CRYPTO MARKET

Bitcoin	$20,373	– 1.00%
Ether	$1,552	– 2.48%
BNB	$323	– 1.14%
Solana	$31.94	– 1.14%
Cardano	$0.39	– 1.19%
Name of the coin Price of the coin 24-hour percentage change		Source: CoinMarketCap

* Data as of 05:30 AM WAT, November 3, 2022.

KENYANS ARE NOW PAYING VAT FOR FACEBOOK ADS

Meta, the parent company of social media giant Facebook, has announced that all Facebook ads in Kenya will be subject to the country’s 16% value-added tax (VAT) starting November 1.

Tell me more

According to a statement on the company’s help centre, VAT will be added whenever advertisers are charged for ads regardless of whether they are purchasing the ads for business or personal purposes.

Some context: Kenyan traders with a turnover of taxable supplies of Ksh 5 million ($41,150) per annum and above are required to register for VAT which is charged on goods and services made or provided in the country.

Long time coming

According to TechTrendsKE, in April this year, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) revealed plans to double the tax collected from tech giants operating or facilitating digital payments in the country from 1.5% to 3%.

YEGO GOES TO KENYA

Uber and Bolt have new competition in Kenya.

Rwandese ride-sharing platform, YEGO Global, has entered the Kenyan market to provide customised taxi-hailing services in the country. According to CEO Karanvir Singh, YEGO’s solution is to “free the driver community from the digital slavery of the Gig economy”. 

A drag race

This expansion comes at a time when Uber and Bolt drivers are protesting high commission rates in Kenya.

Currently, Bolt and Uber charge 20% and 18% commission per trip respectively while YEGO charges 12%. 

Some other benefits for YEGO drivers include free personal accident and medical insurance, on-demand access to their earnings, and free membership to a savings and credit cooperative. The ride fares will also be in tandem with the prevailing fuel prices and traffic situations.

YEGO Global has been operating in Rwanda since 2016, becoming the first licensed company in the country to provide a smart mobility solution. It became a huge success, holding 100% of the taxicab market share in parts of the country like Kigali. The company has also been recognised globally for driving inclusion, innovation, and empowering women and youth. 

It will be interesting to see how Uber and Bolt will ride this competition wave, especially as it looks like YEGO has studied the market. According to the company; 5,000 drivers have joined in just 15 days.

YEGO is also the first licensed taxi app by NTSA in Kenya.

AMAZON WEB SERVICES LAUNCHES NIGERIAN OFFICE

In 2015, Amazon Web Services—Amazon’s data centre—opened up its first African office in Johannesburg.

At the time, Amazon wanted to “support the growth of the cloud computing business and its rapidly expanding customer base in the country.”

Now, seven years later, AWS is opening up its doors in another African city: Lagos, Nigeria.

This move will bring AWS, which already supports a number of Nigerian startups such as SeamlessHR, Yellow Card, BFree, Bankly and public sector organisations, closer to African startups.

The Lagos office is AWS’s latest investment in Africa and will house teams of AWS account managers, partner managers, solutions architects, and other supporting roles.

“Lagos offers a highly skilled and creative talent pool, and the area is home to many fast-growing startups and notable Nigerian enterprises leading the way in digital innovation,” said Amrote Abdella, regional manager of sub-Saharan Africa at AWS.

Zoom out: Two months ago, AWS opened up its second South African office. Amazon also has plans to launch its e-commerce platform in Nigeria and South Africa in a move codenamed “Project Fela”.

THE FIVE FINALISTS FOR THE MEST AFRICA CHALLENGE

MEST Africa is allowing African founders to pitch their way into a $50,000 investment. 

For the past four years, Mest Africa Challenge (MAC) has contributed to the growth of Africa’s tech ecosystem by providing seed funding and business training to African software firms. 

Five startups have now been shortlisted as finalists for this year’s edition, which will be held in Accra, Ghana. The selected startups will pitch to win a $50,000 equity investment. 

Here are the selected five

Nigeria’s Sproutly, a fintech and educational management company providing financing for teens and credit for schools; Swoove, a Ghana-based last mile delivery startup building a robust e-commerce fulfilment infrastructure; Kwely, a Senegalese startup providing made-in-Africa B2B brand incubation and digital distribution services; Hisa, a Kenyan startup building the tech infrastructure for investing in Africa; and Desert Green Africa Agri-Investments, an agritech startup powering South Africa’s agricultural supply chain from local farmers to informal traders.

The five startups will represent their countries at the final pitch competition scheduled for December 2022. 

EVENT: AFRICA TECH FESTIVAL

From November 7–11, TechCabal will be at the Africa Tech Festival holding in Cape Town, South Africa. 

The five-day in-person event will cover the topics shaping Africa’s present and future, including our awards ceremony and famous Afest, “Africa’s best party.” Attendees will get to interact with leaders of the tech ecosystem including CEO of MainOne Fuke Opeke, managing director for Google SSA Nitin Gajria, and Big Cabal Media CEO Tomiwa Aladekomo. 

Register for free here.

IN OTHER NEWS FROM TECHCABAL

My Life in Tech: Ifeoluwa Dare-Johnson is creating convenient medical testing for Nigerians.

Luno and FoodForward SA team up to allow South Africans to make bitcoin charity donations.

This Techstars’ mentor shares how Africa can rise to its calling as the continent of the future.

OPPORTUNITIES

• The Mindcapital Startup Bootcamp is open to early-stage tech startups who want to go from idea to problem–solution fit in one weekend. Selected startups will get a free three-day remote workshop where they will design value propositions and business models, and test business ideas. Apply now.

• The Fondation Maison des sciences de l’homme and the Institut Français de Recherche en Afrique of Nairobi are offering a three-month long fellowship in France for postdoc researchers from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and Eastern Congo (Kivu) who have presented their thesis from 2017. Laureates will receive a monthly stipend of €1,600 at the start of each month. Apply by December 9.

• If your startup or innovation is focused on climate-smart agriculture practices, apply to the THRIVE|Shell Climate-Smart Agriculture Challenge for a chance to win $100,000, a spot in a prestigious accelerator, publicity and more. Apply by December 11.

• Telecel Group’s African Startup Initiative Program is now open for applications. The 10 selected startups will receive €15,000 in cash each and benefits valued at more than €500,000, including credits from AWS, Google Cloud Services, Hubspot, and more. Apply by November 11.

• Applications are now open for Apple’s Entrepreneur Camp. The immersive virtual camp will give founders and developers from underrepresented communities mentorship, technical support and access to the alumni network. Apply by December 5.

• If you have a business in the agricultural sector, apply to the  African Development Bank’s AgriPitch competition—a 2-week virtual program—-to get business mentorship and win access to a grant pool of $140,000. Apply by November 4th.

• Applications are open for the Association of Commonwealth Universities Emerging Career Conference Grants. There are about 25-40 grants available to emerging researchers and university teachers who need funding to attend virtual or physical conferences. Apply by November 28.

• African Research Leaders 2023 is calling for funding applications from African medical researchers who have completed a PhD and need the support of £750,000 over the course of five years. Apply by December 1st.

What else is happening in tech?

SHARE THIS EDITION