Author: Staff Writer

Southern Africa based money transfer company, Mukuru, has announced that you can now use WhatsApp to initiate transactions. This makes it one of the first companies to provide this service as WhatsApp is a very popular platform in this region. Globally WhatsApp has over 1.5 billion users and is growing…

Amazon has revealed a new last mile, fully-electric delivery system – Amazon Scout –  that is deliver packages to its customers. These robots were created by Amazon, are the size of a small cooler, and roll along sidewalks at a walking pace. According to Sean Scott, vice president of Amazon Scout in a…

Uber Lite is now available in Kenya and South Africa. Uber Lite is a simple version of the rider app that saves space, works on any network, and on any Android phone. Unlike the regular app which is which is about 170MB, Uber Lite is less than 5MB in size. A…

Tech Logistics company, Kobo360, has opened shop in Togo. The company recently raised $6 million from IFC to fund its operations. According to Obi Uzor, Kobo360’s co-founder, “This is part of our expansion across Africa which has been in effect since last year. Our mission is to build the global logistics…

SecureID Limited, Africa’s industry leader in Card manufacturing, personalization / fulfilment and digital Solutions Company commissioned its fully equipped state-of-the-art Mastercard Card Quality Management (CQM) test laboratory at their facility in Lagos on the 17th of January 2019. The occasion was graced by distinguished guests, representatives of Mastercard led by…

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is set to acquire 165,000 mobile devices to conduct the upcoming population census. According to Treasury CS Henry Rotich, the use of technology will enhance the quality of data. He adds, “It has inbuilt checks, correction of inconsistent responses and cross-validation with other records.” The exercise…

Xiaomi has just uploaded a video teaser about its double-folding smartphone on Twitter. The video shows the phone manufacturer’s President and Co-founder Bin Lin playing with the smartphone. https://twitter.com/XiangW_/status/1087965485809963008 Bin Lin talked more about the phone in a post on his Weibo account. Translated into English (using Google Translate), it reads…

African based software development outsourcing company, Andela, has announced the completion of a $100 million series D funding to accelerate expansion. This brings Andela’s total venture funding to $180million. It secured $40 million in 2017 and another $24 million in 2016 from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. According to the company, this round…

Respite has come the way of Lagos residents who undergo untold pains in securing apartments in the commercial city. A property management firm, called  RentSmallSmall.com, has been established to address the complexities and intricacies associated with easily finding a suitable, affordable, choice apartment within preferred locations. With the use of…

Growsel, the award-winning nonprofit agricultural crowdfunding organization that connects underserved Base of the Pyramid smallholder farmers with lenders across the globe, and winner of the 2018 Visa Everywhere Initiative Award for Financial Inclusion (Sub Saharan Africa edition), has received a software donation from Oracle NetSuite Social Impact for growing social enterprises. With the…

Wondering why you cannot reach your friends and families in Zimbabwe via WhatsApp and other internet based platforms? Sorry you cannot do this because the telecom companies in Zimbabwe have shut down access to the Internet. No WhatsApp, no Facebook. This is coming on the heels of the recent fuel…

Online eCommerce site Gloo.ng is shutting down next month. This was revealed via a tweet yesterday by the promoter, founder and CEO, Olumide Olusanya. https://twitter.com/docolumide/status/1084753064676986880 The company which started operations as BuyCommonThings.com in 2012 rebranded in 2013 to Gloo.ng. Though he did not give any reason for the closure of…

The Chinese government has launched a satellite TV access project for 1000 villages in Nigeria. This is part of the country’s initiative to provide digital TV access to 10,000 rural communities across Africa. According to the Chinese government, this is to ensure that the economic ties between it and Nigeria are…

Teleology Holdings has pulled out of 9mobile. According to the founder of the company, Adrian Wood in a statement, “Fifteen Teleology experts have worked since June 2017 on detailed 9mobile turnaround planning, development strategies and financial restructuring. This included lining up more than $500 million fresh direct foreign investment from…

Oui Capital, a venture fund focusing on early stage technology companies in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa will engage in pre-series A financing of companies in Fintech, Mobility, Innovative healthcare, Education and Two-sided marketplaces. The fund was created to fill the imbalance that exists between high growth technology startups in…

Naspers’ Careers24 has announced that it is closing down its operations in Nigeria effective 1 March 2019. Known as one of the leading job portals in Nigeria, the company opened shop in 2014. Though it has been rumoured for quite some time, the news was confirmed in an official announcement by the…

The Tony Elumelu Foundation has opened applications for the 5th cycle of its $100 million entrepreneurship programme. The TEF Programme is a 10-year, $100 million commitment to identify, train, mentor and fund 10,000 African entrepreneurs. Its objective is to generate at least 1,000,000 new jobs and create at least $10…

One of Japan’s largest companies, Sumitomo Corporation has invested in M-KOPA Holdings Limited. Though the amount was not stated, the investment was announced in December 2018. M-KOPA empowers homes and small businesses. It has pioneered and built an advanced pay-as-you-go platform – unlocking solar, information, technology, finance and opportunity for…

Factories and manufacturing facilities are extremely important as they help to produce products that are used for a wide variety of purposes. For those that own or manage a factory or other production facility, finding ways to be as efficient as possible is very important. While it used to be…

Vodafone Ghana has emerged as a winner in the recent bid for 4G spectrum license in Ghana. This was recently confirmed by the National Communications Authority (NCA). According to the NCA in a statement issued, “The National Communications Authority (NCA) announces for the information of the general public that Ghana Telecommunications Company…