Joel Nwankwo

Writer, TECHist and Data analyst.

Business

What Airtel’s $42m DR Congo’s 4G Network Expansion can bring to the Country

4G network has rapidly evolved in Africa’s mobile communications system space. The 4G LTE usage grew from 0 to 150 million people in its first year, and roughly 1.3 billion people now have access to it. 4G not only gives super-fast access to millions of customers but can

Togolese Mobility Startup, Gozem, secures $10m from IFC to finance 6,000 vehicles in Togo and Benin

Gozem can brag to being the biggest thing that has come out of the Togolese tech space. 4 years after Emeka Ajene created the startup, it has forged a part that other startups in the country can follow. The startup has since transitioned into offering a suite of services, including

Seed Fund: A Necessary Hurdle for Startups

The seed fund means a whole lot to the innovator. Think of the funding stage as the atmosphere, water and soil needed for startups to grow. The seed fund raise is the first official money received by the startup, and usually comes in smaller amounts compare to other stages. The

Business

An Amazing Decade with Jumia: Playing the Amazon Role in Africa for 10 Years

Trade improvement has been a necessity for economies, especially as it informs the financial efficiency of the economy. However, tech has been used to acceleration of trade through e-commerce. Pan-African e-commerce giant has verifiably done the most in facilitating e-commerce in Africa. As Africans integrate the building blocks required for

Should Africa be Normalizing 8-figure Rounds Now?

See Finish— a word commonly used by speakers of Nigerian Pidgin, to represent a situation where respect has lost due to prolonged proximity. TymeBank, Chipper Cash, Flutterwave, Wave, Opay, Andela, Jumo, MNT-Halan and TradeDepot all secured over $100m in a single funding round last year. These startups covered over 40%

Lessons from ThriveAgric: How the Agritech Platform Survived a Scare

ThriveAgric was founded by Uka Eje (CEO) and Ayodeji Arikawe (CTO) in 2017. The startup began its operations as an agricultural technology startup, providing access to finance, premium markets, and data-driven advisory. Its services were mainly for smallholder farmers. ThriveAgric’s priority is its customers. The startup uses its platform

What Does Kenya’s Introduction of 20% Excise Tax for Digital Lenders Spell for Kenyans and Startups?

Digitalization has enabled businesses conduct business in locations where they do not have a physical presence. Tax laws are easier when they are based on a physical presence attributable to a permanent establishment rather than a virtual one. As a result, efficiently taxing the digital economy has become a critical

How Stitch Became an African Fintech Force in Just 1 Year

Stitch was officially launched in February 2021 after it had been in stealth mode 2 years. The south African Fintech startup has since pulled strides, ensuring that it disrupts the continent’s financial space. Stitch came out of stealth with a $4m seed round. The round has remained the largest

The Next Wave: Income Inequality Concerns

A Global Outlook at Inequality The poorest half of the global population owns just 2% of the global total, while the richest 10% own 76% of all wealth. According to the UN, the average income of people living in North America is 16 times higher than that of people in

African Politics Should Prioritize Tech Development

African politics has always been characterized with pseudo promises. Adopting democracy accords the citizens of a state necessary relevance and power to hold elected officials accountable for failed promises. In navigating the affairs that strengthens Africa’s grip on the global tech pie, politics must offer more. This goes beyond

What Should Africans Expect from Starlink?

In view of the global digitization dominance, internet access should not be considered a luxury anymore. Digital inclusion is a key enabler of efficient financial inclusion and effective e-commerce services. Mobile technology has advanced rapidly in Sub-Saharan Africa, but internet access has not. Internet penetration in Africa is 18%, which

Africa’s Disrupt Story: What’s up Somalia?

The development of tech is a matter of primary concern for the future development of any economy. Tech has promoted not only research, but also the expansion of related training facilities at all levels. For Somalia’s underdeveloped economy, growing in this light should be a priority in order to

How Egyptian SWVL is Spreading its Tentacles in the Global Mobility Space

The past decade has seen mobility and logistic startups improve on safety, performance, and sustainability measures. These improvements have seen improved user-satisfaction as startups try to meet the growing demand for flexible mobility options. Although e-commerce has driven a majority of these demands, one cannot overemphasize the efforts these mobility

4 Ways Using Tech in HR Can Help Reduce Your Costs

The first thought that comes to my mind when I think about including tech in HR is how much it will cost. It is obvious that tech in HR is a huge investment but how much are you willing to spend to cut your costs? The HR department was once

The Next Wave. Is Africa Ready? Issue of Rising Interest Rates

Interest rate has scared Africans and African businesses. Even innovators have not been spared. With the nest wave around, African governments cannot afford to sleep on this. The state of interest rate greatly reflects the economic situation of any country or region. Interest rate greatly reflects the trajectory of an

5 Ways to Reduce Your Recruitment Costs Without Compromising the Quality of Your Hires

Technology is consistently evolving and helping individuals from numerous industries perform their work faster and better. These technological advancements also have an impact on how people are hired. Recruitment is one of the most expensive operating costs of any business. An employer’s objective is to find ways to cut

The Next Wave, Is Africa Ready? GDP Concerns

The next wave is here, and the positives incubated in it are already being felt across sectors. The region cannot get carried away by the miniature successes it has experienced so far. There are real economic concerns stemming from years of unsolved economic shocks the region has experienced. Gross Domestic

How YC-backed Nigerian Startup, Identitypass, is Bridging the Identity Verification Gap in Africa

Verification of users has become more necessary with the development of digital businesses globally. The most basic use of this tool is to offer or engage users based on verified personal information. This approach to customer acquisition forms the core of YC-backed Nigerian startup, Identitypass. Identitypass was founded in January

What happened to Lara.ng (The Real Nigerian Map)?

Getting a road map designed by a Nigerian has its unique advantages. The idea of specificity plays a crucial role in determining the judgement of the efficiency of an app. For Lara.ng, turning up for Nigerians when they need a road guide was the goal. 8 years later, the

Rental Financing Platform, Kwaba, is Looking to Improve Housing Welfare in Africa

Housing for most middle-income earners in the modern economy is scarce especially in most of the world’s megacities. A report from BBC noted that “middle-to-high-income” apartments can cost anything from $5,000 to $40,000 per year. A two-bedroom flat with electricity in a good Lagos neighborhood, Victoria Island,

How Egyptian Paymob is Improving the Cashless Behaviour of Africans

Paymob is an infrastructure technology enabler that provides payment solutions for different business sizes. The startup’s drive is to empower digital financial service providers through mobile wallet technology. Islam Shawky, Alain El Hajj, and Mostafa Menessy founded Paymob in 2015. The idea of Paymob’s service is to enable

Artificial Intelligence

InstaDeep is Improving Access to AI for African Startups

When InstaDeep was launched in 2014, its vision was to deliver AI-powered decision-making systems for the Enterprise. The startup believes this will be useful in solving some of the world’s most complex industrial problems. AI presents countless avenues sectors to optimize solutions to the most crucial problems. This solution

Africa’s Disrupt Story: The Case of Web3 Adoption in the Region

As Africans strive to build an entirely new tech ecosystem built on Blockchain, the region edges closer to a more decentralized financial system that strengthens financial freedom. About 2 decades ago, the idea of E-commerce and Fintech was but a mere wish in the region. Today, Africa has joined the

The Web and its Different Versions: Aligning the Web2 and Web3 Dichotomy

Several Web3 proponents have gone ahead to what the web takeover. Without needing to delve into the deficiencies of all the webs, it is good to correct the assertion that web3 is not an ‘evolution’ of web2.  John Mc Keown explained that what has been termed a modification does not

Startups in Africa raise Over $600M in April to bring total funding in 2022 to over $1,808,963,000

After the first four months of 2022, African startups and their tech ecosystem show no sign of slowing down. As of now, Africa’s tech space has secured over $1,808,963,000B in funding. In addition, Africa’s tech space hit the $600m mark for the third month running