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Last weekend, TechCabal walked away as the winner of the digital category of the maiden edition of the ReportHer Awards for gender-balanced reporting.
Shoutout to Ngozi Chukwu and Hannatu Asheloge for their brilliant storytelling which won us this award. Don’t forget us when you win the Pulitzer.🚀
Innovation
Flutterwave launches Tuition
Fintech unicorn Flutterwave wants to help students wave away tuition problems.
Yesterday, the company announced the launch of Tuition, a new payment product that will allow African users pay school fees within Africa and overseas using local currencies.
The best part? Tuition promises payments within 48 hours.
A strenuous process: For African students studying abroad, paying tuition fees can be a hassle, with high exchange rates and limited banking services. In Nigeria, for example, students often have to wait months—up to 120 days—before monies paid for fees are processed by Nigerian banks.
With Flutterwave’s Tuition though, many students can rest easy. “We are excited to launch Tuition to support the dreams of African students across all levels who want to study anywhere without worrying about how to meet the deadline for their school fees payment,” said CEO Olugbenga Agboola. “With Tuition, we are providing a safer, reliable, and affordable means for African students to pursue their dreams and seamlessly get financial support from parents, guardians, and sponsors.”
The service is presently available in Nigeria where it can be used to pay fees of schools in the UK—where over 43,000 African students chose in 2022. The startup, however, mentioned that it’s rolling out in countries soon, and will add more schools across Africa, the US, and Canada to its roster.
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Funding
Ten southern African startups get $5,000 each from the World Bank
Ten Southern African fintech startups have received $5,000 each from the World Bank.
The award was part of a Fintech Challenge aimed at helping underserved entrepreneurs in the region get their businesses investment-ready to boost their access to markets, improve business networks and open up new investment opportunities.
The startups include Abela, Bento Technologies, Fintr, Moya Money, Sum1 Investments, and Thumeza from South Africa; Chaperonen and Prime Capital from Lesotho; FundRoof from Namibia; and Ipachi Capital from Botswana.
More on the initiative: The Innovation Bridge Portal Entrepreneur Community is an initiative of the Department of Science and Innovation/Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in partnership with the Department of Small Business Development.
The initiative is establishing a digital platform for innovation, collaboration, co-creation, knowledge sharing, and matchmaking amongst ecosystem actors in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, eSwatini, and Lesotho.
Zoom out: According to venture capital tracking platform Africa: The Big Deal, South African startups again dominated the venture capital funding scene in southern Africa in 2022, securing 95% of all the funding in the region.
Tourism
Equatorial Guinea introduces e-visa
Equatorial Guinea is making life easier for visitors with an e-Visa.
The country’s government has partnered with VFS Global to launch a new e-visa service that aims to attract more tourists and business travellers to the country.
The e-visa can be applied online and offers quicker application submission, greater convenience, and faster processing time to obtain.
About VFS Global: VFS Global is a leading provider of visa outsourcing and technology services to governments and diplomatic missions worldwide. They specialise in handling the administrative tasks associated with visas, passports, and consular services on behalf of their client governments. However, VFS Global does not play any part in the decision-making process behind visa applications being granted or denied.
Visitors from all nationalities can apply. Starting from July 1, 2023, the e-visa service was made accessible to travellers from all nationalities. Conveniently, they can apply for and receive travel authorisation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from anywhere in the world without having to travel to an embassy or consulate, by simply visiting the designated website. This saves time and effort, as visitors can now apply for a visa from the comfort of their own homes.
Zoom out: The submission of an online e-visa application does not guarantee the issuance of a visa. The decision to accept or reject the application lies solely with the relevant authority, and there will be no refund provided in case of rejection.
GrowthCon 1.0: Learn how to unlock 10X Growth
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Global News
Threads could generate billions in 2 years
Threads may tread over Twitter in 2 years.
In just a matter of days since its launch by Meta, Threads has already managed to attract 100 million users. Per Bloomberg, experts are already predicting that Threads will reach 200 million daily active users in two years.
The financial forecasts for Threads are equally impressive. Analysts predict that the app will generate $8 billion in annual revenue over the next two years, positioning it as a major player in the social media landscape. While it falls slightly short of Twitter’s 237.8 million active daily users,
That is a lot of money. Well, Bloomberg says this will outpace the $5.1 billion in sales and revenue Twitter earned in its last full year as a public company. Still, Threads projected revenue is only a fraction of the $156 billion average annual revenue analysts expect Meta to generate in 2025. However, there are concerns about Threads chopping off engagement on Meta’s other platforms, Facebook and Instagram. But considering the way Twitter has been since Elon took over, many people are keen to if Threads can outdo Twitter.
Is Mark concerned? Meta’s CEO says he is currently focused on getting a billion users on Thread. He is also probably focused on his upcoming fight with Elon Musk in the court and the ring.
What fight? Per the Verge, in June, Elon Musk tweeted that he would be “up for a cage fight” with Zuckerberg. The Meta CEO responded by posting a screenshot of Musk’s tweet with the caption “Send me location.” More recently, Musk threatened to sue Meta claiming that Meta used Twitter’s trade secrets to build its newest rival.
Crypto Tracker
The World Wide Web3
Source:
|
Coin Name |
Current Value |
Day |
Month |
|---|---|---|---|
 Bitcoin |
$30,598 |
+ 0.69% |
+ 18.04% |
| Ether |
$1,878 |
– 0.05% |
+ 7.02% |
 BNB |
$248 |
+ 1.74% |
+ 5.63% |
| Cardano |
$0.29 |
+ 1.41% |
+ 6.88% |
* Data as of 00:10 AM WAT, July 12, 2023.
Angel Investor Meetup, Lagos
The African Angel Academy together with UK-Nigeria Tech Hub, Lagos Angel Network, Rising Tide Africa, and TLP Advisory are hosting this upcoming in-person angel investor meetup in Lagos, Nigeria.
The purpose of this meetup is to provide an opportunity for our investors from across our communities to meet, and network. It will also serve as a platform for interactive discussions, fostering meaningful connections, and addressing any questions on connecting with your local community of investors supporting startups in Nigeria.
Opportunities
- The AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards 2023 ($5,000 prize) is now open to applications from reporters doing work for independent news organisations around the world, with articles readily accessible to the public by subscription, newsstand sales or online access, with the submitted work available in English are eligible to Apply by August 1.
- If you are a young (no older than 24 years of age) and emerging photographer looking to embark on a career in the world of photojournalism, the Ian Parry Photojournalism Grant 2023 (up to £10,000) is open for Applications. Apply by August 31.
- Applications are open for the L’Oreal-UNESCO Young Talents for Women in Science Program – Maghreb 2023. Awarded doctoral and post-doctoral candidates will each receive an endowment of €10,000. Apply by July 30.
- Are you a startup founder looking to build your company? The ARM Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator program is open for applications. Each company receives up to $120,000 in funding, and access to the worldwide network of investors, hands-on mentorship, and over $4M of perks. Join the 7,000+ founders who built their businesses with Techstars. Apply by August 9.
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