Author: Tapiwa Matthew Mutisi

Egyptian AI-powered logistics startup, Roboost, has successfully raised $3 million in an investment round lead by Silicon Badia, with contributions from RZM Investment, Flat6Labs, and Saudi Angel Investors. The funds will further propel Roboost’s regional expansion goals. Roboost has solidified its role as a front-runner in the AI-powered delivery management…

Sony, through its venture arm, the Sony Innovation Fund, has made an investment in South African gaming startup Carry1st, aimed at unlocking new commercial opportunities in collaboration with the PlayStation creator. Despite the details of the partnership being unclear at this stage, it represents a significant development in the early…

The Malawian government, in collaboration with the World Health Organization, has initiated a fresh COVID-19 vaccination drive on Monday across ten of the nation’s 29 districts. This move comes partially as a response to the new cases identified in several districts over the past three weeks. Currently, Nsanje District in…

Elon Musk’s neurotech startup, Neuralink, successfully implanted its device in a human for the first time on Sunday. Musk confirmed in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday that the patient is “recovering well.” Neuralink, Elon Musk’s company, is developing a brain implant with the goal of…

Paymob, a prominent financial services facilitator in the Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan (MENA-P), has formed a strategic alliance with Mastercard in a bid to boost digital payment acceptance across the MENA region. This omnichannel partnership will use Paymob’s payment infrastructure and Mastercard’s payment technology to encourage the uptake…

InspiraFarms Cooling, a top sustainable cooling solutions provider for Africa’s fresh produce industry, has secured a €1 million investment from the Foundation for Clean Energy and Energy Inclusion for Africa (CEI Africa). The strategic partnership is focused on widening access to efficient cold storage infrastructure across the continent, addressing food…

Apollo Agriculture, a top agri-fintech startup in Kenya, has raised $10 million in funding from Swedfund and ImpactConnect to bolster its rapid growth across Africa. This financial boost will enable the startup to provide more smallholder farmers with vital resources to enhance profitability, adopt sustainable farming methods, and improve food…

The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) announced that it is currently investigating 17 key data breach cases across various sectors, including finance, technology, education, government, logistics, and gaming. The Commission’s National Commissioner, Vincent Olatunji, revealed this in Abuja on January 28, 2024, during the Global Data Privacy Day. Additionally, the…

Bolt has unveiled Bolt Send, a same-day parcel delivery service in the northern part of Johannesburg. This service allows customers to conveniently send small parcels and gifts via the Bolt app, with payment options including card and cash. This development comes shortly after the company decided to shut down Bolt…

Miden, a Nigerian startup that enables businesses to issue virtual cards to their customers via its API, has been chosen for Y Combinator’s winter 2024 batch. Following Cleva, a cross-border payment service, Miden is the most recent Nigerian startup to join this year’s winter cohort. Miden, which offers virtual cards…

Amazon has withdrawn its proposal to acquire iRobot, a robotic vacuum manufacturer, due to regulatory challenges in Europe. Amazon and iRobot have mutually agreed to terminate their previously declared acquisition agreement, which would have seen Amazon buy iRobot for approximately $1.7 billion in cash. The companies stated in a press…

According to a fraud report by Smile ID, Nigeria’s national ID card ranks ninth in the list of documents most frequently used for verification fraud in Africa. The report is the result of data derived from over 100 million identity verifications performed by the company between 2021 and 2023. National…

Telkom claims it is making progress in the battle against cable theft, resulting in hundreds of convictions over the past six years. The company’s Security and Investigation Team collaborated with the South African Police Service (SAPS) leading to convictions for cable theft and infrastructure vandalism across the country. Such efforts…

Tosin Osinbodu, the founder of Nigerian startup, Chaka, has exited the company five months following its acquisition by Rise. Chaka allows retail investors to purchase shares from the NYSE and other foreign stock exchanges. As per his LinkedIn profile, Osinbodu has moved on to join Alpaca, a company that develops…

To commemorate Global Data Privacy Day, held on January 28, 2024, the Nigerian government revealed plans to digitize public services as a measure to protect citizens’ data. Galaxy Backbone, the Federal Government’s IT provider, is to manage data interchange compliant with regulatory standards, while the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC)…

For the year 2023, Nigerian fintech firm, Moniepoint, processed over 5 billion transactions. In the same year, there was a significant increase in the number of businesses utilizing the company’s Point-of-Sale (PoS) terminals. While the company did not disclose specific numbers for its personal banking product introduced in August 2023,…

Customers of PalmPay, who have previously confirmed their bank verification number (BVN) or national identity number (NIN) but fail to reverify it by January 31, 2024, will be blocked by the fintech company. Additionally, user accounts will be frozen if they don’t validate their BVN or NIN by March 31,…

Frederik Zietsman has been named the new group chief executive officer of online retailer Takealot. Additionally, the company announced that their former CEO, Mamongae Mahlare, who was appointed as CEO in October 2021, has now been appointed as executive chairperson of the Takealot Group. Zietsman will assume his new role,…

China’s electric vehicle manufacturer, Build Your Dreams (BYD), has declared its next step of expansion into Rwanda, continuing its growth in East Africa after successfully entering Kenya two years ago. This strategic move aligns perfectly with Rwanda’s emphasis on sustainable development, providing BYD an opportunity to expand its reach of…

E Squared Investments recently announced its investment in Zaio Technologies, an EdTech platform with the potential to transform learning in the digital era. Zaio Technologies, founded by a dynamic group of young entrepreneurs, provides comprehensive job-focused coding training through full-stack, specialized front-end and back-end courses via their online Learning Management…