Author: Tapiwa Matthew Mutisi

Threads, Instagram’s standalone private messaging app, won’t be around much longer. By the end of December, the Threads app for iOS and Android will no longer be supported. The move will allow Instagram to focus on messaging within its main app, the Meta-owned company said on Wednesday, so people using…

South African fintech company Ozow founded in 2014 to drive financial inclusion through open banking on Wednesday announced that it has managed to raise $48 million in a Series B funding round led by Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings. This new funding will help the seven-year-old startup expand in Africa and expand…

Windows 11 is now rolling out to more users, but this doesn’t mean the operating system is complete. Microsoft is still working on new features which will be added at a later time alongside new native apps. Microsoft has created a new Media Player app for Windows 11, and it’s…

Deloitte Africa has announced the appointment of its board chair Ruwayda Redfearn as its first female CEO, with effect from 1 June 2022. In accepting the position, Ruwayda said: “I am honoured to be appointed to this role and excited to be part of yet another first in the history of Deloitte…

To be quite frank this was an unexpected update or perhaps we could simply say it’s as an early Christmas present from Apple. The company announced Wednesday that it has created a self-service repair program that will allow customers to repair their own devices using genuine Apple parts and tools…

Hyundai announced Wednesday at the 2021 Los Angeles Auto Show a new all-electric SUV concept vehicle that features everything from lounge seating to what Hyundai calls a “hygienic” interior, an appropriate feature as we enter the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Hyundai Seven is built on the automaker’s…

Humble beginnings seem to have finally paid off and perhaps a lesson to startups still in their infancy stage. Lagos-based ride-sharing service Shuttlers that enables users to book trips along fixed routes after years of bootstrapping the company has raised $1.6 million in seed funding from several investors to blitz scale within…

Bitcoin, the world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, retreated from near-record highs, falling by more than 4% on Tuesday as it extended a decline through a week that also included an upgrade to its blockchain. Second-ranked Ethereum also touched one of its lowest levels this month, sliding as much as 6.8%.…

According to court filings out in the Southern District of New York Monday JPMorgan Chase & Co sued electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc for $162.2 million, plus interest, attorneys’ fees, and expenses, accusing Elon Musk’s electric car company of “flagrantly” breaching a contract related to stock warrants after its share price soared.…

South African technologists Simon Dingle and Kenny Inggs have launched a stablecoin cryptocurrency pegged to the South African rand. Built on the ethereum blockchain, ZARP is focused on decentralised finance (DeFi) applications and is available on the Ovex exchange. It has announced its integration with Curve and the Keep3r Network developed…

The Bitcoin network has just seen a major tech update named Taproot, which is the network’s biggest update since 2017. The new update was activated on November 14 and will allow developers to integrate new features enabling improvements of privacy, scalability, and security on the Bitcoin network. The upgrade has been…

The leading pan-African banking Group, the Ecobank Group, is delighted to be supporting the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2021 taking place from November 15-21, 2021, in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This very important Trade Fair promises to help accelerate Africa’s commercial and economic growth and development, a core mission of…

Local startup Gateway to Elation was named among three winners of this year’s Holman “LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired” Prize. The prize was launched in 2017 and awards up to US$25,000 to three people with sight impairment US$25,000 if they have “ambitious ideas that will challenge misperceptions about…

Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe has announced a partnership with Industrial Commerce Bank of China (ICBC) and Chinese trade agent Zhejiang International Trading Supply Chain Co. Ltd which the bank says will open doors for Zimbabwean businesses to import quality goods from China. The Partnership which is called “Africa China Import Solution” will see Stanbic Bank provide…

Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) company InfraCo Africa, together with a consortium including Dutch private equity firm DOB Equity and Toyota Tsusho’s VC facility Mobility 54, has signed an agreement with Zembo, together committing over $3,4 million to support the growth of the company’s electric motorcycle business in Kampala, Uganda. This funding is expected to support Zembo’s…

Vodacom Group recently announces that it has agreed terms to acquire a strategic stake in Community Investment Ventures Holdings’ (CIVH) fibre assets that will transform its South African fibre business and accelerate the purpose-led Group’s ambition of connecting people for a better future. Vodacom Group will hold a co-controlling 30%…

International Business Machines Corp (IBM) and Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services said on Monday they will combine the benefits of IBM Open Data for Industries for IBM Cloud Pak for Data and the AWS Cloud to serve energy customers. This comprehensive solution is built on Red Hat OpenShift and will run on the AWS Cloud,…

Add another milestone to Rivian Automotive Inc.’s blistering and surprising run as a new stock: It’s now the biggest U.S. company by market value with no revenue. The electric-truck maker, backed by Amazon.com Inc. and Ford Motor Co., has unseated Lucid Group Inc., an electric vehicle peer with no sales…

Kyndryl, the managed services giant spun off from IBM and is the world’s largest IT infrastructure services provider, and Microsoft Corp. have announced a landmark global strategic partnership that will combine their market-leading capabilities in service of enterprise customers. The deal with Microsoft is Kyndryl’s first since recently becoming an independent public company…

Chinese auto giant Geely has launched a new electric semi-truck called Homtruck as automakers look to bring new technology to the commercial vehicles market. The Homtruck manufactured by Farizon Auto is the Chinese autonomous electric truck that wants to rival the Tesla Semi, and it looks like a Transformer. The Homtruck’s cabin…