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Eid Mubarak 🌙
A couple of weeks ago, a coalition of African fintechs banded together to fight fraud. This isn’t a new phenomenon.
Previous attempts at Justice League-styled posses have—much like Elon Musk’s standup comedy career—failed to take off. The reason: the head honchos don’t trust each other.
Here’s what we think fintechs can do differently this time.
P.S We’ll be in your inboxes all through the long weekend. Elon Musk’s Twitter fingers may work hard, but we work harder. 🙂
MUSK’S STARSHIP EXPLODES PREMATURELY
Yesterday, a test flight at Elon Musk’s space exploration company, SpaceX, led to the explosion of what is perhaps the company’s most important test till date.
A Mars landing: Since 2012, SpaceX has been developing Starship, the world’s most powerful rocket with twice the firepower of any known rocket. Starship is over 120 metres long, and Musk’s long-term vision is to help human colonisation of Mars.
After waiting years, SpaceX finally received approval from the government to kick off its tests earlier in April. It was originally scheduled to launch on Monday, April 17, but that launch was cancelled after a pressurisation valve was reported frozen—they couldn’t let it go.
What went wrong this time? The launch was successful. A live streaming of the launch shows that Starship took off at 8:33 AM BST. A few minutes after take-off, though, it blew up. SpaceX, in a tweet, reports that Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly after two sections of its rocket pulled a Bonnie-and-Clyde—they were inseparable.
Congratulations to SpaceX: It might appear that the company lost a rocket and potentially millions of dollars with this test, but so far, everyone—even Musk—considers it a success. That’s why it’s a test! SpaceX itself was sceptical about the success of the test, and will now learn from its mistakes. Musk also took to Twitter to congratulate his team, and urge them towards learning from the test.
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FACEBOOK AIDING CHILD TRAFFICKING IN SA
According to South Africa’s minister of police, Bheki Cele, children in the country are being sold online through social media platforms such as Facebook.
Cele stated that in November last year, police were made aware of incidents of parents advertising children on social media platforms.
Nothing the police can do about it
Despite the police being aware of the cases, Cele says that the country’s crime intelligence did not have the resources to address the issue but that it is in the process of acquiring social media monitoring solutions.
One ministry which seems to be trying to deal with the issue is that of social development. According to Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, some of the measures being employed to address child trafficking via social media include monitoring of such platforms and training relevant stakeholders in combating the issue.
Zoom out: According to a 2022 US Department of State human trafficking report, the South African government identified 83 trafficking victims over the reporting period, which ran from April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022. This is far more than the 16 victims identified in the previous reporting period.
Additionally, the report also places South Africa in the second-worst tier of countries failing to have sufficient anti-human trafficking standards in place.
TC INSIGHTS: FUNDING TRACKER
This week, Charger, a Senegalese logistics company, raised $2.5 million in seed funding. The round was led by Logos Ventures; other participating investors include Ventures Platform, Foundation Botnar, DFS Labs, and Seedstars.
Here are the other deals this week:
- Tunisian gaming platform CoaChess secured $191,000 in pre-seed funding from Omicron.
- Nigerian anti-counterfeiting company Chekkit received an undisclosed amount in funding from Adaverse, a Cardano ecosystem accelerator.
That’s it for this week!
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn for more funding announcements. You can also visit DealFlow, our real-time funding tracker.
Join African law firm TEMPLARS and international law firm Clifford Chance for their tech roundtable Perspectives on Fintech in Ghana. Explore the latest fintech trends with global investors, policymakers, and leaders.
Register now for insightful discussions and networking.
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EVENT: THE STATE OF TECH IN AFRICA
We are excited to announce the launch of our State Of Tech (Q1) Report. The State Of Tech Report is our flagship report that analyses quarterly data on acquisitions, expansions, product launches, and funding in Africa’s tech ecosystem. This edition looks at (Q1) 2023 in retrospect and contains interesting patterns and trends to look out for this year.
Join us on a special edition of TechCabal Live on Friday, May 5. At this event, we’ll discuss actionable insights and findings from the report with you and share our perspectives on the outlook of Africa’s tech landscape.
THE WORLD WIDE WEB3
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
Bitcoin 
|
$28,142 |
– 3.84% |
|
Ether
|
$1,928 |
– 2.61% |
|
BNB
|
$317 |
– 2.52% |
|
Cardano
|
$0.39 |
– 4.68% |
|
|
Source: CoinMarketCap
|
|
* Data as of 21:00 PM WAT, April 20, 2023.
The European Parliament has approved the world’s first comprehensive crypto regulation framework. CoinDesk reports that lawmakers voted in favour of Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) and Transfer of Fund rules. The regulations will see crypto wallet providers and exchanges to seek licences to operate across the bloc. It will require issuers of stablecoins tied to the value of other assets to maintain sufficient reserves.
Bankrupt crypto platform Voyager has signed a billion-dollar deal to be acquired by Binance. Decrypt reports that the company reached a resolution with the US government that will allow the US arm of Binance to buy Voyager’s assets.
IN OTHER NEWS FROM TECHCABAL
Meet the insurtech startup that wants to revolutionise South Africa’s insurance sector.
Funding trackers are aplenty in Africa, but whose data can be trusted?
Fifteen founders building solutions to look out for in 2023.
OPPORTUNITIES
- The SaaS Accelerator Program: Africa 2023 has opened applications for its accelerator programme to enable early startups in Africa to receive funding. Selected startups will receive up to $70,000 in funding. Apply by September 7.
- Growth4Her, a 6-month investment program, is calling for applications from founders in West and Central Africa. Apply by May 8.
- Young Impact Associate (YIA) fellowship which is funded and implemented in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation is open for applications. Apply by May 15.
- WEMA Bank Hackaholic 4.0, a startup competition that enables founders and innovators to blitzscale their ventures, is receiving applications from Nigerian designers, developers, and creative thinkers. Apply before May 1.
- Innovation for Ecosystem Restoration, an accelerator for entrepreneurs championing ecosystem restoration throughout sub-Saharan Africa, is open for applications. Apply by May 14.
- Football club, Paris Saint-Germain, is looking for a startup that can develop a collaborative platform that can solve the challenges of product development in Africa. Apply before April 30.
- Wise Guys SaaS Accelerator Program is looking to help SaaS startups level up through tailored guidance and support from world-class mentors and experts. Apply before September 7.
- The Jasiri Talent Investor Programme is looking for highly-driven individuals with a history of achievement and/or entrepreneurial action who aspire to launch a high-growth venture. Apply by April 23.
- Applications for a new cycle of the Global Cleantech Innovation Program (GCIP Nigeria) have kicked off. If you are passionate about clean technologies, tackling climate change and making a positive impact in Nigeria apply by May 5.
- The Africa Business Heroes (ABH) Prize Competition, a philanthropic initiative sponsored by the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Philanthropy, is calling for participation from Africa’s entrepreneurial talent. Apply by May 12.
- Female-focused accelerator programme ShEquity Business Accelerator by the African investment firm ShEquity Partners has opened applications for its 4th edition in West Africa. Apply by April 21.
What else is happening in tech?
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Written by – Timi Odueso, Tomisin Bamidele & Ephraim Modise
Edited by – Kelechi Njoku
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