Deliver Addis, Ethiopia’s online food delivery firm has raised follow-on funding from RENEW and the Impact Angel Network through its partner Technology Solutions LLC (Roadrunner). Deliver Addis founder Feleg Tsegaye said, “We’re seeing consumers adopt technology not only as a luxury, but, in these challenging times, it’s becoming a necessity. We’re pleased to play our role in helping prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to help so many restaurants, local vendors and supermarkets keep their lights on by providing them with an online market. We appreciate all of the support we have received from the community and our stakeholders, and…
Author: Sylvia Makario
Cryptocurrencies have become a popular digital asset and a new investment instrument for investors. There is a growing interest in cryptocurrencies as more than 2,000 cryptocurrencies are in the market and many more in the pipeline. But this is still early days for the cryptocurrencies and it is believed that the best is yet to come. However, for the moment there are hundreds of cryptocurrency exchanges catering to all possible markets and there is fierce competition among them. Growth of crptocurrency market Unlike stock markets where hundreds and thousands of stocks are listed for trading and investment, cryptocurrency exchanges may…
TECNO Mobile’s #TECNOTakesMeHome campaign has awarded 50+ customers with a range of gifts. The digital campaign achieved an impressive 27 Million social media impressions and drove a record breaking 2 Million+ engagements across the different social media channels. The campaign saw 30 TECNO Mobile customers walk away with 30 brand new motorcycles and a 500 more receive complimentary bus tickets to various upcountry destinations. The response to the campaign has been phenomenal and this had seen TECNO Mobile extend the promotion further to 25th January. The #TECNOTakeMeHome campaign made a debut in 2016 and it has seen more than 5000…
Keeping track of remote workers is a challenge. Not only do you have to manage employees in different time zones, but you also face the challenge of having so much physical distance between you and your workers. These factors can make it feel impossible to properly lead and manage your workforce. As a manager or business owner, you want peace of mind that your remote workers are working when they should be. You also want to know that everyone on the team is most efficiently using their time. But let’s face it, remote work does have its pitfalls. Working from…
Safaricom is not opposed to the proposed Telkom and Airtel Kenya merger, according to a statement by its chief executive refuting claims made earlier by Telkom Kenya chief executive. In a statement, Michael Joseph, CEO – Safaricom PLC, said “Our attention has been drawn to claims by Telkom Kenya that Safaricom is opposed to its proposed merger with Airtel Kenya. We wish to clarify that this is not Safaricom’s position. ” The chief executive added that Safaricom believes in competition based on innovation, investment, focus on brand building and service to the customer. Joseph added that industry players are free to engage…
KCB Group has posted a 5% growth in after tax profit to KShs. 12.7 billion for the first half of 2019 ending June compared to KShs12.1 billion reported same period last year due to growth in its loan book and increased mobile channel activity. KCB Group CEO and MD Joshua Oigara, while releasing the results on Thursday, said channel transactions done outside the branch increased to 96% of total transactions, up from 87% in 2018 driven by mobile channel. “We had a strong second quarter and witnessed continued growth across our businesses segments. The investment in technology generated positive return…
Huawei has officially released its EMUI10 allowing users to connect between multiple devices as well as applications such as audio and video calls in all scenarios. The EMUI10 Beta version will be internally tested with Huawei P30 series and other models on September 8, and EMUI10 will be available on the next generation of Mate series products. According to Dr. Wang Chenglu, President of the Software Engineering Department at Huawei Consumer Business Group, during the Huawei Developers Congress held on August 9, in Dongguan, China, the EMUI10 is pioneering distributed technology applications for providing an all-scenario experience. The EMUI10 comes…
SOLA Group, South Africa’s solar PV builder has secured R400m ($26.1m) from African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), and Nedbank Energy Finance to provide affordable solar PV solutions for individuals and businesses in Southern Africa. AIIM) recently raised $320 million from investors from Africa, Europe and Asia for big-ticket power, transport & energy projects in Africa. The fund has invested in BBOXX New Generation Utility in Kenya and are shortlisted on the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway PPP. It’s latest raise, African infrastructure fund, AIIF3, makes the cumulative commitments to $2.2 billion over 7 funds and executed more than 56 transactions in target pan-African markets.…
Zeelo, a UK online shuttle booking service has officially launched in South Africa after a series of months of beta testing its data analytics platform and ramping up its operations in readiness for a nationwide expansion. With £4.25m in funding, Zeelo quietly launched in Durban in South Africa in mid-2018 and reports to have signed up over 20,000 vehicles on its platform already. The firm, also reports to have partnered with a number of local operators in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban to provide commuting, event and private charter services. According to Zeelo Co-Founder and Chief Executive Sam Ryan:…
If you asked me is passengers on SWVL needed free Wi-Fi, my answer would be a big no because most of these SWVL customers leave their cars at home to hop on a decent matatu and can afford data. They are also not the target audience for the funny content on the supaBRCK. But, this is Africa and page views or any other vanity metrics and startup announcements attract investors holed up somewhere in North America or Europe hungry to have a piece of Africa for themselves. From our internal surveys, free Wi-Fi is not a product to sell anywhere…
Lori has hired Uche Ogboi as its Chief Operating Officer and Efayomi Carr as Head of Strategic Finance effective 29 July as it moves to drive its pan-African expansion plan. Efayomi will be based in Nairobi while Uche will operate from Lagos but with frequent visits to Nairobi. Ogboi served as the Principal, Investments, at EchoVC Partners, a Pan-Africa and tech-enabled venture capital firm where helped grow the firm’s portfolio both across the region and globally. She has invested in companies across various sectors including logistics, healthcare, fintech, telecoms and agriculture. She also worked at Citi for 8 years as…
Global Disability Innovation Hub is set to launch the world’s first Assistive Technology Innovation Accelerator in Nairobi, Kenya as part of the Innovate Now programme. The Innovate Now accelerator is a £1.5m investment in African businesses that will provide tech support, mentorship and training to over 100 start-ups focused on people with disabilities in Kenya. “Assistive technology has the potential to enable and empower and can be a key part of delivering the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The launch of the Innovation Ecosystem in Nairobi– a leading country in innovation– is a fantastic demonstration of the power that collaboration and…
Space in Africa, a news, data, and market analysis for the African space industry, has completed its seed funding round led by AC Ventures is an investment firm led by Adam B. Cohen. While the terms were not disclosed, the funds raised are being used to hire additional reporters and analysts to expand coverage for its subscription news service and specialised industry reports. “Many people outside Africa are surprised to hear how significant the African space industry has become, and how the development of the industry has become a real priority for many nations and the African Union,” says Space in Africafounder, Temidayo Oniosun. The GDP of the…
VertoFX has raised $2.1m to build a cross-border payments platform for Africa and other emerging markets, just months after graduating from YCombinator. Founded in 2017 by Nigerian-born, British ex-bankers Anthony Oduwole and Ola Oyetayo, VertoFX aims to make cross-border payments seamless starting from Africa and other emerging markets. According to VertoFX CEO Ola Oyetayo: “We are in the early stages of helping businesses in emerging markets solve a significant problem they currently face and the funds we have raised will help put some fuel in our bus for the journey. We spoke to a number of investors after YC’s demo day but…
DerevaBuddy.com which was launched five years ago to end hooliganism on Kenyan roads did not survive to see the light of day as the many startups under our obituaries section. DerevaBuddy, coined from Dereva which is Swahili for Driver and Buddy which is a friend, aimed to help drivers share real-time information with their peers to help them evade traffic and save time. However, the web app never survived because of the lack of a clear business model, lack of a team, and lack of a clear marketing strategy which led to a near-zero reach to its target audience-drivers. Through…
Glovo has signed up Simbisa Brand’s Pizza Inn, Chicken Inn, Creamy Inn and Galitos in Kenya. Priscilla Muhiu, Glovo’s Head of Marketing for Sub Sahara Africa, said that the partnership will mostly benefit consumers of Glovo’s service and Simbisa’s products. “This partnership means a lot not only to us but also our customers. Glovo is constantly innovating thus we are always keen to onboard more outlets so as to improve the product offering we give to our customers based on their preferences,” said Mrs. Muhiu. “Simbisa Brands operates a rich portfolio of food and eateries spread across different locations in…
I have only been back home in Kenya for only ten days and I am already filled with a deluge of text messages from my dear telco Safaricom with messages on promotions that don’t serve me better as their esteemed customer. What struck me most and almost exhausted me was and is still the number of promotions that Safaricom incessantly keeps pushing to its Customers without any sort of accountability form their end. Not to sound too critical on my end, without a doubt, I acknowledge that there are certainly individuals in the Kenyan demographic that get excited for such…
Mastercard has partnered DPO Group to enable more than 40,000 African merchants to accept Mastercard payments, connecting more people and businesses to the global economy. The collaboration will enable DPO to act as a Pan-African switch by using the Mastercard Payments Gateway Services (MPGS). DPO will now be able to independently authorise transactions without any bank integration required. According to Raghav Prasad, Division President for Sub-Saharan Africa, “Mastercard’s partnership with DPO is an important milestone in our vision to financially include every African. Our partnerships with DPO and other key FinTechs across Africa, allows Mastercard to speed up building of the acceptance railroads that…
LG East Africa has introduced the LG EzSign TV in Kenya giving users a smart commercial display solution. EZSign TV is the first LG digital signage solution to incorporate live TV without additional hardware. According to Josep Kim, the Managing Director, LG East Africa, he quoted saying “It is a turnkey solution that offers business owners an intuitive and cost-effective digital signage display system with the added feature of broadcast television.” With the EzSign TV,comes other features such as high defination pictures and it is users friendly such that the users can customize it to their desired needs.It can also…
Launched January this year, Orange Horizons, an Orange subsidiary has opened physical stores in SA and Portugal in a move that will give the firm new business opportunities and offer support to its customers traveling abroad. Now present in 7 countries the firm has opened physical stores in partnership with local partners such as Nashua Mobile in SA apart from just selling online. Orange Horizons has four own-branded corners in stores in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town. Additional services are provided to customers travelling from neighboring countries where Orange is already present, such as Botswana, or for customers…
Wechat, Chinese micro-blogging and messaging service which is owned by Tencent Holdings, suffered a major network outage on Monday. WeChat initially said that the outage was caused by a hardware failure, whose result was due to the main internet connection to its servers being cut by construction work near to its offices. This took the service down for most of the Monday morning, a situation which was described as “Black Monday” .Despite the fact that the fault occurred around 9:30am and was fixed by 3pm, some users reported services resuming from around noon. Nevertheless damages had already occurred on it…
Kenya’s electoral commission body, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) wants Safaricom, Kenya’s top telco to reconsider transmitting the Makueni by-election results. The firm transmitted the country’s March 4 General Election results which were disputed. Safariocm announced July 4 that it had withdrawn services to the IEBC due to the commission’s level of preparedness for the by-election. IEBC however is still asking the telco do to the job. IEBC CEO, James Oswago told the media that the commission was ready. Osawgo said: “We designed the system ourselves and it was not bound to fail. The system is working and…
Former SA President Nelson Mandela is the first South African to receive the country’s new smart ID’s. Delivered to him during his birthday last week, Madiba is among the first group of South Africans-over 80 years dubbed the ‘Mandela Generation’ who will receive the smart ID’s in phase one. They will be invited to South Africa’s Home Affairs offices according to their dates of birth. The first phase of the ID’s will be processed in 27 Home Affairs’ regional offices. Other offices will gradually do so over the next three years. Madiba’s new Smart ID card was delivered to…
Asus, a notebook manufacturer has partnered with Orange Kenya to launch three notebook’s for their clients in Kenya. The VivoBook range notebook’s will be available at select Orange shops in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu and will be sold as standalone units, or bundled with either a 3G or a CDMA modem. Orange CEO, Mickael Ghossein said, “These new devices will broaden our device portfolio and position Orange as a one stop shop for premium devices. The bundled offer that allows a customer to also purchase a modem will push our Internet penetration agenda.” Asus says the notebook’s will retail between…
Nigeria’s Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) will build 5,000 base stations in five years. Maikano Abdullahi, the secretary USPF, a special fund set up to provide telecommunications and ICT services to undeserved communities said last week Thursday at the unveiling of the funds five year strategic plan, 2013-2017 Strategic Management Plan (SMP). Abdullahi said they will focus on implementation of connectivity, which is inclusion of connectivity and access to ensure sustainability of the rural access. USPF secretary said it will facilitate the building of new telecoms base transceiver stations (BTS) in the rural communities of the country. This is…
Martha Chumo, a 19 year old developer from Nairobi, Kenya has four days to end an Indiegogo campaign she has been running to raise funds to start Nairobi Developer School. Chumo also known as Njeri Chelimo wants to get the funds to start Nairobi Developer School to encourage women and other minority groups to join the tech world in order to reduce the gender imbalance in the industry. Chumo believes everyone has the right to be good programmer even with denial to attend the best schools in the world. Earlier, Chumo ran an campaign on the same platform to attend…