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Last week it was Spotify Greenroom. Yesterday morning, Facebook officially launched Live Audio Rooms. Another Clubhouse competitor.
It also began rolling out its new podcast listening experience that lets users listen to podcast episodes while they browse Facebook.
In today’s edition:
- This Nigerian-Taiwanese couple and their love for online gaming
- How do you avoid investment scams?
- Airtel Nigeria makes health insurance available via USSD
- Shopify is now a payment company too
This Nigerian-Taiwanese couple and their love for online gaming
In an exam hall in 2012, Olaide met the woman he would one day marry. When they started dating, he introduced Ying-Yi (who is half-Nigerian and half-Taiwanese) to online gaming. Now married, they are an ardent gaming couple.
Seven years later
In 2019, when Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf a 16-year-old got $3 million for winning a fornite tournament, Olaide Akanji was part of that tournament. He even made it to the top 1,000, out of the initial 80 million people who started, before dropping off.
On TechRepublic, a weekly radio show, the couple share the story of their love for gaming with the radio show hosts and Alex.
What’s it like being a Nigerian online gamer?
Olaide: I have been playing video games since I was a kid. My first Playstation 2 was from my dad. I became very good at gaming but I felt it couldn’t take me anywhere because our 300kbps internet was so bad. Playing online was just impossible.
Then I moved to the UK to study software engineering and everything was better. I dived into e-sports and built a following on Twitch. But I was not comfortable with a foreign audience. Gaming was more fun when I moved back. I could chat and banter on my streams in Pidgin and Yoruba.
Our problem here is that when you click on a button for any of those actions, it needs to travel to a server in Europe before it returns to Nigeria. And if you are playing against someone in Europe, their ping is much faster. I may shoot him first but it may not get to him when I do; then he shoots a second later and wins. That’s why you have not seen Nigerians breakthrough internationally.
Read more: A Nigerian-Taiwanese couple, on their love for online gaming
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🏾 Learn more at paystack.com/storefrontHow do you avoid scams in Nigeria?
Airtel Nigeria makes health insurance available via USSD
Airtel has collaborated with AXA Mansard, a leading healthcare service provider, to launch a new service that gives its Nigerian subscribers access to health insurance through their mobile phones.
How it works: By dialling the short code *987*7#, Airtel users can now enroll for health insurance plans from AXA Mansard, with access to over 1,000 hospitals nationwide for healthcare services.
What it covers: Some of the covers provided in the AXA Mansard Health plans include malaria cover, inpatient, outpatient, specialist medical consultations, immunizations, family planning, ambulance services, dental care, etc.
Why it matters: Despite the importance of having a health insurance plan, the uptake of insurance products among most Nigerians has been consistently low. As of 2018, about 97% of Nigerians covered in a survey did not have any health insurance.
We are excited to be partnering with Fintech Week London to give our community 15% off with the code TechCabal15. Taking place 12-16 July, Fintech Week London explores the biggest trends in financial services including big tech and big banks, open banking, digital identity and much more. For the full agenda and to register go to https://fintechweek.london.
Shopify is now a payment company too
Event: Digital Africa
If you’re young, skillful in the area of technology and looking for an exciting new career in a dynamic, fast-paced environment abroad, then you should probably consider Europe. Getting a job in Europe is now made easy through the help of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
To know more about the IOM Match Project, register for and attend the three-day Digital Africa Conference and Exhibition starting today, June 22nd.