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Editor’s Note
- Week 25, 2023
- Read time: 5 minutes
Hello 👋🏾
How are you doing? Read on for your weekly dose of relevant tech news from across the continent.
Pamela Tetteh Editor, TechCabal.
Editor’s Picks
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Glade loses $214,000 to hackersGlade has joined the list of Nigerian financial service providers that have had a not-so-merry encounter with hackers. This time, $214,000 was lost. What is the founder saying? |
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Google to invest $4 million in black foundersGoogle is granting equity-free funds, $4 million, to startups in Europe and Africa through its Black Founders Fund (BFF). Which startups? |
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Samsung breaks the law in KenyaToeing the steps of Apple, Samsung and other phone providers are defying Kenya’s ICT regulator’s guidelines by selling phones without chargers in Kenya. What is Kenya doing about it?. |
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Somalia launches QR codeThe Central Bank of Somalia has launched a Quick Response Code (QR code) standard—the SOMQR—to facilitate cashless payment across the country. Is this a big deal? |
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Airtel Nigeria launches 5GAirtel Nigeria has joined the 5G gang. It launched its 5G network in four states in Nigeria—Lagos, Ogun, Abuja, and Rivers states. Learn more. |
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Kenya gets contactless paymentKCB and Visa have partnered to offer contactless payments powered by NFC. Telco Safaricom had tried to pull off something similar with M-PESA but failed more than five years ago. How will it work? |
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A pricey data violationIn this week’s episode of costly lessons, 100 banks and institutions in Nigeria paid over ₦200 million ($289,885) as penalties for violating the data privacy of Nigerian citizens. Learn more. |
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A Safaricom CEO steps downAnwar Soussa is exiting his role as CEO of Safaricom Ethiopia. He was the first CEO of the telecom, which launched in the country in 2021. Learn more. |
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Load-shedding bites another gaintSouth African retail giant Mr Price has blamed its multi-million dollar loss on load-shedding. Other publicly traded companies including MultiChoice, Vodacom, Telkom, and MTN have done the exact same thing too. Wondering how many millions of dollars the business lost? Find out. |
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Heritage Bank denies fraudLast week, reports surfaced that ₦49 billion ($83 million) had been stolen from the Nigeria-based Heritage Bank’s accounts. This week the bank has denied all reports. Learn more. |
Who brought the money this week?
- South African solar energy company Yellow raised $14 million in Series B funding, in a round led by Convergence Partners.
- Nigerian electronics B2B marketplace Eze received $3.7 million in seed funding.
- Egypt’s fintech company Agel raised an undisclosed amount in an undisclosed funding round from Sand River Venture Capital.
What else to read this weekend?
- Nigeria’s Gen X and baby boomers are finding joy and community while creating content on TikTok
- Flutterwave wants to make Kigali its settlement hub in East Africa
- UniAbuja student’s expulsion sparks a debate on digital rights
- Failure to launch: South Africa’s challenge in transforming technical talent into investable founders
- With SA experiencing a cybercrime epidemic, startups are coming to the rescue
- Can Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MNVOs) challenge Nigeria’s big telcos?
Written by: Ngozi Chukwu
Edited by: Pamela Tetteh
18, Nnobi Street, Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria
