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This Week: Kenya threatens Facebook with suspension

By Ngozi Chukwu Jul 30, 2022

Image source: Techcabal

Editor’s Note

Week 30, 2022
Read time: 5 minutes

In a week-plus, Kenyans will go to the polls in what stands to be one of the most anticipated elections in Africa this year. As election day draws close, Facebook has tried to help by using its platform to curb disinformation and hate speech during the period. But it seems the social media giant isn’t working as quickly as some stakeholders in the East African country would like. Read all about that in today’s edition of TC Weekender.

Peace,

Kelechi Njoku, Senior Editor, TechCabal.

Editor’s Picks

	Kenyan banks to cut ties with Flutterwave and Chipper Cash Unicorn fintechs, Flutterwave and Chipper Cash, have been caught in a flood of sad news. This week, the Central Bank of Kenya said that Flutterwave and Chipper Cash aren’t licensed to operate in Kenya and has directed banks to cut ties with them. Read more on TechCabal.
	NITDA’s new bill seeks to tax and fine Nigerian tech companies How thin is the line between regulation and restriction? A newly-approved bill by Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is toeing that line. While it provides for the rights of consumers, it also taxes tech startups and threatens to fine or imprison defaulting parties. Learn more on TechCabal.
	Nigeria’s House of Reps passes the Nigeria Startup Bill There’s a bill which the tech ecosystem is happy about—the Nigeria Startup Bill. Last week, the Nigerian Senate passed the bill. Now, it has completed its round at the National Assembly and is on its way to the president to become law! More details are on TechCabal.
	Kenya threatens to suspend Facebook Facebook is facing an ultimatum to get hate speech off its platform in 7 days or leave Kenya. This comes after it was reported that the content moderation tools facebook instituted for upcoming Kenya election failed to detect hate speech in election adverts used to test the platform. Read more on TechCrunch.
	AFC invest $100 Million in Angola’s Cabinda Refinery The African Financial Corporation has invested $100 million in the construction of Angola’s Cabinda refinery. Coincidentally, due to the Russian-Ukraine crisis, Europe is looking for alternative sources of fuel. Angola might secure that bag. Full details are on Techloy.
	Telkom drags SA’s President Ramaphosa to court South African mobile network operator Telkom has asked the Pretoria High Court to tell President Cyril Ramaphosa to take his nose out of its business. The president had ordered the Special Investigating Unit to investigate allegations of maladministration and misconduct at Telkom. Learn more on MyBroadband.

	Binance adds 12 Nigerian banks to its P2P platform Cryptocurrencies are dipping but Binance is deepening its peer-to-peer (P2P) volume. The crypto platform added 21 banks across the African continent to its P2P platform. Although crypto related transactions are banned in Nigeria, 12 Nigerian banks were included. The news is on Nairametrics.

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Standard Chartered Bank shuts down international spend

Weeks after, several African fintechs shutdown their virtual dollar card services, British multinational bank Standard Chartered Bank, told its customers that from August 1, it would be suspending international spend on its naira cards.

More details are on TechNext.

UK’s BII to invest $6 billion in Africa

In the middle of this economic downturn, UK-owned investment agency BII is planning to make a $6 billion investment in Africa.The investment will be made over the next 5 years in renewable power, digital infrastructure, and women-owned businesses.

Read the news on TechCentral.

Who brought the money this week?

Health tech startup Ubenwa secured $2.5 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Radical Ventures.
Egyptian e-commerce startup The Fashion Kingdom raised a seed funding of $2.6 million in a round led by Egypt-based venture capital firm CVentures.
Nigeria’s Hashgreed, an NFT marketplace,raised over $1 million to finance its expansion goals.
Hybrid hardware-software company Qwili, based in Cape Town, raised $1.2 million in an oversubscribed seed round led by E4E Africa.