Author: Paul Adepoju

Vantage Capital, one of Africa’s major mezzanine fund manager, announced today that it has disbursed the second and final tranche of a R250 million ($16.6 million) expansion capital facility to Vumatel. The funds will be used for the on-going expansion of Vumatel’s fibre-to-the-home (“FTTH”) network in a growing number of…

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has expressed its interest in a harmonious regulatory relationship with the lawmakers in Nigeria. Executive Vice Chairman of the commission, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta said NCC seeks the cooperation and understanding of members of the House of Representatives on regulatory functions of the commission. Danbatta…

Jongla is attempting to attract WhatsApp users in Africa to switch to Jongla Social Messenger and save money by reducing their data usage. Following the successful April launch of its social messaging app in Africa, Jongla is today announcing a host of exciting new features and detailing how people across…

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd has published its latest Threat Index for May 2016, revealing that the number of active global malware families increased by 15 percent in May 2016. The May Threat Index presents a mixed view of Africa, with several countries making quite strong moves up and down…

Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja will tomorrow (Friday) host the fourth edition of StartUP Friday organised by the Office for ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE), venue is Red Sparrow Events Centre, Maitama, Abuja, from 3.20pm. With StartUP Friday, OIIE aims to promote and encourage start-up development and foster relationships with…

Spotting an opportunity that sparks an entrepreneurial idea is a dominant driver of startup businesses in South Africa, but they are not creating jobs at the scale and rate South Africa so urgently needs. This is one of the findings of South Africa’s largest startup survey announced last night by…

Positive Action for Girls and Women has launched the Empowering Girls in Emergency Settings (EmGEmS) Challenge Prize in partnership with Every Woman Every Child. The challenge aims to address the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs of adolescent girls in emergency settings where girls are particularly vulnerable to violence, rape,…

There has been a surge in the number of payment cards globally according to research firm EMVCo. It said official figures showed a global increase of 1.4 billion last year. 2015 ended with 4.8 billion payment cards worldwide, compared with 3.4 billion at the end of 2014. The body that…

From next month (July 2016), sellers on eBay will now be able to access African market especially those markets at the forefront of the continent’s tech boom. According to media report, eBay has entered a new partnership with online shopping startup MallforAfrica.com. Under the agreement, a new “eBay Powered by…

Data centres are springing up everywhere and Millicom is not left behind. This morning, the company announced it has concluded plans to set up two new data centres in Chad and Senegal. In a PR statement, the company stressed that the move is reinforcing its strong commitment to its B2B…

Today GE, one of the world’s biggest digital industrial companies, officially opened its R500 million 2,700m2 facility, the GE Africa Innovation Centre in Johannesburg South Africa. The centre, a first for GE in Africa, is another big investment for GE, affirming that Africa and South Africa continue to be a…

Access Power , a developer, owner and operator of renewable power projects in emerging markets, is delighted to announce the winners of the 2016 US$7 million Access Co-Development Facility (ACF), a financial support mechanism for renewable energy projects in Africa. Three projects from Nigeria, Madagascar, and Sierra Leone, fought off…

Eskimi has introduced Naira rates for Eskimi programmatic DSP platform due to dollar scarcity and fluctuating Naira rate. “We see that clients struggle to obtain dollar currency due to forex limitations and new CBN policies. We have introduced Naira rates for our social product some time ago. Now we prepared and…

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has granted provisional 2x30MHz in the 2.6gigahertz (GHz) frequency licence to MTN Nigeria Communications Limited (MTN), as the sole approved bidder and was required to pay a total $96m (N19.2bn) for the licence – a cumulative 30MHz in the 2.6GHz Frequency. Tony Ojobo, director, Public Affairs…

To deepen cloud penetration in Nigeria, MainOne has entered into a strategic partnership with hosting domain provider, Whogohost and Intel to provide cloud hosted Servers for SMEs in Nigeria. ‎ This service is delivered through the cloud platform of MainOne’s data center subsidiary, MDX-i, which is powered by the Intel…

The Nigerian Senate has slammed the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and other parties involved in the resolution of the fine slammed on MTN. According to the Senate Committee on Communications, it has rejected the terms of agreement between the NCC and MTN, adding that Nigeria was short-changed. The senate subsequently…

The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has digitally released a documentary film on how entrepreneurs trained by it are making impacts across the continent, it is entitled Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs: Transforming Africa. Viewers would see how TEF developed a programme to institutionalize luck and gave Africa’s entrepreneurs the tools they need…

MTN Group today named Rob Shuter as the group’s new group CEO and president of MTN. It said the choice was after an extensive global search for a  candidate suited to the demands of the Group’s future strategy. Rob is expected to commence as soon as it is practically possible…

Apple’s iPhone SE was officially launched in Nigeria last Friday at the Grand African Ball room of Intercontinental Hotel Lagos, the event was hosted by Redington Nigeria Limited. From the Apple branded ‘self service’ electronic registration kiosks at the lobby, to the exotic cocktails, the Live social Media wall, the…

Ever since I read the autopsy report for the late Prince, I’ve taken a closer look at the world of drugs – painted bad in the press yet loved by celebrities across the world. I became even more curious about drugs when I saw video that led to Nigerian DJ’s…