Author: Staff Writer

OLX, Nigeria’s number one online classifieds site announced that users can now pay for its premium services, Do-It-For-Me and Top Ads using the Interswitch platform. Partnering with Interswitch to launch paid products is a strong strategic fit leveraging the two leading companies respectives strengths: Trust and safety which are both…

Visa Inc., the global leader in payments, and Interswitch, Africa’s leading integrated payments and transaction solutions company, have announced that they will partner to accelerate mobile payments adoption across the region. The partnership will see Visa and Interswitch upgrade the digital banking applications of leading banks to include mVisa, as well…

Running a small business can be great, especially as you are able to manage your very own company. You can have hands-on interaction with day to day customers, work for yourself, and ultimately find a niche market or service that you can proudly provide to people. Unfortunately, many small businesses…

Nigeria’s economy may be in a difficult period, but with digitalisation at the core of the national banking strategy, financial inclusion has been given room to grow. “There are so many people in Africa that are outside the banking system”, said Segun Agbaje, Managing Director and CEO of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank),…

As Mastercard announces the latest wave of start-ups joining its global Start Path programme at Money20/20 Europe in Copenhagen today, the company is simultaneously making the call for additional applications from qualifying late-stage start-ups – marking the perfect opportunity for the fast-growing pool of African fintech talent to benefit from…

VUBIQUITY, the leading global provider of premium content services, has signed a deal with Viva Africa to license local content across Nigeria, South Africa, Western Africa and Eastern Africa. The deal, signed earlier this year, will provide customers with over 1,000 titles in different languages. Viva Africa is one of…

For Founders with little to no programming skill, one of the biggest expenses when creating an eCommerce startup is setting up the website which requires hiring of often pricey developers. This is worsened by the unpredictability of such costs, as the price of setting up an eCommerce website can go…

Rocket Internet  has announced today it intends to sell its remaining 8.8% stake (fully-diluted) in Lazada Group S.A. to Alibaba Group Holding Limited for USD 276 million, equating to an implied USD 3.15 billion valuation of Lazada. The transaction is the result of the exercise of the put-call agreement entered…

A company named Token, has just unveiled a smart ring also named Token that houses all your digital keys – credit cards, house keys, website credentials, transit cards, car keys, and even it can be your access badge . It is touted as one ring to access everything. This circular ring contains Bluetooth…

Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has announced on his Facebook page that “the Facebook community is now officially 2 billion people!” It has taken the social network less than five years to go from 1 billion to 2 billion monthly users. Also revealing is that each day, more than 175 million people…

Tizeti, the company behind Wifi.com.ng which offers unlimited, uncapped internet service across Lagos, has just closed on a $2.1 million seed funding from international investors. These investors include Western Technology Investment, Social Capital, Vy Capital, Picus Capital, Ace & Company, Lynett Capital Partners, Zeno Ventures and a number of angel investors including Y…

Facebook has entered a deal with Fox Sports, the sports network, owned by Twenty-First Century Fox Inc, to stream more than a dozen of the Champions League football matches. The deal includes two live matches per day in the group stage, four Round of 16 games and four quarterfinal matches. This means…

Uber has just introduced a new feature you can order an Uber ride for someone from your own Uber app. When you choose a pickup away from your location, the app will ask whether the ride is for a family member or friend. You can then select the rider from your…

Facebook has introduced new features to make your video chat more exciting. These exciting new features—like animated reactions, filters, masks and effects, and the ability to take screenshots— are available for one-on-one and group video chats. You can now share your emotions with a reaction, add a filter to feel like…

Y-Combinator – backed Ghanaian tech startup, OMG Digital, has closed on Seed Funding of $1.1M from international investors Kima Ventures, Soma Capital, Comcast Ventures Catalyst Fund, Social Capital, M&Y Growth Partners, and Macro Ventures, with participation from a number of Angel Investors including Josh Buckley of Mino Games, and Founder…

The highly anticipated women empowerment show, Against The Odds with Peace Hyde is set to premier on Friday June 30th 2017 on Pan African Business Channel CNBC Africa Channel 410 on DSTV. The show is the latest instalment from Forbes Woman Africa depicting the journey of some of the most influential…

Bob Diamond’s Atlas Mara is selling 35% of its stake to Fairfax Africa Holdings to increase its stake in Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) from 31% to 44.5%. The firm expects to raise $200m from selling new stock to existing shareholders and Fairfax Africa. Atlas Mara’s market value has dropped…

TLcom Capital has announced a first close of $40 million for its TIDE Africa fund, getting commitments from global development finance institutions, corporate investors and family offices African Development Bank and European Investment Bank jointly accounted for 50% of the commitments, with each investing $10 million in the 10-year fund, which is aiming to…

Sahel Capital has announced the close of its debut fund for the Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria (“FAFIN”). It raised $65.9 million from existing co‐sponsors of the fund and the African Development Bank, CDC Group, and the Dutch Good Growth Fund who jointly committed $31 million to FAFIN. As part of this round,…

One of the biggest news of the week was the resignation of Travis Kalanick, Uber’s CEO. This was another big resignation in a spate of high profile resignations that was started by an employee’s blog post. The employee, Susan Fowler, a former engineer with the transportation company wrote a post “Reflecting On…