Africa Tech Digest

Africa’s 5 Unicorn Startups – Which Has the Highest Valuation?

1Oct

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Start-ups

Africa’s 5 Unicorn Startups – Which Has the Highest Valuation?

Recently, global engineering talent outsourcer Andela reached the highly exalted status as a unicorn startup – a startup with a valuation of $1-billion or more. Andela joins an exceedingly exclusive group as one of Africa’s 5 startup unicorns currently operating. The first startup in Africa to achieve a ten-figure valuation was Jumia. The Nigerian-founded company is now a pan-African retail leader and an e-commerce powerhouse, but its valuation dropped below $1-billion in 2019 due to its volatile share price. Interestingly, 4 of 5 current unicorns are from Nigeria – the African country that saw the most VC investments in 2020, according to Statista. The other unicorn is from Senegal, which doesn’t even chart on Statista’s list of top African country’s for VC. Another interesting ...

ICASA Sets New Deadline for Controversial Spectrum Auction

1Oct

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Mobile, Telecommunications

ICASA Sets New Deadline for Controversial Spectrum Auction

Last month, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), the country’s communications regulator, announced that it would not be publishing invitations to apply (ITA) to participate in the highly anticipated auction of high-demand spectrum in South Africa, effectively postponing the auction. ICASA said that the move was made to avoid lengthy court battles against several litigators that had issues with how ICASA was handling the auction. The regulator likewise withdrew an ITA for the licensing of the planned wholesale open-access network (WOAN). Now, following more than a decade of delays and legal issues, ICASA has announced a new timetable for the auction of its high-demand spectrum in the country. According to Media24, SA’s high data prices (some of the hig...

Nigeria’s President gives conditions to be met before lifting Twitter ban

1Oct

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Apps, Nigeria, Social Networks

Nigeria’s President gives conditions to be met before lifting Twitter ban

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has said the suspension of the operations of Twitter in the country will end only if the company meets certain conditions, such as the setting up of a local unit and payment of taxes. Buhari listed these conditions during a broadcast to mark Nigeria’s 61st Independence anniversary on Friday, October 1. The Nigerian government suspended Twitter’s operations in June, following the social media platform’s decision to delete a tweet by Buhari, which it said breached the site’s rules. The state’s decision to ban Twitter triggered widespread criticism as online-based businesses recorded huge losses; lawsuits; and national assembly hearings meant to probe the circumstances leading to the ban. According to the president, a committee constituted ...

TECNO’s CAMON 18 Premier Certificated by TÜV Rheinland for Low Blue Light of Eye Protection and Safe Fast-charge System

30Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Gadgets, Mobile

TECNO’s CAMON 18 Premier Certificated by TÜV Rheinland for Low Blue Light of Eye Protection and Safe Fast-charge System

HONG KONG, China, September 30, 2021/APO Group/ -- TECNO (www.TECNO-Mobile.com) today announced that its latest smartphone to release in Oct——TECNO CANOM 18 Premier has received two new internationally recognized TÜV Rheinland certifications respectively for Low Blue Light (Hardware solution) and Safe Fast-charge Systems. This will provide consumers better eye protection and safety of fast charging for long-time phone usage. The negative damage to eyes from blue lights of the computer and mobile screens is a becoming a heated topic in recent years, especially with the increasing long hours of smartphone usage in daily life among heavy phone users and even teenagers and children. According to many industry researches, blue light penetrates all the way to the retina and too much expos...

VertoFX picks up $10M for cross-border payments play in emerging markets

30Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Africa, Start-ups

VertoFX picks up $10M for cross-border payments play in emerging markets

VertoFX, a global B2B payments platform that allows small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to make payments to their suppliers, today announced that it has closed $10 million in Series A funding. Quona Capital, an emerging fintech-focused venture capital firm, led the round. Other firms also participated, including The Treasury, founded by Betterment’s Eli Broverman and Acorns’ Jeff Cruttenden; Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP); U.K.-based TMT Investments; Unicorn Growth Capital; Zrosk Investments; and P1 Ventures. The lack of interoperability between African currencies is primarily behind why a Kenyan business owner who wants to pay an invoice to another business owner in South Africa with either shillings or rands ends up using the dollar — the currency that powers almo...

Nigeria’s Central Bank Launches eNaira Website

30Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Cryptocurrency, Nigeria

Nigeria’s Central Bank Launches eNaira Website

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has officially launched its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) website for the eNaira. Last month, the CBN announced that it was working with Barbados-based fintech firm Bitt Inc as a technical partner to launch the West African country’s own digital coin. The eNaira is set to launch in October. Godwin Emefiele, the CBN’s Governor, has said that the eNaira would operate as a wallet against which customers can hold existing funds within their bank accounts. According to the CBN, the eNaira is expected to become a legal tender for all of Nigeria and is set to be accessible to both bank account and non-account holders. It will be accepted by all merchants and business outlets in the country. Continue reading Image: Techgist Africa

SoftBank sinks $200M into Andela, propels company into unicorn territory

29Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

AI

SoftBank sinks $200M into Andela, propels company into unicorn territory

Andela, a fully remote company that helps tech companies build remote engineering teams (initially from Africa but now a global market), is currently valued at $1.5 billion following a $200 million Series E round led by SoftBank’s Softbank Vision Fund 2, the $30 billion venture fund of SoftBank Group. Joining SoftBank in the investment was new investor Whale Rock and existing investors including Generation Investment Management, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Spark Capital. After closing this Series E round, Andela has raised a total of $381 million since being founded in Lagos, Nigeria in 2014, according to Crunchbase data. Its last valuation of $700 million came when the company raised a $100 million Series D in 2019. Continue reading Image: Unsplash

5 tech tools to help people with handwriting difficulties

29Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Education, Health Tech

5 tech tools to help people with handwriting difficulties

Henry*, a 9-year-old student, was diagnosed with dysgraphia when he was seven years old. He has trouble gripping a pencil, which always leads to hand cramps and fatigue. “Henry’s handwriting was unusual and inconsistent. It was sad to see him struggle to write at home because it seemed like his teachers were punishing him by having him write in class,” Henry’s dad recalls. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), writing necessitates a complex set of motor and information processing skills which includes the ability to organise thoughts coherently and then write them down on paper. However, dysgraphia impairs these abilities in varying degrees. Continue reading Image: Techpoint.africa

Vivo Y21 Smartphone Launches in Kenya: All the Specs + Pricing

29Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Gadgets, Mobile

Vivo Y21 Smartphone Launches in Kenya: All the Specs + Pricing

Vivo has unveiled its latest Y-series model the Vivo Y21 in Kenya. The Y21 is a mid-range smartphone featuring high-end specs and a number of distinct tweaks intended to drive the next wave of smartphones in the East African country. Specifications The new Vivo Y21 packs a 5,000mAh battery that supports 18W fast charging technology which can charge up to 34% in just 30 minutes. The device has an 8.0 mm sleek design with a 2.5D flat. The device is lightweight, weighing only 182g. Sporting a 6.51 – inch HD Plus Display (1600 by720), the Y21 carries a MediaTek Helio P35 chipset paired with 4GB RAM which comes with an extended 1GB RAM. Storage options range from a 64g unit up to the larger 128g. The Helio P35 chipset is an upgraded function to make the device faster and smoother w...

Meet Abake Adenle, who developed a unique speech recognition software for African languages

28Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Africa

Meet Abake Adenle, who developed a unique speech recognition software for African languages

In July 2021, a Nigerian-American was recognised for her innovative work advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in voice. The attraction came from building a voice recognition and speech synthesis software for five African languages, which was innovative. As of the time she founded the startup, the market was pretty undefined and unrefined, with no known player in the space focused on native African languages. To get an idea of how it feels to get the attention of an organisation like Women in Voice (WiV) — an international non-profit based in Seattle — and her plans for it, we had a chat, albeit briefly. I did get an idea, but I only scratched the surface. I would come to realise that what seemed like a big deal was only a bit of the life of a hard-working woman with a...