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Two months after the resignation of its former CEO, Phakamani Hadebe, South Africa’s public utility company Eskom is now seeking to fill what many say is now South Africa’s toughest job. Hadebe resigned after 17 months in office citing his job’s unimaginable demands on his health. Eskom is struggling under more than R440-billion of debt and expects to report another annual loss this month coupled with the challenges inherent in being responsible for well over half of the country’s power needs. The government is looking to shore up operations with another R59-billion bailout spread over two years – 2020/2021. Eskom’s new CEO will be tasked with leading a much needed restructuring and proposed split into generation, transmission and distribution companies.

Dakar-based Kayfo Game Studio has launched its first mobile game – Afro Juggle Challenge, a football-based challenge following the story of a young boy, Moussa, who is on the journey to become a professional football player. The Game Studio is a joint venture between digital design agency YUX Design and former Ubisoft game developer Julien Herbin, and is focused on creating games about and for the African market. Video games are a booming industry in Africa with a growing desire for locally-themed content fueling the creation of games about and for the African market amplifying myths, tradition and cultural heritage.

In more edtech news, Cairo-based startup Colnn has raised US$100,000 from EdVentures, the VC arm of Egypt’s leading publisher Nahder Misr. The funding will be channeled to expansion and entry into new markets, the startup says. Founded in 2015, Colnn is a cloud-based school management system with an accompanying mobile app that allows teachers, parents, students and school administrators keep track of educational activities and performance.

Growth-stage businesses operating in Ghana, Lesotho, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia or Zimbabwe and who have significant economic participation of women are invited to apply for the Nzinga Scale-Up Bootcamp sponsored by Alitheia IDF, a private equity fund manager in Africa. Deadline is August 4.

The UAE’s Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development has set aside US$100 million to finance Ethiopian small and medium-sized enterprises especially those in technology and innovative subsectors. The fund which will be managed by the Ethiopian Ministry of Innovation and Technology in cooperation with the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development is part of the government’s plan to support job creation, reduce unemployment and poverty rate in the country. Recent reforms by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, has been targeted towards encouraging inflow of foreign investment into the country.

Sterling Bank has extended a 5 year facility worth N446 million (US$1.2 million) to Virtus, a decentralised energy consortium, sponsored by Rensource distributed energy and Solad to foster the deployment of off grid electricity solutions to economic clusters such as market places, shopping centres, and industrial facilities in the country. This is in line with the Nigerian government’s implementation of the Rural Electrification Agency’s Energizing Economies Initiative, a private sector driven program which aims to provide electricity to over 80,000 shops across 16 economic clusters. With the closing of this transaction, Virtus aims to deploy High Capacity Solar Systems to expand their coverage.

Applications are now open for the second cohort of the Africa Blockchain Developer Program starting in August 2019. Organised by the Africa Blockchain Alliance, the program was launched in March with the first cohort set to graduate this July. To increase the number of developers participating in the next cohort, a number of scholarships are available courtesy of a US$10,000 grant from ConsenSys Grants.

From TechCabal

+  You know what’s worse than no government regulation for innovative sectors of a nation’s economy? Regulations like this one the Lagos state government is proposing for motor bike hailing companies. An annual license fee of N25 million (roughly US$70,000) per 1,000 motor bikes. Abubakar Idris writes that discussions are still ongoing and nothing is set in concrete. Yet.

+  And still on motor bikes, where do electric ones come in with all the discussions and concerns about our climate? Wole Olayinka takes a look at some companies already posing answers to that question across Africa.