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Calling in some more regulations…

It’s Tuesday…

1. Safaricom’s birthday gift – Kenya’s ICT minister, dear uncle Joe has said that the government is not going to issue new regulations to force Safaricom and MPesa to split into separate business entities. He said the country already had laws to stimulate competition and penalising a company for innovation is “unfair”. You go, sir! A draft report commissioned by the Communication Authority of Kenya had earlier found that Safaricom is a dominant player in the mobile money and mobile communications sectors and recommended that the company should be broken up to improve competition. I don’t understand. Safaricom is a business entity, it shouldn’t be coerced into splitting if it doesn’t make business sense. Link.

2. Meanwhile, the South African government is looking at regulating social media in the country. They say it is to halt the spread of “misinformation.” I’m just here observing. Link.

3. Yesterday’s digest was very Nigerian so let’s spruce it up with some Ghanaian flavour. Ghana marked its 60th anniversary yesterday and Emmanuel Quartey finished work (as usual) with his article in QZ Africa on what the next 60 years should be about. Link.

+ Nigerian jollof is still better tho. Never forget. 

4. Over in Uganda, Andela is now accepting applications into its first Ugandan cohort. You already know what Andela is about, so be sure to apply here before April 1st.

5. YCombinator knows that going through with your startup idea is hard. They’re doing something about it and providing free MOOC online classes in their new Startup School. Don’t sleep on this. Link.

6. It’s Day 50 of the internet shutdown in Anglophone Cameroon #BringBackOurInternet.


You can now apply to 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, workspace, living space, back office support, shared services and seed funding. Deadline’s March 11. Link.


What else is going on?

+ I actually screamed when I saw this tweet, they’re setting the agenda for women in politics, one manel at a time. #SayNoToManels.

+ Would you like to book flights via email? Mark asked and twitter provided some interesting responses. Link.

+ Marek has some good advice for startups. According to him, storytelling is a marketing strategy to get customers not a bullshitting strategy to get investors. Link.

+ And if as a consumer, you’re worried about helping the environment and being ‘green’ with your buying choices, I’m sorry to burst your bubble but conscious consumerism is a lie, here’s a better way to save the world.

+ How about saving costs by 3D printing large vehicle parts? Ford wants to try it. Link.

+ South African researchers are taking it a step further and building the world’s largest machine for 3D printing aircraft parts. They are already in talks with Airbus and Boeing. Link.

+ Facebook is now flagging links to fake sites by marking posts with a ‘disputed’ tag. Link.


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Hot topic(s) on TechCabal Radar

+ Join us on Thursday for our Radar AMA with Dave McClure, founder and Managing Partner of 500 Startups. March 9th at 8:30 pm (WAT). Go here to save the date in your calendar. Link.

+ Meet Lara, your automated directions assistant. Link.


Upcoming events…

Lagos: Cranium One’s fireside chat with Toro Orero on the 8th of March. Link. 

Ibadan: 
The Google Developer Group in Ibadan is hosting a meetup on March 8th. Link.

Cape Town: SABAN Angel Investor Training on the 9th of March. Link

Johannesburg: DevConf is happening on the 9th of March. Link

Lagos: Seedstars’ Growth Hacking series at Seedspace on the 11th of March. Link

Singularity University’s Global Impact Challenge East Africa application deadline is on the 10th of March. Link.

Ventures Platform accelerator programme applications will close on the 11th. Link

Please help our events aggregation algorithm get smarter! Add your event


That’s all folks!

Have a great day! You already know how to make my day. 

It’s Nigerian jollof or nothing in today’s TechCabal digest. Get it here –

Mobisola Atolagbe Author

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