to win the grant. Founded this year by Hesham Ghandour, Mohammed Ennabah, Abdelrahman Rizq, Dayra is…

Cairo-based e-commerce delivery service, R2S Logistics has raised an undisclosed six-figure investment from tech investor A15 R2S Logistics is a logistics startup that offers different types of delivery services including last-mile delivery, payment collection solutions, returns and exchange management, inventory management and fulfillment to ecommerce businesses across Egypt Related story: iFix, an…

African-focused telecoms infrastructure company, IHS Towers, has agreed to buy Brazilian telecoms infrastucture company Cell Site Solutions company – – Cessão De Infraestruturas S.A. (CCS) from Goldman Sachs and Centaurus Capital LP for an undisclosed amount. Under the terms of the agreement, IHS will acquire 100% of CSS and it…

Spanish on-demand delivery startup, Glovo, announced that it has raised $167 million (€150m) in a Series E round led by by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala. Other investors include venture capital fund Lakestar, Idinvest Partners and Drake QSR, which had already invested in Glovo in the past. The company also announced that…

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, recently announced a R600 million ($41 million) investment in Business Partners Ltd. (BUSINESS/PARTNERS) to strengthen women-owned businesses in South Africa and help create tens of thousands of jobs. The senior long-term loan is supported by the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility (WEOF). WEOF…

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the Private Sector Window of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), announced an $11 million loan to Ugandan agribusiness company Grainpulse to support its expansion and strengthen its farmer supply chain, increasing food production and economic growth in the…

Vodacom Tanzania has partnered with Worldremit to to enable 10 million M-Pesa customers to receive money directly to their M-Pesa wallets from friends and family living abroad. The new service increases convenience for money transfer recipients in urban and rural areas of Tanzania as they can receive international money transfers…

Internet Society Foundation Announces $300,000 in Grants for Projects that Promote the Benefits of the Internet

Rensource Energy, a renewable energy startup based in Nigeria, has raised $20 million for expansion in Nigeria and across Africa. The Series A round was co-led by CRE Venture Capital and the Omidyar network. Rensource develops and manages critical infrastructure that powers the productivity of small and medium sized enterprises. Using the…

The Tecno Spark 4 smartphone giveaway has come to an end. We had 2,817 entries and after the Rafflecopter draw, the lucky person drawn is …Mathew Salako We have contacted him and he will be receiving the smartphone very soon. Congratulations

Mayday, Egypt’s Roadside maintenance service company has raised an undisclosed six-figure investment in a round led by Vflock Angel Network along with Alex Angels and Falak Startups. Founded in 2018 by Mohamed Aboelfotouh, Islam Ahmed, Amr Essam, Mayday is an Egyptian startup providing roadside assistance services to motorists across Cairo &…

Standard Chartered bank has launched a digital banking service in Nigeria. This follows the roll out of the service across African countries which started last year. According to the bank, the digital banking services offers zero charges on all interbank transfers, alert messages, ATM withdrawals, and free debit card delivery…

Visa  has announced that it is partnering with pan-African fintech leader MFS Africa to help bridge the gap between the rapidly growing mobile money ecosystem in Africa and the world of online digital payments, significantly expanding Visa’s reach and its ability to open up commerce to the region. Mobile money wallets are already prevalent across Africa,…

Nigerian based early stage tech investor, Microtraction, has announced its first non-Nigerian investment, which is Ghanaian based money transfer startup – Bit Sika. Though Microtraction did not mention the amount, the company usually invests in two stages – firstly, $15,000 for 7.5% equity stake, followed by an additional $50,000 convertible…