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ORide, a new on-demand motorbike hailing service has launched in Lagos, Nigeria. Driven by technology, the ORide service is accessible via the OPay app – a super app with features that cater to a range of lifestyle demands including food order and delivery, utility bills payment, cash access and more. Customers who download the Opay app this July on Google Play store will pay only N200 for every trip they take that’s less than N2000.

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Jumia Nigeria is planning to rapidly expand its newly launched subscription service, Jumia Prime. The service which is currently available in only Lagos and Abuja will now be rolled out across many more cities in the country. To make this happen, the e-commerce giant is pushing the nationwide expansion of its last mile delivery hubs in Nigeria to accommodate 33 new ones. It is also looking to onboard 25 new logistics partners and plans to add 4 major local languages to assist customers to place orders by phone.

Careem has shut down operations in Sudan as part of its takeover by Uber. According to an SEC filing by Uber, Careem was expected to divest its operation in Sudan before the close of its $3 billion acquisition by Uber. Uber announced the acquisition deal in March and it is expected to close in early 2020. Careem launched in Sudan in September last year and it officially closed shop on June 30, 2019, after less than a year in operation. Local competitors, Tirhal and Mishwar still continue to operate in the country.

Join African governments, regulators, investors, development agencies, multinationals and entrepreneurs on July 11 at TC Townhall: Renewable Energy as Techcabal convenes them to discuss “The Future of Africa’s Energy”. We will be attempting to answer the question “How do we quickly build a modern energy infrastructure, that is affordable and provides last-mile access, using abundant renewable energy resources, in a friendly policy environment?” Register here to attend.

Applications are open for the 2019 Global Edtech Startup Awards. Edtech startups across Africa can apply here before July 31. The program is supported by the British High Commission, the Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative and Injini.

Paynet Zimbabwe has sued the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe for $100 million. The electronic payments solutions provider accused the banks of anti-competitive practices. Banks in the country are planning to build their own system which is expected to be functional sometime this month. Paynet claims that the banks have owed them US$2.5 million for more than 18 months now. The company cut off banks from its services last month. Paynet is owned by the Payserv Group, a Mauritian company with operations in Zimbabwe, Uganda and Botswana.

On July 15th, Africa 3.0 is hosting a VIP Pitching Day in Nairobi. There will be 30 pitches from startups in AgriTech, HealthTech & InsurTech, the best in each category will be awarded prizes ranging from presentation slots at ITC Las Vegas and Insurance 3.0 in London. There are a few places left, send your pitches to team@market-minds.co.uk to apply or apply via the website.

Streaming device and smart TV company, Roku have now confirmed that Econet has indeed shutdown Kwese Play and that they are no longer working together. This follows our report yesterday that users couldn’t access the service and Kwese’s announcement that it was working on it. It is currently unclear whether there is an ongoing dispute between Roku and Kwese or if the latter is seeking another partner. If nothing changes, Kwese Play will be the second Kwese service being shut down by Econet after it discontinued and scaled down its satellite TV offering last year.

Leapfrog Ventures is now receiving applications from seed stage and growth stage startups for an opportunity to receive between $30,00 and $150,000 in investment. The VC firm launched its $4.5 million Africa seed fund last year and will make 100 seed stage investments in East Africa in the next three years. Startups can register here to attend the East African’s Notable Technology Startup Pitch Events which Leapfrog Ventures is co-organizing and here for a chance to get funded by the VC.

Recommended Reading

+ Here’s how Uganda’s RideLink grew its revenue by pivoting from a B2C to B2B model

+ The Ethiopia tech ecosystem: A sleeping giant is waking up!

+ Mobility Commerce by Victor Asemota

+  The Unbanked Don’t Need Facebook’s Money

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