Hey there! Today’s TechCabal digest is brought to you by DIYlaw; get N2000 off your next company incorporation here with our coupon code – DIYLAWTC. Here’s everything interesting in African technology today.
New in and major…
1. Fintech is still raking in deals in Africa – Global payments processing solutions company, Wirecard, has just acquired South African payments service provider, MyGate for $24 million. This acquisition will help speed up Wirecard’s expansion into Africa as well as supplement its existing product portfolio in South Africa.
+ MyGate has had a good run in recent times. In 2016, it was voted the best online payment gateway in Africa.
2. Another fintech startup in Kenya, Alternative Circle, has raised $1.1 million in funding from credit risk management company, Creditinfo Group. AC will use the money to launch its credit facility app, Shika, in June. Shika will allow users access mobile loans by using a “decision engine” to identify creditworthy borrowers.
3. Nigeria’s Payporte has closed the curtain on Pay on Delivery – A banner on their website says they’ve suspended PoD to serve customers better. They’re also guaranteeing 48-hour refunds on returns. This has been part of the plan since their launch in 2015.
+ I think this is great. With the recent debates, horror stories and even an alleged murder in connection with deliveries, the time is right to do away with PoD.
4. Today marks day 77 of the internet shutdown in Anglophone Cameroon. #
+ Aside: After a trip to Italy, Papa Biya has gone MIA.
This April, ChatClass NG is offering a 2-month program designed to develop and support social media managers. The program will feature a thorough masterclass, real-life assessments and internships. Apply here if you’re interested.
These are interesting…
+ Congratulations to Tayo Oviosu and the Paga team as they celebrate their 8th anniversary ?
+ MTN has just paid another N30 billion to the Nigerian government. This is the second tranche in its N330 billion repayment plan.
+ Meanwhile, Nigeria’s finance minister will be answering questions on Facebook live today.
+ The FemBioBiz Acceleration programme is looking for female owned bio businesses from 12 African countries. Applications close on April 15 so get in there.
+ Learn Swahili in 3 minutes. Link
+ I’m here doing #throwback to failed campaign promises from Nigeria’s last election while my mates in Kenya are gearing up to cast their votes by drone in August. I’m following Bankole to Nairobi.
+ Dan Lyons writing about the bro code culture in SV startups – “this poisonous state of affairs will get fixed only when investors start getting hurt.”
+ There’s a lot of talk about AI but sadly, not a lot of substance. Ben Bajarin wrote about the main tech companies and the flaws in their grand AI strategy. Link
+ Globemich answered the what is the future of the African startup question and then blessed us with this bonus post on how access and infrastructure can accelerate that future.
+ Dear product manager, Ope Adeoye has some advice for you. Your product is not the mix of features you have thrown into it but the vision on which it is built. Link
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Hot topics on Radar
+ This Thursday, we’re hosting Senior UX designer, Babusi Nyoni, on Radar. He’ll be answering your questions about big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence. He’ll also share his experience and best practices in user experience design, favourite design principles and his love for Kanye. Link
+ Another great product launch on Radar. Bamira is a personal shopping platform. You share your shopping list and they source and deliver to you. Link
Upcoming events…
Abidjan: African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA) conference, April 3rd to April 7th. Link
Lausanne: Seedstars World Summit, April 3rd to April 6th. Link
Kaduna: Developer Hangout: Development with ReactJS at CoLab, April 4th. Link
Lagos: IBM Bluemix Cloud Computing Platform Awareness Workshop, April 6th. Link
Cambridge: MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2017, April 7th to April 8th. Link
Lagos: Health x Tech Drinks, April 8th. Link
Upcoming deadlines…
Urumuri Initiative: Applications close on the 5th of April 2017. Link
Fincluders Startup Challenge: Application deadline is April 7th, 2017. Link
West Africa Global Impact Challenge: Applications close on April 7th. Link
That’s all folks!
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