Hi there! Here’s everything interesting in African technology today. If you’re reading this, you’re probably not subscribed to TechCabal’s daily digest. Click here to get this goodness in your mailbox every day at 7am (GMT +1).
First off, major stuff happening
1. 10,000 hours of startup-ing – A new seed investment fund has launched in Morocco. It’s called Outlierz and will provide smart capital to African startups by investing between $50k and $200k in pre-seed and seed stage companies. Outlierz has some big names backing it like Michael Seibel of YCombinator and Hassan Haider of 500startups. They are currently accepting applications from Africa-based or Africa-focused startups. Link.
2. Kenya has approved regulations governing the use of Aerial Unmanned Vehicles (AUVs) in the country. That is to say, you will soon be able to legally fly drones in Kenya. Apparently, the approval was made last week after Kenya’s Civil Aviation Agency met with “top security organs” to discuss draft regulations. Business Daily says that the gazette legal notice and an Aeronautical Information Circular will be published as soon as official notification from the meeting is received. Nigeria, see your mates.
3. The internet shutdown in Anglophone Cameroon is now in its 29th day. It was President Paul Biya’s birthday yesterday and despite calls for internet service to be restored, it was nothing but crickets from his quarters. Smh. Please, just #BringBackOurInternet.
+ It’s easy to overlook the consequences of the internet shutdown but, without it, families cannot communicate with one another. Day to day life is now significantly different and somebody said it’s like going back to the dark ages.
4. GE Lagos Garage is now accepting applications for its Spring 2017 training session. The Garage is a 4-week training programme that will let selected participants directly interact with manufacturing technologies like 3D printers and laser cutters, to encourage innovation and improve manufacturing in Nigeria. If you’re a hardware entrepreneur with an existing product or idea and want to learn how to manufacture components or the whole product instead of importing, you should apply here.
5. Not every time rant, sometimes act – Enough is Enough, Co-Creation Hub, BudgIT and Paradigm Initiative Nigeria are partnering to host the second edition of the Office Of The Citizen Hackathon. The hackathon is happening this February from the 24th to 26th. If you’re a mobile or web developer, you should really consider participating and using your skills to solve social challenges.
6. Connect Nigeria’s Business Fair is happening in Lagos on February 18. Banks didn’t tell you guys yesterday but he’s going to be speaking at the event.
You can now apply for Ventures Platform‘s (VP) accelerator program. It’s a 4-month program that’s designed to support startups at the MVP stage with mentorship, business re-engineering, work space, living space, back office support, shared services and seed funding. Link.
What else is going on?
+ Jason Njoku wrote about the struggle to be street smart and run a business in Nigeria (read: Lagos) so you don’t get taken for a Mugu. Help yourself.
+ Pearl Lee spent a day in the shoes of a last-mile delivery man/woman. Very interesting what she learned.
+ If you’re in/around Kaduna today, you can stop by at CoLab for free chocolate. You’re welcome.
+ So I found the Federal Government of Nigeria’s Medium page. They first posted only 8 days ago and the account already has 1,700 followers. The posts are actually well written and I hope they keep it up.
+ Somebody saved N1 million using Piggybank.ng and I’m just here thinking there are levels to this saving business.
+ Capital Square is looking for a community manager. Link.
+ What is this bitcoin you all speak of? Alephile does a great job of attempting to simplify bitcoin.
+ Watch this video after and you’ll be the bitcoin maestro.
+ TechCrunch did a “feature” on Kudi.ai.
+ This article has so many gems. Doctors suffer from the same cognitive distortions as the rest of us. The brain is limited. There are gaps in our attention. How do we optimise for this in the medical field? Link.
Hot topic(s) on TechCabal Radar
+ One merchant is leaving Konga and Jumia to start its own e-commerce website. Tell them this is not necessary, please.
Upcoming events
Joburg: National Small Business Chamber (NSBC) Summit, 15th and 16th February, 2017. Link
Lagos: TensorFlow Dev Summit Viewing Party, February 15th. Ah, sold out.
Lagos: Silicon Drinkup, by Starta, February 17th. Link
Lagos: The 2017 edition of Connect Nigeria’s Business Fair is going down on the 18th. Link
Lagos: MEST is hosting a fireside chat on Saturday, February 18. Link.
Lagos: The Afropreneur Pitchdeck Workshop, February 18th. Link
Lagos: Hackaday Hardware Lagos, February 18th. Link
Registration is now open for Starta’s Side Hustle Bootcamp taking place in Lagos in February. 25 entrepreneurs will undergo one weekend of intensive practical learning on how to ideate, start, launch and get funding for tech-enabled businesses. The bootcamp is from Friday, February 24 to Sunday, February 26. The fee starts at N60,000 but digest subscribers can get 10% off using our discount code – SHBTC10. Apply here.
That’s all folks!
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