Acquah Nana Yeboah

Startups

South Africa’s Flexclub Secures Additional $5m In Seed Round to Scale Its Car Subscription Marketplace

South African car subscription company, FlexClub has secured $5million to improve drivers’ experience in emerging markets. FlexClub is an online market place that connects customers looking for flexible access to long-term cars with its partners, offering car subscriptions. The usual process of purchasing a car, setting up insurance and financing

Startups

ICYMI: APPLY FOR NIGERIA’S SDGS FINTECH HACKATHON

Applications are open till March 15th 2021, for the Nigeria SDGs Fintech Hackaton. This hackathon will see techies build solutions for payments, enhance financial inclusion, promote accountability and credibility, security, and privacy to impact the realisation of the SDGs directly. The competition which is to start on March 25, 2021

Startups

Youtube To Deduct Taxes Of Up To 24% From Creators Outside The United State.

YouTube has announced that they will begin to deduct taxes from non-U.S.-based content creators on earnings generated by viewers in the United States. The new policy is expected to be implemented from as early as June 2021. YouTube has asked creators to submit their tax information in AdSense

Startups

SA FINTECH, ADUMO SECURES $15MILLION IN FUNDING FROM THE IFC

A South African based Fintech Company, Adumo, has secured $15million in funding from the IFC, a member of the World Bank Group. This fund is expected to help expand access to electronic payment solutions, especially for underserved small and medium-sized businesses. This large investment which was placed as preferred shares

Startups

M-KOPA and Pula Advisors Secure $1.3M Funding to Improve Women’s Digital Access to Loans

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved two grants for research that will increase African women’s access to a range of digital financial services including loans and micro-insurance. According to a statement released by the bank on Monday 8th March, 2021, the grants for $1 million and $300,000

Startups

Senegal Restricts Internet Access in the Wake of Protests across the Country

Senegal, a country in the West African Region, has blocked social media access after an opposition protest was disrupted by the police on Wednesday. The protests were sparked when the leading opposition leader Ousmane Sonko was arrested as hundreds of supporters followed his motorcade, chanting and reportedly throwing stones at

Startups

Kenyan Fundraising Platform Secures $25k investment from Venture Capitalist Firm Microtraction

Kenyan fundraising platform Raise, has raised $25,000 funding from Nigeria-based Venture Capitalist firm, Microtraction, to help build up its platform and scale. Raise is a simple fundraising and equity management platform founded by Marvin Coleby and Eugene Mutai in 2018. Raise empowers founders with affordable online tools to raise

Startups

Spotify Targets Over 1 Billion Users in Recent Expansion to Africa and Other Locations

Global Music Streaming giant Spotify is making a grand entry into Africa with a launch in over 39 African Countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Kenya and Zimbabwe. The company plans to enter into 80 new markets with more than 36 languages. These new markets include countries in Asia, Africa,

Startups

African Tech Start Ups break Record: Raise over $700M in 2020

Despite the pandemic, 2020 seems to be a watershed for African Tech startups as they were able to raise US$701,460,565 in funding and seed investments. This was contained in a free report released by Disrupt Africa, a startup news and research portal which has tracked the growth

Startups

JAPANESE VENTURE CAPITALIST PLANS TO INVEST $15M ON AFRICAN STARTUPS

The Uncovered Fund which was launched in June 2020 is a Venture Capital Fund targeting early and seed-stage startups in Africa. The fund is expected to close at the end of June 2021, with a total of $15 million. The fund is designed to support what the firm calls the

Startups

Economic Effects of Internet Shutdowns in Africa

Internet, especially, social media shutdowns have become a regular feature in Africa. Since 2007, when Africa witnessed its first digital blackout in Guinea, shutting down of the internet and telecommunication service has become a consistent option in the playbook of African leaders as 26 out of the 54 states in

Startups

Nigerian Government to Build ICT Parks

Afrrican countries are beginning to realize the place of ICT in promoting economic growth and have begun to latch on to the trend. On February 4th 2021, the Nigerian Minister for Communications and Digital Economy, Hon. Isa Ali Patanmi performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the nation’s first ICT Park

Startups

JOBBERMAN ANNOUNCES ROLAKE ROSIJI AS ITS NEW CEO

Jobberman, Africa’s largest job placement platform, on Tuesday 9th of February announced Rolake Rosiji as its new CEO. Rolake will be taking over from Hilda Kragha who was appointed Managing Director of ROAM Africa Jobs, the parent company of Jobberman which owns a suite of online marketplaces across Africa.

Startups

Call for Entries: African Tech Challenge Against Disinformation and Propaganda

Applications are being accepted from now until February 28, 2021 for the African Tech Innovation Challenge. The challenge is for African techies to come up with practical solutions against Disinformation and Propaganda in Africa. Interested technologists from across Africa are required to submit an application presenting their solutions to combat

Startups

The rapid growth of tech hubs in Africa

The African continent continues to break new grounds in tech and innovation. One of the leading factors that underpin this development is the presence of Tech Hubs. From the creation of iHub Innovation Centre in Kenya in 2008, the number has leapfrogged to about 643 across the continent as identified

Startups

ANALYSING CBN’S BAN ON CRYPTO CURRENCY IN NIGERIA

CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in a circular released on Friday 5th of February, 2021 ordered commercial banks and licensed financial institutions in Nigeria to close all accounts dealing with crypto currency in the country. The apex bank maintained that “regulated institutions dealing in crypto

Startups

Elves secures $2 million from VC firm, Sawari Ventures.

Egyptian startup, Elves has secured $2 million from Egypt based Venture Capital (VC) firm, Sawari Ventures, and its existing investors. However, a portion of the investment was secured in February and another in July, both in this year, which Sawari participated in. According to the startup, this new investment makes

Startups

Pivot or Persevere: Advice from a Solutionist.

By Kim Furman, Synthesis Marketing Manager Tracy Morris shares her story from working her to way to the top to being a mother of three to overcoming introversion. Often, behind the humblest of individuals sits the greatest insight. This is what I found when I interviewed Tracy Morris in her

Startups

Judging the GirlCode Hackathon.

By Kayleigh Slogrove, Synthesis Software Developer. The GirlCode organisation aims to inspire young women to become developers. They have many different programs such as workshops, training programs and a yearly hackathon. This year, I had the pleasure of being one of the judges for this incredible hackathon. I have participated

Startups

Shaghalni, Egypt's recruitment platform,  secures six-figure in pre-Series A investment.

Shaghalni, Egypt’s online recruitment platform, has secured a six-figure Pre-Series A round from 138 Pyramids. Shaghalni is in a strategic partnership with Fawry, to allow job seekers to apply to the latest jobs on Shaghalni through the thousands of available Fawry Points of Sales. The platform has mountain electronic

Startups

TikTok introduces new product for marketers, TikTok For Business

TikTok has introduced a new platform to help marketers known as, “TikTok For Business”. “TikTok For Business” platform serves as the home for all its current and future marketing solutions for brands. The platform includes access to TikTok ad formats and its marque product, TopView, which is the ad that

Startups

Ingressive Capital to put up to $400K in startup companies after its $10m African fund.

Ingressive Capital has reported the finishing of its $10 million African tech funds and the investment fund targets pre-seed and seed stage tech organizations in both the B2B and B2C spaces. As indicated by the company’s site, it has 12 African new companies in its portfolio. They incorporate Paystack,

Startups

South African startup Sugar, introduces insurance for rural area settlements.

South African startup Sugar introduces insurance product for rural area settlements Sugar, a South African startup has introduced an insurance product that focuses on homes in townships, rural villages, and informal settlements. Sugar’s insurance policy covers the structure and contents of a home. Its services also include geysers and

Startups

Abwaab raises $2.4 million pre-seed

Abwaab, MENA’s latest online learning platform raises $2.4M pre-seed funding round. Abwaab’s $2.5M pre-seed round was kicked off by Adam Tech Ventures and joined by Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund (“ISSF”). The startup plans to use this funding to develop its

Startups

Quona Capital closes fund with $203 million aimed at financial inclusion in emerging markets.

Quona Capital, a venture firm focused on financial inclusion has closed Its Accion Quona Inclusion Fund with $203 million. The venture earned the $203 million from leading investors which includes; global asset managers and insurance companies, investment and commercial banks, as well as university endowments, foundations, family offices, and development