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Johannesburg and Nairobi Make Dell’s List of Top 50 Cities Supporting Female Entrepreneurs

Christie Uzebu
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Johannesburg and Nairobi Make Dell’s List of Top 50 Cities Supporting Female Entrepreneurs

Johannesburg and Nairobi are the only African countries in Dell’s 2017 list of top 50 cities in the world that attract and support High Potential Women Entrepreneurs.

While New York City, the San Francisco Bay area, London, Boston, and Stockholm were ranked the top-five cities for women in business, Johannesburg and Nairobi came 28th and 33rd respectively.

The 50 cities were chosen for their reputation as established or emerging hubs of innovation and entrepreneurship, and they were ranked based on the impact of local policies, programs and characteristics in addition to national laws and customs.

Cities were ranked on five important characteristics: capital, technology, talent, culture and markets. These pillars were organized into two groups — operating environment and enabling environment. The overall rating is based on 72 indicators; 45 of these, nearly two-thirds, have a gender-based component. Individual indicators were weighted based on four criteria: relevance, quality of underlying data, uniqueness in the index and gender component.

“It is in the world’s best interest that women entrepreneurs everywhere thrive. The WE Cities Index can be used as a diagnostic tool to help ensure that lawmakers are enabling women entrepreneurs to succeed,” said Elizabeth Gore, entrepreneur-in- residence at Dell. “Each of the cities on this list can learn from one another and encourage political change to attract and support women entrepreneurs. The resulting change will be felt at not just a city level, around the world as we develop an ecosystem where all entrepreneurs can thrive regardless of gender.”

The Dell Women Entrepreneur Cities Index (WE Cities) is a measure of a city’s ability to attract and support high potential women entrepreneurs (HPWE) i.e., women that want to grow and scale their business. The data provides a diagnostic tool to advise entrepreneurs and policy-makers on how to improve conditions to enable businesses founded by women to thrive.

 

Oxford University and Get Smarter Launch FinTech Programme

Christie Uzebu
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Oxford University and Get Smarter Launch FinTech Programme

Oxford University’s Saïd Business School and South African e-learning company GetSmarter have launched an online FinTech programme to help meet the challenges of a rapidly changing financial services industry.

The new digital open enrollment programme on financial technology and innovation was lanched with an aim to help executives launch new FinTech ventures and harness new technology to build better financial services firms.

The programme examines current and emerging technologies around money and payments, markets and consumer experience, and explores key ideas, principles, and frameworks around RegTech, PropTech and social inclusion. It covers topics ranging from blockchain and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to crowdfunding and quantum computing.

According to Peter Tufano, Peter Moores Dean and Professor of Finance at Saïd Business School, “Technology and the mobile revolution are rapidly transforming financial markets, institutions, and business models. Drawing upon the expertise of leading academics and practitioners from Saïd Business School, our new digital FinTech programme, supported by GetSmarter, will provide entrepreneurs and executives with the insights and knowledge necessary to navigate this changing landscape, and adapt and progress in their careers.”

Speaking on the partnership, Rob Paddock, Chief Academic Officer and Co-Founder of GetSmarter said, “We are honoured and proud to be working with Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, one of the world’s oldest and most respected institutions, on this dynamic, new online FinTech open programme. Students will  learn from internationally-recognised Saïd faculty, who bring hands-on industry experience and expertise to the curriculum and programme development, while utilising our Online Campus – a user-friendly, collaborative, people-mediated approach to online learning design.”

Designed as a hands-on, experiential programme, it is being run by Nir Vulkan, Associate Professor of Business Economics at Oxford Saïd and David Shrier, business author and CEO of Distilled Analytics – both leading authorities on fintech. The programme also features academics from the UK and the US, and over 60 curated expert perspectives from banking and technology guest speakers such as Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and Anne Boden, CEO at Starling Bank.

The programme will begin on 9th October, 2017, and run for 10 weeks.

JumpStart is an Educational Program that teaches 15-19 Year Olds to Become Their Own Bosses

Shera
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JumpStart is an Educational Program that teaches 15-19 Year Olds to Become Their Own Bosses

What if youths across Africa could learn entrepreneurial leadership skills by the time they leave school? Across Africa, students leave school without the basic learning skills that they, and their countries, desperately need to escape the gravitational pull of mass poverty. This explains why even though Africa is the most youthful continent in the world, 70% of the working-age population is unemployed.

JumpStart Academy Africa is an impact social venture which seeks to solve Africa’s human capital problem by providing secondary school students between the ages of 15 and 19 with entrepreneurial leadership training.

Using the principles of ethical leadership and entrepreneurship, Jumpstart Academy Africa is teaching secondary school students 21st century skills so that they can innovate across different sectors. We teach students to be job creators as opposed to the old rhetoric of job seekers.

Jumpstart Academy’s Adopt-A-School Program has 3 main components. First, a 2 year Leadership and Entrepreneurship training enables students to cultivate 21st century skills, with an emphasis on employment opportunities, enterprise creation, community engagement and civic responsibility. Second, Jumpstart Academy offers mentoring in which students are paired with university students and professionals who guide them through the transition from secondary to tertiary education environments and support through the challenges they face in starting enterprises and community initiatives as well as in their personal lives. Finally, tutoring sessions improve learning outcomes of students measured by performance at school and national examinations

Founded by Madelle Kangha, in 2014, JumpStart Academy Africa has trained over 500 students, impacting them in the areas of Academic Excellence, Civic Engagement and Enterprise Creation. The Academy has also reached over 5000 students through community outreach programs and summer camps.

Their goal however is to reach over 17,000 young people in and they have a strategic top down approach with a goal to advocate local government to incorporate components of their model into the national education system by 2020. They believe governments have a key role to play in transforming the education system and they are already building partnerships and networks with the local government. They have already had several meetings with the Commissioner of Education for Oyo State who has endorsed their work officially.

In recognition of her work with JumpStart Academy Africa, Madelle has been featured by Forbes as “Innovative Africans fixing a broken Education System”. She has also received awards and recognition from the Queens Young Leaders, American Express Emerging Innovators, Ashoka Changemakers, One Young World and Vital Voices. She was recently named as one of the 50 Most Influential Young Cameroonians 2016 by Avance Media Africa in the Personal Development & Academia Category.

Madelle’s vision is to be a leading social entrepreneur, a mass recruiter of local change makers; a role model proving that citizens who channel their passion into action can achieve the impossible.

You can now chat and share with friends in the Youtube App

Dennis Mathu
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You can now chat and share with friends in the Youtube App

Chat apps are plenty in today’s world; most of them offer the same features in the basic level with minimal differences here and there. Youtube is synonymous with streaming free videos and not until recently that it branched into premium content via YouTube Red. It seems the branching wasn’t over, the latest update introduces a chat feature cunningly dubbed “Sharing”.

The feature lets you “share” messages and videos with your friends. You can invite them via SMS or other chat platforms. Videos shared are playable within the conversation without having to switch back and forth.

In addition, the new update puts tabs on the lower part of the interface the way Apple does with the iPhone operating system. This will ease in access of those options but in general it will break Android overall user interface uniformity.

It is possible that Google –Youtube’s parent company- used the name “sharing” instead of chat so as not to cannibalize their messaging platform, Allo. Also, it is possible that WhatsApp’s recent update that enables users to view YouTube videos within a conversation without having to open the video streaming app might have spooked the search giant. YouTube and WhatsApp already have over a billion users, Allo is still struggling to get that kind of a following; it seems like the right move to build such a feature into YouTube.

Since users can already share videos via the existing fully featured chatting apps, it will be interesting to see if the “sharing feature” will take off in YouTube.

 

The new Google Play Protect will unify all Android security features

Dennis Mathu
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The new Google Play Protect will unify all Android security features

With monthly security updates on all android phones running the latest android versions, it’s evident that Google is taking security matters seriously. Android is the most used operating system in the world, in both mobile and desktop platform, therefore, hackers are motivated to target it every now and then. Google latest efforts reinforce their strict stand on security, meet Google Play Protect.

This new system will unify all of Android’s security features under one roof.  Google Play Protect will scan apps on the play store to ensure that they are clean and that they follow the guidelines of that store. In fact, it is so effective that Google boasts that it can watch over a billion apps a day.

Still on the store, app updates will be scanned as well, a note informing you that no problems were found will be appearing on the top of the list.

Also, the system will use machine learning to monitor the apps installed on your phone to notice any malicious behaviour. Any concerns will be notified to the user and a suggestion to uninstall the app will be available.

In case you lose your device, the Play Protect will help you locate it, lock it or even ring it straight from the browser of another device.

This system will be rolling it to all devices over the next several days so be patient if the changes are yet to reflect on your phone.

Tips on Staying Employed as You Embark on Your Startup

Shera
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0
Tips on Staying Employed as You Embark on Your Startup

“I quit”, these are golden words that you dream of telling your employer so you can go out and start your own thing.

But according to a new study published in The Academy of Management Journal, if you jump ship too early, you could be setting yourself up for failure.

Professors Joseph Raffiee and Jie Feng at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that “hybrid” entrepreneurs, those who maintain their regular gig and while launching their new ventures in stages, are less likely to fail than those who jump in sans safety net.

If you’re not convinced, starting your business while you’re still employed would allow to enjoy the best of both worlds. A stable, dependable source of income will give you much more confidence in testing the waters with a new business that usually has a high likelihood of failure in the first year.

As you proceed to take baby steps to achieving a booming business, ensure to take note of the following advice:

  • Save: Save cash you’re earning from your side hustle. This will sustain you when you decide to dive into your business entirely. Also it may help cover further investments you may need to grow your side hustle over time. To do this be sure to put into place clear spending and budgetary guidelines for your side business to make sure you’re not spending beyond your means.
  • Time is money:If you’re going to handle both your day job and side hustle, you’re going to need to organize your time. Decide what’s really important create a target list of all the responsibilities and activities you’ll be reducing or eliminating in order to make time for your business.
  • Get a Co-founder; Startups are tough, and they are even tougher when you try to do them alone. Having a good cofounder increases your chances of success. Cofounders add to your company’s skills, and help reduce on time.
  • Don’t take advantage of company property to capitalize on your side business; for example, using corporate computers or email systems to send any emails related to your side business.There should be no affiliation between your business and the company which you work for.
  • Choose the Right Business; Starting a business is like a marriage. Try to start a company in a sector you’re comfortable with, that you can see growth. If that’s not possible, think about a “try before you buy” arrangement where you “test things out” during your night and weekend work.
  • Don’t feel pressured to leave your day job as your business starts to gain traction; New businesses go through life cycles and some early wins do not necessarily mean you have a sustainable enterprise.
  • Once Your Business is Stable, don’t be afraid to leave your full time job; if its making profit that will enable you to live comfortably, then don’t remain stuck in your 9-5 job. Venture out, and continue to grow your business.

Facebook Takes on Youtube with New Video Service, Watch

Christie Uzebu
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Facebook Takes on Youtube with New Video Service, Watch

Facebook has introduced Watch, a new tab on the social media network that offers a range of shows for users to view at their convenience.

Watch will be available on mobile, on desktop and laptop, and in a TV app, with a watchlist that lets you save episodes to catch later.

Although, some of the shows that would be rolled out with Watch have been funded by Facebook, independent creators can also sign up on the platform to get a Show Page (similar to Pages for brands), that fans can follow and find videos on.

Watch is personalized to help you discover new shows, organized around what your friends and communities are watching. For example, you’ll find sections like “Most Talked About,” which highlights shows that spark conversation, “What’s Making People Laugh,” which includes shows where many people have used the “Haha” reaction, and “What Friends Are Watching,” which helps you connect with friends about shows they too are following.

With Watch, creators and publishers can find an audience, build a community of passionate fans, and earn money for their work. Facebook also plans to introduce ad breaks in clips to generate revenue on Watch.

All of these features, coupled with its with its massive user base of two billion people worldwide, Facebook would be posing as a serious competition for Youtube with this new service.

The new service will be introduced to a limited group of people in the U.S before being rolled out to worldwide.

eThink Education Becomes The First Certified Moodle Partner in Nigeria  

Christie Uzebu
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eThink Education Becomes The First Certified Moodle Partner in Nigeria  

eThink Education, a rapidly growing Certified Moodle Partner, has become the first official Moodle Partner to offer Moodle hosting and services in Nigeria and surrounding regions. eThink has also launched a Moodle by eThink African Learning Network (ALN), which will allow member institutions to collaborate, easily share resources, and provide a connected educational experience to learners across the continent.

A certified Moodle Partner in the U.S. and the Caribbean, eThink has now expanded their Moodle partnership in Nigeria to provide Moodle services to colleges, corporations, government entities, and K-12 schools and districts in Africa. The Learning Management System (LMS) Moodle is a free open-source platform that is being used across the globe to bring learning online.

With over 100 million users, Moodle is the most widely used learning platform in the world. It allows educators to share educational resources in a web-based format, enabling students to learn on-the-go via mobile devices while saving teachers and students valuable time. Moodle allows educators to easily incorporate online resources and innovative eLearning tools and strategies into their lesson plans to enhance classroom learning.

For corporations, this allows onboarding, compliance, and professional development resources to be stored online, offering learners the flexibility to learn where they want, when they want. Also, decision-makers and key stakeholders are given access to valuable analytics which enables them to make informed, data-driven decisions regarding their learning programs.

“eThink is excited to become the first official Moodle Partner in Nigeria. As a partner, we will be better able to service the Moodle needs in this territory,” said Brian Carlson, Co-Founder and CEO of eThink. “Moodle has already been widely adopted throughout Africa and we look forward to being able to help support institutions and businesses to leverage the benefits of an incredibly flexible and affordable eLearning solution.”

The Moodle by eThink African Learning Network (ALN) will allow students and teachers at institutions to collaborate and easily share resources directly through the Moodle platform, regardless of physical distance. This network allows institutions to share or co-teach online courses with other institutions and offers social learning opportunities for learners across the region.

To learn more about eThink Education or the Moodle by eThink African Learning Network, join eThink for a live webinar on August 30th at 3:00pm West Africa Time/10:00am Eastern Time. During the session, you will hear from eThink CEO Brian Carlson and participate in a Q&A session. You may register for the session here.

eThink is also looking for referral partners and resellers. To learn more about partnership opportunities, join us for a live webinar the following day on August 31st at 3:00pm West Africa Time/10:00am Eastern Time. Register here or connect with a Moodle expert here.

eThink Education is a Certified Moodle Partner providing implementation, cloud hosting, integration, and management services for the open source Learning Management System. Open-source Moodle is the most widely used Learning Management System in the world. When implemented and managed by experts, Moodle is an extremely dynamic platform capable of surpassing the functionality of the competing systems in the market. eThink’s Moodle cloud hosting services offers unrivalled performance and exceptional value. For more information about eThink Education, visit http://www.ethinkeducation.com.

techAboki Launches To Provide On-Demand Gadget Repair Service

Christie Uzebu
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techAboki Launches To Provide On-Demand Gadget Repair Service

The repair service industry is one that remains high in demand. This fact is why it seems to be growing continuously.

Previously, it was all about going in search of repairmen to fix faulty devices. But all that is changing, as startups keep springing up, offering repair services and eliminating the stress that comes with searching for repairmen.

techAboki is part of this growing number of online repair service providers.

Launched by George Alonge, the platform is an on demand gadget repair service that connects people needing repair services with trusted technicians in their neighbourhoorhood.

To use the platform, clients book for a gadget fix on the website or via the mobile app, then the techAboki team sends a quote for their fix. Users can either pay online for this services or select the pay on delivery option.

According to founder, technicians listed on the platform undergo before they begin to revive jobs.

With the repair service industry coming to take their place online and becoming popular in the tech space, techAboki has competitors to deal.

We’ve seen a number of startups offering same service, but techAboki banks on convenience, affordability (discount on fixes book via the platform) and low risks (refund when necessary) as their selling edge.

TrashorPass Wants to Allow You Download and Review Songs

Christie Uzebu
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TrashorPass Wants to Allow You Download and Review Songs

When it comes to music, Nigerians are one group of people that can go any length to get and listen to songs from their favourite music artistes. The music industry in the country thus, enjoys high patronage.

Keno Alordiah wants to take advantage of this love for music with his startup, TrashorPass.

Launched on January 12, the online platform enables music lovers in Nigeria to download and review  trending songs in Nigeria.

Although there are other platforms that cater to the music needs of Nigerians by enabling them to download songs, TrashorPass claims to offer more user interaction and engagement with its review and rating feature.

Reviewing on the platform is made more interesting than what you’ll get on a regular review platform. Users can either trash songs (of low ratings) and pass songs having high views and ratings.

According to the founder, data collected through these reviews is used to paint a holistic picture of the songs, and also help those who want to download songs make the best decision.

This is one cool startup that’ll surely thrive in Nigeria just because – it’s music! –  which a lot of people monitor religiously. The love for celebrities also contribute to the number of music lovers in the country. We only wonder how Keno Alordiah intends to make money from the platform.

LiquidSpace is the WallStreet of Coworking Hubs

Shera
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LiquidSpace is the WallStreet of Coworking Hubs

Chris Ros, always felt that proclaiming to be an entrepreneur is probably the easiest part of being an entrepreneur. It’s a lot harder than it sounds. He had always loved the idea of being the innovative creator of a great business, but the fear of failure has kept him on the sidelines for most of his life. He eventually felt ready and got into the game.

He became the founder of LiquidSpace, a benchmark setting collaborative workspace or coworking space that provides independent online traders in financial markets a high-energy, resource-rich, success-promoting environment to come and apply their trading skills in financial markets within a community of like-minded traders. This collaborative working style fosters partnership, learning and communial success in a way that no trader will ever achieve when trading from a comfort-of-home environment. At LiquidSpace, every aspect has been taken care of; from lightning fast optic fibre internet, online financial news service, printing, training and best of all coffee.

The global market for independent online traders has seen significant growth over the last five years. Based in Cape Town, LiquidSpace will hold 88 physical spaces, requiring a mere 2% share of the localized Cape Town market to achieve capacity. The coworking memberships constitute but one of their revenue streams. The other revenue streams include commissions paid to them by trading brokers with whom they partner in terms of the volume of trades of clients that they refer to them. They have mentorship moments and training courses. The last three revenue streams are aimed at a significant global market of traders.

They are initially offering 40% equity for the investment of R 7 500 000 into their venture. It is imperative for a potential investor to understand that the equity offered does not only apply to Their pilot space based in Cape Town, but the investor will receive 40% of the annual profits of the entire operation. Their long-term plan includes the establishment of LiquidSpace branches in Johannesburg, Pretoria & Durban.

For more information click here.

Here’s an Email Communication Strategy That’ll Show Your Investors That Your Serious

Shera
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0
Here’s an Email Communication Strategy That’ll Show Your Investors That Your Serious

Congratulations, you’ve convinced an investor to capitalize on your startup; however the next milestone is to ensure that you maintain good relations with the same in the hopes that they may fund you again. If you wait until you need to raise money again to talk to your investors, they may not take it too well.

You need to address them on progress occasionally, using various means, but one of most convenient and effective methods is by using email continuously. Once a month should be sufficient, preferably the founder should do the emailing. As a result this will send a message to them of your accountability.  This information is how they evaluate your performance and whether you’re worth pouring any more money into. Once the time comes when you may need more capital, then they’ll not only invest in you again, but they’ll connect you with other investors and serve as great references in the process.

You can do this by sending out a standard update email with the same format, while they may not always reply, rest assured they are reading and probably appreciate the update and progress of the startup. This is to say that if your startup isn’t doing too well, an email should still be sent out regularly.

To ensure that the email fulfills its purpose, you just need to follow a few basic rules:

  • Keep the format consistent. Use the same subject line so it’s easily searchable.
  • Keep it short. You want an email short enough for an investor to read just before he goes to bed.
  • Stick with the same categories and metrics. Identify the ones that matter most to your business, then compare this month’s stats with last month’s.
  • End with one or two “asks” at the bottom. Investors are always saying they want to be helpful, here’s how they can be.
  • Proofread; always ensure that your leaving a favorable last impression, so don’t be sloppy.

Here is a sample of how the email could look like;

Hello

[One-paragraph introduction sharing whatever your focus has been over the past month.]

Top priorities:

  • [Priority #1]
  • [Priority #2]
  • [Priority #3]

Product:
We’ve made [summary of latest updates].

Money in bank:

  • We have Kes[_____] in the bank. This gives us a runway of [__] months at our current burn rate.
  • [Any other relevant funding updates.]

KPIs:

  • Revenue last month: Kes[_____]
  • Revenue this month: Kes[_____]
  • [Other important metric last month]
  • [Other important metric this month]

Other updates:

  • [Big win #1]
  • [Press coverage #2]
  • [Other update #3]

[One ask for investors–in bold.]

With Kind Regards,
[Name]

 

Edves Suit Makes School Easier for Educators and Parents

Shera
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0
Edves Suit Makes School Easier for Educators and Parents

Educators lose research time to manual recording and computation of result, parents now find it difficult to pay school fee to the bank due to increase in traffic and demanding tasks at work, school owners lose revenue and vital information to poor recording and students do not have access to alternative learning tools. These have created inefficiencies and that why African education is still backward.

Edves Catalyst is a bootcamp, created by Edves Limited with the support of World Bank Group, GEM Project, Ministry of Trade & Investment, and MainOne Cable Company to support Educators with information, mentoring and resources for free with the aim of reinventing Education in Africa. This programme was created for Educators in Primary and Secondary Schools in Africa.

Through Edves Catalyst, world-class Educators, outstanding business owners and excellent professionals from various fields would impact the Education system by collaborating with the Educators to exchange actionable ideas and trending information useful in raising the next generation.

Edves Suite, a School Management Software is one tool used to deliver on Edves Catalyst’s objectives. It operates in schools and colleges from student enrollment to graduation. Educators save cost and gain more time to teach and innovate. Parent track academic performance and pay school on-the-go. Students check results, attend to home works and interact with educative videos and games.

They have built and deployed Edves to over 70 schools in Nigeria. The system automates teaching, learning and administrative complexities such as school payment reminder SMS, sessional student academic and behavioural performance report, E-payment school fee, and more.

Some schools owners showed interest in Edves because it helps increase their schools’ revenue generation; teachers love Edves because result computation can now be done without error, and at the click of a button; parents also love Edves for making it easier to be in the loop of their child’s performance, see their assignments, pay school fee and even communicate better with the school.

Their goal is to automate and empower 1000 schools in 2017 with Edves, teachings from productive leaders in Education, Information Technology, Marketing and Nation Building. Every participating school will get Edves Basic (School Management Software) and other resources for free.

To that extent, 500 selected schools will receive free access to  Edves Catalyst Lagos Bootcamp, 1-term school acceleration programme, free Edves Basic (School Management Software for new subscribers), connection with Bankers for Loans, heavily discounted School branding service and other free resources from our partners.

Hands on: Nokia 5 is surprisingly much better than the Flagship Nokia 6, here’s why

Dennis Mathu
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Hands on: Nokia 5 is surprisingly much better than the Flagship Nokia 6, here’s why

During the Kenyan re-launch of the Nokia brand by HMD, I got the privilege of getting some hands on time with the entire portfolio of new phones. Naturally, I spent more time with the Nokia 5 and 6 since they are the crown jewel of the company.


As I worked my way from the Nokia 3 then the 5 and lastly the 6, I realized something quite intriguing, but before I reveal my findings, let’s first run down the specs to create a foundation.

  Nokia 5 Nokia 6
Screen 5.2 inches 5.5 inches
Resolution 720p HD 1080p Full HD
CPU Snapdragon 430 Snapdragon 430
GPU Adreno 505 Adreno 505
RAM 2GB 3GB/4GB
Storage 16GB 32GB/64GB
Rear Camera 13MP

f/2.0

1.12µm pixel size

 16MP

f/2.0

1.0µm pixel size
Front camera 8MP 8MP
Battery 3000mAh 3000mAh

 

As you can see, the Nokia 6 has an edge over the Nokia 5 in its specifications. The 6 comes with a bigger display which has more resolution, more pixels in the camera and more RAM; so how exactly can the 5 be better?

Well, the CPU, GPU and battery is the same on both devices; however, since the Nokia 5 has fewer pixels to push on its display, it translates to a battery life that is much longer than that of the six. In fact, gsmarena did a battery test endurance of their own and the results speak for themselves.

The lower resolution of the Nokia 5 also makes it utilize only a small chunk of the graphics processor (GPU), the bulk of its power is left for games and other graphics intensive applications. In other words, the Nokia 5 is much smoother in gaming than the Nokia 6, loading times and frames are faster too.

Finally, at the launch, I took pictures with both phones. It was at night so low light photography was the main agenda. Apparently, the Nokia 5 has better color representation than the flagship 6. Also, if objects are moving, the flagship Nokia 6 produced blurry images due to longer exposure times, while the 5 made crisp snaps. One of the reasons for this difference in low light photography is the size of the pixels. The 5 has larger pixels than those of the 6; that is, 1.12µm vs 1.0µm respectively. More pixels equals to more light getting in hence better photos in dim conditions.

Lastly, the Nokia 5 comes at KES 5,000 ($50) lower than the price of the 6 (KES 19,999/$199 versus KES 24,999/$249). So there you have it; the decision boils down to your preferences. If you want a bigger display, more resolution on it, and more RAM then go to the Nokia 6 flagship otherwise, if you want more battery life, better camera, better gaming performance, a more compact one handed phone and still save KES 5,000 ($50), then the Nokia 5 is the best bet.

14 African Startups Set to Tour Tech Cities Across Europe In CcHub’s PitchDrive

Christie Uzebu
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0

Co-creation Hub (CcHUB), Nigeria’s leading social innovation centre in partnership with Google for Entrepreneurs, has announced the names of the 14 selected startups set to participate in PitchDrive, a three week five-city European tech hub tour across London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Zurich and Paris with the aim to raise €20M in funding from investors.

This partnership will bring together 14 elite African tech companies to pitch to investors, explore international opportunities and offerings, learn about cutting edge frontier technology markets and build a network amongst technology leaders from both the African and European continent, bridging the divide across the tech ecosytems.

Applications for the programme were received from 118 African startup founders who were looking to raise Series A funding.

The selected startups include:

Kudobuzz is a saas tool that helps SMBs increase their sales with user generated content and smart SEO.

Ongair is an AI powered customer relationship management system for customer service and marketing on social messaging apps.

Gebeya is building a-self-sustained ecosystem that trains, hires and incubates the best of African talent

Piggybank.ng is an automated savings platform for African millennials, that helps them save fixed amounts of money periodically till they reach a set savings target.

Gloo.ng is Africa’s biggest online supermarket saving busy homemakers the hassles of grocery shopping in African cities.

Prepclass is a marketplace that connects learners who need help with vetted and trusted independent tutors looking to offer their services

Tradedepot helps businesses reach their distributors, wholesalers and retailers online on one platform

LifeBank helps hospitals discover essential medical products and delivers to the hospital in the right condition.

Fashpa is building the future of fashion retail in Africa with an online platform that uses on demand manufacturing to deliver fast fashion.

Firefly uses digital technologies to empower, connect and build urban transportation in Africa.

GoMetro is a Flexible Mobility Platform that produces actionable business intelligence on the transport network of a city.

ClinicMaster is an integrated healthcare information management and medical billing software that automates patients’ transactions in the clinic or hospital on a visit basis and daily procedures.

BitFinance is a bitcoin exchange that is making it super easy to buy, sell and use cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin in Africa.

Real Food provides convenient, innovative, healthy eating solutions of locally sourced produce through the home delivery of Recipe Boxes.

Starting in London on 14th of August 2017, the selected startups will visit Google’s Campus London, TQ Amsterdam, Factory Berlin and Impact Hub in Zurich, concluding at NUMA Paris. Upon completion of the tour, they would have pitched to over 300 investors, with the specific goal of raising over €20M.

This is the first tour of its kind connecting African tech companies with European capital, and the PitchDrive team is aiming to open up the sector to investors who desire to include emerging markets in their portfolios.

According to ‘Bosun Tijani​, Founder and CEO of CcHub, “The idea of PitchDrive is a phenomenal and an incredible opportunity for not only the selected 14 startups, but also the investors. The turnout of applications for PitchDrive lean to the ‘start small dream big’ saying and through this platform, we hope to help secure a number of breakthrough capital deals for the selected 14 startups. And, like the Garage story of Google, we hope that one or two or possibly all of these startups will have a similar story. I can say that they are in for a tough but rewarding journey with us.”

“We are glad for the support of Google for Entrepreneurs on the PitchDrive tour and look forward to the journey ahead.”

PitchDrive will provide all travel, accommodation and visa support, as well mentorship and support from notable tech founders well versed in fund raising, including David Grunwald of Google for Entrepreneurs, Iroko Founder and CEO Jason Njoku, Saidah Nash Carter of Reuters and Stephen Newton of Illuminate Africa.

Fresible Helps You Stand Out in Noisy Competitive Business Environments

Shera
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0
Fresible Helps You Stand Out in Noisy Competitive Business Environments

Fresible Company Limited is based in Nigeria, with interests in ICT, events management, publicity/advertisement, marketing and entertainment. The company was formed in 2008 by Fred Oyetayo. Over the course of the years, the company has grown in leap and bounds and is now a recognizable name in the technology industry in Nigeria.

Claiming that they are the best website development agency in Nigeria, they have operational contacts in both major and minor cities in the country, such as, Ibadan, Osogbo, Ilorin, Ado-Ekiti, Akure, Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Abuja and they intend to reach more cities.

Notable Fresible subsidiaries include Law Repository, Cloud Lawyers, Fresible Developers, Fresible Culture, Fresible Events, Fresible Entertainment and Fresible Digital Marketing. Over the next few years the group is looking forward to diversifying into areas including Fashion and Apparel, Music, food processing, textiles, insurance, securities and retail. This is to ensure that they fulfil the sole purpose of the company.

They have successfully organized over 50 shows and developed over 100 websites and computer softwares. They have over 1 million cumulative social media followers on all their accounts and 5 dedicated full time staffs. They had also won a Federal Government of Nigeria grant.

With a wealth of creative experience in building and shaping brands’ online and offline presence, they can create your brand, build you a bespoke, responsive website and then help shape your brand with ongoing digital marketing.

Fresible Company Limited has a powerful social media influence with over 40% of Nigerian internet users subscribed to it various social media network. The company has also accrued for itself an upper class clientele list with the likes of Federal High Court, Aare Afe Babalola, Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti, Rexonna Nigeria and many more as some of its clients. This is evidence that the company is competent enough to meet the needs of all calibers of clients.

For more information click here.

 

 

Paystack Encourages Online Payments in Nigeria

Shera
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0
Paystack Encourages Online Payments in Nigeria

Africa experiences millions of payments every day, but very few happen online. In Nigeria, just about 1% of transactions happen online. The country collected $150 billion in business revenues in 2015, although those transactions were mostly in shops and in physical business establishments. There are many barriers businesses need to face to accept payments online and that’s what Paystack is fixing.

Founded by Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi, paystack allows online retailers to offer customers virtually any payment option including paying by MasterCard, Visa, Verve, or directly from a banking account. Online Nigerian businesses can accept payments from anyone in the world. With Paystack, Nigerian businesses can add a significant amount of revenue through online transactions to its economy. Nigeria has a rapidly growing digital mobile economy. Online shopping and payments are expected to increase with 400 million more smartphone connections in Nigeria by 2020.

Paystack simplified the previously difficult customer experience, reduced integration time from an average of 3 weeks to less than 30 mins, and today they can boast of the best transaction success rates in the market.

Consumers do not need to sign up to use Paystack, all that is required is a Mastercard, Visa or Verve debit card to pay on Paystack merchant sites. Merchants on the other hand are required to sign up. However, in order to integrate Paystack to start receiving on their site, merchants will have to fill a “go live” request form to upload their business details for verification.

Depending on how well these details are presented, verified merchants can go live in a matter of minutes to several hours, because the process of verification is done manually. While this may take a bit of time, it is to ensure that compliance is carried out.

Concerning any fees, merchants are only charged on a per transaction basis. In addition to a flat rate of ₦100, between 1.9% and 3.9% of transaction value is deducted for local and international cards respectively. The ₦100 fee is however waived for transactions less than ₦2500.

Paystack’s mission is to transform and overhaul the interaction between business and consumers and to build a payments product for Africa to act as a catalyst for the continent’s online economy.

So far, it’s vision and objectives have been highly publicized. In December last year, Paystack has closed a US$1.3 million seed investment round, with participation from numerous international investors. Then earlier this year, it announced that it hit 1 billion Naira ($3.2 million) in monthly transaction volume from consumers to merchants.  The next milestone, according to the team is ₦10 billion monthly transaction volume.

 

PiggyBank is a Platform That’ll Helps Nigerians Save Their Money

Shera
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0

Savings can be very difficult when done manually. Millennials tend to spend almost everything they earn. Some people still resort to the local savings method of putting money in a box which is totally unsafe. People generally lack the discipline and haven’t imbibed the culture of savings.

Using PiggyBank, a saving platform owned by Sharphire Global Limited, Nigerians can automatically save small amounts of money daily, weekly or monthly depending on the savings target, with the service free to use and minimum effort.  You can add funds to your account at any point you like, whether you just got your salary, received extra income or you just want to put money aside randomly.

They then allow you to withdraw for free on only set withdrawal dates, which take place only four times a year, thereby practically making saving more possible for you by eliminating the temptation to withdraw. Withdrawing outside of the four days attracts a 5% penalty fee on just the amount you are withdrawing.

You can also lock all or parts of your savings in your Piggybank.ng account & receive instant upfront interest of up to 25%. All your funds will be sent back to your Piggybank.ng account on the return date you set.

Piggybank.ng is a product that hinges on existing financial institutions, to manage the funds, while they focus on the marketing and technology layers. All funds are deposited with banks and are insured, with PiggyBank making money from interest accrued.

 

 

Paylater Allows You to Borrow Money Quickly Without any Paper Work

Shera
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0
Paylater Allows You to Borrow Money Quickly Without any Paper Work

Paylater, a lending platform operated by a micro-finance bank started out of a desire to help people borrow money quickly, safely and conveniently, all with the use of technology and without the need for any collateral, heavy documentation or face-to-face interaction.

Paylater can be accessed via app and provides small micro loans. The maximum amount people can borrow via Paylater is ₦20,000, while the duration is either 15 days or 30 days. The Paylater App is fully automated, so you immediately see whether you are eligible for a quick loan.

You can see much you’ll have to pay back in real time. Interest is charged at a daily rate of 1% which means that if you borrow ₦10,000 you’ll have to pay back ₦11,500, in 15 days, or ₦13,000 in 30 days.

While logging in they ask you a couple of questions. These are questions on identification like your age, occupation, living habits and income level. They also ask for your account number and BVN.

This is because Paylater needs to verify that the individual applying for a Paylater loan is the same as the owner of the provided bank account so as to automatically deduct their loan repayments on their due date. Questions asked are “how much do you earn?” and “do you have kids”. These questions help them understand if you can pay back your loans before lending out to you. This is to facilitate ease of repayments and eliminate delays with account updates due to the reconciliation issues that can come with cash payments.

Once you have successfully registered, Paylater intelligently determines if you are eligible for a loan and credits your account instantly. When it does you should receive a notification within 24 hours. The best part, is that there is no paperwork involved.

If you can’t repay after receiving money from Paylater, you risk suspension of your account, a bad rating among other credit bureaus and possible legal action. However if you do pay your loan on time, you become eligible to borrow more than the initial ₦10,000 limit any further requested loans.

Concerning matters of security, Paylater  has invested heavily in building secure systems throughout their platform way before disbursing a single loan.

OmoAlata Cuts Down Time Slaving Over a Hot Stove

Shera
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0
OmoAlata Cuts Down Time Slaving Over a Hot Stove

OmoAlata (McPeppers) is a Nigerian food service brand focused on the production and sale of hygienically processed and packaged local Nigerian soups, spices and peppers. The name OmoAlata literally means ‘Son or Daughter of a Spice Seller’; it also symbolizes a native name given to local street wise kids from the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria. OmoAlata is a (blended, parboiled and packaged) rich pepper (tomatoes, “ata rodo”, “tatashe” and onions) mix, available in mild and hot variants.

Started by Kasope Ladipo, OmoAlata was a business that resulted from her desire to work on something that would showcase her creativity. To this extent her business won the 2015 SLA-Entrepreneur Showcase, where she received $10,000 in funding.

She came up with the concept of her business while on trips abroad. While on those trips, she went to various African stores and realized that many of the ingredients for cooking Nigerian meals were not produced or packaged in Nigeria. This is largely due to packaging issues in the country which rules out the exporting of some its food products.

OmoAlata uses only farm fresh peppers in preparation of all its pepper mix. Their pepper mix does not contain any food coloring or artificial preservatives and it is packed under hygienic conditions with a strict quality assurance policy. This is a testament to the startup’s commitment to providing its customers with the freshest products that have a natural taste.

The company organizes delivery of the tomatoes, onions and peppers from the suppliers to the factory. Contract workers at the factory sort the produce, clean them with all the stalks taken out. Next, it is blended, cooled, packaged and sealed.

The startup intends to have more product lines as it grows. Kasope plans on having tryout stands in stores to give potential customers the opportunity to taste the company’s products.

Is Tecno making a competitor for the Infinix Smart and ending the Boom series in the process?

Dennis Mathu
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0
Is Tecno making a competitor for the Infinix Smart and ending the Boom series in the process?

Just the other day, Infinix went back to its roots and released a truly budget friendly smartphone, the Infinix Smart. It only costs KES 7,999 at Jumia yet packs premium features such as dual front facing stereo speakers, latest Android update and great battery life. It seems the Infinix Smart had Tecno spooked and they are now gearing to launch a competitor, meet the Tecno Spark. (Note the resemblance- smart/spark? )

The Infinix Smart; notice the top and bottom front facing speakers

According to leaked information, Tecno will release two versions of the Spark, the K7 and the K9 Plus.  Now that the Infinix Smart’s headlining feature is the Dirac front facing stereo speakers, the Tecno Spark might follow this music oriented route too. Which brings us to the Boom Series; right from the name, the series was made for music lovers, but Tecno is yet to release a follow up of the Boom J8 more than one year after its launch. Many are speculating that the Spark will take over where Boom series left off. The only difference is that the upcoming Spark series will keep specifications minimal in order to maintain a price tag that is low enough to entice the budget conscious customers. The leaked information stated that the price will be below KES 10,000.

The leaked Tecno Spark

For that amount, you will get a K7 that comes with:

  • 5 inch HD Display
  • 1GB RAM
  • 16GB internal storage
  • Android 7.0 Nougat
  • 13MP Rear camera
  • 5MP selfie camera
  • 3,000mAh battery
  • Fingerprint sensor
  • Metallic body

The bigger brother K9 Plus will have the following specs

  • 6 HD Dsiplay
  • 2GB RAM
  • 16GB internal storage
  • Android 7.0 Nougat
  • 13MP Rear camera
  • 5MP selfie camera
  • 3,400mAh battery
  • Fingerprint sensor
  • Metallic body

*The differences are highlighted in bold

Tecno Spark teaser

The presence of a fingerprint sensor and a metallic body construction puts the Tecno Spark a notch above the Infinix Smart. Will those two enough features be enough to sway customers to pay KES 2,000 more than the KES 7,999 of the Infinix Smart? Let’s wait and find out once this rumor pans out, if at all.

Spiricoco Launches To Allow Nigerians Buy Gospel Content and Event Tickets Online

Christie Uzebu
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0
Spiricoco Launches To Allow Nigerians Buy Gospel Content and Event Tickets Online

When it comes to spirituality, Nigeria is arguably one of the countries with the largest number of highly spiritual people. Christian-focused Facebook groups, gospel events depict this, as they usually attract large number of people. Nathaniel Bassey’s #HalleluyahChallenge further brought this fact to light.

The team behind Spiricoco have decided to take advantage of this by bringing gospel content and Christian event tickets in one place.

Spiricoco is a marketplace where Nigerians can buy their favourite gospel music, spoken words, sermon and event tickets. Through the platform, gospel artists, churches and events can also monetize their content.

Launched by Ekemini Akpan in November 2016, with Tolu Akintan and Mandu Udom as co-founders, the platform can be described as a one-stop platform for everything gospel.

According to the team, Spiricoco is “designed to bring you digital gospel growth content from Nigeria, Africa, to the rest of the world.” They also revealed that there is an affiliate program for the stakeholders in the sector to partner with them, to further push gospel content.

The Spiricoco team are not doubt really creative with their new venture. From the choice of name –Spiricoco- a term which is familiar to the average Nigerian, usually used to describe a person that’s overly spiritual, to the niche they’ve chosen for themselves, they just might be opening the eyes of many to the opportunities available in the sector.

 

 

This Startup Wants To Help You Plan and Manage Your Events

Christie Uzebu
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0
This Startup Wants To Help You Plan and Manage Your Events

The event industry in Nigeria is one that never runs out of business, no matter how the economic situation of the country might be fairing. Events are held all through the week, and people are always on the lookout for event planners to help make the day a success.

This need is what EventPlanner.ng wants to meet.

Eventplanner.ng is a marketplace that helps customers plan their events online and remotely by providing them with a wide range of event vendors to select from.

Through the platform, users can search for all event-related vendors using the search feature that helps to narrow down search results by state, city and category. They are also able to negotiate with vendors through a messaging system, book the products or services of these vendors through the secure booking platform, request for event planning service, track the planning process and event budget spend with planning tools available on the platform.

The platform offers users a wide range of vendors to select. From makeup artists, photographers, caterers, dj, MC/Compere, decorators, videographers and many more. Through the platform, they are also able to view the vendor’s location, how much they charge and what they offer.

According to the EventPlanner team, “We put the power of an event planner in your pocket. We make it easy for you to find all the vendors you need, book them, pay them, and manage every aspect of your wedding or event – from anywhere. No matter the event you are planning; be it weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, corporate dinners, corporate retreats, corporate parties/launching, we work hard to make planning your events fun and easy.”

The event industry is becoming a gold mine in Nigeria, with the large number of events that hold everyday. Offline, the market is saturated, and a lot of people have become event planners, offering event planning/management services. But online, the service is still relatively new, with just few players. EventPlanner definitely has a chance to dominate this space.

 

LinkedIn Lite Expands to Over 60 countries, Including Nigeria and Kenya

Christie Uzebu
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0
LinkedIn Lite Expands to Over 60 countries, Including Nigeria and Kenya

LinkedIn has announced the launch of its LinkedIn Lite mobile web and Android app in more than 60 countries across the world to help level the playing field for all our members when it comes to accessibility.

The LinkedIn Lite, according to the company is focused on speed and simplicity. “LinkedIn Lite is a lighter, faster version of our flagship product and includes all key features such as the news feed, profile, messaging and notifications to help our members get ahead in their careers.

LinkedIn Lite loads fives times faster, regardless of the mobile device and the network it’s connected to. The Android app is less than one megabyte in size and can reduce data usage by as much as 80 percent, making it easier for every member to connect to opportunity, on-the-go and in areas of low internet connectivity.”

The catalyst for LinkedIn Lite was a field research trip about a year ago in Nashik, India, a small city about 100 miles from Mumbai where broadband challenges prevented page loading. To address this, LinkedIn Lite was developed for mobile web and rolled out to all Indian members earlier this year with significant impact:

  • Job applications on the mobile website have quadrupled since the launch of LinkedIn Lite in India.
  • More than half of new LinkedIn members now sign up on mobile, so this has become a huge enabler for professionals in smaller cities in India to sign up and get connected.

The 60 countries now enjoying LinkedIn Lite include Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. With the launch, LinkedIn Lite is now available globally.

Microsoft and Paypal Partner to Enable Users Send Money Via Skype

Christie Uzebu
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0
Microsoft and Paypal Partner to Enable Users Send Money Via Skype

Microsoft and PayPal have announced a partnership that would enable peer-to-peer payments on the Skype mobile app.

With the new Send Money feature, users in 22 countries users will be able to use PayPal directly from their Skype mobile app to seamlessly send money to other Skype users.

The feature also includes options for currency exchange.

Using Send Money on Skype

To send money, you’ll need to be using the latest version of the Skype mobile app, but the friend or family member who’s receiving the funds can be using any version of Skype. If you, or your friend who’s receiving the funds, don’t already have a PayPal account, you’ll be prompted to create one the first time you use Send Money.

  1. In a Skype chat, tap Find or swipe to the right.
  2. Select Send Money from the add-ins.
  3. Select the country you live in. Then select the country your friend lives in and tap Next.
  4. Enter the amount of money you’d like to send and tap Next.
  5. You will be prompted to sign into your current PayPal account and link your PayPal account to your Microsoft account. If you don’t have a PayPal account, you will be asked to create one.
  6. Tap Send to complete your transfer.
  7. Tap Back to chat and you will see a money card with the transfer status in your conversation.

Send Money is supported in the U.S. Canada, United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. Both sender and receiver must be from one of the countries in which Send Money is supported.

According to the two companies, additional countries will be available in the future.

You can send money in US Dollars, Canadian Dollars, British Pounds and Euros.

WeMove is Building Nigeria’s Uber for Trucks, Buses & Cars to Bring Sanity to Nigeria’s Transport Industry

Shera
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0

More than 75% of people in Nigerian cities (like Lagos) depended on public transportation to move around. Lagos is a very large city, with a population of 21 million people. 75% of that is about 15.8 million depend on public transportation for getting around daily. But not many changes have really been experienced in the way people use public transport, in the past 20 years, as compared to innovations seen in banking and other sectors.

We don’t have a strong automobile industry anywhere in Africa, while Uber is doing a fantastic job, we could do much more. That’s why software Engineer and serial entrepreneur, Celestine Ezeokoye, created WeMove. WeMove.co aims to formalize, organize and create order to the informal process as well as disrupt the market of vehicle hires. The company also wants to build a vehicle service marketplace that will eventually morph into a transportation service platform.

It’s a simple platform that allows you add your vehicle to an online database.

Imagine all that can be done if an accurate database of the different vehicles used in Nigeria (and Africa in general): cars, trucks, trailers, tippers, aircraft, boats, etc could be possible. Imagine how we can best make data-inspired decisions to take our transportation in the right direction.

WeMove.co provides customers with a platform to find various modes of transportation at the best available price possible. By vehicles owners listing their automobiles, they could be provided with an additional source of income. In other words, those who own vehicles could make some money from their machines. These include any bus owners, in particular those with Hiaces, Coasters, and Siennas.

Whether it’s an official trip or for leisure, WeMove covers transportation needs quite sufficiently. One doesn’t need to hassle, or make long trips to offices to select a vehicle that he/she would require. For more information click here.

LG NeoChef microwave gets unveiled, this do-it-all appliance wants to be your chef

Dennis Mathu
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0
LG NeoChef microwave gets unveiled, this do-it-all appliance wants to be your chef

LG today launched a new Microwave line by the name NeoChef; it is set to play the role of a chef in the modern kitchen. The high end version of the microwave has the abilities to grill, fry and even bake, all with the press of a button. It executes all this functions while still being able to save energy as well as time.

From left, the Solo version, the Grill version and the Convectional version on the far right

The NeoChef line of microwave comes in three types, the Solo version; which does basic microwaving – heating up foods and drinks. The Grill version adds grilling features on top of normal microwaving. Finally we have the Convectional type, this one is at the top of the range, it can grill, fry, bake and also microwave.

Chef Raphael demonstrates how to grill meat using LG NeoChef during the Kenyan launch

“As the name suggests, there’s no cooking job that this microwave cannot handle including baking, frying, grilling as well as warming and even defrosting of foods”, said Mr. Janghoon Chung, Managing Director, East and Central Africa. He was speaking during an event to formally launch the product in Kenya held at the company’s regional headquarters in Nairobi.

All the three NeoChef microwaves come in a beautiful minimalist design that uses one seamless slab of glass on the door and touch controls. The convectional one, however, comes dominantly in metallic finish together with glass on the door window. The highlight feature they commonly share is the Smart Inverter. This technology uses linear power control between 300 to 1,200 watts to evenly cook or defrost food all the way through. Normal microwaves lock their power at a flat 800 watts limit making leading to slower cooking and consume more energy consumption. In fact, LG demoed microwaving pop corns on stage using a microwave with smart inverter and another one lacking the technology. By the time the NeoChef was done popping all the corn, the other one was not even half way there. The NeoChef is 1.5 times faster in cooking than other microwaves while saving you up to a whopping KShs 20,000 in power costs per year. In addition, the technology ensures that cooking is done evenly, such that all parts of the food receive equal amount of heat.

LG Electronics’ East Africa Product Manager-Home Appliances Mr. Hangsuk Song is assisted by Chef Raphael to sample a piece of chicken grilled using the company’s latest efficient, versatile cooking and energy saving microwave dubbed NeoChef.

“From delicately fermenting yoghurt, to melting chocolate, to popping corn, the LG Inverter microwave is a versatile cooking solution. With just one appliance, the NeoChef microwave oven, our customers can bake, warm, fry, defrost and cook,” added Chung.

The NeoChef also comes with a redesigned turntable ring which resembles a hexagon. This new ring ensures that your food does not topple down on the sides while being rotated in the microwave. Moreover, the new ring can handle up to 2kgs instead of the 1.6kg of a similar sized microwave. Speaking of sizes, the appliance has 2 more liters than an equally sized one from other manufacturers; this is due to better space management of the cavity inside.

For those looking to buy one, you can find them on the new LG online brand shop or major retailers around you. The NeoChef Solo goes for KES 17,500, the Grill version retails at KES 24,500 and the top of the range Convectional version sells at KES 48,500. All three NeoChef microwaves are already available in leading stores but LG promised to have them in more shelves in the coming days.

Here is a summary of the features as indicated on the press release

Key Features of the NeoChef™:

Smart Inverter Technology: LG’s Smart Inverter technology allows for flexibility to select the power level at the start of the cooking process and varies the power delivered during the cooking process depending on the cooking option selected.

99.99% Anti-Bacterial Coating: makes cleaning simple and convenient with the Anti-Bacterial EasyClean™ interior, which eliminates 99.99%2 of harmful bacteria from the internal surface.

Healthy Fry: with an air fry method of cooking the Convection ovens in the NeoChef™ range can reduce the amount of residual fat in potato wedges by up to 72%1 so you can skip the deep fryer and use your microwave.

Stable Turntable: the hexagonal ring stabilizes the turntable with six support points, which helps prevent off-center items from tipping and spilling during cooking.

More Even Heating and Defrosting: take the worry out of thawing your food and achieve m

 

PartsDirect Launches to Enable You Order Car Parts

Christie Uzebu
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0
PartsDirect Launches to Enable You Order Car Parts

Getting spare parts for vehicles sometimes is really challenging, especially in a country like Nigeria. You don’t know honest dealers and you don’t know if the parts are original. In cases when the job is left for mechanics, they end up swindling car owners of their money.

But with PartsDirect.ng, you do not have to worry about looking for original replacement parts for your automobile. The platform was launched to enable you easily order for car parts from the comfort of your home, and have them delivered to you.

PartsDirect is an automotive mobile-web platform that serves as an interface between the general public and verified vendors of genuine car spare parts

The platform offers users accessibility to a wide inventory of authentic car replacement parts and delivery to public consumers at great rates with ease and convenience. Using an aggregate of verified vendors, they source parts from for customers, and also provide warranty.

How it works? On the platform, simply search for the car parts you need, and submit details. Then, the PartsDirect team reply you with the price. From there, you then place an order, which is delivered directly to you or your mechanic.

According to the team, “PartsDirect aim to be the nation’s biggest and most efficient one stop shop for Automotive parts. Through our diverse local and international partners, we are creating and aggregating the largest inventory and network of genuine automotive parts suppliers in the entire West African sub regions. We thrive on our ability to certify and guarantee all our merchandise to ensure conformity with international standards and best practices.”

The automobile industry is gradually getting popular in the tech space. PartsDirect is not the online platform for autoparts, as we’ve seen a few in the past. The move of these startups would in no time make the Nigerian automobile industry an enviable one.

Transthat Wants to Enable You Purchase Items From Others Countries By Connecting you to Travelers

Christie Uzebu
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0
Transthat Wants to Enable You Purchase Items From Others Countries By Connecting you to Travelers

We all know those moments when we need an item that cannot be found anywhere on the shores of Nigeria, but in another country. Then the need to Travel all the way to a foreign country just to buy an item comes up, and this is sometimes in not doable.

But with Transthat, you can find people traveling abroad, and get them to help you buy items from whatever country them might be going to.

Launched by Lola Ekugo, Transthat is a platform that connects travelers who have extra luggage space to spare and want to make some extra money, with people who want to buy specific products from abroad and ship them to Nigeria.

How it works? ‘Requestors’ looking to get buy items from another country post the said item, where it’s from and the price they are willing to pay to a traveler to bring it for them. Once a traveler picks up the request, Transthat will then hold the requestor’s payment until the traveler comes back with the item. This, according to the founder is to ensure transactions are done safely and securely on the platform.

The requestor can then collect their requested item from the Transthat Collection Centre or have the item delivered to their address.

According to the founder, “some unique points to note about Transthat is that it is not limited to things you can buy online from abroad. So a request can be made to pick something up from a local market or a local gallery without an online delivery service.

We are also looking to utilise extra luggage space so every traveler has the potential to earn extra money to spend when they arrive in Nigeria and use up spare forex before they leave their destination by building trust in a community of travelers and requestors similar to the Uber and Airbnb models”.

This is one solution that virtually everyone needs at different point in time. They sure have the potential of dominating this uncharted space in no time.

US-Based eThink Education Launches in Nigeria to Provide eLearning Services

Christie Uzebu
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0
US-Based eThink Education Launches in Nigeria to Provide eLearning Services

eThink Education, a leader in e-learning and technology in USA has launched a Moodle by eThink African Learning Network in Nigeria, to deliver their learning management expertise and allow participating schools and colleges connect and share resources directly within the Moodle platform.

The Moodle by eThink African Learning Network (ALN) will offer a connected community of educators and learners, allowing participating institutions to enjoy unlimited resource-sharing, networking, and endless social learning opportunities directly through the Moodle platform.

Through the platform, teachers can share resources with other teachers, students can interact and learn with students from other schools. In cases when a school doesn’t offer a specific course or program, the Moodle by eThink African Learning Network gives schools the ability to outsource classes or programs to other schools.

Moodle also supports eCommerce functionality to enable businesses or schools sell their online courses.

According to the Brian Carlson, Co-Founder and CEO of eThink, “Over the year we have noticed a growing demand for innovative and powerful edtech solutions among the K-12, higher education as well as corporate sectors in the country. So, we are excited to be able to help support those institutions as well as help others leverage the benefits of an affordable e-learning platform.”

With the launch, eThink Education has become the first Moodle Partner in Nigeria. Their goal is to allow online education easily accessible and shared throughout Africa, through the Moodle platform.

Moodle is an open-source Learning Management System (LMS) that is widely used across the globe to provide online education in schools, universities, and businesses. As an official Moodle partner, eThink provides hosting and support services of the Moodle product to offer a complete eLearning solution that is easy to use and can be customized to meet specific learning needs.

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