Author: Paul Adepoju

There are just few days remaining to enter the third annual AppsAfrica Awards. In its third year, it has consistently celebrated the best in mobile and tech from across Africa. In a statement made available today, organizers said nominations will be closing on September 11th, 2017. From African start-ups to large corporate…

The Managing Director of MultiChoice Nigeria, John Ugbe, strongly believes that Nigeria is in need on adequate regulatory and legal framework, in addition to a strong commitment from all stakeholders to successfully achieve transition from analogue to digital television broadcasting. Ugbe said this while delivering a keynote address in Lagos at…

YouTube calls the new design an evolution, not a revolution. YouTube has changed the identity it has had for the last 12 years, which has been a pair of anachronisms wrapped inside each other. “We have the word tube in a tube,” says Christopher Bettig, the head of YouTube’s art…

Aliko Dangote, President and Founder of Dangote Foundation, has reportedly set aside N200 billion for the establishment of a world-class university of technology in Abuja. According to media reports, the former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, NUC, Julius Okojie, is the chairman of the technical team for the…

The Nigerian Police has announced the development and deployment of a mobile app called Hawk Eye which allows users to report crimes anonymously to the Police by video, voice or text. The app was developed by Lagos-based tech firm, Web Assets Nigeria Limited, in partnership with U.S. based tech firms BBGN&K, and tech…

The lineup of speakers for the 2017 edition of the Nigeria Innovation Summit (NIS) has been released and it includes: Davis Cook, CEO, Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability(RIIS) South Africa; Dr Muntaqa Umar-Sadiq, the 2016 World Economic Forum young global leader and the CEO, Private Sector Health Alliance; Chris Uwaje,…

Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has high hopes for the country’s tech ecosystem. It believes that the ecosystem has the potential of becoming a catalyst for sustainable economic growth across nations. According to DG/CEO of the agency, Dr. Isa Pantami, Nigeria’s tech ecosystem as it is today could produce the…

Apple wants to spend about $1 billion to produce and acquire original TV shows over the next year, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. With the investment, Apple could be adding up to 10 new shows as it sets its eyes on being able to match the high-quality…

“Afghanistan is beautiful to us, we are glad to come all the way from Africa-Nigeria to make life better for the small holder farmer in Afghanistan,” says Bolaji Akinboro, co-founder of Cellulant Nigeria whose company’s eWallet technology will be deployed by the Ministry of Agriculture Irrigation & Livestock in Afghanistan, to…

Last Friday would have been the first Free Data Day on the Globacom Nigeria but for the decision of the telecoms industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), to halt the plans of the operator to give free data to all its subscribers. The commission through Sunday Dare, its commissioner…

Nigerian online hotel booking platform, Nitestay.com, has announced it is opening up to hotels in other African countries – Ghana, Gambia, Kenya and South African. Speaking to Innovation Village, Femi Okanla, co-founder and CEO of Nitestay.com said the expansion into other countries is part of the startup’s projected business framework. “I…

Angola Cables today officially launched the South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) at an event in Sangano, Angola. This is the first direct link between Africa and South America. The installation of the South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) – a subsea cable with 40 Tbps of capacity that will extend more…

AfroMillionsLotto, a brand new lotto with a minimum jackpot close to a billion naira is to be launched in support of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) clubs by the League Management Company (LMC) in partnership with British-based Ofertas365. The lotto, due to be live later this month, has jackpots larger than…

In 2016 $5.5bn of venture capital investment went into payments startups. This represented 22% of global fintech investment activity. In South Africa, payments still dominate the fintech landscape. Here are some of the really innovative startups operating in the payments space that fulfill specific customer needs. Including the informal economy…

Truth be told, nothing prepared me for the unusual experience I had with Samson Abioye when we first had a direct interaction that led to an Innovation Village exclusive interview. This happened after his startup, Pass.ng was named as one of the winners of Airtel’s Catapult A Startup competition. Today, while thinking about his sudden…

Taxify, a ride sharing company in Europe and Africa, today announced a strategic partnership with Didi Chuxing, a major mobile transportation platform. Under this partnership, DiDi will invest in and collaborate with Taxify to support the latter’s further growth and innovation across its diversified markets. Launched in Estonia in 2013,…

In its financial results for the second quarter (Q2) of 2017 and for the first half of 2017, Nokia mentioned that it had increased cash inflow from an up-front cash payment of approximately EUR 1.7 billion, part of which was recognized in the second quarter 2017 results. It would be…

The rumors are getting more strengthened that Apple is planning to release an Apple TV with 4K and HDR support to be an updated version of Apple’s set-top streaming box. MacRumors reported that iTunes is beginning to list movies as supporting 4K and HDR in users’ purchase histories, implying that Apple’s digital…

Howard Miller and Grace Njoroge dig deeper into the idea of innovation and what it means for the Mastercard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity. It is clear that technology is changing the landscape of financial services in rural Africa. From the largest banks to the smallest fintechs, financial service providers are…

Adobe is done with Flash and it is killing it once and for all. This development is somehow connected to Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Safari which have all been blocking Flash over the past year causing Flash to become increasingly unpopular. Adobe announced it wants to remove support for Flash fully by…