TC Daily

TechCabal Daily – Uber can now buy Egypt’s Careem but…

Kay Ugwuede 2nd January 2020

TOGETHER WITH FLUTTERWAVE

02 – 01 – 2020

Welcome to TC Daily, the first edition of the year! It’s the start of a new decade, subscribe! Also join us on Telegram; we are bringing you all the important stories about technology and digital innovation from Africa!

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Kicking this dispatch off with news about our next townhall event. Over the past year, we’ve brought together industry stakeholders, policymakers, investors and key sector players in various sectors from healthtech to edutech to spur conversations about these sectors and explore new opportunities and/or collaborations.

Come February 28, 2020 the next TechCabal townhall will focus on:
Emerging technologies including 5G, Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality, Cryptocurrencies, Robotics and 3D Printing. TC Townhall: Emerging Tech will examine how these technologies are changing (and will change) how Africans live and do business.

Want to attend?
Indicate interest by filling this form. Are you a member of the press, fill this form to qualify for a pass. Do you have a startup or project with any of these technologies at the core? Tell us about your project or startup here.

Have any ideas about the event or suggestions about speakers? Send us an email via team@techcabal.com and we just might make your wish come true. For sponsorship inquiries, please email Chidi via chidi@bigcabal.com.

Uber has been given a nod to acquire Egypt’s Careem after reaching an agreement with Egypt’s competition regulator, the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA). As a means to expand its services in the Greater Middle East Region, Uber announced its plans to acquire Careem for $3.1 billion (consisting of $1.7 billion in convertible notes and $1.4 billion in cash) in March 2019. The acquisition was however subject to regulatory approval. Part of the conditions the regulators have given Uber will see that prices consumers pay don’t exceed x2.5 the normal fares during sure periods; reduced entry barriers for partners and intermediaries; data sharing with competitors among other things.

Our first #MyLifeInTech entry for this year is Roger Gichuhi. Roger previously served as the Chief Operating Officer for Kenya’s Buni.tv, a popular VoD platform that curates and distributes local content across Africa. Buni.tv was acquired by TRACE in line with an expansion drive for its VoD platform TRACE Play and Roger, who has worked to aggregate the Kenyan tech ecosystem in the past, has gone on to continue working along the meeting points of technology and business. Read his journey in the tech sector here.

A Cairo-based fintech company, Dayra has won a US$15,000 grant from Y Combinator’s Startup School, becoming the first startup from the Middle East & North Africa to win it. Startup School is a ten-week online course by YC comprising video lessons by YC partners, and founders who are part of its network. Over 40,000 founders participated in the free online program in 2019 out of which a little over 10,000 graduated. YC selects a few startups whose founders graduate at the end of the program for the grant award.

Senegal has passed its Startup Act. It will be the second country in Africa after Tunisia to pass a dedicated law to guide digital innovation towards economic growth. Specifically, the Startup Act creates a specific support and governance framework for startups, as well as a suitable legal regime for the registration and labelling of Senegalese startups. It also creates a resource centre dedicated to startups, and a package of incentive measures.

Some global news: Chinese multinational conglomerate Tencent is leading a consortium of investors to purchase 10% of the world’s biggest music company, Universal Music Group, from Vivendi after months of talks. Tencent is a holding company owned by South African headquartered Naspers. The French media group has been trying to cash in on the soaring value of the music business, where revenue is growing fast thanks to the booming popularity of subscription streaming across the world. As revenues continue to soar however, the length of songs are shortening. More streams = more revenue.

The numbers are in for the global gaming industry and it may not be a bad idea to add ‘mobile game development’ to your list of new year goals. Across the world, the video games market generated $83 billion income in 2019. 60% of this sum came from mobile games alone. China, the United States, Japan and South Korea in that order generated the most revenues worldwide from mobile games. By 2024, more than 1.7 billion people will be playing games on their mobile devices.

That’s it for today,

Have a fruitful year!

– Kay

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TechCabal Daily – Uber can now buy Egypt’s Careem but…

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