TechCabal Daily – You should expect a shortage of smartphones

The Chinese manufacturer behind Tecno, Infinix and itel has struggled with production output. Its factories in India, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Bangladesh have been affected by government-mandated lockdowns. Yes factories are reopening in China where the semblance of normalcy is returning gradually. But Transsion’s ability to continue its dominance of the smartphone market in Africa requires its plants in the four countries above to be functioning.

But it’s not just a Transsion problem – Vivo, Oppo and Samsung also manufacture phones in Bangladesh. As Abubakar points out in this piece, its a development that could interrupt the inflow of smartphones into Africa.

South African online preschool education startup Play Sense has received an R8.25 million (~$457,500) investment from Enygma Ventures, a US-based venture capital firm. Play Sense was founded in 2015 by Lara Schoenfeld and Meg Faure. The startup offers two online programs aimed at personalising care and stimulation for two and three year olds.

Enygma’s investment in Play Sense is the first from a R100 million (~$5.5million) purse that will go to a cohort of 11 women-led startups in the Southern African Development Community. The VC held an investment readiness program earlier this year, and other startups like Play Sense who qualified from the series will receive up to R10 million (~$554,500).

Thanks to the approval of the Civil Aviation (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) Regulations Act, it will no longer be out of bounds for civilians in Kenya to own and operate drones. Until the laws’ approval, only military personnel were allowed to own and operate drones in the country. Flying a drone is no longer an offense punishable by a 12 month prison sentence, a controversial parliament law instituted in 2018.

With the new regulation in force, photographers, media producers and other innovators will now be free to use the technology’s capabilities hopefully for social good.   

LightWare, a South African hardware startup, is developing technology that is being used by Google and Amazon to build drones. The company’s detection system uses light from a laser instead of radio waves to detect objects. Savings in costs, weight, and power are part of the appeal of LightWare’s innovative approach to solving 2D problems in the aerial photography space. It is exciting to see that, besides the current attention to software, Africa has the potential to produce hardware technology for global consumers.

On March 31st, we released our Nigerian Women in Tech Report. The report, powered by the UK-Nigeria Tech Hub, examines the distribution and level of involvement of women in Nigeria’s technology and STEM fields. It features 21 women entrepreneurs and C-suite executives as well as 7 female developers. It celebrates successes, looks at the gaps that exist in women participation, show challenges and highlight recommendations for improvement. Download the report for free. All reports from TechCabal are available for download here.

The evolution in internet speed over the past three decades has been spectacular. By historic standards of communication, ours is the age of speed and seamless connectivity.

5G is supposed to make our connections faster, improving service delivery and general quality of life. But valid concerns regarding radio wave radiations have become overblown into an international hysterical conspiracy theory. We have decided to clear the air on the matter, hoping that the teaching of science and critical thinking will dispel the rise and spread of similar incredulous misinformation in Africa.

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