TechCabal Daily – TikTok donates $10 million for coronavirus vaccines in Africa

This week, a Lagos State chief judge, Kazeem Alogba, declared that court hearings can hold remotely through Skype or Zoom. According to a TechPoint report, the judiciary in Nigeria’s commercial capital established the directive through a draft of the Practice Directions for remote hearing of cases.

The draft has been established to observe social distancing restrictions to flatten the curve in the state. The remote hearing allowance, however, will only apply for
urgent, important or time-bound cases like bail applications and similar ones as approved by the chief judge.

Since coronavirus lockdowns began across the continent, court hearings and judgements have been delivered virtually in a number of countries including Kenya and Zimbabwe. The directive by Lagos’ judiciary may be in response to the outrage that followed the arrest and prosecution of Nigerian producer, Funke Akindele. The court where she was prosecuted was packed prompting concerns about spreading the virus and double-standards.

After landing a product manager role at a Nigerian fintech startup, Ejimonye Ofodum had little time for home cleaning due to the immense workload. Ofodum later launched a tech-enabled cleaning service called Fichaya to not only address her domestic needs but that of others.

For Ofodum, technology is simply a tool for scale and amplification. At the beginning, her company’s business model was built in a way that it was operational manually and once a structured flow was in place, technology helped amplify and scale the process.

This week’s My Life in Tech features Ejimonye Ofodum’s tech journey, her company’s origin and struggles in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

Chinese video-sharing social network, TikTok and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have each donated $10 million to vaccine alliance, Gavi to deploy coronavirus vaccines in Africa. While no vaccines are officially available, the fund is anticipating their availability. The donation will also support routine vaccinations against existing infectious diseases.

There are 76 coronavirus vaccines according to the WHO’s records, of which five are already undergoing clinical evaluation. Experts say it could take a year for one to be ready for public use. When it does happen, donations make it easier for poorer countries to get access to them.

Tiktok has been gaining popularity among African netizens. Since 2018, it has been investing in the continent. It’s been hiring local staff in its key markets (Kenya, Nigeria & South Africa) and poaching creators from Youtube and Instagram.

Biotech company, 54Gene has launched a mobile laboratory, bringing the total number of molecular laboratories in the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control’s network of coronavirus test centres to 17 as of yesterday. This follows the launch of 54Gene’s $500,000 COVID-19 fund and the close of its $15 million Series A round.

The
lab which is located in Ogun State southwest Nigeria is among the first accredited private facilities to join the country’s network COVID-19 test centres.

In partnership with Google, Kenyan-based telco, Safaricom is rolling out a new smartphone financing service. Through the service, over one million customers who earn daily wages will be able to acquire 4G powered devices. Instalments will be as low as Ksh 20 (19 cents) a day. In a previous campaign, Safaricom helped more than a million
customers acquire 4G enabled smartphones.

According to Mariama Abdullahi, Director, Android and Platforms Partnerships for Africa approximately 60% of Kenyans use the 2G network. The service is expected to help subscribers enjoy the full benefits of the digital economy including the opportunities it presents. But it is also a good tactic for Safaricom to build customer loyalty and for Google to deepen Android penetration.