South Africa Prepares For The Future; Inaugurates Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution
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| A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR |
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To be continually progressive and deliver convenient services to Nigerians, African Alliance, an insurance company which has been in existence since 1960 has unveiled a new digitally-savvy Corporate identity. Since its unveiling, the company has actively promoted the essence of life insurance and encouraged a culture of investment and asset ownership for Nigerian youths, through its website.
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African Alliance is giving life Insurance a new look and they are boldly pushing this narrative. Visit https://www.africanallianceplc.com/ to start your investment journey!
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| Nigerian fintech company, TeamApt, has announced that it has been issued a switching licence by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The newly acquired licence, the company says, will power its payment infrastructure solution, Aptpay. It also puts the company at par with financial service providers like Interswitch as it will now be able to process financial transactions between service providers and customers directly. In February, TeamApt closed a US$5.5 million Series A funding round led by Nigerian investors, Quantum Capital Partners. The licence is part of the CBN’s new licensing regime that has taken into cognizance emerging fintech solutions in a bid to provide better regulatory and risk management frameworks as stated in its draft proposal. TeamApt has said it is working on scaling to some other parts of Africa and Latin America by the third quarter of this year. |
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| South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has inaugurated the Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and appointed 30 members to the body. The commission is tasked with identifying “relevant policies, strategies and action plans that will position South Africa as a competitive global player” in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. University of Johannesburg’s Tshilidzi Marwala, an expert on artificial intelligence, is the deputy chair of the commission. The commission is another move in a renewed drive for the country’s technology future. Last month, the government announced new introductions, like courses in robotics, into its school curricula to prepare its young for the future. |
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Five women-led teams have been shortlisted from over 170 applicants as winners of the Standard Chartered Women in Technology Incubator 2019. The women will receive KES 1 million (about US$10,000) in seed funding each, for their businesses. The startups include Kenyan Bumpy Maternity Wear, Dermi Joy skincare, Nature’s Bowl enterprise, Abantu and Lugha Ishara community-based organization. Over the next nine months, the businesses will receive mentoring as well as milestone-based disbursement of the winnings.
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On the 18th of April, 2019, The British High Commission to Nigeria and EFInA (Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access) are convening an interactive session that brings fintech operators, investors, policy makers and hubs to explore the ways in which increased funding and enhanced regulatory harmony can grow the Nigerian Fintech ecosystem. Also, EFInA will announce the winners of its $2 million Fintech Challenge Fund; fintech companies who have built solutions to improve financial inclusion among low-income earners in Nigeria. Sign up here to indicate interest to attend. Please note that only limited seats are available therefore EFInA is unable to accommodate every applicant.
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Applications have opened for the ninth edition of the annual Orange Social Venture Prize in Africa and the Middle East. The prize rewards innovative projects in fields such as education, healthcare, farming, mobile payments and sustainable development. Applications are open until May 30.
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| TechCabal is pleased to introduce its first paid report, The State of Health Tech in Nigeria. This essential report looks deeply into the state of Nigeria’s health industry, the challenges facing that industry and the innovative startups working to find solutions to those challenges. The report profiles 75 active and 15 inactive health tech startups across 12 subsectors. It further examines the challenges these startups face, the opportunities in the space and makes actionable recommendations for entrepreneurs, investors and regulators to consider. Get the report here. |
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| Social enterprise, Paradigm Initiative, has opened applications for the second edition of the Paradigm Initiative Digital Rights and Inclusion Media Fellowship. The Fellowship is a 4-month program designed to immerse outstanding, early career, journalists in digital rights and digital inclusion advocacy – and intervention efforts – in Africa. Early-career journalists affiliated with mainstream print and online newspapers in Africa and with prior experience covering human rights and/or tech issues are welcome to apply. Apply here before May 6, 2019. |
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| The Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) is hosting a West Africa Global Accelerator Learning Initiative (GALI) roundtable in Lagos. Incubators, accelerators, investors and other business development support (BDS) providers in Nigeria are welcome to the roundtable tagged “Measuring Value for Money and Tools”. ANDE is a global entrepreneruship network supporting small and growing businesses in emerging markets. Register here to attend. |
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That’s all for today.
See you tomorrow.
– Kay
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