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First off, major stuff happening
1. SA’s R2Labs has launched Okazi (No, not the soup) – The South African social impact incubator launched the Okazi platform to help companies outsource their under-utilised employees to other businesses. Disrupt Africa reports that Okazi started out as a purely offline test, with co-founder Marlon Parker and his team calling local businesses to see if they would be interested in hiring staff from other companies. That morphed into the platform where businesses can now lend and borrow staff and complete transactions within 24 hours. What I’d really like to know is how the employees being traded feel about this.
2. Alliance for Affordable Internet has released its 2017 Affordability Report examining policy frameworks in place across 58 low and middle-income countries. The report details what changes countries have made to reduce internet prices and what areas they should focus on to ensure affordable connectivity for all. It also enforces something we’ve always known – achieving internet access goals means prioritising broadband policy now. Read the full report here.
3. Village Capital is looking for nutrition and Agric based startups operating in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana & Nigeria to apply to its Affordable Nutrition Forum happening in Accra on April 21, 2017. Ten startups will be selected to attend the forum with all expense paid flights and accommodation in Accra. The startups will participate in one day of business development/investment readiness training and have the opportunity to win $15,000. So if you’re a startup doing innovative things around nutrition and food availability in Africa, apply here. Deadline’s March 20.
4. Mastercard Foundation also has money for you – MasterCard Foundation and the African Leadership Academy have opened applications for the 2017 edition of their Anzisha prize for African youth entrepreneurs. Basically, if you’re a promising business and social entrepreneur between 15 & 22 yrs old, you have a chance to win a share of the $100,000 available in addition to business consulting services and a global network of leaders. Applications close on April 1 and is open to young entrepreneurs all around Africa. Link.
5. Founder Institute in Accra – The Founder Institute isn’t fully based in Accra (yet) but they are hosting a workshop for entrepreneurs who want to start their own technology company but don’t know where to begin. You’ll learn how to make the leap from Employee to Entrepreneur at the event happening in the British Council in Accra on Feb 27. RSVP here.
6. Day 36 and still no internet in Southern Cameroon. What is it about citizens being vocal that is so threatening to African leaders? #BringBackOurInternet.
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?
+ You’ve probably seen the new #DeleteUber tweets and are wondering what caused it. Here’s the post. A former Uber employee recounts her experience dealing with sexism while working at the organisation.
+ Wouldn’t it be great if the Rivers State Government of Nigeria got this device to combat the soot problem in the state?
+ Mugabe is sucking up to Trump and my eyebrows have refused to come down.
+ Nominations are now open for the 2017 West Africa Mobile Awards. Go here to enter your nominations in any of the 12 categories.
+ Some Uber drivers in Nairobi are on strike to protest low earnings. They want Uber to reduce its service charge to 10% as opposed to the 25% Uber currently collects. Lol.
Hot topic(s) on TechCabal Radar
+ Radar people will always help when you’re in a fix. This guy didn’t know whether to quit school and launch his own startup or suck it up and finish his degree. Some good advice in this thread.
Upcoming events
Joburg: Africa Energy Indaba Conference, 21 – 22 February. Link
Cape Town: e-Commerce MoneyAfrica Confex 2017, 22 – 23 February. Link
Nairobi: Sankalp Africa Summit 2017, 23 – 24 February. Link
Lagos: Agile Lagos Meetup, 24th February. Link.
Lagos: Lagos on Rails 2017, 25th February. Link
Lagos: Startup Grind, with Nimi Akinkugbe, 25th February. 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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