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LinkedIn is costing people their jobs.
This week, the platform announced that it will lay off 668 employees across its product, finance, R&D and talent teams. This comes five months after the company laid off 716 people, and weeks after it announced a renewed focus on AI.
Does that mean AI is taking people jobs? We’ll leave that question open for now. Here’s what we do know: at least 243,000 tech workers have been laid off in 2023.
Startups
Patricia pleads with customers to convert owed funds to company shares
Patricia and its customers are now in a conversation about balances.
Per Techpoint Africa, a representative from the crypto exchange told customers that the only option available for users who want to get their money back is to convert the funds into company shares.
Backstory: The Nigerian crypto startup has been at loggerheads with its customers due to a hack it suffered in January 2022, which cost it $2 million, and led to the company freezing withdrawals in May 2023. Following that, customers have been unable to retrieve their assets, and Patricia has been actively issuing several updates to its customer base without providing a clear timeline for when they can access their money.
In August, in what it termed a move to protect customer assets, it converted all user assets into its recently introduced Patricia Token (PTK) backed by the US dollar. Unfortunately, users were not given prior notice of this conversion, and they still couldn’t access their funds even after the conversion. The last known update was in October, when the company planned a new repayment plan through fundraising. CEO Hamu Fejiro announced, at a town hall meeting, that the company had secured some funding and would reopen its app soon.
Now, sources from Techpoint allege that Patricia is pleading with customers to convert their funds to company shares as a “last resort”.
What now? Customers are confused about this sudden conversion to shares, and despite concerns, the representative assured customers they would eventually regain access to their money. There have been promises of more details via email, but many have yet to receive any information. Patricia also claimed they would contact customers by phone, but so far, only two have reportedly received such calls.
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E-commerce
Amazon to launch online shopping service in South Africa in 2024
Amazon is finally setting up shop in South Africa.
The e-commerce giant will launch its online shopping service in South Africa in 2024. South Africa will become the second African country, after Egypt, to host a locally-dedicated Amazon shopping website.
Amazon said, on Tuesday, that independent sellers in South Africa could register their businesses on its marketplace website—Amazon.co.za—starting next year.
The launch of Amazon’s service comes at a time when South Africa has seen a sharp rise in online shopping after the pandemic brought an opportunity for e-commerce to finally take hold and contribute meaningfully to traditional sales.
Amazon’s launch in South Africa should have happened earlier. However, the e-commerce giant experienced a push back after a Western Cape High Court ordered a stop to the construction of its African headquarters. The South African Court of Appeal overturned this decision. Amazon’s platform in South Africa is still being finalised, as it must comply with local competition laws requiring online retailers to separate their retail and marketplace businesses.
Zoom out: The launch of Amazon in South Africa will provide sellers in the country an opportunity to grow, and scale their businesses. The move also presents competition to Naspers’ Takealot.com, the dominant online shopping service in the country.
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Streaming
eMedia, Multichoice battle head to Competition Commission
eMedia’s tussle with Multichoice is reaching a new high.
Openview owned eMedia has taken Multichoice to the Competition Commission over its refusal to broadcast rugby matches live on its free-to-watch channels.
Round two, fight: eMedia previously took Multichoice to a high court over a dispute about broadcasting rights for the Rugby World Cup. However, the court dismissed the case saying that it would be financially unwise for Multichoice to give up the exclusivity of the broadcasting licence which it paid heavily for.
eMedia accused Multichoice of being “overtly anti-competitive” by not airing rugby matches for free on its channels. The broadcaster also says that its unrelenting pursuit to upturn the case is in the nation’s interest. However, MultiChoice South Africa CEO, Marc Jury, said eMedia’s case was a “classic example of free-riding—seeking to profit off another’s expense without contributing at all”.
Zoom out: While the South African high court justified Multichoice’s move, it remains to be seen what the Competition Commission thinks of the case.
Attend the Ugandan National Science Week
The National Science Week (NSW) is a hallmark event in Uganda’s calendar, celebrated every year to honor Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI). The event will feature a dedicated Investor Summit, bringing together some of the world’s leading pan African Venture Capitalists, Investors, and Startups. Find out more here.
Media
South Africa’s Competition Commission begins market inquiry into digital media
In more news about South Africa, its digital media space is under scrutiny.
The country’s Competition Commission has launched a Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry (MDPMI) to scrutinise the distribution of media content on South African digital platforms.
What market inquiry? The inquiry follows a complaint lodged by Publisher Support Services (PSS) in 2021, an industry association representing several South African news publishers.
PSS has argued that the transition to digital news consumption and advertising has had a negative impact on news media businesses, with many seeing a decline in advertising revenue and an increase in costs. This has left many publishers in a precarious financial position, and has threatened the sustainability of independent journalism in the country.
Markets under scrutiny: The investigation will specifically assess how these markets affect the online presence and competitive stance of smaller news entities, such as community and African language news outlets. It will also evaluate the variety of news accessible to the public; search engines, social media sites, video-sharing platforms, news aggregators, and ad-tech market participants will all be under scrutiny.
The inquiry is mandated to conclude within 18 months, but the Commission aims to complete it in 15 months.
Crypto Tracker
The World Wide Web3
Source:
|
Coin Name |
Current Value |
Day |
Month |
|---|---|---|---|
 Bitcoin |
$28,446 |
+ 0.09% |
+ 7.38% |
| Ether |
$1,560 |
– 0.43% |
– 4.02% |
 Orbs |
$0.05 |
+ 68.53% |
+ 176.62% |
| Loom Network |
$0.23 |
– 16.51% |
+ 436.36% |
* Data as of 21:20 PM WAT, October 17, 2023.
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Opportunities
- The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), through the Office for Nigeria Digital Innovation (ONDI), in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), are organising a one-week networking visit to Japan by selected Nigerian CleanTech Startups. Apply here.
- Applications are open for the Aurora Tech Award 2024. The Award is an annual global prize for women founders of tech startups. Winners of the first prize get $30,000, the second prize gets $20,000 and the third prize gets $10,000. Apply by December 1.
What else is happening in tech?
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