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Apple is winning the durability war with free publicity from the averted Boeing air mishap.
A new generation iPhone survived a 16,000-foot fall from the Alaska Airlines ASA 1282 flight, and was found with no visible damage except for a broken-off power cable.
And no, it’s not because of any of those super strong screen protectors marketed on TikTok, it’s air bending resistance.💨
Mobility
LagRide driver’s death spotlights health insurance needs
After the death of one of their own, drivers of the Lagos state-owned ride-hailing platform, LagRide, are now demanding health insurance.
ICYMI: On Monday morning, Adebayo Padmore collapsed while preparing for a shift that requires LagRide drivers to work 10 hours or 150 kilometres per day.
Padmore’s death led over 20 of the platform’s drivers to speak up on the health hazards of LagRide’s practices. According to the drivers, LagRide does not offer health insurance to its drivers. In fact, only Bolt—of all the major ride-hailing companies—offers health insurance, and even then, drivers say Bolt’s health insurance is doled out as an “incentive to overwork”.
Now, the leaders of Nigeria’s union of app-based transport workers want ride-hailing platforms to offer health insurance to all drivers.
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Telecom
M-Pesa outage leaves millions stranded
Safaricom’s mobile money platform M-Pesa took a three-hour coffee break yesterday
From 10 AM to 1 PM, M-Pesa was unavailable to the 51 million monthly active users who rely on the platform to make digital payments.
The outage was due to scheduled maintenance, Safaricom said in an announcement.
Users initially took to social media to speculate on the cause of the downtime, with some hinting that the Kenyan government had shut down the network to implement a new tax system. The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), however, quickly dispelled the rumours.
This is not M-Pesa’s first outage in Kenya. The telecom experienced outages in January and June 2021, and in March and May last year. However, the latest outage seems to be the longest in the platform’s history.
It also appears Safaricom failed to inform users about the “scheduled maintenance” which brings to question the veracity of its claims.
Internet
Is Kenya Starlink’s choice for its first Africa office?
The race is not for the swift.
While Nigeria snagged the first position in Starlink’s launch on the continent, Kenya might have emerged as the company’s choice for its first Africa office.
Quiet? There isn’t an official fanfare announcement, but a recent job posting has brought Starlink’s moves to the forefront.
The company recently advertised a Global Licensing Activation Manager position in sub-Saharan Africa. Per TechMoran, “The role will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, reporting to the team at our MacGregor, TX location.”
The chosen candidate will spearhead the firm’s effort to obtain ISP licences in more African countries like Ghana and South Africa where it is illegal to use Starlink. In others like Zimbabwe, the government is still reviewing Starlink’s licence application. Currently, Starlink is live in Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, Mauritius, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Nigeria, and more recently eSwatini.
The big picture: The choice of Kenya does not come as a surprise. Big tech companies like Google and Amazon launched their first development centres in the country. Microsoft launched its first African headquarters in the country too. The East African country also emerged as the top destination for investors in 2023, bearing Nigeria and Egypt.
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News
Court dismisses Rand manipulation case
A South African appeal court has dismissed the cases brought against 28 foreign banks accused of engaging in rand-dollar price fixing.
Zoom in: The banks—including Standard Bank, FirstRand, Nedbank—were accused of manipulating the value of the rand in the New York foreign exchange market in 2015. South Africa’s competition commission began the currency manipulation probe investigation across the US and UK.
Five years after the case initially cooled, South Africa’s antitrust watchdog returned to the fray in 2020, wielding a fresh indictment against 20+ banks.
Now, the cases have been dismissed for lack of evidence and jurisdiction. The commission’s major evidence against the banks was a series of chats between traders in private online chat rooms. In those conversations, the traders allegedly connived to make profits and avoid losses by reducing risk when trading the ZAR/USD currency pair.
A new twist: Of the 28 banks involved in the case, South Africa’s appeal court dismissed all except 5 banks—JPMorgan Chase & Co., BNP Paribas SA, HSBC Holdings Plc, Credit Suisse Group AG and Investec Plc. According to MyBroadBand, traders from these banks pleaded guilty to charges brought by the US Department of Justice in 2015.
Details of the new trial against the five banks are yet to be seen.
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Fintech
MTN and Ericsson partner again
Ericsson and MTN are renewing their vows. Well, sort of.
Both telecommunications giants, Ericsson and MTN, are strengthening their ties with a partnership that will see MTN’s Mobile Money (MoMo) service integrated with the Ericsson Wallet Platform. This will allow Ericsson wallet users to manage funds, pay merchants and utility providers, and access loans and insurance services with MoMo.
A second round: This isn’t their first dance together. In 2019, they embarked on a five-year deal that launched the Ericsson Wallet Platform across several countries where MTN operates.
Currently, over 61.7 million individuals send and receive money through the platform. MTN MoMo’s transaction value has skyrocketed, nearly tripling from $76 billion in 2018 to $204 billion by 2022. Given that Ericsson Wallet Platform has over 400 million registered mobile wallets globally, this partnership could further propel MTN’s MoMo growth.
MTN has been actively pursuing strategic partnerships in recent months to fuel its ambitious expansion goals. In August 2023, it sold a 30% stake in their MoMo fintech arm to Mastercard and partnered with Saana Capital, an international cross-border payment provider, to enable bill payments and international transfers across Africa.
Stat of the week
3,360: That’s the number of estimated startups in Nigeria, the highest for any African country.
Source: TechCabal Insights
Crypto Tracker
The World Wide Web3
Source:
|
Coin Name |
Current Value |
Day |
Month |
|---|---|---|---|
 Bitcoin |
$46,735 |
– 1.54% |
+ 1.84% |
| Ether |
$2,377 |
+ 2.80% |
+ 0.19% |
 Xai |
$0.59 |
– 12.61% |
– 12.61% |
| DeFiChain |
$0.14 |
– 1.87% |
+ 7.83% |
* Data as of 06:15 AM WAT, January 10, 2024.
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Opportunities
- Deji Alli ARM Young Talent Award (DAAYTA) 2024 for Innovative Nigerian startups (₦12,000,000 in funding) is open for applications. DAAYTA is an ARM initiative, in partnership with TechnoVision’s TVC Labs, that aims at providing young Nigerians with an opportunity to develop innovative startup ventures that add economic value to Nigeria. Apply by January 16.
- Applications are open for the World Press Photo Contest 2024 for Photographers Worldwide (5,000 euros cash prize). The Contest recognises and celebrates the best photojournalism and documentary photography produced over the last year, selected by an international independent jury. Apply by January 11, 2024.
- Applications are open for the Mastercard Foundations Scholars Program 2023/2024 at the Carnegie Melon University Africa. The programme provides generous financial, social, and academic support for students whose talents and promise exceed their financial resources. Apply by January 15, 2024.
What else is happening in tech?
Written by: Ngozi Chukwu & Faith Omoniyi
Edited by: Timi Odueso
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