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Technology in Africa has grown in leaps and bounds. While the continent has made strides in increasing overall connectivity, women are being left behind.
Women account for roughly half of the population and despite the progress made in recent years, they account for a disproportionate—and increasing—share of the global offline population, with South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa having the world’s widest gender gap
But why is this the case? What barriers are preventing women from fully participating in the tech industry?
Join us on Wednesday, March 26th at 11AM (WAT) along with key players in digital inclusion and technology to explore theses questions and potential solutions.
Mobility
Uber hesitant to comply with Lagos state data sharing terms
While Uber, a ride-hailing giant leads a$100 millioninvestment in Nigerian fintech Moove, the company is also locked in a data privacy dispute with the Lagos state government in Nigeria.
How it started: This disagreement follows a 2020 agreement between ride-hailing companies, and the Lagos state government, at the time, demanded backend access to user trip and location data for planning, revenue, and security purposes.
Two weeks ago, the government further demanded real-time access, threatening sanctions for non-compliance. Uber, however, maintained that they’ve been fulfilling their obligations under the agreement.
Now, the ride-hailing company faces potential sanctions from the government as it insists that access to real-time trip details is crucial for security and user well-being in the state.
Unlike its ride-hailing competitor Bolt, which has embraced the new data-sharing requirements, sources close to Uber reveal the company is hesitant to comply, citing user privacy concerns.
Zoom out: Finding a solution that balances safety with privacy is crucial. It remains to be seen whether Uber and the Lagos state government will reach an agreement that will keep Lagosians safe without compromising user data.
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Internet
Ghana is having a Starlink rethink
Starlink’s launch in Africa has been a mixed bag. While it has received wide embrace in Nigeria and Rwanda, holders of the satellite based internet provider have been considered criminals in countries like Zimbabwe, Senegal, Botswana, South Africa and Ghana. Yes, Ghana!
The bone of contention for most of these countries has been Starlink failing to obtain regulatory licence and approval to operate in the country.
However, one particular country might be having a rethink.
The news: Ghana’s National Communication Authority is in talks to grant Starlink a licence of approval to operate within the country. The decision comes after severe subsea cable cuts have affected the country’s internet reception, hurting businesses and the country’s stock exchange in return. Ghana shifted the closing hours on its stock exchange by one hour on Thursday and Friday last week due to the outages.
While Ghana’s regulator had estimated a five weeks repair time for the subsea cable cuts, Starlink’s approval will provide a lifeline for businesses within the country. According to Starlink’s website, the internet service provider will be available in Ghana by Q3 2024.
Starlink, however, reportedly told government officials that its services will first cater to high-end customers upon entry into the country.
Zoom out: As Ghana looks to Elon Musk owned Starlink to salvage its messy internet, the country is also on the lookout for other saviours. The country’s minister for communication urged new internet providers to enter into Ghana, while encouraging existing ones to explore partnerships with RASCOM (Regional African Satellite Communications Organisation) for broader telecommunication services across Africa.
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Fintech
Lemfi partners with Visa to facilitate cross-border payment globally
Lemfi has basked in some recent milestones.
In August 2023, the Nigerian fintech platform launched in the US. In the same month, it secured $33 million in funding led by LeftLane Capital to ease remittance for immigrants. Six months later, LemFi hired ex-Opay COO Allen Qu, to lead its expansion to China.
The international payments company has partnered with Visa’s Cross-Border Solutions division to expand its reach and simplify cross-border money transfers for its users.
Under the agreement, LemFi will gain access to new markets like China, India, and Pakistan, and Visa’s Cross-Border Solutions will become LemFi’s primary partner for processing these international transactions. Additionally, over 250,000 LemFi users in the UK and broader Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region will now have access to Visa debit and prepaid debit cards.
For existing customers, the partnership ensures continuity. LemFi will continue to provide e-payments and foreign exchange services for its users. This means UK residents from various African nations can continue relying on LemFi for the remittance of funds.
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TC Insights
Funding tracker
Moove, the Nigerian vehicle financing platform, secured $100 million in Series B funding this week in a round led by Uber, with participation from investors, including sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, The Latest Ventures, AfricInvest, Palm Drive Capital, Triatlum Advisors, and Future Africa.
Here are other deals for the week:
- Nigerian blockchain-powered fintech Zone raised $8.5 million in a seed round led by TLcom Capital and Flourish Ventures.
- South African BNPL startup, Float, raised $11 million from Standard Bank.
- Kenyan insurtech startup mTek secured $1.25 million from Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures and Founders Factory Africa.
- Tunisian AI startup Clusterlab raised $600k pre-seed from Karim Beguir and regional angel investors.
- Egyptian healthtech Pharmacy Marts secured an undisclosed six-figure bridge round from Acasia Ventures.
Before you go, our State Of Tech In Africa Report for Q4 2023 is out. Click this link to download it.
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn for more funding announcements. You can also visit DealFlow, our real-time funding tracker.
Crypto Tracker
The World Wide Web3
Source:
|
Coin Name |
Current Value |
Day |
Month |
|---|---|---|---|
 Bitcoin |
$65,396 |
– 3.34% |
+ 25.45% |
| Ether |
$3,487 |
– 0.05% |
+ 19.35% |
 Tether USDt |
$0.9999 |
– 0.06% |
– 0.01% |
| BNB |
$553.35 |
– 0.30% |
+ 48.02% |
* Data as of 10:45 PM WAT, March 21, 2024.
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Job openings
- Kuda – Android Engineer – Cape Town (Hybrid)
- Remotepass – QA Engineer – Nigeria (Remote)
- MaxAB – Group Product Manager – Egypt
- Flutterwave – Product Manager – Lagos
- MainOne – Product Manager– Lagos
- GoLemon – Quality Control Specialist – Lagos
There are more jobs on TechCabal’s job board. If you have job opportunities to share, please submit them at bit.ly/tcxjobs.
Here’s what you should be looking at
Written by: Mariam Muhammad & Faith Omoniyi
Edited by: Timi Odueso
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