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TC Weekender – MTN rolls out 5G in Nigeria

By Ngozi Chukwu Aug 27, 2022

Image source: Techcabal

Editor’s Note

Week 34, 2022
Read time: 5 minutes

Nigeria’s ASUU strike is upending the degree-before-career norm in the minds of young Nigerians, many of whom are turning to tech as they wait for university to resume. That’s tech for you: snaking its way around society, moving things around, building new modes of engagement, and creating new opportunities.

This week’s stories taught me a lot—from how South Africa became Africa’s hotbed for startup exits to why podcasting is not yet profitable across Africa. I hope they give you something to talk about over lunch on Sunday.

We’re also conducting a survey to see how we can improve the newsletter. Please take a few minutes to tell us how TC Weekender is doing so far.

Take care. ❤

Immaculata Abba, Senior Editor, TechCabal.

Editor’s Picks

	MTN rolls out 5G Eight months after paying a $273.6 million license fee, MTN has become the first telecommunication provider in Nigeria to roll out a 5G mobile network. It is not available everywhere you go yet, just 190 sites so far. learn where it’s headed next.
	SA continues to strike gold with tech exits South Africa is becoming the land of mergers and acquisitions. By June last year, the country’s mergers and acquisitions raked in $52 billion from a total of 169 deals. Since 2015, over one-third of tech acquisitions have involved South African companies. Find out why.
	Univeristy strike is breeding tech talent While Nigerian universities are sustaining their 6-month-long strike, students are striking out in tech. They are learning coding and no-code skills. Some have gotten work opportunities in tech, while others say that they’re strongly considering switching to tech careers. Read the story.
	Binance now supports ZAR Days after South Africa’s central bank issued a guidance note to encourage banks to do business with crypto asset service providers, Binance announced that its users will now be able to deposit and withdraw the South African Rand (ZAR) to and from their Binance wallets. Learn why on TechCabal.
	SA has 4 million crypto holders According to a report by Finders, 4 million South Africans own cryptocurrencies. This is 10% of their population, which is lower than the global average of 15%. Of the South Africans surveyed, 5% own bitcoin, 2% own ethereum, 2% own dogecoin, and another 1% own Cardano. Other things the report said.

	Podcasting in Africa is popular but unprofitable The P in podcasting means profit for only a tiny percent of the increasing number of Africans that are engaging in it. Like poetry back in the day, the endeavour is largely a passion project on the continent. The news is on TechCabal.

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	Binance launches a crypto hub in Cameroon Despite the implicit ban of cryptocurrency in Cameroon, cryptocurrency infrastructure provider Binance has launched a crypto education hub in Yaounde, Cameroon to train and support crypto enthusiasts across Francophone Africa. Learn more.
	CTSE raises $5 million The Cape Town Stock Exchange (CTSE) closed a $5 million oversubscribed funding round led by venture capital investment company Imvelo Ventures. The money will be used to make the entire process of listing companies easier and trading cheaper, faster and more secure. Read about it.
	Google Wallet opens to SA Google Wallet, which was recently rebranded from Google Pay, rolled out in South Africa. This is the first African country that the service will support. The recent upgrade has made it possible for users to use the app for more than just payments. Learn more.
	Earn in dollars with these 5 tech skills. With the ongoing inflation, you might be looking for a way to earn in dollars. Wondering which tech skills are in hot demand abroad? We made a list of those tech skills. The good news is there are diverse work opportunities—remote, part-time, full-time, freelancing, etc. Read more.
	Buju holds a listening party in the metaverse Nigerian musician BNXN fka Buju privately performed songs from his latest extended playlistt—Bad Since 97—using Spatial, a holographic collaboration platform for extended reality. Irrespective of their locations, fans walked side by side with his 3D avatar as he performed. Read about the party and his NFTs.

Who brought the money this week?

Egyptian ArabyAds, raised $30 million in a Pre-series B round from AfricInvest.
Cameroonian Taaply, a digital business card solution aimed at cutting down on carbon emissions in Africa, raised an initial funding round worth $500k from unnamed investors.
SubsBase, a subscription and revenue management platform, raised $2.4 million in seed funding led by Global Ventures.
Egypt-based edtech company OBM raised an undisclosed amount (six-digit) from EdVentures in the second round of funding.