👨🏿‍🚀TechCabal Daily – JADA’s AI dream

JADA launches talent hub for AI and data talents

In August 2024, Google paid an undisclosed amount to hire the cofounders and other team members of personalised chatbot developer, Character. The acqui-hire continued what has been a war for AI talents across several global companies.

While the tussle continues for talents that would build out future and present AI systems, African talents seem to be missing out on the fun. Global AI companies often relegate low-level tasks like data annotation and data cleaning to talents on the continent. 

Renowned Nigerian investor Olumide Soyombo and ex-Jumia Nigeria CEO, Massimiliano Spalazzi, want to change that narrative. Together, they have launched JADA, a data & analytics talent hub that will train and export AI talents to the rest of the world. Think of it like Andela for Data and AI talents. 

“We are betting big on an AI workforce out of Africa—one that can build for the world, starting here,” Olumide tells me during our hour-long chat in Lagos.

JADA, which has started selection, its first cohort will select and train data professionals with at least two years of experience in data and analytics, machine learning and AI, or generative AI. 

“Our goal is to fill the data & AI talent gap by identifying and upskilling professionals who can be the right arm for businesses pursuing data and AI transformation,” says CEO Piero Trivellato, who brings over 10 years of experience in C-suite data & AI roles and management consulting at McKinsey & Co.

Read more about JADA, its talent selection process, and its business model here.

Read Moniepoint’s Case Study on Funding Women

After losing their mother, Azeezat and her siblings struggled to keep Olaiya Foods afloat. Now, with Moniepoint, they’re transforming Nigeria’s local buka scene. Click here for a deep dive into how Moniepoint is helping her and other women entrepreneurs overcome their funding challenges.

Kenya-based multinationals and publicly-listed companies have come under fire for poor tax transparency, according to a new PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report. 

The study looked at the tax disclosures of 10 top companies and found major gaps—none of them shared their tax strategies, transfer pricing practices, or how their tax policies connect to sustainability goals like ESG. The timing is key, as the Kenyan government, in recent weeks, has been pushing harder on tax policies to expand its tax base.

Yet, the lack of transparency from the big companies could communicate a different message to taxpayers—one the government will be keen to avoid.

PwC, a global consulting firm, urged Kenyan companies to follow frameworks like GRI 207 to improve accountability and help economic growth.

While new rules like the 2023 Transfer Pricing Rules seek to prevent tax avoidance, enforcement is still a problem. 

For businesses, improving tax transparency is not just about following the rules—it’s also a chance to improve their reputation and support Kenya’s development.

Without better transparency and following global best practices, Kenya risks losing trust in its tax system.

As more African countries move closer to regulating crypto, the next logical step would be to closely monitor transactions involving crypto assets that have previously blindsided these countries.

South Africa issued the first set of crypto licences in April 2024 to 59 exchanges, including market leaders Luno and VALR. Now, the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), the country’s anti-money laundering regulator, has issued Directive 9, mandating that crypto platforms must verify the identities of both senders and recipients in cryptocurrency transactions. 

The directive aligns with the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) “travel rule,” a global standard aimed at combating money laundering and terrorist financing. Compliance is part of South Africa’s efforts to exit FATF’s greylist.

Starting from April 30, 2025, FIC will introduce a tiered system—based on transaction value—to collect information on people and organisations that send and receive crypto.

For transfers under R5,000 ($277), it has directed crypto platforms to record the names and wallet addresses of the sending and receiving parties. 

For crypto transactions that exceed this amount, the crypto exchanges must record and submit personal details of the senders and receivers, their account information, residential addresses, wallet addresses, and any valid means of identification used during KYC.

Intermediary platforms that help crypto companies provide on-ramp and off-ramp services must also securely transmit and store this data to ensure money can be traced.

South Africa is not acting alone on this. A few other countries, like Nigeria and Kenya, have previously shown interest in closely monitoring crypto transactions. South Africa, too, will tax crypto users.

Crypto—dubbed the dark horse of financial assets—is notorious for being untraceable, so governments cannot monitor what happens in or out of there.

In line with this, the regulation also requires platforms to monitor and gather extra information on high-risk transactions involving unhosted wallets to prevent financial crime while protecting user privacy and data.

South Africa, along with 13 other African countries, is on the FATF Greylist. Exiting the greylist will help South Africa improve its international financial reputation and increase its chances of attracting foreign investment.

Written by: Faith Omoniyi & Emmanuel Nwosu

Edited by: Olumuyiwa Olowogboyega