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.
Major stuff happening…
1. The Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Ministry of Finance, has launched a finance management software called OneBook. It’s supposed to provide a unified accounting and reporting system for expenditure, financial, treasury and receipts management across the three tiers of government. Obviously, this is some effort to reduce corruption and embezzlement, but you’ll forgive me if I don’t seem optimistic. That button’s broken.
2. BitPesa has partnered with Berlin-based Bitbond to make global cross-border lending possible. This partnership means borrowers who receive funding on Bitbond can have their loan paid out directly to a mobile money or bank account. In other words, small business owners can receive loan funding from investors from all over the world and have these funds paid out to their mobile money accounts. This service is available in Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania.
3. South African online ticketing service, Quicket, has raised an undisclosed amount from KNF Ventures. They plan to expand to other parts of Africa, and have already started making partnerships in Uganda and Kenya.
4. Today marks Day 72 of the internet shutdown in Anglophone Cameroon. #BringBackOurInternet
The Zunde Africa Fund (ZAF), a group that invests in student-run businesses, is looking for passionate student entrepreneurs across Africa who are ready to take their businesses to the next level. Applications are open until May 1st. You can apply here.
Our Radar AMA with Olamide Bada is today at 2pm! Olamide is the Managing Director, Jumia Food Nigeria and she’ll be around to answer all the questions you have about the food delivery business and/or Jumia’s processes. In the meantime, here are five things you should know about her before the AMA starts.
Interesting stuff…
+ Here, we have our beloved Bankole explaining the new Techcabal to the world.
+ Does a smartphone you can buy for N5,000 monthly payments over 12 months in Nigeria sound good to you? Apparently, Bankole knows something we don’t. From what I can tell, a Nigerian OEM, telco and microfinance bank are coming together to make this happen. Details on Monday.
+ Ebi Atawodi is the new Product Manager, Global Payments Growth at Uber. According to her LinkedIn, she left her role as General Manager, Uber West Africa to resume in the Netherlands in February. ? Lagos today, Amsterdam tomorrow. Oluwa lo se o…? Congrats!
+ Word reaching us is that Rwanda is the new Kenya for tech and innovation. According to a report by the Africa Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), Rwanda ranks third in science, tech & innovation capacity in Africa (Morocco and Tanzania rank first and second respectively).
+ That’s not all. This article by Tom Jackson calls Rwanda the test kitchen for Africa – The World Economic Forum ranked them country first in Africa for government success in ICT promotion. This is actually not surprising seeing as Rwanda is the one African country that’s been progressive with drone use. More power to you, my lovely one.
+ SA’s NicheStreem has been selected to be a part of US-based PeaceTech Accelerator’s first cohort. The programme will last eight weeks after which startups will pitch to potential investors.
+ What makes content go viral? Ibanga Enoobong was able to pen 6 elements from a job listing making rounds on Twitter, Facebook and Whatsapp. The article is based on the principles of stickiness found in Chip and Dan Heath’s Made to Stick.
+ Dev superstar, Prosper Otemuyiwa wrote a free ebook on how to migrate an app from PHP5 to PHP7.
+ Today’s Tweet of the Week contender is by Jason Njoku who threw marvellous shade at Spotify. Yes, they have 50 million paid subscribers, but what you probably don’t know is they recorded a loss of about $194 million in 2015.
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. Deadline’s April 1st.
Hot topics on Radar
+ What exactly is an Africa-focused Andela? Osarumen wants to know. Inspired by Mark Essien’s tweet about the dearth of good Nigerian developers.
+ Leadspace’s Deji Conde made an infographic/directory of coworking spaces in Lagos.
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Upcoming events…
Johannesburg: 500 Startups’ Geeks on a plane South Africa tour, March 28th to 30th. Link.
Midrand: IoT Forum Africa, March 29th to 30th. Link.
Lagos: usable Meetup, March 30th. Link.
Abuja: Ventures Platform’s StartUp Jam, March 30th. Link.
Accra: Starta’s Silicon Drinkup, March 30th. Link.
Brussels: Paradigm Initiative at RightsCon 2017, March 30th. Link.
London: LSE Africa Summit, March 31st. Link.
Lagos: LeadSpace Happy Hour, March 31st. Link.
Kaduna: StartUp Friday, March 31st. Link.
Lagos: Introduction to Android Things, April 1st. Link.
Upcoming Deadlines…
Anzisha Prize 2017: Applications close on the 1st of April 2017. Link.
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Thanks for reading!
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I’m all caught up on African tech thanks to today’s TechCabal digest. Get it here
