Social media tax costs Uganda $1.2 million and 5 million internet users
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Uganda’s social media tax has turned out to a bit of a disaster, per Quartz Africa. According to the report, internet subscription declined by more than 2.5 million users, while the sum of taxpayers from over-the-top (OTT) media services decreased by more than 1.2 million users. In addition, the value of mobile money transactions fell by 4.5 trillion Ugandan shillings ($1.2 million). Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni had first proposed the tax in March 2018 to curb “gossip” and “increase government revenues”.
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| Amazon has launched a cross-border payment product called “Amazon PayCode” in Kenya in Africa and nine other countries in Asia and Latin America. The product will allow customers to purchase goods and then pay for them at a local Western Union retail agent. A special QR code will be generated during checkout and that will be used to verify the customer’s identity then matched to the order confirmation for payment. |
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| Nigerian payments startup OyaPay has reportedly shut down operations following a spat between the startups’ founders and a familial investor. According to Techpoint, the founders wanted to raise venture capital to scale their product but the investor, who happens to be an uncle of one of the founders, refused to allow his shares be “diluted”. Techpoint confirms that some members of the OyaPay team have joined Paystack and TechCabal can confirm that former OyaPay CEO and co-founder Abdulhammid Hassan has joined Paystack as a Product Manager. |
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| Kenyan business directory startup Findit.ke has reportedly raised $200K in seed funding from unnamed investors, per Techmoran. The startup will immediately set its sights on expansion across East Africa, the report says. |
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Kenyan payments firm Pesapal has integrated Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, FitBit Pay, and Google Pay remittances on its tap-and-go contactless Sabi M010 terminals. According to Techweez, users who have devices that support these payment platforms, especially tourists, will be able to use Pesapal’s terminals to make payments.
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| Website hosting giant GoDaddy is setting up its first African office in South Africa, per Techcentral. The company will hold a March 13 event to commemorate the occasion. |
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| A new PwC report says Nigeria enjoyed a total of $25.08 billion in remittances in 2018. According to Techpoint, that’s a 14% increase from 2017 and 83% of the federal government’s 2018 budget in value. The World Bank already ranks Nigeria as having the top remittance in-flow in Africa and fifth globally behind India, China, Philippines and Mexico. |
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| The folks at Nigerian food blog, Eat Drink Lagos, have launched an event management product called Festival Coins. The launch comes off the back of the last edition of the Eat Drink Festival during which the Eat Drink Lagos folks used the Festival Coins product to manage access, payments and sponsorships for the Festival. According to the product website, it promises to help clients increase onsite spend by up to 135%. Check out Festival Coins here. |
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