Author: Staff Writer

US-based accelerator, 500 startups, has announced the first closing of its 500 Startups MENA Fund (aka 500 Falcons) at $15M out of its $30M target. Among the LPs making commitments to the fund’s first close are the Oman Investment Fund and the Qatar Science and Technology Park. 500 startups plans to invest…

Boomplay Music, Africa’s fastest growing music streaming and download service, has introduced its pre-order feature to content providers, giving its users the opportunity to reserve personal copies of music from their favourite artistes before the music is released. This is the first time in Africa, a music service will launch…

Having an idea and starting your company is just one of the many steps in the startup journey. Founders often have to deal with the sometimes long and distracting process of fundraising while dealing with the day-to-day challenges of running and growing a business. Does being a woman affect this…

South African based technology internet and entertainment group, Naspers,  has invested EUR 387 million into online food ordering and delivery marketplace, Delivery Hero. This investment, which in in the form of newly issued shares, will help fuel Delivery Hero’s growth plans. Delivery Hero is one of Rocket Internet’s companies. It was…

Cybersecurity company, Avast, says it has now detected more than 57,000 ransomware attacks in 99 countries. The ransomware attack has affected big institutions including National Health Service (NHS) in England, Spanish telecommunications giant, Telefonica, courier delivery company, FedEx and the Russian Interior Ministry. What is this ransomware? The name of…

I came across a video by Tech Insider on the best camera. The choice was among three awesome smartphones – the Samsung Galaxy S8, the Google Pixel and the iPhone 7 plus. Let’s look at the specs of the three cameras. Samsung Galaxy S8 Google Pixel iPhone 7 Plus Main camera…

Microsoft has built a wearable to help Parkinson’s disease patients manage the tremors associated with the disease. Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects movement. It develops gradually, sometimes starting with a barely noticeable tremor in just one hand. People with Parkinson’s disease cannot control…

The Afropreneur Network, an organisation dedicated to championing the growth of African Entrepreneurs, has launched a new interactive online map of Lagos’ startup ecosystem. The aim is to give a comprehensive view of the Lagos startup ecosystem by the end of 2017. The map features crowd-sourced data, providing home-grown and…

The MasterCard Foundation is partnering with Michigan State University (MSU) for the AgriFood Youth Opportunity Lab, a five-year, $13 million collaboration. This partnership will support 15,000 young people aged 18 to 24 in major bread basket food shed regions surrounding Lagos and Dar es Salaam to access employment and entrepreneurship…

Smile Telecoms Holdings Ltd, a Pan-African telecommunications group with operations in Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is delighted to announce the appointment of Ahmad Farroukh to its Board as Executive Director, Operations, effective 1 May 2017. Ahmad is an experienced telecoms executive with a distinguished…

Econet Zimbabwe has enabled access to the internet through the provision of Wi-Fi in mass transit buses otherwise known as Kombis. According to the Chief Operating Officer of the mobile telecoms company, Fayaz King, “I am excited and happy for our customers, most of whom use public transport on a daily basis.…

Are you an artist? BBM is calling on you to create your own BBM stickers which can be publish globally and you stand to win prizes every month if yours is part of the top five most popular sticker packs. These prizes include a chance to share in the sales of…

Google is this week hosting Google for Publishers Summits in Lagos, Nigeria and Nairobi, Kenya. The Summits will see over 200 publishers from across the region gather to get an opportunity to explore and better understand Google’s Publisher tools, as well as the challenges and opportunities presented by an online…

Liquid Telecom Kenya has announced the appointment of Adil Youssefi as its new Chief Executive. He succeeds Ben Roberts, who will become board Chairman of Liquid Telecom Kenya and concentrate on his role as the Chief Technology Officer for Liquid Telecom Group, a position he has held since 2006. The…

The government of Ghana has partnered with the Switzerland government to establish a challenge fund – Remittance Grant Facility (RGF) – aimed at the development of remittance products and services. Managed by KPMG International Development Advisory Services (IDAS), this is supposed to facilitate the flow of remittances through formal channels to…

Africa-focused private investment firm, Helios Investment Partners, has partnered with Spanish based multinational food company, GBfoods S.A. (GBfoods), to create one of Africa’s largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) businesses. GBfoods Africa Holdco B.V. (the JV), a joint venture owned by GBfoods and Helios, has acquired assets from different African companies including leading…

South African online education provider, GetSmarter, has been acquired by 2U Inc. in all-cash transaction for approximately $130 million. The acquisition is expected to strengthen 2U’s position in the approximately $1.9 trillion global higher education market which is expected to grow approximately 8% in 2017, while accelerating two of the company’s…

Global Smartphone photography leader OPPO is set to unveil a new dual selfie camera Smartphone, the OPPO F3, into the Kenyan market on the 15th of May, 2017.  The OPPO F3 will enable users snap both great selfie and group selfie shots with ease. At the heart of the F3 is…

It was a galant effort but the two hour marathon barrier was not broken. The question on the minds of most sports lovers this morning was – Who will break the two-hour marathon barrier? Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya won the race but missed the mark by 25 seconds. He finished…

Today is the D-Day for the launch of CcHub Diaspora Challenge (#CcHUBDiaspora) The Diaspora Challenge is an open innovation challenge aimed at engaging entrepreneurs, innovators and scientists from the diaspora communities across the UK to source scalable business solutions to social challenges in Africa. The Diaspora Challenge is seeking business…