Author: Staff Writer

American YouTuber MrBeast, (real name Jimmy Donaldson) has now overtaken Bollywood music label T-Series to be the person with the most subscribers on YouTube. MrBeast made this announcement on his X page. For the past 6 years, the title belonged to T-series after it beat Felix Kjellberg, aka PewDiePie to…

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has lifted its ban on five fintech startups, which includes OPay, Kuda, Moniepoint, PalmPay, and Paga. Now, these fintechs can resume onboarding new customers and open new accounts. The ban was placed in April 2024 as part of efforts to combat fraud in the…

The Central Bank of Nigeria has revoked the banking License of Heritage Bank Plc. This is announced in a press release released today 3rd June 2024 by Mrs Hakama Sidi Ali, acting Director, Corporate Communications of the apex bank See the press release below: The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),…

In a significant milestone for the African agritech industry, Moroccan startup YoLa Fresh has announced a $7 million pre-Series A funding round. Led by Al Mada Ventures and backed by Algebra Ventures, E3 Capital, Janngo Capital, and FMO, this investment will propel YoLa Fresh’s mission to build a transparent and…

Donald Trump has just joined TikTok and amassed over 2 million followers with 4 hours. Ironically the former President and Republican presidential candidate, had tried to ban the social media platform based on national security grounds while in office. On Saturday night, Trump shared a launch video on his @realdonaldtrump…

In a strategic effort to broaden its global presence, the Adani Group (represented by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. joint venture) has reached an agreement with Hutchison Port Holdings Ltd. to acquire a 95% stake in a container terminal company at the Port of Dar es Salaam in…

In a significant move to boost economic growth and enhance climate resilience, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has announced a partnership with FirstRand Bank Limited (FirstRand), South Africa’s second-largest bank by balance sheet. This collaboration aims to expand the availability of green building and green home loan finance across the…

Gro Intelligence, a once-promising agricultural data platform, is shutting down after a turbulent period marked by financial instability and legal challenges, according to AgFunderNews. Despite securing some last-minute funding in March and laying off a significant portion of its workforce, the New York- and Nairobi-based company could not sustain operations.…

Global payment giant PayPal has launched its stablecoin, PYUSD, on the Solana blockchain, aiming to increase its footprint in the stablecoin market. Previously, PYUSD was available exclusively on the Ethereum blockchain, marking Solana as its second blockchain integration. Why Solana? The Solana blockchain is renowned for its high-speed processing and…

Mastercard, in partnership with the African Development Bank Group, has unveiled a new initiative aimed at expanding digital access across Africa. The Mobilizing Access to the Digital Economy (MADE) Alliance: Africa is set to extend digital services to 100 million individuals and businesses over the next decade. This ambitious project…

American Express and Ecobank Group, a leading pan-African financial services provider, have announced a landmark agreement to significantly expand American Express Card acceptance across 21 African countries. New and Expanded Markets Under this agreement, American Express Card Members will be able to use their cards in twelve new countries: Burundi,…

OpenAI has announced a significant milestone in its journey to integrate artificial intelligence into the corporate world. The AI research and deployment company has signed a major deal with PwC, one of the largest management consulting firms globally. This partnership is set to bring OpenAI’s ChatGPT to 100,000 PwC employees,…

In a strategic move to expand its cloud footprint in Africa, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has partnered with Orange Middle East & Africa (OMEA) to bring AWS Wavelength to Morocco and Senegal. This initiative, announced on Wednesday, marks the first deployment of AWS services in countries without physical AWS infrastructure…

YouTube is rolling out “Playables”, a collection of free games you can play directly on the platform. In the last couple of months, a limited number of users in select markets have been testing Playables. The games include lightweight, entertaining games like Angry Birds Showdown, Words of Wonders, Cut the Rope, Tomb of the…

Safaricom in partnership with M-PESA Africa and Sumitomo Corporation has shortlisted nine startups to benefit from the Spark Accelerator Program, a platform for bold and visionary founders to grow and scale their businesses. The recipient startups were identified following a call for applications across different categories, which included Embedded Finance,…

Brass, a Nigerian startup that provides tailored financial solutions to SMEs, has been acquired by a Paystack-led consortium with participation from PiggyVest, Ventures Platform, P1 Ventures, and angel investors Oo Nwoye and Olumide Soyombo. Launched in July 2020 by Sola Akindolu and Emmanuel Okeke, Brass equips SMEs with a full-stack,…

Elon Musk’s xAI, an ambitious artificial intelligence venture, has successfully raised $6 billion in a series B funding round, signaling strong investor confidence in Musk’s vision for the future of AI. This substantial financial backing positions xAI as a formidable player in the rapidly evolving AI landscape, poised to make…

Copia Global, the Kenya-based e-commerce platform targeting the underserved middle and low-income populations, has entered into administration. The company has entered administration, appointing Makenzi Muthusi and Julius Ngonga of KPMG to manage the process. This development comes as a significant blow to the Kenyan tech ecosystem, particularly given Copia’s innovative…

Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s wealthiest individual and chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd., is making a significant entry into the African telecommunications market. His company, through its subsidiary Radisys Corp., has teamed up with Ghana-based Next-Gen InfraCo (NGIC) to introduce 5G broadband services in Ghana. This move is poised to revolutionize digital…

Zimbabwe’s telecom regulator has granted a license to Elon Musk’s Starlink, allowing SpaceX’s satellite internet service to operate within the country. This is a U-turn for the regulator which, in April, directed Starlink to suspend its services. Starlink issued a formal notice to its subscribers in Zimbabwe informing them that…