| This week, the Web Foundation, launched in 2009 by the inventor of the world wide web Tim Berners-Lee, released “A Contract for the Web”. It is a policy document aimed at ‘fixing’ the internet and is supported by about 150 organisations including Google, Facebook and Nigeria’s Paradigm Initiative. The contract lists nine core principles for governments, companies, and individuals to adhere to, including responsibilities to provide affordable, reliable internet access and to respect civil discourse and human dignity.
It is perhaps an admission by the man who founded the web 30 years ago that his most novel invention has also become a dystopian hellscape that has grown wildly to cause real harm in the world. The list of companies endorsing the Contract such as Facebook, Google and Twitter, companies that have been accused of shirking their responsibilities of ensuring a safe internet in the past, is also fascinating.
Go here to find out more about the Contract. |
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| Lime, the U.S. transportation company, will become the first major micromobility operator to launch scooters in Africa. Early next year, Lime will roll out electric scooters in Cape Town, South Africa.
According to TechCrunch, Lime will deploy its initial fleet of scooters at privately-owned locations throughout the city, unlike in the U.S. and Europe where the scooters are deployed on public sidewalks. |
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| He’s back! Although he never really went anywhere. Sim Shagaya’s latest startup uLesson has raised a $3.1 million seed round led by TLcom Capital.
Shagaya, who founded the e-commerce startup Konga and advertising company E-Motion, is an experienced fixture in Nigeria’s startup scene.
What is uLesson, you say?
uLesson is an edtech learning platform targeting secondary school learners and aims to address infrastructure and learning gaps in Africa’s education sector. The company, which has been in beta for 12 months will officially launch in February 2020. It says it will use the funds to bring its 3,000 animated video modules, quizzes and tests to the West African market and develop content for East Africa.
And speaking of edtech… |
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| Anna Ekeledo is the Executive Director of AfriLabs, a pan-African network of 174 tech hubs in 45 African countries. She is also the Regional Innovation Lead – Africa at the EdTech Hub – the world’s largest education technology research and innovation project.
Join her at our townhall this Friday.
When & Where?
The TC Townhall Edtech & the Future of Work will hold on November 29, 2019, at Zone Tech Park, Gbagada Expressway, Lagos.
Why should you be there?
We are bringing together regulators, government agencies, investors, entrepreneurs, NGOs, social enterprises and schools to set a strong agenda about how to use technology to leapfrog Africa’s education challenges and prepare our citizens for future jobs.
To attend the Townhall, click here to buy your tickets. To enjoy our discounts for companies/individuals buying at least 5 tickets, please click here. |
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| The Jollof Road Team are now in Mali, their 12th country. It’s Day 67 and the trip is gradually winding down. In the latest entry on the journal, Toke writes that there is more that connects West Africa than just the staple food they’ve spent these past months chasing. Read more of her thoughts here and keep up with the remainder of this epic journey! |
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| The Senegal Startup Act has been passed by the country’s cabinet and will now go before the National Assembly next month in order to be passed into law.
The Act contains a number of recommendations that aim to promote innovation and entrepreneurship, covering areas such as tax policies, startup financing, startup labelling, and the promotion of data collection and sharing so that entrepreneurs can develop better business plans.
It will go before the National Assembly in December and if approved, Senegal will become the second African country, after Tunisia to implement a Startup Act. |
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| South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said Eskom, the country’s electricity company, will not be sold or privatised. Ramaphosa said privatising Eskom would be similar to selling it.
The public company, whose remit is to supply electricity to South Africa, has had a rough few years with multiple rounds of government bailouts and is about $30 billion in debt. For months, the public utility firm which supplies 95% of South Africa’s electricity, struggled to attract a CEO up until a couple of weeks ago, such is the level of rot that has set in that almost nobody wanted to take an impossible job. These inefficiencies led some to call for Eskom’s privatisation but Ramaphosa’s comments seem to have put an end to those conversations, at least for now. |
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| If you’re in Egypt, this one’s for you. Applications are now open for the 14th cycle of Flat6Labs Cairo accelerator programme, which offers access to training, mentorship and funding.
Flat6Labs Cairo is one of six MENA locations of the Flat6Labs accelerator brand, which also runs a handful of seed funds.
Successful startups will join a four-month programme and receive seed funding of between $31,000 and $47,000.
You can apply here until the December 10 deadline. |
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That’s it for today!
See you tomorrow,
– Aanu
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