African Tech – Africa Tech Digest

Fintech Focus: The link between Open Banking and financial inclusion

2Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Fintech, Nigeria

Fintech Focus: The link between Open Banking and financial inclusion

Nigerian banks sit on an inventory of consumer data that fintech startups in the country can only dream of. With more than 70 million active bank customers in Nigeria, banks possess valuable big data, consisting of demographic, personal, and professional information of clients as well as transaction history, consumption patterns, and movements. There’s so much that can be done with this data. For instance, lenders can segment their client base to offer personalised savings or loan offers. The data can also be deployed in targeting Nigeria’s huge unbanked population with customised services, based on similar profiles to existing clients. Continue reading

Africa’s Top Ten Countries Ranked by Internet Speed in 2021

26Aug

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Africa, Mobile, Telecommunications

Africa’s Top Ten Countries Ranked by Internet Speed in 2021

Internet and connectivity speed tester Ookla last month released its global market analysis, ranking all countries in terms of fastest mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds. Countries are ranked based on their Speed Score, which incorporates a measure of each country’s total download and upload speed to rank network performance (90% of the final Speed Score is attributed to download speed and the remaining 10% to upload speed because online experiences are typically more affected by download speed). Ookla places the most emphasis on the median speeds as those represent what most mobile internet customers will experience on a day-to-day basis. Continue reading

African fintech Pngme raises $15M for its financial data infrastructure platform

18Aug

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Fintech

African fintech Pngme raises $15M for its financial data infrastructure platform

Unbundling financial data through APIs and driving data-driven insights with value-add products in Africa keeps getting more exciting as major players continue to raise more money for scale. Less than a year after its $3 million seed round, San Francisco- and Africa-based fintech Pngme has snapped up another $15 million for its financial data infrastructure play. The company is also describing itself as a machine learning-as-a-service platform. Octopus Ventures led the Series A round, with follow-on investment from Lateral Capital, EchoVC, Raptor Group and Two Small Fish Ventures. Other investors like Unshackled Ventures, Future Africa, Lagos-based Aruwa Capital, and The51 participated too. Continue reading (Image Credits: Pngme)

African e-commerce firm Jumia targets tech and user growth

11Aug

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ecommerce

African e-commerce firm Jumia targets tech and user growth

NAIROBI, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Africa’s Jumia Technologies said on Tuesday it plans to spend more on marketing and hire more technology professionals after reporting an increased loss in its second quarter. Jumia, which became the first Africa-focused tech startup on the New York Stock Exchange when it listed there in 2019, reported the fastest growth in order volumes in five straight quarters in the period to end-June. The company, which operates in more than 10 African countries spanning Morocco to South Africa, offers an online market place for vendors and food sellers, as well as associated services. Continue reading (Image Credits: Jumia)

Moove Raises $23 Million Series A Funding to Democratize Vehicle Ownership in Africa

9Aug

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Fintech, Start-ups, West Africa

Moove Raises $23 Million Series A Funding to Democratize Vehicle Ownership in Africa

African mobility fintech start up provides revenue-based vehicle financing, empowering individuals across Africa to own their own vehicle LAGOS, Nigeria--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Moove, an African mobility fintech, today announced that it has raised $23 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Speedinvest and Left Lane Capital, with participation from DCM, Clocktower Technology Ventures, thelatest.ventures, LocalGlobe, Tekton, FJ Labs, Palm Drive Capital, Roka Works, KAAF Investments, Spartech Ventures, Class 5 Global, and Victoria van Lennep, co-founder of Lendable. Africa specialist, Verod Kepple Africa Ventures, and one of Moove’s existing lenders, Emso Asset Management, also joined the round. This brings Moove’s total funding to $68.2 million, including $28.2M in equity and $40.0M...

18Jan

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Central Africa, East Africa, Nigeria, Southern Africa, Tech Policy, West Africa

Internet Switched Back On Again In Zimbabwe After A Total Blackout For The Second Time In A Week

The Zimbabwean story continues to be crazier at every turn. Around mid day on Tuesday the government ordered internet service providers to block all citizens from the internet. The nation was switched back on yesterday after 30 hours of darkness. When we thought that it was all done, the government issued another directive at Nicodemus time last night around 10 pm instructing total shut down again. Zimbabwe woke up to no internet today and Econet subscribers had the following message in their SMS inbox: At 22:05 17/01/19, we were served with another directive for total shutdown of the internet until further notice. Our lawyers advised we are required to comply with the directive pending the Courts decision on its legality. The earlier directives are already the subject of a pendin...

The big tech and innovation trends in Africa for 2018

28Dec

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Trends

The big tech and innovation trends in Africa for 2018

This year, as is the case almost every year, the availability of funding proved a major talking point among African tech founders and innovators. In 2018, however, there was reason to cheer as halfway through the year, startup funding had reached $168.6 million—surpassing last year’s total. Crucially, there was more venture capital closer to home for startups as Partech Ventures launched a $100 million pan-African fund. Indeed, much of that increased investment was largely thanks to the hot streak of fintech companies, including big-ticket investment deals like Cellulant’s $47.5 million Series C round. Fintech companies across the continent providing key services in loans, savings and payment, have been increasingly rewarded wit...