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Welcome to today’s edition of TC Daily. Did a friend or colleague forward this to you? Do take a moment to subscribe so you don’t miss out on future editions.
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A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSORS
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Blockfinex stands for “Blockchain Financial Exchange” meaning integrating Blockchain assets, digital technology with finance. Once launched, this exchange platform make a fiat-crypto section available to all Nigerians to deposit funds and trade all tokens of their choice without having to incur extra fees transferring from one exchange to another. As a new user, you would be getting a demo trading platform and 1 month of zero-trading fees for the First Month. Learn more HERE.
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 Our upcoming event, TC Townhall Fintech 2.0 Lagos, which we are hosting in partnership with Softcom, will feature a showcase of innovative fintech applications that are pushing the envelope and showing us what is possible in the future. If you have a compelling fintech product/application, and you’d like to showcase it at the event, tell us about it here. It’s all happening on November 30, 2018 so hurry.
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Paris-based media group Trace has announced that it has acquired an undisclosed stake in Senegalese mobile classifieds platform CoinAfrique. Matthias Papet, cofounder at CoinAfrique, tells Ventureburn that “It’s a media-for-equity deal where CoinAfrique will take advantage of Trace Tv’s audience to promote [its] service in French-speaking Africa.”
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| Safaricom has partnered with the Kenyan Ministry of Health and the Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance of Kenya (NCDAK) to launch Fafanuka. it is an SMS and USSD-based platform that’ll the educate public, patients, nurses, community health workers and caregivers on how to prevent, screen, diagnose, manage and follow up various non-communicable diseases. Fafanuka means ‘to be enlightened’ in Swahili. |
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| Google parent company Alphabet’s Loon, which wants to provide balloon-powered internet through Telkom Kenya’s network, has secured necessary regulatory approval and has begun setting up ground infrastructure in Kenya, TechMoran reports. The report also says Loon and Telkom expect to start conducting initial tests across Kenya in the first half of 2019. |
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The Nigerian government is seeking the sum of $500 million for a “technology innovation fund” from the African Development Bank (AfDB), per Guardian Nigeria. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says the government is approaching the AfDB “knowing fully well that the bank has invested so much in innovation in Rwanda, Ivory Coast and some other African countries.”
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Spotify has officially launched in the Middle East and North Africa, per Reuters. The music streaming service will now be available in 13 Arab markets, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Morocco.
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Nokia and South Africa-based operator Rain have partnered for 5G deployment in the country, IT News Africa reports. Both companies are targeting the first quarter of 2019 for full network deployment.
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South Africa-based MTN Group has partnered with KaiOS, China Mobile Communications Group and China-based UNISOC to announce what they are calling the first 3G smart feature phone in Africa. No word on when its coming to market though. MTN CEO Rob Shuter also announced that the telco has acquired South African music streaming platform Simfy.
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Seacom South Africa has reached an agreement to buy 100% of SA open-access fibre provider FibreCo for an undisclosed sum. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and Seacom says the deal represents a “milestone” in its “vision to expand its African footprint through the consolidation of fibre assets.”
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Microsoft South Africa has launched Head Start – a support program that will provide local tech startups with access to skills development resources, mentors, a fully-fledged customer network, and the platform on which to build their products and services, per Disrupt Africa. If you’re in that neck of the woods you can register for the program here.
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Tech advisory service AppsAfrica has announced the 14 winners of the 2018 AppsAfrica Innovation Awards – its fourth edition. This year’s winners are from Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. Ventureburn has more.
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| You are invited to TC Townhall, Fintech 2.0, holding in partnership with Softcom on November 30. The forum will take a look at the next generation of financial technologies in Nigeria. Speakers include Adia Sowho (MD, Mines.io), Gbenga Agboola (CEO, Flutterwave), Titi Odunfa (MD, Sankore Investments), Dr. Yinka David West (Academic Director, LBS), Yvonne Johnson (fintech angel investor) and Yomi Adedeji (CEO, Softcom). Registration is now live, and seats are limited. See you there! |
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All Done.
We’ll see you tomorrow.
– Akindare.
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