Nigeria – Page 2 – Africa Tech Digest

Nigerian businesses can now accept Apple Pay on Paystack

23Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Nigerian businesses can now accept Apple Pay on Paystack

Paystack, the African fintech company that powers and processes payments for businesses, today announced that it is launching Pay with Apple Pay on its platform. The company, in a statement, called the integration “the fastest, secure way for Nigerian businesses to accept international payments.” Apple Pay, Apple’s mobile payments and digital wallet service, provides users with a secure and private way to pay on their iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and Macbooks. Despite having a presence in almost every continent since 2014, Apple Pay only made its way into Africa this March through South Africa. Users in the country with Visa, Mastercard and American Express cards can access the payment service from five banks — Nedbank, Absa, FirstRand Bank, Investec and Discovery. Continue read...

Nigerian fintech HerVest wants to bring financial inclusion to more African women

22Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Fintech, Nigeria

Nigerian fintech HerVest wants to bring financial inclusion to more African women

After years of working in marketing for a number of financial services companies, Solape Akinpelu came to a conclusion: There was an “alarmingly low adoption” by women for financial services in her home country of Nigeria and all of Africa as a whole. “I could see women living the reality around me,” Akinpelu recalls. “These women could not make sound financial decisions. Some of these women that do not even know that they could do better with their money.” She found that the problem is particularly acute for women living in rural areas, especially those working on farms. Continue reading Image: Hervest co-founder and CEO Solape Akinpelu / Hervest

A Nigerian fintech startup serving solar providers secures $2m funding

20Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Fintech, Nigeria, Start-ups

A Nigerian fintech startup serving solar providers secures $2m funding

Infibranches Technologies Limited, a Nigerian startup that provides digital payment services to solar energy providers, on Monday said it has secured a $2 million funding from All On, an impact investment company backed by oil major Shell. Through its flagship products – OmniBranches and Green Energy Plug – Infibranches helps companies with large distribution networks, particularly Solar Home System (SHS) distributors and mini-grid developers, manage their operations. According to Infibranches CEO, Olusola Owoyemi, OmniBranches has served over a million customers. Its features include agent hierarchy management, commission tracking, transaction records, transaction analytics, and profile management. Continue reading Image: Guardian Nigeria

Glovo is officially in Nigeria, redefining tech-driven on-demand delivery!

18Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Africans in Tech, Nigeria

Glovo is officially in Nigeria, redefining tech-driven on-demand delivery!

Customers nowadays would rather order food and other items from an app and have them delivered, than walk into a neighboring restaurant or store. The concept of on-demand delivery service has redefined comfort, efficiency, and convenience for users across every consumer service, product category or just anything. A global technology company Glovo has recently launched its multi-category on-demand delivery platform in Nigeria! This app connects users and couriers, allowing them to order any product or food item with a simple tap on their smartphone and have it delivered to them fast by a specialist Glovo rider, called a Glover. The app works in 6 unique categories where users can order items from supermarkets, pharmacies, restaurants, drinks, specific package deliveries, and an inte...

Nigerian one-click checkout platform OurPass raises $1M pre-seed, wants to build ‘Fast for Africa’

11Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

ecommerce, Nigeria, Start-ups

Nigerian one-click checkout platform OurPass raises $1M pre-seed, wants to build ‘Fast for Africa’

We like to buy things online ranging from e-commerce stores to subscription-based sites. However, no one enjoys the hassle when you have to always re-log into different sites and stores. I mean, shopping can be a whole lot more fun if a fast logging and checkout system existed across all your favorite online stores. In the U.S., high-flying startup Fast already caters to this need. Although the company is building a global product, it is limited in Africa, and OurPass has taken an interest to build one for the market. The Nigeria-based startup, which describes itself as the “Fast for Africa”, has also closed a $1 million pre-seed round to scale across the country. The round was led by Tekedia Capital and angel investors from Fortune 500 companies, the company said. E-commer...

How Scrapays is helping Nigerians get value from waste with USSD technology

11Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Nigeria, Start-ups

How Scrapays is helping Nigerians get value from waste with USSD technology

Being the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria faces a number of urban challenges and uncollected trash is high on the list. Waste collection methods driven by local authorities remain inadequate, particularly in rural areas. Furthermore, most Nigerians are not inclined to collect and dispose of their waste properly. In Lagos, for instance, where trash volume grows by 15,000 tons daily, only 40% of waste generated is collected and just 13% is recycled each year. The rest – including materials that could feed the local recycling industry – litters the streets and clogs open drains. Over the past few years, trash-for-cash initiatives have emerged in Nigeria, looking to tackle the widespread waste problems by incentivising Nigerians while supplying recycling plants with much-needed...

Facebook Launches Campaign to Take on Fake News in Nigeria

11Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Apps, Nigeria, Social Networks, Telecommunications

Facebook Launches Campaign to Take on Fake News in Nigeria

Facebook is collaborating with Nigerian companies Big Cabal Media and Comic Republic to launch the #NoFalseNewsZone educational campaign aimed at helping individuals identify fake news and educate them on how to minimise the spread of false information across Nigeria’s internet and otherwise. “We are super excited to be working with Big Cabal Media and Comic Republic to launch #NoFalseNewsZone in Nigeria,” said Oluwasola Obagbemi, Facebook’s Corporate Communications Manager for Anglophone West Africa, quoted by the Guardian Nigeria. Obagbemi says that the social media giant is committed to the well-being of individuals and communities. Continue reading

Nigeria’s Akiddie is scaling to become a storytelling platform for minority kids worldwide

8Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Nigeria, Telecommunications

Nigeria’s Akiddie is scaling to become a storytelling platform for minority kids worldwide

“I came up with the Akiddie idea because I felt my niece deserved better, more representative stories, and that idea still drives what we do today, only that it’s no longer for just my niece, it’s for every child around the world and their right to having content that affirms them.” — Dominic Onyekachi, CEO of Nigerian media startup, Akiddie. The last time we covered Akiddie, we detailed how the startup was creating the most extensive collection of African children’s stories, to give children powerful and culturally relevant stories. In the past year, the startup has been scaling to cater to minority kids across the globe. Until recently, most children’s literature from popular culture has mainly featured Western civilisations, and there was a distinct lack of diversity....

Nigeria’s Autochek acquires Cheki Kenya and Uganda from ROAM Africa

6Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Africa, Nigeria, Telecommunications

Nigeria’s Autochek acquires Cheki Kenya and Uganda from ROAM Africa

Nigerian automotive tech company Autochek today is announcing the acquisition of Cheki Kenya and Uganda from Ringier One Africa Media (ROAM) for an undisclosed amount. Per a statement, Autochek will finalize the deal in the coming weeks. With the acquisition, Autochek completes its expansion into East Africa and follows the first acquisition made almost a year ago when it acquired both Nigeria and Ghana businesses from Cheki. In 2010, Cheki launched as an online car classified for dealers, importers, and private sellers in Kenya. The startup, headquartered in Nairobi, expanded operations to Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Continue reading

Building Shopify for Africa: Nigeria’s Bumpa plans to digitise thousands of African businesses

3Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Africa, ecommerce, Nigeria, Start-ups

Building Shopify for Africa: Nigeria’s Bumpa plans to digitise thousands of African businesses

Nigerian eCommerce startup, Bumpa, has raised a $200,000 pre-seed to digitise thousands of African businesses on its platform. Greencap Equity, HoaQ club, Rizq Investment Group, Microtraction, DFS Lab, Aidi Ventures, Prosper Otemuyiwa, Oo Nwoye, Perfect Makanju, Whogohost’s venture arm, and a few other angel investors took part in the round. Bumpa, formerly known as SalesCabal, was relaunched in February 2021 by Kelvin Umechukwu (CEO) and Adetunji Opayele (CTO). The company helps retailers manage and grow their businesses using their smartphones. Continue reading