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Happy pre-Friday ☀️
Elon Musk might not be fighting Mark Zuckerberg, but he’s definitely fighting to ensure everyone finds X, and stays on X.
The Twitter X owner has confirmed that the site plans to remove headlines from links and news articles posted on the site. When a link is posted, all that will appear is the feature image and the URL.
The reason? It’ll “greatly improve the esthetics [sic],” says Musk. It’s definitely not a bad idea for a platform that says it wants to fight disinformation. As the saying goes, beauty before brains, always. 🙂
Layoffs
Cellulant to lay off 20% of its employees
Cellulant is restructuring.
The payments platform is parting ways with 20% of its workforce. The exact number of employees wasn’t disclosed, but Cellulant has about 634 employees on LinkedIn.
The company cited “organisational restructuring” as the basis for the layoff. According to a statement seen by TechCabal, the layoffs will be implemented in the coming days.
Affected employees will be offered exit packages alongside extended medical cover for themselves and their families. “Our goal is to treat our impacted colleagues with dignity and respect. As such, we provide comprehensive separation packages and extended medical coverage for every impacted employee and their families in every country,” Cellulant added.
Zoom out: This is Cellulant’s second round of layoffs, following a reduction in early 2023. While the economic downturn might have played a major role in the layoffs, Cellulant cites that it has been honing its business over the last two years which has led to consolidating some roles and creating new ones in the process.
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Fintech
Flutterwave gets a nod in Kenya
Things are looking up for Flutterwave in East Africa.
A year after the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) accused the Nigerian fintech of operating without a permit in Kenya, the fintech has taken the first step to remedy its position.
This week, CEO Olugbenga Agboola revealed, in an interview with Bloomberg, that the company has been given the approval to apply for a money remittance licence in the country. Per Agboola, Flutterwave has also registered its name in Kenta.
While the money remittance licence is yet to be approved, the CEO expects that it will be issued soon.
Moving forward with IPO plans: The company is also moving forward with its plans to go public which were stalled by the string of accusations it faced from regulators last year.
“There’s some kind of customers we’ll attract when we are public,” said Agboola. “The large global clients who need you to have the same level of compliance and level of global view that they have.”
By attaining these licenses, the company looks to relay to clients that Flutterwave is “the most reliable platform to use”.
Electricity
China donates $9 million of power equipment to South Africa
South Africans are about to get load shedding lifted off their shoulders.
The country shared that China is donating power equipment worth R167 million ($9 million) to about 500 public places in South Africa, ensuring these locations have a backup power supply without any interruptions.
Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, the minister of electricity, revealed this information while formalising a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with eight Chinese organisations.
What are the donations? The contribution consists of generators, power supply vehicles, and off-grid PV energy storage supply systems. Furthermore, approximately R500 million ($27 million) is being granted to support development efforts. As stated by Ramokgopa, the power equipment’s capacity varies from 6kW to 200kW. This 200kW capacity is substantial enough to sustain both a clinic and a medium-sized hospital, providing significant relief to the people of South Africa.
So far, the South African government has taken steps to prevent around 76 hospitals from experiencing load shedding. Efforts are also in progress to safeguard at least 46 additional hospitals from the rotating power cuts that are currently being enforced across the nation.
Zoom out: As of May this year, the primary provider of electric power in South Africa, Eskom, cautioned about the possibility of implementing more severe stages of load shedding to cope with the rising demand during the winter season.
In June, Telkom, the country’s major mobile network operator, reported a significant 76.6% decrease in profits, attributing this decline to factors including load shedding. Even the prominent South African retail conglomerate, Mr Price, experienced a negative impact, with the company’s June revenue dropping by R1 billion ($54 million) due to load shedding.
Social media
SA set new rules for sharing content on Facebook and WhatsApp
The South African regulatory body for film, the Film and Publication Board (FPB), has published a new draft of industry codes and guidelines aimed at preventing online harm and providing guidance for peer-to-peer content sharing in the country.
The new codes and guidelines were published in three parts. These parts span classifying harmful content, preventing online harm, and guidelines for peer-to-peer video sharing.
Why? The FBP said it is obligated to improve how it regulates prohibited and harmful content, “due to the proliferation of child sexual abuse material cases” it deals with daily. The proposed regulations include forcing online platforms to implement mechanisms to lessen online harm.
A must: The regulatory body also published draft guidelines for peer-to-peer video sharing in South Africa to guide consumers on how to share videos among peers and peer groups on various platforms.
Prohibited content comprises explicit sexual conduct that violates or shows disrespect for any person’s right to human dignity, explicit infliction of domestic violence, or explicit visual representations of extreme violence. It also includes bestiality, incest, rape, and conduct or an act degrading to anyone.
Zoom out: FBP’s new set of regulations comes in light of growing cases of child sexual abuse material cases making the rounds online in the country. The new set of rules by the regulatory body will ensure user safety and well-being on the social media platforms—WhatsApp and Facebook.
Crypto Tracker
The World Wide Web3
Source:
|
Coin Name |
Current Value |
Day |
Month |
|---|---|---|---|
 Bitcoin |
$26,416 |
+ 1.61% |
– 11.16% |
| Ether |
$1,676 |
+ 2.46% |
– 9.43% |
 CyberConnect |
$3.97 |
– 7.02% |
+ 120.17% |
| XRP |
$0.53 |
+ 1.88% |
– 23.22% |
* Data as of 06:25 AM WAT, August 24, 2023.
NTICE Expo 2023
The Nigeria Office for Developing the Indigenous Telecom Sector (NODITS) is hosting the second edition of the Nigerian Telecommunications Indigenous Content Expo (NTICE).
The 2nd edition, NTICE 2023, is themed “Harnessing Indigenous Content for Economic Growth”, and is set for August 22 to 24 at Landmark Centre, Lagos, Nigeria. The event will emphasise manufacturing, service, people, and R&D in line with diversifying the economy.
Opportunities
- Exciting news for female entrepreneurs and women-led businesses in Nigeria. It’s time to elevate your business through the #NimbusAidProject.Win a share of N40m advertising support to amplify your brand. Apply now at https://nimbus.com.ng/nimbus-aid-project. Entries close on Sep 8, 2023.
- Visa is open to applications for its Africa Fintech Accelerator Program. Startups up to the Series A stage are encouraged to apply for a chance to gain unparalleled expertise, valuable industry connections, cutting-edge technology, and potential investment funding. Apply by August 25.
- Applications are open for the Cambridge Africa ALBORADA Research Fund 2023 for sub-Saharan African Researchers ($20,000 in Grants). The Cambridge Africa ALBORADA Research Fund competitively awards grants between £1,000 and £20,000 for research costs, research-related travel between Cambridge and Africa, and conducting research training activities in Africa. Apply by September 4.
- The SaaS Accelerator Programme: 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.
What else is happening in tech?
- Experts predict CBN will raise interest rates ahead of MPC meeting
- NALA launches payments from the UK and EU to Nigeria, plans to allow Nigerians to send money abroad
- Meet the inaugural cohort of the Barclays Black Venture Growth Programme
- Kenyan government partners with World Bank to strengthen innovation hubs
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