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Technext is the go-to site for Tech News, Reviews and Insightful Analysis in Nigeria. We publish Technology and business-related content with a deliberate emphasis on the African narrative and the desire to mirror the impact of technology on the continent.
In the series of Founders Spotlight, Tobechukwu Obikili shares his experiences, dreams, aspirations with Airmed and wanting to make impact in his country of birth.The state of the Nigerian health sector heavily influences Tobechukwu Obikili’s story. The CEO of AirMed is contributing his quota to fixing its deplorable state that continues to give individuals life-changing experiences.Tobechukwu Obikili is the son of a pharmacist who almost gave birth to him while attending to her pharmacy’s needs in the market square. Having earned his initial degree in Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering Technology from Niagara College in Canada, her influence and other personal experiences, which include the painful loss of a child, had a significant impact on his decision to deviate into the medical field.He describes himself as an entrepreneur trying to make a change and impact lives even amid numerous issues affecting Nigeria. He also holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Ontario Tech University in Canada.The Lagos-born entrepreneur and engineer loves spending time with his family and playing sports, having played football in college. He also likes discussing important socioeconomic issues that affect him with colleagues and friends.“One of the most important things for me is being able to achieve any thing I dream. I dream about a lot of things and doing these things even though I might not know so much about it, trying new things and watching my children grow, interests me.”Tobechukwu Obikili, Airmed FounderIn addition to losing his child, Tobechukwu cites the demise of a close relative and other shortcomings across the healthcare system as motivations for using cutting-edge technology to improve healthcare services in the nation.His quote: “Don’t be afraid to fail. In failure comes wisdom. No matter how many times you fail, one success outshines your previous failures.”In this instalment of our Founders Spotlight series, Tobechukwu Obikili shares his experiences, dreams, and aspirations with Airmed and his wanting to make an impact in his country of birth.Read also: Adeola Ayoola discusses Famasi Africa, Nigeria’s health sector, saving lives with techWhat’s the inspiration behind AirmedNigeria’s healthcare sector has failed to impress when providing essential services, given its population of over 215 million people. Although it has the second highest density of medical doctors among West African countries, this is still very low compared to the actual need for such a populous nation.In fact, data from Statista shows that there are just about 3.8 doctors per 10,000 persons in the country, with most Nigerians usually having to pay for medicine out of their own pocket.Tobechukwu Obikili, an engineer by training, was motivated to take a deviation into the healthcare services industry to reduce this gap in access and speed to necessary services.“I would say it’s destiny. Although my mom was a pharmacist, while I was young, I heard stories about my birth. At one point of my mom doing her pharmacy business in Surulere, trying to purchase products from the market, I was almost given birth to in the market square.”He decided to take on the responsibility of improving the mom’s business in a more sophisticated manner. The decision to relocate to Nigeria after receiving his degree in Canada and accepting positions where jobs are scarce also influenced the choice.“Along the line, I realized that there was a gap in the sector because I was a victim of the gap. I lost a child due to a lack of quality healthcare – a lack of access to certain medications and professionals.My child was wrongly diagnosed with the common cold while suffering from Bronchial Pneumonia. After two days of following the Doctor’s instruction on medication without any response from the child, we were forced to go back to the hospital.”Tobechukwu Obikili“On getting there, they didn’t know how to inject him or revive him, because they couldn’...
Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has announced that there is a provision to tax cryptocurrency and other digital assets in the 2022 Finance Bill.According to the statement published by Laolu Akande, spokesperson to Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Zainab Ahmed updated the National Economic Council (NEC) on the core properties of the 2022 Finance Bill at an extraordinary digital event on Thursday.Following her presentation, the governors of Sokoto, Borno, Kaduna, Kebbi and Ogun states, among others, commented on the bill.The NEC agreed to update the draft Finance Bill with additional inputs from state governors as it goes ahead to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) before President Muhammed Buhari sends it to the National Assembly.The Minister stated that the proposed bill is established on five influential policy anchors. She itemized the drivers as tax equity, climate change, job creation/economic growth, tax incentives’ reform and revenue generation/tax administration.Read Also: Sam Bankman-Fried suspects a former employee caused FTX’s loss of over $650 millionFurther details about FG’s proposed tax on cryptocurrencyThe Minister said the proposed bill clarified the taxation of cryptocurrency and other digital assets in line with the government’s policy of enhancing cross-border and international taxation of growing e-commerce with emerging markets.“The bill seeks to amend and offer extensive provisions in particular laws linked with the public financial management of the federation,” Ahmed said. “Other aspects of the Finance Bill include chargeable assets, exclusion of losses, and replacement of business assets,” she added.The bill contains an amendment under Chargeable Assets stating that “subject to any exceptions provided by this Act”, all forms of property shall be assets for this Act, whether situated in Nigeria or not, including options, debts, digital assets and incorporeal property generally.”“Also, under the Tax Equity pillar, all sectors of the economy would be brought into the tax net including Capital Gains Tax from digital assets, cable undertakings, lottery and gaming business,” the statement quoted Mrs Zainab Ahmed as saying.Read Also: Telegram to build decentralised crypto exchange and non-custodial walletShe said by enhancing this policy, Nigeria would become a part of the sophisticated ranks of jurisdictions presently taxing digital assets. The UK, the US, Australia, India, Kenya and South Africa are the other countries currently taxing digital assets.In 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directed banks to close accounts of cryptocurrency traders or entities involved in cryptocurrency transactions within their systems.The apogee bank further implored citizens to avoid crypto assets, warning that they are used to fund illegal dealings. Recently the securities and exchange commission (SEC) has disclosed that it will not consider promoting cryptocurrencies as it pushes for adopting digital assets across the country.The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Nigeria has no intention to involve crypto in its digital asset pursuit. That is, at least until regulators reach a consensus on the standards that protect investors from the market’s jaw-dropping volatility.
Elon Musk rose to the top of Twitter by promoting free speech, catering to a fan base that demanded he reinstated the accounts of controversial users who had been suspended or permanently removed for violating its hate speech rules.Weeks after he won his ambitious bid to buy Twitter, he began to enact his free speech promises, including reviving the account of the twice-impeached American president Donald Trump.He said that he would offer amnesty to users who the previous leadership had suspended. He expelled the content moderation council with “widely diverse viewpoints from the company.”“This is a battle for the future of civilization,” Musk said just this past Monday. “If free speech is lost even in America, tyranny is all that lies ahead,” he added. As of this week, he has reinstated roughly 62,000 accounts, according to the American tech newsletter, Platformer.He recently took on Apple, Twitter’s biggest advertiser, accusing the iPhone makers of being anti-free speech for allegedly pulling off its adverts from Twitter. He alleged that Apple has threatened to kick Twitter off its App Store, a move that Musk says will force him to create his mobile device.Now, he is abandoning his free speech campaign.On Friday, Twitter suspended the account of controversial rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, after he posted an image of a swastika inside the Star of David that experts say is antisemitic. Musk said of the decision that Ye “violated our rule against incitement to violence,” adding that his “Account will be suspended.”I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended.Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 2, 2022Why it is all about profitsTwitter has always struggled with making profits. Musk had marched into Twitter with big plans to make the company more profitable. He rolled out a premium Twitter product, initially offering a blue check verification for users who will subscribe to his “Twitter Blue” for eight dollars a month.He has said that already verified users will lose their verification if they don’t pay the subscription in the next 90 days. Now he has paused that product as he fights to bypass the 30 per cent cut that Apple gets for subscriptions paid through apps on its App Store.The free speech campaign had looked very attractive to Musk and others who supported him with hopes of having vested interests in a profitable Twitter.The idea is that by showing that on Twitter, anyone can say what they want, more users willing to subscribe to Twitter Blue will come to the app. This, some experts have said, will help him turn Twitter into a kind of super app, a single app that meets almost all the digital needs one might have. With the subscription and the creation of the super app, he would not need advertisers’ money because users will pay to use Twitter.He was wrong.Musk’s free speech troublesIn the weeks since Elon Musk barged into the Twitter headquarters with a literal sink announcing that he wants it to “sink in,” that he now owns the place, hate speech has been on the rise on the platform.According to the Brookings Institute, the American research group, “Twitter saw a nearly 500% increase in the use of the N-word in the 12-hour window immediately following the shift of ownership to Musk. Within the following week, tweets including the word “Jew” had increased fivefold since before the ownership transfer. Tweets with the most engagement were overly antisemitic.”In protest, users have been deleting their accounts and abandoning Twitter. Some advertisers have withdrawn their ads from Twitter. According to Media Matters, roughly half of Twitter’s top 100 advertisers have put a hold on ads on the platform.Elsewhere, global brands, including the luxury fashion company Balenciaga have deleted their Twitter accounts.Twitter’s automated reporting function has also been malfunctioning or just not working at all. Footage of the infamous ma...
Uncover Skincare, the Kenyan-based startup that specializes in tailored beauty and skin care products for African women, has raised $1 million in seed funding to scale its operations in the East African country and expand to neighbouring Nigeria, per TechCrunch,Co-founded in 2020 by the trio of Sneha Mehta (CEO), Jade Oyateru (COO), and Catherine Lee (Advisor), Uncover Skincare seeks to revolutionize the African skincare market sector through data-led manufacturing that is aligned with the needs of the modern African woman.While Mehta has over ten years of experience helping businesses scale across Africa, Oyateru is a nutritionist and consumer goods expert, and Catherine is an economist turned filmmaker.Participants in the funding round included FirstCheck Africa, Samata Capital, Future Africa, IgniteXL, alongside angel investors Kwenhui Tawah, former COO of SokoWatch, and Patricia Ithau, a former executive of L’Oreal and current CEO of WPP Scangroup, FirstCheck Africa, Samata Capital, Future Africa, and IgniteXL invested in the round.With the latest funding, Uncover Skincare has raised $1.225 million in its two years of launch.“We are using the funding to launch more products, go into additional markets, and also double down on our tech and data to effectively produce, reach and market to our audience,” Mehta said.Made in Korea but for AfricansThough Uncover Skincare uses African botanicals, the manufacturing of its finished products is handled by Korean original design manufacturers.Mehta explained: “Our production happens in Korea (one of the world’s biggest beauty markets), where we are leveraging the best technology, labs, and scientists in the world who understand stability testing, safe ingredients, and formulations. We are able to deliver because women in our community have graciously provided information and tried our products, to help us formulate specifically for this market.”Expanding into NigeriaThe company, which recently introduced a new range of skin products on its online platform, has perfected plans to expand to Nigeria in January. The beauty market in Nigeria, for one, has had an impressive run in recent times, thanks to the country’s rising population and the spike in modern retailing.Other offerings of Uncover Skincare include virtual consultations and engaging content to gain more reach, which according to the co-founder, has grown the startup’s revenue by 20-fold.“We have had incredible traction since, and our community has grown from zero to about 60,000 women in Kenya in two years. we have built brand awareness, loyalty, and our values of education and knowledge and empowerment have been established at the market,” Mehta said.
Coinbase, one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, has called out tech giant Apple for its monopolistic policies on commissions on NFT transactions.Recall that Apple has been a thorn in the side of the NFT industry because of the ‘Apple Tax’. “Apple Tax” is a slang term for the commission fee Apple charges for using its App Store and in-app payment system. Many purchases made through iOS apps — including in-app purchases like gaming microtransactions and monthly subscription payments — are subject to a 30% surcharge.Apple also once demanded that NFTs be made through in-app purchases. As a result, startups have had to limit their apps’ functionality, which is a blow to their ambitions.Also, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is still hopeful about the company’s metaverse plans regardless of the billions of dollars it’s sucking up from the company, claiming “someone has to build that.”Read also: 3 self-custody wallets to safeguard your crypto assetsHere are the major crypto stories from around the world this weekAnother DeFi protocol exploitedAnkr, a decentralised finance protocol based on BNB Chain, has been exploited, according to a Friday announcement. The attacker created many Ankr Reward Bearing Staked BNB (aBNBc) tokens.According to blockchain security firm PeckShield, the aBNBc token contract has an unlimited mint bug. The attacker has already transferred some of the stolen funds to Tornado Cash, a decentralised crypto tumbler.Binance has already addressed the hack, claiming it is currently working with relevant parties to investigate the incident. The exchange has assured its users that their funds are safe.Kraken reduces workforceThe second largest crypto exchange in the United States, Kraken, has announced that it is laying off around 30%, or 1,100 staff members. The announcement was made on Wednesday by Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell.Powell cited “macroeconomic and geopolitical factors have weighed on financial markets,” and added that the company’s downsizing move is a correction of growth from the year prior when crypto prices reached all-time highs. The prospects for the industry appeared much brighter than the state they are in today.Kraken has said that staff being let go will be awarded a decent severance package, including separation pay for 16 weeks of base pay, performance bonuses, and four months of healthcare coverage, including counselling, immigration support, and career support.Coinbase calls out AppleIn a Twitter thread yesterday, Coinbase Wallet said Apple had blocked the latest release of its app to “collect 30% of the gas fee” through in-app purchases.The platform claimed Apple wanted Coinbase Wallet to disable NFT transactions, which would introduce “new policies to protect their profits at the expense of consumer investment in NFTs and developer innovation across the crypto ecosystem.”“For anyone who understands how NFTs and blockchains work, this is clearly not possible,”Coinbase Wallet.“Apple’s proprietary In-App Purchase system does not support crypto so we couldn’t comply even if we tried. This is akin to Apple trying to take a cut of fees for every email that gets sent over open Internet protocols.”The wallet app said that users affected by the decision — i.e., those with iPhones — would find it “a lot harder to transfer that NFT to other wallets.” However, the exchange hopes for some resolution, telling Apple it wanted to help. This isn’t likely to happen, given the latter’s stubborn position on these rules.Related post:All you need to know about Proof of Reserve (PoR) and why you should carePorsche announces first NFT dropLuxury car manufacturer Porsche has announced the launch of its first-ever NFT collection to be dropped in January 2023. According to a Thursday release, the collection will include 7,500 pieces of exclusive digital collectibles designed around the classic Porsche 911 model.The unique feature of this collection is that buyers can dictate the desig...
Sending money abroad doesn’t have to be slow, difficult and filled with hidden fees. When you’re sending money abroad, it should be as simple and easy as buying a coffee: and you shouldn’t lose out because of the exchange rate.Fluid is the only company offering free and instant international money transfers, changing how people send money to their loved ones in or from Africa.Founded by investment banker Robert Sharratt and funded by Norwegian billionaire Alexander Vik, Fluid has high hopes for its impact on the financial world.It’s no secret that the cost of globally sending money to or from Africa is two times higher on average than sending it to other regions.The brand believes that everyone should have access to fair pricing when it comes to sending money abroad—whether they’re from Europe or Asia, America or Australia. Anyone who needs help getting funds where they need them should be able to do so without breaking the bank.Fluid is an instant international money transfer service with no fees whatsoever. You can rest easy knowing that if you need extra cash for your loved ones back home—not even the bank working hours will stop the transfer.“You do not need permission from anyone.” Chairman Alex Vik said to Forbes.“Sending money is like sending a text message. You can freely hold your assets including digital cash and can send them wherever you wish, 24/7.”Read also: The Truth About Saving in US DollarsFluid provides a solution to the rush for USDThe devaluation of many African currency evaluations against the US dollar has had a seismic impact on global currency transactions. Fluid offers an easy remedy by giving Africans an easy way to access USD, EUR, and GBP without geolimits.Fluid accounts also offer a high savings rate (targeted 4% APY) on any deposits, and money does not have to be locked to earn yield simply – everything in your account earns interest that is paid out daily.Fluid believes that the exchange and transfer markets can be simplified: the financial world is truly global, and that should be the case no matter what country you live in. We bring that equality to the market.It only takes an email to open an account in Fluid, and it’s free forever.Go to app.fluid.ch and see how you can improve your financial needs.
Last week, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report for the third quarter of the year, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is one of the sectors that had a good run in the quarter under review.According to the report, the ICT sector contributed 15.35% to the country’s GDP in Q3 2022. This is, however, a significant drop from the 18.44% recorded in Q2 2022.But compared to the figure reported in the third quarter of the previous year, Q3 2022 witnessed some growth in terms of the contribution of the ICT sector — from 14.20% to 15.35%.In case you are unfamiliar with the full scope of the sector, ICT comprises the four activities of telecommunications and information services; publishing; motion picture, sound recording, and music production; and broadcasting.In nominal terms, in Q3 2022, the sector growth was recorded at 20.32% (year-on-year), a 9.15% points increase from the rate of 11.17% recorded in the same quarter of 2021 and 6.20% points higher than the rate recorded in the preceding quarter. The quarter-on-quarter growth rate recorded in the third quarter of 2022 was -8.25%.The report added that the ICT sector contributed 9.58% to the total nominal GDP in the 2022 third quarter, higher than the rate of 9.22% recorded in the same quarter of 2021 and lower than the 12.12% it contributed in the preceding quarter.Altogether, Nigeria’s GDP grew by 2.25% year-on-year in real terms in Q3 2022, a 4.03% decline in growth rate compared to the third quarter of 2021. “The reduction in growth is attributable to the base effects of the recession and the challenging economic conditions that have impeded productive activities,” the report said.While the oil sector contributed 5.66% to the total real GDP in the quarter under review, the non-oil sector contributed 94.34%, driven mainly by activities in ICT (telecommunication); trade; transportation (road transport); financial and insurance (financial institutions); agriculture (crop production) and real estate.Read also: ICT sector contributed 16% to Nigeria’s GDP in Q1 2022- NBSTelecoms remains the bossThe exciting growth rate of the ICT sector is primarily due to the telecommunications sub-sector, which singularly contributed 12.85% to the GDP in the actual term. Trailing behind telecoms in the ICT sector in terms of contribution is the broadcasting sub-sector, with 1.38%.That the telecoms space is leading the growth of leading Nigeria’s GDP is hardly surprising. The industry has recorded significant growth in recent years due to the country’s very young and rapidly increasing urban population and the ever-increasing adoption of smartphones, services, and apps.For instance, broadband penetration in Nigeria reached 44.5% in July. According to The Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa 2022 report published by GSMA, Nigeria gain 18 million new mobile subscribers by 2025.Per recent data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the number of active telecommunications subscribers services in the country hit over 212 million in September, just as internet penetration in terms of subscribers grew to more than 152 million. In the same month, MTN — which controls 38.33% market share — rolled out the fifth-generation (5G) mobile network in Nigeria.On the surface, things appear to be going well for the Nigerian telecoms space. However, there are still challenges, particularly the dominance of the more prominent operators, which, according to Ayoola Oke, a telecoms lawyer, “are suffocating the industry”.Government regulation is, of course, another major issue. Telcos lost over 15.5 million customers between December 2020 and March 2021 due to the SIM registration ban occasioned by the NIN-SIM linkage policy. Just recently, the Federal Government was forced to reverse a controversial 5% excise duty it imposed on telecommunication services.Related article: Africa’s mobile economy is headed towards boom in...
Embattled cryptocurrency exchange FTX revealed that it accumulated a loss of over $650 million in a few hours after filing for bankruptcy.In an exclusive interview with Tiffany Fong on Thursday, former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried revealed that he suspects the hacker might be one of FTX’s former employees. He stated that;“I’ve narrowed it down to like eight people. I don’t know which one it was,” he said, suggesting that it was either a former employee or someone who installed malware on a former employee’s computer.As far as how the exchange ended up in the mess it currently finds itself in, Bankman-Fried, also known as “SBF,” told Fang that the collapse of his exchange’s token FTT led to the downtrend, not because of any margin calls directly, but because of a massive sell-off driven by fear.Read Also: Kraken provides support for exiting employees as it lays off 1100 staff membersFaced with a liquidity crisis and forced to admit that the exchange did not hold direct reserves of client funds, FTX froze withdrawals for all customers on November 9. The next day, FTX announced that Bahamian “regulators” ordered it to enable withdrawals for its citizens.The Bahamian SEC later denied that regulators ever made such a demand. In reality, SBF told Fong he prioritised Bahamian withdrawals because “that’s where I am right now.”Before losing access to FTX’s systems, SBF said firmly that he was trying hard to discover who transferred the hundreds of millions of dollars from FTX’s accounts without company approval. He said;“I don’t know exactly who because they shut off access to the systems when I was halfway through exploring it.”FTX had suggested to the judge in charge of its bankruptcy case to allow it to employ BitGo to oversee and guard its assets while the bankruptcy proceedings are going on. This is to make sure that the company’s assets are guarded against the coy of hackers.Why FTX prioritised processing withdrawals of Bahamian usersSam included that the exchange’s meltdown was provoked by a massive sell-off of its FTT token, which was majorly caused by fear. SBF added that they prioritised withdrawals for its users in the Bahamas since it is the country the crypto exchange was fully integrated. He said;Read also: FTX begins payments for staff and vendors after weeks of doubt“It was critical to the exchange being able to have a future. You do not want to be in a country with a lot of angry people in it. The pathway forward for FTX involved Bahamians not being pissed at it,”Nonetheless, SBF acknowledged that processing withdrawals for customers in the Bahamas and not other locations were not the best of all move. It was not a move on the side of cryptocurrency exchange. SBF said it was a “shitty” move, even though it appears he preferred users in his home nation for what looks to be his safety and his failing company’s “future.”The former FTX CEO repelled any further accusations that he created a back door into FTX’s system and gave full room to the hacker to move whopping funds out of the cryptocurrency exchange system.SBF denied the allegation and said that he was not an accomplice to the hacker that moved $10 billion to sister company Alameda Research. Bankman-Fried founded the crypto trading firm Alameda in 2019 but officially stepped away from day-to-day operations in 2021. He concluded;“I do not even know how to code. I literally never opened the codebase for any of FTX.”
How much do you appreciate laptop engineers? You will rate yourself 1/10 if you do not understand the indispensability of those guys in the tech industry. I mean, if you lose the operational value of your PC, that engineer in Computer Village or some other place can restore it – talk about restoration, so your work continues.We at Technext know what it means not to have engineers around who would repair our laptops when they stop responding to keyboard commands.This is why we set out to tell the stories of laptop engineers, asking the questions of why they ventured into that side of craftmanship (because they are highly skilled), and how they do what they do.There are other questions. We spent a day with Laptop engineers in Ikeja. Watch the full video below:
CyVers is developing agentless, plug-and-play, scalable, and highly accurate solutions to detect suspicious behaviour.CyVers, a leading provider of state-of-the-art proactive Web3 Security for the centralized, decentralized finance and smart contract applications via detection and interception of crypto attacks across blockchains, has announced an $8 million in funding led by Elron Ventures .today.CyVers is developing agentless, plug-and-play, scalable, and highly accurate solutions to detect suspicious behaviour. This allows CyVers to capture transactions during the few moments between when a transaction is broadcasted and when it is registered irreversibly to a blockchain ledger.Crescendo Venture Partners, Differential Ventures, HDI, Cyber Club London, and Cyber Future join this funding alongside Elron Ventures.The company was founded earlier this year by experienced entrepreneurs. Deddy Lavid, who holds 11 patents in automated anomaly detection, sold his start-up, Presenso, to SKF as founder & CTO and later served as the CEO of the Israeli subsidiary, where he led hundreds of engineers and dozens of AI products. Meir Dolev led a start-up as CTO and later served as VP of R&D for the acquirer.In 2020, Meir joined Deddy to revolutionize the analytics space and establish four global development centres. CyVers has already secured customers such as Bit2C, Solidus Capital, and CoinMama, among others. “The profiles of our customers require absolute security, and CyVers provides excellent alerts about malicious activity,” Said Eli Bejerano, Bit2C CEO.Since the 2020 crypto rush, the market has struggled with liquidity, volatility, and a lack of trader trust. This year alone, cross-chain bridge hacks have accounted for 69% of the total crypto funds stolen, amounting to $3.5 billion in losses YTD. In 98% of the cases, crypto exchanges, DeFi protocols, and custodians are not alerted about the fraud until after it has been immutably registered.“CyVers’ platform collects cross-blockchain data, streaming it to our sophisticated monitoring system,” said Meir Dolev, Co-founder & CTO. “Our analytics engine predicts evolving attacks while autonomously understanding attacker behaviors.”Read also: Kenya’s Badili raises $2.1M in funding to revamp re-commerce industry in Africa“These include smart contract exploits, private key leakage, Flashloans, etc. Once it detects the evolution of an exploit pattern, the AI system generates alerts while providing enough time to act and the best-known solution before the exploitation and money laundering progresses.”Moving away from blacklists, code auditing, and fund tracing, CyVers identifies cyber-attacks and carries out corrective measures within milliseconds.“We screened many teams in the web3 cybersecurity space. We feel privileged to partner with Deddy and Meir, second-time entrepreneurs that blend expertise from blockchain security with graph neural networks and DeFi trading.CyVers will dramatically reduce the number of attacks and bring a safer crypto economy,” said Elik Etzion, Managing Partner at Elron Ventures. “Together, we are enabling a world of a trustworthy and transparent Web3.”Read also: Telegram to build decentralised crypto exchange and non-custodial wallet
Follow These Steps to Double Up Your Income.In Nigeria today, 70% of people have a side hustle to increase their sources of income. There are cases of Bankers who sell shoes on Instagram, Office Receptionists who run online skincare businesses, and restaurant owners who have POS kiosks just in front of their shops.These side hustles are not new to us, our social media platforms have become a full-blown marketplace, and we are loving it.One profitable Side hustle most entrepreneurs venture into now is the Agency Banking Business. You will see a Barber who also runs a POS Business or someone who has a shop in a busy market area with a “POS is Available Here” banner in front of their shop.Agency banking is a profitable business when you use a dependable partner like Quickteller Paypoint. And there are many benefits of becoming a Quickteller Paypoint agent, from daily transactional profits to agent training, fast and reliable POS machines, and branded Quickteller Paypoint kiosk with the merchandise.That’s not all; as a Quickteller Paypoint Agent, you also have access to affordable insurance that covers your business and your health. Quickteller Paypoint cares about their Agent’s life and the continuity of the Agent’s Business.So, if you are looking to start a POS business or want to add a side business to what you are currently doing, follow these steps to get started.To become a Quickteller Paypoint Agent, you need the following registration requirements:A physical office location/shop.Any smartphone operating on Android OS (4.4 and above) or internet-enabled laptop/computerA copy of a valid ID card (e.g., National Id card, Voters’ card, Driver’s license, or International Passport)A copy of your utility bill for verification of your location/shop address (e.g., PHCN bill, Government water or waste bill, recent stamped bank account statement)A copy of your passport photographA copy of your Guarantors’s completed Character Confirmation Form with your guarantor’s passport photograph.Zero minimum start-up capital is required. However, you will need to fund your Quickteller Paypoint wallet to commence transactions.And that’s all.Read also: Interswitch raises $110m to scale digital paymentsJoin over 39,000 Quickteller Paypoint Agents across the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory now.Kindly copy and paste this URL: to SIGNUP.Follow us on our social media platforms @quicktellerpaypoint on Instagram and Facebook to get updated on news and juicy deals.
Emmanuel Ebanehita is a seasoned marketing, PR and sales strategist. With experiences gathered through working with diverse industry experts and specialists, he works with the largest crypto exchange, Binance as the West African marketing director.In an interview with Technext, he narrates how his journey with Binance started and sheds more light on the reported Binance x Nigeria partnership.Emmanuel’s journey into the blockchain world started in 2012 when bitcoin was still in its infancy and usage was limited.“At the time, I began learning about the space and witnessed the power of blockchain to potentially transform lives as well as the vast number of use cases of blockchain for individuals, new businesses, startups, governments and various sectors in Africa. I bought my first bitcoin sometime that year and since then, I haven’t looked back.”Emmanuel Ebanehita.Emmanuel Ebanehita’s journey with BinanceEmmanuel Ebanehita.’s journey with Binance started in mid-2020. He saw a job opportunity at Binance to drive crypto adoption across communities in Africa, he applied on LinkedIn and got the job as the Marketing Lead for Binance Africa.Considering crypto adoption was still in its infancy, Emmanuel Ebanehita remarks that he was uncertain about what the digital economy had in store for the continent and the key issues it was trying to solve. However, he knew the possibilities were endless.“I took the leap, got into crypto and blockchain, broadened my mindset and I am very proud of the achievements we’ve made so far.”In his position, Emmanuel Ebanehita has been instrumental in setting up the existing communities Binance has in Africa. Driving growth through strategic campaigns per region and growing the community on telegram and social channels has also been an exciting and fulfilling experience for him.“Today, Africa has one of the largest communities for crypto in Binance!At Binance, we understand the intricacies of pushing the right knowledge and education to Africans. I have led the team in launching strategic partnerships and hosting multiple online and offline events and masterclasses to educate Africans about the opportunities within the crypto space and how to make a living from them.” – Emmanuel Ebanehita..Read also: Lucky Uwakwe of Sabi Groups speaks on FTX crashFrom hosting multiple education initiatives, some challenges he has seen and engaged with are bad actors and misleading information, which leads to FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) and lack of trust.“Sometimes, users do not research projects before they invest in them, and if the project crashes or doesn’t do as well, they tend to attribute such failures to the entire crypto industry. To overcome these challenges, we have put education at the forefront of our mission.Our major goal is driving the right knowledge and educating new users on the fundamentals of cryptocurrencies, how to identify scams and safeguard their crypto journey. It is also important for new users to DYOR (Do Your Own Research) before investing to avoid falling prey to bad actors who tend to take advantage of the lack of knowledge. Binance provides free lessons on the Binance academy website www.academy.binance.com for all crypto enthusiasts.”Blockchain in AfricaEmmanuel Ebanehita says Africa has become a hub for the crypto industry in recent years, with the region establishing some of the most important use cases for crypto and blockchain. He attributes the reason why crypto adoption is on the rise in Africa to how crypto connects the continent to the world.“Current traditional banking can be limited in terms of how long transactions take, how much it costs and the difficulties of exchanging currencies. Crypto innovates the way Africans make payments across country lines, whether it is remittances, cross-border transfers, settlements and so on.There are also many other use cases, such as crypto as a store of value, as a hedge against currency devaluation. Several African ...
SafeBoda, the Ugandan bike-hailing startup that set up shop in Ibadan in 2020, said in a statement that it would cease operation in Nigeria, according to a report from TechCabal.The company, which has been able to grow its business in Uganda before undertaking massive expansion in Kenya and Nigeria, said that it will now draw back and focus squarely on its Ugandan operation.SafeBoda’s move out of Nigeria comes even though the startup has had a good run, announcing that over three million rides had been completed through its app some months ago.SafeBoda’s statement says that it’s leaving Nigeria because the bike-hailing economy in Nigeria is not yet “economically viable.” The industry, the statement says, “in its current state is not economically viable and unfortunately requires significant investment at this challenging time in the global economic landscape.”SafeBoda added that it reached this decision as part of its focus to bring “the company to profitability by deepening its core transportation offering” in Uganda.SafeBoda pulled out of Kenya in 2020At the height of the pandemic in 2020, the company called back its Kenya operation, citing the adverse effects of the pandemic.“While Nairobi is seeing some economic recovery from COVID-19, boda boda transportation has been hit hard,” the company said. “This has meant our business cannot sustainably operate in this environment and unfortunately, the timeline for a full recovery is not certain. This decision is a hard one for SafeBoda to make. We know that this will negatively impact our community of boda boda drivers.”SafeBoda, also barely a year ago, received an undisclosed investment from Google, which it said will be poured into its Nigerian expansion and operation in Uganda.Speaking on the investment, Ricky Rapa Thomson, one of the co-founders, said at the time that the company “welcomes Google to their community and are excited to continue to drive innovation in informal transportation and payments in the Boda Boda (motorcycle taxi driver in East Africa) or okada (West Africa) industry. As a former Boda driver in Kampala, I know that we are the lifeblood of Africa’s cities and we power economic development. SafeBoda is thrilled that leading global companies such as Google see the importance of backing start-ups working towards these goals.”The issues ride-hailing services faceMany bike-hailing companies have had to abandon Lagos and take their businesses to neighbouring states like Oyo and Ogun because of the transport regulations in the country’s commercial capital.This transition means the business leaves a city with a large population of young, digitally savvy Nigerians. In Oyo and Ogun, for instance, they have to concentrate on the state capitals where the trips are generally shorter, thereby resulting in shorter fares. In Lagos, they would have been able to commute from the Mainland to the Island and also deal with the traffic jams, which would have resulted in longer trips for high fares.So the struggle with profitability that SafeBoda has faced in Kenya and Nigeria is not unique to the company alone. It’s part of a fundamental question that players in the ride-hailing space have fended off answering for years. Since ride-hailing started almost two decades ago, giants in the field, including Uber and Bolt, have struggled with profitability.This is also partly because ride-hailing companies looking to attract users have integrated regular discounts into their business model. At the end of the year, it leads to huge losses for some of these companies.In 2017, for instance, according to Forbes, Uber reported a third-quarter loss of nearly $1.5 billion, bringing its 2017 year-to-date red ink to over $3.2 billion.Some ride-hailing companies have started rolling out adverts on the platforms. Uber this year launched an entire advertising division that it said will service global brands worldwide.As the global tech industry reeks from declining profits th...
Nigeria’s House of Representatives has launched an investigation into the $475 million Chinese telecom loan deal to upgrade the country’s infrastructure.The now-controversial agreement was signed in 2018 between Galaxy Backbone Limited, a government agency under the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, and China’s EXIM Bank to provide fibre Infrastructure under the National Information Communications Technology Infrastructure Backbone (NICTIB) Phase 1 and 2 Projects, billed to be implemented by China’s Huawei Technology Limited.As part of the Chinese telecom loan deal, the National Assembly approved a $475 million credit facility for the various phases of the Project(s) to be made available by EXIM Bank.At the time, President Muhammadu Buhari said that the Chinese Telecom loan deal was part of his administration’s “commitment to incorporating the development of information and communications technology into national strategic planning”.But since then, the deal has been caught in the web of one controversy or the other.According to reports, during its plenary last week, the House of Representatives, in response to public outcry over the execution of the project, ordered the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning and the management of Galaxy Backbone to suspend all certificates of completion and payments immediately.This pause in operations is expected to stand until the House Committee on ICT concludes its investigation into the status of the implementation of the project financed by the Chinese telecom loan deal.The lower legislative chamber reached this resolve after adopting a motion sponsored by a lawmaker, Mzondu Bem, who expressed concern over the ongoing plan to access an additional $328 million (N126.7 billion) credit facility by Galaxy Backbone.Though the lawmaker acknowledged that Phase 1 of the project — spanning 13 states across the South East, South-South, North-Central, and South-West zones of the country — has been completed and commissioned, he accused the Ministry of Communications of frustrating efforts to perform oversight of the project.“The House is worried that whereas there has been no oversight to ascertain the level of the job done and verify claims of revenue generated by the Agency, there is a current bid to access an additional $328 million (N126.7 billion) credit facility to develop the NICTIB Phase II which covers 19 Northern States,” he said.Interestingly, in 2021, the Managing Director of Galaxy Backbone Limited, Professor Mohammad Abubakar, disclosed that the agency needed the sum of N35 billion to provide internet connectivity to various government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies in the country.Read also: FG launches provision of broadband infrastructure for 22 Higher institutions, MSMEs.A timeline of the controversial Chinese telecom loan dealAccording to AidData, a research lab based at William & Mary University in the United States, in November 2006, Galaxy Backbone signed a $117 million commercial contract with a Chinese corporation, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd, for Phase 1 of the NICTIB project.Then in May 2011, China’s EXIM Bank agreed in principle to provide a $100 million preferential buyer’s credit to finance 85% of the cost of the commercial contract. Later in January 2013, the Federal Government and the Chinese Bank signed another $100 million preferential buyer’s credit (PBC) agreement for Phase 1 of the project.In December 2013, the Federal Ministry of Finance — on behalf of Galaxy Backbone Ltd — paid out the remaining balance of the advance payment ($7.65 million) to Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd and officially requested that Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. commence project implementation. The NICTIB Phase 1 was completed in August 2018.The terms of the PBC included the following: 20-year maturity, a 7-year grace period, and a 2.5% interest rate, while the final maturity date of the loan is September 21, 2032. Also, under the agr...
Kraken, the US-based cryptocurrency exchange and bank, has joined the growing list of companies that have reduced the volume of their workforce this year. However, the exchange has provided a detailed plan to support the departing employees as they transition from the company.Numerous blockchain companies, including Coinbase and BlockFi, have cut back on staff numbers for several reasons, including the market’s irrepressible bearish fall. Earlier this year, Kraken declared that it would ensure continuity in hiring 500 new employees while other cryptocurrency companies reduced their workforce.“We believe bear markets are fantastic at weeding out the applicants chasing hype from the true believers in our mission,” the firm mentioned. With the persistent crypto bearish woe, the exchange has shifted grounds and reversed its decision to pursue its previously-announced goal.Kraken also mentioned that market volatility has led to lower trading rates and reduced signups. As a result, downsizing the workforce to what it was 12 months ago was the only best option left.Read Also: Indonesia’s Central Bank to launch innovative digital currencyKraken CEO: Employee Layoffs needed for long-term preservationOn Wednesday, Kraken said it is laying off 30% of its global staff – around 1,100 people – in response to the crypto market downturn.“Since the start of this year, macroeconomic and geopolitical factors have weighed on financial markets. This resulted in significantly lower trading volumes and fewer client sign-ups,” Kraken said in a blog post.“We responded by slowing hiring efforts and avoiding large marketing commitments. Unfortunately, negative influences on the financial markets have continued and we have exhausted preferable options for bringing costs in line with demand.”Read also: Nigeria’s Lazerpay lays off staff after salary cuts and investor’s withdrawalAccording to CEO and co-founder Jesse Powell, Kraken tried every means possible to avoid pursuing the option to downsize staff, but nothing could be done to prevent it. In the statement released by the exchange, the employees’ layoffs will ensure that the company stays running and keep on with the business for as long as possible.The firm highlighted that it would keep on building world-class products and services in the most valuable areas for its clients. Nonetheless, the company mentioned that every employee was laid off with deserving packages, which include 16-week base pay, 4-month health coverage, access to counselling services and a bonus for eligible employees.Additionally, sacked employees on a company-sponsored visa would enjoy visa and immigration support. The exchange will ensure leaving employees to carry out their vested stock options and offer networking opportunities to aid in a job search.Read also: Amazon plans to lay off 10,000 employees this weekA Period of LayoffsIn 2022, various blockchain and crypto companies have adjusted their staff numbers to stay afloat. In November, Lemon Capital shed 38% of its workforce, while Unchained Capital let go of 638 people (amounting to 38%). Coinbase, Mythical Games, Dapper Labs, BitMEX, and Galaxy Digital also laid off some staff.Outside of the blockchain and crypto industry, Meta slashed 11000 jobs while Stripe terminated 1000 jobs. The coming years will see a drastic change in the industry as recruitment is set to be high.Thus, employees who did not escape the brunt of the current layoff spell should try upskilling while they search for new offers. By upskilling, they stand a chance of getting a better job in the coming days. Meanwhile, employees working with companies with no decision to downsize the workforce should be on the lookout because the coming days before the year ends might arrive with shocking news.Read also: Nigerian startup Nestcoin lays off staff, declares FTX held assets
Telegram is betting big on crypto with plans to build a decentralised exchange and non-custodial wallets for millions of usersTelegram, one of the most popular messaging platforms, provides cross-platform, encrypted, cloud-based instant messaging services. It is gradually making its way into the cryptocurrency space.According to a statement from Pavel Durov, the CEO, Telegram intends to launch a non-custodial wallet and a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange in the future as it aims to leverage blockchain technology.This is not the first exposure to blockchain technology the messaging platform is giving to its over 550 million users. The platform has shown an affinity for the blockchain industry for quite some time.Earlier this year, the platform, with the support of the Telegram Open Network (TON) Foundation, launched a crypto feature that allows users to send Toncoin, the organization’s cryptocurrency, to other Telegram users without any transaction fees.In October, it also launched a username auction marketplace, Fragment, a free platform built on the TON blockchain where users can buy and sell collectibles. These collectibles are digital assets developed and stored on the public TON blockchain.Its next step is to build tools, including non-custodial wallets and decentralized exchanges, for millions of people to trade and store cryptocurrencies securely.Read Also: Crypto explainer: All you need to know about Decentralised finance (DeFi)What are Telegram’s crypto plans for its users?In a post, Pavel Durov, the CEO, discussed how the messaging platform’s incorporation of blockchain technology has impacted its growth. Fragment, its crypto payment feature, sold $50 million in usernames in less than a month after its launch via its blockchain-based auction platform.Fragment is based on the Telegram Open Network, a blockchain that Durov initially left behind in 2020 due to regulatory pressure before returning after the community kept it alive.Due to its enormous growth success, Telegram has begun to embrace more crypto infrastructure. Durov appears to be setting the messaging app on a course for more extensive crypto buildouts.The development of a collection of decentralized tools is the next stage for Telegram, according to Durov. These include decentralized exchanges and non-custodial wallets for safe and secure cryptocurrency trading.He also emphasized that the blockchain industry can return power to the people through technologies like TON.In the announcement post, he further said,The solution is clear: blockchain-based projects should go back to their roots – decentralization. Cryptocurrency users should switch to trustless transactions and self-hosted wallets that don’t rely on any single third party.Pavel Durov seems to be trying to reevaluate the understanding of cryptocurrency exchanges. With the downfall of FTX, which is a centralised exchange, Durov believes the solution to similar problems like this is to go back to implementing decentralised exchanges.According to him, the blockchain industry was built on the idea of decentralisation but has sadly become concentrated by a few people who have begun misusing the power, just like in the FTX situation. Hence, the need for blockchain-based projects to go back to being decentralised is what the platform is looking to offer.This might be a good deal for the messaging platform, given that it is already a go-to messaging app for many crypto traders, but what do the users think about this idea?Read Also: The aftermath of the FTX: Is blockchain doomed to die?Users’ reactions to Telegram’s big dreamFor many of these Telegram users, there seems to be a little confusion about these new crypto plans, especially as the messaging platform has long been a hub for crypto fraud discussion.With the bot feature in the Telegram app, cybercriminals have reportedly made theft and bank fraud easier on the app, which is one of many users’ major concerns about the new ...
Badili, a smartphone re-commerce startup which claims to be Kenya’s first and largest online mobile expert, has raised $2.1 million in pre-seed funding to scale its operations within Africa.Africa has one of the fastest-growing mobile phone markets in the world, and Badili is set to play a vital role in its development. The startup buys devices from individuals who wish to resell and performs trade-ins and buybacks on behalf of major phone dealers, signing a partnership deal with Samsung.Badili purchases the phones through its platform and network of shops and agents spread across Kenya. It then evaluates the phone via a unique price estimation algorithm that uses factors like age and model to determine its value. The phones are revamped, repackaged and resold with one year warranty.Read also: Orda raises $3.4 million to unlock more value for small restaurants in AfricaRishabh Lawania (CEO), who co-founded the Badili with Keshu Dubey (CTO) early this year, told TechCrunch he launched the startup after noticing that re-commerce did not exist in Kenya as a legitimate and trustworthy industry, yet demand for pre-owned devices was high.Badili aims to expand its services to other countries in West Africa, where it can leverage an increasing demand for second-hand smartphones. The funding will also help scale current operations in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.The Venture Catalysts, V&R Africa, Grenfell holdings, and SOSV participated in the round, as did family offices and angel investors from Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and India.“We are launching in Uganda and Tanzania and have established strong partnerships with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Within the next six months, we will be expanding to a few West African markets to get our foot in the door of some of the major markets in Africa,”Rishabh Lawania -Badili CEORead also: Kenya’s NopeaRide EV taxi-hailing service shuts down operationsHow Badili was formedRishabh Lawania observed a gap in the re-commerce industry in Kenya and conceived an idea that will enable people to buy and sell used smartphones easily and safely.“One of my ex-employees in Kenya got arrested for buying a stolen phone, and it struck me that most people can’t really buy pre-owned electronics here because the only option they have is the grey market, which is risky. That is when Badili idea kicked-in. I thought something really needs to change,” Lawania explained.He explained that Badli takes different security measures to ensure that criminals do not thrive on the platform and buyers are assured of the quality of devices purchased.Badili mandates that all sellers provide essential contact details, a means of identification, and a clear photograph. Badli also requires all individuals intending to sell to sign an affidavit stating that they are the rightful owners of the devices. For extra caution, Lawania explained that Badili has also set up a system that can flag frequent sellers.Lawania is also the founder of Wee Media; the parent company of the WeeTracker news site and gadgets Africa.“Badli are providing an alternative to people who don’t want to pay full price for a device, and I am more excited about the fact that we are able to help a lot of consumers buy their first smartphone,” said Lawania.According to Lawania, Badili is currently setting up and scaling technology, systems, partnerships and networks needed to build Africa’s most trusted and biggest consumer electronics re-commerce marketplace.Badili is tapping the growing refurbished and used mobile phones market, which is expected to hit $146 billion by 2030, growing at CAGR of 11%, partly driven by smartphone adoption in emerging nations.
The collapse of FTX has added to the list of endless unique terminologies used in the crypto industry. The latest crypto jargon in vogue is ‘Proof of Reserve.’ Proof of Reserve (PoR) hit the headlines recently when Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, popularised the phrase in a November 9 tweet where he pledged to implement a PoR to provide “full transparency.” Also, last Friday, Binance made a publication to explain its Proof of Reserve system. All crypto exchanges should do merkle-tree proof-of-reserves. Banks run on fractional reserves. Crypto exchanges should not.@Binance will start to do proof-of-reserves soon. Full transparency. CZ Binance (@cz_binance) November 8, 2022 So, what is Proof of Reserve, why is it essential for investors, and why should you care? Let’s get to it in this week’s explainer. What is Proof of Reserve (PoR) Proof of Reserve is not a new concept in the broader financial world. Banks already use it globally to prove to their customers that they have sufficient funds to cover their deposits. However, it is just becoming mainstream in the blockchain space. Read also :Crypto copy trading; all you need to know and why you should take advantage A Proof of Reserve is a verifiable auditing process that contributes to increased transparency for centralised crypto exchanges. PoR verifies the fund reserves of crypto firms like Binance, Bitmama and others using cryptographic proofs, checking the legitimacy of public wallet entries and routine third-party audits. In simpler terms, Proof of Reserve is a process by which an exchange verifies that it has sufficient reserves (fiat and cryptocurrency) to back its customers’ balances. These checks and balances ensure that a crypto company is in a solid financial position and that customer deposits can be matched. It is also used to determine whether it has the reserve assets needed to serve all customers and that liquidity is maintained no matter the market conditions to avert unfortunate occurrences like the FTX crash. Many leading exchanges like Binance, Coinbase and Kraken are now implementing this process to increase transparency and trust among their users. How Proof of Reserve (PoR) works The first step is for the exchange to create a cryptographic hash of the number of funds they have on hand. They then publish that hash alongside the number of funds held on their website. The accompanying link leads to a third-party audit report, which verifies that the published hash matches the funds held by the exchange. The hash is generated using a computer program randomly selecting a number between 0 and 100,000,000. The exchange then takes this number and adds it to the funds held. Creating a new hash that can be published on their site. If an exchange employee misappropriates funds, they would have to guess the number that would be added to the funds held. This would be difficult to do since the hash is publicly available. Any discrepancy between the published hash and the funds held would be scrutinized. Why you should care about PoR PoR is essential because it is one of the policies that uphold the core tenet of the blockchain, which is transparency. It ensures that crypto custodians, exchanges and lenders do not engage in secretive financial transactions that put their customers’ funds at risk. Proof of Reserve guarantees that a crypto lender does not loan out more money than the collateral it holds so that its lenders can be compensated in full if anything happens. This will stop unfortunate events like BlockFi, Celsius, 3ac and others that have filed for bankruptcy this year due to irregularities in fund management. In conclusion, PoR will certify that your crypto exchange is in the custody of your trading funds/assets – which means you can withdraw them anytime you want without hiccups. The controversy Proof of Reserve guarantees that a crypto company has the assets to cover its liabilities. However, the downside is that it is only a single snapshot in time, not...
Indonesia’s Central Bank released a white paper about their plans to have a digital currency on Wednesday. The whitepaper release for the digital Rupiah comes as Indonesia has witnessed a massive surge in digital transactions since 2020. Read Also: Brazil approves legalization of cryptocurrency as a means of payment Bank Indonesia’s (BI) decision is preceded by what several other federal banks worldwide are currently doing: preparing intensely to launch their own central bank digital currencies (CBDC). Read Also: Crypto exchange Bitfront announces shutdown Last week, TechNext reported that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) plans to conduct the retail pilot of the “digital rupee” after assessing the large-scale usage of its central bank digital currency (CBDC). More About Indonesia’s CBDC The forthcoming digital Rupiah will remain subject to the single hegemony of BI to release the legal online tender. BI’s Governor Perry Warjiyo revealed Central Bank’s policy guidelines for the forthcoming year at an event in Jakarta. “Digital Rupiah will be implemented in stages, starting from wholesale CBDC for issuance, elimination, and transfer between banks,” Warjiyo attested that the preliminary phases of CBDC are for wholesale and retail transfers and will be integrated later. He divulged that the next step will be to work on the digital Rupiah’s business scheme. The scheme involves monetary operations and the money market. Nonetheless, Bank Indonesia will finally launch the virtual Rupiah for retail and everyday transactions after the first model has been tested and proven. However, Warjiyo did not indicate the duration planned for the live launch of CBDC, which will enable its retail use across the country. BI revealed in an official statement on Wednesday that developing CBDC in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy still needs support from other stakeholders, and the central bank has to conduct trial runs. Indonesia has seen double-digit growth in digital banking transactions in the past few years, with transactions in 2022 set to grow 30% to 53,144 trillion rupiahs ($3.38 trillion), according to BI’s data. There has also been an exponential rise in cryptocurrency investment during the pandemic.
... determined to carry out post-enforcement checks to ensure that the sale of counterfeit devices is stopped. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has arrested some dealers of counterfeited and non-approved type devices in the city of Kano after several raids by its enforcement team. The enforcement team arrested Yahaya Ado of Gezawa Communications Limited for selling counterfeit Gionee devices and not being able to show any evidence of authorization granted to the company by the Commission. Nura Ahmed of Saleh Latest Venture and Rufai Nuhu of Al Mansoor Communications were also arrested because they were not licenced to engage in the sales and installation of terminal equipment and were unable to show any evidence of authorization from the Commission in that connection. The NCC’s Head of Enforcement, Mallam Salisu Abdu, who led the team, expressed concerns at how the GSM Market on Beirut Street, Kano, was awash with counterfeit and non-type approved phones. Abdu bemoaned the fact that many of the vendors were not licensed by the Commission to provide such communication service they rendered. The non-type-approved phones found during the enforcement include Gionee branded phones with model numbers G800, and L990; H-Mobile phones with model numbers it5606+, H351; FoxKong with model numbers F30, F300; and KGTEL phones with model numbers K2160 and KG1100. In the same light, the (NCC) has cautioned consumers against the patronage and use of counterfeit and non-type approved devices. The commission strongly warns that such devices negatively affects the quality of experience while leaving their users vulnerable to losses and other discomforts. The warning follows the Commission’s enforcement activities in Kano where it arrested the representatives of three companies responsible for the sale of counterfeit as well as non-type-approved devices, The suspects has since been handed over to the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for investigation and further necessary action. The Commission is determined to carry out post-enforcement checks to ensure that the sale of counterfeit devices is stopped. Read also: NCC rejects Airtel’s latest bid for 5G license Earlier warnings from the NCC The NCC has already expressed concern over the rising use of subpar mobile phones and other telecom devices in the nation. In 2019, the Commission bemoaned the circulation of counterfeited phones in the market and warned users to be wary and careful of the phones to purchase from vendors. According to it, the warning became necessary to guide unsuspecting users against the inherent dangers in using such outlawed devices infiltrating the market. The Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, gave the warning during a sensitization workshop in Bwari Area Council, FCT Abuja, tagged: “Stakeholders Sensitization Workshop on the Hazardous Effect of Non-type Approved Handsets and Impact on Quality of Service and e-waste”. He said the sensitization programme was part of the Commission’s deliberate move to educate and create awareness on the hazardous health effects and negative economic implications of the patronage of fake handsets and other Information and Communication Technology (ICT) devices in the country. The NCC will collaborate with market associations to ensure that appropriate licences are obtained by vendors and assist in apprehending the major dealers and suppliers of counterfeit devices. Read also: NCC Announces Publication of Final Information Memorandum on 3.5GHz Spectrum Auction
Don Jazzy, the founder and CEO of Mavins Record, is an accomplished businessman and his track record over the years is enough proof. The Don has disclosed his new venture, a food project, Jazzy’s Burger. I have been in the kitchen working on a couple of projects I would be unlocking one at a time and as always will be glad if y’all join me on my exciting journey. As a foodie I’m happy to officially start the countdown to the arrival of @Jazzysburger . Hehe 🤍 ITS DON JAZZY AGAIN. (@DONJAZZY) November 30, 2022 Food apps have become popular among Nigerians, and many food businesses are beginning to use this technology to promote their services. But who could have seen this coming from Don Baba Jay himself? Trust me, while this was an unexpected idea from the seasoned music producer, there appear to be other projects cooking as well, especially since Jazzy’s Burger is under a parent company, JJB Food Concept LTD. However, given that there are already some established competitors in the industry, such as Burger King, KFC, Jumia, Domino’s, Glovo etc., the question here is what is Don Jazzy’s plan to make Jazzy’s Burger different from the competitors. Well, Technext explored the Jazzy’s Burger app, reviewed its design, unique offerings and pricing comparison with other competitors and here is what we think. Although the app has been announced, it has not yet been formally launched, and will do so in 5 days, therefore we are unable to review its services at this time. Read Also: Crypto Exchange platform, Quidax unveils Don Jazzy as brand ambassador First impression of the Jazzy’s Burger app The mobile app, designed by AWA Digital LTD, was a little larger than 23 MB on the Google play store and 47 MB on the Apple App store. We thought this was somewhat larger than some of its competitors’ apps, but we hope that it would be worth it. Signing up is easy and straightforward. You get an OTP to verify your details after you provide your name, email address, and phone number. You have to provide a password as well, so it is obvious that security is important too. After the signup and log-in, we reached a landing page, and all we can say is not bad. Although the page seemed a bit plain, this could be because of the white background, and it looks familiar, it is the landing page you’d expect from a food app. But this is fair as it gives more emphasis on the services available with no distraction whatsoever. What caught our attention the most while exploring the app were the images. Omo! The burger image samples look really sumptuous, and that is good marketing. Trying to place an order The app is not offering so many new ideas in the market. Going through it, it felt like a regular food app. This should be the part of the review where we explain what makes the services different from other competitors and honestly not a lot of things are done differently on Jazzy’s Burger. Of course, we haven’t used the services yet but looking at the menu and the offerings. It currently offers just burgers, drinks, and others (chicken nuggets, French fries and milkshakes). We can barely wait to place orders and satisfy our cravings. However, when we tried to place an order for a burger, we realized that there is an option to customise our burger meal which is absolutely interesting and new in the market, especially for a burger delivery service. Some Pizza outlets allow you to do this, though. But, have you ever thought of buying a burger and selecting your fillings by yourself? With Jazzy’s Burger, you can pick some of the ingredients you like and remove the options you don’t like. I think this should be a noteworthy selling point for the brand. We were very interested in experimenting with our orders for the other food options like the milkshake and French fries, but we could not do that. But then again, the app is still in its development stage, right? Next. Read Also: Don Jazzy launches crowdfunding platform, Sapio Funds to help Nigerians raise funds...
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, has disclosed that it has acquired 100% of Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC), the Japanese-registered crypto exchange service provider. SEBC is a JFSA-registered crypto exchange that offers customers consultation services in addition to its brokerage service.
Binance has acquired 100% of Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC), the Japanese-registered crypto exchange service provider.
Binance (@binance) November 30, 2022 The Tokyo-based exchange currently supports 11 trading pairs: BTC/JPY, ETH/JPY, BCH/JPY, XRP/JPY, LTC/JPY, ETC/JPY, XEM/JPY, MONA/JPY, ADA/JPY, XYM/JPY, and COT/JPY. Although the terms of the transaction were not disclosed, Binance enters the Japanese market as a Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA) regulated entity. Read also: Binance to start Recovery Fund for crypto projects in crisis The crypto exchange is widely regarded as the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider. It has secured regulatory approvals or authorizations in France, Italy, Spain, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, New Zealand, Kazakhstan, Poland, Lithuania and Cyprus. By offering Japanese-regulated services through SEBC, Binance aims to support a responsible global environment for cryptocurrencies. The acquisition of SEBC marks the exchange’s first license in East Asia. Takeshi Chino, general manager of Binance Japan, said: “The Japanese market will play a key role in the future of cryptocurrency adoption. As one of the world’s leading economies with a highly-developed tech ecosystem, it’s already poised for strong blockchain uptake. We will actively work with regulators to develop our combined exchange in a compliant way for local users. We are eager to help Japan take a leading role in crypto.” Read also: Ronaldo Launches First NFT Collection With Binance Hitomi Yamamoto, CEO of SEBC, said: “We are honored and delighted to make this announcement with Binance, one of the world’s leading crypto asset exchange service providers. On top of our effort to prioritize user protection, Binance in Japan The Japanese government, through the FSA, a government agency and an integrated financial regulator responsible for overseeing the banking, securities and exchange, and insurance sectors to ensure the stability of the financial system of Japan, had previously warned the exchange about doing business in the East Asian nation. The exchange received a warning in March 2018 and another in June 2021 that it was not registered to do business in Japan. Following the acquisition of the SEBC, Hitomi Yamamoto agrees that crypto enthusiasts in the country have cause to celebrate because of the compliance system that the world’s leading exchange employs. “Binance’s strong compliance system will build a more compliant atmosphere for users in Japan and help them access key crypto services needed for mass adoption in the future.”
Minority shareholder files for liquidation NopeaRide, Kenya’s first fully electric taxi service, has announced that it would be shutting down its operations in the country after its major shareholder and parent company, Ekorent Oy, based in Finland, declared insolvency. The company disclosed in a statement that it would be closing down for good due to the insolvent nature of the major shareholder, EkoRent Oy, which launched the service in 2014. The minority shareholder InfraCo Africa Limited has now filed for liquidation of EkoRent Africa Limited in the High Court of Kenya. The statement reads: “Following the announcement that our majority shareholder, EkoRent Oy, has declared insolvency in Finland, we are sad to announce that InfraCo Africa Limited, the minority shareholder, has now filed for the liquidation of EkoRent Africa Limited in the High Court of Kenya.” “This is because EkoRent Oy was the principal financier of EkoRent Africa Limited, and all the technical knowledge on the running of the business lay with EkoRent Oy.” “We have taken our fleet of electric vehicles off the road and have notified our staff and corporate clients. We are now working with relevant authorities to ensure that our operations are wound up in accordance with local legislation.” “A mention date has been set for 13th December 2022,” the statement reads. Although the company had made several strides this year in meeting its target of fleets and previous metrics in 2019 before the pandemic, EkoRent OY went into insolvency in Finland and was unable to secure additional financing to grow the business in Kenya to the next level. In 2021, NopeaRide announced that it would increase the number of cars in its fleet from 30 to 100 as part of a growth strategy. But by the time it closed shop on Nov. 28, it had only 70 electric cars. A funding round that NopeaRide hoped would help it reach pre-covid profitability levels failed to materialize. Read also: Nigeria’s Lazerpay lays off staff after salary cuts and investor’s withdrawal The story behind NopeaRide’s collapse NopeaRide service was launched in Kenya in August 2018 (then known as NopiaRide) by the 2014-founded Finnish company EkoRent Oy. Juha Suojanen founded EkoRent Oy in 2014 to develop solutions using electric vehicles. In Nairobi, Nopea began with a minimally viable product with only three electric vehicles and two chargers. The following year, the company’s fleet and charging network experienced gradual growth. Nopea built a charging network in Nairobi after raising undisclosed funding in 2019 and placed orders for additional electric vehicles and chargers. Unfortunately, many of the additional vehicles arrived in Nairobi just about the same time when the strict Covid-19 curfew rules were put in place in March 2020. According to the company, those lockdown rules lead to daily kilometers driven by Nopea vehicles dropping approximately 60% over night making it a terrible time for the company. Although a wrong timing for the fleet of cars which arrived given the new restrictions in place, the company used a good part of 2020 in developing their software further and negotiating for additional equity investment. Those negotiations finally reached a successful conclusion at the end of 2020 as restrictions gradually slowed down. 2021 was going to be a good year after the company entered into a cooperation agreement with a leading local technology and research university to build a Solar Charging Car Port for Nopea electric vehicles with an option for electric BodaBoda (eBoda) battery swap stations. The number of vehicles required in Kenya to break even was predicted by NopeaRide during the initial equity round. Even though the company expanded its fleet of electric vehicles and opened new Nopea charge stations, its traffic never returned to the levels it had before the curfew regulations related to the epidemic were implemented. Additionally, NopeaRide got €200,000 from EEP Africa, a financing facilit...
Brazil has legalised cryptocurrency as a means of payment amidst the sector’s discouraging milestones. Earlier this year, there was a report about Brazil’s advancement to explore cryptocurrency as a means of payment. It is one of the countries in South America that has been making moves as regards cryptocurrency regulation since 2021. The Brazilian Congress proposed a new bill presented by Federal Deputy Paulo Martins to launch Bitcoin and other digital currencies as legal means of payment. The bill proposed to achieve this goal by tweaking existing Brazilian laws, which include the civil procedure code. The approval of the bill will usher disposition XIV in article 835 of the Civil Procedure Code, which states: “Crypto assets understood as digital representations of value that, not being currency, have their own unit of measure, traded electronically through the use of cryptography and within the scope of distributed ledger technologies, used as a financial asset, means of exchange or payment, an instrument of access to goods and services or investment.” Brazilian lawmakers have approved the bill as a law; thus, a complete regulatory framework for crypto governing the use of bitcoin as payment has been launched. Cryptocurrencies can be used as payment on Brazilian soil. It signals the country’s charge for innovation and growth. The bill was voted on Tuesday evening in Brasilia— the country’s capital. The new policies acknowledge bitcoin as a virtual representation of value that can be exchanged for payment and an investment asset within the South American country. Although Brazil has not made Bitcoin legal tender as El Salvador did last year, the bill only needs the President’s signature before it becomes law. Read Also: Crypto exchange Bitfront announces shutdown Brazil completes crypto legalization amidst the market’s upheaval The bill saddles the executive branch with the responsibility of choosing governmental institutions to regulate the market. The speculations hint that the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) will be saddled with this responsibility when bitcoin is used as payment. At the same time, the country’s securities and exchange commission (CVM) will provide checks and balances when bitcoin is used as an investment asset. Interestingly, both the BCB and the CVM and the federal tax authority (RFB) assisted lawmakers in formulating the overhaul legislation. Brazil houses a high-spirited cryptocurrency economy and has witnessed its citizens massively exchange coins such as bitcoin than invest in the stock market. Now, the country sets to create room for that to translate into more daily usage in financial transactions. Asides from designating crypto as a payment method, the law enables the creation of licenses for crypto exchange platforms and custody and management of crypto by third parties. In addition, the law will require exchanges to make a clear distinction between company and user funds, to avoid another incident like the FTX collapse. Nonetheless, while the FTX collapse has impacted many sectors within the crypto space, it will not affect everyday crypto use for Brazilians, according to Thiago César, the CEO of Transfero Group, which is closely tied to the Brazilian crypto ecosystem.
Yoel Roth was the Head of Trust and Safety at Twitter before he resigned earlier this month after he fell out with Elon Musk. The former top official granted an interview to CNN on Tuesday to explain how the dictatorial management style of the South African businessman will continue to hurt the micro-blogging platform. Roth explained that should Elon Musk continue to operate in this manner, he would drive the much-loved company into unforced business blunders, content moderation disasters, and the degradation of the features that help protect vulnerable users. The former top official admits he wanted to stay at Twitter after the takeover and presented himself as a voice of stability and calm. He also hoped that he and other top officials who did not leave Twitter may have been able to influence Musk and keep him on track. Since Elon musk completed his takeover of Twitter, some brands have stopped paying to advertise on the platform. Roth admits that he knew Musk would use him to help keep advertisers from abandoning the platform. He even appeared on a Twitter Space session to encourage advertisers that it would be business as usual. Read also: How Musk’s new $8 verification plan could mean chaos for Twitter The paid verification feature proposed by Musk has been the most controversial story since the takeover. Musk ignored the warnings from Roth and other colleagues, and the paid verification feature allowed trolls to create multiple imposter accounts posing as brands, celebrities, and former presidents. Twitter had no choice but to suspend the feature, but some damage had been done. Roeth explains that this “is an example of a disaster that slipped through” amid the chaos Musk brought to Twitter. He further explains that the prospect of further disasters made it impossible to stay at the company, hence his resignation. “He would say things that were consistent with establishing a moderation council, that were consistent with not making capricious, unilateral decisions, and I was optimistic on the basis of that,” Roth said. “My optimism ultimately faded.” Read more: Hundreds of Twitter employees resign their positions Twitter exodus may put users at risk “It went off the rails in exactly the ways that we anticipated,” Roth said during an onstage interview with the journalist Kara Swisher Tuesday in his first public appearance since quitting Twitter on Nov. 10. Roth also shared his thoughts on the recent layoffs at the microblogging platform and explained that users should pay attention to some of the features that protect users as they may begin to malfunction. Twitter may be able to improve its machine learning systems, but the lack of veteran policy and safety employees at the company would hurt the platform. He said users should pay close attention to whether key safety features, like blocking and muting, continue to function normally, as well as privacy-protecting features like protected tweets. “If protected tweets stop working, run, because it’s a symptom that something is deeply wrong,” he said. “People are not sitting still,” he said. “They are actively devising new ways to be horrible on the internet.” Are there enough people who understand the emergent, malicious campaigns that happen on the service and understand it well enough to guide product strategy and policy direction,” he said. “I don’t think there are enough people left at the company who can do that work.” Read also: Twitter agrees to negotiate severance pay with the laid-off Africa team, avoids law suit
Google Africa celebrated the graduation of 5000 entrepreneurs who had completed its Hustle Academy training programme with events in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa. In Nigeria, the event was hosted in Lagos with more than 70 graduates in attendance. The graduates of this year were selected from about 10,000 applications. The 5000 alumni come from 23 cohorts that participated in virtual bootcamps that lasted five days. During these bootcamps, participants learnt how to define their business strategy, boost sales, and make investor funding pitches. Lessons on smart financial planning and digital marketing were also covered in the curriculum. At the end of the program, each entrepreneur received individualized mentoring sessions to address certain issues they were having with their business and to obtain guidance from a network of qualified mentors and coaches. Inuwa Kashifu Abdullahi, the Director General of NITDA, spoke at the graduation ceremony about the significance of the country’s digital transformation and the necessity for Nigerians to advance their digital skills in order to contribute to society and also compete in the global market. Read Also: Google launches ‘Hustle Academy’ to train 5000 entrepreneurs across Africa Google’s Hustle Academy new plans Following the graduation ceremony, and as part of their dedication to supporting African entrepreneur, Google Africa also announced it will be launching a new series titled “Hustle Academy Brings You.” on its YouTube channel. The new talk-show-style video series, will feature well-known and respected entrepreneurs from all over Africa and share useful advice and growth strategies to motivate upcoming entrepreneurs. This will also help enrich and broaden the Hustle Academy program initiative. Entrepreneurs from Africa, including Engr. Nnamdi Ezeigbo, CEO and founder of SLOT Systems Ltd., will share their insights, lessons learned, and words of wisdom. This series hopes to provide SMBs the chance to hear from entrepreneurs in different industries about the problems, themes, and topics that they frequently deal with. This will also help Google further fulfill its promise to support the success of entrepreneurs and small businesses. Google committed to support African entrepreneurs The Google Hustle Academy was launched in February of this year and is dedicated to offering real-world business training that enables entrepreneurs to develop the soft skills that go along with their innate talents. This is just one of many Google programs dedicated to assisting small and medium-sized enterprises in Africa. While there has been substantial progress in the development of these abilities since Google began offering digital skills training in Africa in 2017, Small and Medium Businesses still want more hands-on assistance. The Hustle Academy’s main goal is to provide Small Medium Businesses with the knowledge, tools, and access they need to thrive and grow. Speaking on Google’s commitment especially for SMEs, Mojolaoluwa Aderemi-Makinde, Head of Brand and Reputation for Google in sub-Saharan Africa, she said, Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are the backbone of the global economy, and in Africa, they account for an estimated 80% of jobs. In Sub-Saharan Africa alone, there are an estimated 44 million micro, small and medium enterprises, which function as important drivers of economic growth. If we recall, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced that the company intended to invest $1 billion in Africa over the following five years to support a variety of initiatives, from better connection to investment in startups, to support the continent’s digital transformation. The software giant is trying to explore their investment ideas in a plethora of ways, and this is just one of them. Read Also: Exclusive chat with the head of Brand and Reputation at Google Africa about the Google interview warmup tool
Bitfront, a U.S. cryptocurrency exchange supported by Japanese social media company Line Corp, has halted new sign-ups and credit card transactions, announcing that it will cease operations in a couple of months, despite efforts to overcome the obstacles in the rapidly evolving industry. “However, despite our efforts.we have regretfully determined that we need to shut down BITFRONT to continue growing the LINE blockchain ecosystem and LINK token economy,” the California-based company revealed in a statement posted on its official website on Monday. Bitfront clarifies that the company’s closure is in no way related to the recent news of the shutdown of blockchain companies due to mismanagement of funds and other administrative misconduct. FTX is one of those blockchain companies that piqued people’s interest when it announced its sudden closure, as it became the target of ridicule, insult, frustration, and government investigations for “criminal misconduct.” Although Bitfront has distanced itself from the FTX saga, cryptocurrency lender BlockFi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday, affected deeply by the revelation of FTX’s unprecedented meltdown. Read Also: Binance launches $1b crypto industry recovery funds + other stories for the week Further details about Bitfront’s shutdown All trading on Bitfront will be suspended by the end of the year, and withdrawals will be stopped on March 31, 2023, it said in a statement on its website Monday. Bitfront reveals that it had stopped new-sign ups and credit card payments as of the 28th of November. The company explained that interest for deposits processed between Dec. 5 and Dec.11 would be released on the 13th of December, 2022. The statement also says that “all personal information collected from BITFRONT customers will be deleted within 40 days of March 31, 2023, when the ability to make withdrawals will end. However, information necessary for compliance with legal requirements/fulfilment of reporting obligations/responding to disputes may be retained even after service termination. On the rights of customers, the statement discloses that “even if the service is terminated, the customer’s right to their personal information remains valid as long as the personal information is stored. However, if there are statutory requirements, the fulfilment of legal obligations of LVC USA Inc. may take precedence over the exercise of rights by customers.” As for the safe management of personal information, the statement says that “Even after the service is terminated, the personal information required to be retained will be safely stored, and when the retention period ends, all personal information will be deleted to an irreversible level. “ The crypto sector seems to be heading towards one of its worst records since its subtle nudge in 2009. Bitfront is one of those companies exiting the cryptocurrency ecosystem following the unending bearish pulls of the market. Due to liquidity issues, Bitfront has announced its sudden closure—depressing news as it is not heartwarming when a cryptocurrency company goes into extinction.
Appzone, a Nigerian fintech software provider, has rebranded to “Zone”, a regulated blockchain payment infrastructure company, according to a statement shared with Technext on Tuesday. In line with the rebrand, the company has built Africa’s first layer-1 blockchain network, which will enable payments and the acceptance of digital currencies for financial service providers globally, just as its regulated blockchain network will allow direct transaction flow between financial service providers without an intermediary. According to the statement, Appzone is also pivoting from its cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) infrastructure to offer payment processing services that support both fiat money and digital currencies. Founded in 2008 by Emeka Emetarom, Obi Emetarom, and Wale Onawunmi, Appzone began operations by offering custom software development services to commercial banks. It would evolve into providing services in end-to-end automation of lending operations for banks and blockchain switching in 2020. Last year, the company raised a $10 million Series A investment. Earlier in the year, Zone became the first payment infrastructure company based on blockchain to be licensed in Africa after it was issued a ‘payment Switching and Processing Licence‘ by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Read also: AppZone appoints Olayiwola Osoba as Vice President of Marketing and Communications. Introducing Qore Appzone’s rebrand will also see its Banking-as-a-Service business carved into a separate standalone company, known as Qore, which will be led by some members of its elite leadership team, including Emeka Emetarom, Co-founder & Executive Director of Appzone and Mudiaga Umukoro, Co-founder & CEO of Appzone’s subsidiary, Appzone Core. Speaking on the rebrand, Zone Co-founder and CEO Obi Emetarom disclosed that the transition means the company is utilizing the power of blockchain technology to enable “reliable, frictionless and universally interoperable payments”. “In doing this, we are building one global network to pay anyone through any means, in any currency, which will ultimately maximise financial inclusion and accelerate economic prosperity for Africa and the rest of the world,” he said. According to Co-founder and CTO for Zone, Wale Onawunmi, the company has always been an early adopter of innovative technology with the potential for the finance industry. Our next-generation decentralised payment technology, which is the first of its kind, will challenge the status quo and become the future of payments for the world. We are encouraged by the pace of adoption we have seen so far and remain passionate about enabling financial services providers to reach their full potential Wale Onawunmi, co-founder and CTO Blockchain to the rescue The payments market in Africa boasts enormous potential, thanks to the fact that cash is still king on the African streets. According to the United Nations, Africa’s population will grow to approximately 1.7 billion in 2030, with a potential for $91 billion in cross-border payments and a retail value of over $1.5 trillion. To solve the remittance problem, Zone is using blockchain technology to completely digitise and decentralise payments, thereby paving the way for a cashless society where payments transcend borders. Speaking at the second edition of Technext Coinference held in October 2022, Emetarom had noted that decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms allow everyone to own numerous digital assets using the blockchain wallet system. This, he said, will help any African to create and store wealth without direct inflationary effects that affect its value. Related post: #TNC2022: “DeFi will solve the problem of financial inclusion in Africa”- Obi Emetarom.
Founder claims the startups' customers funds are "safe", while the company "continues to process payments as normal" Lazerpay, a Nigerian crypto payment gateway startup, has reportedly laid off a significant number of its staff, according to its founder and CEO, Njoku Emmanuel. In a statement released by the startup’s founder today, he acknowledged that the company had been battling with some financial crisis after the company’s “proposed lead investor pulled out resources abruptly” earlier this year. Additionally, he claims that since that time, the company’s managerial team has worked without compensation. In the same vein, the rest of its employees have willingly taken pay cuts to keep the business afloat. This is the complete statement: The last few months have not been the easiest, so we had to make a difficult decision to downsize our team. I am grateful to the team at Lazerpay for their devotion and sacrifices throughout this period. For our outgoing colleagues, it was an honour building with you. njoku.eth (@njokuScript) November 29, 2022 According to the statement above, Njoku distanced Lazerpay’s current ordeal from the FTX crash and bankruptcy that sent some crypto exchanges into the “wildfire”. He claimed the startups’ customers’ funds are safe while the company will continue to process payments as usual. Lazerpay has promised to list and recommend the outgoing staff for other opportunities with companies looking to hire them. Lazerpay becomes the latest participant in ‘layoff season.’ The layoffs in the tech space continue to swell, and the number of unemployed increases as more companies continue to downsize their staffs, citing the harsh economic environment and downturn caused by the pandemic and crippling inflation in global economies. African startups are still far from out of the woods, as the ripple effects of a very terrible first quarter hit the continent. Founders worldwide have had to cut staff or pause hiring completely; in one case shut down operations entirely. Africa-focused cryptocurrency exchange, Quidax joined the list of African startups that have trimmed down their staff strength after the company laid off 20% of its employees. That came barely two weeks after the Nigerian web3 startup, Nestcoin, announced the layoff of some employees due to the recent bankruptcy of FTX. The one-year-old Nestcoin held assets (cash and stablecoins) in the embattled crypto exchange to manage operational expenses. Kenyan logistics startup Sendy laid off 10% of its 300-strong workforce, or 30 employees, TechCrunch reports. This was also one of the layoff news from Africa over the past couple of months after Swvl, Vezeeta, and Wave trimmed their staff sizes to reduce costs amid a series of global downturns and venture capital slowdown events. Related post: The aftermath of the FTX: Is blockchain doomed to die? Also, Twiga, a B2B e-commerce food distribution network in Kenya, laid off 211 of its full-time employees following a restructuring that saw the company’s internal sales team disbanded. The laid-off employees constitute about 21% of the over 1,000 employees domiciled in Kenya. The company serves as a link between farmers or agricultural producers, manufacturers of fast-moving consumer items, and merchants. Although Binance has revealed an Industry Recovery Initiative, a $1 billion fund to help affected crypto companies in the wake of the FTX collapse that sent shockwaves down the entire crypto industry, more and more crypto exchanges might go down given the circumstance they currently face. Just recently, Lemon Cash, a crypto exchange, announced a layoff of 38% of its 100 staff to make the company sustainable in this crypto winter. Marcelo Cavazzoli, the CEO of Lemon Cash, announced the layoff in a Medium post with the title “open letter to the community.” He expressed his pain in the letter and cited the “challenging international context” for the layoff. It is no longer news that the tech ecosystem is cu...
Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk is no stranger to picking up fights, and he is undoubtedly unapologetic about it. Since his dramatic takeover, the social media company has seen him lay off thousands of workers and introduce several drastic changes in pursuit of his “free speech” mission. Days ago, the billionaire took a swipe at Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange platform, FTX, saying the latter is better at “bribing media” than running a company. Tech giant Apple is Elon Musk’s latest victim. In a series of tweets on Monday evening, Musk asked if the iPhone maker disliked free speech after claiming the company halted advertising on Twitter. “Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?” he wrote, and later called out Apple CEO Tim Cook for an explanation. What’s going on here @tim_cook? Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022 Before Apple, many other major ad buyers cut back advertising on the platform since Musk became CEO, aka Chief Twit. The Washington Post reported Apple was the top advertiser on Twitter, spending $48m on ads on the social network in the first quarter of 2022. Companies that have stopped paying in recent weeks include General Mills, the maker of Cheerios, and Volkswagen. Musk also accused Apple of threatening to remove Twitter from its App Store without disclosing any reasons for the move. If the claims were to be accurate, iPhone users might not be able to use Twitter again since downloading the app would be limited — an action The New York Times said would “amount to censorship”. Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022 The Chief Twit then published a poll asking if Apple should “public all censoring actions” that it has taken so far with effects on customers. Over 2 million tweeps have voted at the time of filing this report. Apple should publish all censorship actions it has taken that affect its customers Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022 He would later claim in another tweet that “Apple puts a secret 30% tax on everything you buy through their App Store”. But writer John William Sherrod, in response, insisted that taxes can only be “imposed by the State and enforced up to and including prison if you fail to pay them”, adding that “the penalty for failure to pay this commission is exclusion from the App Store”. It’s not a tax. Taxes are imposed by the State and enforced up to and including prison if you fail to pay them. The App Store is a voluntary arrangement between Apple and willing developers. The penalty for failure to pay this commission is exclusion from the App Store. John William Sherrod (@jwsherrod) November 28, 2022 Read also: Elon Musk takes fresh dig at SBF amid FTX saga. A strained relationship Though Tim Cook and Apple have maintained silence over Musk’s allegations, his controversial tweets mean the Chief Twit has set the stage for a likely power struggle with the iPhone maker. “This is a battle for the future of civilization. If free speech is lost even in America, tyranny is all that lies ahead,” Musk further said of his fresh “war” on Apple. This is a battle for the future of civilization. If free speech is lost even in America, tyranny is all that lies ahead. Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 29, 2022 This is hardly surprising because Musk appears to have a strained relationship with Apple. Recall the Tesla boss criticized Apple’s App Store fee for in-app purchases, describing it as a “hidden 30% tax” on the internet. Earlier this month, Apple App Store boss Phil Schiller deleted his Twitter account. But in a recent interview with “CBS Mornings”, Apple CEO Cook was asked whether there was a risk that Twitter could be removed from the App Store. In response, he said Twitter would continue to be distributed and praised the social media company’s commitment to moderate abusive content. Related post: What Elon Musk’s Twit...
Maringo is a new social media platform that seeks to empower and reward users by leveraging gamification, blockchain technology, and tokenomics. It is not news that social media plays a huge role in our lives, providing a means to connect, network, and even market our products and services to a larger audience. While several factions considered it a distraction some years ago, it has become a significant part of our culture. As the internet moves on from Web 2 to Web 3, it is pertinent that many individuals take advantage of the next stage of the internet to provide more measures that benefit humans. Web 3 has seen the rise of cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens, and other notable features. It has gained such popularity that some Web 2.0 companies, including Reddit and Discord, have explored incorporating Web3 technologies into their platforms. Maringo is a platform that is seeking to revolutionalise the social media space by providing access to a social media platform where all users can be part of a united community, engage with diverse content, and earn rewards. Today, Web 2.0 social media platforms are controlled by the platforms that create them; hence, the data and content are regulated by a small group of companies sometimes referred to as “Big Tech,” and the policies and decisions that govern these platforms are made by a few individuals appointed by these institutions. In an exclusive interview with Technext, Louis Akaatengar, the founder of Maringo, explains that the platform will change the social media game by creating an exosystem whereby users can use, control, and monetise their social media profiles. Louis Akaatenger has interacted with different people from different backgrounds on his travels. He is an experienced finance personnel and moved into the tech space during his undergraduate year, acquiring knowledge and experience in the software and web development space. During the COVID-19 lockdown, he moved into the Web 3 space. As an ardent user of social media platforms, Louis observed the current modes of operations employed by many social media platforms today and considered the bias involved, especially how some users get their profiles taken away from them. To enhance the people’s voice, he put together a talented team of individuals to leverage Web 3 technology and revolutionalise the social media space. An opportunity for people who are techy and those who are not so tech-inclined to interact easily. This birthed Maringo “The aim is to transform the space, to venture away from what we have now, which is like the mainstream social media space. We want to create an ecosystem whereby users can use, control, and monetize their platform.” Already, Web 3 enthusiasts are demanding that users get more control over their social media platforms today. Mastodon, a free and open-source software for running self-hosted social networking services, has seen an increase in daily active users following the drama that has ensued since Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter. Maringo is already ahead with revolution plans, and Louis Akaatenger explains how the platform will change the future of the social media space. “It is a very community-driven initiative where users will have a say in the day-to-day operations of the platform and get rewards. There is a whole array of features and a system that enables users to capitalise and monetise their whole experience.” Maringo is primarily concerned with enabling users to find their voice, use it, and get access to earn more rewards. Louis Akaatenger However, Web 3 technology is new to a lot of users, and the mention of terms like blockchain technology breeds confusion. Naturally, people with Web 3 knowledge would thrive on these platforms, trust the processes more, and be more attuned to build followership, and stand a better chance to earn rewards. Maringo’s plan to familiarise users with Web 3 technology Louis Akaatenger admits that the limited understanding of Web 3 technology...
You’d be hard-pressed to find any young, Internet-using Nigerian living in Nigeria who doesn’t have at least one Fintech app on their smartphone. Depending on who you ask, there are over 100 fintech startups in Nigeria. Per Statista, 144 fintech startups existed in the country as of 2021. For The Fintech Times, the number is estimated to be 200+. The point here is that Nigeria boasts the highest number of fintech startups in Africa, raising questions about the proliferation of such startups in the country. Little wonder that the fintech sector accounted for 73.5 per cent of the $1.09 billion raised by Nigerian startups in 2021, according to BusinessDay. Naturally, these numbers will encourage upcoming players in the industry to build a fintech. However, experience has taught some founders who spoke at the Fintech summit that it is not easy to build a fintech. In reality, it isn’t as easy as it looks on paper, as founders have to deal with several challenges in the early stage. So, how do you build a fintech? This came to the front burner of discourse at the Fintech Summit organized by African tech media company, Techpoint last Saturday, November 26. One of the breakout sessions was tagged ‘Building a Fintech with Limited Resources’ and featured panellists such as Munachi Ogueke, Co-founder and CEO of Oneliquidity; Adeyemi Adegbayi, Investment Analyst, TLCom Capital; and Yvonne-Faith Elaigwu, COO, OnePipe. Speaking on the question of why anyone should build a fintech, Adeyemi says there are still problems to solve in areas of payments and improving financial inclusion in Africa, citing the need to create new solutions to address different financial services on the continent. Read also: Editorial: Are there really too many fintech companies in Nigeria? ‘Build a business as you build a Fintech’ Funding is perhaps the most significant problem in building startups — including fintechs — in any part of the world. For context, global fintech funding dropped by 38 per cent in the third quarter of 2022, according to the State of Fintech Report for Q3 2022 released by CB Insights. For Munachi, every founder must ensure that whatever fintech they are creating is a business first before anything else. “If you don’t have a business that can create value, just forget about raising funds because you’re simply building your hobby. Once you have that figured out, you can now approach investors or a bank to take a loan,” he said. Related article: Declining investment continues as global fintech funding drops by 38% in Q3 Finding the right people Yvonne-Faith took the conversation on how to build a fintech with limited resources further when she harped on the need for early-stage founders to “sell” the business to their pioneer team, saying, “it is important to find people who key into the vision of what you’re creating”. She also stressed that Nigerian founders, including but not limited to people who want to build a fintech, must look at ways to satisfy their staff, such as remote work and stock options. But Munachi says the startup must make money as a business, so their employees can be motivated to pursue the vision. “I tell founders, ‘You are selling to three sets of people: your investors, your staff, and your customers’. You need to ensure that these people are buying what you’re selling, or else the business will fail,” the Oneliquidity CEO submitted. Collaboration is key Adeyemi believes Nigerian startups have been collaborating in different innovative ways, though the partnerships need to be more strategic and value-oriented to all parties involved. “You see some decks with a lot of logos on them but those people aren’t affecting the bottom line. Adeyemi Adegbayi Your revenues aren’t growing but you are integrating every day. Why? It’s because you don’t have the symbiotic relationship you need to make things work. For instance, if I’m company X and I have a thousand companies integrated into me to help push their products, I will o...
“This year’s App Store Award winners reimagined our experiences with apps that delivered fresh, thoughtful, and genuine perspectives,” - Tim Cook French social media app, BeReal has defeated Instagram and TikTok to win the iPhone app of the year for the 2022 App Store Awards. Alexis Barreyat and Kevin Perreau developed the app that was launched in 2020, but it rapidly gained popularity in early and mid-2022. BeReal’s main feature is a daily notification that encourages users to share a photo of themselves and their immediate surroundings, given a randomly selected two-minute window every day. It became popular among college students during the year. It had over 10 million active daily users and 21.6 million active monthly users in late August and has now become the crown app during the App Store Awards for 2022. Critics noted its emphasis on authenticity, which some felt crossed the line into mundanity. BeReal’s notification strategy has inspired rivals such as Instagram and TikTok to adopt the same model. It is somewhat refreshing that a social app won the best app at this year’s App Store Awards as compared to the last two years’ top apps “Toca Life World” (a Kids’ app) and “WakeOut!” (a workout app). In its blog post announcing the App Store Awards for 2022, Apple described BeReal as an app to provide”an authentic look into the lives of their family and friends.” More on the App Store Awards winners for 2022 Apple announced the winners of the App Store Awards for 2022 today, highlighting 16 games and applications that encouraged people to engage with the world more profoundly, use more of their imaginations, and stay connected to friends and loved ones. Read also: Apple finally hikes Apple Music charges for users in Nigeria The winners of the 2022 App Store Awards represent a diverse community of developers from around the world whose apps and games were selected by Apple’s global App Store editorial team for delivering exceptional experiences and making a profound cultural impact. “This year’s App Store Award winners reimagined our experiences with apps that delivered fresh, thoughtful, and genuine perspectives,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “From self-taught solo creators to international teams spanning the globe, these entrepreneurs are making a meaningful impact, and represent the ways in which apps and games influence our communities and lives.” Tim Cook While BeReal won the applications category for iPhone users, MacFamilyTree 10 by Synium Software GmbH, a visual family tree research tool, was named the best Mac App of the year at the App Store Awards. Similarly, GoodNotes 5 was awarded the iPad app of the year, TelevisaUnivision Interactive’s Vix streaming service was awarded the top Apple TV app, and Gentler Stories’ Gentler Streak, an exercise and fitness tracker, was awarded the best Apple Watch app of the year at the App Store Awards Electronic Arts’ Apex Legends Mobile snagged the top iPhone game award, while X.D. Network Inc.’s Moncage got the iPad game award. Other gaming winners include Inscryption from Devolver for Mac, El Hijo from HandyGames for Apple TV, and “Wylde Flowers” from Studio Drydock for Apple Arcade. Shenzhen Tencent Tianyou Technology’s League of Legends Esports Manager won the China app of the year. In gaming, Apex Legends Mobile was declared as iPhone game of the year, while X.D. Network Inc.’s Moncage got the top iPad game accolade. Inscryption won the Mac game for 2022, El Hijo won the award for the Apple TV category. Wylde Flowers got the Apple Arcade game of the year award, and League of Legends Esports Manager became the China Game for 2022. The winners this year are diverse, coming from a range of cultural backgrounds, and their work has a significant influence. It opens up a wealth of opportunities for the App Store, which was established in 2008 and already has 1.8 million apps with half a billion users visiting from 175 different areas across the world. Last year, Apple had a bonu...
The embattled cryptocurrency exchange FTX and attached firms have disclosed that employee salary payments and benefits will begin once again after it was halted when the company filed for bankruptcy. Former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and other top executives, including Gary Want, Nishad Singh, and Caroline Ellison, will not be on the payroll. The new CEO— John Ray III, revealed on the 28th of November that the bankrupt exchange would start paying employees salaries and benefits to its remaining universal employees—a relief for the employees who were left devastated after the company announced its file for bankruptcy. John— the experienced insolvency specialist, seeks to help the exchange and its affiliated companies through the bankruptcy proceedings. He stated, “With the Court’s approval of our First Day motions and the work being done on global cash management, I am pleased that the FTX group is resuming regular course cash payments of salaries and benefits to our remaining employees around the world. The company is also making cash payments to selected non-U.S. vendors and service providers where necessary to preserve business operations, subject to the limits approved by the Bankruptcy Court.” The announcement comes around ten days after FTX debtors filed a motion to pay prepetition compensation and benefits to employees and contractors in the Delaware bankruptcy court on Nov. 19, which excludes payments to former FTX CEO and founder Sam Bankman-Fried, along with Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, and Caroline Ellison. Read Also: 3 self-custody wallets to safeguard your crypto assets following the FTX crash FTX Announcement— a solace for employees The announcement comes as a relief for the employees as they will go ahead to receive three weeks’ pay. The pay stopped after the official release that the exchange filed for bankruptcy on the 11th of November. The new CEO acknowledged the struggles inflicted on the contractors and employees and appreciated their efforts in staying calm and reserved while the bankruptcy proceedings began. John said, “We recognize the hardship imposed by the temporary interruption in these payments and thank all of our valuable employees and partners for their support.” The properties of the relief will include cash payments owed to employees of the cryptocurrency exchange and roughly 101 affiliated trading firms since the bankruptcy filing made the airwaves. In addition, it will also include payments to be processed to vendors and service providers. Read Also: President Nayib Bukele faces lawsuits for irregularities surrounding Bitcoin acquisition Others still await The recommencement of payments and salaries only applies to some offshoots and other affiliated companies. For instance, in the Bahamas, only the employees of FTX debtors will be permitted to receive a salary. Nonetheless, those employees currently working for FTX Digital Markets will not be eligible to collect any. This is because FTX Digital Markets are under different liquidation proceedings in the Bahamas, where the cryptocurrency exchange headquarter is situated. Also, Australia-based employees and contractors for FTX Australia and its subsidiary, FTX Express, will not be eligible to receive any relief. Both are subject to different bankruptcy proceedings ongoing in Australia. On Nov. 22, FTX Trading announced it had been granted interim and final approvals for all of the “First Day” motions for matters related to its bankruptcy filing on Nov. 11. At the time, Ray said he expected the motions to fast-track FTX Debtor’s efforts to reimburse other stakeholders affected by the trading platform’s collapse, such as users and creditors, with the new CEO suggesting a potential buyout of FTX’s assets could benefit stakeholders sooner rather than later. However, some insolvency lawyers warn that the process could take years, or even decades, given the complexity and scope of the exchange’s collapse.
Orda, an African restaurant cloud operating system provider, has today announced that it has raised a $3.4 million seed round to help small restaurants get more value by further digitising food businesses across the continent. This announcement is coming less than a year after the startup raised $1.1 million in funding, bringing its total funds raised to $4.5 million. This new seed round was co-led by Quona Capital and FinTech Collective and saw participation from institutional investors, including Far Out Ventures and Outside VC, angelsDoneci Kone and Julian Shapiro, and follow-on investment from Norrsken Foundation, Lofty IncCapital and Enza Capital. Orda intends to improve its services to help more African restaurants maximize their business operations and expand distribution with this new funding. The loan, credit, and payment options will also be improved while assisting clients in maximising the value of their businesses. Speaking about their motivations for participating in this seed round of funding and the kind of impact Orda aims to have on the African food business, Kofoworola Agbaje, Senior Investment Associate at Quona Capital said, “When a restaurant owner moves from pen and paper to a fully automated digital platform, it’s incredibly empowering. Suddenly they have insights that can improve their productivity and margins, enabling them to grow their businesses.” A solution like Orda can have an outsized impact on small and medium-sized restaurants and the livelihoods of those who operate them, and we at Quona are delighted to support Orda in this important work. Kofoworola Agbaje With the help of this solution, the opportunity to capitalize on Africa’s largest consumer spending segment while creating an operating system valued for and by small and medium-sized African restaurants is made possible. Read Also: Nigeria’s Orda raises $1.1m pre-seed fund to expand its restaurant management services About Orda Founded by Guy Futi, Fikayo Akinwale, Mark Edomwande, Kunle Ogungbamila, and Namir El-Khouri in 2020, Orda’s vision is to assist small-scale African restaurants in optimizing their operations and achieving sustainable growth. Orda addresses difficulties small food businesses face, such as daily manual reconciliation, inventory management, and other administrative activities. The startup helps restaurants optimize operations, scale distribution, and understand customer behaviour with advanced business analytics. These goals are achieved through a variety of products, which include kitchen display systems, order and inventory management, integrations with top food aggregators, accounting software, microsites, mobile apps, etc., These services have been incredibly beneficial for many food industry owners in helping them manage and optimize their operations. Modupe Alimi, manager of Korede Spaghetti, commented on Orda’s intention to increase the restaurant’s operational effectiveness and said, Before, we couldn’t keep count of inventory and orders because we were not that organized. With Orda, we can now keep everything in an account. We know everything that goes out through [pick-up] orders and delivery. We don’t need to hire more employees than necessary and that has made us more profitable. This is an instant efficiency boost for restaurants with the Orda, and its services also give food business owners a roadmap that includes embedded payments and credit that creates a method to access the flow of cash even throughout a large food industry. Read Also: App review: Chow deck, Konga food, Gokada food, Bolt food Orda growth and plans for the African food business industry With over 600 restaurants as customers in Nigeria and Kenya, the startup claims to be processing over 500% more weekly orders for its clients and aims to reach 1,000 restaurants in the next three months. The company claims that its focus on assisting small and medium-sized restaurants in managing their operations more effectively is the cause of ...
Seedstars International Ventures has announced the launch of a platform called Seedstars Capital in partnership with Swiss-based investment holding company xMultiplied to help new fund managers around the world launch funds and develop their investment firms. Seedstars expects to drive over $500m of new funding into emerging and diverse managers, who will create more than 10,000 new jobs and generate over $20bn of additional GDP across emerging markets in the next 10 years. The platform partners with emerging and diverse managers with local expertise and unique strategies and provides the necessary resources to launch new funds and develop their investment firms. At the same time, it becomes the catalyst for investments in these early-stage firms by providing investors with a diversified allocation solution to the asset class within emerging markets. The Seedstars Group has provided different entrepreneurial programs to support various stakeholders, especially tech entrepreneurs, since its inception almost a decade ago. Last year, it launched Fund II with Patricia Sosrodjojo, which the IFC, the Rockefeller Foundation, Visa Foundation and Symbiotics, and other investors are now backing. Earlier this year, Seedstars set a goal of investing in 100 more startups with the launch of its second emerging market seed-stage fund, Seedstars International Ventures II (SIV). Read also: Zenith Bank partners Seedstars to launch nationwide pitch competition for Nigerian startups In the same vein, xMultiplied was founded to back entrepreneurs, family enterprises and ultra-high-net-worth individuals seeking to scale up their businesses. It accelerates the growth of entrepreneurs by bringing together capital, relationships and functional skills. In a statement seen by TechNext, Benjamin Langer, Partner of Seedstars Capital, said, “We believe the venture capital industry needs to be more open and inclusive, and we find highly talented managers across emerging markets.” “Unfortunately, most lack the scale and resources to attract institutional limited partners and depend on local funding to deploy their strategies and create the impact they long for. For limited partners,, the growing number of new managers makes it difficult to identify the best performing and most impactful strategies.” “By pooling their assets and bringing them under our community, we can accelerate the growth of rising managers while offering limited partners the visibility and investment vehicles they need to increase their allocation to the asset class.” Vivek Chandaria, Managing Partner at xMultiplied shares, “We partnered with Seedstars given our common vision of creating wealth with positive impact across emerging markets. Providing outstanding new and diverse managers the possibility to execute on their strategies will fuel economic growth while achieving market investment returns”. Read also: Nigerian startup, SafenowNG comes 2nd in Seedstars competition, wins $8,000 In an email to TechCrunch, Group co-founder and managing partner Michael Weber and Seedstars Capital partner Benjamin Langer reiterated that the company’s mission is to impact people’s lives in emerging markets through technology and entrepreneurship.” “We’ve seen so many talented entrepreneurs grow their companies very fast, to the standard of the U.S. or Europe, but unfortunately too many struggle to raise capital to grow even faster. To continue our mission to support them,” Seedstars is now supporting the next generation of VC fund managers in emerging markets that will then back those promising entrepreneurs.” The goal of Seedstars Capital The primary objective of the platform is to help startups in Asia, Africa, and South America with countries like Brazil, Nigeria, Indonesia and India. It is looking for funds that target pre-seed to Series A companies since that is where they see the most significant funding gaps and potential. The platform will help emerging VC managers solve challenges like acce...
Seedstars International Ventures has announced the launch of a platform called Seedstars Capital in partnership with Swiss-based investment holding company xMultiplied to help new fund managers around the world launch funds and develop their investment firms. Seedstars Capital partners with emerging and diverse managers with local expertise and unique strategies and provides the necessary resources to launch new funds and develop their investment firms. At the same time, it becomes the catalyst for investments in these early-stage firms by providing investors with a diversified allocation solution to the asset class within emerging markets. The Seedstars Group has provided different entrepreneurial programs to support various stakeholders, especially tech entrepreneurs, since its inception almost a decade ago. Last year, it launched Fund II with Patricia Sosrodjojo, which the IFC, the Rockefeller Foundation, Visa Foundation and Symbiotics, and other investors are now backing. Earlier this year, Seedstars set a goal of investing in 100 more startups with the launch of its second emerging market seed-stage fund, Seedstars International Ventures II (SIV). Read also: Zenith Bank partners Seedstars to launch nationwide pitch competition for Nigerian startups In the same vein, xMultiplied was founded to back entrepreneurs, family enterprises and ultra-high-net-worth individuals seeking to scale up their businesses. It accelerates the growth of entrepreneurs by bringing together capital, relationships and functional skills. In a statement seen by TechNext, Benjamin Langer, Partner of Seedstars Capital, said, “We believe the venture capital industry needs to be more open and inclusive, and we find highly talented managers across emerging markets.” “Unfortunately, most lack the scale and resources to attract institutional limited partners and depend on local funding to deploy their strategies and create the impact they long for. For limited partners,, the growing number of new managers makes it difficult to identify the best performing and most impactful strategies.” “By pooling their assets and bringing them under our community, we can accelerate the growth of rising managers while offering limited partners the visibility and investment vehicles they need to increase their allocation to the asset class.” Vivek Chandaria, Managing Partner at xMultiplied shares, “We partnered with Seedstars given our common vision of creating wealth with positive impact across emerging markets. Providing outstanding new and diverse managers the possibility to execute on their strategies will fuel economic growth while achieving market investment returns”. Read also: Nigerian startup, SafenowNG comes 2nd in Seedstars competition, wins $8,000 In an email to TechCrunch, Seedstars Group co-founder and Seedstars Capital managing partner Michael Weber and Seedstars Capital partner Benjamin Langer reiterated that the company’s mission is to impact people’s lives in emerging markets through technology and entrepreneurship.” “We’ve seen so many talented entrepreneurs grow their companies very fast, to the standard of the U.S. or Europe, but unfortunately too many struggle to raise capital to grow even faster. To continue our mission to support them,” Seedstars is now supporting the next generation of VC fund managers in emerging markets that will then back those promising entrepreneurs.” The goal of Seedstars Capital The primary objective of Seedstars Capital is to help startups in Asia, Africa, and South America with countries like Brazil, Nigeria, Indonesia and India. It is looking for funds that target pre-seed to Series A companies since that is where they see the most significant funding gaps and potential. Seedstars Capital will help emerging VC managers solve challenges like access to international funding, infrastructure, and the right community of people. These are critical components of building a brand that will allow managers to attract the best t...
The 2022 edition of the MTN mPulse Spelling Bee organised by the telecommunication provider MTN Nigeria has finally ended. This third edition had over 11,000 participants, with kids from ages 9 to 15 buying for the ultimate prize, but only 20 contestants qualified for the final round. 14-year-old Kate Ene David emerged as the competition’s winner after correctly spelling the word “acquiesce” in the finale. MTN mPulse Grand Finale!#MTNmPulseSpellingBee MTN Nigeria (@MTNNG) November 26, 2022 The 14-year-old girl who is a student of Intimacy With Christ International School, Mararaba, Nasarawa State, will become MTN Nigeria CEO for a day, assuming leadership of the telecommunication network. Speaking on Kate’s big win, Esther Akinnukawe, the Chief Human Resource Officer of MTN Nigeria, said, Congratulations to Kate for emerging the champion. I want to thank and commend every participant for showing up. Showing up is a winning quality, and I admire your courage in standing in front of the audience to represent yourself, your parent, and your school. We are thrilled to have such a large turnout, and we are more confident to carry on this educative initiative. Other winners included Agbo Divine Capable, from Intimacy with Christ International School, Nasawara State, who emerged as the first runner-up. Following him is the second runner-up Okechukwu Rejoice representing Glorious covenant school, Rivers State, and Daniel Ann, the third runner-up, who is a student of Glorious Covenant School Rivers State. The competition was held in a hybrid format – the first two rounds were on the mPulse website, while the grand finale, which was physical, took place in Lagos on November 19. MTN Nigeria promotes students’ academic excellence MTN Nigeria has long been a promoter of upscaling young minds. The MTN mPulse Spelling Bee Competition is one of the many initiatives. It is focused on promoting digital literacy, sharpening students’ comprehension, vocabulary, and academic excellence, and empowering the nation’s educational sector. Speaking about the platform and its benefits to society, Adia Sowho, the Chief Marketing Officer, explained that this initiative presented a platform for these young minds to develop and maximize their potential. She said, Promoting digital education is one way in which we can encourage people to embrace the digital space and enjoy the benefits and convenience that come with it. This is why MTN mPulse continues to engage with young people through the website, which has a vast variety of educational content, enabling them to learn, play and shine Kate Ene David, the winner, was awarded a N2.5 million scholarship grant, a laptop, a smartphone, and an MTN goody bag in addition to being the company’s CEO for a day. Other finalists were rewarded with prizes valued at over N5.7 million and consolidation packages. MTN will also award a N350,000 grant and state-of-the-art ICT devices to the English teachers and the school of the winner. Read Also: MTN continues 5G dominance in Africa with Zambia launch
Any brand serious about expansion, particularly in high-growth markets such as Nigeria, cannot afford to ignore Spotify If I were to pick up your phone right now, there’s a very good chance that I’d find Spotify among your apps. It is, after all, one of the world’s most popular streaming service, with 433 million users (188 million of whom are paid subscribers) in 183 countries. Since its launch in 2008, it’s transformed the way the world listens to music and helped launch the careers of artists around the world. And if you use Spotify, you’re probably also aware that it’s expanded from just music streaming into podcasting, with some 4 million podcast titles joining its library of 82 million songs. But did you know it’s also a powerful advertising platform with a growing focus on the African continent? Any brand serious about expansion, particularly in high-growth markets such as Nigeria, cannot afford to ignore it. The pros of radio, plus more To understand what makes Spotify such an appealing platform for advertisers, it’s worth first reminding ourselves of the strengths offered by traditional radio. For example, radio ads are more cost-effective than other forms. You can also get away with increased frequency, meaning your message is more likely to stick. Spotify offers all the benefits of radio advertising plus more. With growing numbers of people listening to digital audio streaming daily, you’re guaranteed an active and engaged audience. At the same time, you’re also reaching them while they listen to what they love. And because Spotify’s targeting options are so advanced, your brand can reach specific people based on age, gender, music genre, and playlist. Unlike radio, Spotify guarantees 100% completed listens in its reporting. It can also provide metrics around which type of audience engaged with your ad and a companion banner which allows users to click through to a webpage. The streaming service is an innovator in the advertising space too. Its 3D audio feature, for instance, allows brands to provide premium quality advertising through an immersive, dynamic, and sensory audio experience. As a result, listeners don’t just hear an ad; they feel it. But Spotify offers more than just audio ads. It also allows brands to reinforce their messages with high-impact display and video ad formats. Spotify video ads are the best performing in the industry, as they had to be built for viewability. The ads are 100% viewable and 100% audible, and Spotify only charges for 100% completion. Read more: Burna Boy retains #1 spot as Asake maintains upward trajectory on the top Nigerian music chart on Spotify Spotify: Making an impact in Africa It’s also worth pointing out that Spotify is seeing significant levels of growth across Africa. While the streaming service has been available in South Africa since 2018, its real expansion into Africa only came in early 2021, when it launched in an additional 40 countries. But just a year after launching in Nigeria, the number of artists streamed per user had grown by 60%, and Nigerian music fans had created 1.3 million user-generated playlists. Additionally, nearly 21 000 songs had been added to the platform, placing Nigeria as the country with the second most streams after Pakistan in the new markets, with Kenya third in the ranking. That growth isn’t likely to slow down anytime soon, either. According to Statista, music streaming revenues in Nigeria are expected to show an annual growth rate of 12.61% between 2022 and 2027. It’s also worth noting that penetration in the overall streaming market currently sits at just 4.1%. With an additional 35 million Nigerians set to come online by 2026 (all of whom will be hungry for the consumer experiences that come with affordable and ubiquitous access), Spotify looks primed for significant growth. That comes with obvious growth benefits for advertisers, especially when you factor that 39.6% of music streaming users are in the medium-income group. As N...
Gift cards are one of the essential things many young Nigerians are interested in, so several platforms are available to facilitate buying and selling these gift cards. Buying and selling these gift cards have been made easier as people can buy online using websites or mobile apps. Although there are many trading platforms, few are legit and secure. Not only that, you should choose a good trading platform that meets all your requirements regarding top gift cards to sell and the rates available to make a profit. In this article, we’ll look at the best place to sell your top gift cards in Nigeria. This will help you evade crypto scammers who have robbed people of their hard-earned money. Where to Sell Top Gift Cards in Nigeria Without further ado, the best site to sell gift cards in Nigeria is Prestmit. It’s a user-centric platform designed for people to trade, buy and sell gift cards and top crypto assets like Bitcoin, USDT, Litecoin, and Dogecoin. Prestmit is available in Nigeria and Ghana, making it one of the top digital exchange platforms in Africa. On this platform, you’ll get the best value return for your gift card assets. There are numerous users of this platform because it is built for the love of its users. Gift card rates are automatically updated to stay correct according to market rates. With this, users can have an amazing experience while using the platform. Users can trade their gift card assets on Prestmit’s website or through its mobile app, which is designed to make its users home to it. Why Choose Prestmit to Sell Top Gift Cards in Nigeria As stated earlier, there are numerous platforms for selling gift cards in Nigeria. For you to have an awesome experience rather than a bitter experience, you need to choose a platform that is reputable and has a proven record. Here are some reasons Prestmit is the place to sell your top gift cards. 1. Always Available Prestmit is always available 24/7 for its users to have a wonderful trading experience. You’ll always have customer support to answer any of your questions. While some other platforms can go offline after transacting business with you, Prestmit is always available at your service. 2. Built with Love The platform is designed for users to make a profit. For this reason, gift card rates are updated to market rates because the aim is not to make a profit but for users to enjoy this. The user interface can be easily related to. This has made it get good ratings from its users. 3. Multiple Payment Options Prestmit provides multiple payment options for its users-convenience is one of the priorities of the digital platform. You can sell gift cards to receive payment in the Nigerian Naira (NGN), Ghanaian cedis, Bitcoin (BTC), or Tether (USDT). 4. Instant Payment This is crucial for your gift card trading, especially if you belong to the ‘Gen Zs’ who want everything as soon as possible. Transactions on Prestmit only take minutes, and payments are instant once requested. This has made the platform a choice for many gift card traders, who have not regretted it. 5. Easy to Use The platform is easy to use, whether for a beginner or a veteran trader using it for the first time. The website and mobile app are easy to navigate for traders. Selling your gift card assets is straightforward. Even if you need more clarity, the support team is always available to help you. 6. It is Safe Security is very important if you want an awesome trading experience rather than the opposite. Prestmit is equipped with modern security tools to help secure your account always. 2FA authentication and a centralized security architecture secure all components and layers within the platform. How to Get Started with Prestmit To begin an awesome trading experience, you’ll need to download Prestmit on Android and iOS for iPhone users. Once you’ve done this, you can create and register your account. When this is done (in a matter of minutes), you are closer to the platform and can carry out your tran...
The securities and exchange commission (SEC) has disclosed that it will not consider promoting cryptocurrencies as it pushes for adopting digital assets across the country. The cryptocurrency ecosystem recorded a greater increase in investments by Nigerians this year despite the market’s overwhelming meltdown. Since 2009, the rate at which Nigerians have jumped into the cryptocurrency market has increased significantly. Technext had earlier reported the increase in cryptocurrency holders in the country during the year and how Nigeria ranks as one of the top countries with residents most highly and keenly interested in the happenings of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Read more: Cryptocurrency holders in Nigeria increase despite the crypto winter of 2022 Despite the huge interest from Nigerians, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Nigeria has no intention to involve crypto in its digital asset pursuit. That is, at least until regulators reach a consensus on the standards that protect investors from the market’s jaw-dropping volatility. The SEC’s general director, Lamido Yuguda, disclosed this to reporters in Lagos during the weekend. He said the SEC will promote investment in “sensible digital assets,” with investment protection and explore blockchain technology to advance virtual and traditional investment products. Read Also: What Russian lawmakers’ decision to launch crypto exchange could mean for the market Nigeria SEC’s long-time involvement with cryptocurrencies In February 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria banned cryptocurrency transactions with the country. Banks and other financial institutions are restricted from engaging in cryptocurrencies in Nigeria. CBN did not term cryptocurrency as illegal; rather it termed it as unregulated— no particular regulatory framework led to the infringement on trading cryptocurrency within Nigeria. According to CBN’s official statement on January 2017 concerning digital currency or cryptocurrency transactions in Nigeria, they are majorly anonymous and undetectable— which makes them susceptible to fraud and other financial crimes. Nigeria Securities and Exchange Commission- the major regulatory body for the Nigerian capital market— released a statement concerning virtual assets, and their control with core attention to the cryptocurrency regulatory framework in Nigeria. The Commission mentioned that it would control innovation in the cryptocurrency sector in three ways: safety, market deepening, and providing solutions to issues that will lead to its regulations, strategy and interactions with innovators seeking legitimacy and relevance in this growing industry. As a reaction, the commission released regulatory guidelines for virtual currencies and crypto-based firms or startups, hinting that they will regulate crypto-token or crypto-coin investments where the nature of the investments fits as securities transactions. Read Also: Elon Musk takes fresh dig at SBF amid FTX saga The Commission’s statement emphasized that the regulations’ goal is not to impede technology or innovation but to establish norms that encourage ethical behaviour. In a previous statement, the SEC warned stakeholders and the investing public against dealing with fraudulent, unregistered investment schemes and capital market operators, particularly those making bogus investments and unjustifiable return claims, and advised the public to tread carefully to avoid being swindled. Established in 1979, Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission is the major regulatory institution of the Nigerian capital market. The Federal Ministry of Finance supervises it. It seeks to regulate the market and protect stakeholders from losses. Why Nigeria’s SEC is avoiding cryptocurrencies in its digital assets pursuit The SEC is avoiding cryptocurrency because the exchanges do not have access to the banking platform needed to pursue their trades in Nigeria, Director-General Lamido Yuguda informed Bloomberg News report. The ...
One of the most popular sayings in the crypto space – ‘not your keys, not your coins’ – has become prevalent due to issues surrounding the collapse of FTX. What this saying is reemphasising is the need for a self-custody wallet rather than storing digital assets on centralised exchanges. What the implosion of FTX and the subsequent drama has shown us is that no matter how big a centralised exchange is, you’re still never in full control of your funds. Given this, it is time to start looking at self-custody wallets to store digital assets. What is a self-custody wallet? Self-custody wallets (non-custodial wallets) are designed to give users full control over their private keys. Note that with custodial wallets, private keys are held by a third party – a crypto exchange or a wallet provider, which means users don’t control their crypto assets. Instead, users have to trust that the third-party custodian will secure their crypto for them. Read also: 3 sports tokens that could get a major price boost during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Custodial wallets have caused significant crypto losses in the past due to mismanagement and/or negligence of exchanges concerning securing users’ funds. FTX saga and the more recent AAX are fresh. However, self-custody wallets provide you with direct access to public blockchains and full ownership of your assets as long you have access to your private keys. There is no dearth of self-custody wallets to use in the crypto industry, but we have come up with a list of the top three to secure your crypto assets. Metamask Metamask was launched in 2016 by ConsenSys. It is one of the most popular self-custody wallets because it was one of the only available options during the massive DeFi boom back in the summer of 2020, which later came to be known as the DeFi summer. Over the past year, one of the main benefits of the MetaMask wallet is the integration with the popular NFT marketplace OpenSea. MetaMask allows users to create ERC-20-based wallet tokens, but it can also be integrated to function on other EVM networks such as the BNB Chain, Polygon, Optimism, and Arbitrum. Additionally, the crypto wallet can be added as a browser extension that allows users to interact with decentralized apps (dApps) built on Ethereum and other EVM-compatible networks. MetaMask takes no custody of your seed phrase and private keys, providing you with complete control over your assets. Trust Wallet Trust Wallet is an open-source and decentralised crypto wallet owned by Binance. The application offers users various options to buy, sell, and store digital assets. Trust Wallet currently provides support for over 35 blockchains and more than 160 different digital assets. The wallet has in-house buy, swap, and exchange features that allow users to trade one crypto asset for another easily or buy crypto with fiat. Users can also interact with dApps on Ethereum and 14 other EVM-compatible ecosystems without compromising security and privacy. The wallet is available on iOS, Android, and desktop devices. It is one of the best self-custody wallets out there. Related post: 3 Metaverse games that can earn you crypto rewards this month Exodus Wallet Exodus is a simple, beginner-friendly wallet that supports more than 180 different cryptocurrencies. It also supports swaps between more than 150 different cryptocurrencies. It enables users to keep all their crypto in one place while plugging into multiple different exchanges. Exodus allows you to set custom fees to keep expenses low, as well as automatically set a fee to ensure the transaction is completed quickly. Exodus also works with the Trezor hardware wallet. Lastly With all their advantages, the only downside to self-custody wallets is that losing the private key/seed phrase means you lose all access to your assets. So, it is very important to keep your private key in a safe folder/file.
The goal, it says, is to gradually roll out the 5G network to other areas while achieving 100% 5G coverage in Lusaka, Kitwe, and Ndola by the middle of 2023. MTN has launched its 5G network in Zambia, becoming the first mobile operator to offer 5G services commercially in the country. The telecommunications giants continue to provide 5G services across Africa following successful launches in South Africa and Nigeria, The leading mobile services provider in Zambia launched its fifth-generation mobile network after completing the 11-month-long trial of the revolutionary technology, enabling consumers to have fast-paced and indestructible internet speed. According to Bart Hofker, the CEO of MTN Zambia, the services cover approximately 65% of the population in Lusaka, Kitwe, and Ndola, as well as parts of Chingola, Solwezi, and Kalumbila. MTN’s 5G services, which follow 5G trials over the past 11 months, have been activated to cover about 65% of the population in the cities of Lusaka, Kitwe and Ndola as well as parts of Chingola, Solwezi and Kalumbila – about 15% of the whole country’s population. The goal, it says, is to gradually roll out the 5G network to other areas while achieving 100% 5G coverage in Lusaka, Kitwe, and Ndola by the middle of 2023. MTN CEO Ralph Mupita commenting on the launch in a relatively new market like Zambia, said that, “we see great opportunities across various sectors, and in the mining industry in particular”—possibly as a nod to private network rollouts. He also mentioned that MTN Zambia was the group’s third operation in Africa to roll out commercial 5G services – after previous launches in South Africa in June 2020 and Nigeria in September 2022. “5G can transform business and livelihoods beyond simple connectivity, with the potential to unlock many new use cases. In Zambia, we see great opportunities across many sectors, and in the mining industry in particular,” he said. President Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia thanked MTN and Huawei for making Zambia’s first-ever 5G network possible during a formal ceremony to mark the milestone. More on the Zambia 5G launch MTN began operations in Zambia in 2005 after acquiring Telecel and now offers communications services in all ten provinces, including 4G, 3G, and 2G networks. In January, the telecoms giant became the first telco in the country to launch a 5G network pilot that promised significantly improved technology with faster connectivity speed, ultra-low latency and greater bandwidth. The pilot launch was announced in a partnership with Chinese ICT giant Huawei to roll out 5G pilot demonstration sites in Lusaka and Copperbelt Provinces. According to the Zambian government, the launch put Zambia among the first ten countries in Africa to pilot 5G technology. MTN Zambia describes the rollout of 5G as a component of a larger network strategy that also includes the modernization and optimization of current 3G and 4G networks, the construction of a fibre ring in Zambia with MTN GlobalConnect, and expanding coverage to more remote locations. This launch represents a significant market coup for the second-biggest mobile operator in Zambia, with around 7.1 million mobile subscribers against Airtel Zambia’s total of nearly 7.9 million subscribers, according to market research firm Omdia. MTN Zambia may not be the country’s sole 5G player for long, however. In October Airtel Zambia purchased 60MHz of additional spectrum spread across the 800MHz and 2600MHz bands for around US$29 million. It plans to use the spectrum for expanding its mobile and fixed services, which will include a 5G rollout. Read also: “5G is 10 times faster than what we have” | Experts discuss 5G launch on Twitter Spaces 5G expansion across Africa In Africa, 4G is still growing, and 5G is on the operators’ radar. A small number of nations have now followed South Africa, which was the first in the area to introduce 5G service, including Nigeria, Ethiopia, Zambia, the Seychelles, Zimbabwe, Bot...
Brian Dennis is a familiar name in the Nigerian Twitter space. But away from the ‘Twitter Influencer’ lifestyle, he’s transitioning to being an important figure in the African blockchain space. In a chat with Technext, the Head of Bitmama narrates his journey into the world of crypto and shares his thoughts on the state of the technology on the continent. According to Brian Dennis, his journey into the blockchain world started with a need for utility. He was trying to help a friend abroad send money to his mum urgently in late 2018. “So we were exploring how we could send the money so he said one of his colleagues suggested bitcoin. I’m like okay I’ve been hearing about it but I didn’t know the possibilities and how it worked. I said okay give me a moment, I acted like I knew what he was talking about. I did my research and in thirty minutes I was back and said yeah it could work. In less than one hour I created a wallet address, he sent me bitcoin and I sold it and sent the fiat to his mother and the whole process took like 15 minutes. Me receiving the bitcoin and from me selling it and his mom receiving the money. I was like wow and that opened my eyes into the blockchain.” Subsequently, Brian Dennis understood that bitcoin is just one part of the blockchain. He dived deeper, started teaching people and built a large community. To him, the interesting thing about the blockchain is that it is borderless and permissionless. “When my friend wanted to send money via moneygram or Western Union, it would have taken me quite a number of days to achieve that and he did that by sending me bitcoin without any middleman.” Read also: Lucky Uwakwe of Sabi Groups speaks on FTX crash Brian Dennis says transitioning from a popular Twitter figure to the blockchain world was pretty easy for him because it’s an industry he particularly enjoys talking about. “There were very few voices at the beginning but now it seems many people are talking about it. It’s an industry I particularly enjoy talking about . If you ask me about crypto if I wake up from sleep I’m readily available to answer. It felt natural that yeah I talk about it a lot, so I found a new niche. That’s how it looked.” Brian Dennis on Bitmama and Centralised Exchanges As the Head of Bitmama, one of the leading native crypto exchanges in Africa, Brian Dennis says the crypto firm isn’t looking to be like every other. The company’s focus is to solve real-life problems like payments of utility bills with crypto cards. “We want to bridge that payment gap between crypto and the regular things you pay for. In essence, we can be referred to as a crypto bank because we’re providing services that banks would normally provide. We are all about solving real problems with the blockchain.” He further emphasizes the need for centralised exchanges, especially when users’ funds’ safety is important. “The reason why companies like us exist is to provide an alternative. Keep your funds with us. We are responsible and take care of your funds. Centralised exchanges exist and will continue to exist. What CExs have to do is to build trust and we are going to come out of it. In the future there might not be a need for centralised exchanges but for now we need them 100 percent.” – Brian Dennis. As the founder and CEO of Bitmama, Ruth Isalema, stated last week, Brian Dennis reiterates that Bitmama has no funds stuck on FTX. It has no affiliations with the imploded crypto firm or any companies they are aligned. Blockchain in Africa, regulation and the future Africa is one of the regions playing a significant role in the blockchain space, and there are projections that it will improve. But for full adoption to be reached, Brian Dennis opines that blockchain must be presented to Africans differently. “I think that we are ready. The most important thing is how we present the blockchain. If we’re presenting blockchain to Africa as crypto, we are going to miss it, honestly. We need to present it as a technolog...
Ayoola Adeola discusses her personal and social life, attempt at having fun, inspiration behind Famasi Africa... Adeola Ayoola is a young Nigerian woman who aims to contribute her quota to improving the quality of life of individuals around her, by simplifying medications for people with recurrent needs. The Pharmacy graduate from the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University is the CEO and co-founder of Famasi Africa, a digital health platform that helps people access medications, get doorstep delivery, automate monthly refills, enjoy free follow-ups & connect with Healthcare Providers. Her problem-solving intuition and career trajectory is a result of self-belief, sheer determination, an articulate plan for success and a drive towards solving underlying sectoral issues in Africa. Born and raised in Abeokuta in Southwestern Nigeria as the first daughter in a family of six, the desire to care for others was imbibed in her from a young age. Adeola Ayoola continues to make a positive impact on society after picking inspiration to pursue Pharmacy from a community pharmacist she observed while growing up. Other than the undergraduate degree in Pharmacy, Adeola Ayoola has added more feathers to her cap. She holds a degree in Leadership and Management in Health from the University of Washington, and a certificate in Gender, Sexual, and Reproductive Health from USAID. The 29 year old Pharmacist explains her work at the National Hospital, Abuja has played a huge role in the solutions the HealthTech startup is currently offering In this instalment of Founders’ Spotlight, Ayoola Adeola discusses the inspiration behind Famasi Africa, her experience as a health worker in Nigeria, her personal and social life, and more. Read also: Michael Ajayi discusses growing up in Lagos, racism in tech, and solving African problems Why Pharmacy Many Nigerians were put on their career paths by their parents, the University system, or other circumstances that arise when seeking admission. Adeola Ayoola does not fall into this category, as she was determined to be a pharmacist because of her admiration for the profession from a young age. She had always considered pharmacists as respected and reputable people in society. “I wanted to study pharmacy in the University, so it’s not one of those stories of someone wanting to study medicine and was given pharmacy.” “Growing up I saw a particular pharmacist in my area who was respectable and had a chain of pharmacies, so I admired her.” Adeola Ayoola University education from Nigerian federal institutions such as Obafemi Awolowo University can be unstable. There are industrial actions, protests, and other circumstances that lead to pauses in the academic calendar. These events and gaps might sometimes affect an individual’s mental health. However, Adeola Ayoola explained that she did not let these events deter her and her dreams, and she pulled through and was intentional about working for pharmaceutical companies. “It was a glamorous life I wanted, but on graduating I thought I wanted to own a chain of retail pharmacies too because I had been working in some pharmacies and was happy with the testimonies I received from persons I prescribed drugs to.” “Also, my experience at the National hospital was where all of these started.” What was your experience at the National Hospital like In 2017, Adeola Ayoola worked as a counsellor at the National Hospital, Abuja. The medical institution is widely regarded as one of the best in the country, and several severe medical cases are referred to due to its capacity and modernized infrastructure. The facility consistently received many patients needing urgent medical attention and, most times needing a refill of their medications, especially those with terminal and chronic conditions like HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and hypertension. “There is only one National Hospital in Nigeria, which means all the cases that many of the other regional and federal hospitals would typically reje...
Musical powerhouses Teni, Santi, and Ayra Starr, took to the stage with immersive and interactive performances aimed at inspiring Nigerian creators to ‘flex’ in the Metaverse... Meta brought together music, fashion, art, and comedy content creators to “FlexNaija”, a first-of-its-kind mixed reality event showcasing creativity and imagination as keys to the Metaverse, the next evolution of the internet yesterday in Lagos. Guests were invited to step into a multi-sensory experience with zones dedicated to key Metaverse entry points, including — Meta Spark Augmented Reality (AR), Digital Collectibles (NFTs), and Avatars. Musical powerhouses Teni, Santi, and Ayra Starr, took to the stage with immersive and interactive performances aimed at inspiring Nigerian creators to ‘flex’ in the Metaverse and explore new ways to connect with their communities. Last night, Nigeria was the stage and the world its audience. Ineke Paulsen, Meta’s Director of EMEA Marketing, commented: “The creator community here in Nigeria and across Africa is exciting to witness. These creators are pushing boundaries and truly having a global impact. We know that creator communities will help to make the metaverse more inclusive and inspiring, with technologies providing limitless opportunities. Ineke Paulsen, Meta’s Director of EMEA Marketing “Flex Naija” is a celebration of how communities can push the boundaries of creativity and social connection physically and online. This campaign reinforces Meta’s commitment to supporting African innovators and creators in new ways to express themselves. We’re excited to continue this journey in showcasing the power of collaboration in the metaverse.” More photos from #FlexNaija mixed reality event Read also: Meta collaborates with Nigeria’s top creators to flex in the Metaverse
Since Wednesday morning, Nigeria’s social media space has been awash with a flurry of comments in reaction to the unveiling of the redesigned Naira notes by President Muhammadu Buhari. Launched were the redesigned versions of the nation’s highest currency denominations — N1000, N500, and N200. But, Nigerians took the news with a healthy dose of criticism. The seemingly boring look of the new designs instantly became the butt of many Twitter jokes, with some tweeps even suggesting that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) probably used a Snapchat filter on the old currency notes. If it’s Naira colour,the CBN should have just engage Snapchat. Senator Shehu Sani (@ShehuSani) November 23, 2022 Why redesign the naira? In the last 15 years, Nigeria has altered its currency four times, the latest being in 2014 when the 100 Naira commemorative banknote was issued to mark Nigeria’s centenary celebration. On October 26, CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele announced the plan to redesign naira notes, explaining that the decision was in response to persisting concerns with managing the current series of banknotes and currency in circulation. According to him, available data at the CBN as of the end of September this year indicate that N2.73 trillion out of the N3.23 trillion currency in circulation was outside the vaults of commercial banks across the country and supposedly held by the public. The Naira redesign, Emefiele added, will help control the money supply and aid security agencies in tackling illicit financial flows. Chief of the reasons for the move is counterfeiting, which the CBN governor said would be tackled with the security features of the redesigned notes. “What you could only find will be people making photocopies of these notes. If you follow due process to check the authenticity of a currency and take them through the UV (ultraviolet) light, you will find that this currency cannot be counterfeited. The best you will find is photocopies,” he submitted. Experts believe the redesign is a step in the right direction, especially as Nigeria grapples with currency risk. The Naira, for one, continues to lose its value against the dollar in the exchange market. Meanwhile, the apex bank is expected to roll out the new notes in December, as the old notes will lose their legal tender status by January 31, 2023. Read also: More Nigerians are going cashless: E-payment transactions rise to ₦32.8trn in September 2022- NIBSS. eNaira as a necessity The notion of money and the monetary system has evolved over the years thanks to the advent of technology. And undoubtedly, the world appears to be gradually embracing digital currencies as means of payment. To bring it home, according to a report by cryptocurrency exchange Kucoin, approximately 33.4 million Nigerians, or 35% of the country’s adult population aged between 18 and 60, owned or traded cryptocurrencies to hedge against the perpetually depreciating currency. Last year, Nigeria ranked sixth in the 2021 Global Crypto Adoption Index published by blockchain analytics organization Chainalysis. This, of course, raises serious questions about the need for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). According to Chainalysis, CBDCs are similar to and distinct from existing cryptocurrencies. In the words of Fabio Panetta, a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, “in a digital world, CBDCs are necessary to preserve the role of central bank money as a stabilising force at the heart of the payments system and to safeguard monetary sovereignty.” On October 25, 2021, the CBN launched the eNaira, making Nigeria the first African country to launch a CBDC and one of the five countries in the world to adopt the technology. Interestingly, the launch came seven months after cryptocurrency transactions were banned in Nigeria. The catch here, however, is that the eNaira is the digital equivalent of the naira and can be used in the same way as fiat cash. In addition to cash and reserve balances,...
18 universities, 6 polytechnics and Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), drawn evenly from the six geopolitical zones will benefit from the project... More than 22 institutions in the country, comprising 18 universities, and six polytechnics, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), drawn evenly from the six geopolitical zones in the country, have benefited from a Federal Government’s broadband infrastructure projects designed to accelerate the Nigeria Digital Economy efforts.
DIgitalNigeria
The Chairman of Occassion and Leader of the Digital Economy Sector, @ProfIsaPantami has arrived for the official launch of the Federal Government's Provision of Broadband Infrastructure For MSMEs & Tertiary Institutions across the County. Fed Ministry of Communications & Digital Economy (@FMoCDENigeria) November 24, 2022 The projects driven by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) were unveiled at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, in a glamourous event presided over by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami. Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami said the projects underscore the importance of broadband connectivity and access as central to the accomplishment of the targets of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) 2020-2030 for a digital Nigeria and that the project is in line with the mandates of President Muhammadu Buhari on job creation and economic diversification. Pantami, who was joined by the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Mohammed Bello, at the event, disclosed that the key infrastructure that the projects provide comprises broadband infrastructure for tertiary institutions of learning; broadband infrastructure for MSME; distribution of 6,000 e-pad tablets, in addition to the provision of broadband connectivity to 20 markets as a pilot. Read more: NCC Announces Publication of Final Information Memorandum on 3.5GHz Spectrum Auction He said the interest in supporting the MSMEs is justified by their current contribution of more than half of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) before the COVID-19 outbreak, and now constitute 96.7 per cent of entire businesses in the country. Therefore, “any effort to develop our economy without bringing such an important sector into the equation will amount to efforts in futility.” At the event, which had in attendance the Chairman of the Board of the NCC, Prof. Adeolu Akande; the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta; the Executive Secretary National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abubakar Rasheed; and the Executive Secretary, National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof Idris Bugaje, a book authored by Pantami, titled “Skills Rather Than Just Degrees” with a foreword written by Brad Smith, President of Microsoft Corporation, was unveiled for the industry. Pantami said the book is his intellectual contribution to bridging the skills gap to enable Nigerians to tap into the opportunities in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and other sectors of the economy. Read also: NCC says it will auction 2 additional 5G licenses by December 2022 Three different Vice Chancellors reviewed the book – Prof. Muhammad Abdulazeez of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi; Prof Owuanari Georgewill of the University of Port Harcourt; and Prof. Sagir Adamu Abbas of Bayero University Kano, who commended the efforts of the Minister in putting his thoughts and experience to paper. They recommended the book, which they commended highly. In their comments, NCC’s Akande and Danbatta corroborated that the project will fast-track and enhance the ongoing efforts of the NCC to deepen connectivity towards achieving the targeted broadband penetration of 70 per cent by 2025. NCC’s Chairman, Prof. Akande, assured of the commitment of the Commission in completing the projects, which will add the necessary fillip to achieving the objectives spelt out in the NDEPS, 2020-2030. The EVC of NCC, Prof. Da...
Hi there. Another weekend in November has come and gone. This has got to be one of the longest months this year, but what can I say? The holidays are almost here, which is what we are all looking forward to. Moving on, many people have found this week to be quite exciting and full of surprises, especially in light of the 2023 World Cup matches that have taken over social media in recent days. However, there has been a lot going on in the social space that you could have missed, including the death of the veteran gospel musician Sammie Okposo. In this post, we have compiled some of the most popular social media trends for this week. Sit back and relax. RIP Sammie Okposo, the music legend November has to be of the most depressing months in the music industry. It began with the passing of American rapper Takeoff and Davido’s son Ifeanyi, and now the tragic death of Sammie Okposo has darkened this weekend. Sammie Okposo, the 51-year-old gospel artist was said to have passed away this morning after he slumped in his house, according to reports. If you don’t know Sammie Okposo, you may be familiar with some of his hit songs like Sing Halleluyah and Wellu Wellu. The musician had been on the trend map earlier this year following a cheating controversy. Despite his public apology, Sammie Okposo decided to take a break from his ministry to reconnect with God. The seasoned gospel musician narrowly avoided death in a horrifying car accident he encountered while driving in May of this year, but it seems death is truly inevitable. Sammie Okposo's passing is shocking though. He was only fifty-one years old. A very talented gospel singer in his time. Hope his family finds comfort following this loss. Why is that the life expectancy of men is generally low in this age? It is a bit scary. Sir David Onyemaizu🦍 (@SirDavidBent) November 25, 2022 Following the announcement of the death of Sammie Okposo today, many fans have taken to social media to express their grievances. Some fans, however, have criticized the outpouring of condolences, especially from celebrities, as being “fake love,” pointing out that the musician suffered constant criticism for his infidelity while still alive from these individuals, and now that he is dead, everyone seems to be loving him. Many of you who trolled and abused Sammie Okposo are now the first set of mourners typing : “RIP Okposo”. It’s an odd world. Fake love everywhere! Shina Oludare (@sportingshina) November 25, 2022 To be honest, it is a sad day for the Nigerian gospel music industry, especially for many Nigerians who grew up listening to the legend’s music. Rest in Peace, Sammie Okposo. History made in the 2023 World Cup match History has been made in the 2023 World Cup, which kicked off earlier this week. The best thing about this World Cup, like every World Cup, is that it reminds you of that popular line; This is Football, and anything can happen Each group has provided us with some incredibly fascinating moments that will go down in history, and these games have sparked a lot of conversation on social media. Ecuador put a damper on the party in Qatar when they defeated the hosts in the opening match. Qatar became the first country to lose the opening match as host and is now sure to exit the tournament in the first round after losing to Senegal. Asian teams this Worldcup Japan 2-1 GermanyIran 2-0 WalesSouth Korea 0-0 UruguaySaudi Arabia 2-1 Argentina Whoever underestimated Asian teams needs to come out and apologise A (@IconicCristiano) November 25, 2022 While Qatar has been unimpressive on the pitch, some of the other Asian teams have been a revelation The unexpected occurred in the Group C encounter between Argentina and Saudi Arabia, when the GOAT could not prevent defeat at the ends of the Arabians. Los Albiceleste got the opener through a Lionel Messi penalty before two quick second-half goals put Harve Renard’s Saudi team in front. Many people had predicted that Argentina could win the tournam...
Further to our letter dated 11th August 2022 in which we informed you of the progress made in the investigations into allegations of money laundering and card fraud conducted by this department. Please note that investigations are now finalised. I would like to confirm that the allegations of money laundering and card fraud made against Korapay Technologies Limited and Kandon Technology Limited were not established. Please treat this communication to be final. The Nigerian tech company, Kandon Technologies, has been cleared of money laundering and card fraud allegations laid against it by Kenyan anti-money laundering agency Asset Recovery Agency (ARA), earlier in July, according to documents seen by Technext. Background The ARA linked Kandon Technologies (founded by Ayowole Ayodele in 2019 and backed by Techstars) to seven other Nigerian companies: Flutterwave Ltd, Elivalat Fintech Ltd, Hupesi Solutions, Adguru Technology Limited, Boxtrip Travels and Tours, Bagtrip Travels Ltd, Cruz Ride Auto Ltd; and a Kenyan businessman, Simon Karanj. The court then froze funds worth $126,841 (Sh15 million) and $249,565 (Sh29.5 million). found in Kandon’s two UBA accounts ARA, in its suit against the two companies, argued that they are part of an international ring of fraudsters using Kenyan banks as conduits of illicit money whose source cannot be established. In the case against Kandon Technologies Ltd, ARA claimed that the company siphoned Sh5.5 billion, which was transacted through their bank account at UBA in seven months between October 2021 and April 2022. “Our investigations revealed that their account had transacted Sh5.5 billion in seven months and by the time we got intelligence information that they were engaged in money laundering, they had transferred the funds to other jurisdictions with only Sh15 million remaining,” said ARA. ARA claimed to have established that the Nigerian firms are shell companies incorporated in Kenya to take advantage of the liberal financial system to launder funds whose sources are not legitimate. Kandon denied the allegations of financial impropriety and argued that the company was compliant with Kenyan laws, and expressed plans to head to court. Every transaction we did in Kenya was fully compliant, we’re working directly with the banks who have carried out KYC on us and are aware of the nature of our transactions and our beneficiaries. A Kandon representative said. “We have always maintained that we have done nothing wrong. As a liquidity management startup offering treasury solutions, and alternative trading we always facilitate transactions for many of our partners doing legitimate business through licensed commercial banks in Kenya. We have records of these transactions, which are available and can be verified,” CEO of Kandon Technologies Ayodele Ayowole said. ARA clears Kandon We are delighted that all the authorities have cleared us, and I’m grateful to them for being fair and thorough during the investigations. It’s back to business for us to continue serving our partners and their needs. Ayodele Ayowole, CEO, Founder, Kandon In a letter seen by Technext, dated October 11, 2022, the Director of Criminal Investigations at the National Police Service, Nairobi, Kenya, Mike Muia, said allegations of money laundering against Kandon – and Korapay – could not be established. In a High Court order dated November 11, 2022, the preservation order shielding Kandon from assessing its frozen accounts was regarded as spent, and “this file is hereby closed.” Justice Esther Maina had issued the orders in two separate suits filed by the ARA against Kandon Technologies Limited over claims that fraudsters are using them as conduits of international money laundering. In its letter to UBA, ARA said it did not want to continue the matter, so Kandon Technologies accounts’ can be unfrozen. “The Agency has completed its investigations,” the letter, dated October 27, reads.
“My name is Ronald Dosunmu, I am a 17-year-old Full Stack Software Engineer, and that is a little bit about me,” is how he starts, but the teenager’s story is rich enough to inspire the next generation, especially because he wrote his first line of code when he was only ten. He was in JSS1 (Nigeria’s Junior Secondary Level), but it was a holiday, and he “didn’t want to be idle,” even when his mates were having a swell time playing games and hanging out. I tried many things and stumbled upon Python. It was the first programming language I learned and I liked it. It was very interesting to see that you write a few lines of code and the computer does something. Ronald Dosunmu When he got into SS2, after he had become more consistent with learning codes, and was part of a programming club. COVID-19 came and made his learning process even better. He got a scholarship/mentorship to study Data Science. “The mentorship program stacked my knowledge in Data Science and Machine Learning, and I got really good at it. But, after then was when I decided that was not what I wanted to do,” Ronald said. So, he started Web Development. “I started with Javascript, then I learned CSS, then React. In fact, I worked around a lot of things.” Read also: How teenage Full-Stack Developer, Hanif Adedotun, wants to solve problems using Machine Learning Interestingly, when he started building things, he had to move from taking free courses to paying for advanced courses, and at that point, he had to “ask my mum for financial support.” He says the kind of support he received has been instrumental to his support. Don’t you wish all African parents would see that helping children build careers in chosen tech fields will make Africa’s future better than imagined? Fortunately, we have the Dosunmus and many more who support young techies building the future. Ronald Dosunmu’s coding experience Right now, I have experience using Python, Javascript, HTML, CSS, and C++. and I learned everything by taking courses online. Ronald says He says he never registered for a coding school and would encourage others to take courses instead because, on those platforms, you can determine your learning pace and commitment. Now, Ronald is a Frontend Engineer at Devtranet and co-CTO at Ecommerce Complaint and already has a career path. Full Stack Software Engineering is a long-term plan for him, and who knows what will happen after then? Meanwhile, it is his coding experience that led him and his team to win 250,000 Naira at an Ingressive for Good Hackfest in 2021. “I joined the team, and from then, we started building. It was supposed to be for three days, and we started building the night they announced the problem statement. I was coding for up to 3-4 hours a day, and we were hopeful. “We built Tranzanct, a platform that would keep track of all your subscriptions so that you would not pay for what you don’t want to pay for. We used the mono API to get records of all your recurrent expenditure for the last six months.” And this is what is now Ronald Dosunmu’s most exciting project so far. Ronald is already earning tens of thousands of Naira (more than his pocket money for school) and says, as a thrifty spender, he saves 95% of his earnings. Be like Ronald. Vanity upon. Managing academics and tech “Academically, I am very bright to the glory of the Almighty God. In secondary school, I finished with eight A1s and a B3. In the University (Covenant University), I am on a strong CGPA,” Ronald boasts. He argues that it is difficult managing a tech career alongside an academic career, but “give priority to what you are supposed to give priority.” Ronald says to teen techies His first advice is to ask young techies to find out what they like so they don’t become the ‘Jack of all trades and master of none,’ kind of individuals. Spend two weeks, watch YouTube videos, and see what catches your fancy. A tech career is never the kind you can do half-heartedly. You need to dedicate a lot o...
In the wake of the FTX collapse that sent shockwaves down the entire crypto industry, Binance has revealed an Industry Recovery Initiative, a $1 billion fund to help affected crypto companies. The truth remains that the crypto community would need a long process to recover from this drawback. But significant steps like this taken by Binance are in the right direction to rebuild trust and infrastructure. Also, in what has received a lot of flak, SBF, CEO of the defunct FTX, has confirmed that he would show up in person to speak at the New York Times DealBook Summit on November 30. A lot of important questions are to be asked and answered till then. Here are a few major stories from the crypto space this week. El Salvador to launch bitcoin bonds The El Salvadoran Minister of the Economy has introduced a bill enabling the Bukele government to raise $1 billion to build out its proposed Bitcoin city. The Bitcoin bonds project, also known as Volcano bonds, was initially introduced by the Bukele government back in 2021. The plan was to use the bonds to raise around $1 billion to build a Bitcoin city at the foot of the Colchagua volcano. The hydrothermal energy emitted by the volcano would be tapped and used to supply a crypto-mining farm. Read also: El Salvador to buy 1 bitcoin per day After some delays, a 33-page bill has now been submitted by Maria Luisa Hayem Brevé, the Minister of the Economy. The bill will establish a National Digital Assets Commission that will oversee the regulation of all parties involved and the public offering process. According to a CoinTelegraph post, the bill could be approved before Christmas. Binance $1b industry recovery funds Binance announced that it is committing $1 billion to help companies in the crypto industry remain operational on Thursday. The leading exchange wrote that it has a “responsibility to lead the charge when it comes to protecting consumers and rebuilding the industry.” To that end, it has established the Industry Recovery Initiative (IRI), allowing struggling cryptocurrency companies to request financial support. Binance has contributed $1 billion worth of crypto to the initiative and may increase that amount to $2 billion if needed. The IRI is also taking contributions from other companies. Several participants have already committed $50 million to the program, including Polygon Ventures, Animoca Brands, Jump Crypto, Aptos Labs, GSR Markets, Kronos, and Brooker Group. Binance expects more participants to enlist soon, adding that it is working on providing a way for traditional financial companies to join the initiative without using crypto. United States seizes crypto scam websites The United States Department of Justice has seized seven websites used by fraudsters to perpetrate a cryptocurrency scam known as “pig butchering.” Pig butchering is a confidence trick scammers are using to steal cryptocurrencies. Con artists will reach out to potential victims via dating apps, social media websites, or random text messages. Upon developing a relationship with the victims, fraudsters then convince them to make a cryptocurrency investment. After making a sequence of investments, victims are subsequently blocked by the perpetrators who abscond with the stolen funds. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia seized seven domain names associated with the scam. Between May and Aug. 2022, scammers managed to induce five victims into depositing cryptocurrencies into sites they believed to be the Singapore International Monetary Exchange. The victims’ losses amounted to a total of $10 million. SBF to speak at an event Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has confirmed he will show up at a New York Times DealBook Summit even though the crypto community is not amused with his role in the FTX saga. Yesterday, SBF tweeted that he would show up in person to speak at the event, which will be coming up on November 30. NYT columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin manages the annual event. It ...
The UK Metropolitan Police arrested roughly 100 hackers affiliated with a $50 million global “bank spoofing scam” on Thursday, November 24. The cybercriminals were discovered by tracking down bitcoin records used to make payments for iSpoof’s services, enabling the Cyber Crime Unit of the UK Metropolitan Police to pin down suspects. According to the report by the Police, over 200,000 potential victims in the UK have been thoroughly monitored and bookmarked via the fraud website iSpoof. iSpoof is a global one-stop spoofing store that the Metropolitan Police Department has now shut down. iSpoof was disbanded after generating roughly $3.9 million for scammers, according to a London police statement. Read Also: What Russian lawmakers’ decision to launch crypto exchange could mean for the market The iSpoof scam In the report released by the Metropolitan Police, over 200,000 potential victims have been directly identified through the fraud website iSpoof. The conmen reached out to Crypto users, including but not limited to Bitcoin holders, identifying themselves as representatives of the following banks: Barclays, Santander, HSBC, Lloyds, Halifax, First Direct, Natwest, Nationwide, and TSB. Then, at one point, these fraudsters posing as fake identities on the site targeted 20 people every minute of the day. MET reported, “iSpoof enabled criminals to appear as if they were calling from banks, tax offices, and other official bodies as they attempted to defraud victims.” “Victims are believed to have lost tens of millions of pounds while those behind the site earned almost $3.2 million in one 20-month period.” Read Also: Elon Musk takes fresh dig at SBF amid FTX saga UK Metropolitan Police reinventing fraud investigation The investigation was not conducted routinely by the UK Metropolitan Police. Instead, it was quite unconventional. Scotland Yard’s Cyber Crime Unit investigated a cross-national collaboration involving authorities in the U.S. and Ukraine to disassemble the site this week. Helen Rance, who leads on cybercrime for the Met, said that by taking down the fraud platform, they have prevented further offences and stopped fraudsters from targeting future victims. Meanwhile, Europol said that 142 suspects had been arrested during operations against the criminal website by judicial and law enforcement authorities in Europe, Australia, the US, Ukraine, and Canada. The London force — the UK’s largest — said in the year to August, suspects paid to access the website and make more than 10 million fraudulent calls worldwide. Around 40 per cent were in the United States. More than a third were in the UK, targeting 200,000 potential victims alone. Fraud detection agencies have recorded £48 million ($58 million) in losses in the UK alone. Victims lost an average of £10,000. The largest single theft was worth three million pounds. Losses to victims worldwide are estimated at over £100 million. Read also: Despite stiff regulation, bitcoin users are on the rise in Nigeria, Kenya- Report “Because fraud is vastly under-reported, the full amount is believed to be much higher,” the Met said. Those behind the site earned almost £3.2 million from it, the force added. Only around 5,000 British victims have so far been identified. The Cyber Crime Unit started investigating iSpoof in June 2021 and was able to track down the bitcoin records. With nearly 60,000 users on iSpoof, the investigation team pegged down suspects down to UK users who spent at least 100 worth of bitcoin on the site. Commenting on the investigation, Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley stated: “The exploitation of technology by organized criminals is one of the greatest challenges for law enforcement in the 21st century.” “Together with the support of partners across UK policing and internationally, we are reinventing the way fraud is investigated. The Met is targeting the criminals at the centre of these illicit webs that cause misery for thousands.” He added.
Africa-focused cryptocurrency exchange, Quidax has joined the list of African startups that have trimmed down their staff strength after the company laid off 20% of its employees. This comes barely two weeks after the Nigerian web3 startup, Nestcoin, announced layoffs of some employees due to the recent bankruptcy of FTX. The one-year-old Nestcoin held assets (cash and stablecoins) in the now-defunct crypto exchange to manage operational expenses. But TechCabal reports that Quidax, in a statement on Thursday, said its decision to cut staff count was in response to unfavourable macroeconomic conditions. Earlier in August, the company slashed employees’ salaries by 30% and team leads’ by 50% for three months. “We’ve observed what’s happening with the global economy and we know that now is not the time to just chill and see how things go. Instead, it’s time to be proactive. Our priority is making sure that even if things get worse globally and in the crypto market, we can weather the storm and still provide value to our customers. As a result, we’ve had to scale down a couple of things, including our workforce,” the statement reads in part. The company’s CEO, Buchi Okoro, disclosed that it is a “difficult time for Quidax and our internal organization.” The affected employees will be offered a severance package and support in their transition, per the statement. “We’ve been privileged to work with people who light up any room with their personalities, brilliance, and hard work. If the tides turn, these are people we would be eager to rehire. We can boast that they are more than capable of doing a great job anywhere,” the statement reads. Founded by Buchi Okoro Chief Executive Officer), Morris Ebieroma (Chief Information Officer) and Uzo Awili (Chief Technology Officer), Quidax is an African-founded cryptocurrency exchange that makes it easy for users to buy, sell, store, and transfer cryptocurrencies. As of May 2021, the company has recorded a total volume of $3.2 billion in transactions in less than three years of operation. The company also raised $3 million in funding with the launch of its QDX platform. It recently unveiled popular Nigerian record producer Don Jazzy as its brand ambassador and was one of the headline sponsors of the seventh season of BBNaija; Level up to engage and entertain the housemates. Read also: Crypto Exchange platform, Quidax unveils Don Jazzy as brand ambassador. The company’s statement on the layoffs further said, “One quality that so many companies in our industry have is resilience. Crypto itself is resilient. 14 years ago, people laughed at the concept of bitcoin. Ten years ago, what ethereum was building sounded like a fairytale. But today, they are still here. Every now and then, they might change direction, but they are still here solving everyday problems.” Two months ago, Quidax launched a US Dollars (USD) savings feature that allows its customers anywhere in the world to save in USD from local currencies like Naira or using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and several other cryptos. Meanwhile, the FTX scandal has tilted the trajectory of the cryptocurrency market and provoked a profound catastrophe in major organizations with funds stuck on the exchange. But experts believe that the ‘death’ of FTX is not the end of cryptocurrency. Related post: The aftermath of the FTX: Is blockchain doomed to die?
TikTok’s tireless efforts to continuously build a safe environment for its community is a commitment taken very pensively and has resulted in the launch of the #SaferTogether campaign, which was announced at a media event hosted in Lagos on Thursday evening 24 November 2022. Boasting over 1 billion active users monthly, TikTok remains an entertainment platform dedicated to empowering creatives. Lauded for its innovative, diverse community and the family-friendly culture it has espoused, another factor that has led to the platform’s popularity has been its emphatic focus on user protection and safety. This #SaferTogether initiative is the first safety campaign for TikTok in Sub-Saharan Africa. It aims to empower creators, parents, teachers and guardians with knowledge of TikTok’s safety features to ensure a positive in-app experience for everyone. Fortune Mgwili-Sibanda, Public Policy & Government Relations Director at TikTok in Africa, reaffirms that user safety is the top priority as the platform is committed to promoting a safe and welcoming app environment for its community. “With TikTok’s increased popularity in Nigeria and the upcoming government elections, which typically have a huge online presence, this is a good time to emphasise the importance of online safety. Fortune Mgwili-Sibanda “TikTok remains dedicated to creating a safe space for Nigerian creators to thrive by offering several tools and controls to help manage their experience on the platform. This campaign is a promise we made and are now fulfilling, as we regularly engaged various stakeholders this year to understand our community’s needs for online safety.” “This is our way of saying to creators, parents and guardians and wider stakeholder community that we are purposefully working with the community to establish a safe space and are committed to making it better, together.” Mgwili-Sibanda explains: “Our in-app safety features help users manage their account, content and privacy settings, including who can see, like, or comment on their videos. We regularly work with experts in online security, wellness, and digital literacy, as well as family safety experts, to help provide advice and resources for our community”. TikTok partners with DSN to improve safety awareness Furthermore, as part of its commitment to ensuring safety, the entertainment platform is delighted to announce its partnership with the Data Scientists Network (DSN). This organisation was established to support and encourage an increase in safety awareness. Through this partnership, DSN will conduct in-community workshops with parents, teachers, and guardians in schools in Abuja and Lagos, educating and empowering them to understand the digital world and how they can help young people stay safe online. Read more: TikTok committed to building an environmentally aware generation Speaking on the partnership, Dr Olubayo Adekanmbi, founder and CEO of DSN said: “The digital world is our new normal for learning, engagement, and socialisation; hence, the need to make it safer has become our shared responsibility. As practitioners in digital education, we are very excited to promote the new safety features from TikTok and how they guarantee digital wellness and the safety of every child online”. At TikTok, there is a centralised location for safety updates called the Safety Centre and the Guardian’s Guide that provides updated resources to the community. These resources are also available to parents and guardians. TikTok creators and users are encouraged to visit the Safety Centre to stay up-to-date on the latest TikTok safety initiatives. In addition, TikTok will also be hosting a TikTok for Peace Live on Friday, 25th November, to unpack further the realities of the internet and how communities can encourage online safety awareness. The session will be hosted by renowned Nigerian content creator, actor and make-up artist Tijani Aboh Alexander (i_am_tjan). It will have Mr Lanre Olagunju, Fact-check...
It is no secret that there is a gender diversity problem in the STEM field. Over the years, girls and young women have shirked away from the field and pursued other careers or developed their entrepreneurial skills instead. Thankfully, some women have started to encourage, educate, and inspire more women to fill take these roles in the STEM space. The main goal of these women in tech is to find solutions to closing this gender gap amidst other societal problems, whether through empowerment, mentorship or by building innovative technologies. One of these women is Oyinkansola Adebayo, the CEO and founder of Niyo Group, a group of companies that specialise in using technology to empower black women in the UK economically. From studying economics to becoming a tech CEO Although Oyinkansola Adebayo is the CEO and founder of the Niyo Group, she is not the typical tech sis. She does not write codes or dedicate her life to programming languages. She is an economist who has advocated for Black women’s empowerment in the UK through technology and innovation. Oyinkansola Adebayo graduated from Nottingham Trent University with a bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Economics. While undertaking the requirements to earn an undergraduate degree, she found time to engage in numerous NGO programmes, which helped to build her perspective on problem solutions, particularly for the Black community. After acquiring her undergraduate degree, she began a Master’s programme in Development Economics at the University of Birmingham, where she researched women’s empowerment and poverty. At this point, she realized that many jobs that Black women strived to get would become extinct soon, and action needed to be taken to prevent this impending unemployment. She has since dedicated the rest of her career to ensuring that black women would be able to acquire the required skills to remain relevant in the coming age. As a savvy woman particularly interested in emerging technologies, Oyinkansola Adebayo decided to tackle the problem using technology, ingenuity and her economic talents to provide a solution for the community. According to my research, we needed to either be the builders of technology or we would be essentially victims of technology. Oyinkansola Adebayo, Niyo Group This conviction birthed the Niyo Group, a parent company with three initiatives—Niyo Bootcamp, Niyo Dapp, and Niyo Beauty and Hair. Oyinkansola believes these initiatives are needed to upscale and eradicate unemployment through empowerment, thereby closing the racial wealth gap Black women face, particularly in the UK. The impact of her initiatives has been recognised in BBC News, BusinessDay, The Voice, Metro, Black Beauty and Hair Magazine, Nottingham Post. She has also won many awards, including Great British Fashion & Beauty Entrepreneur of the year, MBCC Entrepreneur of the year and Female Innovator of the year. She has spoken at Women In Tech Festival, Vodafone UK, KPMG, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Africa Tech Week, and Birmingham Tech week. Her contribution to the tech industry The Niyo Group is a group of companies that embeds technology and innovation in its services. to economically empower lives and eradicate poverty. “Technology as the driving force” is one of Oyinkansola Adebayo’s regular saying. She has always been a big believer of technology and its capabilities of solving problems. The company, Niyo Group is made up of three initiatives. The Niyo Bootcamp: An ed-tech platform where black women of any social status are trained to break into the tech and high-impact industry. It also has mentoring programmes and has partnered with other boot camps and some UK firms to provide further job opportunities for black women. The boot camp community currently has about 7,000 participants (black women in the UK) and have upscaled and empowered 560 women since 2020. Niyo Hair and beauty: According to Oyinkansola Adebayo, this initiative is powered by innovation, tech...
Just few days after the Glazer family, owners of Manchester United Football club announced that they are exploring some strategies for the Premier League giants which includes its potential sale, the tech giant, Apple is reportedly interested in purchasing the club for £5.8 billion ($7bn). Manchester United might surpass clubs like Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, and Newcastle to become the wealthiest team ever if this offer is accepted. Given that Apple’s estimated net wealth is above £2 trillion ($2.4 trillion), the tech giant could certainly buy the club. The Glazers, however, are only interested in receiving an offer from the highest bidder, so even though David Beckham and Apple have allegedly expressed interest, there are probably many more possible bidders. David Beckham, a former player on the other hand might slowly be pulling out of his purchase plans as he claims he would not be able to afford to purchase the club on his own but is looking to partner with an investor for the purchase. The Glazer had set a bidding price of £8.25billion for Manchester United reportedly worth over £4bn , but was told it was unrealistic especially in the current market. However, they have made the decision to talk with other interested parties for the remainder of the year before assembling a shortlist of candidates. Also, the takeover process is set to be handled by banks and Chelsea’s overseers, including the Raine Group. Read Also: Ronaldo Launches First NFT Collection With Binance What is Apple plan with this Manchester United purchase Apple has long been a proponent of technology, change, and innovation, but it has no experience with sports ownership or management. Although CEO Tim Cook is quite interested to explore the possibilities of acquiring the Premier League club, there might be some other factors. Apple may have plans to take advantage of this chance to upgrade its Apple TV online streaming service. With such a fantastic acquisition, the tech giant may also be attempting to leverage EPL broadcast negotiations, which might result in other teams handing Apple streaming rights to the league. Although, the tech company has not mentioned any of these ideas yet. However on successfully acquiring this club, Apple plans to build a new state-of-the-art stadium for Manchester United which will be regarded as the best in the world with amazing infrastructures. However, any prospective buyer would find the United legend’s connection to the team and history to be a valuable asset, and Beckham might be a key member of any investing collaboration.
Russian lawmakers are currently processing a draft amendment bill ensuring that the country launches a national cryptocurrency exchange, the local media outlet Vedomosti reported on November 23. An unidentified individual in the report’s coverage divulged that the lawmakers met with market stakeholders because of the amendments necessary to enhance the country’s cryptocurrency regulation. In the report, the legislators intend to certify a document that intensely considers the role of market participants before approving and presenting it before the higher authorities. The draft needs to be ratified by the Russian Central Bank and the country’s Ministry of Finance. Read Also: Bank of England executive reveals UK may need digital Pound following FTX’s collapse What Russian lawmakers Hope To Achieve With this launch Russia plans to ensure cryptocurrencies are regulated and subjugated under relevant state measures and authorities. A member of the Committee on Economic Policy, Sergei Altukhov, stated: “It makes no sense to say that cryptocurrencies do not exist, but the problem is that they circulate in a large flow outside state regulation.” He added, “There was a need to generate conditions that would make cryptocurrencies legal in the country and regulate the rules of the game.” In July, the head of the Duma Committee on Financial Markets, Anatoly Aksakov, disclosed that Russia might launch a national cryptocurrency exchange that would be included as part of the Moscow Exchange. Recently, the Russian government has recorded tremendous growth in its pursuit to advance several pro-crypto bills to subvert the strict sanctions imposed on it by the Western hegemony. In September, Russian financial regulators agreed to enable Russians to use cryptocurrency for international payments. Aside from that, a bill was introduced in the Duma that would legalize crypto mining operations and the auction of such mined cryptocurrency. Read Also: The aftermath of the FTX: Is blockchain doomed to die? Other countries might do the same. With this move by Russia, other countries might want to take similar steps. Though the cryptocurrency market has been bearish this year, this might be good news for many crypto hopefuls on the verge of losing conviction in the market’s future. With more countries adopting this decision, the cryptocurrency ecosystem is bound to enjoy a massive increase and bountiful profits. Though the measures might infringe on the freedom traders enjoy, the future still looks bright for cryptocurrency with steps like this.
While the whole world is still trying to figure out their fate surrounding the FTX scandal drama, Amazon and a group of producers are looking to tell the inside story compellingly while making some profit. According to a report by Variety, Amazon is looking to partner with Joe and Anthony Russo’s production company, AGBO, the film production company famous for their marvel movies, to make a TV series on the spectacular collapse of the cryptocurrency empire, FTX. The eight-episode limited series is suspected of going into production in the Spring of 2023, as Amazon has already partnered with David Weil, who is set to write the plot. The report suggests that some Marvel actors would be approached to feature in it. Other executive producers who are on board for this project include Mike Larocca, Angela Russo-Otstot, and Scott Nemes for AGBO, as well as Natalie Laine Williams. Speaking on this new project, Jennifer Salke, Amazon Studios Head, said, We are excited to be able to continue our great working relationship with David, Joe, Anthony, and the AGBO team with this fascinating event series I can’t think of better partners to bring this multifaceted story to our global Prime Video audience. It is unsure what the pattern of this TV series will be, but according to the report, the Amazon series will be based on insider reporting of the FTX scandal. It will be a series about a modern entrepreneur and the rapid collapse of his company. Amazon is in discussions with some Marvel actors to join in the series project. Read Also: The aftermath of the FTX: Is blockchain doomed to die? Streaming companies making TV Series on true-life scandal events Amazon is not the first company making a movie out of a company collapse, big scandals and fraud happening worldwide. Netflix has been known to make TV shows about true life events of the most brazen frauds ever committed. The big streaming platform has released many documentaries and series based on true-life events of con artists, significant instances of fraud or the downfall of successful companies. In 2019, Netflix released a movie, “The Frye Festival”, and in 2022, it released two major TV series that made headlines for months; “Inventing Anna” and “The Tinder Swindler”. In the same vein, HBO released a documentary series, “The Inventor” about Elizabeth Holmes and her former company, Theranos and many people affected by the FTX scandal seem to appreciate the movie as it captures what is probably the biggest scandal in tech if the FTX scandal never happened. Read Also: Bitcoin, Ether, other cryptocurrencies lose value after FTX’s bankruptcy The FTX collapse Following a significant collapse, the cryptocurrency company FTX filed for bankruptcy on November 11. This came after a CoinDesk story highlighting possible leverage and solvency issues with trading firm Alameda Research. The cryptocurrency company had financial difficulty and needed help; competitor exchange Binance thought about purchasing some of the company but swiftly changed its mind after investigating FTX books. In the following hours, FTX became the victim of a hack in which tokens valued at hundreds of millions were allegedly taken. Some have claimed this was a planned attack, possibly in collaboration with the CEO of the similarly failed cryptocurrency company Alameda Research, the ex-girlfriend of founder Sam Bankman-Fried. However, it is still unclear how accurate any of these rumours are. Who knows, perhaps the TV series will be able to provide more details and insider information about what specifically occurred in connection with the FTX collapse.
Tesla’s owner and Twitter’s latest CEO, Elon Musk, thinks that Sam Bankman-Fried is much better at “bribing media” than running a cryptocurrency exchange platform. The South-African billionaire further revealed details of his meeting with SBF earlier. and why they could not work. Addressing the “huge question” concerning future media funding, Silicon Valley reporter Teddy Schleifer listed companies that received grants from Bankman-Fried. The names included ProPublica, Vox, The Intercept, Semafor, The Law and Justice Journalism Project, and A podcast. If SBF was as good at running a crypto exchange as he was at bribing media, FTX would still be solvent! Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2022 Schleifer simultaneously linked a Puck News article which talked about SBF’s plans to fund billions of dollars to support the US Democratic Party’s lobbying operations, super PACs, scientists, newsrooms, and data forecasters. While anointing FTX’s bankruptcy as “possibly the fastest personal wealth extinction event in history,” the article unravels SBF’s life story, career progression, and the turmoil of the “Bankman-Fried industrial complex.” FTX’s meltdown has jinxed the hopes of many crypto believers. With ongoing court proceedings, the legal representatives of FTX believe that Sam Bankman-Fried could have saved the company from bankruptcy if he did not intentionally mismanage funds. Elon has refused to let this go without expressing his opinion. The South African entrepreneur also disregarded rumours hinting that FTX’s defunct CEO had acquired a $100 million stake at Twitter. Read Also: Reserve Bank of India to launch digital currency pilot in December A new round of criticism Public opinion about FTX following its bankruptcy has degenerated. Before this event, there was a general public admiration and respect for FTX and its former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried—the 30-year-old American used to be one of the most trusted, reliable, and admired figures in the space in the past couple of years. Unfortunately, SBF has made history as the cunning man who stood firmly behind a multi-billion-dollar empire whose crash provoked immense and significant investor losses. Two of the world’s most influential figures who took the time to express their displeasure towards SBF are Twitter’s CEO, Elon Musk, and Binance’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao. Via a recent tweet, Tesla’s CEO contended that FTX could still be actively operational if Bankman happened to have the same dexterous personality for managing it as he does for “bribing” the media. Changpen Zhao responded to the funny tweet with a laughing emoji. At the start of this month, Elon divulged that he had a conversation with SBF before the Twitter deal. Elon revealed that he had his misgivings about SBF is an underwhelming figure after their discussion, saying there was “something wrong with that dude.” “I talked to him for about half an hour, and I know my bullshit meter was redlining.” “It was like, this dude is bullshit—that was my impression,” he added. CZ has also shown an equally pathetic disposition toward the erstwhile FTX owner. He counselled SBF to desist from putting out uncanny tweets and instead pay strict attention to his multibillion-dollar issues and find adequate solutions. In one of his latest Twitter posts, SBF cited an unidentified “sparring partner” who could have pushed the platform into a death spiral, and some thought this could be Zhao. Binance’s CEO believes and stated that only a “psychopath” would make such a post, implying that it has no connection to the FTX crash. Read Also: Argentina fan token loses value after shocking defeat in World Cup opener SBF has no Twitter shares Several rumours hint that Bankman-Fried might have bought a $100 million stake in Twitter before dealing with Elon Musk. Twitter’s CEOs revealed nothing of the sort occurred, describing the rumours as “false” and imploring specific media firms to desist from releasing false information.
Pivo Africa announced today that it closed a $2M seed round with participation from Precursor Ventures, Vested World, Y Combinator, FoundersX and Mercy Corp Ventures. Pivo is an all-in-one financial services platform for SME vendors – logistics and transport, suppliers, and wholesale distributors – that operate within large supply chains. Launched in 2021, the company provides credit, transaction and expense management to improve customer cash flow. With Pivo, SMEs can make, collect and track payments with ease. Pivo will use the capital to upgrade existing products and build new products to improve transaction management and payment reconciliation for supply chains. The planned upgrade will include enhanced payment capabilities for typical recurring payments specific to their customer group. The company also plans to establish its presence outside its Lagos office, expand operations to East Africa and grow its team. “After our pre-seed raise of $550,000 early in Q1 of this year, we launched a new product, Pivo Business, with features that supply chain SMEs can use to achieve better cash flow,” Nkiru Amadi-Emina, CEO and co-founder, said in a statement seen by Technext. “The transaction volume of Pivo Business accounts grew by over 400% between April and September. With this funding, we intend to build on existing products and develop solutions for supply chain anchors.” Nkiru Amadi-Emina, CEO and co-founder of Pivo. “When we initially invested last year, we believed that the founders’ deep logistics industry expertise and commitment to unattended supply chain SMEs would enable Pivo to rapidly carve out a deep moat in the competitive fintech lending space,” Daniel Block, Investment Principal at Mercy Corps Ventures said. Amadi-Emina launched an on-demand delivery platform targeted at e-commerce brands in North and Central Africa in 2017. The platform was acquired by Kobo360, one of Africa’s most prominent e-logistics players. “As Pivo launches additional products to graduate from a pure fintech lender to a full-fledged financial services platform, we are excited to see the company deliver a full suite of financial services specifically designed for the needs of the unattended supply-chain sector SMEs they serve,” Daniel Block continues. Amadi-Emina and Ijeoma Akwiwu have accomplished the feat of being the first all-female founded team Y Combinator has backed in Nigeria — and the second in Africa after the defunct Ghanaian startup Tress. “It is a great thing that we were able to break that barrier as a female-led start-up. Getting into YC gave us validation as founders and cemented the fact that women can be at the helm of affairs in the tech space,” said Amadi-Emina in an interview with Techcrunch. “Tech is a male-dominated space, and all these man-made barriers exist that serve to keep women out. Getting into YC, with the news amplified not just locally but internationally, means more people get to see strong female representation coming from Nigeria.” “We’re glad that a female founder somewhere looks at us and gains an awareness that it is possible that if you keep putting in the hard work, applying yourself and have the numbers to back it all up, you can achieve what you set out to.” Read also: Microtraction announces investment in fintech startup Pivo, its first deal for the year More about Pivo Founded by Nkiru Amadi-Emina and Ijeoma Akwiwu in 2021, Pivo has financed the growth ofSMEs through secured working capital loans, asset finance and trade finance solutions. Transactional banking in the form of Smart current accounts, payments and simple accounting tools is also offered to customers. It is targeted at any business that deals with the import, export, manufacture, distribution and retail of FMCG, logistics and haulage, and clearing and forwarding. The company has three main products. Pivo Capital, its flagship product, gives SMEs access to loans worth as much as US$50,000. Pivo Finance, meanwhile, offers customers...
On the 20th of November 2022, Cardtonic launched its #SteamHeat campaign on their application, and it has been the topic of the town ever since. It did not take long for word to get around. With the Christmas holiday drawing closer, everyone has been eager to find new ways of making some extra cash for December. This #SteamHeat campaign could not have come at a better time. What is #SteamHeat?
Steamheat is a campaign created by Cardtonic for its users. During this campaign, all Cardtonic users would be offered insanely high gift card rates on steam gift cards from the 20th of November 2022 – the 20th of December 2022 (30 Days).
Representatives from Cardtonic informed us that they launched this campaign as an incentive to encourage individuals to sell their unwanted steam gift cards during this period. There is a high demand for Steam gift cards this holiday because loads of people want to play games and relax. In turn, this has positively affected the rates of Steam gift cards. Now it’s higher than ever. As you can see from the graph above, there is a linear uptrend in the steam gift card rates, with November and December being their peak period. What is The Steam Rate on Cardtonic Today? Gift card rates are not fixed. Like other digital assets, they are subject to change due to demand, supply, and other factors. However, because this is the best time to sell your steam gift card for cash, you are assured that the rates will consistently be high till the end of December. Currently, you can sell Steam for as high as 770 today. Meaning if you have a $100 steam gift card and you sell it on Cardtonic today, your payout would be 77,000 Naira. How Can I Participate in This Campaign? To join in on the action, there are only two things you need Have a Steam Gift Card Be a Cardtonic User Once the first step is sorted, all you need to do is register on Cardtonic and you can immediately start rolling in the big bucks. Click Below to begin. PRODUCT LINKS PLAYSTORE: APPSTORE: HELP CENTER:
Djamo, an Ivorian fintech startup that offers financial services to the region’s unbanked and underbanked people, has just announced that it has raised $14 million in an equity round. This is presumably the most significant equity investment ever for a startup in Côte d’Ivoire. However, this is not the first investment support Djamo has received since its launch in 2020. The Ivorian startup was the first from the region to get accepted into Y Combinator last year. They also participated in the Visa Fintech Fast Track Program. This latest round of funding, co-led by Enza Capital, Oikocredit and Partech Africa, with participation from Janngo Capital, P1 ventures, Axian, Launch Africa and other existing investors, reinforces Djamo’s vision that the distribution of financial services throughout Francophone Africa is fundamentally transitioning toward applications. Speaking on the investment, one of the investors, Tidjane Deme, the general partner at Partech Africa, said, Francophone Africa offers a large integrated market, with [a] fast-growing demand for frictionless services from a new cohort of digital-native young adults. We are excited to join forces with high-caliber local investors who bring sector and regional expertise to enable Djamo to unlock this opportunity. The new funding will help the startup advance its services and expand to other new francophone African markets. It will also enable the startup to expand its product offerings to include investments and lending to empower its customers across the region further. Read Also: MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme expands services to Nigeria and 7 other African countries About Djamo Founded by Régis Bamba and Hassan Bourgi, Djamo aims to democratise financial access across the banking and mobile money sectors by creating interoperability between banks and mobile money, allowing customers to access a full range of financial services through Djamo. Its objective is to give hundreds of millions of people access to simple, inexpensive, mobile-first banking. Its main concentration is on French-speaking markets, where fewer than 25% of adults have bank accounts. To achieve this goal, Djamo has teamed up with local banks to provide frictionless mobile-first services. The company’s first product is a debit card with Visa technology. Some of its other services include peer-to-peer virtual accounts for transactions, a tool to collect salary, and an autosaving product that provides advice on users’ financial goals. These services deliver clear consumer value while completing the current local and cross-border payment offer offered by the App and card. Read Also: Online Payment was a Luxury in Ivory Coast Until YC-Backed Djamo Came Along The fintech growth performance across the region According to TechCrunch, the platform currently has over 500,000 registered customers, which is a 5x increase from its customer base as of February 2021. Speaking on their success, Régis Bamba, founder and the company’s Chief Product Officer, said, Customers see so much value in the different use cases Djamo has assembled so far that the fintech still relies on word of mouth to scale across Ivory Coast. He also noted that the company’s purpose is being fulfilled, particularly concerning the overall user experience and creating something highly relevant to people and that this growth has been organic. “In our region, users pay amongst the highest fees in the world but do not always receive adequate service in return and that can be extremely frustrating. The one thing that we want to achieve is to offer a product where customers get real value for their money. We have attracted more than 500,000 customers and our rapid organic growth is a testimony to that, they just love the product and tell everyone about it.” The founders also mentioned, according to TechCrunch, that the platform has processed over $400 million since inception and is also experiencing a revenue growth of 20% to 25% month-on...
Kenya Electricity Generating Company PLC (KenGen) has made giant strides to improve the country’s e-mobility sector. The energy-producing company has disclosed the launch of a pilot project for Electric Vehicles (EVs) in Kenya, KenGen plans to install over 30 EV charging stations across the country in 2023. The company also unveiled four electric vehicles, including two SUVs and two double-cabin pickups, that will be used for data collection and policy development. This announcement would be well received in the east-African nation as the government intends to improve the e-mobility sector of the nation. The new venture by KenGen is part of the NSE-listed company’s environmental and economic sustainability plan to reduce global GreenHouse Gas (GHG) emissions by inspiring confidence for wider EV adoption across the country. Read also: How JET Motors is leading Africa into a new era of mobility with electric vehicles This launch comes only a few months after Kenya Power announced plans to start constructing electric charging centres for electric vehicles in the country. The company advertised an Expression of Interest (EOI), inviting private bodies to partner to assist in implementing the Electric Vehicle charging system, E-Mobility Network Infrastructure System (ENIS) in September. KenGen will use the cost and environmental data from the four EVs to transition its fleet to EVs, further demonstrating KenGen’s role in elevating its position on attracting investment funds financing green initiatives. KenGen Acting Managing Director and CEO Abraham Serem noted that the pilot EV units would give them a comprehensive analysis of the feasibility of e-vehicles transition while also providing insights on initial technology choices for electric charging infrastructure in the country. Read also: Year in Review: here are the top 5 electric vehicle companies in Africa to look out for “I am glad to announce that in the next one year, we plan to roll out about 30 EV charging stations in major cities across the country. The four acquired EVs we are launching today will give the company first-hand experience and data on electric vehicles,” he said, adding that this is an endeavour they seek to conduct collectively with other stakeholders. “The development of e-mobility is an area that will require a multi-sectoral approach. Under the leadership of the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum and working together with key partners, we have no doubt that this transition will pick up pace faster than envisaged,” Mr Serem said during the launch. The rollout would be used to develop a blueprint to convert the company’s fleet from Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) to electric vehicles and advice broader strategies on similar trends in the market by other players. This will also enable the company to save on fuel and maintenance costs, thus creating value for shareholders. “The EV revolution is here with us. Countries around the world are racing to phase out gasoline and petrol cars. France, England, Norway, India, China, USA, and the Netherlands are leading with either a goal to stop the sale of internal combustion engines by 2050 or have significant EV sales,” said Mr. Serem.
The MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme, an initiative of the MultiChoice Innovation Fund, has expanded its service to eight additional African countries. Ivory Coast, Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Zambia, Angola, and Ethiopia are among them. According to a MultiChoice blog post seen by Technext, this expansion plan follows the success of the MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme, which secured $16 million (USD) in funding for six new businesses last year. It is also part of their commitment plan to support more SME businesses in Africa’s technology sector, as well as to provide opportunities for investors and small businesses to collaborate to multiply the impact of this talent and expand it across Africa. The MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Program is aimed at established start-ups and small businesses in the technology sectors of healthtech, agritech, fintech, edutech, the circular economy, and the creative industries. It was launched during Global Entrepreneurship Week. Speaking about this, Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO, expressed his excitement. He said, We’re really excited to be expanding the MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme to more African countries. This is part of our long term commitment to growing and multiplying Africa’s technology potential, which is critical to our future growth. Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO With this new expansion, many more small enterprises in the technology sector in Africa will now be able to take advantage of the 2023 programme, which will offer the opportunity and skills required to attract transformative business capital. Read Also: NBC fines Multichoice and others, 5 million naira for televising the BBC banditry report About the MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme The MultiChoice Accelerator programme started in South Africa in partnership with the incubator C3 in Dubai, the DTIC (the office coordinating South Africa’s participation in Expo 2020), and Expo Live, a programme for innovation impact grants. The programme provides business owners with the resources, know-how, and financial assistance they need to expand their enterprises. it has assisted the growth of 20 South African start-ups since then. How does the MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme work? The project targets already-running established enterprises that want to grow by attracting more investors. Still on the new expansion, Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO said, We believe SMEs in the technology, sustainability and creative sectors will be fundamental to the next phase of Africa’s growth. The MultiChoice Africa Accelerator is geared to finding the most promising start-ups, and empowering them to play this critical role. Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO Public and commercial sector partners in each nation nominate businesses or entrepreneurs for the MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Program, and 29 start-ups start a rigorous virtual training programme. This online training programme runs for many weeks and teaches startup business owners how to use the media effectively, how to promote their ventures to investors, how to write compelling business plans, and what potential investors are searching for. Following the online training, 11 start-ups will be chosen for the final round. They will also participate in a dedicated C3 boot camp to learn how to craft their pitch story for international investors. “Start-up founders get to learn everything from how to properly research your business sector and your market, to how to create a niche for your business,” says Boitumelo Monageng, of Swypa, one of the finalists at the MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Programme last year. “During the workshops we were encouraged to dig deeper and I realised that we have the potential to compete on a much larger scale.” To further support the African mission, MultiChoice has teamed up with EOH, a provider of tech services, who will contribute their knowledge, particularly in tech consulting, developme...
The violence underscores the growing tension at the Zhengzhou plant since the latest lockdown began in October. Protests have erupted at the world’s biggest iPhone factory in China as hundreds of employees clashed with security personnel in a protest early Wednesday in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, according to online footage. The protest at Apple’s Foxconn iPhone plant is amid growing tensions over restrictions intended to suppress a COVID-19 outbreak. More than 100 workers at the Foxconn Iphone plant were seen leaving their dormitories and pushing past outnumbered guards in videos sent by eyewitnesses to Bloomberg. The video also revealed over a hundred workers marching while people in hazmat suits and riot police confronted some. One clip showed several people wearing what appeared to be white haz-mat suits striking a man on the ground with sticks, while another showed people charging through barricades as onlookers chant “fight, fight!” Those live streaming the protests said police beat workers. Videos also showed clashes. According to a witness, the protest broke out overnight over unpaid salaries and concerns about an infectious epidemic at the company. Before the law enforcement agents could calm things down, several workers were hurt in the brawl. Although. both Apple and Foxconn representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, Foxconn said it would work with staff and local government to prevent further violence. Read also: Kenya’s Leta raises $3M to expand to West Africa in 2023 More on the Foxconn Plant Protest Foxconn, which employs about 200,000 people, is Apple’s biggest iPhone maker, producing about 70% of iPhone shipments globally. The Taiwanese firm is Apple’s main subcontractor, and its Zhengzhou plant assembles more iPhones than anywhere else in the world. The plant was shut down last month because of an increase in Covid cases, which led several employees to leave early and go home. The business then hired new personnel by promising them large bonuses. The company acknowledged that some employees had concerns about pay but assured them that it would honour contracts for pay. It also referred to rumours that fresh recruits were required to live in dorms with staff members who were Covid-positive as “patently untrue” and false. Dormitories were disinfected and checked by local officials before new people moved in, Foxconn said. The violence underscores the growing tension at the Zhengzhou Iphone plant since the latest lockdown began in October. A live-streaming website uploaded a video of employees yelling: “Defend our rights! Defend our rights!” Other employees were seen using sticks to break windows and security cameras. This was the statement of a Foxconn worker, according to the live stream: “They changed the contract so that we could not get the subsidy as they had promised. They quarantine us but don’t provide food. If they do not address our needs, we will keep fighting.” He also claimed to have seen a man “severely injured” after a beating by police. According to a statement shared with BBC by another Foxconn worker who just recently started working at the plant, Foxconn had “changed the contract they promised”. “Those workers who are protesting are wanting to get a subsidy and return home,” the staff member said in explaining the fears of the newly recruited workers contracting the disease from the old workers. Another witness, a newly recruited employee, mentioned he visited the protest scene on Wednesday, and he saw “one man with blood over his head lying on the ground”. I didn’t know the exact reason why people are protesting, but they are mixing us, new workers, with old workers who were [Covid] positive,” he said to BBC. In late October, many workers fled the plant amid rising Covid cases and allegations of poor treatment of staff. Their escape was captured on social media as they rode lorries back to their hometowns in the central Chinese province. Read also: Argentina f...
Oxford University Press has picked “Metaverse” as one of the top three words in the race for Oxford’s Word of The Year. It is likely that years from now, metaverse and cryptocurrency will be popular terms that will linger on the lips of future generations because they have been used serially in the last couple of years in discussions about the advancement of the internet. Metaverse is a vision of what many people believe is the next phase of the internet: a single, shared, immersive, persistent, 3D virtual space where humans experience life in ways they could not in the physical world. Read Also: Crypto copy trading; all you need to know and why you should take advantage Some of the technologies that provide access to this virtual world, such as virtual reality (VR) headsets and augmented reality (AR) glasses, are evolving quickly; other critical components of the metaverse, such as adequate bandwidth or interoperability standards, are probably years off or might never materialize. The concept is not new: The term metaverse was coined in 1992 by author Neal Stephenson in his sci-fi novel Snow Crash, and work on the technologies that underpin a virtual reality-based internet dates back decades. Oxford Word of The Year? The Oxford Word of The Year award is an initiative of Oxford University Press. Words shortlisted by the press intensely contest for the award. In the past, the award was never made to be decided by public polls. But this year seems to take a different and unexpected shift. Read Also: Reserve Bank of India to launch digital currency pilot in December The public will vote for the Oxford word of the year for the first time. Since “the true arbiters of language” are “people around the world”, Oxford Languages has decided to put the final decision on the 2022 word in the hands of the English-speaking public. Voting is now accessible online, and over the next two weeks, English speakers can cast their vote, picking from three words selected by Oxford University Press (OUP)’s lexicographers, each of which is strongly opined to capture “the mood and ethos of the last year in its own way.” Casper Grathwohl— president of Oxford Languages, explained that the choice to open the contest to the public was slightly due to living in a “post-Covid era”. “Over the past year the world reopened, and it is in that spirit we’re opening up the selection process for the word of the year to language lovers everywhere,” he said. “We are all participants in the evolving story of English, and after making it through another hard year we thought word lovers would appreciate being brought into the process with us.” Metaverse, #IstandWith and Goblin Mode ahead The top three words selected by Oxford University Press are “Metaverse”, “#IstandWith” and “Goblin Mode”. In Oxford’s video pitch for metaverse, it described it as “a hypothetical virtual reality environment in which users interact with one another’s avatars and their surroundings in an immersive way.” “The term dates back to the 1990s, with the first recorded use in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1992 in the science fiction novel Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson,” the video stated. Oxford noted that “metaverse” quadrupled in usage in Oct. 2022 compared with October 2021. The video stated that more lifestyle and work-related activities in virtual reality environments may bring about “more debates over the ethics and feasibility of an entirely online future.” Though the metaverse terrain might seem underexplored, its enlistment as one of the top three words for the Oxford Word of the Year award signals its noticeable waves.
Navigating the murky waters of cryptocurrency is proving more difficult as the days come by. Increased volatility, unstable economic conditions, the collapse of crypto firms and other issues in the sector have made the art of trading more complicated than ever. However, a panacea most enthusiasts are not paying much attention to is crypto copy trading. In this precarious time, buying and selling crypto successfully requires a lot of research, analysis and practice, which very few experts possess. Fortunately, because you can’t put in the work and sacrifice does not mean you will miss out. This is where crypto copy trading comes in. Read also: All you need to know about Crypto Whales and why you should pay attention In this explainer, we will dissect crypto copy trading, how it works, and how you can get started. What is crypto copy trading? Crypto copy trading is a concept that allows anyone to copy the actual trades of proven cryptocurrency investors on autopilot, fully automating the entire crypto trading process. Remember that with conventional crypto trading, you need to study the markets, look at charts, analyse and research to support your trading decisions. Additionally, after placing a buy or sell trade, it’s up to you to manage the transaction and exit at the right time. However, crypto copy trading offers something different from this. It gives newbies and passive investors a way to profit from the market without necessarily going through the stress of research. How crypto copy trading works When you decide to go for crypto copy trading, the first step is identifying the right trader. The efficiency of copy trading is determined by the skill level of the trader you are following. You should research the available traders and analyse their skill levels considering parameters like profitability of trades, the total amount of funds they manage, risk level and the number of followers. Secondly, selecting the right software is as essential as choosing the right cryptocurrency trader. There is a list of prominent software to choose from later in this post. The process is automated, so the entire trade is smooth. The software could be set up to invest the same amount or the percentage as the trader being emulated. Also, a trader using copy trading features can switch to another lead trader at any time. They can pause any trade the software makes or decide on their own about closing a position without waiting for the action of the lead trader. They can also choose more than one lead trader to diversify their portfolio. However, one must determine the amount of capital one wants to allocate to each lead manager. Crypto copy trading platforms to choose from To copy trade, choose a trader you’d like to copy from one of the crypto copy trading platforms, sync your brokerage account, and let technology handle the rest. There are more than enough crypto copy trading platforms and different strategies. While finding a profitable trader to copy is still up to you, we’ve saved you the hassle of looking for platforms to get started. Related post: 3 sports tokens that could get a major price boost during the 2022 World Cup Bybit is the best crypto copy trading platform because it makes the process simple and easy. Other prominent platforms include eToro, 3Commas, Shrimpy.io, Pionex, Coinmatics. Lastly Crypto copy trading makes anyone, regardless of experience or skill, profit from investing in crypto markets without investing their time. It, however, has its downsides. The efficiency of the trading process depends on the skill of the lead trader. A wrong move could dampen the whole exercise, so it is crucial to do adequate research when selecting a trader and platform.
The Argentina Fan Token (ARG) has witnessed a huge fall in value after the team— peaked as one of the favourites to clinch the 2022 FIFA World Cup— lost to Saudi Arabia in their first group game. Read Also: How to stream the 2022 FIFA World Cup games live from Nigeria It was an unpredicted result and Lionel Messi, arguably the world’s greatest player, watched helplessly as the Arabians came from behind to beat Los Albiceleste 2-1 after he opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the first half. Following the defeat, the Argentina Fan Token (ARG) nosedived from about $7.20 at the beginning of the match to $4.96, according to the reports gathered by CoinGecko. Though there have been glimpses of recovery, as it trades at $5.31 at press time, ARG is still miles behind its peak value of $9.19, which it recorded just five days ago when it was tipped as one of the fan tokens that could see a significant rise during the ongoing global showdown in Qatar. The Argentina Fan token was an initiative of Chiliz in collaboration with the Argentine Football Association. What to know about Argentina Fan Token (ARG) & other teams’ tokens? The Argentina Fan token is an ERC-20 token, accessible for grasping on the Socios app. It is also available on numerous other crypto exchanges like OKX, Gate.io, etc. Some other teams involved in the world cup have their tokens. Chiliz expounds that these tokens offer owners voting privileges in fan decisions and accessibility to a more profound and exclusive gathering of fans. Holders also transit from diverse reward phases until they acquire any available VIP slots and privileges. Read Also: 2022 FIFA World Cup, Peter Obi amongst Nigerians’ top Google searches for November “The more tokens a fan holds, and the more they vote, the higher the clout rating of that fan.” The other tokens affected by Argentina’s shocking defeat The Argentina Fan token is just one out of a pool of tokens affected by World Cup favourite Argentina’s loss. In preparation for the buzz of the world cup, many clubs and national teams formed partnerships with Chiliz and Bitci to create fan tokens, gaining millions of dollars in striking this partnership. Several national team tokens enjoyed a surge in the days preceding the kick-off of the anticipated global competition. However, the early results from the tournament have not only affected the value of the Argentina Fan token, but they also influenced other teams’ tokens. For instance, Brazil’s team fan token dropped by about 10% to $0.7386 on Tuesday. The same happened with Spain’s team fan token— it fell by 7% to $0.7386. There are rumours the activity surrounding fan tokens hints that fans are staking them to bet on matches indirectly. The potentiality of this occurring gained prominence after Saudi’s win, an Ethereum NFT collection named The Saudis enjoyed a rise in sales. However, it has no proven connectivity with the Saudi team. After Saudi Arabia won, 52 NFTs sold from the collection on OpenSea for an average of 0.2 ETH each, which is about $280. But that small pump appears to have been short-lived, as the collection’s floor price has already declined from its daily peak of about 0.31 ETH back down to 0.24 ETH on OpenSea. Sales volume has already slowed significantly in the hours following Saudi Arabia’s victory. While a 1,200% trade volume increase in 24 hours might seem like a lot, it’s put into perspective by the very low number of sales before the peak early Tuesday. There’s only been 21.75 ETH (roughly $24,000 worth) traded for the collection in the past day across marketplaces. And at the time of writing, OpenSea is the NFT marketplace with the most Saudis NFTs listed (180) for sale, according to Gem data. The truth is that crypto tokens and NFTs christened after real entities or items are usually affected positively or negatively by the significant events that involve these items or entities. Thus, in the coming days, other fan tokens might surge or drop as influenced...
Flexcap Ventures leads Series A round for Tanzania’s largest venture-backed startup Ramani, the African software company building a cloud network of micro-distribution centres for Africa’s $1 Trillion consumer-packaged goods supply chain, has today announced the close of its $ 32 million series A round of equity & debt. Founded by Iain Usiri, Calvin Usiri and Kibet Martin, Ramani is a software platform that captures supply chain data to drive sales visibility and enable micro-distribution centres to access financial services. Ramani enables African Micro-distribution centres to track their inventory, register their customers and record their sales transactions. The company helps users to gain operational visibility and structure as well as market insights that allow them to increase their revenue and market share. Some of the platform’s features include real-time tracking, sales targets, inventory tracking, geo-fencing, check-in history, rewards, and discounts. With this new capital funding, it will scale its network of micro-distribution centres (MDCs) and launch a new micro-credit offering for select MDCs. The series A round was led by renowned global technology investors Flexcap Ventures and revered founder/CEO of Infoscout, Jared Schreiber. Ramani was originally backed by Y combinator and raised undisclosed seed funding in 2021 that included participation from Village Global, Goat Capital, Musha Ventures, Hustle Fund, Future Africa, Launch Africa Ventures, Raba capital, and renowned angel investor James Beshara. Commenting on the Series A, Ramani CEO and Co-founder Iain Usiri said, “We’ve leveraged our Silicon Valley relationships and partnered with globally renowned investors, many of whom are successful founders themselves. We’re committed to repaying their faith in Africa and in us.” Ultimately, we want to make it easier for businesses to succeed in Africa and this new capital is another brick in that foundation. Ramani CEO and Co-founder Iain Usiri Andrew Vigneault, Co-founder and General Partner of Flexcap Ventures, added, “Ramani’s huge ambition is systematically transforming the CPG industry in Africa for a vastly improved and more efficient supply chain. It has been a pleasure to witness Ramani’s success and traction. We are certain the company will continue to achieve market-leading growth, fueled by a strong leadership team with exceptional technical expertise.” Read also: Venture funding in Africa fell by 54% in Q3 2022 – report Ramani Founders and mission Ramani was founded in 2019 by Tanzanian-born brothers Iain and Calvin Usiri, and Kibet Martin, born and raised in Kenya. They have backgrounds in Computer Science and Finance from Stanford, Google, Salesforce and CapGemini. Their decision to return home to build an industry-defining product was buoyed by personal conviction to harness their skills and ingenuity and solve local challenges. Ramani joins other companies such as Wasoko, Tushop and Pando DAO to operate out of Silicon Zanzibar, the public-private initiative to attract and relocate tech companies and workers from across Africa and beyond to the island of Zanzibar. Ramani is focused on fixing fragmented consumer goods supply chains that traditionally suffer from a lack of data visibility and are burdened by limited access to financial services. To address these challenges, Ramani provides tech-enabled inventory management systems, procurement, and point-of-sale software to digitise the processes of MDCs, helping them gain real-time sales insights and inventory visibility. The platform is then also able to leverage this data to offer up inventory with delayed payment terms, enabling them to scale. This year, the company acquired a lending license from the Central Bank of Tanzania to scale its customers further. MDCs in the network have grown their revenues by at least 20% since subscribing and leveraging the platform’s diverse functionalities, such as real-time inventory tracking. The upcoming micro...
Twitter has finally agreed to renegotiate the severance pay and separation arrangements for the employees at the Africa office in Ghana following a CNN report. UPDATE: Twitter finally agreed to negotiate with the laid-off Africa team AFTER this story aired, their lawyer confirms. – They weren’t offered severance until CNN reported it– They weren’t allowed to negotiate their separation terms until CNN reported it Larry Madowo (@LarryMadowo) November 22, 2022 This comes after ex-employees of the headquarters accused the platform of breaking Ghanaian laws by withholding additional severance pay and other pertinent benefits that other laid-off Twitter employees will receive from them. This is in contrast to the assurance given to all Twitter employees worldwide prior to the layoff after Elon Musk’s takeover. However, many of these ex-employees claim there was no such negotiation on severance pay for the Ghana-based employees and accuse Twitter of discriminating against them in comparison to laid-off employees in other regions. According to CNN, the letter stated, It is clear that Twitter, Inc. under Mr Elon Musk is either deliberately or recklessly flouting the laws of Ghana, is operating in bad faith and in a manner that seeks to silence and intimidate former employees into accepting any terms unilaterally thrown at them. The team’s attorney, Carlo Olympio petitioned the Ghanaian government to order Twitter to comply with Ghanaian redundancy laws, to give the workers a fair and just negotiation, and to pay redundancy pay, whilst adhering to the West African nation’s labour laws. She also claimed that the abrupt termination of nearly the whole team violated Ghanaian employment law because such a move necessitates giving authorities three months’ notice and negotiating over redundancy pay. Read Also: Fresh headache for Twitter employees as Elon Musk ends remote work in 1st email Elon Musk terminated the Twitter Africa team Due to Musk’s numerous ideas for the microblogging service, there has been one drama after another since he took over as Twitter’s CEO. In an effort to cut costs and impose a strict new work ethic, the new CEO made one of the wildest choices after ascending to the throne and fired almost 50% of the company’s employees, including several top executives. Just four days after the African headquarters in Accra inaugurated a physical office, the company disbanded the team as part of the layoff plans. These workers were informed via personal emails, which many of them found to be unprofessional. This team in particular had some perplexity after the layoff because they were unsure of what would happen next, in contrast to other jurisdictions. However, once CNN’s report about the unfair treatment received widespread attention, the company ultimately agreed to renegotiate with the staff from the Accra office that was laid off. The employees are currently requesting three months’ worth of their gross salaries as severance pay, the vesting of stock options granted to them under their contracts, repatriation costs for non-Ghanaian employees, and other perks like healthcare continuance that were provided to fired employees everywhere. Read Also: Twitter sued as mass layoffs begin today Other lawsuits filed by laid-off employees against Twitter The Ghana team is not the first party to file a lawsuit against Twitter and Elon Musk in response to the company’s massive layoffs. A group of workers have joined forces to launch a lawsuit accusing Twitter of violating regulations pertaining to worker protection, such as the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act and the California WARN Act, both of which call for 60-day prior notice. Following the cancellation of the work-from-home policy and the implementation of a new, stricter standard of efficiency to improve productivity that led to the resignation of many disabled employees, the disabled workers also filed a lawsuit against Twitter, accusing the company of ...
In the wake of the FTX scandal that has shaken the financial industry to its roots in the last two weeks, the blockchain community is inundated with beautiful epitaphs paying tributes to a nascent sector that has not even peaked. The interesting part of these ‘blockchain is dead’ chants is that they now come every market day. It’s becoming a recurring theme that whenever the market experiences a setback or one of the firms in this burgeoning sector faces hardship, the next thing is for no-bitcoiners to start reiterating how the whole concept of blockchain is a fluke, a fad that will definitely go up in smokes with time. Remember how the industry was written off in 2011 when Bitcoin crashed from $32 to $0.01 in the course of a few days? Also, the crypto winter of 2017 should still be fresh in the memory of keen observers. After hitting $20,000 in December 2017, it lost over 70% of its market value and plunged to $3200 in 2018. All to the tunes of the ‘blockchain is dead’ chant. Everyone in the crypto space remembers the iconic Terra crash earlier this year. Those chants arguably climaxed during and after the unfortunate occurrence. But, here we are after six months, with the technology behind the blockchain still standing strong, listening to another remix of ‘blockchain is dead’ chant which was inspired by the FTX collapse. Related post: Will the FTX crash affect stablecoins? If you’ve been around the financial industry and have been paying significant attention, you would understand that this is just a phase in the development process of this nascent sector. As a matter of fact, other established sectors like traditional finance, telecommunications, oil and gas have witnessed far more declines, but they are still in existence today. Other firms that have collapsed in history A cursory glance at history shows that FTX and Terra are not the first companies that would collapse or file for bankruptcy. In fact, there are far more established firms in stabler sectors that have bitten the dust. A quintessential example is Lehman Brothers whose total assets at the time it filed for bankruptcy in September 2008 were $691.1 billion. Lehman Brothers was the fourth biggest investment bank in the United States until the time of its demise and had been in existence for 158 years before finally filing for bankruptcy. The reasons behind the bankruptcy were: its involvement in the subprime mortgage crisis (which was the basis for the 2008 recession), downgrading of assets by credit rating agencies, loss of confidence and major loss of stock value. Due to these reasons, the company lost out on most of its clients, who moved to different banks and hence, had no choice but to declare bankruptcy. It also had 25,000 employees, who were suddenly terminated as the enormity of the situation was felt by everyone. Fourteen years later, it remains one of the most famous bankruptcies in the world, and definitely, the biggest but the investment banking sector in the United States and indeed in the world is not dead. It is rather waxing stronger. Also, WorldCom was the second biggest telecom company (after AT&T) in the US in its heyday. However, it was embroiled in a major accounting scandal in 2002, where fraudulent methods were used to hide the loss of earnings of the company. The subsequent furore and attention surrounding the company saw the company declare bankruptcy. Its total assets at the time of bankruptcy was $103.9 billion. But guess what, the telecommunications industry is still standing strong at press time. Washington Mutual was a savings bank holding company and was also the owner of the biggest savings and loan association in the United States. Just like Lehman Brothers, the company’s downfall came as a result of its involvement in the subprime mortgage crisis, which led to a major loss in the value of the company stock, as well as the termination of thousands of employees. When customers lost confidence in the bank, they withdrew nearly...
YouTube has announced the top 20 Nigerians who have garnered many attention, growing their reach, with their short-form video content on YouTube Shorts. Since the introduction of YouTube Shorts to Nigeria in 2021, a number of creators have leapt on the platform to show off their artistic talents, gaining thousands of viewers to their short-only channels. YouTube Shorts are more or less like the YouTube versions of Instagram Reels or TikToks. With this feature, users can now film content on their smartphones that are 60 seconds or less in length in the 9 × 16 format rather than the 16 x 9 format that YouTube typically accepts. The YouTube Short has been a fantastic feature for giving everyone a platform, as well as for helping creators expand their fan base and make more money. Artist and creator channels that upload both Shorts and long-form content have seen better overall watch time and subscriber growth than those that only upload long-form. In Nigeria, these content creators have used YouTube Shorts to carve out their niches by talking about topics that are relevant to their audience, such as skit creation, the newest food recipes, product reviews, beauty and fashion advice, etc. This has generated a tonne of buzz around their short form contents. Read Also: YouTube Shorts celebrates 1 year in Nigeria, launches new features In this article, here are 20 Nigerian YouTube Shorts creators who have taken over the space with massive audience. Meet the top 20 most popular Nigerian YouTube Shorts creators and their channels Real Warri Pikin Anita Alaire Afoke Asouha is a comedian and actress better known by her stage name Real Warri Pikin, which means “True Child of Warri”. She is a dancer as well, and at the 2011 Maltina Dance competition, she and her family took second place. She is also on-air personality. She creates comedic skits, collaborates with other comedians, takes part in popular dancing competitions, and has a devoted following. LiL SMART LiL SMART is a professional dancer and choreographer who is often credited with inventing the viral Tesumole dance challenge. He is highly recognised in the Nigerian entertainment industry as Naira Marley’s official dancer, one of the most popular street musicians in the nation and other Nigerian artistes. When he’s not performing or appearing in Marley’s music videos, LiL SMART participates in dance challenges and also collaborates with other dancers when creating content. Diary of a KITCHEN LOVER Tolani Tayo-Osikoya is a chef, food blogger, and creative director at Diary Of A Kitchen Lover. On her channel, she creates step-by-step videos on continental and intercontinental meal prep, cooking hacks, and food storage tips. Her content have garnered millions of audience across Nigeria and beyond. DOUBLE DS TWINS The DOUBLE DS TWINS provide informative but interesting content on their channel about their experiences as identical twins living in Nigeria. Along with sharing these experiences, they provide a variety of forms of entertainment for their audience. They occasionally participate in challenges and trends. However, the majority of their material consists of quick comedic skits, dancing routines, and pranks. Vivian Okeke Vivian Okeke is a Nigerian tailor who teaches people who are interested in fashion and sewing the principles and procedures involved in creating garments, such as body measurements, cutting, and stitching. She uses YouTube Shorts on her channel to highlight her full-length videos and to give sewing advice, DIY projects, and tutorials. Chinasa Anukam Chisom Anukam is a writer, actor, comedian, scriptwriter, presenter, and content creator. She has a popular YouTube series called “Is The Seat Taken?” in which she meets up with famous people and conducts informal interviews with them or spontaneous conversations. She produces long-form video content, but she also participates in YouTube Shorts, which has increased her popularity. Oga Sabinus Award-winning Nigerian...
YouTube has announced the top 20 Nigerians who have garnered many attention, growing their reach, with their short-form video content on YouTube Shorts. Since the introduction of YouTube Shorts to Nigeria in 2021, a number of creators have leapt on the platform to show off their artistic talents, gaining thousands of viewers to their short-only channels. YouTube Shorts are more or less like the YouTube versions of Instagram Reels or TikToks. With this feature, users can now film content on their smartphones that are 60 seconds or less in length in the 9 × 16 format rather than the 16 x 9 format that YouTube typically accepts. The YouTube Short has been a fantastic feature for giving everyone a platform, as well as for helping creators expand their fan base and make more money. Artist and creator channels that upload both Shorts and long-form content have seen better overall watch time and subscriber growth than those that only upload long-form. In Nigeria, these content creators have used YouTube Shorts to carve out their niches by talking about topics that are relevant to their audience, such as skit creation, the newest food recipes, product reviews, beauty and fashion advice, etc. This has generated a tonne of buzz around their short form contents. Read Also: YouTube Shorts celebrates 1 year in Nigeria, launches new features In this article, here are 20 Nigerian YouTube Shorts creators who have taken over the space with massive audience. Meet the top 20 most popular Nigerian YouTube Shorts creators and their channels Real Warri Pikin Anita Alaire Afoke Asouha is a comedian and actress better known by her stage name Real Warri Pikin, which means “True Child of Warri”. She is a dancer as well, and at the 2011 Maltina Dance competition, she and her family took second place. She is also on-air personality. She creates comedic skits, collaborates with other comedians, takes part in popular dancing competitions, and has a devoted following. LiL SMART LiL SMART is a professional dancer and choreographer who is often credited with inventing the viral Tesumole dance challenge. He is highly recognised in the Nigerian entertainment industry as Naira Marley’s official dancer, one of the most popular street musicians in the nation and other Nigerian artistes. When he’s not performing or appearing in Marley’s music videos, LiL SMART participates in dance challenges and also collaborates with other dancers when creating content. Diary of a KITCHEN LOVER Tolani Tayo-Osikoya is a chef, food blogger, and creative director at Diary Of A Kitchen Lover. On her channel, she creates step-by-step videos on continental and intercontinental meal prep, cooking hacks, and food storage tips. Her content have garnered millions of audience across Nigeria and beyond. DOUBLE DS TWINS The DOUBLE DS TWINS provide informative but interesting content on their channel about their experiences as identical twins living in Nigeria. Along with sharing these experiences, they provide a variety of forms of entertainment for their audience. They occasionally participate in challenges and trends. However, the majority of their material consists of quick comedic skits, dancing routines, and pranks. Vivian Okeke Vivian Okeke is a Nigerian tailor who teaches people who are interested in fashion and sewing the principles and procedures involved in creating garments, such as body measurements, cutting, and stitching. She uses YouTube Shorts on her channel to highlight her full-length videos and to give sewing advice, DIY projects, and tutorials. Chinasa Anukam Chisom Anukam is a writer, actor, comedian, scriptwriter, presenter, and content creator. She has a popular YouTube series called “Is The Seat Taken?” in which she meets up with famous people and conducts informal interviews with them or spontaneous conversations. She produces long-form video content, but she also participates in YouTube Shorts, which has increased her popularity. Oga Sabinus Award-winning Nigerian...
South Africa’s online home cleaning service, SweepSouth has announced it’s shutting down operations in Nigeria, a decision the company described as “a very difficult” one in a statement shared on its Twitter page on Tuesday. In the statement, the company said it cannot sustainably operate due to economic pressures, as the home service industry continues to be hit hard by the unfavourable global macroeconomic environment. Thank you Nigeria Home Cleaning in Lagos (@SweepSouthNG) November 22, 2022 “This has been a difficult decision to make considering our passion to serve the Nigerian market. We know this decision will negatively impact our SweepSouth community and SweepStars. Therefore we ask for your support and understanding as we navigate this time. All bookings scheduled to take place between now and November 25th will remain in place,” part of the statement read. Read also: Home cleaning startup, SweepSouth raises $11m pre-seed funding. The closure of its operations in Nigeria, according to SweepSouth, is to take effect from Friday, November 25, 2022. In this regard, all bookings scheduled to take place after the aforementioned date will be cancelled. The company also said that customers will receive full refunds for any bookings that have been paid for in advance and full refunds for Sweepcred loaded in the customers’ accounts. Co-founded in Cape Town in 2014 by Aisha Pandor and Alen Ribic, SweepSouth has established a presence for itself in each of Africa’s four major tech markets. The venture capitalists-backed company commenced operations in South Africa in 2021 and later expanded its services to Kenya and Egypt. In 2022, the company launched its services in Nigeria. Barely three months ago, the company raised $11 million in its biggest pre-seed funding in a round led by Alitheia IDF (AIF), Africa’s first and largest gender-lens private equity fund. Naspers Foundry, Recall earlier in the year, SweepSouth acquired the Egyptian home service platform, FilKhedma. The company’s Nigeria country manager, Awazi Angbagala said at the time that SweepSouth takes 40,000 bookings per month across three markets. “The company will continue to provide this service and empower its community in South Africa and Egypt. While we will no longer be operating in Nigeria, we will continue to keep abreast of activities in the Nigerian market and work towards a potential re-entry into the market at a later date,” SweepSouth added in the statement. SweepSouth in Nigeria SweepSouth is an online platform providing on-demand home cleaning services, operating across various South African cities. The startup has raised significant funding, including from Naspers, and is busy expanding across the rest of the continent. In December, the company acquired Egyptian startup FilKhedma, a home services marketplace operating across three cities, to expand into the North African country, and it moved into Nigeria, led by its new country manager Awazi Angbalaga. At the time Angbalaga said SweepSouth had test-run its service in Nigeria for two months before launching in Nigeria. “Although we’ve largely been testing out our service here, we have already had our first 300 bookings, and the feedback we’ve received backs our belief that our proposition is compelling to Nigerians. While we’re growing our bookings every week, our focus continues to be providing the best service to our customers,” Angbalaga said.
Brimming with immense potential, tech in Lagos has witnessed exponential growth in recent years. Described as the Silicon Valley of Africa, Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital, is home to a multitude of successful tech start-ups on the continent as well as an attractive tech hub: five unicorns are currently headquartered in Lagos. According to a recent report by Disrupt Africa, there were at least 425 startups in Lagos as of August this year. Speaking with Technext in the first instalment of our Policy & Tech series, Olatubosun Alake, the Special Adviser on Innovation and Technology to the Lagos state governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, discusses the growth of the Lagos tech ecosystem, government intervention in addressing the challenges of startups, the future of tech in Lagos, among other issues. Alake, who represented his principal, delivered a keynote address tagged “Regulating for Prosperity: the Lagos Example” at the maiden edition of Technext‘s Government and Tech (GAT) Summit held on July 28, 2022. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. In the past decade, Lagos has become arguably the most attractive investment destination for tech in Africa. What would you say is responsible for this growth? Lagos is quite a diverse makeup of people. It’s very cosmopolitan in the Nigerian context, and I’m sure in the African context as well. Hence, there’s quite a bit of high intellectual capital in Lagos. And as such, where you have those ingredients, development is bound to happen in certain sectors. Also, I think one of the things that have really driven the success of tech in Lagos is the government’s willingness to also help drive the ecosystem as well. The evolution of Yaba as the technology hub of Lagos was made possible by government support. Today, Lagos is the biggest funder of startups in the federation. The government has largely been involved in the growth of the ecosystem in terms of creating an enabling environment. But more importantly, I think it’s the intellectual capital in Lagos that has really driven the success of tech Lagos and of course, certain infrastructure that is available in Lagos. As the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Innovation and Technology, what have been the contributions of your office towards the growth of tech in Lagos? One of the first things that we did when the office was formed in 2019 was to begin engagement with various stakeholders in the ecosystem. That engagement led to the creation of Art of Technology (AOT), a yearly event where we bring together ecosystem players and that has enabled us to get a better sense of what the ecosystem needs. We also created the Innovation and Technology Master Plan, from which we execute various projects that will benefit the ecosystem. For instance, the Lagos State Science Research and Innovation Council — which formally began operations in 2020 — is responsible for funding startups directly. Between 2020 and 2022, we have funded almost 60 startups with grant funding varying from $10,000 to $11,000. We have also been doing quite a bit of Research and Development [R&D] funding. Because when you look at technology and innovation, if you want to truly achieve a very innovative ecosystem, you’ve got to support the foundational activities that drive innovation and that’s R&D. I can say that Lagos is now the highest funder of research and development projects in Nigeria. Not only that, we fund R&D projects in universities in the state. In the same vein, we have been running certain programs toward innovation hubs and co-working spaces. Through the Lagos Innovates project and the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund [LSETF], we created the Workspace Vouchers initiative to help early-stage founders get access to resources like the Internet, electricity, and other facilities they need to grow their startups. Through the Voucher program. tech founders can apply for vouchers to be redeemed at coworking spaces and innovation hubs. Similarl...
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) plans to conduct the retail pilot of the “digital rupee” after assessing the large-scale usage of its central bank digital currency (CBDC). According to the Economic Times of India, the Reserve Bank of India is in the last phase of preparing the rollout of the retail digital rupee pilot. It is projected that the pilot will begin operation within a month. Read Also: Bank of England executive reveals UK may need digital Pound following FTX’s collapse The initial participants of the pilots are the State Bank of India, Yes Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Union Bank of India, IDFC First Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Bank of Baroda. According to reports, all commercial banks in the country will be included along the way. Details of The Reserve Bank of India’s retail CBDC pilot launch The proceedings seek to ensure that every bank involved as a participant tests the CBDC among 10,000 to 50,000 users. To ensure smooth incorporation of the retail CBDC pilot— the new payment scheme, the participating banks will partner with PayNearby and Bankit platforms. Read Also: Singapore reveals $275m FTX investment The CBDC infrastructure will be in the grasp of the National Payments Corporation of India— NPCI will serve as a control measure for the CBDC’s infrastructure. An anonymous source revealed to Indian journalists: “The e-rupee will be stored in a wallet, and the denominations will be available as per the customer’s request, just like you request cash from an ATM. Banks are launching this only in select cities.” This means that users and merchants will have to download the special wallets for the CBDC, though this is not going to go on for long because there are plans by RBI to fully incorporate it with operating virtual banking utilities. Reports suggest that the digital rupee is not a substitution for the present payment structure. Rather, it is a supplement to it and there are expectations about how this is going to fully operate. The full-scale segment pilot for the digital rupee was initiated by RBI on the 1st of November. Its core use case has been the means for peripheral market transactions in government securities. Nonetheless, there has been no news on the successful ending of the full-scale. The main use case of India’s CBDC pilot will be to settle secondary market transactions in government securities. The digital rupee is expected to add more efficiency to the interbank market by reducing transaction costs of settlements, the Reserve Bank of India said. India has been somewhat quick in launching a CBDC. Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the initial plans in February 2022, declaring that a digital rupee would be a “big boost” for India’s economy. The Reserve Bank of India then proposed a three-step graded approach for its rollout, aiming for little or no disruption to the traditional financial system.
Twitter’s blue check subscription service “Blue Verified” which was set to be relaunched on the 29th of November has been suspended, Elon Musk says. According to a tweet from the CEO of the microblogging platform, the paid verified Blue check relaunch would be put on hold pending when high confidence in stopping impersonation is restored. Holding off relaunch of Blue Verified until there is high confidence of stopping impersonation. Will probably use different color check for organizations than individuals. Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 22, 2022 Read also: Twitter Blue suspended amid controversies Impersonation problems with Twitter’s Blue Verified The famous verified mark, or as Musk calls it, the “Blue Verified,” was previously reserved for real accounts of famous names, including politicians, celebrities, journalists, and other public figures. However, Elon Musk introduced a subscription option where anyone willing to pay can be given the blue check. The change came a week after Musk took over the social media company in a $44 billion deal. With new release, changing your verified name will cause loss of checkmark until name is confirmed by Twitter to meet Terms of Service Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 15, 2022 Internet trolls opened several parody accounts for popular entities since Twitter Blue launched two weeks after Elon Musk took over as the CEO of Twitter. The most notable parody accounts during this period included an account for Lebron James, which posted a request to leave the Los Angeles Lakers, an account for former President George Bush tweeted, “I miss killing iraquis”, and another account that impersonated the electric vehicle manufacture, Tesla. The infamous blue check subscription option led to several companies suspending advertisements on the platform, including General Motors, General Mills, Audi, Volkswagen, and several others. One of the world’s largest advertising companies, Omnicom Media Group, also paused ads on Twitter. In addition to the “official” labels, Musk has proposed companies may be better able to identify official accounts, including a suggestion that organisations will be able to “identify which other Twitter accounts are actually associated with them.” Suspension of Blue Verified Twitter Blue was suspended after several trolls created accounts to impersonate government officials and other celebrities, causing a spread of misinformation and confusion on the social media platform. The new Twitter Blue does not include ID verification – it’s an opt-in, paid subscription that offers a blue checkmark and access to select features. We’ll continue to experiment with ways to differentiate between account types. Esther Crawford (@esthercrawford) November 8, 2022 This decision was announced in an internal note identifying service misuse as the reason behind the suspension. According to the Internal note, it said “An update on what we did tonight: hid the entry point to Twitter Blue, added the ‘official’ label for ONLY advertisers. Note: here is at least one way for users to sign up for Blue. Legacy Blue users can go to subscriptions and upgrade” Read also: Twitter Blue users get access to the edit functionality Proposed Return of Blue Verified Musk had earlier mentioned last week that the Blue check verification badge which was launched about two weeks ago but suspended due to impersonation issues, would be back on 29th November. With new release, changing your verified name will cause loss of checkmark until name is confirmed by Twitter to meet Terms of Service Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 15, 2022 However, his latest tweet suggests that the microblogging platform would do more work to ensure that the impersonation of popular individuals is reduced to a bare minimum. The second part of his tweet states that Twitter will probably use different colour checks for organizations than individuals. Read also: All you need to know about Twitter Blue subscription package and how it works
Kenyan startup Leta has raised $3 million as it seeks to scale its operations across West Africa in 2023. Leta is a B2B supply chain and logistics SaaS provider launched in 2021 to optimize fleet management and is looking for growth opportunities in West Africa while expanding operations in its existing five markets; Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The startup looks to tap some of the biggest distributors and e-commerce players in Ghana, and later Nigeria in its expansion phase next year. The 4Di Capital, Cellulant co-founder Ken Njoroge, Google executive Charles Murito, Chandaria Capital, Chui Ventures, PANI, Samurai Incubate, and Verdant Frontiers Fintech participated in the round. “Our next year is going to be fairly big for us. Our product has stabilized and we have a very good understanding of our sales process and our go-to-market strategy. The capital we have raised will help us to quickly scale into new markets beginning with Ghana, where we will launch in December,” Leta founder and CEO, Nick Joshi told TechCrunch, adding that it is working on a transport marketplace, and fintech products too. “We are an operating system for logistics, and our software is able to show distributors the most efficient route to serve the customers quicker, and enables them to use less assets (vehicles) to serve more customers” Nick Joshi, CEO Leta “It also makes it possible to track the driver, the specific goods carried, the loading of the truck to know if space use is maximized, the time spent during the journey, and distance traveled,” Leta’s CEO added. Read also: Egypt’s Grinta raises $8 Million in seed funding Leta’s expansion plan Leta claims it has optimized over 500,000 deliveries, delivered more than 20,000 tons of goods, and managed 2,000 vehicles since inception. The company has worked with over 20 major businesses including B2B e-commerce distribution platform Twiga, ShopZetu, a fashion marketplace, pan-African fast-food giant Simbisa Brands, and fast-moving consumer goods conglomerate Chandaria Industries, whose family office invested in its latest round, “As a leading FMCG player in the region, we are continuously focused on optimizing our business to best service the growing demand. Leta has played a pivotal role in helping us streamline our last mile distribution, and we’re seeing meaningful savings on our logistics costs in addition to an improved service delivery time,” said Darshan Chandaria, CEO of Chandaria Capital. “After working closely with the Leta team, we were impressed with the team, the technology they are building, and the scale of the problem they are solving, which prompted our investment from Chandaria Capital,” Chandaria concluded. According to the startup’s CEO, Leta has a first-mover advantage in the region and will continue to build and refine its technology IP, and products, to provide solutions to the problems he identifies in the market. As the company seeks to launch a transport marketplace, it will enable Leta’s clients to request additional delivery vehicles, when their fleets are not sufficient. Read also: Goodwell investment to raise EUR 150 million in the new uMunthu II investment fund “Through our software, there will be a way that they can then request more vehicles, and we will be able to quickly connect them to additional providers.” “Our platform also tracks things like utilization and we can match them (distributors) with the best of the available suppliers. Why this is interesting is, instead of doing similar to what other marketplaces do today, which is renting a truck to a customer for one service. A truck could do multiple loads because we have the load utilization ability.” The startup is also in talks with financial providers to offer asset financing to help clients expand their fleets. “We want to do it in a very structured way and our technology is a great foundational layer to enable us to build other products.”
A circular economy (also referred to as circularity and CE) is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. Nigeria has a huge population. Current estimates put it in the region of 210 million. This is a huge number. There is no prize for guessing that this number of people produce humongous amounts of waste. The challenge is, ‘how prepared are the managers of the economy to deal with the sheer volume of waste generated and ensure effective disposal?’ Now, if you have ever wondered why drains are always blocked, dumpsites are created indiscriminately and pollution is the order of the day in many cities across the country, wonder no more. The answer is simply – People. People. People. This is the heart of the problem – a large number of people generating large volumes of waste without a discernable plan for proper disposal. Linear economy vs Circular Economy One thing is clear, Nigeria lacks a proper waste management system. Experts argue that the real problem is a large amount of ‘single-use’ items and products which effectively creates a linear economic model. The linear economic model involves “take, make, use and dispose of”. Under this model items once used need to be disposed of and they subsequently end up in landfills and waste sites. Fun fact, the largest open waste site in Africa is situated in Nigeria, in Olusosun, Ojota, Lagos State. And with the population expected to hit 400 million by 2050, according to the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, the quantity of waste generated annually is projected to continue to increase substantially. Translation: unless we have a system in place, it is only going to get worse. Describing the Nigerian economy as linear means that when raw materials are used to make products, once the item is used, it automatically becomes a waste product and is quickly thrown away. The linear model is defined as the traditional model where raw materials are collected and transformed into products that consumers use and discard as waste, with no concern for their ecological footprint and consequences. Of course, the indiscriminate dumping and burning of waste harm the environment. It pollutes the environment, degrades the quality of air, water and soil and contributes to climate change challenges. It equally affects the health of people, impacting productivity and economic development. In seeking to effectively control the waste management problem, adopting global best practices in this space makes sense. The current trend is shifting from mere waste management to wealth creation, economic development and an improved environment. This is the emergence of the circular economy. First off, the circular economy grew out of the urgent desire to curtail waste and drive the reuse of materials and waste to create economic value. A practical instance is where waste paper is used to make new paper and discarded plastic containers are used to make new plastic materials and other useful items for construction. The potential here is humongous. It guarantees that there will be enough raw materials in the immediate future to continue to produce these items. This is precisely what the circular economy is all about. Under the circular economy, production has as little impact as possible on the environment by leaving less of a footprint. To make it sustainable, it must follow these three principles: reduce, reuse and recycle. The principles are three approaches – reduce (minimize the quantity of resource use); reuse (optimized resource use) and recycle (turnaround and put the resource to use again). There are several ways to achieve this. Experts insist that with this system, value is created by focusing on value preservation. The circular economy can almost be viewed as the opposite of a linear economy. It focuses on optimizing the use of a product or service, a concept that is releva...
...the new round brings its total funding to date to $9.5 million. Grinta, an Egyptian B2B digital pharmaceutical platform, has raised $8 million in seed funding to facilitate the growth of its full-stack tech platform, team expansion and growth across the Egyptian market. The round was co-led by Raed Ventures and Nclude, with participation from investors including Silicon Valley-based Endeavor Catalyst and 500 Global, bringing its total funding to date to $9.5 million. According to the fintech’s CEO and co-founder, Mohammed Azab, the startup’s partners are making it possible for the startup to establish its footprint in the pharma market in the country, also further enhancing the penetration of the market by other pharma players. He said: “We are very excited to have the right investor base as our backers that share the same values and vision of making Pharma accessible and affordable across Africa. As we plan to expand our footprint in the main Pharma hubs on the continent, we will also enable Egyptian and regional Pharma manufacturers to further penetrate the $50 billion African market.” Commenting on the new raise, Raed Ventures noted that the company is an exceptional company fixing the gap in the supply chain in the pharmaceutical industry in the country. “Grinta is an exceptional team of serial healthcare entrepreneurs on a mission to improve access to and affordability of medicines in Egypt and Africa,” Wael Nafee, Partner at Raed Ventures. “By empowering pharmacies to be more efficient at running their business, fixing a broken supply chain end-to-end, and partnering with all stakeholders in the value chain they will realise this vision. We’re proud to be doubling down on Grinta for this funding round as they expand across Africa”, he added. Another participant in the funding round, Nclude, expressed excitement about the opportunity to work with Grinta to produce customer-centric products and offer solutions to the pharmaceutical supply chain industry. “We’re excited to partner with Grinta to help enable their vision of delivering customer-centric, data-driven, and fintech-enabled solutions to modernise the pharmaceutical supply chain in Egypt and beyond,” “We look forward to supporting the Grinta team on their journey to build a digital and cashless bridge between underserved individual pharmacy owners and all stakeholders across the pharma value chain”, said Eslam Darwish, Founding General Partner at Nclude. Endeavour Catalyst, a participant in the fund round, said they are proud of the partnership since they have always believed that investing in the nation offers worthwhile chances. “Grinta represents our 10th investment in Egypt, making Endeavor Catalyst proudly one of the most active international investors in the country. But more than attracting attention and capital to the region, Mohamed Azab’s latest achievement advances the entire healthcare industry” Endeavor Catalyst Managing Partner Allen Taylor “As an Endeavor Entrepreneur and Board Member, we have witnessed how Azab’s multiplier effect has impacted the local ecosystem. Our recent mapping showed that he alone has already inspired, invested, and mentored more than 100 local businesses in the Middle East, and this is only the beginning. We are huge fans of Azab and his team, knowing they can lead the next frontier of innovation in Egypt”, he further added. By enabling independent pharmacies, Grinta aims to ensure efficiency in the pharmaceutical supply chain. Read also: Goodwell investment to raise EUR 150 million in the new uMunthu II investment fund More about Grinta With a size exceeding $6 billion, Egypt has the largest pharmaceuticals market in Africa thanks to its strong local manufacturers, three sizable distributors, and more than 3,000 wholesalers, all of whom are aiming at the country’s 60,000 dispersed retail pharmacies that have not yet been digitalized. Grinta, a company founded in 2021 by Mohamed Azab, Yosra Badr, Ali Youssef, and Hamza ...
Many football fans across the world are eager to watch the 2022 FIFA World Cup games as they happen in Qatar. The World Cup will see the biggest stars in football battle for glory over the course of one month to create the greatest sporting spectacle in the world. Although the Super Eagles of Nigeria miss out on this 2022 edition in Qatar, football fans nationwide are still interested in watching the event to follow up with other nations and root for their favourite players. The World Cup qualifiers involved all 211 FIFA member associations and 32 teams travelled to Qatar for the finals. The qualification process, which started in June 2019 did not conclude until this year due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. This year’s tournament is very different to the 21 that have preceded it. It is being staged in November and December, not the customary June and July, and will be the first World Cup to be staged in the Middle East. Read also: 6 amazing tech features that will define the 2022 World Cup in Qatar The Black Stars of Ghana, The Atlas Lions of Morocco, The Carthage Eagles of Tunisia, The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, and the Teranga Lions of Senegal, the current champions of Africa are representing the African continent at the World Cup in Qatar. Which teams qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup? AFC (6) – Australia, Iran, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea CAF (5) – Cameron, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia CONCACAF (4) – Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, USA CONMEBOL (4) – Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay UEFA (13) – Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Wales These are the eight groups: Group A – Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands Group B – England, Iran, USA, Wales Group C – Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland Group D – France, Australia, Denmark, Tunisia Group E – Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, Japan Group F – Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia Group G – Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon Group H – Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea Each team will play three matches; one against the other teams in their group. The two teams that finished highest from each group will progress to the knockout stage. The 16 teams that finish in the top two positions in their respective groups will play in a pre-drawn tournament bracket to determine the eventual winner. Read also: 3 sports tokens that could get a major price boost during the 2022 FIFA World Cup What are the key World Cup dates? First match – Qatar vs Ecuador: November 20 Group stage: November 20 – December 2 Round of 16: December 3 – December 6 Quarter-finals: December 9 & 10 Semi-finals: December 13 & 14 Third-place play-off: December 17 Final: December 18 How you can stream the 2022 FIFA World Cup from Nigeria SuperSport own the rights to broadcast the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Africa. You can follow the tournaments on all SuperSport platforms on DStv on Tv, Mobile, and the Web. You can also follow the world cup on ShowMax Pro. The dedicated app will also show the World Cup content, including matches, documentaries, fan zones, and more in 4K. The 2022 FIFA World Cup will be the first time that ShowMax is airing content in 4K. Showmax and Showmax Pro have been broadcasting shows, TV programs, and other content in 720p, whereas other streaming rivals such as Netflix have been doing 4K for years. Stream 2022 FIFA World Cup games on Twitter Another avenue to stream the FIFA World Cup is via social media platforms such as Twitter. Search for the match you wish to watch when the game is on and add live stream; for instance; “Portugal vs Argentina live stream” and check out the options provided. Stream 2022 FIFA World Cup games from websites Here are the links for some websites that will allow users to stream games live from the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. You may be blocked from accessing some of these websites if you are in Nigeria but using a VPN ...
Jon Cunliffe, Bank of England’s deputy governor, stated that there might be a need to consider the digitalization of the British pound, following FTX’s bankruptcy. He made this suggestion while discussing the meltdown of the embattled crypto exchange, FTX. closely looking at the potentiality of issuing a digital version of pounds. In the early moment of the crash, the Bank of England executive claimed he never thought of a correlation between FTX’s devastating crash and the central bank’s work on a central bank digital currency. Speaking at the Warwick Business School’s Gilmore Centre Policy Forum Conference on DeFi and Digital Currencies, he disclosed that he now understands the connection and foresees a chance to push the idea of the pound’s digitization into realization. Read Also: Singapore reveals $275m FTX investment Bank of England Deputy Governor, Jon’s comments Cunliffe said, speaking at the Warwick Business School’s Gilmore Centre Policy Forum Conference on DeFi and Digital Currencies, “Over the past few days, I have had a few comments, both to the effect that the collapse of FTX shows that we need to get on and issue a digitally native pound, and to the effect that FTX shows that we do not need to do so.” The comments are justified, as FTX in particular is “emblematic of these new technologies and the possibility that they might revolutionize financial services and the forms that money takes,” according to the deputy governor. Sam Bankman-Fried’s multi-billion-dollar crypto enterprise FTX filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. early this month. On Monday, Cunclifffe mentioned that crypto needed to be subjected to appropriate and strict policy frameworks in the U.K. to protect investors, traders, and users’ financial security and provoke development. Cunliffe has previously requested the extension of the scope of existing financial regulations to the crypto ecosystem. The Bill is currently being debated in the U.K Parliament Currently, the financial services and markets bill that could end crystallizing Jon’s proposition— the regulation of crypto as financial tools; thus providing U.K regulators extra control over the sector— is presently being looked at in the parliament. As initiated by the Bank of England, the regulatory framework will regulate massive issuers of payments-centred crypto assets like stablecoins. Also, there are ongoing plans by the central bank to begin a consultation on stablecoins in 2023. The intention of this consultation is to consider carefully “the requirements for corporate structure, governance, accountability, and transparency necessary” to meet the expectations saddled on other core elements of the financial system, Jon Cunliffe emphasized on Monday. “The sudden FTX crash and its catastrophic boomerang show how vital these aspects are,” he added. Read Also: Will the FTX crash affect stablecoins? This advancement is exciting, and it is largely driven by the modernized trajectory of the financial world—the digitalization of money, thus minimizing the role of cash and, more generally, the increasing digitalization of daily life. The trends in the financial ecosystem reveal a massive reckoning for virtuality. “Our approach as regulators should be open – by which I mean we should be prepared to explore whether and if so how the necessary level of assurance equal to that in conventional finance could be attained. But we should also be firm that where it cannot, we are not prepared to see innovation at the cost of higher risk,” the Bank of England executive said. The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government’s banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of the United Kingdom, it is the world’s eighth-oldest bank.
The third quarter of the year saw Africa’s e-commerce giant Jumia record substantial growth in revenue and gross profit, per the company’s financial earnings report released last week. According to the latest numbers, the “Amazon of Africa” reported $50.5 million in revenue in Q3 2022, a 6% growth when compared to the $47.6 million recorded in the previous quarter (Q2). The new figure also represents an 18.4% increase from the $42.7 million reported in the same period last year. In H1 2022, Jumia’s revenue reached $104.9 million, a 43.3% increase from H1 2021, which was $73.2 million, indicating that the company is taking advantage of its post-pandemic momentum. Similarly, the company reported a 33% drop in operating losses in Q3 2022, just as the company’s gross profit increased by 29% compared to last year. In Q2, its gross profit reached $30.4 million, up 14% year-over-year, which is said to be the fastest growth rate in the past five quarters. These interesting numbers came on the heels of an unexpected change in the leadership of the company. Barely two weeks ago, Jumia’s co-founders Jeremy Hodara and Sacha Poignonnec stepped down from their positions as co-CEOs — roles they held since 2012. Francis Dufay, who was until recently the executive vice president for Jumia Africa, overseeing its entire operation on the continent, was appointed CEO. Read also: Jumia appoints new CEO as co-founders step down. Major takeaways The financial report reveals that the retail giant’s gross merchandise value (GMV) declined to $240.7 million from the $252.7 million reported in Q2. Interestingly, the second quarter saw Jumia’s GMV jump by 27% year-over-year from $198.9 million. GMV refers to the total value of orders for products and services, including shipping fees, value-added tax, and before deductions of any discounts or vouchers, irrespective of cancellations or returns for the relevant period. In a related development, the company reduced its adjusted EBITDA loss from 57.2% in Q2 to 45.5 in the third quarter. “Adjusted EBITDA” corresponds to the loss for the period, adjusted for income tax expense, finance income, finance costs, depreciation, and amortization. EBITDA, which stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, is defined as an alternate measure of profitability to net income, according to Investopedia. Citing “the highly volatile and unpredictable macro environment”, Jumia also said it has decided to suspend its full-year 2022 GMV growth guidance and Gross Profit guidance for the second half of 2022. Read also: Jumia’s revenue rises by 42.5% in Q2 of 2022 as orders reached 10.3m. Goodbye to Jumia Prime One of the major strategies the company believes will help retain its spot on the path of profitability is axing Jumia Prime, a delivery subscription service that shares similarities with Amazon Prime. Launched in 2019, Prime targeted would-be regular shoppers who chose to pay a renewable subscription fee rather than incur different shipping costs for each order. Jumia, in the earnings report, however, said it is “too early in the adoption curve to push such a product”, saying it would instead focus “on enhancing the basics of the customer value proposition to drive repurchase rates”. The company will also suspend logistics-as-a-service “in countries where logistics infrastructure is not yet ready to support third-party volumes.” The service, however, will continue in Nigeria, Morocco, and Côte d’Ivoire. Read also: Jumia tops as Nigeria dominates the list of 100 most-funded African startups. More focus on JumiaPay The company said that going forward, it will be prioritizing its digital payment and fintech platform, JumiaPay by “focusing on a more targeted number of critical products and ventures”. This is hardly surprising because JumiaPay transactions accounted for 32% of total orders in the third quarter of the year. 33% of orders placed on Jumia in the second quarter of 2022 were completed ...
Search trends information is gleaned from data collated by Google based on what Nigerians have been searching for and asking Google November for many is quite an exciting month. The world, Africa and Nigeria, in particular, experienced their fair share of the good, the bad and the ugly. We were interested in what was top on people’s minds in this month. One way of finding what was of great interest to Nigerians is to analyze what they searched on Google during the month. Search trends information is gleaned from data collated by Google based on what Nigerians have been searching for and asking Google. So, we checked out the top questions Nigerians asked and the keywords they searched so far in the month of November. Here are the top topics that Nigerians were most interested in this November: 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar The quadrennial FIFA World Cup tournament is arguably the biggest sporting event in the world. The 2022 edition which kicked off in Qatar has drawn football lovers of host countries to support their countrymen through the stages of the tournament. The Super Eagles of Nigeria lost to Ghana during the qualifiers play-offs and are not represented in the year’s edition. The Black Stars of Ghana will play Portugal, Uruguay and South Korea in Group H. Despite this, Nigerians have continued to follow the competition as other major football tournaments are suspended in Europe. This year’s edition has been littered with controversy with many people citing reasons why Qatar is not fit to host the tournament amid allegations of human rights abuse, It is the first time that the World Cup would hold in the Middle East and there are special rules regarding alcohol consumption, public displays of affection, and more. The tournament in Qatar is set to feature many stars including Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi, who are both featuring in the tournament for the fifth time. Notable absentees include Senegalese star, Sadio Mane, and current Balon D’or Winner, Karim Benzema, who have both been ruled out of the tournament through injuries. The event is expected to be entertaining because Qatar, the host nation, is a desirable vacation destination for travellers from all over the world. Read also: 6 amazing tech features that will define the 2022 World Cup in Qatar Peter Obi vs everybody else It is election season in Nigeria, with the 2023 General elections just around the corner. However, there have been a number of exciting events leading up to that election, prompting Nigerians to search for the activity of their preferred candidates on Google. Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar, and Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the three front-runners for next year’s elections, have dominated trending topics on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter for months. Peter Obi has emerged as a revolution that is currently sweeping through the country, as his supporters, the OBIdients, have taken to every platform available, both physical and virtual to push for his emergence as Nigeria’s next president. One of his opponents, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu shares this popularity on social media platforms too. He has trended recently because of several allegations and controversies surrounding his candidature in the upcoming elections in the country. Well, as democracy would permit, may the best candidate win the polls win. Ronaldo’s Manchester situation Portugal international Cristiano Ronaldo has dominated the headlines and Twitter trends table recently. Before his controversial interview with Piers Morgan aired, the sporting personality had already been in the news for one controversy or the other because of his challenges at Manchester United. The interview concerning the five-time Balon D’or winner’s time at Manchester United is the topic of recent discussion. In the interview, which was conducted by well-known Tv personality Piers Morgan, Ronaldo made controversial remarks about the squad, the management, and even a few of his former teammates including Wayne R...
An impact investment firm, Goodwell Investments has launched a new EUR 150 million fund that will help high-impact SMEs in Africa increase their market share and make their products and services more accessible and affordable for underserved African markets. The newest Goodwell Investments fund, uMunthu II, is an institutional investment fund, that is strongly focused on inclusive growth and sustainable development in Africa as the Goodwell investment firm already has local staff in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria. The uMunthu II fund will be co-managed by Alithea Capital, Goodwell’s long-term investment partner based in Lagos, Nigeria. The fund has so far garnered commitments totalling 50 million euros from foundations, family offices, and individual investors and at least 35 new portfolio businesses will gain from the fund. Speaking on the investment fund and on building Goodwell’s successful track record, Els Boerhof, one of Goodwell’s managing partners said, Our mission-driven investment philosophy delivers both financial and social returns by taking an extremely local approach. Our repeated success is directly connected to working closely with our portfolio companies, bringing together both regional expertise and access to a global business network. Els Boerhof, one of Goodwell’s managing partner The uMunthu II will make investments in businesses that provide un(der)served populations with inexpensive, basic, high-quality goods and services as well as in local entrepreneurs that are aware of the needs and difficulties of their customers. Also, the diversified investment portfolio will prioritise financial inclusion (35%), food and agriculture (25%), and mobility and logistics (15%), with a secondary focus on healthcare, education, and energy. uMunthu II and the African startup potentials Remember that we reported that, according to statistics from CB Insights, venture capital in Africa unexpectedly fell by 54% in the third quarter of the year. However, while other companies have become more cautious in the face of economic uncertainty. Goodwell sees the enormous untapped possibilities of the African market. Although, many entrepreneurs have nonetheless managed to attract a sizable amount of investments during the year, despite the economic downturn in venture funding in Africa. In a recent report of the most funded startups in Africa, fintech startups made up 36 of these startups, which is more than twice as many as the following area, resources for the environment and energy. This may have inspired uMunthu II’s decision on which startups to concentrate on. Aside from Goodwell investments, the current status of the world economy, and the fact that most other regions’ markets are changing or stagnating, some other investments are starting to see the enormous economic potential in Africa. However, despite the continent’s overall bright future, the majority of African startups do not currently have the opportunity to participate in funding rounds. The goal of Goodwell’s most recent fund, uMunthu II, which has 15 years of expertise managing impact-focused investments in Africa and India, is to promote equitable growth. The company’s 35 current portfolio firms have reached customers in 47 countries and served over 30 million families with financial services valued at over EUR 2.5 billion. They have also directly supported 35,000 employees.
Side hustle, or side gig is defined by the cambridge dictionary as a piece of work or a job that you get paid for doing in addition to doing your main job. At the moment the Nigerian economy is not smiling on anyone, with inflation standing at 20.77% and underemployment standing tall at 33%. I think now is the right time of starting a side business because it never hurts to have multiple income streams, especially when you’re building a business. Having a side business (or two) can be an excellent way to keep money coming in, easing your anxiety and lessening some financial burdens. Here are 15 ideas of side hustles you can run as a creative. Run Instagram Or Tiktok Ads For Other Businesses If you’re a world-class marketer, you can make a lot of extra money by marketing for other brands that aren’t so savvy in reaching the Gen-Z audience. Work your network to uncover business owners you know who need this service. You can make $1,000 a month or more without taking up too much of your time. Start A Youtube Channel There’s a lot of ad money to be made on YouTube. For example, my wife is a registered nurse here in Los Angeles. During her days off, she shares her healthcare and personal experiences of pregnancy and parenting an infant on her YouTube channel. It’s a creative outlet for her that helps others broaden their knowledge while also earning some ad revenue. Photographer If photography is your medium, providing photography services at weddings can be a lucrative business. The profitability of running a photo studio business cannot be overstretched. Owning a photo studio automatically makes you a boss of yourself. Employing people to work in your studio makes you a job creator in society. Photography services are demanded almost hourly by almost everyone. Read Also: How to Turn Your Hustle Into a Proper Business in Nigeria Clothing Designer You could also design clothing items from scratch and then work to get your line featured in stores or boutiques or even start your own. Personal Stylist If you don’t necessarily want to design the clothes but you still have a passion for fashion, you can build a business working as a personal stylist to help clients shop and put together outfits. Makeup Artist Makeup is another area that requires a lot of creativity. You can start a salon type of business or even just travel to work with clients at their location as a side hustle. Sell An Online Course Teach others how to become a master of your craft with online courses. Once the initial setup is complete, this is an excellent way to earn passive income. There are plenty of platforms that allow creatives make money from online courses as a side hustle, some of them include Thinkific, Teachable and Kajabi. Get Paid For Your Advice Consultants are in high demand. Even better, being a consultant is entirely flexible. You can consult for as many or as few hours as you want in a given month. Register as an expert on Clarity and charge $10 a minute or more for your time. People can schedule calls with you to hear your advice and discuss their ideas, and you get paid for talking about your experiences. It’s a win-win situation and a great side hustle option. Write A Book You have a unique story. Write it down, then sell it on Amazon. Use Amazon’s self-publishing service to have your book distributed on Kindle or paperback. Be sure to work with an editor before publishing to ensure that your book is polished and professional. Once it’s online, you’ll get paid as people buy it. In addition to earning some extra income, you’ll build your reputation and increase your digital profile. This can be very helpful as you launch your new side hustle. Read Also: Want to be a digital nomad? Here are 5 African countries to consider Graphic Design We live in a digital world, which means digital art is equally important. Starting a graphic design business is a great way to flex your creative muscles while also providing a valuable service to businesses. It...
The FIFA World Cup, arguably the most iconic sporting event on the planet, kicked off in Qatar on Sunday and crypto enthusiasts may welcome the distraction from the ongoing misery by the ongoing FTX turmoil. The fan tokens of several national teams and sports-related firms already witnessed incredible growth in the build-up to the tournament, reflecting the influence of football fans during such events. Fan tokens are cryptocurrencies that allow users to have access to a range of fan-related membership benefits, such as voting rights, rewards, merchandise designs, tickets, and unique experiences. Sports clubs, music fan clubs, and other groups can use them to democratise and coordinate experiences, among other things. In the last seven days, the prices of national and club fan tokens have risen between 20-50%. This is due to the hype and buzz behind the FIFA World Cup which comes once in four years. Read also: 3 Metaverse games that can earn you crypto rewards this month The prices of more sports-related tokens are expected to rise as the FIFA World Cup 2022 gets fully started. In view of this, we have come up with a list of sports tokens to pay attention to during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Argentine Football Association Fan Token($ARG) $ARG is the official fan token for Argentina’s football team, and it has a strong following behind it. Built on the Chiliz platform, the token has evolved to become one of the biggest fan tokens, with a market cap of over $27 million. Los Albiceleste won the FIFA World Cup on two occasions and lost in extra time to Germany in 2014. Lionel Messi is arguably one of the greatest players in history and he is the captain of Argentina. According to him, this will be his final outing at the FIFA World Cup. Hearing his statement, fans from all over the world poured into their fan tokens showing immense support, and hoping for a great victory at the tournament. Since celebrity player Lionel Messi plays for this side, the token is also expected to profit from Messi and Ronaldo’s rivalry, driving it higher as each member of the iconic duo strives to outdo the other. Portugal National Team Fan Token ($POR) $POR is another fan token to keep an eye on during the FIFA World Cup 2022. The price of the token, which is also developed on the Chiliz platform, has grown dramatically in recent weeks. Cristiano Ronaldo, the national hero of Portugal, has sparked enthusiasm from football fans all around the world. Massive spike, huge trading volume and a strong position, $POR already has a market capitalisation of $19 million. This is the eighth time Portugal would feature in the Fifa World Cup with their best result of obtaining 3rd place back in 1966. This year’s edition is expected to be Cristiano Ronaldo’s last and his leadership is being projected to guide them towards the trophy. The team’s continued success in the World Cup should lead $POR to a rally toward or above $7. Related post: Here are 3 creative ways to earn cool cash on the Ethereum blockchain Spain National Football Team Fan Token($SNFT) The Spanish national team is well-known for its ferocity on the field and $SNFT has followed suit. Built on the Bitci platform, the token has seen rapid growth. $SNFT’s outperformance of other fan crypto tokens may reflect the Spanish football team’s higher odds of winning the World Cup in 2022. $SNFT shows potential to continue its rally during the World Cup and its price should reflect how the Spain National Football team performs. For instance, back-to-back wins for Spain may stretch $SNFT’s price valuation above $0.7. Currently trading at $0.3. The fan token presently has a market capitalisation of $9 million, making it a low-cap treasure and a potential star of the 2022 World Cup. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice. It is strongly recommended that every recipient seek appropriate independent professional advice before acting on any inf...
Surprisingly, she made no inference to sex. But she was so intelligent, graceful and sexy that all he could think about was sex - The Griot, 2022. That statement is a reference to how sexualisation takes the centre point of conversations when there are other things to consider when we relate with each other. But, “The Griot” is more than that. It is about oral tradition. It is about betrayal when a friend takes credit in place of a coy storyteller and attempts to win the heart of the woman they both love. Film: “The Griot”Running time: 1:49:32Director – Adeoluwa OwuWriters – Temilolu Fosudo, Dapo Lanre-Badmus Characters in “The Griot” Lateef Oladimeji Lakunle Temilolu Fosudo Sanmi Funsho Adeolu Oba Adejare Goodness Emmanuel Tiwa Yewande Adekoya Sunbo The Plot Alantere ooAntereAlantere ooAntere The beginning of “The Griot” gives you an insight into what you are about to watch: A story about oral tradition in Yoruba land, beginning with the popular song, and it immediately draws us to the consequences of our wrong decisions. He died a wretched man! The story progresses into what you will realise is the heart of an average human being – one of opportunism and sheer arrogance when power and affluence are in hand. Read also: A spoiler review of “Wakanda Forever” and what the end means If you watch further, you will be reminded of parental misfortunes when fathers and mothers force their children to pick life partners based on family fortunes, especially wealth. “Who is your father?” Only that, this time, the choice is influenced by a greedy storyteller. The fraudster is eventually exposed and is banished from the town, Wakajaye. This is a warning. The water in this pot will finish. The pot will dry. Once the pot is empty you will be thirsty.Gbobaniyi, I hope you understand me now? Baba (Kunle Afod) says to Sanmi “The Griot” ends on a tragic note – what many viewers call unnecessary. Meanwhile, let’s see what other viewers are saying about the movie. The viewers’ review – “The Griot” @anuoluwah: Nothing prepared me for the ending of the movie “The Griot” but it was a great movie filled with lots of lessons: 1. Not everyone you think is your friend is really your friend. 2. Being shy can limit you from reaching your goals. 3. Your ‘bestie’ can be your biggest hater. @Momentwithdao: So I just finished watching “The Griot” and there are two sides to what I learnt: 1. Physical part: I learnt that the courageous will always lead the gifted, No matter how gifted/talented you are if you are not courageous you’ll forever be at the bottom. Spiritual part: it’s so disheartening to see Tiwa die in the movie, Here is the gist. You can’t live life ordinarily, you have to be powered by the Holy Ghost, Life is not fair, you’re the one playing fair. @dondekojo: “The Griot” director wasn’t sure if the movie should be set in a modern village or an ancient one I guess. Attention to details: zip in Yemoja’s dress and glass cups, but cowry money. Maybe it’s Post-Emefiele Nigeria. @olorunwababs: I have now watched “The Griot” – a Nollywood movie on Netflix. Excellent storytelling, but with a bad ending – I hated the fact that Tiwa died. But I guess that’s what makes a story unique. That said, there are some important lessons to pick from that movie. @maryannivy: “The Griot” feels like a beautiful stage play that was told in the language of film. The story is so simple yet distinct and original. The actors were like music to my eyes especially Temi Fosudo in his role as Sanmi. I at first wondered why the language was so high class. @acupofkhafi: I really enjoyed “The Griot” on Netflix! An African story very well told and it was lovely to see some of the greats of Nigerian theatre on screen. Highly recommend! @bibzyCarter: “The Griot” is a very good movie. Good plot, good acting, and a great set. Kudos to everyone involved. I am satisfied. @_theladymo: After watching “The Griot” all I can say is fear men, especially Yoruba men. @vikkionline1: Why must “...
Al Rihla, which means "the voyage" in Arabic, will be used as the official world cup ball for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar kicks off today. The event which holds once in four years is arguably the most anticipated sporting event in the world for spectators, participants and host countries. However, this special edition could be revolutionary for fans of the sport, as they are set to be entertained and greeted with several technologies which could define the future of the sport going forward. Apart from the fact that it is the first time that an Arab country is hosting the event, the World Cup would be characterised by so many other firsts. It will also be the first time that the event will be held in the middle of the European football season. For the first time also, all eight venues of the competition are located within an hour’s distance from each other, making it a first-of-its-kind compact World Cup. While all of these things make the FIFA World Cup in Qatar an event “not to be missed,” there is one element that makes this edition of the competition even more unique: Technological innovations. This read affords you 6 technological infusions and innovations that could change the future of the game, impressing players, fans, and more in the process. Read also: Can technology make Nigeria’s 2023 elections more credible? Enhanced Football Intelligence At the event in Qatar, FIFA will provide worldwide TV, the online audience, the participating teams and their players with the most up-to-date insights, measurements, and performance data in tournament history. The expanded football intelligence service, created by the FIFA High-Performance team under the direction of Arsène Wenger, FIFA Chief of Global Football Development, will provide fresh and intriguing analytics to enhance the coverage and analysis of each game during the competition. “We would like to share our vision of using football data analytics combined with technical expert interpretation to create a new football intelligence, allowing everyone to better understand the game” Arsene Wenger, FIFA Chief of Global Football Development Every game will feature a different set of in-game and post-game improved football intelligence visuals that are presented as augmented reality and conventional graphics. These enhanced statistics give operational definitions, several video examples, and precise breakdowns of every aspect of the game. They also explicitly explain each action. According to Wenger, “Enhanced football intelligence will be our blueprint for how we analyse football in the future. When we discover new insights, we want to share them with the world of football. With our online FIFA Training Centre, we have a fantastic vehicle to do so. My team will continue to provide new and insightful football analysis content to help share new understanding of the game combined with performance data, video examples and technical explanations.” FIFA will be able to use this data to do developmental analysis to better understand what it takes to go from junior to senior level in both the men’s and women’s sports, as well as longitudinal post-match analysis to understand how the game is evolving over time. Al Rihla Al Rihla, which means “the voyage” in Arabic, will be used as the official world cup ball for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Al Rihla, the official match ball for the 2022 World Cup, is an innovative product. It has an inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor that can identify tight offside events as part of the Adidas Suspension System. The match ball features a connected ball technology which will relay real-time data to VAR officials. The kick point may be identified with extreme precision thanks to this sensor, which is located in the centre of the ball and feeds ball data to the video operation room 500 times per second. This is the first time ever that a World Cup match ball will feature this technology. FIFA Player App Another tec...
Hi guys, It’s the weekend already, and it looks like next week is starting really well as the 2023 World Cup is finally here. Football fans across the world have been anticipating the big event for years. But while this has dominated the social media space in the last few days (Yes, football fans I’m looking at you), that is not the only major event trending this week. As usual, we have curated some of the top trendy stories from the social space you might have missed. Just sit back, relax and enjoy these stories Is Cristiano Ronaldo’s football career over? So, there’s been a lot of controversy with your all-time GOAT recently, that his career may finally be coming to an end, but why is that a topic now? On Sunday, Ronaldo opted to open out in an interview with Piers Morgan about the challenges he is facing at Manchester United, the disrespect from Erik ten Hag, and other club executives and this has caused a massive uproar in the football community, especially as his contract is not over yet with the club. Now, before you throw blame around, let me explain what happened Cristiano Ronaldo went to the tunnel before the game ended against Tottenham (via @TelemundoSports) B/R Football (@brfootball) October 19, 2022 I mean, it’s difficult to grasp how awful Ronaldo’s relationship with Manchester United is. It was his big first club in Europe, and given the sequence of events, it may be his last. Things haven’t been going so well for the club, which is evident as the club has changed managers more times than they have won titles in recent years. For Ronaldo, it appears he wants to move on, but given his age, it might be difficult. As the squad suffers, many people expected that the club will sell the football legend, but Erik ten Hag insists that he is a key part of his plan to move the team forward, which the GOAT player somewhat contradicts in his interview. "I don't have respect for him, because he don't show respect for me." Cristiano Ronaldo says he experiences a lack of "empathy" from his Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag. Watch live:@cristiano | @piersmorgan | @TalkTV | #90MinutesWithRonaldo | #PMU Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) November 17, 2022 Ronaldo has recently been playing as a substitute, which many felt was disrespectful for a legend. During the match against Tottenham, Ronaldo exited the stadium after being called in as a substitute a few minutes before the end. This set tongues wagging, and Ronaldo spent a short time out of the first team but has since featured for the club before airing the interview with Piers Morgan. After watching the Ronaldo interview I have to say I think him doing an interview is completely justified. Been heavily disrespected and he has a right to speak out too Conn (@ConnCFC) November 17, 2022 Many fans have shown support, criticising the club’s treatment of him, while some think his ego is the major problem. According to multiple reports, the club is looking to terminate his contract. However, the star stated that he could retire after the 2022 World Cup if he leads Portugal to glory in Qatar. Read Also; Ronaldo Launches First NFT Collection With Binance Soar like an Eagle or NOT Although the Super Eagles will not feature in the 2022 Fifa World cup, the team faced Ronaldo’s Portugal in an international friendly match in Lisbon. The Super Eagles team arrived in the stadium with their usual trendy fashion, training all day as the team’s Twitter handler painted the timeline with their photos. Many Nigerians were thrilled about the match, but were you expecting the super eagles to beat the Portugal team even without Ronaldo? Just a thought though. Many people felt the same but hoped for at least a goal or two before the game ended. The team that started the game was very good on paper with stars playing in the European top flight, but Bruno Fernandes put Portugal ahead within the first 10 minutes and that was it for many Nigerians. Black Stars of Ghana play Switzerland, beat them 2-0....
...the startup has done over 1million insured trips since April when it was released to the public ETAP – a mobility technology company operating in Africa, aims to make getting car insurance as easy as taking a picture. The InsurTech industry in Africa is young and growing. A 2021 Statista report claims 57 insurtech startups are active in Africa. Surprisingly, most of these 57 startups are located in 3 countries – South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria, with thirty, fifteen, and four fintechs focused on insurance services, respectively. Going by these stats, InsurTech companies providing services and solutions related to car insurance in Africa are even smaller. Guardian also reported that there are indications that only about 2.53 million out of the 12 million registered vehicles on Nigerian roads have genuine motor insurance, leaving about 9.5 million uninsured. However, among the scarcely localised car insurance providers in Africa is ETAP, a startup making buying and claiming car insurance enjoyable using human behaviour and gamification. According to the CEO, Ibraheem Babalola, the company is removing the complexities, difficulties, trust and accessibility issues for car insurance, making it possible for people to get insurance for their cars in the space of 90 seconds and get rewards for driving safely. “ETAP is the most powerful car insurance app in the continent and the future of insurance in the continent as well” Ibraheem Babalola “Nigeria has one of the highest risk environment in the world with one of the lowest insurance penetration, which is crazy because typically it’s the higher the risk, the higher the need to protect against unforeseen circumstances,” he says. Ibraheem Babalola gave Technext an insight into how the company is rebranding car insurance and fast-tracking the conventional slow and inefficient process with the infusion of technology. Let’s get to it. What does ETAP do? ETAP is a car insurance app that provides insurance services for Africans by providing a fast-tracked process and reward system for customers to have a better experience. ETAP’s suite of products includes an app that uses advanced telematics to monitor important driving behaviours like speed, cornering, acceleration, braking, and focus. Drivers can also get actional insights and tips to improve their driving while earning rewards for good driving. Also, users can buy car insurance in a minute and a half, and complete insurance claims in 3 minutes or less, with flexible coverage options including daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual plans, depending on their needs. Like its name, which is an acronym for – “easy as taking a picture”, ETAP makes car insurance accessible for the least cost possible through its various services. “We have re-imagined the entire process and the entire value-chain nd product, such that we’ve removed every complexities, trust issues and accessibility issues for car insurance such that people can get their insurance easily and get rewarded for driving safely.” Ibraheem Babalola What informed the idea behind ETAP? While many car owners have no or fake insurance, others with genuine insurance papers fail to renew when their policies expire. The Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC) Act demands that any automobile on the roads must have at least a third-party motor insurance policy. For Ibraheem Babalola, despite the growth in banked population and the number of cars that had come into the continent, the existing providers were not leveraging the opportunity and market to tackle challenges of trust issues, accessibility, complexities, availability, and behavioural change, which were some of the issues he saw. “With these we knew we could solve the problem with ETAP. I advised the leadership of a traditional insurance company in a capacity and with all that they saw, we decided to build ETAP because we saw the market possibilities and that it could lead the change we wanted to effect.” “We have been lucky to b...
We discussed his personal and social life, balancing tech and family, being a spiritual head, and the journey so far as a founder Michael Ajayi‘s foray into the tech world resulted from his connection to his inner self and the desire to make an impact in people’s lives and help society in overcoming its flaws. The Lagos-born, US-based founder of Colevate and 4TraderX holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Management from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in the United States. Colevate is a social crowdfunding platform where people can contribute to the development of Africa by supporting social causes like higher education. The startup has facilitated the tuition of several African students, particularly in Nigeria. On the other hand, 4Traderx is a P2P fintech startup that streamlines payments to Africa and facilitates currency conversion. Micheal Ajayi disclosed the inspiration for Colevate during his chat with Technext. A close friend realized that the funds he had sent home to help a family member had been mismanaged for years. The recipient had used the money intended for tuition to cover other unrelated expenses. The friend was clearly disappointed and Micheal sought out to find tech solutions to this sort of societal issue. A devout Christian Micheal Ajayi is a Christian who is very active in the church. He is so active that some of his peers have dubbed him “a pastor”. He admits that combining his responsibilities as the President of the church’s youth arm with work is taxing. “I don’t think I have a social life. I would like to say I’m a very shy person although a lot of people disagree on that, but I only open up to those who are really close to me, and sometimes I do things I have to do, not because I want to be in the public but because I have to do it.” Michael Ajayi In this episode of Founders’ Spotlight, he discusses his personal and social life, balancing tech and family, being a leader, and his journey as a founder solving African problems while living abroad. Let’s get to it... Read also: From roommates to co-founders; the 20-year friendship providing accommodation through tech Are you a Pastor considering your leadership role in the church? Michael Ajayi is not new to combining work with church responsibilities. However, he explains that working with a pastor to establish a ministry and being the President of a church’s Youth Fellowship does not qualify anyone as a pastor. He finds the role spiritually demanding and prefers to work behind the scenes. “People say that a lot, but I usually tell them I’m not although I don’t mind supporting the pastor from behind the scenes. I obsessed over things a lot and when I don’t get them I am not satisfied, but with the spiritual side, you are not totally in control” Michael Why tech? Michael Ajayi says he has always known he would do his own thing, even when he fell in love with hackathons. He has always been interested in the product side and worked briefly as a Product Specialist with Toshiba Global Solutions. He envisaged bringing African food to the U.S and reselling it. So he digested information on food blogs and put in the research to bring this dream to fruition. But then, with a lot of research, he realized that the food business was a tightly regulated sector in the U.S and took a lot to do. “Tech was not even part of the plan, it wasn’t what I was thinking about. I stumbled upon it and felt blown away by my findings on a research on how to use tech to solve a million problems. Alas, I got obsessed with it and started looking for what to do with it,” Micheal Ajayi explained. But it all started with Colevate, and the experience of a friend, as mentioned earlier. “This got me thinking of a way to help pay fees for for students without giving the students the money, and it drove me to do a research on that.” Michael Ajayi “I saw some crowdfunded platforms, but they gave the money to the students. I knew that wouldn’t ...
With the Google Interview Warmup tool, young Africans now have more opportunities to practice for job interviews and land the right jobs. This tool will change the game for job seekers, allowing them to practice potential interview questions to feel confident and prepared during the hiring process. The Google interview warmup tool was unveiled at the second Google for Africa Event in October 2022, and the main goal of the technology is to help students participating in Google Career Certificate courses become more prepared for upcoming job interviews. The tool is now available for all users. Read Also; How to use Google’s Interview Warmup to land your next job Technext spoke with Mojolaoluwa Aderemi-Makinde, Director of Brand and Reputation at Google Africa, to discover more about the potential of this tool, particularly for the African continent, where millions of young Africans are pursuing digital tech skills and competing in the global market. We talked about this Google Interview Warmup tool, how it works, and solutions to possible challenges users might face with the tool. Q: Several ed-tech solutions focus on helping Africans acquire skills that will enable them to compete globally. Many are opening placement platforms, but quite a few are designed to make users for certain roles. What inspired the Google team to design the Google Interview Warmup tool? Thank you for that question. So in the next 5 years, over 300 million Africans will come online, but most of these folks are young, creative and entrepreneurial, and as a common man, it is important for them to reap the benefits of being online as well. That is why in the last few years, we have invested heavily in the Digital Skills for Africa program, where we pledge to train 10 million Africans on digital skills and have trained over 6 million Africans on digital skills. We’ve also done many programs to help young people reap the benefits of digital technology. One such is the Google Global Career Certificate, launched a few years ago to help them learn skills around e-commerce, data analytics, projects, management, etc. For interviews, it is sometimes about building the skills and landing the opportunity, but there is a gap. For us, this is about helping people to cross that gap between building the skills that they have and being able to demonstrate those skills to get the right job opportunities. According to a stat, for every job hosted in Africa, there’s an average of 2400 applications. So, for one job, 2400 people are in the race, which is an average stat because this differs across countries, especially in countries where youth unemployment rates are higher. It’s really staggering. There’s a huge competition there. You know that interviewing can be very, very daunting for anyone, especially if you don’t have the right access to tools or mentors. That’s why we developed the Google interview warm-up to help job seekers take it from acquiring skills to demonstrating to interviewers their competence with the skills they have acquired. From our observations, folks are unsure if the Google interview warmup tool can provide user-specific, situation-specific contents that will be most helpful when needed. I mean, is the app designed to provide personalized guidance, maybe with the google hiring team, or what is it about? Questions in the google interview warmup tool were created by experts, industry experts and interview coaches. The questions cover three major areas around your background and situational questions. So, questions about your background are about things you experienced, your skills, the schools you went to, and your education. Then, situational questions are more around, you know, activities, challenges like if you know you were doing X in the situation X etc. We observed that the Google interview warmup tool is available only in the English language now. Knowing that Africa has a vast language demography, are there plans to include other languages? Y...
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has announced the adoption and publication of the final version of the Information Memorandum (IM) to guide the upcoming auction of the remaining lots of the 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) Spectrum for the deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) services in Nigeria. Earlier, the Commission had published a daft IM and requested stakeholders to make comments and inputs into the document to enrich its contents. Subsequently, stakeholders’ comments were collated and discussed at a Stakeholder’s Engagement forum hosted by the Commission on November 15, 2022, at Marriot Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, on the same subject. All comments have been considered, and a final Information Memorandum to guide the upcoming auction is now available on the Commission’s website (www.ncc.gov.ng) with the link Read also: NCC says it will auction 2 additional 5G licenses by December 2022 The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) had earlier announced that it will auction 2 additional 3.5GHz Spectrum band licences before the end of 2022, to boost the deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) services in Nigeria. The process kickstarted on the 21st of October, with the publication of the Draft Information Memorandum (IM) for the auction on the Commission’s website. The memo invited stakeholders to study the Memorandum for purposes of making submissions ahead of a review of the IM on 16th November 2022. The closing date for the submission of the application, the deadline for payment of mandatory Intention-To-Bid Deposit (IBD), and the Pre-Qualification Stage is set for 5th December 2022. After which, qualified bidders would be notified on the 5th of December 2022 while notification and publication of the Mock Auction and Auction date will occur on the same day. The Mock Auction is billed for 16th December 2022 just as the Auction proper takes place three days later, on 19th December 2022. Read also: 5G: NCC Convenes Stakeholder Forum for Auction in December The process is anticipated to enter its grant stage on 21st December 2022 with the publication of provisional bid winners and the notification of the provisional award of the licence. Earlier this week, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) declined the request of Airtel Africa to secure a slot of the 3.5GHz Spectrum for the sum of $273.6 million, the price the agency sold the last 2 slots at the 5G auction last November. According to BusinessDay, the NCC justified its decision, citing section 124 of the Nigerian Communications Act, which already set out the process to assign licences. Ubale Maska, Executive Commissioner, Technical Services at NCC, was quoted to have said: “Our reserve price was set after necessary benchmarking. We arrived at some idea of what the price should be. The auction determined what the actual price should be. If we have only one party interested that will determine the price. If the reserve price throws up a higher price, that new price becomes the new price.” Read also: NCC rejects Airtel’s latest bid for 5G license What has been said by the NCC on 5G The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) announced weeks ago that it would auction 2 additional 3.5GHz Spectrum band licenses before the end of 2022 to boost the deployment of Fifth Generation services in Nigeria. This happened after the process kickstarted on the 21st of October, with the Draft Information Memorandum (IM) publication for the auction on the Commission’s website. The memo invited stakeholders to study the Memorandum to make submissions ahead of a review of the IM on the 16th of November 2022. Recall that in May, the NCC issued letters of 5G license awards to MTN and Mafab Communications after the companies won the 3.5GHz spectrum auction conducted by the Commission in December last year. Read also: NCC pledges N500m for research in Nigerian universities Since then, the regulators have outlined plans to successfully deploy Nigeria’s Fifth-Generation (5G) broadband network. The Minis...
The past decade has seen a rise in data breaches and other threats, raising serious concerns about the need for improved cybersecurity. To put into context, a whopping $6.9 billion was lost to cybercrime in 2021, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)’s annual Internet Crime Report. Global cybercrime costs are expected to grow by 15 percent per year to reach $10.5 trillion annually by 2025, up from $3 trillion USD in 2015. This calls for intervention. Enter the Digital Immune System. What is Digital Immune System? Technology needs a strong cyber immune system to fend off digital threats, just as humans require a strong immune system to keep us safe from diseases and illnesses. First developed by American multinational technology corporation IBM, the Digital Immune system is a comprehensive approach to virus protection in response to the rising threat of Internet-based virus propagation. Listed as one of the top strategic technology trends to watch out for in 2023, according to U.S.-based research and consulting firm Gartner, a Digital Immune System (DIS) “combines several software engineering strategies such as observability, automation, and extreme testing to enhance the customer experience by protecting against operational and security risks”. “A digital immune system would work in much the same way as an adaptive, biological immune system: by observing the microbial landscape, detecting potential threats, and neutralizing them before they cause widespread harm,” Michael C. Schatz and Adam M. Phillippy write in the research paper, The rise of a digital immune system. For businesses that rely on technology, ensuring the customer experience isn’t compromised by defects, system failures, or anomalies is important. With a DIS, organizations can prepare to mitigate potential risks and uses failures as learning opportunities to create a superior customer and user experience that is resilient to failures. Gartner predicts that by 2025, organizations that invest in building digital immunity will increase customer satisfaction by decreasing downtime by 80%. Read also: NCC’s security response team uncovers new cyber threats to windows, routers. How DIS works A DIS can be used as a frame of reference for investing in a set of practices to improve the quality and resilience of business-critical systems. Also, the creation and evolution of a DIS leads to a more resilient business outcome and creates business value for both business and IT stakeholders. The report listed the six prerequisites for a strong digital immune system: observability, artificial intelligence (AI)-augmented testing, chaos engineering, auto-remediation, site reliability engineering (SRE), and software supply chain security. Key actions for building a strong Digital Immune System. Create and execute a DIS strategy by forming executive-sponsored teams. Create dedicated communities of practice (CoPs) to share lessons learned, guiding principles, reusable assets, standards, tools, and any AI-based insights realized. Encourage and reward resilience improvements across the organization, especially collaboration on DIS opportunities, by making all leaders of resilience-related initiatives equally responsible for improving customer experiences. Foster a collaborative culture between development, security, and operations teams to ensure ongoing support for these initiatives. Read also: Hackers steal crypto worth $120m from DeFi platform touted as ‘the most security-minded’. Digital Immune System and the future of tech In truth, deploying new technologies comes with additional risks for companies across the globe in light of the growing and ongoing threat of cyberattacks. In 1999, leading American software company, Symantec Corporation launched the Digital Immune System, a strategy for providing corporate customers with intelligent tools that keep systems running at peak performance. Several years later, the scale and robustness of cyberattacks have increas...
On Friday, Africa’s leading payments technology company, Flutterwave, unveiled $endmobile, an app to facilitate the faster and easier transfer of funds from the diaspora to the African continent. According to a statement seen by Technext, Flutterwave also signed Tobi Amusan, the Nigerian 100m Hurdles Women’s World Record Holder, as $endmobile’s Ambassador; a decision the company says is due to their similarity in speed and resilience. The Send Mobile app, available on Playstore and App Store, aims to enhance customer experience through improved speed, transparency, and the ability to get the user’s money to its destination despite the hurdles. Other features include Apple Pay which will allow Apple device users to transact seamlessly from their mobile wallets, an improved activity section that tracks transactions in real-time, and a new voucher code section that allows users to create voucher cards. Tobi Amusan, 100m Hurdles World Record Holder, said she is excited to be the product, which she said, she already uses. “I am always on the road, but I also have a lot of my family members in Nigeria. $end has helped me to keep in touch with them by meeting their needs as much as I can. Happy to be the face of this product for the African diaspora,” she said. Read also: Flutterwave acquires a switching license from the Central Bank of Nigeria. Why Flutterwave partnered with Tobi Amusan On his part, Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola, Founder and CEO of Flutterwave, said: “It’s thrilling thatTobi is $end’s Ambassador. I would say it’s a perfect match given her speed and efficiency on the tracks and, of course, $endmobile’s speed of delivering cross-border transfers. Send Mobile will help improve the speed and efficiency of transferring money from the diaspora to the African continent for fees, real estate, health, upkeep, and investments. We’re excited for all the possibilities this collaboration brings.” The statement added that customers could download the Send Mobile App on the Google Play Store for Android devices or App Store for iPhones by clicking on the respective highlighted links. In September, Flutterwave acquired a Switching and Processing License from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The high-profile license will enable the company to process financial transactions for other fintech companies and other financial institutions and issue payment cards to customers without intermediaries. This came at a time the company was facing regulatory challenges in Kenya over allegations of card fraud and money laundering by the country’s anti-corruption agency, the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA). A Kenya court had frozen accounts belonging to Flutterwave over the allegations, which the company has since denied. Read also: Again, Court freezes $3.3m belonging to Flutterwave in Kenya.
Following the news of FTX’s bankruptcy, the value of other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ether, and others including alt-coins, has dropped Hey there, welcome to the end of another exciting week in the tech industry and here is the weekly global tech roundup from Technext. Global tech roundup brings all the major tech stories that hit the weekly newsstands in one bulletin. After the proposed takeover deal involving Binance and FTX fell through this week, the embattled crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy. But its travails didn’t stop there, as individuals and companies that invested in the exchange were also caught in the fire. The company will be facing a criminal investigation for possible criminal misconduct in the Bahamas. In other news, Amazon has bowed to pressure brought on by the recent collapse of its stock in the market (losing $1 trillion in market value) and released 10,000 employees from its workforce. In case you missed some of this news or some details, don’t worry; the Global Tech roundup has got you covered. Here is a summary of the Bulletin FTX faces criminal investigation in the Bahamas Apple sued for collecting ‘too much’ user data Amazon fires 10,000 employees Paystack is now licensed in Kenya Twitter Blue suspended amid controversies Read also: Amazon loses $1 trillion in market value, Meta fires 11,000 from its workforce FTX faces criminal investigation in new development It just seems the travails of FTX Exchange are not coming to an end soon. Since its “crash” and bankruptcy filing, the problems for the exchange have not ceased. Several events, including the allegations of serious mismanagement of funds by the exchange and Binance’s announcement of its plan to liquidate approximately $580 million in FTT, aggravated the mess FTX found itself in. But now, the company would be facing criminal investigations for possible criminal misconduct in the Bahamas, marking the latest development in the crypto giant’s implosion and Bankman-Fried’s fall from grace. Spokesperson of the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Chrislyn Skippings Sunday, made this known in a statement released to the public. The announcement comes after the Securities Commission of the Bahamas suspended FTX’s registration and froze its assets on Thursday to “preserve assets and stabilise the company,” the commission said in a statement. JUST IN: The Securities Commission of The Bahamas has frozen the assets of FTX Digital Markets and related parties. Eyewitness News Bahamas (@ewnewsbahamas) November 10, 2022 Following the news of FTX’s bankruptcy at the end of last week, the value of other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ether, and other cryptocurrencies, including alt-coins, dropped. Companies that reportedly invested in the coins were not left out as staff were let go at Nestcoin, and Genesis halted withdrawals. The company has also been axed from operations in South Africa as the country’s cryptocurrency market maker Ovex cancelled and removed FTX as a juristic representative, cutting off its access to its local Financial Service Provider (FSP) licence. Apple sued Apple has been sued for invading users’ privacy, a cause that it had championed for years. The iPhone manufacturers had gone head to head with big tech firms, most notably Facebook owner Meta, about the issue in the past. The allegations claim that Apple collected user data even when its customers had explicitly changed their settings to stop the company from doing so. App developers and security researchers Tommy Mysk and Talal Haj Bakry from the software company, Mysk, recently found that iOS sends “every tap you make” to Apple from inside one of the company’s own apps. 1/5The recent changes that Apple has made to App Store ads should raise many #privacy concerns. It seems that the #AppStore app on iOS 14.6 sends every tap you make in the app to Apple.This data is sent in one request: (data usage & personalized ads are off)#CyberSecurity Mysk (@mysk_co) November 3, 2022 Acco...
Although the internet is still awash with different comments, remarks and reactions trailing the FTX saga which shook the crypto community to its roots in the past twelve days, there’s a bit of positive update to feed on this week. The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, undeterred by the hefty losses incurred by his country’s investment in bitcoin, announced that the Central American country will begin accumulating the flagship digital asset at a pace of 1 BTC per day, starting today. Also, in yet another setback for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, authorities in the United States are likely to take the legal route and prepare criminal charges against him. Just like we still haven’t gotten enough of the Terra drama, it doesn’t look like FTX’s going to end soon. Here are a few major stories from the crypto space this week. Caribbean nation to accept Bitcoin Cash as legal tender next year According to an announcement earlier this week by the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Terrance Drew at the Bitcoin Cash 2022 conference, the Caribbean nation may declare Bitcoin Cash as legal tender by March 2023. “Our nation has always been a forward-thinking nation and a leader in exploring new technologies that can advance our people. I can confirm that we are prepared to explore that possibility with the guidance of experts and professionals and after consultation with our regional banking system. [.] I welcome the opportunity to dialog further with a view to exploring future opportunities to engage in Bitcoin Cash mining and making Bitcoin Cash legal tender here in St. Kitts and Nevis by March 2023, once safeguards to our country and our people are guaranteed.” El Salvador to buy 1 btc per day Despite more than $60 million in value being wiped off the El Salvador bitcoin holdings, Nayib Bukele says the country is going to continue buying BTC. In a tweet on Thursday, the president explained that there is a new strategy for accumulating bitcoin for the country. According to him, El Salvador is going to start buying 1 bitcoin a day. He explained that it will go into effect on today(Friday) but there was no timeline for how long this will run for in the tweet. Bukele received support from Tron founder, Justin Sun who said that TRON DAO would also follow El Salvador and buy 1 BTC every day starting from today. At such rates, the buying spree would quickly increase El Salvador’s bitcoin holdings which currently sit at 2,381 BTC at press time. Notably, the president dismissed rumors that it held its BTC on the now-bankrupt FTX exchange. SBF to face lawsuit in US The Manhattan authorities are preparing criminal charges against Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX. Charles Gasparino, a Fox News Correspondent, quotes sources close to the office of Manhattan US attorney. Apparently the attorney’s office is looking to prepare charges by the end of 2022. The case charges would likely be around the misuse of customer funds. “Sources close to Manhattan US Attorney say office is looking to prepare charges by the end of the year over FTX scandal following further disclosures of Sam Bankman-Fried’s alleged misuse of customer funds and as authorities in Bahamas look to take lead on case.” Also, the White House authorities recently said they were closely looking at the FTX situation. A White House press secretary said cryptocurrencies are harming the lives of average Americans. The White House views crypto oversight as an important issue, they added. Celebrities sued over FTX As FTX’s sudden collapse continues to make waves in the crypto community, celebrities that endorsed the exchange have also come under scrutiny. A group of investors has filed a class action lawsuit against individuals endorsing the exchange. The list includes high-profile names such as Tom Brady, Stephen Curry, Gisele Bundchen, Larry David, Naomi Osaka, and the Golden State Warriors. According to the lawsuit, the platform targeted gullible investors through celebrity endorsements, des...
Hanif Adedotun’s confidence when speaking is enough to inspire a generation of current teenagers who have no idea what career path they want. You will be surprised that Hanif is 18 and is already in his fourth year of higher education. He started early, really early. When I was 10/12, I already had programming books on HTML and CSS. Hanif Adedotun Resources on HTML, CSS, and other programming books and financial support from his dad kickstarted his tech career. “He gave me a lot of advice from an experienced point of view and is the bedrock of my journey into tech,” Hanif says of his dad. The beginning of tech for Hanif Adedotun Hanif was exposed to website design, “frontend, using basic HTML, and CSS, then I transitioned to backend, then I started using Javascript to PHP. From there, I moved to graphic design, then UI/UX.” He learned most of his knowledge – Javascript, React, Python, Nodejs, Nextjs, etc – from books, YouTube, and online tutorials. Read also: Meet Sumayah Adegbite, a 15-year-old seeking to empower girls between 13-18 with STEM skills “In 2020, that is when I wanted to focus fully on learning Javascript well. So, I used a lot of YouTube videos and books. I downloaded Essential Javascript, it has three volumes. I read through it to fully understand Javascript. It took me a year to be able to tell people that I now know Javascript. For Python, I used YouTube,” Hanif says. He likes to refer to himself as Full Stack Developer, but his long-term plan is to play in the Artificial Intelligence field. A career path already? Hanif Adedotun does not waste time saying he has a career path – full-time Machine Learning Engineering. This year, I will complete my frontend and backend projects using React and by next year, I will start practical Machine Learning fully. Hanif Adedotun The teenager explains that he will be in his final year in 2023, and after then, he will take on a Masters in Machine Learning to cement his dream. Ten years from now, I see myself doing a lot of Machine Learning and AI projects, and working full time in creating solutions. Ultimately, he refers to himself as a Jack of all trades because he likes to know “every bit of the process in developing software. Over the years, I have gone through a lot of different aspects of tech. I can play anybody’s part in a tech project, but I am most proficient in frontend and backend.” Hanif Adedotun is already earning tens of thousands and is sure that his pocket will become bigger as time passes. Hanif’s most exciting project so far He is currently working on Interna – a platform that connects students with internship opportunities and professional tools like an interview prep session, a CV generator, and a list of companies hiring for internships. The platform, Hanif says, has a community of interns you can network with. He is trying to solve the problem of internship placement. “It is a problem that many students are facing,” he adds. What about school? Hanif Adedotun is currently in his fourth year studying Computer Engineering, and “everything is going great so far. I am currently on 4.78 CGPA.” He says he wanted to be 4.95, but he is happy with himself and knows he will do better before graduating. Advice to other teenagers Don’t be attracted to the hype. Tech is a lot more than social media portrays. Hanif Adedotun Hanif insists that newbies or potentials invest in their foundation. “Learn the foundation, especially through books. Books can give what you cannot get elsewhere. There is a website called Z-library (currently unavailable), where you can download free books.” He also says that new players in the tech space, especially young techies, should join GenZTechies where they can network with other techies and be inspired by the work of their age mates. “Also, join Google’s GDSC, available for students everywhere,” Hanif adds. What about Hanif’s childhood? “No, tech has not stopped my childhood,” he starts. “Tech is like a pillar in my development. Te...
It will take an average Nigerian a minimum of 304.9 days to be able to afford the iPhone 14 Pro, according to the iPhone Index 2022 released by the international e-commerce platform Picodi. The index compared the local iPhone 14 Pro (128 GB) prices with average earnings in different countries and calculated the iPhone Index, which is the smartphone price expressed in man-days. Two months ago, Apple unveiled new devices as an addition to its flagship smartphones. The newly launched devices include iPhones 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro, and 14 Pro Max, and expectedly came with heavy price tags. Read also: Here is all you need to know about the new iPhone 14, other gadgets launched by Apple. Although the price of the iPhone 14 Pro in the USA is pegged at $999, getting the base version (128 GB) in Nigeria will cost ₦1,039,000. The average wage in Nigeria is ₦71,549.83 net, according to the latest Numbeo data. According to the Picodi Index, the average Nigerian must work for 304.9 days to purchase the iPhone 14 Pro, provided all the money earned is saved for this purpose. Compared to the previous year, the number of required days increased by 93.9 days. In the last five years, the figure has continued to increase: 2018 – 91.2 days, 2019 – 122.9 days, 2020 – 188.2 days, 2021 – 211.0 days, and 2022 – 304.9 days. This is hardly surprising, considering that almost half of Nigeria’s population live in poverty, and unemployment is rising to 33%. On the other hand, an average citizen of Switzerland will earn money for the newest model the quickest – only 4.6 days, while an average American will be able to afford the latest gadget after working for 5.7 days, and Australian – after 6.1 days. Among the countries included in the ranking, the worst result was noted in Nigeria, where the iPhone is worth 304.9 man-days. The second and third worst results are Argentina and Tajikistan – 180.0 and 179.5 days, respectively. Related article: Why Nigerians prefer second-hand iPhones more than any other smartphone brand. Many Nigerians can’t afford iPhones Owning an Apple device in Nigeria is considered a mark of luxury. After all, these devices offer better specifications and user experience and are apparently more expensive than their Android counterparts. No wonder most Nigerians prefer second-hand iPhones more than any other smartphone brand. Per data from Statista, iOS users make up just under 10% of the Nigerian mobile operating system market. The point here is that not everyone can afford to buy an iPhone. A 2020 study found that only 6.41 per cent of Nigerians use the smartphone.
Perhaps the most important question on the lips of Nigerians now is, ‘who will win the 2023 elections?’ The elections happen to be the 7th quadrennial election since the end of military rule in 1999. President Muhammadu Buhari’s second and last four-year tenure ends in May, and 93.5 million voters are expected to elect his successor next February. The top contenders for the nation’s top seat during the 2023 elections are Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP). If anything, Nigeria’s presidency is a difficult job at this time, with almost half of the country’s population living in poverty, worsening insecurity, rising unemployment, and a fluctuating currency. Nigeria is also battling devastating floods that have killed more than 600 people and displaced 1.3 million others. Whoever becomes president after the 2023 elections certainly has a lot of work to do. Read also: Can social media really influence the 2023 elections in Nigeria? A rundown of elections and technology in Nigeria Since Nigeria’s independence in 1960, elections have always been held manually. Manual voting is characterized by voter registration, ballots, and voting processes which involve thumb printing the ballot paper and sticking it in a ballot box. The electoral body, INEC, would then collate, count, and announce the winners of the polls. However, the masses have almost always questioned the elections’ credibility due to allegations of malpractice. Some individuals have raised the need for digital technologies to improve the reliability of the electoral process. In 2007, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) introduced the direct data capture (DDC) method for voter registration for the elections held that year. With the DDC, INEC had hoped to eliminate double registration, double voting, and other electoral malpractices. However, the eventual conduct of the 2007 polls was widely criticized and adjudged fraudulent by local and international observers. The winner of the 2007 presidential elections, ex-president Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, admitted that the exercise “had shortcomings”. In 2011, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) introduced the Automated Fingerprint Identification system. But, the technology also fell short of expectations: it could only create a digital register to erase double registration. It was incapable of verifying the identity of voters at the polling stations. In the buildup to the 2015 elections, INEC introduced the permanent voter’s card (PVC) and smart card reader technology in an apparent effort to minimize election fraud and rigging. Touted as a game-changer, the smart card reader’s introduction has helped reduce electoral fraud, according to experts. In 2020, the electoral body introduced INEC Election Result Viewing Portal (IReV), enabling Nigerians to view polling unit results in real-time as voting ends on election day. The following year, INEC launched the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to eliminate identity thefts on election days, i.e using another person’s Permanent Voter Card. The cutting-edge technology was first deployed for the Isoko South Constituency 1 bye-election in Delta State and the Anambra governorship election, held last September. Nigerians expect it to play a major role in the upcoming 2023 elections. IReV and BVAS, though with their own challenges, will address the weaknesses in Nigeria’s election result management process, according to INEC. The recent governorship polls held in Ekiti and Osun states also witnessed the use of both technologies. “BVAS in particular is a very good development and bound to be a good complement to the on-paper electorates system of accreditation, thereby effectively eliminating voters fraud. Also, the use of such technological innovations will improve electorates’ voting experience and in hindsight, our ...
Ethereum – [i-‘thir-é-am] According to Investopedia, “Ethereum is a decentralised global software platform powered by blockchain technology. It is most commonly known for its native cryptocurrency, ether (ETH).” On its website, Ethereum is defined as a “technology for building apps and organisations, holding assets, transacting, and communicating without being controlled by a central authority. There is no need to hand over all your personal details to use it – you control your own data and what is being shared. Ethereum has its own cryptocurrency, Ether, which is used to pay for certain activities on the network.” But does everyone know what it is about? We went to the street to ask: If you missed our last #StreetTech, here you go: Want to become a tech bro or internet fraudster?- College students choose on #StreetTech
Lucky Uwakwe, founder of Sabi Groups is a certified blockchain specialist, a DeFi expert and a seasoned crypto trader. As a veteran in the industry, he is one of the pioneers that have stood the test of time in the African blockchain space. In an interview with Technext, he shares bits and pieces of his experience in the crypto space and comments on the FTX crash. He recalls how he knew about crypto but wasn’t committed until 2014. According to Lucky Uwakwe, having blockchain discussions at that time, even among tech enthusiasts, was not a thing. “When I read the concept of what Satoshi Nakamoto had, in terms of his plans for the world and the design of money, I felt this is the real thing. And ever since then, I never looked back.” For his country, Nigeria, he was more interested in seeing how the technology could give people the financial freedom they need in terms of opportunities because the earlier one understands blockchain technology’s power, the better. Read also: A chat with Eric Osuorah about Sellitic’s mission to reward African creators “So I was more focused on how my continent doesn’t miss out on this. Sometimes in 2014 I became very committed to it but prior to that time I learnt about crypto but I wasn’t committed. I became a pioneer member of the first blockchain community in Africa known as Cryptography Development Initiative of Nigeria (CDIN) as early as 2015.” Lucky Uwakwe on Sabi Exchange and vulnerabilities of centralised exchanges Lucky Uwakwe established Sabi Exchange, one of the earliest crypto exchanges in Africa. There were concerns about international exchanges treating Nigerians unfairly at that point. “So I thought, what if we could run a crypto exchange built and domiciled in Nigeria? There’s an advantage to using a localized type of company (citing FTX users in the Bahamas). Setting up my own localised exchange was a game changer for me. I wanted something where people would be able to connect. Lucky Uwakwe Our exchange got affected in the wake of the Chinese government crackdown. We got technical insurance from China to secure customer funds. Upon the crackdown in China, they could not offer that again. As it stands, we’re reworking our model to get the exchange arm of our business back. We are now deciding to get a new partner to provide us with that insurance. We’ve got that, and we’re working to come back. As a company, we have other things like the Sabi payments Solutions and other kinds of stuff which are currently operating outside the shores of Africa for payments-related services.” Although centralised exchanges (CExs) typically run in the same manner, Lucky Uwakwe says Sabi Groups wants to give users an alternative solution in the form of decentralised finance (DeFi) where customers will be able to access DeFi features while using the centralised exchange. “I’m an advocate of decentralisation and I think it’s only fair looking at what’s happening in the industry.” Since the devastating collapse of FTX last week, there are now questions surrounding the sustainability of CExs. There are also talks about how CExs do not operate according to the inherent principles of blockchain technology. Related post: FTX loses financial service license in South Africa According to Lucky Uwakwe, blockchain does not revolve around decentralisation alone. “Decentralised exchanges operate according to the principles of blockchain technology, but the principles of blockchain do not lie on decentralisation alone. It lies more on transparency, so we should be able to take note and monitor, follow and raise the alarm when we see red flags. Blockchain came with two things, how do we make this thing transparent and democratize it. Government alone shouldn’t have a say in money, but the people should also have a say.” He, however, remarks that decentralised exchange is now a thing of necessity, considering how people are losing confidence in CExs. Lucky Uwakwe expects the FTX issue to be resolved soon if there ...
South African cryptocurrency market maker Ovex has cancelled and removed FTX as a juristic representative, cutting off its access to its local Financial Service Provider (FSP) licence. Many brands have denied solidarity with the embattled exchange because wary customers are shifting their attention away from firms with a cordial relationship with FTX before its crash. FTX was the second largest crypto exchange before a bank run, and the collapse of its cryptocurrency token FTT sent the walls crashing. Rumours emerged that the exchange was insolvent, and a report disclosed that almost 40% of Alameda’s assets were FTT. Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison tried to address concerns about Alameda’s balance sheet on Twitter but effectively confirmed that — at best — 20% of their assets were FTT. Cofounder and CEO of rival exchange Binance, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, tweeted on 6 November that they would liquidate their whole stack of FTT — worth $585 million at the time. This announcement sent the price and value of FTT down the drain, with many token holders seeking to dump the asset. Read also: Binance vs FTX war: Here is all you need to know On 8 November, the CEO of Binance, CZ, disclosed that FTX had asked Binance for a bailout. Binance said it would buy the non-US exchange arm of the platform, provided it passed due diligence. A few days later, Binance disclosed that it would pull out of the deal because of facts revealed during the due diligence. “As a result of corporate due diligence, as well as the latest news reports regarding mishandled customer funds and alleged US agency investigations, we have decided that we will not pursue the potential acquisition,” Binance said. On 11 November, Bankman-Fried confirmed the exchange had applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In the US, Chapter 11 is not necessarily a total liquidation. According to the US government: “This chapter of the Bankruptcy Code generally provides for reorganization, usually involving a corporation or partnership. A chapter 11 debtor usually proposes a plan of reorganization to keep its business alive and pay creditors over time.” Read also: FTX appoints 5 new directors as bankruptcy proceeding starts Ovex Cancels and Remove FTX The community manager for Ovex told MyBroadband that the international exchange is not licensed in South Africa while advising people to stay away from FTX or any of its offerings at this time. “FTX is now unlicensed to market its services in South Africa,” Ovex community manager Nick Bergonzoli told MyBroadband. “People should avoid using FTX.” Read also: Nigerian startup Nestcoin lays off staff, declares FTX held assets FTX’s connection with South Africa Bankman’s FTX and Alameda Research invested in cryptocurrency and blockchain development globally. This includes numerous cryptocurrency exchanges in South Africa. This extends to VALR— the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in Africa and Ovex, a market maker that records trading volumes of more than $500 million per month. VALR generated $50 million (R863 million) in a Series B funding round overseed by Pantera Capital, with help from Alameda Research, Cadenza, Coinbase Ventures, and Avon Ventures. VALR founder and CEO, Farzam Ehsani has assured users that this is not a risk and that they have no exposure to the international exchange or its native token, FTT. “If you own Apple shares, and then you die, it doesn’t affect Apple. Same story for VALR,” Ehsani stated. In April 2021, FTX bought a stake in Ovex. Jonathan Ovadia, the Ovex CEO, informed MyBroadband last week that the exchange owns a minority stake of around 8%, and there are ongoing talks to purchase the equity back. He also assured that they have no exposure to FTX and moved any operations they had on the exchange off by 7 November.
Singapore has revealed that it backed the embattled cryptocurrency exchange FTX with a $275m investment and has now been burned by its sudden collapse. State-owned investment company Temasek released a statement that it invested $275 million in the crypto exchange, which was the second largest cryptocurrency exchange at the time. FTX was widely considered one of the most reputable players in the market for digital assets. In the statement released Thursday, Temasek said it had decided to write down the value of its full investment in the exchange to zero, “irrespective of the outcome of FTX’s bankruptcy protection filing,” CNN reports. FTX’s sudden crash has had multiple repercussions on the crypto market, with investors and customers stunned. The value of some major coins dropped drastically, companies let staff go, and crypto enthusiasts have employed several means to mitigate the damage to the industry. FTX Group abruptly filed for bankruptcy in the United States last Friday when its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, resigned as CEO. The voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings included all the Exchange’s 130 additional affiliated companies. Temasek said it had poured in $210 million for a minority stake of about 1% in FTX International, and $65 million for a minority stake of about 1.5% in FTX US, across two funding rounds from October 2021 to January 2022. This “write down of our investment in FTX will not have significant impact on our overall performance,” Temasek said in the statement. The investment company also gave details of its due diligence processes on the exchange, which took approximately eight months. “It is apparent from this investment that perhaps our belief in the actions, judgment and leadership of Sam Bankman-Fried, formed from our interactions with him and views expressed in our discussions with others, would appear to have been misplaced,” it added, referring to the 30-year-old founder of the exchange. Read also: FTX appoints 5 new directors as bankruptcy proceeding starts Impact of FTX’s fall from grace FTX is now under criminal investigation in The Bahamas, where it moved its headquarters last year from Hong Kong. The exchange was valued at $32 billion and had recruited high-profile backers, including SoftBank and Tiger Global, and celebrities such as football player Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, and tennis star Naomi Osaka before recent events. Last week, investor Sequoia Capital said it had marked the value of the exchange’s stake down to $0. An investor has sued Bankman-Fried and several celebrities who had endorsed the platform, including Brady and Bündchen. On Wednesday, the lending arm of crypto brokerage Genesis suspended redemptions and new loan origination after an “abnormal” number of withdrawal requests that exceeded its current liquidity, citing market turmoil from the failure of the embattled crypto exchange.. The exchange has announced a slate of new independent directors to oversee the collapsed crypto empire as proceedings for its bankruptcy filing began. Read more: Genesis halts withdrawal following FTX collapse Mitchell Sonkin was appointed as a director at West Realm Shires, Matthew Rosenberg at Alameda Research and Rishi Jain at Clifton Bay Investments. Former U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Farnan and Matthew Doheny will oversee the trading arm of the exchange. The latest statement on Tuesday explained that the embattled cryptocurrency exchange is currently speaking with the US Attorney’s Office and ‘dozens’ of US and international regulatory agencies. FTX disclosed a severe liquidity crisis and confirmed that it had responded to a cyber attack on Nov. 11 after saying on Saturday it had seen “unauthorized transactions on its platform.
...company also limits its staff travel allowances as part of its cost-cutting measures. Twiga, a B2B e-commerce food distribution network in Kenya, has laid off 211 of its full-time employees following a restructuring that saw the company’s internal sales team disbanded, The laid-off employees constitute about 21% of the over 1,000 employees domiciled in Kenya. The company serves as a link between farmers or agricultural producers, manufacturers of fast-moving consumer items, and merchants. According to TechCrunch, the CEO and co-founder of Twiga, Peter Njonjo, said that the laid-off trade development representatives were given the option of working for the company as independent agents with pay based on the customers they acquire and sales they make. He said: “Twiga recently launched a new optimized sales agents’ program . where current Trade Development Representatives (TDRs) will transition from permanent employees into independent agents on a 100% commission basis,” In addition, the company confirms that the transition of the TDRs was in line with labour laws and that impacted employees were granted the first right of refusal to transition to the new model. In addition to signing up vendors, the representatives handled customer service, market research, and product promotion. The agents in the current proposal will perform comparable tasks. Reports suggest that Twiga has limited its staff travel allowances as part of its cost-cutting measures. The business claims that by the end of the first quarter of the following year, it will have generated 1,000 opportunities using the agent model. The company says the new model has the capacity to transform individuals and former sales employees into potential entrepreneurs, citing other businesses in the country where the model is already working. “This transition creates an opportunity for entrepreneurship open to former sales agents and the general public. The benefit of this transition is that it allows for higher earnings based on the effort and enterprise of the agent. This model has worked with other businesses like insurance and banking that have transitioned fully into Independent Agents in Kenya.” Twiga joins the layoff trend Twiga, co-founded by Njonjo and Grant Brooke in 2014, is the latest firm to cut staff due to a downturn in venture capital funding that has made it difficult to get funds for operations and growth. On Monday, Amazon became the latest member of the big six tech companies with plans to release some staff members because of dwindling sales revenue and stock value in the stock market. Also, recently, Facebook’s parent company, Meta, cut 13% of its staff, representing the highest in the company’s history. Twitter also recently laid off approximately half its workforce following Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of the company. Read also: Twitter sued as mass layoffs begin today For Twiga, the changes come exactly a year after it raised $50 million in a series C round to scale in Kenya and expand to neighbouring countries. The round was led by Paris- and Nairobi-based family office and private equity firm Creadev as TLcom Capital, IFC Ventures, DOB Equity and Goldman Sachs’ spinoff Juven made follow-on investments. To address traceability issues, stock-outs, and price fluctuation, which have made it difficult for the company to deliver on its promise of affordability and food security, they also just developed Twiga Fresh, an addition to its private label.
Offers 20% discount on all trips Nigerian leading mobility platform, Bolt has introduced the country’s first ride-hailing inter-city category, expanding its comfort-focused service offering for inter-city riders. Bolt’s ambition to conveniently connect cities and transport people around with ease is the background of this initiative. The inter-city service aims to connect Nigerians between states with a commitment to creating sustainable cities by simplifying Nigerians’ mobility. The new inter-city category on Bolt is currently available for the Lagos-Ibadan and Owerri-Port Harcourt routes. To promote its accessibility and affordability, this new service is providing a 20% discount on all intercity travels, valid for up to NGN 5,000 per ride. The mission of Bolt, the first European super-app, is to increase the affordability, security, and sustainability of urban mobility. Founded in 2013, it has garnered over 100 million clients spread across 45 nations in Africa and Europe, while offering a variety of mobility services, including as food and grocery delivery, ride-hailing, and shared vehicles like scooters and autos. Since its introduction in Nigeria, Bolt has revolutionised the country’s mobility market with its cutting-edge and distinctive services that improve passengers’ mobility and give job opportunities to Africans. In Nigeria, the services have reached over 22 states and are aiming to reach the entire country. In 2020, it launched a tricycle version in Nigeria after becoming well-known as a cab hailing service. Tricycles, sometimes referred to as “Kekes” in Nigeria, are thought to be a safer form of transportation than motorcycles. This strategy was described as a refreshed effort to address local issues with internationally proven solutions. Early this year, the company raised $714m in funding round, touted as one of its biggest funding round. Read Also: Say bye to ‘Uche from Bolt’ and hello to Bella, Bolt’s new persona How to use the new Bolt inter city trip service The service has been made incredibly simple and is almost the same as its intra city service. The only difference is that while the inter-city service is also available everyday, there is a time frame of operation i.e. 6am until 3pm. Similar to the intra-city service, riders can request an inter-city ride by entering their destination on the platform, verifying their pick-up location, and then clicking on request. This will link them to a driver in the area. To make sure there are no delays, the intercity service also has backup vehicles available. Nigerians can use this service to visit friends, particularly since that the holiday season is rapidly approaching. Bolt’s inter-city category strengthens its commitment to offering top-notch services by easing inter-city travel. With its innovative offering, Bolt appears to be reaffirming its position as the leading platform in Nigeria’s ride-hailing industry. Providing the highest degree of customer satisfaction while offering a service that is both safe and affordably priced has always been the company’s top goal.
Snapchat, a multi-media messaging application, is introducing new features in partnership with Adidas to allow fans to enjoy wholesome experiences during the 2023 FIFA World Cup, which will begin in Qatar this weekend. The popular app used by millions of users worldwide is releasing these features in time to let users show support for their teams and keep up with the highly anticipated tournament. using AR. Snapchat has made waves in Augmented Reality with its amazing filters and has leveraged the technology to produce a once-in-a-lifetime experience for users and football fans as the World Cup kicks off in a few days. The new features let fans try on jerseys virtually, dress up their Bitmoji, watch match highlights and more. Read more: Twitter Now Lets You Share Tweets to Instagram and Snapchat Stories How Snapchat features will improve World Cup experience The app has partnered with Adidas to let users virtually dress their Bitmoji in their team’s official home football kits. Users will also get access to official team stickers and filters to decorate their snaps and support their team throughout the tournament. Snapchat will launch official team kit try-on experiences that allow users to express their fandom by wearing official team jerseys. The try-on Lenses leverage AR technology that originated as a Snap Research project and was in development for years, and is now available for developers to begin testing in Lens Studio. Snapchat Discover, the app’s curated content platform, will provide access to match highlights, goals, player interviews, match analysis and behind-the-scenes content during the tournament in over 30 countries. On Spotlight, Snapchat’s in-app entertainment platform for user-generated content, users in the U.S. will have the chance to submit Snaps to win cash prizes for creating top-performing snaps using specific Lenses, Sounds or Topics. Snap Map will feature curated stories of fans watching and celebrating their team during the games. Users will be able to tap specific places to see Snaps shared publicly. The stories will include Snaps from watch parties, fan experiences, stand reactions, game highlights and more.
Genesis is the latest victim of the FTX crash after it was revealed that it is halting new loan originations and redemptions. We recognize how challenging this past week has been due to the impact of the FTX news. At Genesis we are entirely focused on doing everything we can to serve our clients and navigate this difficult market environment. Genesis (@GenesisTrading) November 16, 2022 The bank’s lending arm serves an institutional client base known as Genesis Global Capital. At the end of its third quarter, it had more than $2.8 billion in total active loans, This decision to halt the loans is a shock to many users on Twitter, who did not know nor expect Genesis to be the latest casualty of FTX’s bankruptcy. This is terrible news for its users after the firm initially denied having an ongoing relationship with FTX. Genesis Trading, which acts as Genesis Global Capital’s broker/dealer, is independently capitalized and operated separately from that lending unit, interim CEO Derar Islim told customers on a call Wednesday, according to CoinDesk. He reportedly added that Genesis’ trading and custody services remain fully operational. Read Also: FTX appoints 5 new directors as bankruptcy proceeding starts Earlier Announcement From Genesis Following FTX’s crash, in a bid to be transparent and straightforward, the Digital Currency Group’s market maker and lending subsidiary— announced that its derivatives business has around $175 million worth of funds locked away in an FTX trading account. Genesis revealed the information in a Nov. 10 tweet thread, in which the firm clarified that the locked funds would “not impact our market-making activities.” Read also: Nigerian startup Nestcoin lays off staff, declares FTX held assets. The firm further emphasized that they have no ongoing relationship with FTX or its sister company Alameda Research. The denunciation of an ensuing relationship came from other crypto firms who desired to distance themselves from the FTX meltdown. Unfortunately, this devastating news signals a red flag for other companies that initially denied having a cordial relationship with FTX. The crash of FTX has disrupted the crypto market and negatively impacted some companies and startups. The value of major cryptocurrencies has dropped, and other crypto stakeholders are exploring ways to mitigate the market damage. The crypto exchange was the second largest in the world by trading volume, with a $32 billion valuation as of January. The recent events have spurred investigations by the U.S. Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a source with knowledge of the investigations told Reuters. Read also: Binance to start Recovery Fund for crypto projects in crisis The embattled cryptocurrency exchange is currently speaking with the US Attorney’s Office and ‘dozens’ of US and international regulatory agencies. FTX disclosed a severe liquidity crisis and confirmed that it had responded to a cyber attack on Nov. 11 after saying on Saturday it had seen “unauthorized transactions on its platform. “WE faced a severe liquidity crisis that necessitated the filing of these cases on an emergency basis last Friday,” the court filing stated. “Questions arose about Mr. Bankman-Fried’s leadership and handling the exchange’s complex array of assets and businesses under his direction.” The filing also revealed the reasons for appointing five new independent directors at each major company, including Alameda research. Read more: Binance vs FTX war: Here is all you need to know The Delaware bankruptcy court ruled that the relief requested was in the interests of the debtors, creditors and all parties. The filing stated the “Debtors’ Chapter l1 Cases are complex, consisting of over one hundred debtor entities and involving non-traditional assets.” The embattled crypto exchange has engaged Alvarez & Marsal as financial advisors. Approximately 130 additional affiliate...
For those not too conversant with technical terms in the crypto space, whales in this context do not refer to the big fishes in the Atlantic Ocean. While the meaning of Crypto Whales seems to tow that line, it has far more reaching relevance than that. Think about the crypto market as the Atlantic Ocean. Small aquatic creatures like Sardines and Scalefin inhabit the ocean, and larger species like Whale sharks, Tiger sharks, and Ocean Sunfish inhabit the same waters. The crypto industry has a plethora of participants. The ‘small aquatic creatures’ are the retail holders and traders, while the ‘larger species’ refers to the large, influential market movers holding many digital assets. Read also: $1 to N1000? How Nigerians can hedge against the falling Naira . Interestingly, many crypto enthusiasts do not understand how significant moves by these larger species are in the industry. In this week’s explainer, we will examine what crypto whales are, how you can identify their moves and why you should pay attention. Who are Crypto Whales? Crypto whale is a metaphorical expression for individuals or organisations that hold enormous quantities of cryptocurrency or have the funds to make astronomical purchases. To be classified as a crypto whale, you need to hold at least 10% of the circulating supply of a given cryptocurrency. For Bitcoin, you need to hold at least 1,000 Bitcoins, which is the equivalent of about $17 million at press time Some of the biggest crypto whales people follow include CEOs, owners and founders of various crypto projects/businesses. Well-known whales are Pantera Capital, Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance (recall how the market went berserk last when he announced plans to sell off $FTT), Michael Saylor (CEO of MicroStrategy), Brian Armstrong (founder of Coinbase), the Winklevoss Twins, Justin Sun (owner of Tron blockchain) and a few others. Sam Bankman-Fried(SBF) of the defunct FTX exchange used to be on the list but not since the devastating collapse of his empire last week. Another popular but anonymous whale is Satoshi Nakamoto, the brain behind blockchain technology, who is said to have mined over a million Bitcoins. Whales have always had a tremendous impact on the market. Although some whales and their movements have been identified and are in the open, most whales make clandestine operations. How crypto whales affect the market If whales buy large amounts of particular crypto, its price is bound to increase. On the flip side, if they dump a token in large quantities, it will lead to a drop in its prices. This is because when a whale buys in bulk, it creates scarcity, triggering a price rally. But when such investors dump tokens into the market, supply increases dramatically, causing a price plunge. Interestingly, several traders and investors tend to copy whale movements because when they buy/sell, the rest of the market usually follows suit. In 2019, the price of Bitcoin jumped from around $4,200 in April to around $11,500 by the end of June. The surge seemed like a natural breakout, but it was later discovered that a purchase of 20,000 BTC executed across three different exchanges led to the spike. Why you should pay attention to crypto whales Watching the buying and selling habits of a coin’s largest investors can give insight into where the market may be headed. Crypto Whales may be founders or early investors in a crypto project and may have insider knowledge of the future of a project. So, paying close attention to the acquisition or selling of tokens over time can give a hint of their confidence in a project. Related post : Tokenomics: All you need to know and why you should pay attention Several tools are available to monitor crypto whales, and the most popular is Whale Alert. The community help has a Twitter account and a Telegram channel that provides real-time alerts on whale movements. This service tracks millions of transactions on the blockchain and sends out real-time alerts to show large m...
450 news organisations from 52 countries will receive funding from this year’s Google News Equity Fund, according to a statement from Google. The Google News Equity Fund is an initiative that aims to increase inclusiveness, empower a diverse news environment, and particularly help small and medium-sized publishers currently producing original content for underserved audiences worldwide. Undeserved audiences or underrepresented groups are nondominant groups such as people of colour; people with disabilities; people from a lower socioeconomic status; people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered; people of a non-dominant religion; and retirees. Google founded the Google News Equity Fund as a global commitment to provide financial support and opportunity to news organisations that serve underrepresented groups. There are challenges to the traditional research paradigms, texts, and theories used to explain the experiences of these people in underrepresented groups. The Google News Equity Fund will help the media platforms prioritising telling their stories to do better. The Google news equity fund application was completed in the middle of the year, and participants were picked based on particular requirements. This year’s Google News Equity Fund recipients include for-profit or non-profit traditional news organisations, digital natives, newsletters, podcasts, radio and/or TV broadcasters and trade press associations whose members cover under-represented groups. Funding amounts vary depending on the size of the newsroom and the number of eligible applications received. Google specialists and reputable third-party organisations selected these recipients of the 2023 Google News Equity Fund. Read Also: Asake, BNXN make list of Africans selected for the 2023 #YouTubeBlack Voices fund Eligibility requirements for the Google News Equity Fund Small and medium-sized news organisations focused on underserved audiences. Independent newsrooms that employ 1 to 50 journalists full-time. Traditional news organisations, whether for-profit or nonprofit, digital natives, newsletters, podcasts, radio and/or TV broadcasters, and trade press associations with members who cover underrepresented groups. Those who frequently publish journalistic content. Candidates must focus on core news coverage, not lifestyle or sports. Must have been fully operational for at least a year and have a verified online presence (such as a website that predominantly offers journalistic content). Based in one of the eligible geographies. Government-owned or politically affiliated organisations are not eligible. Read Also: How to use Google Interview Warmup to land your next job Selected news organisations for the Google News Equity Fund PS Media 101Reporters 15-38 Méditerranée 3HMONGTV – HBC Television Aadiwasi Janjagruti Åbo Underrättelser Acorda Cidade Africa Solutions Media Hub AfricaBrief Afro American Newspapers Agência Diadorim Agencia Mural De Jornalismo Das Periferias Agencia Presentes Agência Pública Agência Tatu Alharaca Alianza Metropolitan News Alma Preta Jornalismo Amal, Berlin! und Amal, Hamburg! Arizona Luminaria Ark Republic Atlanta Black Star Australian Chinese Daily Australian Rural & Regional News Balkan Investigative Reporting Network Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIRN BiH) Baltimore Witness Bay Area Reporter Bay City News Behanbox.com Bengali Times Between The Lines BigIfTrue.org Black Ballad Black Catholic Messenger Black Girl in the CLE Black Iowa News Border Belt Independent Borderless Magazine Boston Korea BridgeDetroit Bultoo Radio Bush Radio ByBlacks.com Cabin Radio Canarsie Courier Cape York Weekly Capital & Main Časoris Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism (CCIJ) Center for Public Integrity Central Current Centro de Periodismo Investigativo CFWIJ Press Freedom Newsroom ChalChitra Abhiyaan Chatham News + Record Chicago Reader Cicero Independiente City Bureau City Limits News Coastal Plains Environmental Advocate Colorado Spr...
YouTube has released the names of African creatives selected for the 2023 #YouTubeBlack Voice creators and artists cohort. Nigerian hip-hop revelations, Asake and BNXN are included on the list which was released in a statement today. The fund initiative will support and expand the efforts of creators and the creative economy in Africa. This is the third class of this initiative from YouTube and a follow-up to a global, multi-year commitment made in 2020 to promote Black creators, artists, songwriters, and producers on the platform. Each selected participant will receive $20,000 and $50,000 as seed funding alongside six-month dedicated partner support to help them develop their career skills. Also, they will take part in bespoke and hands-on training, workshops and networking programmes. Speaking about the African representation on the list, Alex Okosi, MD, Emerging Markets, YouTube EMEA, said, We are excited about the creators, musical artists and producers from Africa joining others from across the world in the 2023 #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund. The initiative is dedicated to equipping up-and-coming Black creators and artists with the resources to succeed on our platform. Alex Okosi, MD, Emerging Markets, YouTube EMEA In the 2023 class, out of the 135 creators chosen for the #YouTubeBlack Voices initiative, 40 are from Sub-Saharan Africa. Also, out of the 23 musicians chosen globally for the #YouTubeBlack Voices program, 4 are from Africa, 2 of which are from Nigeria. Finally, for the #YouTubeBlack Voices Songwriters and Producers, two African producers will join the 17 others chosen globally. Read Also: Meet the 26 African creators selected for the 2nd #YouTubeBlack voices fund The 2023 Africans selected for the #YouTubeBlack Voices 2023 cohort The African musicians selected for #YouTubeBlack Voices Artists Class of 2023 are: MUSICIAN SONG COUNTRY Gyakie Something Ghana Asake Terminator Nigeria BNXN “Kenkele” featuring Wande Coal Nigeria Kamo Mphela Ghost South Africa The two Africans joining the #YouTubeBlack Voices Songwriters and Producers 2023 cohort are SONGWRITER/PRODUCER COUNTRY Ukweli Kenya MashBeatz South Africa Below is Africa’s full list of the #YouTubeBlack Voices Creator Class of 2023 YOUTUBE CHANNEL CREATOR COUNTRY Stylebyreme Egbor Osereme Nigeria Femi Olaniyan Oluwafemi Olaniyan Nigeria Pot of Flavours Latifat Kilani Nigeria Korty eo Korty EO Nigeria Denixx Kreatives Dennis Akpan Nigeria Louis ihuefo Louis Ihuefo Nigeria Bof games Oluebube Belonwu Nigeria 234drive Olatunbosun Gbenga Nigeria Football Fans Tribe Tokoni Iderima Nigeria Chantel Anyanwu Kelechi Anyanwu Nigeria IFY’S KITCHEN Ifeyinwa Mogekwu Nigeria Kagan Segun Oladapo-Ogunsanya Nigeria Izzi Boye Izzi Boye Nigeria TAAOOMA’s Cabin Maryam Apaokagi Nigeria Foodies And Spice Gina Ehikodi-Ojo Nigeria Madam Speaker Perseverance Maremeni South Africa Muzi Sambo Muzikayifani Sambo South Africa Reggie Mohlabi Reginald Mohlabi South Africa Perima’s Kitchen Solina Naidoo South Africa Zillewizzy Matlala Mokgehle South Africa Tsoanieskits Tsoanelo Moyo South Africa Thuli Madlamuka Thulile Dlamuka South Africa Moghelingz Banele Ndaba South Africa Seithati Letsipa Seithati Letsipa South Africa coffeenomilk Clalissa Magunde South Africa OhSmallstuff Oyisa Matebese South Africa Mzwandile & Siza Mzwandile and Siza Ndlovu South Africa Centtwinz TV Innocent and Millicent, Sadiki and Mashile South Africa Sinikiwe Kademaunga Sinikiwe Kademaunga South Africa Tumi Moliko Tumelo Moliko South Africa RUTHLESS FOCUS CALEB OREM Kenya African Real Estate Martin Kihara Kenya Agatha Nkirote Agatha Nkirote Kenya Suzyshomestead Susan Muriithi Kenya Kenyan Entrepreneur Sebastian Ngida Kenya Diy with Jojo Joanne Wanja Kenya Wongel Zelalem Wongel Zelalem Kenya Kane’s Kitchen Affair Juliet Kane Kenya ONR Olive Nkirote Kenya Kate Kendy Kate Kendy Wanjiku Kenya YOUTUBE CHANNEL CREATOR COUNTRY Stylebyreme Egbor Osereme Nigeria Femi Olaniyan Oluwafemi Olaniyan Nigeria Pot of Flavours Latif...
Twitter CEO, Elon Musk, said on Tuesday that the platform’s sought-after blue check subscription service would be relaunched on November 29, having stopped it because pranksters and scammers impersonating brands, celebrities, and other high-profile accounts had mushroomed. The chaos resulted in a fake Nintendo account that posted an image of Mario flipping the bird and another account impersonating the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, which posted a tweet saying that insulin is now free. Punting relaunch of Blue Verified to November 29th to make sure that it is rock solid Elon Musk said in a tweet. With the new release, changing someone’s verified name will cause the loss of the blue check “until name is confirmed by Twitter to meet terms of service”, Elon Musk said. With new release, changing your verified name will cause loss of checkmark until name is confirmed by Twitter to meet Terms of Service Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 15, 2022 But after laying off half the company, thousands of contract workers (who were not notified), and firing some dissenting employees, there may not be many people left actually to do those confirmations. The famous verified mark, or as Musk calls it, the “Blue Verified,” was previously reserved for real accounts of famous names, including politicians, celebrities, journalists, and other public figures. But, Musk introduced a subscription option where anyone willing to pay can be given the blue check. The change came a week after Musk took over the social media company in a $44 billion deal. Elon Musk thinks the blue check is a status symbol, and one people should pay for. So, it is definitely coming back. Musk said a paid subscription plan to get verified was coming on Twitter to “give power to the people.” But, what came after caused the suspension of the option. Esther Crawford, head of early-stage products at Twitter, tweeted that the new Twitter Blue “does not include ID verification”, but is a paid subscription that offers a blue checkmark “and access to select features”. The new Twitter Blue does not include ID verification – it’s an opt-in, paid subscription that offers a blue checkmark and access to select features. We’ll continue to experiment with ways to differentiate between account types. Esther Crawford ✨ (@esthercrawford) November 8, 2022 Twitter announced blue check resumption this week Twitter Blue will “probably [come back] end of next week”, the CEO, Elon Musk, responded to a user who had asked on Saturday. Probably end of next week Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 13, 2022 Several users reported that the new $8 subscription option for the verified mark had disappeared on Friday. The label was originally introduced on Wednesday but “killed” by Musk just hours later. On Thursday, in his first memo, Musk warned that Twitter would not be able to “survive the upcoming economic downturn” if it failed to boost subscription revenue to offset falling advertising income, three people who saw the message told Reuters. Twitter, which was losing advertisers even before paid verification launched, has seen even more brands pull back from the platform since the halted rollout of Twitter Blue. The infamous blue check subscription option led to several companies suspending advertisements on the platform, including General Motors, General Mills, Audi, Volkswagen, and several others. One of the world’s largest advertising companies, Omnicom Media Group, also paused ads on Twitter. In addition to the “official” labels, Musk has proposed companies may be better able to identify official accounts, including a suggestion that organisations will be able to “identify which other Twitter accounts are actually associated with them.” What else? Musk added in his latest thread about the Twitter Blue relaunch that all unpaid legacy blue checkmarks “will be removed in a few months”. All unpaid legacy Blue checkmarks will be removed in a few months Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 16, 2022 Responding to a ...
YouTube is adding shopping features that allow users to buy products as they scroll through content to Shorts. The company also seeks to provide a chance for creators to earn through affiliate marketing. YouTube Shorts is short-form video content available on the video media platform. While Shorts is modeled similarly to TikTok and Instagram Reels. It presents 15 to 60 seconds long, user-generated videos in portrait model also known as vertical video. It allows users to add licensed music and captions. Viewers scroll through endless videos. Shorts offers editing capabilities and the ability to interact with viewers by responding to comments with additional videos. Although primarily intended to be watched on smartphones, YouTube Shorts can be viewed on computers and tablets by typing #Shorts into the YouTube search bar. YouTube creators have leveraged the product to produce videos with minimal effort. About 1.5 billion people use Shorts every month. According to the Financial Times, The company will introduce the shopping features on Shorts, starting with eligible creators in the United States. These creators are currently piloting the ability to tag products from their own stores. YouTube plans to continue bringing tagging to more creators and countries soon. Viewers in the United States, India, Brazil, Canada, and Australia can see the tags and shop through the Shorts. Read also: Asake, BNXN make list of Africans selected for the 2023 #YouTubeBlack Voices fund YouTube Affiliate program Also, YouTube is testing an affiliate program in the United States that allows creators to earn commissions from sales of products they recommend in their Shorts and regular videos. The company disclosed that this test is still in its formattive days. However, there are plans to expand the experiment to more creators next year gradually. In an email to Techcrunch, a spokesperson for the company said that “We firmly believe YouTube is the best place for creators to build a business and shopping is a piece of that.” These new features are means to generate more income for the company. Although there are billions of monthly active users, YouTube’s quarterly ad revenue declined 1.9% year over year and missed expectations, according to Alphabet’s quarterly earnings report released last month. The news of the shopping and affiliate marketing features comes a few weeks after YouTube announced that creators would take a 45% share of ad revenue starting next year. Creators will be able to apply to the company’s Partner Program when they meet a new Shorts-specific threshold of 1,000 subscribers and 10 million Shorts views over 90 days, after which they will earn 45% of ad revenue from their videos. Read More: YouTube announces new ways for creators to make money with content YouTube has been working to transform its platform into more of a shopping destination with product launches like shoppable ads and the ability to shop directly from livestreams hosted by creators. The new features are ways for the company to broaden its revenue streams amid a slumping advertising market. YouTube will not be the first social media outlet to venture into affiliate marketing and rewarding cretors or users for short videos. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and instagram- as well as TikTok, the king of short video content have also invested in the space. TikTok Shop, a feature that allows users buy products directly from the app, has been testing in the United States. The feature is also available in the United Kingdom and parts of Southeast Asia. While Instagram, owned by Meta, allows creators to share products in livestreams and in its shopping tab, which lets users scroll through recommended products and make purchases.
In June 2022, Binance officially announced that it had formed a partnership with the football icon Cristiano Ronaldo. The world’s leading exchange has now disclosed that The maiden Cristiano Ronaldo NFT collection will be available on November 18 (9 a.m. UTC). The Manchester United forward teamed up with Binance to create a unique and ethereal experience for football lovers across the globe with a string of NFT collections that will launch exclusively on Binance’s official NFT platform. This will enable registered Binance users worldwide to buy the collections via Binance Pay. Read also: FTX appoints 5 new directors as bankruptcy proceeding starts Ronaldo’s First NFT is Out on Binance In tandem with the goal of the partnership formed in June, Cristiano Ronaldo’s first NFT collection will be available on Friday, 18th of November. The world’s leading blockchain ecosystem is ready to set the five time-ballon d’Or winner’s NFT afloat in the coming days— for sure, a piece of good news for the NFT community and football fans across the globe. Read also: How to check your name on INEC Voters Register online ahead of 2023 elections The launch will involve the support of an international marketing campaign featuring Ronaldo, seeking to provide his fans with a welcome to the Web3 interface via the universe of NFTs. “We believe the metaverse and blockchain are the future of the internet,” said Binance Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer He Yi. “We are honored to collaborate with Cristiano to help more people understand blockchain and showcase how we are building Web3 infrastructure for the sports and entertainment industry.” “It was important to me that we created something memorable and unique for my fans as they are such a big part of my success,” said Ronaldo. “With Binance, I was able to make something that not only captures the passion of the game but rewards fans for all the years of support.” The maiden Cristiano Ronaldo NFT collection will feature seven animated statues with four rarity levels: Super Super Rare (SSR), Super Rare (SR), Rare (R), and Normal (N). Each NFT statue illustrates Ronaldo in a quintessential moment from his life, from career-defining bicycle kicks to his childhood in Portugal. Ronaldo’s Manchester United to gift fans digital collectibles Binance announcement comes while Ronaldo is facing some troubles at the Manchester Club, which also announced that NFTs would be gifted to fans in the coming weeks. In an official statement available on the club’s website, the Premier League giants announced that the first ever official Manchester United digital collectible will be gifted to fans by a Tezos-based platform as the Club launches a new Web3 community designed to educate, reward and unite its global fan base through digital and real-world experiences. This exciting initiative is powered by the Club’s official blockchain, Tezos, one of the world’s most advanced and sustainable blockchains. Ahead of their release, easy-to-follow tutorials featuring the Club’s Men’s and Women’s team will be shared on Club channels – part of an extensive suite of educational materials aimed at helping fans understand Web3 and how digital collectibles can benefit match-goers and international supporters alike. Web3 is the next iteration of the internet underpinned by blockchain technology. It allows creators, publishers, and users to take ownership of their assets across the web – opening exciting new opportunities for engagement between fans and the Club. Manchester United’s CEO of Digital Products and Experiences, Phil Lynch, said: “Much like the football traditions of old, such as collecting match programmes, club badges and sticker books, fans will soon have the additional option to collect this new type of digital memorabilia. The first digital collectible is being gifted to fans by a Tezos-powered platform, and with the support of Tezos Foundation we will join fans on their journey into this new world, with the club prov...
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has declined the request of Airtel Africa to secure a slot of the 3.5GHz Spectrum for the sum of $273.6 million, the price the agency sold the last 2 slots at the 5G auction last November. According to BusinessDay, the NCC justified its decision, citing section 124 of the Nigerian Communications Act, which already set out the process to assign licences. Ubale Maska, Executive Commissioner, Technical Services at NCC, was quoted to have said: “Our reserve price was set after necessary benchmarking. We arrived at some idea of what the price should be. The auction determined what the actual price should be. If we have only one party interested that will determine the price. If the reserve price throws up a higher price, that new price becomes the new price.” Airtel’s first bid Airtel took part in the 2021 5G auction but failed to secure the license after losing to Mafab Communications and MTN Nigeria, both of which bid $273.60 million to surpass Airtel’s final price of $270 million. Segun Ogunsanya, CEO of Airtel Africa, had said that the telco pulled out of the bid because it wanted to monitor the market and explore affordable 5G services to meet the broadband demands of its subscribers. This time around, Airtel is expected to battle for the 5G license with Globacom and tier-two telecommunications service providers. Whoever wins the spectrum will join MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications. After losing the 5G licence in Nigeria, Airtel acquired additional spectrum in Kenya at $40 million to extend its operations and enable its 5G rollout plans in the East African country. It remains to be seen if Airtel will submit another bid for additional spectrum in Nigeria. The telco giant has yet to commence the 5G full rollout in any African country, indicating that it may be taking its time to pick what works for it and may not be too eager to break the bank on the fifth-generation technology. Read also: 5G: NCC Convenes Stakeholder Forum for Auction in December. NCC to ramp up 5G deployment A few days ago, the NCC disclosed that it had concluded arraignments to host an engagement session with stakeholders to discuss and provide more insight into the Draft Information Memorandum that will guide the 5G adoption in the country. The regulator had earlier announced it would auction 2 additional 3.5GHz Spectrum band licenses before the end of 2022 to boost the deployment of Fifth Generation services in Nigeria. In May, the NCC issued letters of 5G license awards to MTN and Mafab Communications after the companies won the 3.5GHz spectrum auction conducted by the Commission in December last year. Earlier in the year, the Federal Government announced a national policy on the successful implementation of 5G, tagged “Ascertaining Full readiness to make 5G Work in Nigeria.” Related story: FG outlines roadmap to successful 5G deployment.
The free flow of data across various sectors and the big companies must support the growth of the AI start-ups “The only thing artificial intelligence (AI) can’t do better than human beings is hunting.” This popular joke speaks to the widely held fear that someday, we might all get kicked out of our jobs, thanks to AI, which has recently dominated conversations around technology and society. Described as the centre of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), AI is changing how people across the globe live and do business; little wonder there is a growing interest from governments and investors in the technology, particularly due to the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Artificial Intelligence in Africa Africa, the world’s second most populated continent, appears to be struggling to catch up with the AI revolution. Last year, Artificial Intelligence companies globally attracted $77.5 billion in investment, a 115% increase from the $36 billion recorded in 2020, according to Tortoise Intelligence. Of the over $700 million raised by African startups in 2020, the AI sector contributed just 2.5%, meaning that investor preference in the sector is still relatively low. Also, very few startups account for a large part of the investments in the continent’s AI ecosystem. In 2019, Africa’s Artificial Intelligence ecosystem raised $11.27 million, a 223% increase from the $3.6 million recorded in 2018. Interestingly, Tunisia’s InstaDeep $7 million raise represents 62% of the total investment made that year in the ecosystem. In the following year, 2020, the $6 million funding of South Africa’s DataProphet accounted for more than half of the funding attracted to the continent. Read also: Why funding into African AI startups remains poor despite a global boom. South Africa leads the pack South Africa tops the list of countries that dominate AI in Africa, according to the 2022 State of AI in Africa report (PDF) published recently by AI Media Group. This is hardly surprising because South Africa is considered the hub of AI development on the continent. The country was also instrumental in forming a pan-African AI for Africa Blueprint (PDF) that helps member-states develop policies, strategies, and plans that ensure growth and prosperity within the context of the 4IR digital revolution. In the breakdown of the countries on the continent with the highest number of AI companies, South Africa leads the pack with 726, followed closely by Nigeria with 456. Egypt and Kenya have 246 and 204, respectively. Others on the list are Morocco – 126, Ghana – 125, Tunisia – 103, Cameroon 54, Tanzania – 44, Uganda – 44, Zimbabwe – 44. Mauritius – 35, Ivory Coast – 29, Algeria – 26, Senegal – 23, Rwanda – 21, Zambia – 20, Ethiopia – 18, Botswana – 16, and DR – 10. In the investment landscape, the report reveals that out of the 226 investments in Africa’s AI ecosystem, 55% were made up of seed, pre-seed, and angel funding, compared to 27% of non-equity assistance and grants. Also, 82% of deals required early-stage support, which is considered a possible pointer towards a critical success factor for traction in this sector. Some 141 separate organizations were identified as funding these deals. Read also: Meet Reach – the Artificial Intelligence Startup Focused on Helping You Track Your Expenses. How are African governments responding to AI? According to the report, countries supporting this sector with national strategies, associations & agencies that promote the AI/Deep Tech sector are garnering success irrespective of size. Mauritius was the first country in Africa to publish a national AI strategy. In 2019, Kenya followed suit, focusing on blockchain and AI as key business-enabling technologies. The South Africa-headquartered African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) is also working on “The African Union Artificial Intelligence Continental Strategy For Africa.” Egypt has also established a National Council for Artificial Intelligence. Last year, the country...
The new fund will close in Q1 2023 and invest in 45 startups at the Seed+ stage with a follow-on investment allocation, New York-based venture platform, Modus, whose mission is to develop and support startups in the MENA region, has announced the launch of Modus Africa, a $75M VC fund for African startups powered by blockchain technologies and Artificial Intelligence. The fund is led by two General Partners – Vianney Mathonnet and Andre Jr. Ayotte- veterans of the African startup ecosystem. According to the statement seen by Technext, Modus Africa will nurture the growth and development of the continent’s local tech talent and early-stage impact-driven ventures. The new fund will close in Q1 2023 and invest in 45 startups at the Seed+ stage with a follow-on investment allocation, catalyzing foreign investment into the continent. Speaking on the formation of Modus Africa, Kareem Elsirafy, the managing partner of Modus, said, Modus is proud to be launching an Africa-MENA investment corridor to continue supporting and investing in emerging innovation ecosystems. The Modus platform is uniquely positioned to deliver impact and value to African communities through operational, institutional, and financial capital. We’re excited to have Vianney and Andre leading the way on this journey. Kareem Elsirafy, the managing partner of Modus Their two new partners and general managers, Vianney Mathonnet and Andre Jr. Ayotte, will oversee the management of Modus Africa. They will be in charge of the fund’s thesis, direction, and investment strategy. Andre and Vianney have been active in the startup space for the past 6+ years and joined forces with Modus to develop innovation ecosystems and uplift underserved populations in emerging markets. We’re thrilled to be joining Modus to focus on investing in African companies who have an incredible opportunity to bet on the 4th Industrial Revolution. AI could add another $1.5T by 2030 to the African economy, with about 50% of Africa’s GDP and blockchain already demonstrating its capacity to increase financial inclusion while lowering the overall cost of doing business in Africa.” Andre Jr. Ayotte, Partner at Modus Africa The VC firm, however, is not only focused on AI and blockchain startups. The firm is also closing three investments in startups using AI and blockchain across insurtech, fintech and health tech. Read Also: African Startups raked in record $1.19bn VC funding in just 6 months of 2021 Modus Africa funding plan Although Modus mainly invests in foreign-based businesses in the MENA area, its move into sub-Saharan Africa is not unexpected, given the rapid growth of African entrepreneurs over the years. Last year, African businesses raised more than $5 billion and produced five unicorns, according to a Magnitt analysis. Additionally, regional funding increased by 250% year over year and outpaced capital invested in MENA. Africa has the potential of 200+ million new blockchain users in the next 4 years, fueled by necessity and a fast-growing tech-savvy population. Modus believes startups utilizing AI and Blockchain technologies will not only accelerate the African 4th Industrial Revolution but also deliver strong financial returns coupled with immense impact on sustainable development. Modus Africa will invest in about 45 seed-stage startups and allocate 50% of the $75 million SDG-focused fund for follow-on investments, especially in Series A rounds. These checks will range from $350,000 to $1.2 million across both stages. The Modus Africa GPs have already established a deep foundation with leading Web3 institutions, corporates, and governments who all share a common vision of solving real problems on the continent. Modus Africa will source, invest, and support startups that are leapfrogging ahead by merging traditional Web2 businesses with Web3 technologies. Speaking more about the investment plan, the new partners told TechCrunch that, In terms of countries, we know that tech talent and i...
Meta recently hosted its first Creators Day in Lagos, Nigeria, attended by over 50 creators across tech, lifestyle, entertainment, travel, beauty and fashion creator territories. The event included workshops aimed at empowering creators with skills and knowledge to establish and grow their brands, reach their audience and earn a living while doing what they love. During the workshops, Creators learned how to use Reels in new and creative ways, get future-ready by utilising the latest tools and features on the platforms, how to stay safe online, how to monetise their content on Facebook and Instagram and how to establish real relationships with brands. During the creators’ workshops, experts from Meta touched on how Creators in Nigeria can realise their opportunity, creativity and full potential while using Meta technologies. Rofhiwa Maneta, Strategic Partner Manager, Creators, Sub-Saharan Africa, Meta, shared insights about how Reels can open more opportunities for creators’ discoverability and audience development as they share unique skills that resonate with their audience. Natalie Choufani, Partner Solutions Manager, Creator Partnerships at Meta, also emphasised how creators can monetise their Reels on Instagram and Facebook. In addition to these, Geoff Reinhardt, Global Head of Partner Safety, explored the best practices to keep creators safe on Instagram and Facebook. While speaking with the creators at the workshop, Nada Enan, Head of Communications at Instagram, MEA, addressed the myth of shadow banning and explained how the ranking and recommendations of content like Reels work on Instagram. She also shared more insights on how the Instagram algorithm works and how creators can leverage reels to improve their reach and visibility. According to Enan, “Meta is committed to supporting creators in Nigeria to realise their creativity and full potential. We recognise the amazing content they create on our family of apps and that is why we have set aside a day like today to celebrate their good work and successes. We at Meta are delighted to give creators the power to build community and bring the world closer together.” Nada Enan, Head of Communications at Instagram, MEA The workshops were attended by a unique crowd of content creators, ranging from Eric Okafor, Ìfẹ́dayo Agoro, Dr Ayodele Renner, salemkinging, Nonye Udeogu, The Social Media Oga, Joseph Onaolapo, Victor Anyanwu, plantboy.ng, i_am_tjan, Tee Kuro, Hamda ‘Koya, Tijesunimi Olupekan, Sisi Yemmie, Nicole Chikwe, Swit Ope, laughpillscomedy and ayomidate among others. Top Nigerian creators hosted to dinner on Creators Day In the evening, Meta hosted an intimate and immersive dinner experience with some of Nigeria’s top creators like: Broda Shaggi, a Nigerian comedian and actor; Maryam Apaokagi, a skit maker, comedian and cinematographer popularly known as Taooma; Mr Macaroni, an actor and content creator; Miss Techy, a female digital creator popularly known for her captivating VFX videos on Instagram; Other attendees include Elozonam Ogbolu, an actor, singer, music producer, and former BBNaija housemate; Dimma Umeh, a fashion blogger and content creator; Taymesan Emmanuel, a media personality/podcaster; and Nelly Agbogu, a social media influencer and entrepreneur. Attendees were treated to an evening of fine dining, networking with the Meta team, and receiving insightful tips through a fireside chat with Tomike Adeoye and Bunmi George. During the Fireside chat hosted by Oluwasola Obagbemi, Corporate Communications Manager, Anglophone West Africa, Meta, the two leading Creators shared their journeys to being authentic and adding value through their content on Instagram. Read also: Meta collaborates with Nigeria’s top creators to flex in the Metaverse
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is preparing to conduct the 2023 elections in February next year. Nigerians are eager to vote for their preferred candidates into national political offices. According to the commission’s chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, over 93.5 million Nigerians registered successfully and are eligible to participate in the 2023 elections as voters. Following Sections 9(6) & 19(1) of the Electoral Act, the electoral commission has begun publicly displaying the preliminary register of eligible voters in the upcoming 2023 elections. The nationwide verification exercise will happen from Saturday, 12th November, to Friday, 18th November 2022 and will be coordinated by selected officials. INEC has disclosed how prospective voters check and verify their registration status ahead of the elections, which take place in a few months’ time. While the electoral commission ensures that the elections run smoothly and voters can participate safely and easily, Nigerians are responsible for doing their part to prepare for electoral participation.
DisplayOfRegisterThe display exercise will be undertaken as follows:1. The Commission will print and display the Preliminary Register of Voters (2011 till date) at the Registration Areas (Wards) and the head quarters of Local Government and Area Councils nationwide.
INEC Nigeria (@inecnigeria) November 12, 2022 Hence, it has become pertinent for registered voters to ensure their names and other personal details are recorded correctly on the INEC’s portal after completing the rigorous registration processes. Nigerians can also make objections if they see ineligible voters on the list. There are 3 ways any prospective voter can check their name on the voter register, and Technext has detailed them below. INEC published list The electoral commission has published voters’ lists in its offices across Nigeria. As a prospective voter who has completed the registration process, you are expected to go to the nearest INEC office in your state of registration. The names of eligible voters are published in the offices, and you can check if your name is on the list. All registered voters in the country (from 2011 to date) can find their names on the lists. Sending SMS to INEC phone number Another means to check your details on the voters’ list is by sending a text message to the INEC number –08171646879. Type your state (space), last name (space), and last five digits of your VIN. For instance: Lagos (space) Ayomide (space) 12345. Visit the INEC website. The easiest way to check your information on the Voters list as a registered voter is by accessing the database through the INEC website. The official website has all the needed information about the prospective voters, and they can access such. There are two options to check your voters status on the website, checking with your name and date of birth voter’s identification number (VIN). The website is:/ How to check your status on the INEC website Visit the website on a mobile or desktop browser, To check with your date of birth, simply enter the state you registered, your first name, surname, and date of birth in the space provided. Check the capture box to confirm that you are not a robot. Click check status Your status will be displayed. During our review of the platform, Technext discovered that there is a chance that this method may not be very seamless. You will likely encounter an error message because many other Nigerians may have names, dates of birth, and registration states in common. The Error message reads thus: Multiple Results Error We found more voters in the database with a VIN similar to yours. Please enter your complete VIN and click on ‘Check Status’ again. If you would like to talk to someone, you can reach the Citizens Contact Centre (ICCC) on 0700-2255-4632 Luckily, checking your status using the Voter’s Identification Number is more efficient. Hence it is advised that you use your VIN to check your...
FTX has announced a slate of new independent directors to oversee the collapsed crypto empire as proceedings for its bankruptcy filing begin. The crash of FTX has disrupted the crypto market and negatively impacted some FinTech startups. The value of major cryptocurrencies has dropped, and other crypto stakeholders are exploring ways to mitigate the market damage. The crypto exchange was the second largest in the world by trading volume, with a $32 billion valuation as of January. The recent events have spurred investigations by the U.S. Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a source with knowledge of the investigations told Reuters. FTX filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday after traders withdrew $6 billion from the platform in 72 hours and rival exchange Binance abandoned a rescue deal. After announcing its decision to acquire the embattled rival crypto exchange last week, Binance disclosed that it would walk away from the deal after going through FTX’s financials and structure. Read also: Nigerian startup Nestcoin lays off staff, declares FTX held assets. Via its official Twitter handle, Binance claimed that regulatory pressure and other factors impacted its decision. It claimed that the company reviewed FTX’s books and decided to leave their non-binding agreement. The statement said: “As a result of corporate due diligence, as well as the latest news reports regarding mishandled customer funds and alleged US agency investigations, we have decided that we will not pursue the potential acquisition of FTX.com.” The exchange also disclosed that Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried resigned from his position but would remain at the company to assist with an orderly transition. 1) Hi all: Today, I filed FTX, FTX US, and Alameda for voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings in the US. SBF (@SBF_FTX) November 11, 2022 The latest statement on Tuesday explained that the embattled cryptocurrency exchange is currently speaking with the US Attorney’s Office and ‘dozens’ of US and international regulatory agencies. FTX disclosed a severe liquidity crisis and confirmed that it had responded to a cyber attack on Nov. 11 after saying on Saturday it had seen “unauthorized transactions on its platform. Read also: Binance to start Recovery Fund for crypto projects in crisis “WE faced a severe liquidity crisis that necessitated the filing of these cases on an emergency basis last Friday,” the court filing stated. “Questions arose about Mr. Bankman-Fried’s leadership and handling the exchange’s complex array of assets and businesses under his direction.” The filing also revealed the reasons for appointing five new independent directors at each major company, including Alameda research. Read also: Crypto market in turmoil as Binance back out from FTX deal The Delaware bankruptcy court ruled that the relief requested was in the interests of the debtors, creditors and all parties. The filing stated the “Debtors’ Chapter l1 Cases are complex, consisting of over one hundred debtor entities and involving non-traditional assets.” The embattled crypto exchange has engaged Alvarez & Marsal as financial advisors. Read more: Binance vs FTX war: Here is all you need to know FTX’s new directors John J. Ray III, who replaced the former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried on Friday, appointed the new directors. The lawyers for the company wrote, ‘John J. Ray III appointed the new directors to ensure proper corporate governance during FTX’s bankruptcy. According to the filing, Mitchell Sonkin was appointed as a director at West Realm Shires, Matthew Rosenberg at Alameda Research and Rishi Jain at Clifton Bay Investments. Former U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Farnan and Matthew Doheny will oversee FTX Trading. Crypto enthusiasts have distanced themselves from the embattled exchange, while Bitcoin, with losses of 19% this month and other tokens continue to suffer. Government officials in the USA and...
Nestcoin, a Nigerian web3 startup, has laid off some employees as FTX’s recent bankruptcy has impacted its business. The platform was launched last February to build, invest and operate web3 and non-custodial products for customers in frontier markets across Decentralized Finance (DeFi), media, digital art, and gaming. Yele Badamosi, CEO of Nestcoin, shared a statement via his Twitter account that FTX’s fall from grace has affected his one-year-old startup, which held assets (cash and stablecoins) in the now-defunct crypto exchange to manage operational expenses. The FTX pummel into bankruptcy has tilted the trajectory of the cryptocurrency market. Beyond the market, it has provoked a profound catastrophe in major organizations with funds stuck on the exchange, thus doubling the doom that has emerged out of cryptocurrency this year. Read also: From roommates to co-founders; the 20-year friendship providing accommodation through tech NestCoin Makes goodbye to Nesters Last week’s liquidity turbulence has ensured a $6 billion ditch in the FTX’s exchange balance sheet, pushing the company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings on the 11th of November. NestCoin, on the back of the effect of FTX’s bankruptcy, put out a post today stating the following: An update shared with our investors earlier today on the FTX incident and its impact on @Nestcoin. YB (25,25) ⏳ (@YeleBademosi) November 14, 2022 Dear investors, We are reaching out to share an update on the FTX incident and its impact on Nestcoin. Last year, Nestcoin raised capital from a range of investors, including Alameda Research. For context, Alamanda’s equity is less than 1%. We used the closely-associated exchange, FTX, as a custodian to store a significant proportion of the stablecoin investment we raised- i.e our day-to-day operational budget. However, last week’s events have had an impact on us, as we held our assets (cash and stablecoins) at FTX to manage our operational expenses. We were not undertaking any trading but simply custodied our assets on the FTX exchange. While there are uncertainties, including the outcome of our assets held at FTX, we as a company have to adjust our plans, rethink our strategy and take steps to better position ourselves for the future,” the statement reads in part. Unfortunately, this means saying goodbye to some of our very talented nesters. Yele Badamosi Read also: The Truth About Saving in US Dollars “While this is a challenging time for us and the industry as a whole – we see this as a wake up call to focus on building a more decentralized crypto future where no one organization or person can amass enough power to influence a nascent industry that has the potential to do good. “In the past few days I’ve strengthened my resolve and remain committed to “doing crypto” in line with its true spirit and founding ethos.” “At Nestcoin, we have a renewed sense of purpose — we realize that for crypto to truly go mainstream, we must accelerate the transition to self-custody by building compelling trustless crypt products. To succeed, we will remain relentless, resourceful and flexible as we navigate these hard times,” Yele Badamosi’s statements conclude.” Techcrunch reports that Nestcoin has had to reduce its headcount after the announcement. The sources familiar with the matter said that the remaining employees would see their salaries slashed by as much as 40%. The report says Nestcoin layoffs will affect at least 30 employees from sub-departments, including Breach, its media arm; Brunch, a group messaging app with a crypto wallet; and Metaverse Magma (MVM), a gaming DAO. Read Also: Binance to start Recovery Fund for crypto projects in crisis Nestcoin is the latest publicized victim of the recent FTX crash. How many more companies will be discovered later in the week to have been affected hugely by FTX’s sudden crash? The next few days are ones to watch out for.
If you have been looking for an interesting blend of African culture and modern technology, look no further than “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”, Except that you may find a representation of the ‘Gen Z’ group who would chastise tradition because tech is believed to be able to solve all problems, and tradition is perceived to be mostly diabolical. For the story itself, we expected T-Challa, the Black Panther, to die in some way (because he passed realistically), only that we were not told how. Also, if you are looking for spoilers, you came to the wrong page (We don’t do piracy here). But, at the end of this, we will leave the floor open for you to decide if the 2 hours, 41 minutes film is worth your precious time. The 2022 film, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”, is a sequel to “Black Panther” released in 2018 and the 30th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is a story told and directed by Ryan Coogler, who is also on the screenplay list. Most of the characters spilt from the first instalment, naturally, including: Letitia Wright – ShuriLupita Nyong’o – NakiaAngela Bassett – RamondaDanai Gurira – OkoyeWinston Duke – M’BakuTenoch Huerta – Namor (not in Black Panther 1)Martin Freeman – Everett RossDominique Thorne. – Riri Read also: “Elesin Oba” is a reminder of the Yoruba culture but we can have more The Plot: “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Pretty suspect plot – one superhero tries to save the world from a supervillain, then he is killed or defeated in the end.happily ever after. In “Wakanda Forever”, this only changes when the perceived villain is ignored, an alliance falls through, and another villain emerges from the deepest blue sea. As expected, the story starts with Black Panther’s death, even though we do not see him in a glass tube struggling to stay alive or in the coffin. That question is answered because Chadwick Boseman naturally died, and we would not have expected much. I mean.some other screenwriter would have said he was exiled. The story develops into the realisation that vibranium exists in some other world in the deepest blue sea, and there is even an empire there who are as powerful and wants to destroy the world before the world destroys them. The climax is the display of the familiar, except that Steven Seagal is not the Black Panther, so the villain shows some level of strength. Also, the FX is amazing, as usual. The ending is the most surprising part of the story, but let’s talk about the characters first. Shuri – If you have seen “Enola Holmes 2”, you will recall a statement by Grail that younger people always want to ask questions when they can just flow with the trend, which is how they get into trouble. Shuri is one of those people, but that is how she saved the world. In her, we see a hint that she was nurtured well, in the African way, except that she will not respect tradition as much as she should. Show them who you are. Ramonda to Shuri Shuri is an interesting illustration of how we should react when we lose all our loved ones: attempt revenge, but remember, the world has to be saved. Also, remember to reach out while navigating that phase. Namor – we were not expecting another Thanos-like character who thinks killing all humans – except his race – is the only way to stay alive. But why not? What makes it more interesting when we don’t have an ambitious villain like that? Namor has love in him, but that love is quite restricted, and it is fear driving that. Nakia – we all love Nakia because she is the perfect spy. And she is the one who introduces the ultimate surprise at the end. Though you would have to see it to know what it is. Nakia teaches us that moving on is greater than brooding over spilt milk. And, yes, she is quite the reliable one. Okoye – the favourite warrior whose humour will make you like her more. She is loyal to any course that projects good for the greater number and will not s...
Brad Glasser, an Amazon spokesman, declined to comment According to reports from the New York Times, Amazon is planning to lay off about 10,000 people in corporate and technology jobs starting as soon as this week. Sources disclose that the impending job cut by the company would be the largest in the company’s history. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos confirmed that he would donate half of his wealth to charity. The cuts will focus on Amazon’s device unit, which also includes the voice-assistant Alexa, as well as at its retail division and in human resources. The report also said the total number of layoffs remains fluid. The total number of layoffs remains fluid. But if it stays around 10,000, that would represent roughly 3 percent of Amazon’s corporate employees and less than 1 percent of its global work force of more than 1.5 million, which is primarily composed of hourly workers. The retail giant joins the trend of lay-offs by U.S tech companies. Last week, Meta laid off 13% of its workforce, the largest in its history. Twitter also cut off its workforce recently. The cut for many of these companies is a brace to the harsh economic situations and projected potential downturn in the U.S economy. After the pandemic’s demand boom and rapid expansion, Amazon’s retail business—including its offline and online retail operations and logistics division—has been struggling. The business has stated that it has scaled back its expansion plans and has informed investors that it believes customer confidence is low. “We’re realistic that there’s various factors weighing on people’s wallets,” Brian Olsavsky, the finance chief, told investors last month. He said the company was unsure where spending was heading, but “we’re ready for a variety of outcomes.” The company’s officials met with institutional investors last week, just as the company’s stock dropped to its lowest point since the beginning of the pandemic and lost $1 trillion in value since Andy Jassy became CEO last year. Brad Glasser, an Amazon spokesman, declined to comment. Read also: Amazon loses $1 trillion in market value, Meta fires 11,000 from its workforce More on Amazon’s planned layoff It is no longer news that the revenues of major tech companies have been taking a hit this past few months, which is definitely not far-fetched from the fact that the global economy is heading towards a downturn with biting inflations and higher interest rates. In recent months, Amazon has scaled back some projects. These include Amazon Care, a service that offered primary and urgent medical care but could not attract enough customers. Also, Scout, a cooler-sized home delivery robot that, according to Bloomberg, employed 400 people, and Fabric.com, a division that sold sewing supplies for three decades. According to the New York Times, Mr. Jassy, who previously ran Amazon’s lucrative cloud computing business, has been closely scrutinizing businesses to trim costs quickly. He initially pulled back on a supercharged warehouse expansion during the pandemic, then moved to other parts of the company. From April through September, the company had reduced head count by almost 80,000 people, primarily shrinking its hourly staff through high attrition. In September, Amazon stopped hiring for a number of its smaller teams. Its primary retail operation ceased filling more than 10,000 unfilled positions in October. It temporarily halted corporate hiring two weeks ago throughout the whole organization, including its cloud computing section. The fact that the tech giant is planning to make cuts during this crucial holiday shopping season when the company has historically valued stability demonstrates how swiftly the struggling global economy has pressured Amazon to cut operations that have been overstaffed or underperforming for years. Although the pandemic produced Amazon’s most profitable era on record, doubling its workforce as consumers flocked to online shopping and companies to its cloud computing s...
The co-founder of Terraform Labs, Shin Hyun Seung, also known as David Shin, has been summoned this week for allegedly making money with the cryptocurrency LUNA, now known as the Luna Classic (LUNC). The prosecutors are accusing Shin of breach of duty and using Chai Corporation and customer information to promote Terra’s stablecoin and Luna cryptocurrency allegedly. If you recall, in 2020, Shin testified that he severed relations with Do Kwon and the Terraform Labs. At that point, he began working at Chai Corporation, a provider of payment technology, where he currently holds the positions of CEO and Founder. Terraform Labs Co-founders in the net This is not the first time there have been prosecutions against Terraform Labs Co-founders. In May 2022, the Terra stablecoin and Luna cryptocurrency crashed after an unidentified $2 billion UST was anonymously withdrawn. Following the cryptocurrency crash in July 2022, the CEO of Terraform Labs, Do Kwon, was also charged with breaking a local capital market regulation. Do Kwon, the CEO of Terraform Labs has been given a “notice upon arrival.” In contrast, Shin Hyun-Seung, a co-founder of Terra, has been given a travel ban by South Korean prosecutors looking into Terra-LUNA. Recently, Forkast reported that a prosecutor from the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office confirmed that Shin was charged with storing pre-issued LUNA tokens without informing regular investors and then allegedly earning profits of over 140 billion Korean Won (over US$106 million) when he sold the tokens at a high point. This has been flagged as fraudulent and a violation of the local capital market law. Read Also: Reports reveal Do Kwon transferred $80m a month before Terra collapse How is it going now? The prosecution also obtained arrest warrants for five additional Terraform Labs associates, including the former director of research at Terra, Nicholas Platias, and the CEO of Chai Corporation, Han. Legal actions against Kwon and Terra confirm the claim investigators were looking into the Terra-LUNA collapse for possible fraud. The authorities will also question Shin about whether he was aware of the alleged insider trading and price manipulation by Terraform Labs to support the price of the Luna cryptocurrency. Read Also: Can Terra achieve redemption with its Luna 2.0 and airdrop offerings?
The value of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ether, and other cryptocurrencies, including alt-coins, has dropped following the news of FTX’s bankruptcy at the end of last week. Several events, including the allegations of serious mismanagement of funds by the exchange and Binance’s announcement of its plan to liquidate approximately $580 million in FTT, aggravated the mess FTX found itself in. At the time, FTX was the second largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. Press Release FTX (@FTX_Official) November 11, 2022 According to a company statement disclosed via Twitter, FTX exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Furthermore, he resigned as the exchange’s CEO and was immediately replaced by John J. Ray III. a replacement made to oversee and see through the exchange’s ensuing transition. Social media has since been littered with theories and opinions from bereaved traders and crypto experts expressing their bewilderment at the pathetic, discouraging, and developing events around the FTX exchange. Read Also: 3 Metaverse games that can earn you crypto rewards this month FTX’s Impact on Ethereum & Bitcoin Ethereum’s and Bitcoin’s steady rise has been cut short by FTX’s excruciating situation. Crypto investors have expressed worry as enthusiasts have second thoughts about investing in coins. The market is not encouraging as Bitcoin, Ether, Cardano, Polygon, Cosmos, Chainlink, Polkadot, Uniswap, TRON, Avalanche, and Monero experienced drops in value over the weekend too. This comes at an inconvenient time, and the best word to describe the market’s atmosphere is depressing. Read also: FTX officially files for bankruptcy as CEO resigns Crypto traders who had hoped that the mild and budding bullish trends recorded in the past few weeks would result in enormous -or decent- profits have been offered a banquet of disappointment. Bitcoin’s value dropped by 4.4%; currently, it trades at $16,808. Ether is currently down by roughly 5.87 per cent over the past 24 hours across global exchanges, trading at $1,230. Global exchanges like CoinMarketCap, Coinbase, and Binance have Bitcoin’s present value at $16,099. According to CoinGecko, the BTC market cap is now $22.5 per cent lower than at the start of the week. Read also: Binance to start Recovery Fund for crypto projects in crisis Gadgets 360’s cryptocurrency price tracker reveals that most major altcoins saw a steep drop in value. The global crypto market capitalisation numbers showed a 4.42 per cent dip through late Sunday and early Monday. Meme coins were not unaffected by the current dip in the market. Dogecoin dropped off further and is currently valued at $0.08 after dropping by more than 10.7 per cent over the last 24 hours, while Shiba Inu is valued at $0.0000088, down 9.53 per cent over the past day. The recent significant decline has subdued the impact of the US Fed’s interest rate increase. BTC’s impressive run over the last few weeks has been halted by the mess created by FTX’s bankruptcy. Traders are left to linger for the postponed bullish spark that will lift the market’s spirit again. To revive the ailing market, Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has disclosed that Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, is setting up an industry recovery fund to help rebuild the industry. “To reduce further cascading negative effects of FTX, Binance is forming an industry recovery fund, to help projects who are otherwise strong but in a liquidity crisis. More details to come soon. In the meantime, please contact Binance Labs if you think you qualify,” he wrote on his Twitter page. CZ said that more details would be announced in the coming days. He further urged that other industry players interested in co-investing were also welcome. Tron founder Justin Sun said that Tron, Huobi Global, and Poloniex would support Binance in its initiative.
Tether (USD₮) is an asset-backed cryptocurrency stablecoin. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies that try to ensure price stability and are tied to a reserve of assets. Tether: A solution to the rising inflation It’s no longer news the rate at which inflation is rocking major countries in Africa, and there are a lot of stories as a result of this. While some seem unbothered about the inflation situation, some Individuals and business owners are in debt and running at a serious loss because of this. Now here is the difference between these classes of people. Over the years, some have become smarter and understood the importance of saving in foreign currencies; it saves you from inflation and makes cross-border payment seamless. The other set of people, as much as they want to change, are not aware of the possibility of these foreign currency opportunities. At the same time, some are drained with the thought of going through the stress of opening a foreign currency account in Africa, talking about having to meet the necessary requirement, having the requested document from the bank, standing in the long queue to open a dollar account or even access funds. There was a recent update where travellers were stranded because some banks said they did not have dollars to give. With this rise of inflation and people looking for an alternative source to preserve their wealth, this new update is an easily accessible method that would help preserve wealth and make life easier, even for people new to the crypto space. The platform for the people Bitfinex is a cryptocurrency trading platform and, moreover, a portal to the crypto world for ordinary people. Founded in 2012, Bitfinex is a digital asset trading platform offering state-of-the-art services for digital currency traders and global liquidity providers. Bitfinex has always been at the forefront of technological innovation in digital asset trading. Bitfinex is known for prioritising and making things easier for their customers hence the roll-out, which means Bitfinex made it possible for customers with the Basic Plus verification to be able to deposit, trade, and withdraw USDt, along with Tether Euro (EURt), Tether offshore renminbi (CNHt), Tether Mexican Peso (MXNt) and Tether Gold (XAUt). Read also: Tokenomics: All you need to know and why you should pay attention. Now, remember opening a dollar account is one thing, but having the luxury of access to transact in different currencies in just a simple step is what Bitfinex is offering. The Basic Plus verification process requires an official photo ID, biometric photo (selfie), phone number, and address. No referrals are required, there will be no back and forth with bank errands, and no hidden charges apply. According to Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Bitfinex, “This rollout forms part of Bitfinex’s mission to increase financial inclusion and promote greater levels of financial freedom,” As the scourge of inflation afflicts more countries across the globe, there is undoubtedly growing demand for access to a digital token that can enable people to help protect their wealth.” Tether token USDt is a strong stablecoin, and it’s growing in popularity as a means of payment, and as a form of remittance, particularly in Emerging Markets and economies blighted by escalating inflation levels. This new update would make it available to everyone. Final thoughts If you ever needed a sign to lose yourself off the woes of financial tribulations in times of inflation, now this is the sign you have been waiting for In addition to a suite of advanced trading features and charting tools, Bitfinex provides access to peer-to-peer financing, an OTC market, and financed trading for a wide selection of digital assets. Bitfinex’s strategy focuses on providing unparalleled support, tools, and innovation for professional traders and liquidity providers worldwide. Visit www.bitfinex.com to learn more. As the scourge of inflation afflicts more countries across the globe, th...
Gaming has become more than a source of entertainment and gamers can now earn additional income through their activities. The Metaverse and other technological innovations such as blockchain technology and NFT has provided another means to help people earn rewards for playing games. The Metaverse blends the virtual world, cryptocurrencies, augmented reality, NFTs, and blockchain. Metaverse games allow millions of players to interact with each other in a 3D virtual world. Gamers can perform other tasks like digitally conducting conferences, performances, or events while playing. A fair share of Metaverse games also rewards players with cryptocurrencies, tokens, and other valuable digital items. Most of these games extensively use NFTs and participants own virtual items such as real estate, weapons, cars, etc. Read also: Want to invest in November? Here are 3 cryptos to buy Considering the current downtrend in the crypto market, it is time for investors to start exploring alternative ways to earn more rewards from blockchain technology. In this article, Technext has curated a list of 3 metaverse games to earn money from this month. Let’s get to it. Farmers World Farmers World is an NFT game that runs on the WAX blockchain. Anyone can participate in the game and become a part of the Farmer’s ecosystem by registering and owning a WAX wallet. Players must equip the wallet with essential tools like Wood (FWW), Food (FWF), and Gold (FWG) while playing to earn in-game tokens. Ways to earn rewards on Farmer’s World include mining resources – have Wood, Food, or mine Gold to be sold in the marketplace. You can also swap the resources you hold with for other resources in the game – for instance, Wood for Gold – using the Exchange option, Also, you can sell farm animals and food in the secondary marketplace for a profit. There are cows, chickens, bulls, corn, barley, and more. Resources from animals are also exchangeable, such as Milk for Barley. Sandbox The Sandbox is one of the most popular Metaverse games that reward players for playing. In the Sandbox, the main motto is creating a unique item to help you fetch money. So, the first step is to be creative to earn rewards on the platform. If you are interested in art, as a creator or a collector, or if you are more into game design, you can create games and sell them to earn some $SAND. Besides, if you own a patch of LAND, you can easily make money. As more and more players invest in the game, the LAND rate goes up and can turn into a profit. The gaming platform also allows users to rent out their LAND to either game designers or others who do not have their LAND. One can also earn $SAND by participating in competitions. Read also: Sell these 3 cryptocurrencies off your portfolio before they crash Splinterlands Splinterlands is one of the top Metaverse games available in the market and is built on the Hive blockchain. Players can convert some of their Splinterlands cards into ERC-721 tokens, which can be traded on NFT marketplaces. Players can earn money in Splinterlands through tournaments, receiving gifts, card flipping and burning. If you’re playing in the ranked mode, you can earn $DEC (the native currency of Splinterlands) rewards every time you win a battle. Also, you can earn gifts by completing daily quests and earn season rewards every 15 days when a season ends. Buying, selling, and then renting packs & cards can also help you earn rewards in this game. Lastly, to get DEC rewards, you can also burn cards – burning a card means it has ceased to exist. Lastly This list of metaverse games that can earn you crypto rewards doesn’t end here. That’s because there are many other metaverse games that can help you add additional income to your wallet. It is important to position yourself strategically because one sure thing is that metaverse is here to stay, and the online gaming market will continue to boom in the upcoming years.
...becomes the first public company ever to lose $1 trillion in market value It is another Friday. And we know you’re pumped up to step back from work and get some good rest. As you prepare, we believe it’s important to share Global Roundup with you. Because we understand you’re busy, we’re bringing back exciting global updates you missed during the week. This week, Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, became the first public company to lose $1 trillion in market value; layoffs in big tech continued as Meta became the latest tech giant to sack staff after Twitter. In other news, the dramatic Elon Musk continued with his cuts, as Twitter’s West African office was shut. These and more you will find in this edition of this Friday’s global roundup. Let’s get to it. Summary of the Bulletin Amazon becomes the world’s first public company to lose $1 trillion in market value. Meta continues a trend of layoffs by tech companies Elon Musk shuts down Twitter’s new West African office Google enters into a partnership with Renault to develop a ‘software-defined’ vehicle David Wadhwani is poised to become new Adobe’s CEO Read also: Verified Twitter users to pay $8 monthly subscription, AWS launches Lagos office Amazon loses big This week, Amazon got its fair share of losses from the biting inflation, low revenues, and unstable macroeconomic environment that have become a reality for many companies. According to Bloomberg, Amazon became the first public company to lose $1 trillion in market value amid a tech stock rout. This drop in Amazon stock is the biggest dip in US history. That’s almost like losing Google parent Alphabet’s worth of market value, which is now around $1.13 trillion. The world’s largest online retailer’s share price closed 4.3% lower at $86.14 on Wednesday, taking its market capitalization to about $879 billion. The Amazon stock has lost around 48% of its value this year alone and is a far cry from July 2021, when the company’s market cap almost touched $1.9 trillion, per Bloomberg. It’s not just Amazon that’s losing money. The top five US tech businesses by revenue have already lost about $4 trillion in market value this year due to growing inflation and macroeconomic headwinds. According to Reuters, in a call with reporters on October 27, Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky said: “We are seeing signs all around that, again, people’s budgets are tight, inflation is still high, and energy costs are an extra layer on top of that driven by other issues.” “Like most businesses, we are preparing for what may be a slower growth era.” The dip in Amazon’s share price has also hit Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ net worth. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the world’s fourth richest person is now worth $113 billion after starting the year at $192.5 billion. Meta lays off 11,000, and Mark apologizes It appears the season of lay-offs isn’t coming to an end soon, or perhaps, the hope of 2022 being the Post-Pandemic year of Recovery was all a myth, as mass layoffs continually hit the tech ecosystem. Last week, in an outlined strategy to cut costs and make the platform profitable, Elon Musk laid off over 3,000 Twitter employees. This week, it became the turn of Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook. Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, shared a Facebook post after the earnings call on 26 October 2022 hinting at an impending cut. The company this week finally cut its employee payroll by 13%, which is the largest in its history. In the blog post, the CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, expressed remorse for making this difficult decision. He said, We’ve cut costs across our business, including scaling back budgets, reducing perks, and shrinking our real estate footprint. We’re restructuring teams to increase our efficiency. But these measures alone won’t bring our expenses in line with our revenue growth, so I’ve also made the hard decision to let people go. Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg He further explained the major reason behin...
African leading EdTech platform GOMYCODE has unveiled its new flagship hackerspace in Lagos, Nigeria. This is the platform’s second hackerspace to open in the country; the first one, a three-room training facility, opened in Ikoyi, Lagos, in 2021. The African EdTech platform was founded in Tunisia in 2017 by two brothers, Yahya and Amine Bouhlel, who identified a gap between the skills shortage and the availability of tech job possibilities. To provide people with digital education and address this problem, they founded GOMYCODE. Their services have grown over the years and have now expanded to 8 countries across the Middle East and Africa, including Nigeria. A new and better hackerspace was opened to expand the services in Nigeria. Read Also; Want to be a digital nomad? Here are 5 African countries to consider About the new GOMYCODE hackerspace in Lagos The new hackerspace in Alagomeji-Yaba, located at 230 Herbert Macaulay, adopts current architectural concepts. The new building is three times larger than the former hackerspace, which could only accommodate 120 students at once. Its design incorporates colours that are often affiliated with innovation. With three floors of its new five-storey building dedicated to teaching, the EdTech platform is taking the potential of students’ educational experiences to a new level. These floors have fibre optics, top-notch equipment, and a relaxation area to offer the students the comfort they need to succeed. One floor is reserved for educational instructors, while the last floor has a conference room with a capacity of more than 100 people. There is also ample parking space for easy access to the institution. Babatunde Olaifa, General Manager of GOMYCODE Nigeria, spoke on the importance of this new hackspace and the platform’s commitment to offering excellent digital skills education to the Nigerian market. He said, This move signals our intentions for and deep commitment to the Nigerian market. Whilst we provide trainings online through what we call our online ‘hackerspace’, we know from research and our own experience that students prefer in person classes and what we do is to ensure that these classes take place in the best possible spaces. Babatunde Olaifa, General Manager, GOMYCODE Nigeria. He also stressed that the platform’s goal for the Nigerian market is just getting started. GOMYCODE plans to grow and build new hackerspaces in Lagos and Abuja to further improve its presence and commitment to the wider tech community in Nigeria. Read Also: Digital transformation set to supercharge economic growth in the East African community GOMYCODE mission goal for the African market It is no news that the demand for digital and technological skills is rising globally and in Africa. According to a report by African Leadership Magazine, the rate of social and economic development has shown that Africa, a continent with a growing youth population, needs to develop its digital technology skills as this opens new pathways, especially for a continent that struggles with unemployment. GOMYCODE aims to provide young people in Africa with digital education that would make them desirable in the global market in an accessible and affordable environment. At GOMYCODE, they provide training in fields like web/app development, artificial intelligence, data science, user experience, video game development, and business intelligence, with high professionals in a dynamic environment, especially with the opening of their new hackerspace. They also offer an interesting learning strategy that combines offline and online learning. The EdTech platform has trained more than 12,000 students across borders. It also operates 17 hackerspaces in seven African nations, and 85% of students enrolled in the full programme find employment within six months of graduating. The country team in Nigeria has also attempted to collaborate with tech businesses for job placements to increase the number.
When inflation happens, the value of money decreases as prices of goods and services increase. And if your earnings remain the same, you’ll spend more on the same products and get less. But does saving in US Dollars (USD) protect your money? In this article, you’ll learn about how people save in US dollars and still make money from it using US Dollar savings What is Inflation? Inflation is the process by which currencies lose value over a period of time. During this period, the prices of goods and services continue to increase, and ultimately, people need to pay more to buy fewer products. This is why a car that cost 2 million Naira two years ago is almost double that price today. Inflation has been one of the biggest economic challenges since time immemorial. Most economists believe a certain level of inflation is healthy for any economy. In other words, like death and taxes, we cannot avoid inflation no matter how hard we try. But high inflation rates can be bad for governments and citizens. Unfortunately, saving in your local currency might not be the best thing. And this is why you see people saving in US Dollars instead. How Do People Use the US Dollar to Preserve their Money? Economic-conscious people save in dollars to shield against inflation and the devaluation of their local currencies. USD is the unit of value for both traditional and decentralized finance, and it’s considered the most powerful currency in the world. The US economy is one of the most stable economies in the world, so its currency dominates others in the markets. This means when a country like Nigeria experiences economic challenges and its Naira depreciates, it doesn’t affect the USD. So, people often invest in stocks and bonds during inflation since they are dollar-backed investment opportunities. Other people invest in gold and real estate or save in their USD domiciliary accounts. These investments provide decent returns over time and assure investors that their money is safe, even during harsh inflation periods. Related post: Cryptocurrency and Inflation: How to protect your Naira using crypto Why Should You Save in Dollars? Picture this: if you wanted to buy a decent 2011 foreign-used Toyota Camry in 2018, you would probably have been looking at spending somewhere around 2.5 million Naira ($6,000 at the time). This year, that same car is worth anywhere from 4 million ($4,500) to 5 million Naira ($6,000), depending on its specs. Imagine two brothers who had 2.5 million each in 2018. One saved it in a bank account as Naira with an annual interest rate of 10%. The other brother converted it to US Dollars at a rate of 365 Naira to 1 Dollar and got about $6,000. Next, he saved it on an app like Quidax with an annual interest of 10%. In 2022, the first brother would have 3,060,250 Naira, which would be $3,517, excluding the bank charges of about 2,000 Naira a year. The other brother who saved on Quidax would have $8,787 at an annual interest rate of 10%, which would be about 7.6 million Naira in 2022. Both brothers saved money, but one saved in dollars, which made a difference. Here’s a breakdown: Ola Emmanuel Savings type Saved in Naira at 10% annual interest Saved in dollars at 10% annual interest Where did they save the money? He put the 2.5m in a savings bank account. He converted his 2.5m to $6000 at $1 = 356 (2018 exchange rate) At the end of Year 1 (2019) 2.75m $6,600 At the end of Year 2 (2020) 3.02m $7,300 At the end of Year 3 (2021) 3.32m $8,000 At the end of Year 4 (2022) 3.66m ($4,186 at $1 = 860) $8,800 (7.6m at $1 = 860) Are Dollars Accessible to Everyone? As much as people want to save in dollars, the currency isn’t easily accessible in African countries like Nigeria due to limited forex reserves. The dollar shortage makes it extremely difficult for people to invest, save, and transact with USD. For example, Nigerian banks have been complaining of dollar shortages this year, making it more expensive and difficult for people to acces...
The major win for the NFT community is that it influenced one of the industry's largest organisations. Last week, OpenSea revealed they were launching an on-chain tool that ensures creators enforce royalties for any new collections created on the platform. However, they disclosed that the tool would not apply to current collections on the platform because of its difficulty in implementing. They explained that they would develop a suitable arrangement for royalties on all existing collections within a month. Read also: Cryptocurrency holders in Nigeria increase despite the crypto winter of 2022 It did not take long before the announcement received several criticisms from the public. The announcement did not get the expected responses from creators, as many suggest that there is a covert shady play behind the announcement, which OpenSea needed to clarify as fast as possible. Royalties have allowed artists to sustain themselves in a previously impossible way in the traditional art world. Artists could earn money through the primary sales of their NFTs while receiving a cut every time the token changed ownership in the future. According to a late October study by crypto firm Galaxy Digital, more than $1.8 billion in royalties have been paid out to the creators of Ethereum-based NFT collections. OpenSea has paid out the most royalties to creators by a wide margin. Public Opinions About OpenSea’s Announcement Many creators and NFT enthusiasts were happy with the decision to support artists and new collections by introducing a tool that restricts NFT sales to marketplaces that enforce creator fees. However, a larger part of the community expressed worry that OpenSea was abandoning its existing collections. Bobby Kim, an NFT creator, and co-founder of The Hundred, mentioned on the 9th of November that they had decided to stop the release of their intended nonfungible token (NFT) collection on OpenSea, disclosing they were “patiently waiting to see if OpenSea would choose to stand with the choice of preserving creator royalties for existing collections. “Unfortunately, that announcement has not arrived in time,” he noted. Read also: $1 to N1000? How Nigerians can hedge against the falling Naira with stablecoins Wylie Aronow, Greg Solano, and Kerem Atalay— Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) knelled into the ensuing debate via a blog post, revealing that the decision from OpenSea was “not great” and stated its goal “to transit with the rest of the herd and expunge creator royalties for legacy collections from their platforms.” “Unfortunately, the bitter pill is that, to the best of our knowledge, the only way to achieve on-chain creator fee enforcement for existing collections with non-upgradeable smart contracts is to take drastic measures with their communities, like shifting the canonical collection to a new smart contract,” wrote OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer in the blog post. “In our opinion, by far the better option is for existing creators to explore new forms of monetization and alternative ways of incentivizing buyers and sellers to pay creator fees, and to ensure that future collections enforce creator fees on-chain.” Going Forward The pushbacks got to OpenSea, and the NFT market place reversed its decision following public reaction. A post on November 9 on Twitter established that it would continue enforcing creator fees on all existing collections. The NFT marketplace said it was “awed by the passion we’ve seen from creators and collectors alike this week.” “We were listening for your feedback, and we heard it clearly.” Farokh Samad, an NFT influencer, tweeted: “Some light in the darkness,” after OpenSea clarified its previous announcement. In a whirlpool of ecstasy, the community has accepted OpenSea’s announcement as a creator-friendly option on the issue of relinquishing royalties altogether. Bobby Kim, the co-founder of fashion brand The Hundred, tweeted: “OpenSea is losing market share to other marketplaces that are excising crea...
From being friends and roommates in secondary school, devote readers and like-minds to co-founding two startups. The journey of Hanson Nnadi (32) and Akinfemi Onadele (33), from University roommates to co-founders of Homely, a platform for professionally managed stays and experiences, tells a story of partnership, and its impact on success in the tech space. How does a professional engineer collaborate with an accountant to form a startup that caters for hospitality? These two share their stories and inspiration to becoming tech founders with Technext in this series of Founders’ Spotlight. Hanson obtained his first degree in Telecommunications Engineering from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, while Femi is an accountant. He obtained his undergraduate degree in Accounting and Financial Management from the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom. Hanson likes to cook, enjoys trying new recipes, travelling and keeping fit with exercises. On the other hand, Femi loves watching movies, podcasting, and eating out with his wife. A striking note from the conversation is that the founders have been friends, in a relationship that has lasted for 20+ years. This started from being friends and roommates in secondary school, devote co-readers and like-minds to co-founding two startups. “The interesting thing about our balance and match is that Femi brings things what I don’t have to the partnership, and I bring things he doesn’t have. We trust each other’s judgements, and this is how the partnership works” – Hanson Nnadi, CEO of Homely. Read also: Austin Okere receives Special Leadership Award at 2022 Nigerian Fintech Awards Below is a summary of my chat with both of them Was tech the initial plan? The tech ecosystem in Africa has evolved with the rise of notable tech solutions and innovators that have significantly changed how people live and contribute to economic growth. These, in turn, attracted significant investments from across the globe. Consequently, the ecosystem has attracted all-comers with uneven interest and achievements. So, how did these two men get into tech? Femi’s qualifications as an accountant make him one of the most sought-after professionals in the world. According to Michael Page, accountants are amongst the top ten most sought-after professions in the world. But Femi claims that accounting became a boring profession for him. “Accounting was boring, so I started looking into tech. The idea after Masters at Hult, San Francisco, was to build a database for Nigerians with the acquired knowledge, and be the Jeff Bezos of Nigeria” Femi Onadele Ironically, Hanson was jealous of finance professionals because he assumed they made a lot of money. This informed his decision to be a business professional and attend a Business school. “After Business school, I worked with Telecoms for a while, which entailed me spending a lot of time online. These gave me a chance to get a glimpse of people doing great innovations in blogs and write-ups. This was what inspired me to do something myself.” Hanson Nnadi The idea for the partnership For both founders, the partnership idea started with an opportunity. The first startup they came up with was Reevyse, a study platform. The COVID-19 pandemic caused outdoor activities to shut down worldwide, and work was being done remotely. Hanson and Femi decided to provide a platform that could allow individuals to learn online. The idea was conceived after considering the shift that would occur worldwide during and after the pandemic. However, Homely started as a home. It wasn’t supposed to be a company. It was a hobby that was later launched on the platform of opportunities that came afterward. “At that time, I was living in a two bedroom in Lekki and I had a friend visiting from the U.S. He advised I put one of the rooms up in AirBnB since I was just living in one and make extra income. It turned out good, because the income I was making from that covered ...
Hi guys, It’s the weekend already, and it looks like this week is ending really well with the release of Wakanda Forever, the eagerly anticipated sequel to the Black Panther movie on the big screen. While this has dominated the social media space in the last few days (Yes, BBNaija housemates, I’m looking at you), that is not the only major event trending this week. As usual, we have curated some of the top trendy stories from the social space you might have missed. Just sit back, relax and enjoy these stories. No spoilers for Black Panther season 2, I swear. Black Panther 2 is out Wakanda Foreverrrrr!!!!!! Black Panther season 2 is finally here. While you may not be able to watch it at home just yet, you can catch it at the Cinemas. It’ll make this weekend extra special as friends, lovers, and family members can get the tickets and enjoy quality time together. I know I promised that there will not be spoilers, but I hope I do not cry when it dawns on me that I am back in Wakanda and King T’Challa is still gone. (RIP Chadwick Boseman) Well, I must warn you. If you don’t want major spoilers, don’t search #BlackPanther2 on Twitter. Save your tears for the main movie. Okay, back to the story, Fans have hinted that the new Black Panther might be his sister Shuri, but what do we know? The Black Panther: Wakanda Forever premiered in Nigeria on Sunday, and Nigerians did not come to play with their outfits. This is the first Marvel movie premiering in Nigeria and, thankfully, one that resonates with the African culture, Many invited celebrities wore afro-centric outfits to celebrate the Black Panther movie. While some slayed the black carpet, others gave us fashion inspo to avoid in the future. One of them was the BBNaija season 7 housemate Hermes. Hermes is a very imaginative guy who exudes an uncommon aura, as we all know. Like several other famous people, Chadwick Boseman, the late actor who played King T’challa in the Black Panther movie and Avengers series, was honoured with his attire. The error on Hermes Iyele's outfit for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever movie premiere “R.I.P Chad Boswick,” is a huge sign of unprofessionalism common to most stylists in the Nigerian industry. GlamCityz (@Glamcityz) November 9, 2022 Hermes and his designer probably thought merging his first and last name together was a creative idea to honour the late Black Panther, but fans were displeased with the final inscription on his cape, which read “Chad Boswick” instead of Chadwick Boseman Moving to the next story. Read Also: #WakandaForever: In my Opinion, #BlackPanther Is Nothing but Much Media Hype! Hushpuppi’s movie series loading. The story of Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, popularly known as Hushpuppi, is one everybody is familiar with. While he is an inspiration to some (probably many), he is the ultimate villain in the eyes of most, including the United State Department of Justice. The ‘Billionaire Gucci Master’ was arrested in June 2020 at his Dubai apartment in a joint operation between the Dubai police and United States agents known as “Foxhunt 2. Hushpuppi was sentenced to 11 years in prison for money laundering activities earlier this week after some back and forth with court trials and proceedings for the last two years, With many people giving their opinion about the arrest and his new life after prison, American rapper and producer Curtis James Jackson III, aka 50 Cent, commented on an idea to make a TV series telling the story of Hushpuppi, the internet scammer, his trials and tribulations. It’s unclear if the producer was being ironic with this remark, but he has created successful crime TV shows like Power I, II, and III. This is not the first time a movie about people’s fraudulent activities has been made. We have seen the series Inventing Anna’, the story of a con artist who swindled Manhattan’s elite by posing as a German heiress, and the Tinder Swindler, the story of a man who conned hundreds of women via the dating app Tinder. These are ...
This decision was announced in an internal note identifying service misuse as the reason behind the suspension. Twitter Blue, an $8-a-month verification scheme by the microblogging platform, has been suspended. This decision was announced in an internal note identifying service misuse as the reason behind the suspension. According to the Internal note, it said An update on what we did tonight: hid the entry point to Twitter Blue, added the ‘official’ label for ONLY advertisers. Note: here is at least one way for users to sign up for Blue. Legacy Blue users can go to subscriptions and upgrade Impersonation problems with Twitter Blue Twitter Blue was intended to provide anyone who could afford to pay $8 a month with a verification badge. The badge in the form of a “blue check” was previously reserved for celebrities, politicians, journalists, and accounts with very large followings. Internet trolls opened several parody accounts for popular entities since Twitter Blue launched two weeks after Elon Musk took over as the CEO of Twitter. The most notable parody accounts during this period included an account for Lebron James, which posted a request to leave the Los Angeles Lakers, an account for former President George Bush tweeted, “I miss killing iraquis”, and another account that impersonated the electric vehicle manufacture, Tesla. Related post: Twitter Blue users get access to the edit functionality Yesterday, Chief Twit Elon Musk tweeted, “Going forward, accounts engaged in parody must include ‘parody’ in their name, not just in bio,” and added, “To be more precise, accounts doing parody impersonations. Basically, tricking people is not ok.” Although Twitter denied rumors of a grey official tag that will appear on the accounts of popular entities on Thursday, it has now confirmed that an “Official” label would be added to some accounts. To combat impersonation, we’ve added an “Official” label to some accounts. Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 11, 2022 Tweeps have since mocked the Twitter management, considering the irony that the conflicting announcements about the “official label” sat on top of each other as two tweets in the verified Twitter Support account feed Friday. Some users posted screenshots of the Twitter Support announcement with an “official” badge below the screen name, but the tag was not visible to all users. Reuters also reported that the new $8 subscription option for the blue verification check had disappeared. Read more: How Musk’s new $8 verification plan could mean chaos for Twitter “Twitter seems to have unlaunched the new $7.99 Twitter Blue subscription,” posted app researcher Jane Manchun Wong. “Checked with Twitter’s API and the in-app purchase for Twitter Blue Verified is no longer listed for production.” This policy reversal is the latest in a series of moves that have led advertisers away from Twitter and confused users. While Musk aimed to increase the company’s revenue with Twitter Blue, these decisions have led to a revenue decline. According to the WSJ, Musk told staffers in a Thursday meeting that bankruptcy is possible for the company. Musk has made several changes to the company apart from the monetisation of Twitter Blue. He fired the former CEO, CFO, and head of its legal department the day he took over. The content moderation head, chief information security officer, chief privacy officer, and its chief compliance officer have departed, according to multiple reports. Twitter’s communications team was also eliminated, and the company could not be reached early Friday. Its “Twitter Comms” account has not posted since Oct. 31, when it retweeted a comment from Musk that “Twitter’s commitment to brand safety is unchanged.” The company has boasted about rising user numbers since Musk bought the company, However, observers have reported a surge in hate speech on the site, and some suspended accounts, like that of Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, have been reactivated.
John J. Ray III has been appointed as the new CEO of FTX Group FTX has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, according to a statement from the company via its official Twitter handle. The embattled crypto-exchange also disclosed that Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried resigned from his position but would remain at the company to assist with an orderly transition. FTX said it would begin a process to review and monetize assets for stakeholders. FTX posted a statement stating that it has commenced Chapter 11 proceedings in the United States. According to the statement, the voluntary proceedings included all the Exchange’s 130 additional affiliated companies. See the statement below: Press Release FTX (@FTX_Official) November 11, 2022 According to the company, John J. Ray III has been appointed as the new CEO of the Group. FTX Trading Ltd., the organization in charge of the international trading website FTX.com, Mr. Bankman-trading Fried’s company Alameda Research, and the organization in charge of FTX US, the platform for users in the United States, are all parties to the bankruptcy case. The latest development comes after Binance reportedly pulled out of the deal to purchase the company on Tuesday. Binance disclosed that it was walking away from the deal after going through its financials and structure. Binance claimed, via its Twitter handle, that regulatory pressure and other factors impacted their decision to work away. It claimed that the company reviewed FTX books and decided to withdraw from the non-binding agreement. The exchange said: “As a result of corporate due diligence, as well as the latest news reports regarding mishandled customer funds and alleged US agency investigations, we have decided that we will not pursue the potential acquisition of FTX.com.” Before then, companies’ websites linked to the FTX crypto exchanges were taken down amidst liquidity challenges. Binance was set to support FTX through the tough time fully but was met with what was beyond their control. Binance CEO, CZ said: “Every time a major player in an industry fails, retail consumers will suffer,” adding that the ecosystem will eventually become more resilient with the weeding out of bad players. Read also: Crypto market in turmoil as Binance back out from FTX deal What next for FTX Just yesterday, the founder, in a series of Tweets, apologized to the millions of investors and customers who had invested using the platforms for his poor decisions and lackadaisical attitude toward ensuring that the company stays afloat. He insinuated that his lack of communication might be the major reason behind the company’s current peril. Read the rest of the tweet here: 1) I'm sorry. That's the biggest thing. I fucked up, and should have done better. SBF (@SBF_FTX) November 10, 2022 According to that statement, the company was doing everything to raise liquidity, but it is evident that the current problems the exchange is facing have finally overwhelmed it. Crypto market crash Bitcoin and all altcoins collapsed following the news that Binance declined to purchase the Exchange. The update sent Bitcoin to a new yearly low, declining to $15,600 before recovering to $16,200 at press time, losing 11% of market value in the last day, according to Coinmarketcap data. The platform’s native token, $FTT, took a staggering hit after the announcement and is now trading well into the single digits. It was sold for $2.7, down around 80% on Wednesday. It was still trading at $22-$25 dollar early Tuesday. The market saw a huge crypto loss in the last 24 hours. According to CoinMarketCap statistics, more than $100 billion worth of value was wiped out from crypto assets due to the price drop. Compared to the total crypto market capitalization of $935 billion 24 hours ago, the market cap is currently at $819 billion, effectively erasing $116 billion in one day.
Instagram has recently introduced a feature that will assist professional content creators in managing their posts and content schedules. The in-app scheduling tool will help social media managers promote their content to the appropriate audience. Social media marketers and advertisers have employed external scheduling tools in recent years; a feature Instagram has now incorporated into its platform. However, the feature is only available to professional accounts. If you use Instagram for business, you likely have a professional account. However, upgrading from a standard account to a business/professional one is free and easy. Instagram, a subdivision of Meta, has amassed more than 2 billion monthly active users because it has consistently looked for ways to give its users better services. The visual content platform has continually added features, some of which users require third-party apps, to ease the user’s experience. The call feature and filters are examples of these innovations, and the scheduling app is on time. This new feature would allow social media managers to schedule posts at times when they will be unavailable or at periods when premium engagement is expected. The new content scheduling tool is built into the Instagram app, and users no longer need to use any third-party app or Creator Studio dashboard, but how does it work? Read Also: Mark Zuckerberg explains why Meta sacked over 11000 employees How to use the Instagram in-app scheduling tool? With this new in-app feature, content creators and businesses with professional accounts can schedule reels, photos, and carousel content for up to 75 days on Instagram. Compared to the popular third-party apps, using the feature is rather simple. Simply tapping “Advanced setting” will allow you to schedule items. After that, a new “Schedule the post” toggle will appear. When you hit on that, a menu with the ability to choose the time and date the post should go live appears. The creators can choose the best time for them with this option. After completing this, go back and select “Schedule“. You can be able to see scheduled posts in the Scheduled content section, and with that, you can also reschedule content if needed. Read Also: How to identify scam accounts on Instagram What about the Creator Studio The Creator Studio, owned by Meta, is a dashboard that businesses and content creators use to manage their Facebook and Instagram at once. It also provides performance analytics across accounts on both platforms. On a high level, the creative studio simplifies publishing content and analyzing performance across accounts on both platforms. It brings together social media analytics, scheduling and community management. It also helps eligible accounts monetize their content and handle influencer-brand collaborations. Anyone with access to these social media platforms can use the Creator Studio, unlike Instagram, which is only for professional accounts. Although, users can simply switch accounts on the app to gain access to this in-app feature tool. While this might sound a little crazy as to why the need for an in-app feature if there is already an overall platform that can manage all of these Meta-owned platforms, it is good to note that not all professional content creators use all the platforms. Some businesses and professional creators are only influencers and active on Instagram. They have always depended on third-party apps to manage their content performance, but with this in-app feature, everything has been easier. Facebook also has long offered its own in-app scheduling tool feature. Although Instagram took a while to release its own in-app scheduling tool, it is never too late for the social networking platform to improve the creators’ experience.
The crypto market witnessed crises sparked by the collapse of the FTX exchange this week. The aftermath of the unfortunate incident continues to spread like wildfire across the industry. A few hours ago, crypto lender BlockFi said they are now limiting client activity and pausing withdrawals on the platform due to the FTX contagion. Related post: Crypto market in turmoil as Binance back out from FTX deal Recall that several crypto lenders have already bitten the dust this year. Celsius, Voyager 3ac and many others became insolvent and filed for bankruptcy earlier in the year, and now it’s BlockFi’s turn. Can 2022 be over for the crypto industry, please? Here are a few major stories from the crypto space this week. El Salvador bitcoin is not on FTX After it was suggested that the President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele was holding some of the nation’s Bitcoin on the FTX exchange, the CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), came out to update the crypto space on the alleged rumours. CZ took to Twitter yesterday to clarify the misinformation after Billionaire Mike Novogratz suggested that El Salvador owned Bitcoin on FTX during an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box. CZ exposed the misinformation and disclosed the messages with the El SalvadorPresident. “Man, the amount of misinformation is insane. I exchanged messages with President Nayib a few moments ago. He said, “we don’t have any Bitcoin in FTX, and we never had any business with them. Thank God!” Kucoin is not insolvent As the sell-off sparked by the FTX liquidity crisis continues, the CEO of KuCoin has decided to publicly address the allegations that his trading platform was struggling with insolvency. KuCoin’s CEO Johnny Lyu criticized the recent ‘FUD’ around his crypto exchange which, as he said, was “probably the tenth time in the past 6 months some rumour on Twitter circulates that KuCoin is ‘insolvent,’” in a blog post on Wednesday. Notably, after crypto analytics platform Nansen published its exchange stablecoin outflow chart, which, according to Lyu, mistakenly showed an ERC20 to TRC20 translation as $300 million draining from his platform, rumours started circulating about KuCoin being in trouble. As he explained, the information was a simple misinterpretation which has been cleared in the meantime. Lyu posted Tronscan and Etherscan explorer screenshots and links to transaction details that support his argument. Finally, Lyu promised users that “just like in the past, we would never misappropriate user funds and we will ensure full transparency,” adding that: “KuCoin will always guarantee 1:1 withdrawal. (.) To those who are still concerned, we will release our Merkle tree proof-of-reserves or POF in one month.” BlockFi halts withdrawal Crypto lending firm BlockFi is the latest to limit customer activity on its platform. Fearing a major liquidation event, the company has halted withdrawals. In the early hours of Friday, BlockFi announced that it was “unable” to operate business as usual.” BlockFi cited a lack of clarity regarding FTX, FTX.US, and Alameda as the reason for this decision. It said until there is clarity, it will limit activity, including pausing withdrawals. BlockFi also requested that clients not make deposits, which would be highly unlikely given the current situation. BlockFi claimed that its priority was to protect its clients and their interests. But that will not help those that now have assets locked and inaccessible on BlockFi. Another DeFi Protocol hacked Stablecoin-focused DeFi protocol DFX Finance was attacked earlier today, with the attacker stealing roughly $4 million. The team has paused all smart contracts. PeckShield tweeted about the incident, stating that the protocol’s DEX pool was exploited. The losses are estimated to be 3,000 ETH, worth about $4 million. DFX Finance acknowledged the incident, highlighting that it was notified about the suspicious activity 20-30 minutes after the first transaction. The team paused all DFX contracts a ...
By 2025, mobile’s contribution will grow by $65bn, as the countries in sub-Saharan Africa In 2016, Facebook (now Meta) CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the “future of the world” would be built in Africa. Zuckerberg made the famous remark during his first visit to the continent. He touched down in Nigeria before travelling to Kenya; the East African country described as the “world leader” in mobile money. The year he spoke, mobile technologies and services generated $110 billion of economic value in Sub-Saharan Africa, equivalent to 7.7% of the region’s GDP. Between 2016 and now, the numbers are going up. I guess Zuckerberg was right, after all. In 2021, mobile technologies and services added almost $140bn to Africa’s economy, according to The Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa 2022 report published by GSMA, an umbrella organization representing mobile operators globally. Before you begin to wonder what’s responsible for this, GSMA said in its report that 515 million people subscribed to these services in the continent by the end of that year, representing 46% of Africa’s population – an increase of almost 20 million from 2020. Mobile on the rise Over the years, technology has changed the way Africans interact with one another. In the wake of the pandemic and its accompanying lockdowns, Africans — like the rest of the world — embraced mobile networks and the internet to connect with friends and loved ones and, more importantly, carry on business transactions easily. And in the post-pandemic era, mobile retail transactions have continued to rise on the continent. For instance, mobile money transaction values grew 39% in 2021 in Africa to $701.4 billion – making up about 70% of global transaction values, which hit over $1 trillion for the first time. In the same year, the mobile ecosystem formally employed more than 400,000 people in Sub-Saharan Africa and supported another 2.8 million informal jobs and jobs in other parts of the economy. According to a recent report, Africa’s internet economy is projected to hit $180 billion by 2025. Read also: Mobile money transactions hit $1 trillion in 2021 – Report. More money, more subscribers GSMA predicted in its report: “By 2025, mobile’s contribution will grow by $65bn (to almost $155bn), as the countries in the region increasingly benefit from the improvements in productivity and efficiency brought about by the increased take-up of mobile services.” However, this isn’t a standalone growth. The report adds that Africa will add nearly 100 million new subscribers by 2025, bringing the total number of subscribers to 613 million – almost half of the region’s population. Nigeria and Ethiopia – the two most populated countries in Africa – will account for almost a third of these new subscribers. According to recent data from Nigerian Communications Commission, active mobile subscribers in Nigeria reached 212 million in September. On the other hand, Ethio Telecom — the government-owned telecommunications in Ethiopia — boasts over 58 million subscribers. The next three years will see Nigeria gain 18 million new subscribers, just as 12 million new subscribers will be recorded in Ethiopia. Trailing behind is the Democratic Republic of Congo with eight million subscribers, Tanzania with six million, and Kenya and Uganda are expected to add five million and eight million, respectively. Other countries in the region will gain 45 million new subscribers by 2025. Read also: Why 5G will account for only 4% of total connections in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2025. But Africa isn’t there yet. Despite the optimistic growth projections, mobile inclusion is still a significant challenge in Africa. Over 700 million people across the continent currently don’t have access to the internet, according to the deputy chairperson of leading connectivity and technology group Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Nic Rudnick. Though the figure is subject to debate, it reaffirms that Africa has the lowest number of internet connections...
Users who paid for the Twitter Blue subscription can now access the highly awaited edit button function. The edit button is one of the perks, including fewer advertisements and greater video quality available to Twitter Blue subscribers for only $8 per month. Tweets from some people who paid $8 for a verification badge indicated they could alter a posted tweet. A tweet can only be changed during the first 30 minutes after posting, and only 5 edit choices are available. The tweet will also undoubtedly display the modification history. It’s a 30 minute shot clock (should be 24 hrs IMO), locks after 5 edits, and shows edit history. What exactly are you worried about here? 99% of us just want to fix our typos. But just block us like trolls if we abuse it. Y’all non edit button people are very controlling. Jennifer (@jendubayevans) November 10, 2022 Read Also: Finally, Twitter is set to roll out the edit button feature this month The Edit button feature has been under consideration for a while. The microblogging platform had earlier declared that it would only be accessible to Twitter Blue subscribers in some countries. It was formally released to Blue subscribers in several nations, including Canada, Australia, and the United States, in October. However, with the new boss in town, some plans have been altered, and this function is now accessible to everyone with $8 to spare each month for the subscription. It is not surprising that the microblogging platform is starting to make drastic changes. Several users have doubted some of the platform’s activities, and some have even deactivated their accounts. But, the platform’s new CEO, Elon Musk, appears to be extremely confident in his objectives. Even though they are undefined, the billionaire is willing to test some of them on the platform. Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months. We will keep what works & change what doesn’t. Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 9, 2022 Read Also: 5 likely changes to expect as Elon Musk takeover at Twitter The Blue Tick and the Grey Official Mark With Elon Musk taking over, there have been major changes in who can be verified with the blue tick and who gets the official mark. So, the verification blue tick is now available to everybody who pays $8 per month for the Twitter Blue subscription. Regardless of where you are and who you are, this option is available, and some people have been paying for this feature even with their few followers. But what about the top officials and highly profiled people? Well, Twitter has another badge assigned to these individuals underneath their verification marks. This ‘official’ symbol with a grey mark proves that these individual high-profile accounts are authentic, and this is not issued to everybody. Some individuals are not convinced about this new strategy, arguing that if Elon Musk sought to give a platform where power is for the people, why cause further segregation with a new badge? However, this new approach appears to be a way to distinguish impersonators. Penalty for impersonators The Chief Twit, Elon Musk, has announced that account handles engaging in impersonation without explicitly stating that it is a “parody” will be permanently suspended regardless of whether they are Twitter Blue subscribers. This comes as many users are worried that the cases of impersonation and fraud will increase on the platform. Elon Musk took over operations at Twitter after a protracted legal dispute that lasted seven long months. He completed the transaction a few hours before the deadline set by the Delaware court overseeing the dispute. The billionaire had a very active first day, as reports confirm that he fired some of Twitter’s senior executives following his takeover. Among those recently fired are the CEO, Parag Agrawal, the CFO, Ned Segal, the Head of Legal, Policy, and Trust, Vijaya Gadde, and the General Counsel, Sean Edgett. Read also: 5 likely changes to expect as Elon Musk takeover ...
The Female Media Network, TEFEM, is a registered non-governmental organization (NGO) aiming to improve the standard of living of women within the working-class age bracket by empowering them with media-related and digital skills. Nigeria is a country where women are said to belong only in ‘za oda room’, a metaphor for the bedroom. With such high societal stereotypes, many women feel discouraged about taking up careers in certain industries. A couple of years back, it was rare to find female developers, designers or data analysts. According to UNESCO, women only occupy 30% of tech professionals across Africa. A ratio that is inherently unbalanced as more females shy away from tech for fear, shame and stereotype. When asked why she did not want a career in tech, Adaugo Onuoha, a member of the TEFEM community, said, ‘I had always felt like tech was not for ladies. All the tech people I knew were guys. Somehow, I was convinced that tech is not something a woman can do. There was no one to teach me otherwise until I joined TEFEM’. Adaugo Onuoha, TEFEM Member Like Adaugo, several ladies have encountered a turning point thanks to organizations like TEFEM. A New Dawn The Female Media Network (TEFEM) was founded in 2018 by Eneh Mercy, A brand Identity and User interface designer. Eneh Mercy’s journey started out while in her third year at the university. As a young woman who has seen many women live beneath their potential, she imagined how empowered more women would feel if they had additional skills that brought them significant financial returns. Getting into the digital space was quite daunting for Eneh. “The Nigerian tech space was not very encouraging for young ladies then. Many people would look at me strangely when they hear what I do. It didn’t stop me though. I was able to navigate these challenges by seeking guidance from my mentors. I wanted other women to find such support and guidance like I did”, she said. Eneh Mercy nurtured a core support team of 7 individuals who have contributed to building TEFEM over the years. Today, TEFEM is a registered non-governmental organization (NGO), which is aimed at improving the standard of living of women within the working-class age bracket by empowering them with media-related and digital skills. TEFEM impacts ladies in society by equipping them to take advantage of the opportunities available in technology and digital media and ensuring they stand out wherever they find themselves by remaining valuable and influential. TEFEM: Raising the Next Generation of Tech Giants Armed with vision and determination, The Female Media Network (TEFEM) has organised physical training in Enugu, Imo and Akwa Ibom state and digital training with participants across Africa. The training sessions are designed to unlock economic opportunities for ladies by inspiring, training and equipping them with digital tech skills such as web development, graphic design, content creation, digital marketing, etc, and also get these ladies connected to platforms where they can monetize their skills. Read also: Meet Chisom Nwokwu, the 22-year-old mentor helping others secure tech jobs To introduce more ladies to on-demand digital skills, TEFEM launched the DigiAfrica Conference, designed to equip women with digital skills and blockchain technology knowledge. DigiAfrica conference is hosted in cities across Nigeria, and this one-of-a-kind conference is set to storm the city of Lagos in November. Digi Africa Conference Lagos Themed ‘Building ladies with digital skills in web 3 and blockchain Technology’, DigiAfrica Lagos would empower ladies through inspiring and enlightening talks from powerhouse speakers, network sessions, and career counselling. The conference is designed to introduce and help participants advance their careers in tech and web 3. The conference is free to all. However, slots are limited, and participants need to reserve their seats. Reserve seat Here What Next In 4 years, TEFEM has introduced over 3...
Following the successful launch of the PearlAfricaSat-1 satellite, the Ugandan government plans to use the microgravit for advanced 3D biological printing... Despite technical difficulties, Eastern African country, Uganda’s first satellite, PearlAfricaSat-1, has been successfully launched. And, with the successful deployment of this satellite came a slew of new ideas. Typically, when a satellite is launched, it benefits the country by providing more accurate data on weather forecasts, for example, and for Uganda, this will also help with mineral mapping, agri-monitoring, border security, and, of course, conducting life-saving health-tech experiments. Following the successful launch of the PearlAfricaSat-1 satellite, the Ugandan government plans to use the microgravity (weightlessness) provided by the satellite to perform some advanced 3D biological printing of human tissues in space and to conduct a research process on how microgravity impacts ovary function. They also plan to conduct an investigative study on how the use of microgravity will help better understand catastrophic mudflows that can occur after wildfires. What is 3D Bioprinting? 3D bioprinting works in a rather unique way. With the use of bioinks and 3d printers, living cells are generated in layers to create structures that mimic the behaviour and composition of actual tissues. Natural or artificial biomaterials that can be combined with living cells are utilised to make the biomaterial that constitutes the base for bioprinting. As a practical application of the novel perspective notion of formative biofabrication, the 3D bioprinting can manage tissue spheroids in microgravity. This technique is transformed by microgravity biofabrication based on magnetic forces, which also creates a viable potential for programmable self-assembly of tissue and organ structures from tissue spheroids in 3D space without solid scaffolds. There are several benefits to bioprinting in space. For instance, researchers have found that the absence of gravity in space allows for the 3D bioprinting of more complicated tissue and organ structures with gaps, cavities, and tunnels. and most importantly, gravity-free 3D bioprinting eliminates the possibility of collapse, allowing organs to develop without the aid of scaffolds. Read also: First-ever 3D-printed school building in the world unveiled in Malawi The 3D bioprinting plan for Uganda Since Russia dispatched its bioprinter to the International Space Station in 2018 to conduct tests for manufacturing living human tissue in space, the concept of 3D bioprinting has gained popularity across the globe. High-quality bioprinted bodily organs can now be produced in microgravity, a feat that was previously impossible. On Nov. 7, the Northrup Grumman NG-18 resupply mission for NASA launched from Wallops Island with the BioFabrication Facility (BFF), an enhanced 3D bioprinter, as one of its cargo. The BFF is a platform allowing scientists to print tissues that resemble organs and begin testing the possibility of fabricating human organs in space. In order to help the thousands of people who pass away from organ failure every year in Uganda, the country is using this knowledge and technology to create 3D human organs. Many people have contracted the fatal Ebola virus since the outbreak, which has now struck the country four times, each time harder than the last. Read Also: Google announces investment in Safeboda, to drive expansion in Nigeria, Uganda The virus damages their blood vessels and the immune system, and occasionally even causes multiple organ failure, which results in death. With the help of this innovative technology, hospitals in Uganda may start to manage sick people better. In September 2022, the Parliament of the Republic of Uganda passed the Uganda Human Organ Donation and Transplant Bill 2022 stiffening the penalties for dealing in human organs for profit. The new measure, according to the lawmakers, aims to provide a legal fram...
In the said email, Musk noted that there was "no way to sugarcoat the message" about the economic outlook of the microblogging platform... In another turn of events since his dramatic takeover of Twitter, Elon Musk has informed employees of the social media company that remote work will no longer be allowed, as they are expected to show up in the office for at least 40 hours per week. Bloomberg reports that the self-styled “Chief Twit” made this known in an email to employees in the late hours of Wednesday, urging them to prepare for “difficult times ahead”. In the said email, Musk noted that there was “no way to sugarcoat the message” about the economic outlook of the microblogging platform, which he had earlier attributed to his decision to introduce a monthly subscription for Twitter verification pegged at $8. Just yesterday, we reported that the billionaire sold shares worth approximately $3.95 billion in his electric-car-producing company, Tesla, barely one week after finalising his $44 billion purchase of Twitter. Read also: Elon Musk sells roughly $4 billion worth of Tesla shares days after Twitter takeover. Twitter’s remote work culture At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020, Twitter became the first major U.S. company to make a public announcement about its permanent work-from-home plans. At that time, the company said that it has been quietly dismantling its office culture to allow its team members to work from anywhere across the world. The effort began with an off-the-cuff email in 2018 by chief executive Jack Dorsey in which he encouraged employees to work from home after a productive day doing so himself. Twitter’s decision to allow its 5,200 primarily San Francisco-based employees to decide where they want to work was praised in Silicon Valley as a new model for attracting and retaining talent based on worker-centric values. This change enabled many to relocate to popular destinations like Hawaii, rural Ireland or back home to a cheaper state. In the same vein, the company announced plans to plans to hire its first product team in Africa. Twitter said it was actively building a team to help it be more immersed in the rich and vibrant communities that drive the conversations taking place every day across the continent. And, it opened up several roles from product and engineering to design, marketing, and communications. Then, Twitter announced that individuals will fill these roles remotely as it makes plans to establish a physical office in the country later. Twitter opened its African office in Accra, Ghana, months later. The Ghana team was fired in less than two weeks after Elon Musk took over the company. In fact, there were social media reports the staff members allegedly sent messages about the end of their contracts to their personal accounts, after being denied access to work emails. Read also: Twitter Snubs Nigeria, Opens First African Office in Ghana A controversial new sheriff in town Since Musk took over the leadership of Twitter two weeks ago, it’s been one drama after the other, thanks to his plethora of plans for the microblogging site. Recall after months of legal tussle, the billionaire completed the purchase. In his first act as the new boss, Musk began making drastic changes in the company. He fired roughly 50% of the company’s employees, including many top executives, in a move to reduce the company’s costs and impose a demanding new work ethic. In response, the affected Twitter employees initiated a class lawsuit. Five employees sued the company for violating California labour laws that require large employers with more than 100 employees to provide 60 days of notice before any mass layoffs. Former Attorney General candidate Shannon Liss-Riordan filed the class-action lawsuit against Twitter, Read also: Twitter sued as mass layoffs begin. Significant changes are now starting to be implemented, such as the $8 monthly subscription cost for verification status, which many people h...
Blnk claims to have disbursed over $20 million in loans via a network of more than 300 merchants... Blnk, an Egyptian fintech providing instant consumer credit, has announced that it has raised $32M in debt and equity funding to “accelerate financial inclusion within underserved communities across the country” and support its “AI-powered” lending infrastructure. The fintech revealed that the $32 million raise is divided among various funding types and stages, including $12.5 million in pre-seed and seed equity rounds led by Sawari Ventures and other investors in Abu Dhabi, as well as $11.2 million in debt financing and $8.3 million in securitized bond issuance. Speaking on the investment, Joseph Iskander, Head of Investment at lead investor EIIC, expressed their commitment to partnering with Blnk to drive financial inclusion in the country, and other value-creating businesses to grow the Egyptian market. He said: “We are convinced that the Egyptian market and its startup ecosystem present a compelling opportunity for regional and international investors, and we are committed to identifying and investing in value accretive businesses. We are pleased to partner with Blnk to drive financial inclusion and economic development in Egypt, and we look forward to working with the team to achieve their goals.” Joseph Iskander, Head of Investment at lead investor EIIC So far, Blnk claims to have disbursed over $20 million in loans via a network of more than 300 merchants (half of which are active) to over 60,000 customers who pay an average of 2.6% monthly interest. Read also: Elon Musk sells roughly $4 billion worth of Tesla shares days after Twitter takeover About Blnk Blnk claims that less than 4% of Egyptians have access to credit cards and can only afford to purchase products/services with cash that they have saved or are forced to borrow from hard money lenders at high-interest rates. In addition, just slightly more than 4 million credit cards are used in Egypt, a country with a population of more than 100 million. Because there are so few other options available on the market, citizens in the country have little to no access to credit. It is on this basis that Blnk, a fintech business launched last October, developed its aim to enable inclusion through point-of-sale financing. All of the consumers of the company’s services can now instantaneously obtain credit from their preferred merchants within minutes. According to the company, customers who use Blnk at the point of sale need a National ID for starters, after which they can get financing in three minutes, “It’s a very fast service,” said Amr Sultan, co-founder and CEO, in an interview with TechCrunch. “And by being there at the point of sale, we help increase conversion rates and provide affordability products to significantly underserved populations. We’re heavily focused on financial inclusion, especially on how to underwrite people who don’t have a credit history.” Consumer loans are one of the various options being investigated by Blnk. The digital lending platform collaborates with Egyptian retailers to enable them to screen customers at the point of sale and offer them financing for purchases of goods including electronics, furniture, and automotive services over a period of six to thirty-six months. Sultan, who started the company with Tarek Elsheikh, said Blnk does this via its proprietary credit underwriting system and risk-scoring model that assesses the customers’ riskiness and ability to service their debts. Other fintech companies that offer loans and other financial services in Egypt include MNT-Halan, MoneyFellows and Khazna. Read also: Kuda expands to the UK with launch of new services
There was a breath of relief in the crypto space on Tuesday when a report came out that Binance was willing to acquire FTX amid their brewing war. Read here: Binance to acquire FTX amid current public feud Little did we know that the positive atmosphere was going to be short-lived as negative updates in quick succession sent the market tumbling, with bitcoin, FTT and virtually all digital assets crashing heavily on Wednesday. Binance no longer acquiring FTX After announcing earlier on Tuesday of its decision to acquire the embattled rival crypto exchange, Binance disclosed that it will walk away from the deal after going through FTX’s financials and structure. Via its official Twitter handle, Binance claims that regulatory pressure and other factors impacted their decision. It claimed that the company reviewed FTX’s books and decided to walk out of their non-binding agreement. The exchange said: “As a result of corporate due diligence, as well as the latest news reports regarding mishandled customer funds and alleged US agency investigations, we have decided that we will not pursue the potential acquisition of FTX.com.” Binance, the biggest crypto exchange by trading volume, explained that it was willing to support the embattled exchange by providing its customers with liquidity; however, issues were “beyond our control or ability to help.” The firm also said, “Every time a major player in an industry fails, retail consumers will suffer,” while adding that the ecosystem will eventually become more resilient with the weeding out of bad players. There are also rumors that FTX’s balance sheet hole could be as large as $6 billion. FTX and Alameda Research websites are down Websites linked to crypto exchange FTX have been taken down on Wednesday night following a liquidity crisis and takeover upheaval. Websites for Alameda Research and the company’s venture capital arm, FTX Ventures, were offline and made private, while the exchange’s main site is accessible with a warning against depositing. There is also an unconfirmed report that most of the company’s legal and compliance staff have called it quits Crypto market crash Bitcoin and all altcoins collapsed following the news that Binance declined to purchase FTX. The update sent Bitcoin to a new yearly low, declining to $15,600 before recovering to $16,200 at press time, losing 11% of market value in the last one day, according to Coinmarketcap data. The platform’s native token, $FTT took a staggering hit after the announcement and is now trading well into the single digits. it’s currently changing hands for $2.7, down around 80% over the past 48 hours. Note that it was still trading at $22-$25 dollar early Tuesday. Overall, the market saw a huge crypto loss in the last 24 hours. According to CoinMarketCap statistics, more than $100 billion worth of value was wiped out from crypto assets due to the price drop. Compared to the total crypto market capitalization of $935 billion 24 hours ago, the market cap is currently at $819 billion, effectively erasing $116 billion in one day. Read also: Binance vs FTX war: Here is all you need to know Notably, investors had pinned their hopes on a rather swift market rebound if Binance was successfully able to acquire FTX, but now that the deal is scuppered, the troubles continue to negatively impact investor sentiment. What next? After the downturn caused by the FTX meltdown, the cryptocurrency market is in an uncertain situation. In view of this the industry faces a tough time ahead with potentially increased legal troubles and regulatory scrutiny across jurisdictions. Additionally the crypto market could face a deeper collapse if it becomes clearer that FTX is now insolvent.
Despite the market’s downward trend this year, the number of Nigerians with cryptocurrency stored in their digital wallets has increased vastly. According to the latest report by Finder, Nigeria has the second-highest number of Bitcoin owners among cryptocurrency holders as of October at 48 per cent, representing a significant increase of over 16.1% recorded in October 2021. Read also: Elon Musk sells roughly $4 billion worth of Tesla shares days after Twitter takeover In the chart of countries with the highest crypto holders, Australia ranks first, with 61% of crypto owners holding Bitcoin, the first and most popular cryptocurrency. This result hails from a thorough and careful survey of internet users in 26 countries by Finder’s Cryptocurrency Adoption Index. Coingecko also released a report that revealed that Nigeria, against other technologically advanced countries, emerged as the country with the highest search ranking in crypto since the market’s bearish pull in April, with over 371 key search phrases. Since the post-Covid-19 bloom of the cryptocurrency market, Nigerians have shown an intense devotion towards tokenonomics and the happenings around the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The real surprise is the continued rise of crypto holders in the face of a collapsing market. Thus, the question is: what has been the fuel behind this increased number of crypto holders in Nigeria? Read also: US announces historic $3.36 billion cryptocurrency seizure Orientation of the Cryptocurrency Market Looking back at the profits the cryptocurrency market enjoyed in 2021, the current state of the market further reinforces the preponderant emphasis laid on its volatility. Bitcoin nosedived from a high of $69,000 per coin last year to below $20,000 in May 2022. The market released a new value yesterday as the two major coins, Bitcoin and Ethereum, suffered crashes. Bitcoin currently stands below $18,000, while Ethereum is valued below $2,000 per coin. The news about Nigerians’ increased holdings of cryptocurrencies is a linear curve drafted from the market’s orientation. As an investor, the first thing you learn about the market is its volatility. The market is open to diverse movements. It could be upward; it could be downward. Interestingly, it is almost impossible to predict when there could be a turnaround in market momentum precisely. Nigerians are aware of this, especially after witnessing the surge that shook the market in 2021. As much as the current market meltdown seems bad, a surge similar to 2021 will ensure investors forget all they had to endure when the market was down and bearish. Normally, investors are advised to “buy the dip” when the market is down. The idea is for enthusiasts to buy an asset that’s falling in price. However, adequate knowledge should be acquired through thorough research to ensure the asset would become bullish in the future. A host of diverse cryptocurrency conferences held in Nigeria this year emphasises the result of the Finders’ survey. TechNext Coinference 2.0— the biggest cryptocurrency conference in Africa In October this year, TechNext hosted the biggest cryptocurrency conference in Africa. The event recorded humongous attendance in its second year, with keynote speeches and discussions from influential crypto enthusiasts in Nigeria. Technext Conference has recorded more than five thousand attendees in the last two years. It buttresses the unceasing interest of Nigerians in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Nigeria is growing to be the world’s largest base for crypto investors. Nigerians understand the market dynamics and are ready to stick to its thrill, hoping they will get their rewards in the long run. In no time, Nigerians will be regarded globally as key voices and major influencers of the cryptocurrency market trend.
Kenyan fulfilment and logistics startup Sendy has raised an unspecified amount of money in an undisclosed funding round. MOL PLUS Co., Ltd, the Corporate Venture Capital arm of Japanese transportation company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, led the round. This is the company’s first investment round after raising $20 million in its previous Series round in 2020. However, this new funding comes just a few weeks after the startup stated that it is shutting down its supply services, focusing more on its fulfilment services, and providing more simplified services to its commercial clients. Speaking on the newly formed partnership with MOL PLUS & MOL Logistics Co., Ltd., Mesh Alloys. Sendy Founder and CEO said, We believe our financial and operational partnership with MOL PLUS & MOL Logistics Co., Ltd.(MOL Logistics) will drive a huge impact not only for the growth of Sendy and its fulfillment network but also for the Merchants we serve as we continue to offer more value add and solutions to help them grow and trade more. We will work with MOL Logistics to leverage their strengths and expertise in logistics and cross-border fulfillment, to grow our services and network of businesses we serve Mesh Alloys. Sendy Founder and CEO According to a LinkedIn post by the Kenyan Logistics startup, the agreement will assist businesses to streamline operations while focusing on its new fulfilment capabilities. MOL PLUS has joined Sendy’s existing investors in their objective to help scale the company’s Fulfillment services in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, and Cote d’Ivoire. This prioritised service, Fulfillment services, is a portfolio of services that includes Direct, Smart, and All-in-one fulfilment, making it easier for businesses of any size to transport goods, allowing for greater efficiency and growth. The Kenyan startup, Sendy in a rollercoaster phase Sendy was officially launched in 2015 as an on-demand delivery platform that connected clients to a network of transporters for goods deliveries. The startup became a B2B business, transitioning all of its products into a B2B model; Sendy Transport, Supply, and Fulfillment now only serve businesses. In 2021, Sendy established a target of obtaining $100 million by 2022 to assist fund its expansion plan across other African countries, but it appears it was too big a dream for the platform. According to a report, it had only raised roughly $26 million for the goal before this new fundraising. The logistics startup appeared to have been hit by an economic downturn, reducing its prospects of meeting its objectives. In August, the startup laid off 10% of its workforce, but that was not all. In October, the logistics startup confirmed that an additional 20% of its remaining 270 staff were laid off. This was because the founders noticed that the company was far off from the projection it made and that changes needed to be made to hit the next projects. Read Also: Sendy’s 20% workforce trim About the new partnership Takuya Sakamoto, Representative of MOL PLUS, a corporate venture capital fund of MOL Logistics, an integrated logistics and supply chain solutions provider for organisations worldwide, also commented on the new relationship, saying, We were very specific in choosing to invest in Sendy because of the solution that they offer; we share a common goal. We all want to democratize logistics and support businesses in Africa to move their goods reliably and affordably. We look forward to an exciting partnership with Sendy as we forge this joint mission. We endeavor to work with partners with innovative ideas like Sendy through creating synergies and collaborations that will generate value,. This merger lays the way for significant benefits that will streamline corporate logistics. MOL also plans to collaborate with Sendy to provide more mid- and last-mile services to its shipping and freight customers.
Technext earlier reported that Kuda is expanding its operations to the United Kingdom by offering a remittance product to Nigerians living abroad as part of a major global expansion drive. Now, it seems the ‘i’s’ and ‘t’s’ were not ticked appropriately before the expansion plan rolled out. Kuda has been on the Twitter trend table since Tuesday, November 8. Many Kuda customers have tweeted that they had been logged out of their accounts for unknown reasons. Some other accounts were deactivated. In a tweet, @sokoya_philip wrote: “If you use Kuda bank, and you’ve forgotten your mobile app password because you’ve been using the biometric login. I advise you take out your money before Wednesday (12/08/22). It’s a new infrastructure, and many data will be lost.“ If you use Kuda bank, and you’ve forgotten your mobile app password because you’ve been using the biometric login.I advice you takeout your money before Wednesday (12/08/22)It’s a new infrastructure and many data will be lost. Sokoya Philip (@sokoya_philip) November 8, 2022 The tweet drew attention, especially on Wednesday morning, and other customers – opening the app to check – narrated their experience: Sha Ore From Kuda They Whine Me 🤦♂️ #PakvsNz #leaked #Kuda Danny issacute Boo (@Danny_Issacute) November 9, 2022
Kuda
If you forgot your password stop panicking just press the forget password bottom below and recovery it back tru your email Nathexcel Media TV (@nathexcelmtv10) November 9, 2022 Why Dem no just deactivate my own🤲 na just small change Dey there 🥲#Kuda Olarenwaju 🥂 (@etzmyill) November 9, 2022
Kuda @joinkuda is the worst bank in the history of modern day digital bankOnce you have transaction issuesJust say bye bye to your money
abbeylee (@Itsimplyhabeyy) November 9, 2022 @joinkuda I cant log in my account i updated the app and now its telling me am deactivated Bombay (@MohdWaliGalkaye) November 9, 2022 @joinkuda please I need help in accessing my account Ria✨💙 (@ria_tammy) November 9, 2022 Almost everyone is having issues signing into the app after the app. I was granted access to my account after several trials. Now you guys are telling me that the login pin I just created is wrong ?I've been locked out Eriline (@erilinebenedict) November 9, 2022 What is happening? Why is my kuda account deactivated after updating the kuda app? @joinkuda 👑Ridwanullah👑𓃵 (@iam_Reedone) November 9, 2022 Kuda responds to tweets Hi @MohdWaliGalkaye,We're sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused.We’re aware you got a message saying your account has been deactivated after signing into the app.This issue has been resolved now.Thank you.💜 Kuda App (@joinkuda) November 9, 2022 Hi @Call_me_cucu,We're sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused.We’re aware you got a message saying your account has been deactivated after signing into the app.This issue has been resolved now.Thank you. Kuda App (@joinkuda) November 9, 2022 Hymned and unsatisfactory responses. There has been no explanation for the issues and why they may have happened. However, a backend engineer mentioned that geo-location might have been restricted due to the launch. Did Kuda restrict geolocation? User restrictions of a particular app happen when the app developer sets in geolocation, not wanting other users from a certain location to access the app. Azowenu Solomon, Backend Engineer. Azowenu Solomon Bestz, a backend engineer, added that he sees “no other reason other users won’t be able to access the app, only if the authentication process isn’t built well, or it has gone beyond development issues, and it’s now a case of cyber attack.“ Another software engineer, Joseph Tsegen, said that “instead of building a different system and interfacing with their current one, they decided to extend their current app. I assume they probably just extended their servers to include UK-specific resources and added/updated their logic to allow for users from the UK to sign up on their platform.” Joseph Tsegen, Software...
Stablecoins can provide a solution to the falling Naira but Nigerians are not paying significant attention A discussion about stablecoins has become pertinent now because Nigerians have witnessed the most spectacular collapse of the Naira in the last few months. The Nigerian Naira (NGN), the legal tender of the West African country, started 2022 trading against the US dollar at around N500/$1. However, it reached an exorbitant peak of around N900/$1 last week and has settled to a little below N850. Economic hardship, inflation, and money insecurity are just a few unpleasant dividends this free fall of the Naira has brought upon the nation. And with projections that the currency will plunge to N1000/$1 before Yuletide, there seems to be more cause for alarm. However, in the wake of these trying times, a solution most Nigerians are not paying significant attention to is stablecoins. A significant percentage of the population remains misinformed about cryptocurrencies and how they work. The truth is that stablecoins can help hedge against the ailing national currency. Read also: Tokenomics: All you need to know and why you should pay attention. What are stablecoins? How do they work, and how can you start saving in them in place of the crumbling Naira? TechNext explains these and more. What are Stablecoins? Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies that try to ensure price stability and are tied to a reserve of assets. It may be pegged to a currency like the U.S. dollar or to the price of a commodity such as gold. They are more useful than more-volatile cryptocurrencies as a medium of exchange. There are many stablecoins, including $USDT, $BUSD, $USDC, and $TUSD. These coins are linked to the value of an underlying asset. Tether (USDT) is the largest and most widely used stablecoin. The price of Tether is linked to the exchange rate of the US dollar. USD Coin (USDC) is another major stablecoin issued by the American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase in partnership with Circle. USD Coin is also pegged to the price of the dollar. Why should Nigerians use Stablecoins? Using stablecoins brings some great benefits for Nigerians, especially in this precarious time. Since there is no hope regarding Naira’s rise against the US dollar, a reasonable strategy is to start saving in stablecoins like USDT, which is projected to stay strong, rather than keeping money in Naira, which keeps losing value. The interesting thing is that people don’t have to break the bank. You don’t necessarily need to have millions to save in USDT. You can purchase these stablecoins for as low as N5000 or less on peer-to-peer platforms. Additionally, stablecoins do not look at national borders. It is just as easy to send a stablecoin transaction to someone abroad as it is domestically. The system is also very transparent because blockchain technology is used. Every transaction is stored on the blockchain and can be viewed by anyone. How to get started The easiest way to buy stablecoins is on cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance, Quidax, and others. Binance reported it had added a fiat gateway for the Nigerian Naira to increase crypto adoption and mainstream accessibility. This means that after a long break due to the February 2021 CBN crypto ban, Nigerians can now deposit NGN from bank accounts and withdraw from their Binance wallets. After depositing this NGN (note that you can deposit as low as N1000), it can be swapped with USDT or any other stablecoin via the NGN/USDT trading pair. Related post: Here is all you need to know about creating crypto coins Another way to purchase stablecoins on Binance is to use the exchange’s P2P marketplace. Click here to read how to use the platform safely. It’s also pretty simple to buy stablecoins on the Nigerian crypto exchange Quidax. Click here to read about the procedure. Lastly Even if you’re not interested in trading cryptocurrencies, holding USDT against the Naira can be a source of profit. Those who bought USDT when trading a...
Zenith Bank Tech Fair has been conceived – to discover, promote and empower the next big tech start-ups in Nigeria Leading Nigerian commercial bank Zenith Bank, in collaboration with Swiss-based global organization Seedstars, has officially launched the Zenith Bank Pitching Competition targeted at entrepreneurs in Nigeria with tech-enabled, scalable solutions designed to innovate businesses from different industries. In a statement shared with Technext on Wednesday, Zenith Bank disclosed that the competition’s goal is to support Nigerian minimum viable product (MVP) stage startups in advancing to the next growth stage. Ten of the most promising startups will be invited to the pitch competition at Zenith Tech Fair on November 22 and 23, where the winners could win up to N15m (Fifteen million naira) in cash prizes. Startups interested in joining the Zenith Bank Pitching Competition can send in applications before the 14th of November here. The competition will identify promising businesses and support the best startups that are using technology and innovative ideas to help solve the problems of the present to build a better future in the following areas: Future of Wholesale and Retail Future of eCommerce Future of Payments Future of Lending Future of Wellness Future of Cybersecurity Future of EdTech Future of Electricity (power vending) Future of Agri-tech Future of Entertainment Read also: NetPlus Integrates NetPOS Mini, a 2-in-1 innovative POS with Zenith Bank. “As a leading financial institution in Africa with several firsts in the deployment of innovative products and solutions that ensure convenience, speed, and safety of transactions, we have always been at the vanguard of and remain committed to promoting technological innovations in the country,” Dr Temitope Fasoranti, Executive Director of Zenith Bank said. “In this vein, the Zenith Bank Tech Fair has been conceived – to discover, promote and empower the next big tech start-ups in Nigeria. It is our hope, therefore, that the fair will be a springboard for the competing start-ups and entrepreneurs, providing the needed support for them to become global technological brands in the near future.” What to know about the contest According to the statement, the Zenith Bank Pitching Competition is billed to support participating startups by providing the necessary tools and expertise to support startup growth and development. Lean methodologies and best startup practices will also be taught to the cohort by Seedstars’ internal experts and selected external mentors. Criteria for startups looking to join the competition are as follows: Existing startups/young tech companies (<3 years) in the Nigerian ecosystem; The startup must have a demonstrable product or service (MVP) or must demonstrate the viability of the business model; The startup needs to be scalable or have the potential to reach scalability; The startup must have a complete team; The startup must not have raised more than $75K; and. The startup must be operating in one of the sectors listed above. The pitch competition taking place at the Zenith Tech Fair on November 22 and 23 will allow the ten startups to pitch their solutions for a chance to win the following cash prizes: 1st Prize: N15m (Fifteen million Naira) 2nd Prize: N10m (Ten million Naira) 3rd Prize: N5m (Five million Naira) The rest of the startups will be awarded a participatory prize of N1m (one million Naira) each, and the top 5 startups will receive follow-on mentorship through Seedstars’ Mentorship Hub that will enable them to continue scaling their businesses and receive additional support from a global network of experts and investors. About Seedstars Seedstars is a Swiss-based private company with a mission to impact people’s lives in emerging markets through technology and entrepreneurship. The group’s activities cover over 90 emerging ecosystems through a variety of initiatives, such as the FTxSDG Challenge, previously known as the Seedstars Wo...
The macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ads signal loss have caused our revenue to be much lower than expected." Mark Zuckerberg announced in a blog post that Meta, the parent company of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, is laying off 13% of its workforce i.e. over 11,000 staff. This is the largest layoff in the company’s history. In the blog post, the CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, expressed remorse for making this difficult decision. He said, We’ve cut costs across our business, including scaling back budgets, reducing perks, and shrinking our real estate footprint. We’re restructuring teams to increase our efficiency. But these measures alone won’t bring our expenses in line with our revenue growth, so I’ve also made the hard decision to let people go. Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg Read Also: Meta reportedly planning to lay off “thousands of employees” this week How it started for Meta Layoffs have recently become common in the IT industry, and many companies have reduced headcounts. Several organisations have announced 10-50% layoffs only this month. This week appears to be Meta’s turn, which was highly anticipated after the CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, warned employees earlier in September that the company planned to cut spending and restructure teams. Meta had also been under a hiring freeze. Ahead of this latest decision, the Wall Street Journal stated that the CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, spoke to some employees on an executive call about the layoff plans and claimed to be accountable for the company’s decision. According to WatcherGuru, the firm’s Reality Labs (Metaverse) division had a $3.7 billion loss in the third quarter of 2022, prompting speculation that it may be the most affected. Read Also; Meta collaborates with Nigeria’s top creators to flex in the Metaverse Reasons for the Meta mass layoff Many of these large tech companies that have gone on enormous layoff sprees have encountered two primary obstacles that have contributed to such decisions: the economic downturn and strong competition. Meta is now dealing with both. In his statement, Mark Zuckerberg said that the expansions made during the COVID-19 pandemic has not worked out as predicted. “At the start of Covid, the world rapidly moved online, and the surge of e-commerce led to outsized revenue growth. Many people predicted this would be a permanent acceleration that would continue even after the pandemic ended.” “I did too, so I decided to increase our investments significantly. Unfortunately, this did not play out the way I expected. Not only has online commerce returned to prior trends, but the macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ads signal loss have caused our revenue to be much lower than expected.” I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO Meta explaining the mass layoff Meta is dealing with slowing global economic development, tough competition from TikTok, particularly with the Reels, Apple privacy reforms, greater regulatory pressure, and concerns about enormous expenditure on the metaverse. Read Also: Facebook mimics TikTok with its new Feeds feature Major layoffs in the tech industry this month Aside from the Meta huge layoff, numerous other major internet firms have thrown off hundreds of thousands of employees since the beginning of this month. Intel reportedly cut off 20% of its workers on November 1st. Lyft laid off over 700 employees on the 3rd. Twitter cut off 50% of its personnel on November 4th, and Stripes reported 14% layoffs on the same day. What is the future of these affected employees? According to the blog post, Mark Zuckerberg revealed that the affected employees would get detailed emails. There are also benefits options for these individuals, including Severance for up to four months, PTO, Health Insurance, Career advice, Immigration support etc. “This is a sad moment, and there’s no way around that. To those leaving, I want to thank you again for everything you’ve put into this place. W...
As part of his bid to reshape Twitter, ostensibly in his own image, Elon Musk, the South African-American billionaire who bought the company last week, announced that the micro-blogging platform will have a paid monetisation system for creators. He tweeted last weekend that the social media platform will soon add “creator monetization for all forms of content” on the app. Followed by creator monetization for all forms of content Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 5, 2022 Why is monetisation for creators important? YouTube has dominated the content market because it pays creators to produce high-quality creative content. A portion of the advertising revenue from each content is paid as a reward to the creator. This caused influencers from other social media platforms to encourage followers to subscribe to their YouTube accounts as they sought to tap into that monetisation system. Creators bringing subscribers to YouTube means more people will spend longer on the app, making more money for YouTube. Twitter currently has an average of 450 million monthly active users, a low figure compared to YouTube, which has about 2.1 billion monthly active users worldwide. Elon Musk’s goal is to increase the number of active users on the app and make money for the company. To beat YouTube, it must incentivise its creators to make the app a go-to content hub. However, Musk is not the only one who has set his eyes on YouTube’s type of creator incentivisation. The fast-growing app TikTok has rolled out a profit-sharing model similar to YouTube for its top-performing creators. Snapchat, which recorded massive losses this year, has also explored this payment model for creators. What do other social media companies offer creators? On Instagram, users can subscribe to an influencer they like and get access to their special Stories and exclusive Reels that other regular users don’t get to view or at least not immediately. While it’s too early to predict how it will perform with Instagram, the Meta-owned platform can afford to take its time because it is not as pressured as Twitter to create that monetisation system. This is partly because Instagram influencers are paid relatively high fees for sponsored content by brands. They also get gift items, shopping vouchers and all-expense-paid trips from these brands compared to influencers on some other apps. Twitter currently has some monetisation options itself with more creator-centric profit-sharing models. For instance, it gives 97 per cent of the revenue it gets from its Super Follow feature to the creator. The Super Follow feature is a product that users can pay for to give them extra access to someone they already follow. This doesn’t compare to YouTube’s multiple monetisation options for creators. Several YouTube products give creators some opportunity for monetisation. YouTube has Advertising Revenue, which gives creators a cut from the advertising money their video generates. Influencers like Eric Okafor, who does phone and other gadget reviews, have pivoted to this content format. Read also: How Eric Okafor became the king of short-form tech reviews on YouTube. Then it has Channel Memberships, making subscribers make recurring monthly payments in exchange for special perks from creators; Shopping, making merchandise sales easier for creators; Super Chat and Super Stickers, where fans pay to get their messages or animated images highlighted in chat streams; Super Thanks, where fans pay to get their message highlighted in the comments section; and YouTube Premium Revenue, where creators get a cut when Premium subscribers watch their content. Also, there are other initiatives, such as YouTube Next Up, which involves all-expense paid trips, and the plaques of recognition presented to creators when they hit a milestone in their subscriber journey. Other social media platforms have been trailing Facebook and YouTube in terms of active users for years. For Twitter to compete, it must consider creating r...
Elon Musk sold 19.5 million shares between Friday and Tuesday, one week after completing his $44 billion Twitter. deal Elon Musk has sold Tesla shares worth approximately $3.95 billion. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the billionaire sold 19.5 million shares of the electric-car-producing company between Friday and Tuesday, one week after finalising his $44 billion purchase of Twitter. According to a Reuters calculation, Musk now owns about 14% of Tesla following the most recent share sale. Although the reason for the transaction is unknown, this is not the first time the billionaire has sold Tesla shares. In 2021 alone, Elon Musk sold Tesla shares valued at around $22 billion, but that was not all. After publicly announcing his intention to buy Twitter in April, he sold more than $8 billion worth of stock. Reports claim that Tesla lost over half of its market value and that Musk’s net worth has fallen by $70 billion made a bid for Twitter. In August, he sold Tesla shares again for $6.9 billion, claiming that he did so in case he had to proceed with the Twitter deal. However, he informed his followers in a tweet that month that he had stopped selling Tesla shares to pay for the Twitter acquisition. In the (hopefully unlikely) events that Twitter forces this deal to close and some equity partners don’t come through, it is important to avoid an emergency sale of Tesla stock. Read Also: Finally, Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44bn, fires CEO and CFO The painstaking journey of acquiring Twitter If you recall, after announcing his intention to buy Twitter for $44 billion in April, Elon Musk tried to back out of the agreement in August, claiming the microblogging site was not entirely transparent. He said he was cancelling the contract because Twitter had misled him over the number of fake “bot” accounts, allegations rejected by the company. In response, Twitter launched a lawsuit demanding that the billionaire must take part in the takeover agreement. This led to Elon outsourcing funding assistance far and wide. For the acquisition, the billionaire promised to provide $46.5 billion in equity and debt financing, which would pay for the transaction’s $44 billion price tag and closing charges. Major financial institutions pledged to offer $13 billion in debt financing. There were also pledges from equity and private investors. After completing the purchase, Musk began making drastic changes in the company. He fired roughly 50% of the company’s employees, including many top executives. Significant changes are now starting to be implemented, such as the $8 monthly subscription cost for verification status, which many people have opposed. According to Mass Live, the microblogging site has lost over 1 million users since the new Chief Twit took over. Read also: Global roundup: Tesla recalls 54,000 vehicles over self-driving software issues. Will Tesla shares drop further, and will Elon Musk sell more shares Tesla’s stock declined dramatically on Monday morning, dropping 5% to its lowest level in 18 months. According to a report, this could be due to COVID-related concerns and the fact that China, one of its most productive facilities, is subject to tight COVID-19 restrictions, which hurt output. Elon Musk may also need to sell more Tesla shares in the future if he needs to raise quick funds. It was obvious that Musk used debt to purchase Twitter, and the investment returns would need to come from the company’s earnings or other sources. However, several companies have suspended Twitter advertising due to recent changes. Due to declining cash flow, Elon Musk might have to dig into his own pockets, which are his shares for funding. This may eventually impact the price of Tesla shares as well.
Cashlink is a decentralised, peer-to-peer payment network that allows users to deposit and withdraw funds from Web3 applications like Binance easily. Cashlink is a decentralised, peer-to-peer payment network that allows users to deposit and withdraw funds from Web3 applications like Binance easily. Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has integrated Cashlink, allowing Nigerian customers to deposit and withdraw funds in Naira. In an official statement, Binance disclosed that it had added this fiat gateway for the Nigerian Naira (NGN) to increase crypto adoption and mainstream accessibility. Cashlink has onboarded over 3000 merchants who successfully completed compliance verification. With a pilot on Bundle Africa, Cashlink processed over 1.7 million transactions in its first year. According to the CEO of Bundle Africa, Emmanuel” Babz” Babalola, “Cashlink has been the ship in which Bundlers have been able to move cash in and out of their wallet. We created it to be the Uber for money, and it is a first-of-its-kind peer-to-peer network from the African ecosystem. It is changing the Web3 payment landscape and forging a new path for payment systems.” Paschal Okeke, Head of Operations, said, “Cashlink has always been a platform that allows people to have more control over their money and thereby gives them the ability to profit from that process. That’s something we took into consideration while building this improved version. In offering “Cashlink as a service” to multiple platforms, that ability multiplies exponentially for our merchants. Liquidity is the foundation of many businesses, and that’s the foundation we used to build 2.0. As a business, we can’t wait to help other platforms plug in and scale their businesses.” Read also: #TNC2022: Beyond the hype, DeFi can’t eliminate traditional banks, says Emmanuel Babalola, CEO, of Bundle Cashlink Features Cahlink has several distinct features that allow it to function effectively as a decentralised payment platform. Some of these features include: A proprietary matching algorithm to connect merchants with users. The algorithm uses a combination of artificial intelligence and machine learning to ensure the platform’s efficiency as a payment channel. Platform users can hold cash balances in their wallets without creating a bank account. An escrow system secures the transaction until both parties have fulfilled the deposit or withdrawal order ensuring safety when using the network. An efficient customer service team that responds to inquiries and resolves issues that may arise. Security measures, including a thorough verification and identification process for all merchants, to reduce criminal activities. Cashlink also allows local citizens to make extra income through its Merchant program. How to deposit NGN on Binance using Cashlink Sign into Binance and select deposit from the homepage Select Fiat as the deposit means and choose NGN (Nigerian Naira) as the currency you wish to deposit There are two recommended options provided, and users will need to link either of them to Cashlink for seamless deposits; Bank Transfer (Cashlink); This requires users to enter their bank name, account number, and contact information. There is a warning that funds will be lost if deposits are made from an account that does not match the verified name on the account. Read also: Binance to acquire FTX amid current public feud E-Wallet (Cashlink): This allows users to transfer funds from an electronic wallet with Abeg, Chipper Cash, Get Barter, and Paga supported. Enter the amount to deposit between NGN 1000 and NGN 2000000 Review the summary of the transaction before proceeding to confirm Cashlink will present a list of verified merchants, displaying their usernames, p2p orders completed, completion rate, and the average transaction time. Select a preferred merchant and send the request While Cashlink does not charge transaction fees, supported merchants preferred by the use...
Kuda is adopting a different approach that doesn’t involve charging transaction fees. Kuda is expanding its operations to the United Kingdom by offering a remittance product to Nigerians living abroad as part of a major global expansion drive. The Nigerian-operating startup has been a major player in the fintech space since its inception by providing a personalized set of banking services that are easily accessible with mobile devices. Kuda Bank was known for not charging bank fees but implemented a 50 naira charge on deposits of 10,000 Naira and more in July 2022. The bank awarded its millionth customer with 1 million Naira. It was listed as one of the seven WEF African technology startups of 2021 Kuda’s UK move Kuda is a UK-based fintech founded by Babs Ogundeyi and Musty Mustapha. Its primary objective is to offer financial services to Nigerians and other Africans within and outside the continent. Kuda has been largely successful since its launch in 2019. It claims to have up to 5 million users. Last August, Kuda raised $55 million during its Series B round, intending to enter other African countries like Ghana and Uganda this year. However, the digital bank has opted to proceed with expansion into the UK by providing newly launched services such as remittance to Nigerians in the UK, direct debits, and local transfers. While Nigerian users’ services are provided via its subsidiary, Kuda Microfinance Bank Limited. Kuda EMI Limited is the other subsidiary in charge of the newly launched services. Kuda, which has raised more than $90 million from investors, will have to compete with other neobanks’, such as Revolut, Monzo and Wise, which have been widely adopted in the U.K. by several demographics, including migrants like Nigerians, which Kuda is targeting with its launch. Kuda will partner with Modulr, a banking-as-a-service platform, to provide these financial services. Modulr is an embedded payments platform for digital businesses, to offer a mobile wallet, virtual and physical cards, local U.K. transfers and direct debits. Read also: Kuda too, slash workforce Remittance in Nigeria Nigeria is Africa’s largest inbound remittance market and among the top 10 largest in the world. The remittance market accounts for nearly 4% of the country’s GDP as of 2020. However, sending money from Europe and America to Nigeria is challenging and expensive. For instance, senders are charged 3.7% of the total amount to send money from the U.K. — the second largest sender of remittances to Nigeria, behind the U.S., and is estimated to transmit £3 billion yearly — to Nigeria, according to data. African consumer fintechs such as PayDay, Kyshi, and Grey Finance compete with major international money transfer operators like WorldRemit and Remitly to control transactions in the U.K.-Nigeria corridor. Their advantage is the fees they charge, most of which are commissions of transactions. Read also: Kuda bled over 6 billion in 1 year. Babs Ogundeyi, the fintech’s CEO, is not worried that they are trying to penetrate a saturated market. He told Techcrunch that there are still challenges that need solutions and the new services offer more than remittance. “I don’t necessarily think it’s crowded because obviously, there are still a lot of challenges in remitting money to Africa, especially to Nigeria, which is still expensive. But for us, it’s not just a remittance play. There’s a user experience, convenience and price factor involved too.” Babs Ogundeyi, CEO Kuda To that end, the digital bank is adopting a different approach that doesn’t charge transaction fees. The fintech says it’s entering the U.K. market by setting a flat fee of £3 with a transfer limit of £10,000. Ogundeyi expects most of the transactions that will take place on its platform to fall between £350 to £500.
Creating a 10-year roadmap to widening the talent acceleration pipeline to achieve talent sustainability that will deliver the Smarter Lagos. Art of Technology (AOT), Lagos is an annual tech conference curated by Eko Innovation Centre, one of the leading tech hubs in Nigeria, curators of events like MarkHack, Lagos Smart Meter Hackathon, EkoClimathon, Security Hackathon, amongst others, in collaboration with the Lagos State Government – the economic and technology epicentre of Nigeria. The conference brings together technology industry stakeholders, policymakers, enthusiasts, ecosystem players, investors, business founders and executives, venture capital firms, startups, and technology talents to create policies that will drive the development of a smarter Lagos. The conference, which has had over 29,000 participants since its inception ranging from startups to investors to tech founders, is set to raise the bar for its fourth edition, scheduled to hold in December 2022. Read also: How Eko Innovation Centre and LASG Charted a New Course For Data-Driven Smart City At AOT Lagos 2.0 AOT 1.0 gave birth to the Lagos Innovation Master Plan – an innovation strategy and tactical plan that sought to transform Lagos into a smart city through technology. AOT 2.0 saw the launch of Startup Lagos & Eko Opensource, an innovative information portal that sought to deliver critical insights into the technology startup ecosystem and a platform that serves as a bridge for private sector developers to solve governmental technology challenges. AOT 3.0 engaged founders and policymakers to highlight challenges with attracting funding and create enabling policies to increase the attractiveness of startups to investors. The conference also saw over sixty million Naira awarded to innovative startups and R&D projects in Lagos Universities. AOT 4.0: Talent acceleration and a smarter Lagos This year, AOT Lagos 4.0 will focus on development, retainment, and talent employability for the future-of-work economy. The remodelling of our education curriculum to change learning paradigms and contribute to policies that foster an enabling environment to produce and retain the talent that will drive the future. This year’s Art of Technology conference theme is Talent Acceleration and a Smarter Lagos. It is set for the 8th and 9th December at the Landmark Event Centre in Lagos. It will explore creating a 10-year roadmap to widening the talent acceleration pipeline to achieve talent sustainability that will deliver the Smarter Lagos. Participation in AOT Lagos 4.0 is free, but you are required to pre-register Here.
The exchanges confirmed the surprising twist after several controversial decisions. Binance has signed a non-binding letter of intent to acquire FTX. The acquisition would see the two largest cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume operate under the same umbrella. This afternoon, FTX asked for our help. There is a significant liquidity crunch. To protect users, we signed a non-binding LOI, intending to fully acquire and help cover the liquidity crunch. We will be conducting a full DD in the coming days. CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) November 8, 2022 The exchanges confirmed the surprising twist after several controversial decisions and social media spats that contributed to Tuesday’s tumble of several tokens. However, both parties did not disclose the deal’s value, pending the due diligence process. In a series of tweets, Changpeng Zhao said Binance decided to acquire FTX after the latter reached out to the firm for help. “To protect users, we signed a non-binding LOI, intending to fully acquire FTX and help cover the liquidity crunch. We will be conducting a full DD in the coming days.” Binance founder and chief executive Changpeng Zhao Binance vs FTX feud Zhao was the first investor that backed FTX. As part of their strategic partnership, Binance and FTX worked together to develop the cryptocurrency ecosystem further. In addition to the equity investment into FTX, Binance also took a long-term position in the FTX Token (FTT) to help enable the sustainable growth of the FTX ecosystem, aligning with the broader scope of the partnership. However, the relationship between the two platforms became estranged as the younger firm gained popularity. The two executives – CZ and Sam Bankman-Fried, have exchanged words on social media for several months. However, the relationship between the two became further estranged on Sunday after Zhao revealed that his firm was selling its holding of FTT, the native token of FTX exchange that it had received as part of an exit from the firm last year. Read Also: Binance vs FTX war: Here is all you need to know In a tweet, Sam Bankman-Fried said: “A huge thank you to CZ, and all of our supporters. This is a user-centric development that benefits the entire industry. CZ has done, and will continue to do, an incredible job of building out the global crypto ecosystem and creating a freer economic world.” 1) Hey all: I have a few announcements to make. Things have come full circle, and’s first, and last, investors are the same: we have come to an agreement on a strategic transaction with Binance for (pending DD etc.). SBF (@SBF_FTX) November 8, 2022 The effect of the acquisition on the market is yet to be determined. However, some cryptocurrencies have improved following the announcement.
Young Africans now have more opportunities to learn digital skills thanks to the continent's widespread digital exposure, positioning them for the right jobs. Google has officially released the Interview Warmup, a tool that lets job candidates practise potential interview questions to feel confident and at ease during this hiring process. The technology, unveiled at the second Google for Africa Event in October 2022, was created to assist learners enrolling in Google Career Certificate courses to improve their readiness for upcoming job interviews. Nevertheless, anyone can use this programme. Speaking on the importance of this tool in the African job-seeking market, Mojolaoluwa Aderemi-Makinde, head of Brand and Reputation at Google Africa, said, We are excited about Interview Warmup because it shows how new technologies have the potential to help young people in Africa hone the skills needed to grow their careers. The tool can help create more opportunities for African job seekers Mojolaoluwa Aderemi-Makinde, head of brand and reputation at Google Africa With the introduction of the Interview Warmup tool, Google reaffirms its dedication to helping job seekers in Africa develop their interviewing techniques and get ready for the careers they want. The unemployment rate in Africa There has been a long history of unemployment in the continent. While this is still clearly visible in the community, teenagers and young adults have taken up the challenge to arm themselves with entrepreneurial and creative abilities. Young Africans now have more opportunities to learn digital skills thanks to the continent’s widespread digital exposure, positioning them for the right jobs. However, as competition grows locally and globally, it is crucial to teach these people how to ace an interview to land their dream job – a gap Google aims to fill with Interview Warmup An average job advertisement in Africa receives more than 2000 applications, demonstrating how difficult it can be to land a job and how challenging it can be to interview in a new field. As important as it is to learn the skills needed to perform well on a new job, it is even more important to learn the skills needed to qualify for roles”, added Aderemi-Makinde. This Google tool provides tips for before, during and after interviews. The Google Career Certificates Employer Consortium offered these pointers. Read Also; Meet Chisom Nwokwu, the 22-year-old mentor helping others secure tech jobs How to use Interview Warmup Interview Warmup is fairly easy to use. You may begin practising for interviews by choosing the role you want to test for on the webpage. Typically, the practice interview consists of five questions chosen randomly, but you can explore all other questions and choose between text or voice to answer them. If you respond to a question using audio after it is read out, the audio is transcribed so you can see your response and explore insights. Additionally, the programme gives you terms connected to the job so you can grasp the pattern to answering the questions. The kind of questions asked on the Interview Warmup These random questions were curated by industry experts and are of three types; Background, Situational and Technical. Background questions cover your past training and experiences. They can include questions about prior education, jobs and interests/goals. Situational questions ask about how you’ve handled particular circumstances in the past and how you could handle them in the future. Technical questions encompass subject-specific knowledge and abilities. They frequently evaluate your ability to apply technical knowledge to resolve issues in make-believe scenarios. These questions jump between these three categories to give you an understanding of how the various questions are tailored and their ideal answer structure. Your responses are recorded in real time so you can analyse them and look for patterns. Finally, Google does not have to save a copy of you...
...in context, it will cost a Kenyan $609 to buy a suitable smartphone and set up 5G broadband. The country's minimum wage is just $130. Two weeks ago, Kenya’s largest telecommunications operator Safaricom rolled out the fifth generation (5G) mobile network for the first time in the East Africa region in a move the company said will “herald an era of intelligent connectivity”. Undoubtedly, the launch of the trending high-speed technology in Kenya reflects a growing adoption of 5G across Africa. Since South Africa spearheaded its journey on the continent, other countries have followed suit. Fourteen African nations were actively testing 5G networks as of May this year. Analysts predict that 5G service will add $2.2 trillion to Africa’s economy by 2034. This pinpoints a fact: the fast mobile network, described as the “future of mobile communication”, is gradually becoming a thing on the continent, albeit with a rough beginning due to certain challenges. By 2025, 5G will account for 4% of total connections in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to The Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa 2022 report released by GSM Association (GSMA) last month. That’s not a lot compared to the global average of 25%. Read also: NCC says it will auction 2 additional 5G licenses by December 2022. Why is 5G struggling in Africa? The reasons aren’t far-fetched. First, Africa has the lowest number of internet connections in the world. For context, while mobile networks cover about 83% of Africa’s population, only about 22% have internet access, as GSMA disclosed in its The State of Mobile Internet Connectivity 2022 report. After many years, Africa is still lagging behind in the 4G adoption. In 2020, only 7% of Africa’s 774 million mobile connections were 4G, way lower than the 44% global average. According to the biannual report by Stockholm-headquartered telecommunications company Ericsson, the number of 4G subscriptions grew by 26 % in 2021. By the end of Q1 2022, less than 30% of mobile broadband subscriptions in Africa were 4G, while over 70% of subscriptions were 2G/3G. According to the GSMA report on the mobile economy in Sub-Saharan Africa, 4G will only overtake 2G in 2023, after 3G adoption has reached its peak in 2022. It is estimated that it will take until 2027 for 4G mobile subscriptions to overtake other mobile internet subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa, while 4G subscriptions will account for just under 50%, and 5G subscriptions will still be less than 4%, according to Dataxis. We recently reported that despite the latest rollout, data shows 70% of Africans only have access to 2G/3G networks. Little wonder internet speed in Africa is way below the global average, according to the 2022 Speedtest Global Index published by US-based analytics firm Ookla. For instance, South Africa, which boasts the highest internet speed on the continent, has an average mobile internet download speed of 68.9 megabits per second (MBps), compared with the global average mobile download speed of 77.7 Mbps. In its recently published report, GSMA says the greatest potential obstacle to consumer adoption and usage of 5G in Africa is device cost and availability. When Safaricom launched the latest mobile network in Kenya last month, the company’s CEO Peter Ndegwa admitted that “the adoption of 5G smartphones remains low, largely due to the high cost of the devices”. In context, it will cost a Kenyan $609 to buy a suitable smartphone and set up 5G broadband. The country’s minimum wage is just $130. The Kenyan example reflects the bigger picture: Africans can’t afford it. The continent is currently experiencing its highest levels of poverty in recent years. By 2030, an estimated 479 million Africans (28.1% of the population) will be living in extreme poverty, according to a recent report. But 5G isn’t only expensive to the users. Telecommunications companies spend a fortune to put up the infrastructure. For instance, Nigeria’s reserve price (RP) bid at the 5G auction was...
...will support Mastercard’s goal of connecting 1 billion people and 50 million micro and small businesses to the digital economy by 2025 Global payment platform Mastercard has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) to provide micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with access to digital, payment and training tools. Under the terms of the MoU, LSETF will leverage Mastercard’s technology, expertise, partnerships, training, and cyber intelligence solutions to improve the business environment via entrepreneurship, employability, skills development, and financial inclusion. In other words, the MoU is expected to boost the capacity of MSMEs to grow their businesses while supporting the startup fintech community in Lagos. In communicating the essence of the MoU, the Executive Secretary LSETF, Mrs Teju Abisoye, stated that the collaboration will help and empower individuals and businesses to create wealth from the many opportunities brought by the right tools that would be made available. She said: “Nigeria, like most developing countries, contends with unemployment, and entrepreneurship remains a viable option to empowering residents with jobs and wealth creation opportunities. Our collaboration with Mastercard will have a significant impact on the way MSMEs operate, equipping business owners with innovative tools and knowledge, she added. Not only will this assist our vision to achieve digital financial inclusion for MSMEs, but also help us foster the adoption of innovation within the vibrant Lagos business ecosystem” Teju Abisoye, Executive Secretary, LSETF. Specifically, Mastercard will collaborate with LSETF to provide SME-in-a-Box – a new low-cost payments solution that enables small business owners to move their businesses online and accept a range of digital payments from their customers, moving beyond person-to-person payments. Mastercard will also provide advisory and technical support to advance this digital-first strategy per local and global best practices. This was made known by the Country Manager & Area Business Head, West Africa, of Mastercard, Ebehijie Momoh. In his remarks, he added that the partnership offers the opportunity for MSMEs to grow and access the resources needed for survival in a challenging time where these resources have become scarce. She said: “Despite the critical role MSMEs play in the socio-economic development of Nigeria, we recognise that they face numerous hurdles that negatively affect their sustained growth, including limited to no access to funding, business training, formal credit, infrastructure deficit, and more.” Ebehijie Momoh, Country Manager & Area Business Head, West Africa, of Mastercard “The MoU fosters multiple growth opportunities for MSMEs and ultimately equips them to become active participants in the digital economy by providing technologically innovative environments for fintech startups and multiple opportunities to leverage Mastercard’s assets”, he says. With SME-in-a-Box, business owners will gain access to a wide range of financial services and payment options (contactless and QR payments) quickly and easily through a single intuitive app compatible with all NFC-enabled devices. In addition, through its Simplify Commerce offering, Mastercard will equip SMEs with a plug-&-play e-commerce store builder with instant online checkout. Read also: Meta collaborates with Nigeria’s top creators to flex in the Metaverse More on the Mastercard-LSETF MoU The LSETF, established in 2016, works to combat unemployment and encourage entrepreneurship in Lagos State by providing its citizens with chances to find jobs and build wealth. The Fund, which takes pride in honesty, integrity, inclusivity, and being a catalyst for a growth-friendly atmosphere, has helped more than 70 000 businesses to date. MSMEs in Nigeria account for 96% of all business activities, contribute 50% of the national GDP, and provide over 48% of all emplo...
In support of the COP27 gathering, TikTok is launching the #ClimateAction global campaign this November Inspired by an active and engaged community passionate about making a difference and positively impacting its world, TikTok is at the forefront of giving its community the platform to help drive awareness and advocacy around sustainability and climate action. Through the platform, people and communities sharing the same vision worldwide are connected, empowered and inspired to unleash the power of creativity to drive positive change for a greener and more sustainable future. In support of the COP27 gathering, TikTok is launching the #ClimateAction global campaign this November by inviting creators and communities worldwide to join the conversation and make a difference by taking action. This is part of an ongoing commitment to encourage communities to unlock the power of TikTok to use creativity to drive positive, meaningful and lasting conversations. Furthermore, TikTok, in partnership with Crtve Development featuring Greenpeace Africa’s August Maluka, Community Manager, singer-songwriter and poet Busiswa Gqulu will host a LIVE discussion in-app around climate change and its effects on local communities on Tuesday, 15 November 2022, at 17:30. To join the conversation, the community is encouraged to get on the app and follow the @CrtvDevelopment TikTok account to register. Read Also: TikTok’s improved screen time feature helps you determine time spent on the app Boniswa Sidwaba, Content Operations Lead for TikTok in Africa, says that the platform is committed to actively building an environmentally aware generation. “We do this by providing a platform for reputable organizations and community members to discuss, debate and share information, which in turn has helped TikTok become a top destination to learn important topics such as climate and sustainability. We have an active group of climate advocates, experts and institutions dedicated to creating educational content and raising climate literacy.” Boniswa Sidwaba, TikTok Content Operations Lead for Africa Speaking on the creative partnership, Dr Okito Wedi, Founder and CEO of Crtve Development, says, “the need for creative partnerships such as this has never been more imperative in the fight for climate justice, particularly on the African continent. Art and creativity have the power to inspire engagement at the community and policy level, leading to action, change and impact. Through creativity, we can propagate feelings of belonging to a collective community. This relationship between creativity and belonging is fundamental to taking action and ownership of one’s own life, community, and country. Creativity is a first and necessary step towards social change”. Sidwaba further adds: “With innovative in-app tools and partnerships, we prioritize keeping our community informed and protected while supporting climate literacy and tackling climate misinformation and disinformation.” Read Also: TikTok partners Cannes on 75th annual film festival Climate action content continues to rise as TikTok’s growing community uses its favourite entertainment platform to inspire hope, positivity and action. Nigerian content creators have taken up this opportunity to highlight the impacts of climate change, offering solutions to the community on how they could make a positive impact in their personal capacities in simple and fun ways. Here are some creators who are joining the campaign to help keep the global temperature low by educating and inspiring communities all over the world: ms_yudee skinplusplus For more, click here Climate Action is one of 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. The official mission statement of this goal is to “Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”. About TikTok TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. The mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok has ...
Binance has decided to sell all its $FTT, the native token of FTX, the second largest crypto exchange by trading volume The crypto community received a shocker on Sunday when Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the CEO of Binance, said that the crypto exchange had decided to sell off all its $FTT holdings. Note that $FTT is a native token of FTX, the second largest crypto exchange by trading volume after Binance. Different reactions have followed that statement, with $FTT, $BNB and even $BTC plummeting in what looks like the biggest-ever war between industry players. But what is the origin of this messy situation? What implications may it have on the general crypto market, and where do we go from here? Background of the Binance vs FTX drama CZ of Binance announced on Sunday that his company would be liquidating its entire $FTT token portfolio as post-exit risk management. But that was just an immediate cause; remote causes go as far back as 2019. When FTX was launched in 2019, Binance invested in the centralised exchange because CZ foresaw its huge potential. The Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) founded exchange grew rapidly, dominating the United States market. Related post: Here is all you need to know about the Terra LUNA, UST crash Following that accelerated development, CZ’s Binance decided to divest from its FTX investment in 2021, receiving around $2.1 billion in remuneration in BUSD and FTT, which it had held until now. Before the divestment, SBF was labelled ‘an enemy of DeFi and crypto’ in the community due to his romance with regulators in the United States. He is a huge political donor and has pledged almost $40 million to pro-crypto Democrat campaigns and candidates in the US electoral cycle. A Coindesk report emerged last week stating that Alameda Research, the SBF-founded leading principal trading firm held a total of $14.6 billion in assets and had around $8 billion in liabilities, including $7.4 billion worth of loans. Among its assets, Alameda Research listed that it had $3.66 billion in unlocked $FTT, the FTX exchange’s native token. Concerns around FTX insolvency arose from the fact that a significant chunk of Alameda’s holdings were in FTT, a token created by the firm itself, rather than in traditional fiat currencies or stablecoins. According to analysts, the main issue is that the $FTT token has zero utility and probably no demand. Consequently, the coin may become an illiquid asset putting investors at significant financial losses, similar to the case of Terra LUNA. This made CZ announce the financial decision to liquidate the significant chunk of the $FTT tokens Binance got after exiting FTX equity last year. As part of Binance’s exit from FTX equity last year, Binance received roughly $2.1 billion USD equivalent in cash (BUSD and FTT). Due to recent revelations that have came to light, we have decided to liquidate any remaining FTT on our books. 1/4 CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) November 6, 2022 Although Alameda Research’s CEO later clarified that the leaked document only presented a portion of the firm’s holdings and added that the firm held a further $10 billion in assets, the clarification could not quell investor fears and prevent a response from the market. As the report reached more users, significant investors began pulling their funds from the exchange. Also, FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried took to Twitter yesterday to assure users and investors that the exchange was functioning normally. He called the rumours unfounded, adding that FTX maintains audited financials and is highly regulated. SBF also added that the exchange had already processed billions of dollars worth of deposits and withdrawals. 2) A bunch of unfounded rumors have been circulating. You can see. FTX keeps audited financials etc. And, though it slows us down sometimes on product, we're highly regulated. SBF (@SBF_FTX) November 6, 2022 Notably, In his initial tweet, Zhao said Binance’s sale would be executed in a way that “minimizes market impact” and c...
Ibadan Startup Fest—the largest gathering of startup founders, fintech enthusiasts, and business leaders in Ibadan has wrapped up the maiden edition held at the Manhattan Hall Jericho on 5th November 2022. Featuring a series of insightful discussions, workshops and masterclasses, the just-concluded event was an incredible opportunity for startups in Ibadan to showcase their work and commemorate years worth of fintech excellence and impact in the Ibadan Startup ecosystem. The Honorable Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Honorable Seun Fakorede, highlighted youth participation as crucial to building a conducive environment for startups to thrive in Ibadan. Over 1000 registered participants and established and up-and-coming fintech founders were provided with valuable tools and insights needed to thrive in the current climate. Industry experts and stakeholders, including Tomilayo Akano (TomX holdings), Adeola Ayoola (Famasi Africa), Foluso Ojo (TruQ), Emmanuella Majero of Pennee Technologies as well as fintech expert Chris Ani, were at the forefront of several remarkable panel sessions that delivered profound gems on “The Role of Startups in Building a Sustainable Nation” and “Health Tech that actually works”. Temidayo Oniosun, Managing Director, Space in Africa, delivered an insightful presentation on “Developing the Ibadan Startup Ecosystem” to make Ibadan the next technological hotspot in Africa. As the keynote speaker during the opening ceremony, David Adeleke, Convener and Founder of Zeeh Africa, shared the value of service excellence and grit in building sustainable businesses in today’s landscape. As an added bonus, Attendees won multiple gifts at the event from sponsors, including headline sponsors TomX Holdings and SekiApp, amongst others. Speaking on the event, Project Lead, Atinuke Adeniran, said, “We had over a thousand particpants registered for the maiden edition of the Ibadan Startup Fest and we are excited to have all our speakers travel in from within and outside the country. It was certainly a fulfilling experience for the attendees and we look forward to more insightful discussions during the next edition”. All registered participants were privileged to attend exhibitions of products of partners and sponsors. They also had the opportunity to network with peers and speakers and pitch their startups and startup ideas for a chance to win funding and other packages. The Ibadan Startup Fest was an impactful event for the current and next generation of startup founders in Ibadan. The Nation’s startup ecosystem has a lot to benefit from landmark events, like the Ibadan Startup Fest, showcasing thriving startups in Ibadan and shaping its ecosystem’s evolution. Sponsors and partners of Ibadan Startup Fest’22 The Ibadan Startup Fest’22 is powered by Daxlinks Global and proudly sponsored by Wiseki Technologies, TomX Holdings, Famasi Africa, Periculum, Cardify, and StudioMiDE. The media partners for the event include Channels TV, Real Studios, Techeconomy, TechNext, Orolane Content Connect and Business Day.
The drop marks the largest-ever third quarter decline and the fifth consecutive quarter of decline for the smartphone market The smartphone market is experiencing a decline due to the economic meltdown and inflationary tendencies affecting various world economies. This can be traced to several factors, which include trade sanctions on Russia by the rest of Europe amidst their continued war against Ukraine, the Pandemic in 2020 and several other macroeconomic factors which have resulted in mass layoffs and dips in revenues of major companies and multinationals. Business Wire reports worldwide smartphone shipments declined 9.7% year over year to 301.9 million units in the third quarter of 2022 (3Q22). This is according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. According to the IDC Phone Tracker report, Africa and emerging markets in Asia/Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East would see a more significant double-digit decline in phone shipment for the rest of 2022. The drop marks the largest-ever third-quarter decline and the fifth consecutive quarter of decline for the smartphone market as shipments continue to struggle amidst weakened global demand and economic uncertainties. According to the Research Director of IDC’s Worldwide Tracker team, Nabila Popal, the decline can be associated with aggregate demand factors and inflation, reducing households’ purchasing power parity. She said: “A majority of the decline came from emerging markets where lack of demand, rising costs, and inflation impacted consumers with lesser disposable incomes” Nabila Popal She explained that while the backlog of inventories from the previous quarter prompted big telephone vendors to establish a plan to prevent a repetition of the poor sales performance, this didn’t stop the vendors from experiencing the same problems they do now. “With high inventory coming into the quarter, shipments and orders by OEMs were further reduced in an attempt to deplete inventory. Although Chinese vendors continue to suffer the most, all vendors were impacted, including Samsung and Apple.” While Apple is the only vendor to deliver positive growth this quarter, it still faced challenges as its growth was stunted in many markets, including China, due to the poor macroeconomic situation. Looking to 2023, the market’s expected recovery, which we believe will happen, will be pushed further into the year. Moreover, we now expect a steeper shipment decline for 2022 and a softer recovery in 2023″, she added. Read also: Nigeria telcos gained 2.9m new telephone subscribers in May- NCC report Regional forecast for the smartphone market Although the decline comes from emerging markets like Africa, Latin America and the rest, other regions are set to experience the same situation, whether mild or heavy. All regions, except Central and Eastern Europe, are anticipated to experience declines for the rest of the year. Prior projections of a fall of slightly over 12% for the quarter for China should mostly hold true. Given China’s size, this greatly affects the overall outcomes. Th reports suggests that developed markets like North America, Western Europe, and Japan will do moderately better, but this still implies low to mid-single-digit declines Vice President with IDC, Ryan Reth explains this parity that is expected in the regions. He said: “Developed markets that often sell more premium devices are faring better than emerging markets where smartphones sell for a fraction of the cost. We believe this is largely supported by the expansion of instalment plans offered through telcos, retail channels, and even direct from vendors. Promotional activity around trade-in offers also supports that shift, However, as we l...
Her coaching workshops cover topics including how to get into the tech industry, how to apply for your first tech job, and how to join a major tech business. Chisom Nwokwu is a nominee for the rising star talent by the Women in Tech global award and the She Code Africa summit and one of those women in tech who has become a mentor in the Nigerian tech ecosystem. As the tech industry expands, mentoring in this ecosystem has been one way to help individuals better understand the industry and how their skills can be impactful in the market. Chisom Nwokwu is one of the few providing this mentoring opportunity. The 22-year-old graduate from the University of Nigeria has amassed a considerable following on social media, and her achievements are inspiring to men and Women in Tech. Chisom Nwokwu’s journey in tech Chisom Nwokwu grew up in a household where technology was the norm. Her parents somehow understood the creativity attached to technological gadgets and always bought the latest gadgets for her. I didn’t know there was a career like software engineering or programming, but all I knew was I would always want to be around a computer. Nevertheless, she was introduced to programming while in university, where she decided to focus on learning about software development. She became more enthusiastic and had the chance to learn more about android applications. She released her first Android application on the Google Play Store, which has now received over 10,000 downloads. Her participation in the UNN Roar Hub inspired and motivated her to advance in the tech industry. Her increased self-assurance and skill set enabled her to secure positions as a campus ambassador. During her last year in university, Chisom Nwokwu received a global internship opportunity with the Bank of America. But combining it with schoolwork was hard. Similar to how thousands of Nigerian students who managed to obtain jobs during the ASUU strike must figure out how to balance both with their academic obligations. Chisom Nwokwu was no different during her school days. She had to develop time management skills as her main priorities were doing well as an intern and maintaining good grades after graduation. The one skill I has to learn was time management, and also the realisation that as days passed, either your school activities or internship might suffer, it can never be 50/50. I had to prioritize the most important things, but what I never forgot to do was REST. It may sound dumb, but when your body is overworked, trust me, you won’t be able to do anything. Read Also: ALA Celebrates One Year of Providing Ultimate Mentorship Experience to Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs Becoming a young mentor in the industry Chisom has made significant career advancements. She was nominated for the Women In IT global award’s Rising Star Talent category and the upcoming She Codes Africa summit. Mentoring has aided her career advancement, and she is on a mission to pay it forward to Nigeria’s tech sector. The Tech Queen began offering free coaching sessions this year after receiving numerous inquiries from people inspired by her about how they could succeed in the global market. To date, she has assisted about 26 people in obtaining employment with major tech firms like Google, Microsoft, and Bank of America. So far, I’ve been able to guide individuals who later landed offers at Google, Microsoft, Bank Of America and other international firms. This is truly exciting to see. I would love to do other free sessions as my time permits Her coaching workshops cover topics including how to get into the tech industry, how to apply for your first tech job, and how to join a major tech business. In the 1:1 session, Chisom assists people in making particular decisions and comprehending the challenges they encounter in the tech sector. I help people get international jobs by having resume review sessions with them to create a winning resume, hosting mock interview meetings where we simu...
After stealing roughly 50,000 bitcoins, Zhong gets charged and prosecuted... The US government arrested James Zhong on November 9th, 2021, and confiscated roughly 50,676.17851897 bitcoin, estimated to be more than $3.36 billion worth of cryptocurrency, from his Georgia home. Officials found the bitcoin in an underground floor safe and on a single-board computer hidden under blankets in a popcorn tin in a bathroom closet. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York said that James Zhong of Gainesville, Georgia, pleaded guilty on November 4 to committing wire fraud in September 2012. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The seizure at that time stood as the largest cryptocurrency seizure in the sophisticated and crime-blurred history of the U.S. Department of Justice. Today, it ranks as the department’s second-largest financial seizure ever. Read also: Want to invest in November? Here are 3 cryptos to buy James Zhong’s involvement in Silk Road and the theft of cryptocurrency Silk Road kicked off operations between 2011 and 2013. Recognized by all as a dark web market. it was deployed by diverse drug dealers and illegal operators to circulate drugs and other illegal products and utilities to traders. The founder, Ross Ulbricht, was arrested, found guilty by a jury, and received a life sentence. In 2012, Zhong’s witty-taut mischief stole a staggering sum of money and property from Silk Road. He successfully perpetuated this fraud by establishing a tangle of nearly nine Silk Road accounts (the “Fraud Accounts”) in a pattern properly delineated to mask his identity; He initiated more than 140 transactions quickly to lure Silk Road’s withdrawal-processing system into dispensing roughly 50,000 bitcoin from its Bitcoin-centered payment system into his accounts. Zhang directed the bitcoins into a group of different addresses controlled by him to ensure that the fraud remained untraceable and irrecoverable. ZHONG avoided enlisting any product or utility for sale on Silk Road, nor did he purchase any product or utility on Silk Road. The accounts he registered on Silk Road contained the minimal information necessitated by Silk Road to have an account with them. It turned out the accounts were schemes to orchestrate the fraud long intended by Zhong utterly. Read also: El Salvador’s Bitcoin project puts $300 million in jeopardy ZHONG’s conviction and prosecution for stealing cryptocurrency The government is looking to forfeit collectively the following: nearly 51 680.32473733 Bitcoin; ZHONG’s 80% interest in RE&D Investments, LLC, a Memphis-located company with considerable real estate holdings; $661 900 in cash apprehended from ZHONG’s residence; and numerous metals also collected from his home. U.S Attorney Damian Williams had this to say: “James Zhong committed wire fraud over a decade ago when he stole approximately 50,000 Bitcoin from Silk Road. For almost ten years, the whereabouts of this massive chunk of missing Bitcoin have ballooned into an over $3.3 billion mystery. Thanks to state-of-the-art cryptocurrency tracing and good old-fashioned police work, law enforcement located and recovered this impressive cache of crime proceeds. This case shows that we won’t stop following the money, no matter how expertly hidden, even to a circuit board in the bottom of a popcorn tin.” IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher said: “Mr. Zhong executed a sophisticated scheme designed to steal bitcoin from the notorious Silk Road Marketplace. Once he was successful in his heist, he attempted to hide his spoils through a series of complex transactions which he hoped would be enhanced as he hid behind the mystery of the ‘darknet.’ IRS-CI Special Agents are the best in the world at following the money through cyberspace or wherever our financial investigations lead us. We will continue to work with our partners at the US Attorney’s Office to track down these criminals and bring them to justice.”
The statement says that Francis Dufay, who was until recently the executive vice president for Jumia Africa, will step into the CEO role at the company. Jumia co-founders Jeremy Hodara and Sacha Poignonnec have stepped down from their positions as co-CEOs of the African e-commerce giant effective today. TechCrunch reports that the announcement was made in a press statement sent out today by the company’s Supervisory Board as part of a management shakeup. Jonathan Klein, the chairman of the company’s Supervisory Board, said in the announcement that the company is grateful to have had them at its helm for the last decade. “We thank Jeremy and Sacha for their leadership over the last decade to envision and build a company that became the leading pan-African e-commerce player,” Klein said. The statement says that Francis Dufay, who was until recently the executive vice president for Jumia Africa, overseeing its entire operation on the continent, will step into the CEO role at the company. “As we look ahead to the next chapter of Jumia’s journey, we want to bring more focus to the core e-commerce business as part of a more simplified and efficient organization with stronger fundamentals and a clearer path to profitability. We look forward to working closely with Francis, Antoine and the leadership team to execute on these objectives and continue on our mission of offering a compelling e-commerce platform to consumers, sellers and the broader Jumia ecosystem in Africa,” he added. Read also: Jumia tops as Nigeria dominates the list of 100 most-funded African startups. Dufay, who has been with the company since 2014, was previously the CEO of the Ivory Coast operation. Antoine Maillet-Mezeray, who has been at the company for six years, championing its move into the public market as the Chief Financial Officer, will now serve as a member of the company’s management board. Maillet-Mezeray will also be taking on a new role as the company’s executive vice president of finance and operations. Jumia was launched in Nigeria in 2012 and expanded to five other countries: Egypt, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Kenya, and South Africa. In 2014, the company launched offices in Tunisia, Tanzania, Ghana, Cameroon, Algeria, and Uganda, and by 2018 it was present in 14 African countries. Jumia has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange for over a decade of operations. Its products include its flagship e-commerce store, JumiaPay, the company’s payment solution division, a marketplace, and a logistics business. The company has raised over $885 million across six funding rounds in the past seven years, becoming one of the most funded African startups ever. Though founded in Lagos in 2012, its massive footprint on the continent has made it possible to break away from being a Nigerian-based company to a genuinely pan-African business. Jumia has always threaded ambitious paths, raising a whopping $45 million in a series A round led by Blakeney Management, Rocket Internet, and Millicom Systems in 2012. It then gulped $150 million in a Series B round in 2013, just a year after it started operations. Read also: Here are the top 10 startups in Nigeria for 2022, according to LinkedIn At the time of reporting, the reason for the shakeup at the company’s management level hadn’t been made public.
Shares of Meta are presently trading at $90.79, down 7.56% over the previous five days and 73.19% year-over-year, Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is planning major job cuts that could affect thousands of workers this week, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The alleged layoff by Meta is expected to be the largest in the company’s history amidst rising costs and a recent collapse of the company’s share price. Sources familiar with the situation claim the layoffs could begin as soon as Wednesday. Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of the company, hinted at the impending layoffs in a Facebook post during the earnings call last month on 26 October 2022. “In 2023, we’re going to focus our investments on a small number of high priority growth areas. So that means some teams will grow meaningfully, but most other teams will stay flat or shrink over the next year. In aggregate, we expect to end 2023 as either roughly the same size, or even a slightly smaller organisation than we are today,” Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Founder At the end of September, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram reported having around 87,000 employees, but these “large-scale” layoffs are anticipated to reduce that number significantly. According to the WSJ, the layoffs could hit Meta even harder than the mass job cuts at Twitter, which affected about half of the company’s 7,500-employee workforce. The report is coming only a week after the social media platform reported its third-quarter earnings, which missed revenue expectations and saw a rise in operating costs. Shares of Meta are presently trading at $90.79, down 7.56% over the previous five days and 73.19% year-over-year, according to Yahoo Finance. Its stock price also suffered. According to reports, the company is struggling with the market downturn made worse by significant investments in its metaverse business and a weak holiday quarter that affected Meta’s revenue, erasing $67 billion from its stock market value. This altogether adds to the more than half a trillion dollars in value already lost this year. The company declined to comment on the situation but referred to the statement released by Mark Zuckerberg during the earnings call last month. Read also: Verified Twitter users to pay $8 monthly subscription, AWS launches Lagos office Meta’s earlier warnings to employees In June, Meta’s chief product officer Chris Cox warned employees of “serious times,” noting that employees must “execute flawlessly in an environment of slower growth.” Afterwards, the heat on employees was turned up by Zuckerberg around the same time, when he mentioned in an internal Q&A session obtained by The Verge’s Alex Heath, that “there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here.” The CEO later implemented a hiring freeze in September and warned that the company could downsize soon. It appears that Meta has the support of several investors, notably Altimeter, which demanded a reduction in the approximately 87,000 employees the business now employs in an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg. The investor also thinks that Meta’s spending and shift toward the metaverse have impacted investors’ confidence. Despite Zuckerberg’s claim that the social network has more active users than ever, investors are still worried about Facebook’s expensive bet on the metaverse. The virtual reality division of the company lost $3.7 billion in the most recent quarter and $9.4 billion overall this year, and the company’s stock is currently trading at its lowest level since 2016. The company appears to be actively hiring into its metaverse division regardless, with its list of job openings revealing 38 of its 413 listings related to augmented reality and virtual reality. Read also; Meta collaborates with Nigeria’s top creators to flex in the Metaverse
The rise of Extended Reality (XR) is transforming how people experience both the physical and virtual worlds, creating new possibilities in different spectrums of life. Imagine being able to create an avatar that resembles you with the ability to recreate physical activities like shopping and interacting with people all from the comfort of your home; imagine being able to sit and chat with friends thousands of miles away and yet feel so close or being able to tour the Great Pyramid in Egypt. This immersive technology encompasses both Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Virtual Reality (VR), which is a mix of digital, real and artificial environments that shape the metaverse and allow people to plunge into new realities. As technology advances, people can transform, learn, experience, and build new worlds of businesses, relationships, and talents in the metaverse. The metaverse will be built by a range of large and small companies, civil society, the public sector, and, most importantly, millions of individual creators making new experiences and digital items to unlock a larger creative economy. This is why Meta is investing in creators and developers, skills development and research to help build the future of this technology across Africa. Building a universal tech ecosystem While access to the metaverse is not fully realised and developed, we are already seeing organisations and talented individuals contributing to the development of the metaverse. The investments by these ecosystem players have provided expanded access for everyone to explore this new generation of the internet. According to our new report, the metaverse has the potential to add an estimated $3 trillion to the global economy in a decade if adoption and growth are similar to mobile technology. Estimates are that the metaverse could add in Sub-Saharan Africa – a 1.8% contribution to regional GDP, or $40 billion. We believe that the impact of the investment, exploration and experimentation in this ecosystem will invariably influence the African economy. Extended reality will continue to add value to businesses and create endless opportunities for creators and developers. As part of Meta’s $150 million initiative of Meta Immersive Learning to empower the next generation of metaverse creators and create a thriving AR ecosystem that offers training, funding and job skills, we are partnering with African Leadership University to extend MetaSpark’s AR curriculum to over six thousands of ALU’s current students and alumni, creators, developers and entrepreneurs. This provides an opportunity to build skills for the future of work for participants to become a part of a global AR community. Creating a thriving ecosystem will benefit African businesses and give creators access to cutting-edge tools, education, and resources, so they’re at the forefront of tomorrow’s opportunities and innovation. Empowering XR creators and developers in Africa To support the next generation of creators and developers, we always seek innovations that can create real-world solutions and diverse narratives through immersive technology. We recently announced the AR/VR Africa Metathon in partnership with Imisi 3D and Black Rhino VR, focused on supporting African Extended Reality (XR) talent in building innovative solutions that demonstrate the various aspects and use cases of the metaverse. The investment includes a two-month training program with an extensive XR curriculum, an Africa-wide hackathon with over $70,000 in cash and other prizes, and a three-month Bootcamp for the hackathon winners to develop their hacks into MVPs. To further amplify the voices of creators promoting African storytelling through XR in Africa, we partnered with Africa No Filter to launch the Future Africa: Telling Stories, Building Worlds programme, aimed at directly supporting African Extended Reality (XR) creators who are promoting Africa through their craft. The initiative included a grant program ...
As internet connectivity is becoming increasingly ubiquitous and more accessible across Africa, brands now have little choice but to invest in digital media campaigns. You can’t, after all, reach these growing audiences if you aren’t active in this space. For digital media campaigns to achieve their objectives, they require the best possible chance to be effective, and this can’t happen without price transparency. Unfortunately, that isn’t always a given. Despite many brands eager to embrace and execute digital media campaigns, they often struggle. That’s because middlemen typically levy a substantial markup on their offerings, thus limiting the digital media buying budget available to promote the campaign. This does not, however, have to be that way going forward. Demystifying Digital Before looking at what brands can do to ensure that they’re receiving full value on their digital campaigns, it’s worth understanding how this situation arose in the first place. In part, the situation was allowed to precipitate because of expertise. When digital marketing first became viable, the leadership in most brands’ marketing teams was still strongly rooted in analogue forms of marketing. In that environment, it made sense to have people translate a brand’s creative vision for digital channels. That’s especially true when considering that digital marketing was a lot more complex a few years ago than it is today. Navigating that complexity and helping a brand achieve an effective digital media campaign required highly specialised skills at the time. Those skills, in turn, came at a premium. Unfortunately, some of these middlemen took and continue to take advantage of that disconnect in understanding and complexity. Even as brands build more digital capacity in-house and most media owners have made marketing as simple as possible, many in the digital media buying space especially continue to charge high markups. As long as middlemen keep convincing marketers that they need to pay these markups, they’ll keep charging them. As more and more people across the African continent come online (Nigeria alone is set to add another 35 million internet users by 2026), marketers risk spending far more budget to reach their target audiences. It’s, therefore, critical that marketers understand there are alternatives. With the right approach, it’s possible to ensure their entire digital media buying budget is spent promoting their digital media campaigns. Trading in markups for price transparency The best way for brands to ensure this is to only work with credible media buying companies that practise price transparency. They should ideally look for a media buying partner that does not apply a markup to their promoted media. That way, brands can ensure they have peace of mind that they purchase media at the best possible price. But transparent pricing isn’t the only thing brands should look for in a media buying agency. It’s also important that they work with one that can give them an effective marketing presence on the digital platforms most relevant to their target markets. It’s also important that brands select a company that understands Africa is vast and diverse for their digital media campaign. Ideally, it should have dedicated teams in key markets, giving the client access to locally relevant viewpoints and insights. The media buying agency should also have teams educated and skilled in the best practice of each platform to execute an effective digital media campaign. By taking this approach, brands can ensure they get maximum returns from their digital marketing efforts at best possible value. Building for Africa’s digital marketing revolution There’s absolutely no doubt that Africa’s digital connectivity revolution is fostering a secondary digital marketing revolution. According to Statista, Digital Advertising spending in Africa is currently valued at US$3.19 billion. Two years ago, it was valued at US$2.09 billion; by 2027, it’s expected to ...
Generally, the cryptocurrency market has experienced a decent rally in the past two weeks, with major assets registering short-term buying pressure. The considerable increase has now made market predictions more bullish going into November, indicating an upcoming altcoin season. In this line, the renowned crypto trading expert Michaël van de Poppe in a YouTube video posted last Friday, suggested that most altcoins (other cryptocurrencies apart from bitcoin) are gearing up for the continuation of a rally. “The altcoins most are eager for continuation but we are definitely looking for some consolidation on the market to take place. It is looking quite good and I think that we are on the edge of a big breakout across markets,” The crypto winter can be said to be still in play, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t make some money in the market. Because of this, here is a list of five coins you should keep an eye on in November 2022. Binance Coin(BNB) Binance is the largest global cryptocurrency exchange by volume. It is a blockchain network seeking to become the infrastructure services provider for the entire blockchain ecosystem. One of the reasons why investors should pay significant attention to the ecosystem native token, $BNB, in the month of November is the newly found romance between Binance and the Elon Musk-newly acquired Twitter. Recall that CZ disclosed that Binance invested $500 million in the takeover. Also, the firm is already positioning itself to play a huge role in incorporating web3/blockchain features into Twitter. These and other moves will continue to substantiate its position as the largest cryptocurrency exchange. The bigger the exchange becomes, the bigger the value of its native token. Also, Poppe suggested in the video that the Binance token is in line to continue with an upside trend, having seen more than a 15% increase last week. The technical analysis of the token is dominated by positive sentiments pointing to buying. BNB tops our list of cryptos to invest in this November for these reasons. Merit Circle Merit Circle is a decentralised autonomous organization (DAO) that focuses on developing the play-to-earn economy. While the concept behind Merit Circle is not entirely new, the project is a leading DAO aiming to maximise value accrual across different games in the metaverse. Related post: DAOs: All you need to know and why you should join one The community’s native token is on our list of coins to consider for investment in November because there are technical indicators of upward movement. Also, Version Two of Merit Circle staking will launch this November. It will offer two core pools: A single-sided staking pool for MC and an MC/ETH pool. The latter will receive 80% of the liquidity mining rewards due to the higher risk of impermanent loss. The community atmosphere is positive at the moment with preparations for the development. The closest resistance of the token, which is trading around $0.7 at the moment, is $1.18. If it is successful in moving above it, it could rapidly increase all the way to $1.95. Polkadot($DOT) Polkadot is one of the most innovative crypto projects on the market, and it solves one of the biggest hurdles of the crypto industry. Polkadot and its token, $DOT, provide unparalleled interoperability to blockchain businesses globally. Read also: Here are 3 creative ways to earn cool cash on the Ethereum This project has firmly established its place in the crypto market and is gaining popularity. As a result, it attracts the interest of a lot of investors. There is now a bit of hype and buzz on the network as it is one of the leading blockchains by developer activity, according to data by Santiment, having overtaken Ethereum and Cardano. Also, numerous laid-down upgrades will improve staking, government processes, and transaction speeds. $DOT is a good coin to bet on in November.
Meta has partnered with Nigerian creators to flex in the Metaverse with Meta AR, avatars and NFTs. The tech giants released a promotional video for the project as it continues in its bid to focus on owning and shifting the Nigerian narrative by telling compelling Nigerian stories that are contemporary and immersive. If you are reading this, your browser does not support the HTML5 video element. Metaverse in Africa Many African creators are already shaping the continent’s narrative using the Metaverse. Mosope Olaosebikan, the founder of Discovery Museum, Abuja, is using art, tech, and history to provide a unique experience for people through Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. Pixel Chefs uses emerging digital tech to create impactful experiences for its local and global clients. Black Rhino VR — a virtual reality production — in Nairobi, is creating bespoke VR and AR solutions and content adaptable and relevant to the African and global market. Meta recently showcased an exclusive XR exhibition featuring the six finalists from the ‘Future Africa: Telling Stories, Building Worlds programme. The creators at the event included Malik Afegbua’s ‘Moving Between’, a 360 documentary that presents a virtual heritage experience of the Kofar-Mata dye pit, a cultural and historical site in Kano, Nigeria, by presenting it in a three-dimensional virtual reality model. Read also: Metaverse will become a $679bn worth industry by 2030 – report Meta + Nigerian Creators Meta hosted content creators in Lagos earlier this year at an exclusive dinner to celebrate their impact and creativity while introducing them to the technologies in the Metaverse. The creators included a mix of content and technical creators representing various interests, from Music, Comedy and Augmented Reality Specialists. ““We recognise Nigerian creators as trailblazers that express themselves, inspire others, and build communities and livelihoods, while connecting with their audiences. Kojo Boakye, Vice-President, Public Policy, Africa, Middle East, and Turkey The tech giants showcased some of their technologies, including Avatars, Spark AR and digital collectables (NFTs.) These creators spent the day co-creating and building ideas that would bring them closer to their diverse communities. Some of the Nigerian creators at the dinner include Mark Angel Comedy, a comedian and content creator, Josh2funny; a musician and comedian famous for making covers of popular songs, Ayomidate, an actor, content creator and comedian, who is known well-known for his Instagram skits, Miss Techy, a female digital creator, popularly known for her captivating VFX videos on Instagram; Frank Itom, a storyteller and creator popular for his video editing illusions infused into entertaining content; and Tolu Bally, an award-winning fashion entrepreneur and celebrity stylist Also in attendance were an award-winning singer and songwriter, Tenientertainer; one of the leading female singers signed to Mavin Records, Ayrastarr; and a famous afrobeat singer and animator, Nissi. At the event, Kojo Boakye, the company’s vice president of Public Policy, Africa, Middle East and Turkey, disclosed that they are excited to collaborate with Nigerian creators to help bring connected metaverse experience to their audiences. He said: “We are excited to bring these talented creators together to celebrate their achievements and work with them to build inclusive products for connected metaverse experiences.” “We are committed to providing a new and immersive way for people to connect and we are excited about building inclusive products that achieve this in the metaverse.” What you need to know about the Metaverse A metaverse is a realistic simulation that can be used for various purposes, from entertainment and social networking to education and business. In the simplest terms, it is a combination of virtual Reality (VR) and mixed Reality (MR) that can be accessed through devices. While the Metaverse is a much bro...
The new subscription tier will cost $6.99 per month, $3 cheaper than Netflix's $9.99 most Basic plan Internet users have reacted to Netflix’s decision to launch its advertising-supported streaming plan dubbed “Basic with Ads” on Thursday at $7 a month. The new subscription tier costs $6.99 per month, $3 cheaper than Netflix’s $9.99 most Basic plan and is set to include 4 to 5 minutes of ads per hour. The plan also comes with some limitations as viewers won’t be able to download shows for later viewing, Netflix said. It’s the first time the streaming platform has entered the ad-supported market; the streaming service has long resisted including any advertising on its platform. The company also stated that a “limited number” of movies and TV episodes would not be accessible on the ad-supported tier, blaming licensing limitations and stating that it was “working on” the problem. The platform recently increased its number of paid subscribers by 2.41 million in the third quarter of the year, which may be considered a massive win for the U.S. streaming giant, which lost over a million subscribers in the first and second quarters. The program will begin one month before Disney +, a competitor streaming service, introduces its ad-supported streaming tier, going up against other ad-supported platforms like Hulu and Peacock. We think it is a revenue move by Netflix. Though Netflix prides itself as the pioneer in the streaming service space, the company faces a huge threat from competitors such as Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, HBO/HBO Max and Hulu. They are ramping up their subscribers and giving Netflix a run for its money. Recently, Disney+ overtook Netflix in total subscribers after its total subscriptions reached 152.1 million at the end of Q2, exceeding the 147 million mark predicted by analysts. The company also added 14.4 million Disney+ customers, beating the expected 10 million additions in July. Now, the company has a total of 221 million subscribers- combined with Hulu and ESPN+ (Hulu has 46.2 million subscribers and ESPN+, has 22.8 million). On the other hand, according to a report by Technext, Netflix’s stock price dropped by 35 per cent (%) in April, erasing $50 billion from the company’s value. Earlier, Netflix’s total revenue for the first quarter of 2022 increased nearly 10% to $7.87 billion, falling short of analysts’ expectations of $7.93 billion. Read also: Despite stiff competition, Netflix gains over 2 million subscribers in Q3. Notwithstanding, the company increased its number of paid subscribers by 2.41 million in the third quarter of the year, in what may be considered a massive win for the U.S. streaming giant which lost over a million subscribers in the first and second quarters. In its October 18 earnings letter to shareholders, Netflix disclosed that it managed to double its growth projections, bringing its total number of users to 223 million. That feat may not be unconnected to the company’s decision to introduce the lower-priced ad-supported subscription plan for consumers in partnership with Microsoft. The new subscription tier launch is also coming when Netflix is preparing to crack down on password sharing on its platform. Next year, Netflix will require users who borrow accounts to create their own. Additionally, users who share passwords can pay an additional fee to add friends and family to their accounts. Reactions have started trailing the launch of the new subscription plan. Some netizens believe that this development would help the streaming platform increase the number of subscribers. Netflix wants to launch a cheaper plan, the catch is it will come with ads. It will be $3 cheeper than the current lowest plan. Spotify used this model to scale to 456 million monthly ACTIVE users. 195 million out of the 456 million are premium subscribers Mr. Czar (@Mrczarr) November 4, 2022 Some internet users have expressed dissatisfaction that major platforms have begun to insert so many ads into their conten...
Bitcoin's incessant crash has left El Salvadorians with nothing but woes and losses as $300 million Bitcoin investment crashes... El Salvador was the first country to recognize Bitcoin as a legal currency. President Nayib Bukele purchased almost $300 million worth of Bitcoin in 2021 to fund infrastructural development for the Central American nation. Read also: Here is why you should be cautious about investing in Bitcoin for now. Bitcoin prices peaked in 2021 as the world recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, investing heavily in the coin seemed like a brilliant idea. President Bukele gave out $30 worth of the popular coin to about 6.5 million citizens while using $100 million from government coffers to make further investments in the cryptocurrency. Read also: Bitcoin is waning in global popularity as Web3 gains relevance- Google trends report. Bukele’s Resolve To Solve El Salvador’s financial issues by Investing heavily in Bitcoin. El Salvador is a remote and debt-scarred country where many citizens earn their living by farming. The government was determined to take advantage of the crypto market to improve the citizens’ quality of life. After Bukele offered $30 worth of the crypto to every citizen, he erected Bitcoin ATMs in every suburb and instructed every business owner to begin accepting the coin as payment. While some Salvadorians were sceptical, Bukele enjoyed support from foreign crypto enthusiasts determined to see a wider adoption of cryptocurrencies as legal tender. Though several critics pushed for his head and renounced his decision to invest so much of the country’s funds into a volatile venture, Bukele did not fret. He furthered his resolution by trolling critics via a tweet, saying he had completed the transaction on his phone, stark naked in his bathroom. Assured that he would save his country from the steep, he told international creditors that his country’s financial redemption was close, not far-fetched; he tweeted: “#Bitcoin is FU money!” Read also: Bitcoin has plunged below the $20,000 mark, but it is not yet a sign to sell El Salvador’s Bitcoin Project El Salvador’s crypto project is concentrated on a software application processed on smartphones. The app called Chivo loosely translates to “cool” among Salvadorians. This app ensured users could send and receive dollars or the popular crypto according to their discretion. The user scanned a QR code to purchase $1 pupusa, and after the completion of the scan, Chive would forward $1 worth of Bitcoin at the present exchange rate. The fees deducted for each transaction were cost-friendly. Users could withdraw US dollars from their virtual wallets and do this at the country’s 200 Chivo ATMs. The ATMs are in a blue-covered hut, hosting a desk designed for two workers to help users navigate easily, while there are soldiers at the back, heavily guarded to oversee and protect the place 24 hours a day. Unfortunately, a week after the app got released, a deluge of protesters crammed the street lifting podium with placards saying “No to Bitcoin” and “No to Dictatorship.” The Market’s Meltdown and El Salvador’s Loss It has been a year already since El Salvador invested so much of its government funds into the popular cryptocurrency. There has been a reverberating meltdown in the crypto market, and the losses accumulated have been stupefying. Almost no one in the country is using cryptocurrency, and the few who bought the coin after Bukele made it legal tender would’ve lost big. Bitcoin has suffered a drop of 61% since September 2021. In an environment where many survive daily with less than $10, Bukele has made a terrible mistake by pouring the country’s financial largesse into Bitcoin, portraying himself as a crypto influencer. Salvadorans are currently stuck in this debacle, and it seems there are no escape routes for them out of this mess.
Playing online games like Call of Duty (COD), PUBG, Fortnite, FIFA, and NBA2K series, was merely a recreational activity. However, the advancement of the internet has expanded gaming to a monetised industry for skilled gamers worldwide. These gaming activities have become a major source of income for some people, while it is a side hustle for others. Playing role-playing or simulation games online has provided opportunities for gamers to earn thousands/millions of Naira from doing what they love. In Africa, the gaming culture is becoming adopted by more individuals. While e-sports and the potential for financial gains might seem relatively new in Nigeria, some countries are beginning to pick up their pace in this booming culture. The Lagos government has recently acknowledged the potential of expanding the online games industry, and artists and corporate brands have also associated themselves with it. This industry’s existence in the nation appears to have a bright future. But how can game enthusiasts make money by playing their favourite games online? Read Also: A chat with Dr Sid on leaving music, interest in esports and the viability of esports in Nigeria. How to make money from playing online games There are two well-known ways gamers can make money from online games; E-sports and live streaming. E-sports This is competitive gaming at a professional level. Most of the games played are Player vs Player (PvP). With e-sports, gamers do not play in different locations and communicate via earphones as they typically would do. Instead, the tournaments are held physically at organised events with cash prizes up for grabs. Most Nigerian e-sports competition use game options like multiplayer online battle arena games (MOBA) i.e. League of Leagues, Warcraft, Battle Royale games i.e. Call of Duty, Fortnite Battles and Sports games such as FIFA, PES, and NBA. How does E-sports work? Different e-sport organisations exist in Nigeria, and much as traditional sports have leagues based on certain sports, these organisations have leagues based on particular games. Some of these groups have attracted enough interest to start holding national championship competitions and some gamers represent Nigeria globally. Joining these organisations is relatively easy, and active participation will earn you a slot with a team. Most of these organisations have a premium access plan, but you can still register and sign up for a competition close to your location. According to a gamer, members can climb the ladder of success by representing their locality in bigger competitions depending on their skills and talent. Great gamers like that often become valued members of these organisations. Others are based on contracts and paid depending on the amount won at specific events, while some are paid monthly. Live-streaming of Online games Most gamers that desire to be independent use live streaming to generate income. For this group of gamers, gaming skills and streaming materials are all they need. , live streaming platforms like Twitch and YouTube provide great opportunities to make money from online gaming. Twitch One of the fimonetisehods to monetize playing online games is through this well-known live-streaming platform for gamers. Twitch users can make income through any or all of the following methods listed below; Subscriptions: Fans can subscribe for $4.99 per month, and streamers get a percentage for every subscription made to their channel. Donations: Streamers can request donations from their followers through PayPal, Stripe or other online payment processors. Twitch Bits: These are virtual coins followers order to interact with a streamer’s channel. The streamer keeps 70% of the donation when these bits are converted into actual money. Affiliate marketing and sponsorship: Streamers can promote people’s products online in exchange for a cut of sales earned through their links. On Twitch, sponsorship agreements exist, especially if a streamer is de...
Dogecoin records over 1000 millionaires in 2022. The token's momentum is one to watch out for amidst other factors that could bolster its performance in the cryptocurrency market. When Dogecoin (DOGE) surfaced in 2013, many investors did not favour it because of its outlook. However, the coin maintained growth in the market. Only a few found it worthy of being monitored and invested in. It was a risk to take the altcoin by the scruff and invest a tangible sum of money into it. Read also: Dogecoin: 71% of crypto experts believe it is time to sell Interestingly, the brave investors who took the risk have no regrets, as DOGE recorded a whopping $1000 profit in 2022—a year regarded as a meltdown year for cryptocurrency. According to the data unveiled by BitInfoCharts.com, as of November 1, 2022, there were 1,046 Dogecoin millionaires, almost two times as many as the 590 millionaires recorded on September 11. Contrary to initial speculations about its possible drop in market valuation, Dogecoin has surpassed every possible doubt. Significantly, the altcoin recorded at least 1,000 millionaires earlier this year, in April. The bearish loop of the market tore down a meagre part of its mind-blowing strides. This minimized the number of members affiliated with the DOGE-exclusive club. DOGE Overtakes Ethereum & Bitcoin In the last seven days, the altcoin has leapfrogged Ethereum and Bitcoin with an eye-catching increase of 132%. Coingecko reported that Dogecoin currently trades at $0.145. While it is not as popular and sophisticated as Bitcoin and Ethereum, Doge’s recent increase in profit has furthered its stance in the market. The two traditional cryptocurrencies witnessed a mild bloom of 2.2% and 8.9%, respectively, in the past seven days. This is a call to action for investors who initially dismissed and underestimated the intrinsic potential of DOGE. Dogecoin’s market capitalization over the last week is unrivalled and unequalled by any other cryptocurrency enlisted as part of the top 10 cryptos in the market. Dogecoin’s Prediction By Experts Amidst the spike in DOGE’s market capitalization, many experts and crypto enthusiasts have expressed their thoughts and opinions about the coin. David Gokhshtein, as @devidgokhshtein on Twitter, tweeted: $DOGE, the official currency of Twitter. TradingBeasts predicted in its detailed technical analysis that DOGE would end 2022 at $0.22. Going into 2023, DOGE will sustain the wave and proceed into 2024 at a potential spike of $0.30. DigitalCoinPrice, on the other hand, projects that the altcoin will reach $0.18 by the end of 2022 and proceed by gradually climbing until it reaches $0.40 in 2027. WalletInvestor’s prediction analysis for the altcoin is not any different from Trading Beasts’. Elon’s Acquisition of Twitter, A Further Boom For Dogecoin Some days ago, Tesla’s CEO finalized his acquisition of the Bird app, propelling the market cap of Dogecoin. Elon is popularly regarded as the “Dogfather.” And there was an expectation about DOGE’s imminent surge upon Elon’s completion of his purchase of Twitter. Though it had already spiked before the transaction was completed, DOGE enjoyed a further push through the business mogul’s purchase of Twitter. There are speculations that the coin might get integrated as a means of payment on the Bird app, but that still remains an idea that has yet to be solidified. Unlike the previous uncertainties around Dogecoin, the acquisition by Elon Musk dispels all. It places it on a pedestal that its place in the future can be predicted without an ounce of doubt. Wind-up Before this development, earlier predictions about Dogecoin spelt doom for the token’s future in the crypto space. The regular charade and timely giggles by Elon Musk stopped, and assumptions rose, foretelling misfortune for Dogecoin. The tides have taken a different course now, and the future is exciting for Dogecoin, considering its latest happenings. Crypto investors have to rethink and measur...
Stripe joins a growing number of big tech companies who have laid-off a portion of their staffs this past few months Stripe, the parent company of Nigerian payment company Paystack, has announced that it will lay off 14% of its workforce, which is about 1000 workers under the company’s payroll. According to the company’s CEO, Patrick Collison, the layoff comes from the company repositioning itself to accommodate macroeconomic factors that have become peculiar to developed markets globally. These macroeconomic factors include inflationary tendencies, energy shocks, higher interest rates, reduced investment budgets, and shrinking startup funding. He says: “Doing right by our users and our shareholders (including you) means embracing reality as it is. Today, that means building differently for leaner times. We have always taken pride in being a capital-efficient business and we think this attribute is important to preserve. To adapt ourselves appropriately for the world we’re headed into, we need to reduce our costs,” Patrick Collison, Stripe’s CEO Stripe joins a growing number of big tech companies that have laid off a portion of their staff this past few months to reduce operational costs caused by rising inflation in major parts of the world. This week alone, Twitter, Lyft, CloudKitchens, OpenDoor, Chime, Dapper Labs, Gem, MessageBird, and Kry have laid off staff or announced plans. Apple also announced that it plans to freeze hiring until the middle of next year. Layoffs.fyi estimated that 3,572 jobs have already been cut in November. Will Stripe’s layoff affect Paystack? After announcing the acquisition of Paystack in October 2020, the US fintech giant has subsequently allowed it to function practically independently. Read also: Stripe Acquires Paystack for $200M+, the Biggest Ever Startup Acquisition in Nigeria At press time, we cannot confirm if Stripe’s reported layoff will be extended to the Nigerian subsidiary, given similar macroeconomic conditions currently affects the Nigerian market. Nigerian firms like 54gene and Kuda are among the companies that have let some of their staff go. While employees at Quidax, Eden Life, and GetEquity are reportedly also seeing compensation reductions. Since the Pandemic in 2020, Tech companies globally have been experiencing a hit in revenue and investment. Hence, the reduction in staff and wages. “I haven’t seen a job market look this bad for college grads in my entire career,” Dare Obasanjo, a Lead Product Manager at Meta tweeted. According to the CEO, the company made two mistakes that should be corrected. Collins stated that Stripe overestimated the possibility and severity of a broader recession and grew overly confident about the internet economy’s near-term growth in 2022 and 2023.. Also, Collison says the company grew operating costs too quickly. “Buoyed by the success we’re seeing in some of the areas of our new product, we allowed coordination costs to grow and operational inefficiencies to seep in,” he noted in the memo.
Jumia raised $885 million across six funding rounds in seven years... No fewer than 27 Nigerian startups are among the Most Funded African startups, according to a list curated by Digest Africa, a data and intelligence company based in Uganda. According to the report, the 100 most funded African startups have raised $10 billion across 436 deals, representing an average of $23 million per deal, a relatively low figure compared with California-based e-cigarette company JUUL Labs has raised $15 billion alone in disclosed funding. Recall we recently reported that venture funding in Africa surprisingly dropped by 54% in the third quarter of the year, per data from CB Insights. A total of 13 African countries are represented on the list, with Nigeria leading the pack with 27 startups, followed closely by Kenya with 23. The other two members of the Big 4 — South Africa and Egypt — are represented by 19 and 15 startups, respectively, which means the big 4 accounts for 84% of the 100 startups. Trailing behind is Ghana, with five startups, followed by Uganda and Tunisia, with three and two startups, respectively. The remaining countries — Algeria, Congo, Malawi, Tanzania, Senegal and Mauritius — can boast of just one startup each. Related post: Here are the top 10 startups in Nigeria for 2022, according to LinkedIn. Sectoral breakdown On a sector basis, 36 of the most funded African startups were fintech companies, which is more than twice the next sector, energy and environment resources. In total, 14 sectors were represented in the top 100. Apart from those mentioned above, the other sectors include e-commerce & retail, transport & logistics, healthcare & pharmaceuticals, information technology, agriculture, education, media & entertainment, travel & leisure, telecommunications, real estate, emerging technology and commercial & professional services. That African startups under financial services are topping the list is expected. The continent’s fintech sector is booming thanks to venture capital funding and the rising adoption of digital financial services. According to global management consulting firm McKinsey, the financial-services market could reach about $230 billion in revenues by 2025. Jumia is the most funded startup According to the report, the most funded African startup is e-commerce giant Jumia which raised $885 million across six funding rounds in seven years. Jumia kicked off its funding journey in 2012 — the year it was established — drawing $45 million Series A from Blakeney Management, Rocket Internet and Millicom Systems. The following year, the company raised $150 million in Series B. In 2014, Jumia raised another $150 million in new funding. Another standout funding round was a $400m Series C in March 2016 from Rocket Internet, MTN Group, Orange, Goldman Sachs, CDC Group and AXA Group. In 2018, French spirits group Pernod Ricard bought a stake said to be worth $84.4 million in Jumia. Finally, in April 2019, the e-commerce giant drew a $56 million investment from Mastercard Inc. The same month, Jumia got listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Despite the interesting numbers, the journey hasn’t been particularly smooth for Jumia. From market challenges to dwindling revenues, the e-commerce giant has its fair share of struggles. For instance, the “Amazon of Africa” was forced to close shop in Cameroon in 2019, indicating that the company appears to be losing its grip on African markets. Since its inception in 2012, Jumia has reportedly accumulated over $1 billion in losses. Read also: Meet the 9 African startups Selected For Techstars Toronto Winter 2022 Batch. Nigeria dominates as usual Unsurprisingly, Nigeria dominates the list of 100 most-funded African startups. In the past decade, Nigeria has remained Africa’s leading tech hub on the continent, birthing many successful startups on the continent, including unicorns. According to a recent report, 383 tech startups in Nigeria raised a combined US$2 billi...
The online payment platform, PayPal, announced it would soon support Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone technology, allowing merchants to accept contactless card payment without additional hardware on their mobile devices. In its Q3 2022 earnings report, PayPal announced that under its strategic initiatives and business updates, it is “working with Apple to enhance our offerings for PayPal and Venmo merchants” by “leveraging Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone technology”. “U.S. merchant customers will soon be able to accept contactless debit or credit cards and mobile wallets, including Apple Pay, using an iPhone and the PayPal or Venmo iOS app,” the company said in the report. PayPal also said it intends to add Apple Pay as a payment option in its unbranded checkout flows on merchant platforms, including the PayPal Commerce Platform. In a related development, from next year, U.S. customers will be able to add PayPal and Venmo network branded credit and debit cards to Apple Wallet and use them anywhere Apple Pay is accepted, according to the company. Read also: Apple finally hikes Apple Music charges for users in Nigeria. What is the Apple’s Tap to Pay feature? Unveiled in February with U.S. payments giant Stripe as a launch partner, Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone technology enables merchants to use their iPhone to accept Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets through a simple tap to their iPhone without the need for an additional hardware or payment terminal. “As more and more consumers are tapping to pay with digital wallets and credit cards, Tap to Pay on iPhone will provide businesses with a secure, private, and easy way to accept contactless payments and unlock new checkout experiences using the power, security, and convenience of iPhone,” Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet said in a statement at the time. In September, Block — the Jack Dorsey-led company behind Square and Cash App — announced that it now supports Apple’s Tap to Pay for iPhone feature for merchants, months after Apple reportedly rolled out the technology in its stores in the U.S.
"If you are in an office or on your way to an office, please return home," Twitter said Twitter employees have initiated a class lawsuit as new CEO Elon Musk initiates his plan to cut thousands of jobs. The social media giant communicated to its employees through email that there would be layoffs on Friday while temporarily closing its offices and preventing staff access. This development concludes what has been a week of uncertainty about the company’s future under new owner Elon Musk. Twitter informed employees via email that it would notify workers of staff reductions by Friday at 9 a.m. Pacific time (12 p.m. EDT/5:00 pm GMT+1). “We recognize that this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions to Twitter, but this action is unfortunately necessary to ensure the company’s success moving forward,” the email said. After completing his $44 billion acquisition of the ‘bird app’ late last week, Musk was said to be planning to slash the 7,500 employees on the company’s workforce to reduce costs and impose a demanding new work ethic. According to the email, Twitter said that its offices would be temporarily closed and all badge access suspended “to help ensure the safety of each employee as well as Twitter systems and customer data.” The company said employees who were not affected by the layoffs would be notified via their work email addresses. Staff who had been laid off would be notified with next steps to their personal email addresses, the memo said. “If you are in an office or on your way to an office, please return home,” Twitter said in the email on Thursday. See full statement: Twitter employees will find out if they’re out of a job in the worst possible way – via email. Oh, and don’t bother coming to the office because your badge is disabled! Larry Madowo (@LarryMadowo) November 4, 2022 According to reports from CNBC, a Twitter employee said Thursday’s email was the first communication staff members had received from Twitter since the acquisition on Oct. 27. “It’s total chaos, house melting down, everyone looking towards this email,” the employee said. Read also: 5 likely changes to expect as Elon Musk takeover at Twitter Musk’s planned layoff taking off Before the takeover transaction was finalized, concerns about layoffs started to surface. However, Twitter’s general counsel cautioned staff members not to focus on speculations. And although some of the staff were ready and willing to be laid off and get their severance, others were scared of Musk’s antics, which could result in a disagreement. “At the end of this nightmare, I better get a cash prize,” a Twitter employee said. Some employees even tweeted their access to the company’s IT system had been blocked and feared whether that suggested they had been laid off. A particular employee tweeted her working journey with the company and expressed satisfaction. Release ya job, release the time 🫡💙 After >2.5 years, my journey at Twitter is finally over. I'm incredibly proud of everything I was able to achieve in that time. I got promoted to Senior SWE, became a Tech Lead for Search and a lead for @Blackbirds BE@T.#LoveWhereYouWorked moyin 🇳🇬 (@moyheen) November 4, 2022 See more reactions. Tweeps are just hanging out in Slack saying nice things to each other until their access is cut off. I’ve never seen anything like it. Some really incredible people leaving Twitter tonight. We are all worse off without them there Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) November 4, 2022 Meanwhile, Twitter’s employees claimed in a class action lawsuit that the firm engaging in mass layoffs violates federal and California law by failing to give the requisite 60 days’ notice. The lawsuit also requested a court order barring Twitter from asking fired employees to sign paperwork without first alerting them that the case was still pending. On Thursday, Cornet v. Twitter Inc., 22-cv-06857, was filed at the United States District Court, Northern District of California (San Fr...
As part of Meta’s mission to fully integrate Web3 functions into all its platforms, it has announced that social media giant Instagram will soon make it possible for its users to mint and sell their own NFTs on the platform. Recall that it’s been over a year since Facebook rebranded as Meta on October 28, 2021. Despite the hurdles – Meta’s Q3 report showed a colossal loss last week – Mark Zuckerberg is not looking to back down from his lofty Metaverse dreams. Related post: Meta suffers loss Pick n’ Pay, South Africa’s largest supermarket chain, announced this week that it is adding cryptocurrencies as a payment option to more stores after it completing the first phase of a pilot in 10 Western Cape stores with pre-selected testers over the past five months On our weekly Terra drama follow-up, reports have emerged that Do Kwon, the defunct Terra Labs CEO, has fled Singapore and is now living in Europe. Here are a few major stories from the crypto space this week. CZ states reasons why Binance invested in Twitter Changpeng Zhao, founder/CEO of Binance, in an interview with CNBC on Monday, stated that free speech and Web3 adoption are the primary reasons for Binance’s Investment in Twitter. He discussed the motive of Binance behind investing in Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter. “There are many reasons for supporting the deal. Twitter is a free speech platform, which is global, right? Which is extremely important. Twitter is a tool that I use personally very heavily, so. We would want to make sure that the crypto has a seat at the table when it comes to free speech. There are more tactical things like we want to help bring Twitter to Web3 when they are ready. And yeah, we want to help solve some of those immediate problems.” CZ mentioned that they want to help bring Twitter to Web3. Crypto should have a seat at the table regarding free speech. With this, the community now has different conjectures on how crypto can be integrated with Twitter. Instagram will become an NFT marketplace According to an announcement on Wednesday, social media giant Instagram will soon make it possible for its users to mint and sell their own non-fungible tokens. The latest update will allow creators on Instagram to make their own digital collectibles and sell them both on and off Instagram, giving them an “end-to-end toolkit” for creating, displaying and selling NFTs. It will initially launch on the Polygon blockchain. It will be tested among a small group of Instagram creators in the United States, including Amber Vittoria, Refik Anadol, Jason Seife, Dave Krugman, and others. While Instagram has been ramping up commerce features for creatures for some time, this update is the first time Instagram has tried to compete directly with existing NFT marketplaces. Instagram will also allow video-based digital collectibles to be shown on its platform and add support for the Solana blockchain and Phantom wallet. Meta noted that it would not charge fees for displaying and sharing a digital collectible on Instagram or Facebook. It will not charge additional fees for selling digital collectibles until at least 2024. It added, however, that “digital collectible purchases made within the Instagram app on the Android and iOS operating systems are subject to applicable app store fees.” South African Supermarket Pick n Pay now accepting Bitcoin Pick n Pay, South Africa’s largest supermarket chain, has joined the crypto revolution by accepting Bitcoin as a payment method, according to The Times. The report noted that this payment method was tested in 10 of the chain’s largest grocery stores over five months. Customers can now pay with cryptocurrencies in 39 Pick ‘n Pay stores in South Africa. The retailer announced that shoppers can pay using any bitcoin Lightning-enabled app- such as BlueWallet or Munn. A spokesperson said: “The transaction is as easy and secure as swiping a debit or credit card. Customers scan a QR code from the app and accept the rand conversion...
Twitter users who already own the verification badge are baffled by this choice and have pledged never to pay Hey, it’s a new week and another opportunity to stay updated with exciting stories making rounds and causing major global trends in the tech space. One of the major stories dominating the global tech scene this week is the $44bn acquisition of Twitter by Tesla founder Elon Musk. Unsurprisingly, the billionaire founder has remained in the headlines with his controversial personality and intentions for the platform. According to Musk, verified Twitter users are set to pay $8 for their verification badge starting next week. While in a different clime, Amazon Web Service has launched its second African office in Lagos, Nigeria. These and more make up our global tech roundup for the week. If you missed these pieces of information, or perhaps some key details are unclear, sit back and read as we have curated all of the best bits for your review. Summary of the Bulletin. Twitter verification badge holders are to start paying an $8 monthly charge from next week AWS has launched its 2nd African office in Lagos Meta shareholders rage at ‘tone-deaf’ Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse push WhatsApp finally launches Communities and other new features 9 Nigerian startups made the 2022 Techstars Toronto accelerator Winter cohort Read also: Google to adopt crypto as payment token in 2023 as Microsoft unveils 3 surface computers Twitter’s ‘blue tick’ users to pay $8 monthly In confirmation of his earlier statement alleging that Twitter was not profitable, and his intention to make it so, Elon Musk has reportedly made it known that verified tweeps would start paying $8 from next week. After taking charge fully on Thursday last week, reports emerged that verified account owners would be charged $20 monthly to keep their verified status on the platform running. This was a shocker to many, who were surprised that the supposedly ‘free speech’ advocate would charge people to use the free platform. But after supposedly carrying out a ‘revamping process‘ and making considerations based on purchasing power parity of countries, Musk has come out to place a charge of $8 on the verification badge for Twitter. Although met with wide criticisms, the billionaire seems to have his mind made up. Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022 In his word, “Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.” Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month. Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022 According to another Bloomberg report, top profile figure like the White House is undecisive about what to do next with this new rule and if it needs to pay also to retain its verification badge on Twitter. While Elon Musk may think this is a brilliant idea, some Twitter users who already own the verification badge are baffled by this choice and have pledged never to pay. They see this as an expensive and irrational act for Twitter, which hasn’t done this in 16 years. Some people think this would jeopardize the legitimacy of the platform. Quite a price for ‘free’ speech, don’t you think? AWS launches second African office in Lagos There is no doubt that the Nigerian tech ecosystem is one of the biggest and most attractive in Africa, with the inflow of investments it continually gets. First, Amazon Prime launched the video streaming platform for the Nigerian market months ago to leverage and compete with Netflix. This time, the company has decided to have its presence in the country. This week, Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com, Inc. company, announced that it would open its first office in Lagos, Nigeria. Technext reports that the new Lagos office is part of AWS’s support for the growing number of customers and partners in Nigeria. The office will support organizations of all sizes, inc...
Squad is for everyone who needs a payment solution for their businesses, Babawale says about accessibility... For most Africans, paying for goods or services was a strict cash affair. These days, the story is fast changing, thanks to the advent of technology and tech solutions like Squad springing up every now and then. On the streets of Africa, the region with more than half its population unbanked, cash is still king, and most transactions involve the exchange of currency notes. But this situation is gradually experiencing a turnaround, owing to a revolution in the continent’s digital payment landscape, which has since spurred key players to innovate and leverage their existing infrastructure to change the face of payments. And with Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) providing an estimated 80 per cent of jobs across the continent, simplifying payments to support them becomes crucial. By 2025, Africa’s domestic e-payments market is expected to reach around $40 billion, according to a recent McKinsey report. One of the solutions addressing the gap in payments on the continent is Squad, a product brand of HabariPay, the fintech subsidiary of Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO) and the parent company of Nigeria-based commercial bank Guaranty Trust Bank Ltd (GTBank). No wonder Squad’s ads can be seen at GTBank’s physical branches and even on its apps. Squad’s unique solution We caught up with the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Squad, John Babawale, on a call to understand what his team is bringing to the table. He explained that the gap in Africa’s payments system and the cash-dependent nature of transactions led to the creation of Squad. “Because some of us [the team] worked in banks, we were able to identify some of the loopholes in traditional banking as regards payments and then come up with a solution,” he said. Launched in June this year, Squad is a complete suite of payment solutions comprising tools to simplify payment processing, accounting and reconciliation, financial management and e-commerce, made for African businesses. The product prides itself on an all-in-one solution to all problems with payments. He further noted that the company was birthed from an apparent effort to help small businesses accept payments from different channels. “We believe no business should ever miss a sale because of the preferred mode of payments of the customers,” he said. Related post: How CreditChek is helping lenders verify creditworthiness in Africa. Payments for everyone If anything, Squad is for everyone who needs a payment solution for their businesses, Babawale says about accessibility. On its website, Squad has several features targeted at addressing the specific payment needs of different people. These solutions include SquadPOS, payment gateway, payment links, storefront, e-invoice, virtual accounts, USSD, etc. He added that though GTBank powers the fintech, users with any bank account can create Squad accounts. “Despite the fact that we have only been in the market for just a couple of months, we have been to help many businesses simplify payments. So far, we successfully onboarded at least 30,000 merchants and counting,” he said of the adoption. Turning phones into POS terminals Its latest product, SquadPOS allows merchants to turn their phones into POS terminals. With the app, they can accept cashless payments with their NFC-enabled mobile devices, with no additional hardware required. For the uninitiated, NFC stands for Near-Field Communication, a close-proximity wireless technology to send information from one point to another. NFC is built into most modern android smartphones. Describes the technology as the first of its kind, Babawale says SquadPOS works like the traditional POS machines, only that the concerns about paper and maintenance are already eliminated. The setup process, according to Babawale, is simple and direct. First, download the SquadPOS app from Google Play Store on your device and sign in u...
His parents wanted him to be a doctor, but his friends in senior high school had other ideas... Clinton Mbah is living the dream of many young people in tech. The software engineer is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Accrue, a mobile application that helps beginners invest their idle money with dollar savings, stocks, and crypto. When Clinton Mbah is not working on making cryptocurrency and wealth accessible to everyday people, he is exploring photography, painting digital portraitures, reading, or working out. We sat with Clinton to chat about his career, growing up in Ghana, being a ‘Tech Bro’ and CEO, and more. His insight into the African tech ecosystem and the story behind his decision to pursue a career in tech is captured in this piece of Founder’s spotlight, a series by Technext. Read also: African startups raised $239m in July 2022, a 43.77% decline from June Although Clinton Mbah is Accrue’s co-founder and CEO, he admitted that he did not come up with the idea but was brought in to birth the concept into reality. For him, it was simply preparedness meeting the right opportunity and challenge. Read also: How Shola Edu wants to build a game development empire in Lagos How Clinton Mbah get into tech Clinton was a ‘guru’ of Biology and other life sciences during his secondary school education in Ghana. According to him, tech was never in the plan. His parents wanted him to be a doctor, but his friends in senior high school had other ideas. An interest in computer programming languages began to fester as he watched his friends become proficient with practice. These friends began to share materials to help Clinton learn coding and programming, and he became skilled enough to land a paid internship. “I did not really plan to go into tech at that point, I just found programming cool from what I saw my peers do. I tried a lot of stuff, learnt to code and programme the year before I got into the university and got my first ever job; an internship from one of my mentors in Ghana.” “I got the gig because at that point I was already conversant with more than one programming language like web development and JavaScript, and was offered decent money. It was at that point I knew I wanted to be in tech”, he added The impact of the Ghanaian educational system Clinton’s family moved to Ghana when he was very young. He has since felt a disconnection from Nigeria. He earned a degree in Information Technology from the Ghana Technology University in 2019, graduating with first-class honours. He claims the Nigerian education system would have been a major disadvantage for him due to the system’s instability. “There was no way I was going to pass the JAMB or Post UTME and get to study an engineering program in Nigeria since I had no connection with the Nigerian education system. The Ghana education system is actually better in the sense that it helps with the stability in the curriculum.” “You are sure that when you start a 4-year program and you excel at it, you are definitely going to make something out of it and move on from that after those 4 years, compared to the Nigerian system that is crippled with incessant strikes and uncertainties”, he adds. Every successful tech career needs a community. Many presume that programming is difficult and draining, requiring people’s dedication and ingenuity. This presumption is loosely based on the lifestyle these techies portray – constantly on their laptops, writing codes, reading materials, and watching instructional videos on the internet. Clinton confirms that learning and programming language and becoming proficient is pretty tasking. However, he noted these tasks would have been more difficult for him if he did not have peers willing to provide support and guidance. The now Senior Software Engineer admits that he felt overwhelmed during the first stages of learning and had to take a one-year break. “I had to go away from tech and programming after I started as I couldn’t cope n...
Messaging platform WhatsApp has announced the launch of its discussion group feature, Communities, and other new features; in-chat poll creation, 32-person voice/video calls, and a larger group option of up to 1024 users. This announcement was made on the WhatsApp blog today. The update has started rolling out to users globally and will be available to everyone in the next five months. The Communities feature entered beta testing after its conception earlier this year. This feature aims to make groups communicate better by enabling sub-groups and providing an opportunity for more users to interact and connect. Multiple groups and conversations can now be connected and grouped under one umbrella, providing a more organised conversation pattern on the messaging platform. Read Also: Here are 7 unique WhatsApp features you can use to grow your business. Benefits of the new “Communities” feature This new feature brings a plethora of new advancements to the messaging platform. However, most of these advancements have already been launched on the platform a while back, like emoji reactions, larger file sharing, and admin control features. Other features like in-chat polls, 32-person video calls, and a larger group option of 1024 users will also be particularly helpful for the new feature, “Communities”, especially as it was created for a wider array of individuals. Read Also: WhatsApp launches emoji reactions feature to clean up chats How does it work? Users will need to upgrade their app to access the new communities feature. A new Communities tab will appear at the top of chats on Android and the bottom for those using the iOS version. From there, you can start a new community or add existing groups to a community. The communities feature also offers end-to-end encryption to its users Communities are structured with one main announcement group, which alerts everyone of the most important messages. Members of a Community can easily switch between available groups to get the information they need when they need it, and admins can send important updates to everyone in the Community.’ WhatsApp Communities feature vs others The idea of a Communities feature is not new to the social media ecosystem. Similar concepts are present on other platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter. Members of WhatsApp Communities are already connected in the real/virtual world through phone number sharing with one another or an admin and are in discussion for a common interest. However, the phone numbers will be hidden from the wider Community and only made visible to admins and members in the same sub-groups Facebook Groups, which are somewhat similar to WhatsApp communities, are more focused on dispersed members who only share a common interest. Unlike Facebook Groups, which can be discoverable on the platform, WhatsApp Communities are hidden. A search and discovery feature will not be available; members must be invited to join. For Twitter communities, it seems a little different as it is more like an “exclusive space” where people with certain requirements can join. Although there are two types of communities on Twitter, none seems to be as similar as WhatsApp’s new feature. Read Also: Here is all you need to know about WhatsApp’s 3 new privacy features Other features rolling in 32-person voice and video calls The group voice and video call capacity on the messaging platform has been increased to 32 people from the participation of only 8 users. It is unsure whether this will affect the video call interface to accommodate the increased number of callers. Also, with these new feature capabilities, WhatsApp might even be able to compete with rival communication platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Larger groups of up to 1024 users WhatsApp has also expanded the group capacity from 512 to 1024 participants. More people can participate in larger groups, which might be useful for business operations. Organizations, clubs, schools, and other private grou...
"This project tells a story of a continent through the universally accessible lens”- Design Indaba’s founder Ravi Naidoo Today, Design Indaba in partnership with Google Arts & Culture launched an online project called ‘Colours of Africa’. The project brings online and showcases 60 specially-curated artworks produced by over 60 unique African creatives chosen by Design Indaba – each invited to contribute a work that captures the ‘colour’ and character of their home country. Selected by Design Indaba’s founder Ravi Naidoo, the creatives will showcase the best of African craft, product, industrial design, fashion, film, animation, graphics, food, music, jewellery and architecture. “Africa is known for its bold, unapologetic use of colour. Each country, city and community is identifiable by its unique palette. As Africans, we can tell powerful stories through colour. This project tells a story of a continent through the universally accessible lens,” says Naidoo. The first artistic undertaking of this scale, the project will allow viewers to discover stories of Africa as told by the African creative community. The artworks will be showcased online where users are invited to spin the kaleidoscope to explore the works in an effort to take users on a journey through Africa, inviting them to view each country through the eyes of a local artist. Read also: Google Arts & Culture’s Eko for Show to showcase Lagos’s creative genius to the world “Google has always been acutely aware and in full support of the immense creative melting pot that exists on the continent. Collaborating with Design Indaba on this project allows us to bring this support to fruition. By empowering and amplifying African voices to tell the unique stories of their cultures through their work and creativity, we hope to provide much-needed exposure, cultivate a newfound curiosity, and window into the vast beauty that exists on the continent,” says Nitin Gajria, Managing Director at Google. The project involves creatives from almost every discipline imaginable, from architecture, illustration, painting and ceramics to writing, engineering, the performing arts and visual communications. Their creations have been converted into images, videos, texts and illustrations. The multidisciplinary mix of 60 artists includes Algerian photographer Ramzy Bensaadi, fashion designer Bisrat Negassi from Eritrea, filmmaker Archange Kiyindou “Yamakasi” from the Republic of Congo and visual artist Ngadi Smart from Sierra Leone. To bring the project to life, Design Indaba collaborated with former Design Indaba conference speaker Noel Pretorius and his creative partner, Elin Sjöberg, who collaborated with Google Arts & Culture Lab to create the design concept and interface for the digital exhibition. The exhibition features a kaleidoscopic navigation tool that can be used to explore the art in a randomised way, giving the visitor a unique experience, while allowing the art itself to shine. “Nothing like this exists to date, so we’re very excited to break new ground. This is an important artistic catalogue, the first of its kind to plot the expanse of African artistry on Google Arts & Culture. We salute Google for taking this important step to provide the world with a resource like this – not everyone can afford to travel here, or access physical art fairs and museums to view this kind of work,” continues Naidoo. In addition to the Colours of Africa platform, the initiative will also see the launch of over 4 000 images, videos and 20 carefully curated exhibits from Design Indaba’s extensive archive. Award-winning initiatives like Sheltersuit, Arch for Arch and Emerging Creatives will be profiled extensively for the first time online. Similar read: Google partners CyArk, Adunni Olorisha Trust to digitally preserve Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove New works by some of the most important creatives working on the continent and abroad will also be displayed. These include Fozia Ismail (featured creativ...
Twitter plans to start charging for the blue verification badges beginning next week... According to Bloomberg, the microblogging platform, Twitter plans to start charging for the blue verification badges beginning next week. Verification badges were designed to combat bogus accounts, advance equality, and generate revenues. Recently, many celebrities, prominent personalities, elected leaders, journalists, and activists have frequently received the verification badge. The purpose of this is to identify these prominent users and prevent impersonation. Since Tesla CEO, Elon Musk took over Twitter for $44 billion last week, it has been a huge deal for many users of the platform especially as the new ‘Chief Twit’ has come up with a plethora of ideas for the microblogging site. One of which is the implementation of a subscription model for verified users. It appears that anyone with an extra $8 per month is now able to acquire it. Verified users who have the blue tick on their profile are obliged to renew this service each month at a price of $8. According to insider sources, these users also have one month to pay or lose their badges. The introduction of this proposal has drawn a lot of criticism, but the billionaire has subsequently ignored some of these criticisms and has been aggressively supporting this notion. Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month. Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022 In an effort to reframe the narrative, he has labelled this Twitter service as a “lords & peasant system.” Read Also; 5 likely changes to expect as Elon Musk takeover at Twitter The new rule for having a verification badge on Twitter Many questioned what would happen to this new premium plan rule. But the Tesla CEO provided some clarification regarding this new rule. The verification fees will first be assessed based on the user’s country’s purchasing power. The premium plan comes with a tonne of features as well. According to the billionaire, this would eliminate spam and scams since users will have priority in replies, mentions, and searches. Also, longer videos and audio can be posted by premium users, who also get access to fewer ads. While Elon Musk may think this is a brilliant idea, some users who already own the verification badge are baffled by this choice and have pledged never to pay. They see this as an expensive and irrational act for the platform, which hasn’t done this in 16 years. Some people think this would jeopardize the legitimacy of the platform. According to another Bloomberg report, top profile figure like the White House is undecisive about what to do next with this new rule and if it needs to pay also to retain its verification badge. Despite the criticism, Elon Musk seems unfazed as he has constantly been making humorous tweets about the implementation of this new model and has been backed up by millions of followers who believe in this new rule. They believe this will help tackle bots and spam accounts on the platform and some of them hope they will be able to purchase a verification badge for themselves and their business. Read Also; Finally, Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44bn, fires CEO and CFO Will it truly help against spam bot accounts? What happens when a random user pays $8 and changes his Display Name to Elon Musk, using your same profile pic and starts tweeting like he's you? Verified checkmarks exists so people know they follow the real person. elrubius (@Rubiu5) November 1, 2022 While debating on users’ credibility as the verification badge option is now open to the general public. Elon Musk replied that if any verified accounts violate terms of service, eg spam/scam/impersonation, they’ll be suspended. For him, this is a win for Twitter as they will keep the money of these users regardless. Also, as is presently the case for politicians, there will be a supplementary tag beneath the name for anyone who is...
The official launch date is not yet confirmed, but fans can expect “Game of Thrones” NFTs in late 2022... With House of the Dragon recently wrapping up its epic first season, which is a spinoff from Game of Thrones, one would imagine what next is to come from HBO productions, given they have delivered some of the biggest TV series. But that spinoff has shown some viability, as HOD has continually been doing big numbers since its release to rival the original. It is on this basis that Warner Bros. Discovery has come out with even bigger plans for the future of Game of Thrones. In a stunning revelation, the studio announced today, that they are creating some NFTs based on the epic series, Game of Thrones. The statement reads: “Game of Thrones NFTs is coming to this Winter. Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and HBO have teamed up with NFT platform Nifty’s to launch the digital-collectable non-fungible tokens based on the hit series. The official launch date is not yet confirmed, but fans can expect “Game of Thrones” NFTs in late 2022. “We’re excited to expand the ‘Game of Thrones‘ fandom and franchise with this unique digital collectible program that’ll engage fans on a deeper level, allowing them to immerse into the world of Westeros, and enhance the overall fan experience” “Our goal, as always, with the fans, is to create new ways for them to interact with the stories and characters they love,” Josh Hackbarth, Head of NFT commercial development for Warner Bros. Discovery, revealed in the statement. According to WBD’s statement, “differing themed packs will also be offered throughout the program.” Nifty’s said in its blog that the “Game of Thrones: Build Your Realm” NFT experience will let fans create a realm by collecting customizable avatars modelled after series characters as well as assorted packs with different collectables like “equipable” items to “strengthen” their avatars, such as weapons, companions, and gear. “Every so often, a film or television series comes along that pushes the boundaries of its genre so far it forever changes the creative landscape, becoming a part of our collective cultural identity. ‘Game of Thrones’ is that series for this generation,” Jeff Marsilio, CEO and co-founder of Nifty’s. “Nifty’s is thrilled to be working alongside Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products to keep pushing the bounds of creativity and imagination through a new kind of digital collectible that will allow fans of the franchise to connect in ways they never have before”, the CEO added. Other NFTs will feature memorable episodes, Game of Thrones characters, and places. Fans will be able to participate in “thematic activities and on-site participation” as part of the experience, according to WBD. However, pricing details haven’t been released by the company yet. Read also: Here are 3 NFT collections you can mint this September to make money Is Game of Thrones NFT a revenue push? With the release of “Game of Thrones” NFTs, perhaps one of HBO’s most popular shows, WBD is probably hoping to increase revenue. The business seems to have a cash flow problem after posting a $3.4 million net loss in the previous quarter. WBD also owes around $53 billion in debt. Tomorrow, November 3, the firm will release its third-quarter results. Also, 3D-content company Daz 3D will collaborate with the companies on the design, development and production of the NFT experience. This isn’t the first time the media company has collaborated with Nifty’s, as it launched “Looney Tunes” NFTs in June Read also: “Brotherhood” is Nollywood’s best attempt at an action film. with a poor dose of dialogue Other HBO and WBD collaborations A number of programs, including House of Dragons, have been in development by HBO and are based in the setting of Game of Thrones. A Tales of Dunk and Egg prequel series is another project reportedly in production. Therefore, it appears like Werner Bros. and HBO will remain active in the Game of Thrones market for a very l...
The total value of investments into fintech companies worldwide dropped by 38 per cent in the third quarter of 2022, according to the State of Fintech Report for Q3 2022 released by CB Insights last month. This new data reflects a continued decline in fintech funding. Global economic uncertainties and growing inflation concerns have forced most investors to hold on to their capital. Largely, 2022 has been a rough year for fintechs. Global fintech funding reached an all-time high last year with a whopping $210 billion raised across a record 5,684 deals. According to the latest report, a total of $12.9 billion was raised across 1,160 deals in Q3 2022, representing a 64% drop year-over-year (YoY). It further revealed that this quarter is the sector’s weakest since Q4 2020, bringing the total raised by fintech companies this year to $63.5 billion. In Q1, $29.7 billion was raised in 1,524 deals, Q2 saw $20.9 billion raised in 1,280 deals, implying that fintech funding dropped by 33% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ). Read also: Venture funding in Africa fell by 54% in Q3 2022 – report. Key highlights Some of the key highlights of the report include the following: Only 19 mega-rounds worth $100 million were recorded in Q3 2022, which is said to be the fewest since Q2 2018. This figure means the average deal size was down 38% from the full year (FY) 2021. Also, fintech mega-rounds only accounted for 34% of total funding, compared with an average of 66% recorded in 2021. For the first time since Q4 2018, Europe surpasses the US in late-stage deal share, drawing 32% of deals, while the US brought in 24%. The fintech space birthed 6 new unicorns in Q3 2022, falling below double digits for the first time since 2020. All regions also saw a decline in quarterly unicorn births. In Q3 2022, fintech merger and acquisition (M&A) exits declined by 14% QoQ to 155 deals, an 8- quarter low. Across all fintech segments, Insurtech recorded the smallest QoQ decline, dropping just 4% from $2.4 billion to $2.3 billion. Related post: Crypto companies dominate the list of global top 10 influential fintech companies in 2022. Asia is the new challenger to watch out for Surprisingly, Asia had the best run in Q3 2022, a look at the regional trends showed. Asia took the lead in mega-round funding for the first time ever, drawing US$1.8 billion in nine deals, followed closely by Europe with $1.7 billion in six deals. On the other hand, the US witnessed a downturn in numbers, recording only four deals worth $900 million. However, the US still led the world in regional deal share (39%) and total funding sum ($5.1 billion). In late-stage deal share, Asia drew 33% of deals, ahead of Europe and US with 32% and 24%, respectively. Also, in payments — which led the global fintech funding landscape in Q3 2022 — Asia raised $1.6 billion across 49 deals. Notable rounds included Dana’s $555 million Series A, Toss’s $371 million Series G, and OneCard’s $100 million Series D. Trailing behind Asia is Europe, with $1.1 billion in 35 deals, while the US raised $1.0 billion across 66 deals. Interestingly, Asia’s impressive run isn’t surprising. Venture capital investments in Asia Pacific-based fintechs surged to a record high of $15.69 billion in 2021, meaning the sector remains a hot cake for the region. Recently, Hong Kong was listed among the top fintech ecosystems in the world, citing its number of fintech-focused accelerators and incubators and funding. In 2021, the Chinese city produced two fintech unicorns: ZA and Amber Group. In May this year, it added another: Babel Finance. Read more: Hong Kong joins the list of the top 5 fintech ecosystems in the world with a lot of reasons. How did Africa fare? With its relatively young ecosystem, Africa also had a fair share of the drop in global fintech funding in Q3 2022. According to the report, Africa raised $161 million across 43 deals in the third quarter. Compared with Q2 2022 numbers, this represents a 58% decline and 30% drop ...
Akah Nnani started to seek a gig in entertainment when he became bored with his nine-to-five job. He heard about an opportunity at TVC, so he prepared himself and auditioned for a new role as the host of an entertainment show developed for young Nigerians. He did not get the role. However, the network was displeased with their new hire, so they dived into their audition pool and found him, marking the beginning of a new career in entertainment that will launch Akah Nnani into the public consciousness. Making it in entertainment Akah Nnani’s big break came years after he had left that job at TVC and started his YouTube channel Akah Bants. The graduate of Mass Communication from Covenant University uses the platform to comment on topical issues. His comments are often made with tongue in cheek, and he uses quips that he would not have been able to say on air. Once, he asked the former Nigerian senate president, Bukola Saraki, if he was a witch, On Instagram, where Akah Nnani has more than 180 thousand followers, he posts comedic content, including singing famous songs in funny voices and taking up different characters that make up everyday Nigerian life. “I just felt like ‘ooh I need to share my voice. I had something to say and I needed to share my opinions with the world,” Akah said of his decision to branch out from TVC. Today, he has built a career as one of the top comedic actors in a new Nollywood, with cinema releases and original Netflix flicks. Also, he co-produced Shade Corner, a panel chat show with Accelerate TV. He has starred in many TV shows and more than 7 blockbuster movies, including the Netflix movie, Man of God, produced by Bolanle Austen-Peters. Akah has been nominated for the Africa Movie Academy Awards and The Future Awards Africa. Success has come with a price. He has had to move away from sharing his hot takes about Nigerian politics on the internet. Entertainers are advised to focus on their art and avoid politics by their PR people, but he says he stepped back from that role because he wants peace on the internet. “Me, I need to live my life,” he said, taking up the voice of one of his many comedic characters. “I need to breathe. I didn’t come here to carry headache because of politicians,” he said. But sometimes, politics creeps up on him, like in May when he called out “a black-faced man who looked like a rogue.” on Instagram. It was a police officer who he goes on to say was drunk on duty and harassed him in Lagos, or the Christian Association of Nigeria after they paid a 100 million naira ransom after a top clergyman was abducted. But even with all these, he believes that the problems the country faces are less the repercussions of a corrupt political system and elected officials and more symbolic of who Nigerians are as a modern civilisation. “Who came first, the chicken or the egg?” he asked the classic trick question. “This is something that I recently just clocked. People always say the problem of Nigeria is political leaders, and I beg to differ. The problem of Nigeria is Nigerians. Firstly, we get the leaders we deserve because the leaders are from among us. If we do not allow the leaders, the leaders will not get there,” he said. Akah Nnani: One-half of a regular Instagram happy couple When Akah Nnani is not commenting on the news cycle or politics, he posts videos on social media, sometimes with his wife Clair Idera-Nnani and occasionally with their daughter making a cameo, the regular Instagram happy couple content. “Everything we do is intentional. We weigh the pros and cons, How will people learn from this? How will people learn from our mistakes? We are very comfortable with what we do,” he said. “We are not always pressed to put out content. It’s first, our marriage before we share. Whatever we share, is a result of what has already overflown. We invest in ourselves more.” But once, the video wasn’t the typical happy couple content. It was of Akah and his wife arguing about producin...
The Innovation Support Network (ISN), the network of over 120 tech innovation hubs spread across 25 cities in Nigeria, will be hosting the 4th edition of its Annual Gathering on the 8th of December 2022. The event is set to be held at the Landmark Events Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos, with the theme “Collaboratively Creating A Sustainable Hub Ecosystem.” This year, the Digital Transformation Centre Nigeria (DTC Nigeria) of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) are strategic partners of the ISN Gathering. The Annual Gathering, which brings together member hubs and other key ecosystem stakeholders for learning, knowledge sharing, capacity development, and networking, is one of the highlights of the ISN Hubs activity calendar with a projected number of 500 participants. Read also: ISN condemns Twitter ban ISN 2022 annual gathering This will be the first physical gathering since its inaugural Gathering in 2019, as the 2020 and 2021 Gatherings were held virtually. “As a network, our primary objective is to increase Nigeria’s ranking on the global innovation index by supporting individuals, MSMEs and startups with the right tools, skills and resources to build a business and/or become more employable and productive.” The conference will be a one-day event and will feature panel discussions, break-out sessions, and networking opportunities for the attendees. This year’s annual gathering will create the opportunity for deeper interactions by key stakeholders, including government, private sector, investors, academia, tech startups, etc., to foster sustainable collaborations, especially within the digital economy. We look forward to leveraging the relationships fostered at the 2022 Innovation Support Network Annual Gathering as a bridge to reducing unemployment and financial gap through innovative solutions across the country using our 120+ member innovation hubs.” Tomi Davies, Chairman, Board of Directors, Innovation Support Network (ISN) disclosed in a press statement. Registration for the gathering is ongoing, and interested participants can register at/ For partnerships and sponsorship opportunities, please email partnerships@isnhubs.org.ng
Confidence Staveley, an award-winning cybersecurity expert and the executive director of the Cybersafe foundation, is one of those women in tech using ingenious methods to achieve her goals for the community. Technology is one of the historically male-dominated industries. The National Bureau of Statistics states that women make up only 22 percent of Engineering and Technology University graduates yearly. Confidence is one of the few breaking the bias. The first-class graduate from the University of Middlesex has soared to global prominence, and her career path is one to inspire other Women in Tech. While preparing to study Medicine and Surgery at the university level, she stumbled into tech at a time when most people could not fathom the possibilities it holds. Read Also: SHELT Global partners Galaxy Backbone to deliver cybersecurity solutions in Nigeria. Tech Journey- Abandoning the medicine dream to become an international cybersecurity expert Confidence Staveley bought the idea of becoming a medical doctor when she was a child. Her well-meaning parents wanted the best for her and encouraged her to become a physician. She worked toward this aim until she took a break between secondary school education and the beginning of her undergraduate studies. During the gap year, she realized that her interest was not Medicine. Her parents – a public servant and a petty trader – enrolled her in a “computer school” to keep her busy. This fortuitous experience sparked her real interest in technology. Confidence had to find creative ways of persuading her parents that technology was her passion, especially when many Nigerians weren’t fully aware of the prospects and benefits of technology. As a creative child without a personal computer, she made a PowerPoint presentation using cardboard to argue against her parents’ aspirations for her to study medicine and defend her affinity for technology. It was in that computer school I got exposed to using computers, I got exposed to programming languages. I used to be so happy whenever I get to that school. I felt alive. For Confidence, breaking into the cybersecurity industry was more of an exciting challenge, despite the perception that it was a difficult field. It was during my IT management study. We were to pick electives and one of them was cryptography. Words on the street was that cryptography was very difficult but I was like what is in that place that everyone is saying is so difficult? The people there, do they have two heads? Let me go and see for myself Confidence Staveley: A Cybersecurity Queen Confidence Staveley is one of the most celebrated female Cybersecurity Leaders in Africa. She is an official member and the first Nigerian woman inducted into the Forbes Technology Council. She won the CyberSecurity Woman of the Year Award at the Cybersecurity Merit Awards by the Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) in 2022. She was honored with the Meridian International Center Global Leadership Award the same year. The digital development enthusiast won the IFSEC Global Top Influencers in Security & Fire (One-to-Watch) for 2021 and the Young CISO of the Year award in 2021. She is an alumnus of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers and is listed as one of the Top 50 Women in Cybersecurity in Africa 2020. Helping others grow Confidence Staveley focuses on simplifying cybersecurity, especially for individuals and SMEs, the end users of technology, given the huge cybersecurity threat in Nigeria and Africa. She established the Cybersafe foundation to implement her vision of cyber safety for the continent by assisting vulnerable African people in addressing cybersecurity challenges. Confidence aims to “simplify and make cybersecurity action relatable for the average person. Everyone must be aware of the security repercussions of their online acts,” she says. The Cybersafe foundation has received much support and attention worldwide thanks to its numerous initiatives aimed at...
The number of companies participating in Techstar's Toronto's October 2022 batch is the same as last year (12) but the number of African startups increased to 9... Unsurprisingly, there has been an increased number of African startups participating in the Techstars Toronto Accelerator program due to the Accelerator’s drive to multiply its investments in African startups per year to 24. The latest Techstars Accelerator program in 2022 has admitted 3 more African countries than its 2021 program. Techstars Toronto provides early-stage startups with access to financial, human, and intellectual resources to spur the success of their business. Upon acceptance, companies admitted into the program get an investment worth more than $100,000. The number of companies participating in Techstar’s Toronto’s Winter 2022 class is the same as last year (12) but the number of African startups increased to 9. In the spring batch, 7 African startups made the cut. The Winter cohort has seen 9 African countries admitted, all Nigerian startups with a local and international base. Without further ado, let’s meet these African startups. Related story: Meet the 8 African startups selected for Techstars Toronto October 2021 batch Fez Delivery Co Fez Delivery Co is a Nigerian startup that offers core end-to-end support to individuals and businesses for their last-mile deliveries across Africa and beyond. Founded in 2020 by Bethany Buer, Oluwafemi Jose, and Seun Alle, Fez provides an API framework that allows upstream and downstream customers to seamlessly integrate with partners at all levels without making any changes to their order management systems.. The startup recently supported the African Money & Fintech Summit that held in Accra. In Nigeria, the e-commerce and last-mile delivery market is projected to be worth more than $20 billion in the next five years. With that said, Nigeria’s last-mile challenges are anchored by weak transport infrastructure and service providers’ ability to reach the far regions of the country. Based on this, the company is offering solutions with a mission to be Africa’s leading technology-enabled logistics company, perfecting the last mile and solving complex delivery needs with best-in-class infrastructure. GIGXPad GIGXPAD or GIGX Technologies, is an African financial asset platform powered by GIG Group. It focuses on financially empowering individuals with important tools and knowledge while preserving the value of an individual’s wealth amid inflation crippling most African economies. Founded in 2021, by Osamede Arhunmwunde, Chukwudi Anyanwuocha and Godswill Omozusi. The company has its own all-in-one app that allows users to store, earn, invest and spend their crypto-assets. The app brings solutions to help make finance accessible for all Africans and beyond Africa. The platform is Africa’s first decentralized marketplace, bringing real-world business opportunities to a blockchain-based environment. Read also: GIGX Technologies admitted into Techstars Toronto 2022 Winter cohort Glover Technologies Glover is a digital asset marketplace created to facilitate the buying and selling of Gift cards, the conversion of excess Airtime to Cash, the ease of payment for utility bills through refill services, and the one-stop shop for E-tickets. Founded in 2021, the idea of the platform for co-founders Damilola Layode and Fejiro Agbodje was driven by the enterprising spirit of young people in Africa. Glover is a community impact-building solution provider designed to improve the Gift card shopping experience and the gifting culture in the continent and the world. The company was introduced by Patricia Technologies as a means to oversee the non-crypto services of the business. Klas Founded in 2021 by Nathan Nwachuku, Klas is an EdTech platform that allows anyone to start an online school and deliver live lessons. It is like a Spotify version of online learning and teaching. The platform supports everything you can teach online,...
2022 is on course to be a record year for crypto hacking as a record amount of digital assets were stolen via crypto hacks in October. According to data from blockchain security firm PeckShield released on Monday, about $760 million worth of crypto value was looted by hackers and cybercriminals in 44 incidents that affected 53 protocols in October. However, some of the exploited protocols recovered $100 million, a fraction of that sum within the same period. PeckShield reported that $2.98 billion of crypto assets had been stolen in 2022, almost double $1.55 billion, the total value of crypto stolen in 2021, The biggest exploit of this ‘Hacktober’ was the BNB Chain hack which resulted in a loss of $586 million alone. Earlier in October, the BNB chain executed a hard fork to restore security after an unknown hacker stole $100 million via a vulnerability in the platform’s cross-chain bridge. Binance co-founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (“CZ”) disclosed that hackers accessed a cross-chain bridge where users transfer digital assets from one blockchain to another. The hackers created 2 million BNB tokens out of thin air. The PeckShield report listed the Mango Markets Defi protocol as the second biggest loser in October. However, the exploiter agreed to return some of the funds. Related post: $117m stolen in Mango Market hack March had recorded the highest loss because oo crypto hacks before October, with around $710 million stolen. Most of this was due to the Ronin Bridge hack, which resulted in $625 million in crypto assets being pilfered. Causes of the hacks There are several causes for the high volume of crypto hacks in October. The leading causes include wallets compromised by profanity hacks, Blockchain bridge vulnerabilities, insecure smart contract codes, the unaccounted-for game theory behind protocol functionality, exploited cross-chain bridges, and oracle price manipulation. For the crypto lender, Mango Markets, the attacker, Avraham Eisenburg, claimed actions behind the exploit were legal after an oracle price manipulation. Following a community vote, an agreement was struck, and Eisenburg walked away with $47 million for his efforts, returning $67 million to the project. Some Decentralised autonomous organisations (DAO) lost $2.3 million because they relied on an insecure profanity-based wallet, a well-known attack vector among malicious actors. Team Finance was a victim too. Hackers took advantage of a bug in the Version 2 to Version 3 migration on the protocol to drain around $15.8 million in tokens from the platform. Also, a smart contract dedicated to UvToken, a multi-chain crypto wallet service’s staking functions, was hit by hackers who made off with $1.45 million in tokens that were then sent to sanctioned crypto mixer Tornado Cash. The vulnerabilities of DeFi With all its revolutionary principles, blockchain technology is still susceptible to cybercriminals who exploit it for their benefit. Many crypto projects get hacked, or scammers set up rug pulls to steal from investors. A sector of the ecosystem plagued significantly by this menace is Decentralised Finance (Defi) protocols that deploy software-based algorithms to enable crypto investors to trade, borrow and lend on digital ledgers without using a central intermediary. Read also: Here are 3 creative ways to earn cool cash on the Ethereum Blockchain DeFi platforms have now become a frequent target of state-sponsored hacking. Earlier this year, Chainalysis estimated that North Korea-affiliated groups had stolen around $1 billion worth of crypto assets from DeFi protocols. Predominantly, these hackers have now become adept at exploiting weaknesses in the security, coding and structure of DeFi marketplaces. This big concern is now putting the work on industry players to find solutions since DeFi is being touted as the future of finance and an integral part of crypto adoption. According to Sandi Bitenc, CEO of 3air and DeFi expert, the exploits in the sector are ...
The Polygon Bootcamp, an eight-week mentorship program and hackathon for blockchain developers in Africa, has kicked off to the delight of Web3 enthusiasts. Developers who are newbies in Web3 – a decentralized online ecosystem based on blockchain – are taking advantage of the Beginner Track to launch their careers in the space. Also, there is a Master Track for experienced developers seeking advanced Web3 education. All participants will form teams or build projects individually with the help of industry experts, with cash prizes to be won. The judges and mentors for the Polygon Bootcamp Africa class of 2022 include; Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Deborah Ajengbede, Njoku Emmanuel, and more. In a chat with Technext, Adeola, Ifeanyichukwu Onuh, and Ottobong Christopher – participants of the program, shared bits and pieces of their experience so far and their expectations for the rest of the program. According to Adeola, joining the boot camp was a no-brainer after getting the information via Twitter. “I got information about the Bootcamp on Twitter. Who wouldn’t want to join the polygon Bootcamp? I saw that even after participating in this boot camp you get a certificate (of participation) as a junior blockchain developer from Polygon. With how big the Polygon brand is, who wouldn’t want a certificate from them?” He further remarks that with his little background in web3 development, the modules and curriculum of the Polygon program provide sufficient knowledge on the technical and fundamental parts of the blockchain. Related post: Polygon to train 2,000+ Africans on blockchain at Bootcamp “I have been into web3 and blockchain before the Polygon Bootcamp. When I entered, I realized it was a continuation of what I had done. Of course, there are challenges, there are times when I try to do something, and I get errors. I posted some challenges on the discord tonight and found solutions to them.” Ottobong Christopher also reiterates Adeola’s views on the Bootcamp. .The curriculum, at first, was a lot of information, and it was awesome. For a beginner, you will actually understand. I’m enjoying the Bootcamp. The challenges of the Polygon Bootcamp participants On the other hand, Ifeanyichukwu Onuh has endured a not-so-smooth start to the program. He observes that the curriculum is too voluminous. He says it’s tough because it’s still something new, but it is something he can bear with. Onuh has also discovered that an idea of the technicalities of web2 is needed to understand what is being taught fully. Going forward Given the challenges at this opening stage, Onuh emphasizes the importance of a strong community in learning. He proposes that students discuss what they learn with their peers twice or thrice a week. Read also: Damilare Aregbesola speaks on how Polygon intends to place Africa on the global blockchain map Adeola, on the other hand, says consistency and motivation are his watchwords. “I just need to go the extra mile, be consistent. The curriculum is enough.” – Adeola. Ottobong says there is a clear roadmap on the ground already. However, he suggested that the timeline of the next Polygon Bootcamp be extended because a lot of knowledge is being absorbed within a short while. He urged that the organizers consider that the participants will still build projects at the end. “I would say they should extend it to 12 weeks for beginners. The curriculum is okay for me,” Ottobong says: Regardless of the current challenges, Ifeanyichukwu Onuh is reaching for the stars, and the sky is not his limit. “What I expect to get is to win the first prize and get connected to great people, my idols like Shodipo.” Participants of the Polygon Bootcamp started submitting applications on the 26th of September. The hackathon is scheduled to end on the 21st of November. There are cash prizes to be won, and the winners will be announced on the 19th of December, 2022.
We see unlimited possibilities and look forward to bridging the gaps associated with global payments for African immigrant families - GIGXPAD GIGX Technologies. an African financial asset platform focused on simplifying the processes of savings, investing and spending value globally, has been admitted into the Techstars Toronto Accelerator 2022 Cohort. The announcement was made on the startups’ accelerator LinkedIn platform. According to the statement, Techstars Toronto expressed their satisfaction and inclination towards the value proposition of GIGX Technologies. It says: “At Techstars, we love the way GIGX Technologies is democratizing wealth-building for Africans while helping individuals mitigate fiat inflation risks.” Techstars Toronto In confirmation of the announcement, GIGX expressed their excitement in being accepted into the Winter Cohort, maintaining that the new feat goes to validate their mission to make finance available for Africans. “Our acceptance into one of the largest tech accelerator programs in the world validates our mission to unlock financial autonomy for Africans by creating a single solution that provides global access to send, receive, spend and save money.” GIGX Technologies “We see unlimited possibilities and look forward to bridging the gaps associated with global payments for African immigrant families and businesses while providing channels to grow and preserve wealth”, it adds. Born out of wanting to offer GIG Logistics‘ over 500k customers a tool to send, receive, and exchange currency, GIGX Technologies has pioneered partnerships with the likes of Ernst & Young, Fireblocks, and even Techstars Toronto Accelerator portfolio company, Quidax. More about GIGX GIGXPAD or GIGX Technologies is an African financial asset platform that focuses on simplifying the processes of saving, investing, and spending value globally, while preserving the value of an individual’s wealth in the midst of inflation crippling most African economies. Essentially, GIGX is the financial service subsidiary of GIG Group, one of Africa’s leading Logistics companies powered by tech. Founded in 2012, GIGL has expanded across the shores of Africa solving logistics problems across a defined marketplace in Africa. The company has also expanded beyond Africa, it currently has branches in the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (USA). Just recently, the tech-driven delivery company, also expanded its services to China bringing the total number of countries it presently operates to four. Before its launch in 2021, we reported an insider story that suggests that a major African brand operating within the mobility and logistics sector, was in the advanced stages of a collaboration with a set of international partners to develop and launch what may be the first Africa-wide decentralised blockchain-enabled project financing platform. Later, the company confirmed in a statement that it was launching a platform which would be Africa’s first decentralised marketplace. The statement reads: “GIGX is Africa’s first decentralized marketplace, bringing real-world business opportunities to a blockchain-based environment.” It adds that the project seeks “.to unlock economic opportunities for all by enabling peer-to-peer services, effectively cutting out the middlemen – reducing associated costs in the process.” Related story: Africa is set to welcome another major cryptocurrency platform and here is all we know Since then, the company has developed an all-in-one app that allows users to store, earn, invest and spend their crypto-assets. The app is bringing solutions that would help make finance accessible for all Africans and beyond Africa, just like its parent company. African startups in Techstars Toronto Lately, there has been an increased number of African startups participating in the Techstars Toronto Accelerator program. Techstars is set to multiply its investments in African startups per year to 24. So far, it has in...
“We are excited to open our first AWS office in Nigeria. Lagos offers a highly skilled and creative talent pool, and the area is home to many fast-growing startups"- Amrote Abdella regional Manager of Sub -Saharan Africa at AWS Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com, Inc. company, today announced the opening of its first office in Lagos, Nigeria. The new Lagos office is part of AWS’s support for the growing number of customers and partners in Nigeria. The office will support organizations of all sizes, including startups, enterprises, and public sector agencies as they make the transition to AWS Cloud. By opening a Lagos office, AWS can better address the increase in customer and partner adoption of AWS services in Nigeria. With a local presence, AWS will support new and existing customers looking to use AWS products and services to innovate, lower their information technology (IT) costs, and grow their organizations in the cloud. “We are excited to open our first AWS office in Nigeria. Lagos offers a highly skilled and creative talent pool, and the area is home to many fast-growing startups and notable Nigerian enterprises leading the way in digital innovation,” said Amrote Abdella regional Manager of Sub -Saharan Africa at AWS. “We look forward to fostering the country’s pioneering spirit and helping our customers accelerate their digital transformation as they deliver innovative new products and services to the Nigerian community”, she adds. Speaking on the opening, Nigeria’s Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy welcomes the opening of the new AWS office in Lagos. Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy said: “The Service Infrastructure Pillar of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) emphasizes the importance of digital platforms in the development of a robust digital economy. The programs of Amazon Web Services support the development of such platforms and we look forward to partnering with AWS to accelerate the implementation of NDEPS” The new Lagos office is AWS’s latest investment in Africa. Teams of AWS account managers, partner managers, solutions architects, and other roles support Nigerian customers, running everything from development and test environments to big data analytics; mobile, web, and social apps; enterprise business applications; Internet of Things (IoT); and mission-critical workloads. AWS counts some of Nigeria’s fastest-growing and best-known startups and businesses as customers, including SeamlessHR, Yellow Card, BFree, Bankly, and public sector organizations. AWS also actively supports Nigeria startups and the community with programs like AWS Activate and AWS educational programs like AWS Academy, AWS Educate and AWS re/Start. AWS Activate provides startups with the resources they need to get started on AWS, including up to $100,000 in AWS credits, training, support, and contact with incubators, accelerators, and venture capital firms. AWS Academy helps university students and educators develop knowledge and skills about AWS Cloud computing, to accelerate cloud-related learning. AWS Academy member institutions in Nigeria include the University of Benin, University of Jos, and Igbinedion University. AWS re/Start is a 12-week, in-person, skills-based training program that covers fundamental AWS Cloud skills and practical career skills, such as interviewing and resume writing, to help prepare individuals for entry-level cloud positions. AWS re/Start in Nigeria has expanded the program to three locations—Lagos, Edo, and Benue. In Benue state, AWS Partner, New Vision Institute Technology, recently opened a campus hosting over 100 AWS re/Start learners in Otukpo, Nigeria, a remote rural community. AWS also has a vibrant user group in Lagos, with hundreds of members that organize local meetups for developers to network and share best practices and knowledge. To join the AWS Nigeria user group, visit the AWS User Group page. Read...
Payhippo has disbursed over 25,000 loans to small and medium enterprises in Nigeria Nigerian credit-led SME fintech startup, Payhippo has acquired Maritime Microfinance Bank (MFB), a microfinance bank that offers some banking products, demand deposits, and investments as well as micro and SME loans. The acquisition is pending approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). When completed, it will enable the credit-led fintech to have direct access to Nigeria’s inter-bank Settlement System (NIBSS). According to a statement shared with Technext, both parties are working together to obtain the regulator’s approval. The acquisition will also allow the startup to facilitate the sending and receiving of inter-bank transfers for its merchants with the integration of NIBSS. This means merchants will soon be able to perform all key financial functions from their Payhippo app. Speaking on the development, the co-founder and CEO of Payhippo, Zach Bijesse, disclosed that the company’s mission is, to provide seamless financial service to Africans, and the new acquisition and partnership with MFB gives it the leverage to achieve that. He says: “At Payhippo, our mission is to provide seamless financial services for merchants throughout Africa. We are making this investment to enhance products and services for our customers and in turn enable us to reach a wider customer base. We are very excited to work with Maritime Microfinance Bank to revolutionize the SME financial service through digital innovation.” Zach Bijesse, Co-founder and CEO of Payhippo, Furthermore, the acquisition will enable Payhippo to accept deposits from its customers and integrate with NIBSS allowing the fintech to provide a more holistic experience for its fast-growing customer base. In his own remarks, confirming the acquisition, the Chairman of the Maritime Microfinance Bank, Adetola Atekoja explained that he was excited to welcome the new team of Payhippo, and was ready to support them in providing solutions that the Nigeria fintech space needs at this stage. “Nigeria has an ever-growing need for SME lending solutions to help businesses meet their financial needs. We believe Payhippo is well-positioned to develop new and customized financial products for SMEs in the country. The team is incredibly talented, resilient and exudes excellent leadership. I am very excited to welcome them onboard and look forward to supporting them in achieving their goals” Adetola Atekoja So far, Payhippo has disbursed over 25,000 loans to small and medium enterprises in Nigeria. Also, in maintaining its tremendous organizational growth, the company distributed 6,726 loans in the third quarter of the year, seeing a 39% increase from its 4,842 loan originations in quarter two. The company earns over $4m in annualized revenue. Read also: Elon Musk has to close Twitter buyout deal on Friday or face court trial About Payhippo Payhippo is a credit-led SME fintech founded in 2019 by Chioma Okotcha, Uche Nnadi, and Zach Bijesse, to provide small businesses in Nigeria with access to financing. Headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, Payhippo’s vision is to reach Nigeria’s 40 million SMEs with seamless financial services to run their businesses. The company also recently opened an office in London to attract Africans in the diaspora and global talent that would support the team in Nigeria to grow the fintech’s products and services for SMEs in Nigeria. This necessitated the hiring of Dami Olawoye as its Head of Corporate Finance in London to support the fintech to tap into global capital markets that enable them to fund its loan books for its credit-led business model. Through the latest acquisition, Payhippo will grow its team with experienced professionals from the MFB team, adding in-depth experience from the banking and finance sector that will be of sustainable value to Payhippo’s growth. The extensive knowledge from the bank’s employees will help Payhippo continue its mission to expand access to...
Both Bundle and 3air share a vision of empowering users to experience the future of finance... Bundle, a social payment app for cash and crypto, is partnering with 3air, the world’s first blockchain platform that brings millions of unconnected users online and into blockchain and crypto. They also solve the connectivity issues faced in Africa using a proprietary solution that provides high-speed broadband internet wirelessly. On the 31st of September 2022, Bundle announced this revolutionary partnership with 3Air which would be in two phases. Bundle’s decision to partner with 3air ties into their proven connectivity solutions infrastructure, which helps ensure that underserved communities can truly be connected to the global economy. As a result of this, more users will be able to enter the blockchain and DeFi space, thereby increasing the potential reach for Bundle to an even wider global audience. According to Bundle CEO, Emmanuel Babalola” “As a fast-growing continent that has also become a tech hub in recent years, it is amazing to see that only 39% of Africans have access to the internet. With innovations like digital currencies – the need for access to affordable, fast and reliable broadband internet cannot be over-emphasized for the growth of the African economy. As a result, collaboration with companies like 3air who provide this solution on the blockchain will connect the next billion Africans to the internet and further allow for the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies on the continent. We are proud to be a part of this revolution and look forward to more ground-breaking partnerships like this. ” Read also: #TNC2022: Beyond the hype, DeFi can’t eliminate traditional banks, says Emmanuel Babalola, CEO, Bundle Some of the notable features of the 3air ecosystem include: High-speed broadband Internet — K3 Telecom’s Last Mile solution is the backbone of 3air’s connectivity service. It delivers high-speed broadband internet with up to 1GBPS, TV entertainment and IP Telephony. With a range of 50 km per K3 tower, entire cities can be connected with only a few towers without digging cables and infrastructure in the ground. Broadband Mesh Network — Using a decentralized network of access point operators (nodes), the reach of 3air’s network is increased through its ecosystem participants. Access Point Operators are rewarded for extending and maintaining a stable and secure network for users. Easy to use — Onboarding new users onto the network is simple, with on-the-ground locations and cash on-ramp and off-ramp solutions for simple transitions into the ecosystem. Commenting on the partnership, Sandi Bitenc the CEO of 3air said: ”Bundle has achieved extraordinary growth in a very short time. I am convinced that by combining 3air’s connectivity solution and Bundle’s ability to make buying and selling crypto seem easy for such a wide audience, we will be able to onboard millions of new users into the broader crypto ecosystem. Both Bundle and 3air share a vision of empowering users to experience the future of finance, and we’re proud to take the next step on that journey together” 3air’s operations in Nigeria commence on September 22, with 3air’s token available for purchase on several exchanges. On-the-ground operations in Nigeria are planned for Q1-2023, where 3air plans to begin building the infrastructure to provide high-speed connectivity in Nigeria.
As a tech enthusiast, you probably made a new year resolution at the beginning of the year to build a network of techies or even be part of a community where you share ideas, Well, November is here, how has that decision come for you? One of the ways we try to help our readers is to bring them up-to-date with information on tech events that are happening around them, which might help them meet major players and like minds in the space. If you are in that category of persons that have been thinking of these niched events to attend in November, don’t worry, we have got you covered. Here are 6 major tech events taking place in Africa that you would not want to miss. Below is a brief about each. Read also: Technext Coinference and 5 other major tech events to watch out for this October Techpoint’s Fintech summit The Fintech Summit, which is being hosted by Techpoint Africa, with the theme ‘The Fintech in Everything,’ will bring together some of the brightest minds in finance, fintech, blockchain, academia, and the regulatory space to share insights and provide answers to your questions. It will feature engaging and thought-provoking discussions on critical areas of fintech such as financial inclusion, embedded finance, DeFi, and regulations, among others. There will be a Keynote address, debate, panel discussions, fireside chats, demos, and exhibitions. Basically, anyone that has ever transacted in cash and cryptocurrency can attend the event. The event will host notable fintech players like OPay’s Chief Legal Counsel Gbolahan Olayemi, Piggyvest co-founder Odunayo Eweniyi, Professor Olayinka David-West of Lagos Business School and many others. See event details below: Date: Saturday, November 26, 2022 Time: 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM WAT daily Venue: Four Points by Sheraton, Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos. Register to attend the event here. Tickets General Badge (Early Bird): ₦2,000 General Badge: ₦4,000 VIP (Early bird): ₦30,000 (includes lunch with speakers, reserved seats, and exclusive access to the VIP room) Tech Summit Nigeria Tech Summit Nigeria is an event for Cloud and Mixed-Reality professionals & enthusiasts. According to the organizers, the event is meant to bring a unique experience that will provide participants with insights from industry leaders around the world. Also, the summit promises to expand the core skills of individuals who will have the opportunity to be inspired by other industry professionals at the event. The event which will be taking place at the Microsoft ADC office in Lagos is sponsored by Microsoft, elev8, Makintouch, Covenant Technologies and some others. See event details below: Date: Friday, November 9 – Saturday, November 11, 2022 Time: 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM WAT daily Venue: Microsoft ADC, Lagos NG Register to attend the event here. Registration and attendance are free Cyberchain Lagos 2022 As part of its goal, Cyberchain has been engaging Nigerians on the need for Cybersecurity best practices and ethical Blockchain adoption. According to the organizers, the event has directly imparted over 4,000 Nigerians spread across various states. Cyberchain is a decentralised, brand-neutral, people-focused ecosystem that promotes the ethical use of cybersecurity and blockchain. The event brings together thought leaders, industry shapers and innovators in the Cybersecurity and Blockchain space under one spectrum to inform, educate, inspire, and position participants to be part of the transformation that blockchain technology is bringing to businesses Government and society. Speakers include Mohammed Jega, founder, Domineum Blockchain, Williams Phelps, Investment Manager at Adaverse and many other industry experts. See event details below: Date: Sat, November 12, 2022 Time: 8:30 AM – 3:00 PM WAT Venue: The Strong Tower Hall 40 Alfred Rewane Road Lagos, LA 106104 Register to attend the event here. The Nigeria & West Africa Trade Expo The Nigerian and West African trade expo is a two-day expo enabling suppliers of loca...
...there are numerous ways to earn decent interest on crypto assets. Holding and trading digital assets used to be the only way to earn returns in the crypto space. But with the proliferation of decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols on the Ethereum blockchain and other networks, there are now numerous other ways to earn decent interest on crypto assets. It is no longer news that 2022 has seen investors getting neck-deep in losses due to the prolonged market downturn. It is also becoming increasingly difficult to hold and trade crypto due to heightened volatility. So, it is important to explore other passive income strategies. In this article, we are going to explore 3 ways to earn passive income on the Ethereum network, in order to cover market crashes and downturns. Read also: 3 upcoming project airdrops you can make money from Lending Lending is a popular way for investors and traders to generate passive income from their Ethereum investments. They can make a profit by lending crypto to borrowers with a high-interest rate. This can be done either through centralised or decentralised lending platforms like Liquity, Alchemix, Cream Finance and some others. Lenders who deposit funds into a lending smart contract make interest set by an algorithm. Borrowers deposit collateral of a crypto asset into a borrowing smart contract to earn yields or borrow other cryptos. They generally can only borrow assets worth up to 75% of their collateral. Centralised platforms usually manage all technical details and provide the potential for investors to optimise assets’ yield. They also have higher interest rates than decentralised lending platforms. On the flip side, decentralised lending platforms allow users to enjoy higher levels of security and transparency. DeFi lending platforms also allow experienced investors to tweak settings to maximise profits. However, they are more complex to use, require a higher level of technical expertise, and interest rates tend to be lower. Yield Farming Another strategy to make passive income on the Ethereum network is yield farming. In this case, users lend their ether to liquidity pools on decentralised exchanges like Yearn.finance, SushiSwap and UniSwap to earn rewards. Yield farming platforms enable you the ability to exchange a token for another in a liquidity pool. Note that traders pay a fee known as gas while trading crypto. This fee is then divided among the farmers who have contributed to the liquidity of that pool. The size of the reward depends on how much of the total pool liquidity is provided by the farmer. Although Yield farming is relatively new and subject to change, it is a great way to generate passive income. Read also: Here is all you need to know about the Aptos blockchain Staking Ethereum staking is another popular way to earn passive income in crypto. Staking is basically the process of locking one’s funds on a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain like Ethereum to help validate transactions and earn rewards. When users stake their Ethereum, they are essentially putting their money into the game and helping to secure the network. In return for their efforts, stakers earn rewards in the form of ETH or other tokens. The new PoS version of Ethereum requires at least 32 ETH(roughly over $50,000) to run a full validator node and participate in staking. In addition to direct staking, users can also use service providers like Stakewise and Lido. They are Decentralised Apps(DApps) that provide Ethereum staking services without having to run a full node, allowing network participants to stake with minimal amounts. They usually charge a fee on rewards (above 10%) which might cut into one’s profits, but at least they won’t need to invest 32 ETH in advance like in direct staking.
This move comes barely a month after Apple hiked the prices of in-app purchases for selected apps on its App Store... Apple Music has been sending out emails to its Nigerian users informing them that their next charges will be higher than they have been used to. Starting next month, Nigerians will pay ₦1000 for the Individual Apple Music plan which up until October used to be ₦900. All other pans will also be having a ₦100 increase. This will mean that the student plan will now be ₦550 from ₦450, and the family plan will now be ₦1500 from ₦1400. Earlier this week, Apple said it was increasing the prices of its Apple Music and Apple TV charges in the US, the latter product which is not yet available in Nigeria. A spokesperson for the company said that it was taking this action due to an increase in licensing costs. The spokesperson also said that the company will be rolling out new features for users in the coming months. “The change to Apple Music is due to an increase in licensing costs, and in turn, artists and songwriters will earn more for the streaming of their music,” the statement from the Apple spokesperson reads. Read also: How streaming algorithms have become Afrobeat’s biggest gatekeeper “We also continue to add innovative features that make Apple Music the world’s best listening experience. We introduced Apple TV+ at a very low price because we started with just a few shows and movies. Three years later, Apple TV+ is home to an extensive selection of award-winning and broadly acclaimed series, feature films, documentaries, and kids and family entertainment from the world’s most creative storytellers,” the statement says. Apple Music like many other streaming platforms gives artists a cut from subscription fees users pay monthly, based on the number of streams that they generate. Apple currently pays artists $10 for every one thousand streams a song generates. Spotify, Apple Music’s fierce competitor pays artists $4 for every one thousand streams a song generates. Artists have for years called for an increase in the cut they received from the big tech companies that distribute their songs. Apple’s spokesperson said that the iPhone makers will be raising the cuts artists receive in the future. Apple currently pays artists one of the highest cuts in the market, almost half of what other companies pay. This comes after Apple Music has maintained the 900 naira subscription mark since it entered Nigeria. When Google’s Youtube Music announced that users were going to pay more for its products because of an additional 7.5 value-added tax imposed by the federal government on Nigerians, Apple Music rather reduced the cost of Apple Music to ₦837.21, to keep the total price users pay at ₦900. Even with this increase, Apple Music remains competitive in the music streaming wars largely because it offers premium features including lossless audio and Spatial Audio at no additional charge to customers. Spotify, which doesn’t offer these options at the moment has been rumoured to charge more for them when it does. This move comes barely a month after Apple hiked the prices of in-app purchases for selected apps on its App Store in parts of Europe and Asia. The company at the time said that consumers in Chile, Egypt, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Poland, South Korea, Sweden, Vietnam, and all territories that use Euro will be affected by the new hike. The hike has taken effect nationwide.
The founders who take remote interns in interviews with Technext say that they are less inclined to assign tasks that will impact the success of the company in a significant way to interns... Damilola Akingbade had no experience as a UI/UX designer. As tech skills became more and more in demand, like many of his peers to took out his laptop and signed up for an online course. Whenever he could find the time from his busy schedule in a full-time master’s program at the University of Lagos, he advanced in the course. When he finished the course, he needed hands-on experience and so he searched on social media, applied for a dozen internships and finally secured one with a UI/UX design agency in the US. It was a remote internship and he had found it on Twitter. “I wasn’t stuck on if it was going to be a remote role, I just wanted somewhere where I could get my hands-in real work, and maybe learn skills and break into the space,” he said of the role. Now he assists the team with a very clear direction and feedback for his supervisor at the company. A history of internships One of the oldest ways new intakes have smuggled their way into new fields and professions is through internships. Interns are expected to shadow their mentors in a manner similar to the even more ancient apprenticeships and learn by watching. Some ten years ago, interns in corporate organisations handled printouts, got coffee, transcribe interviews and run petty errands within the office and its environs, that is of course, if they’re lucky. Interns throughout all industries in the modern world have told tales of horrific experiences they endured when they are unlucky to have an unkind or insensitive supervisor. But as the world of work move beyond the pandemic that forced people to work remotely, gen-zers coming into the world of work are opting for work-from-home options. These new roles have trickled down to the very bottom of corporate life, the intern. These days, founders, many of whom can’t afford a full-time staff or don’t even have a physical office, advertise on their private social media what looks to these young trainees-in-waiting juicy remote internship roles, where they get stipends and work from their homes or show up on site just a few days a week. An intergenerational conflict When Dipo started his career in IT, he started out as everyone did at the time with an internship. This was some ten years ago. “I had to face office treatment of a lowly intern in person,” he said of the experience. He had to show up to work, be on site and assist physically however he could. But when he took an intern to join his startup this past year, he went for a fully remote intern. This is in part because he doesn’t have a physical office, and he isn’t living in Nigeria currently. The intern he got stays in Lagos. Read also: There is a brewing war between tech executives and talents in Africa “With a remote intern,” he said “I guess the relationship is more structured. Nobody is sending you on non-work related errands, or turning you into the coffee boy. So you kinda focus more on learning.” But he still feels like the remote intern even though he employed her, might have missed out on a lot of hands-on experience that he got when he started out as an intern. “The major con I would say is the social skills in a work environment you would pick up as an intern in an office. Plus, there are many opportunities to learn things not related to your job that is missing with a remote internship,” he said. “It’s not so much of a problem with experienced staff but I think interns miss out on that.” This switch to remote internships also underscores the paradigm shift in how young founders think of work and job descriptions. These days many young companies who employ remote interns provide them with a living stipend, which some of the founders and HR professionals who facilitate the process didn’t receive when they were interns. The founders who take remote interns in int...
Meta released its 2022 Q3 report and it shows that the platform recorded a $3.67 billion loss in the third quarter of 2022... From popular metaverse platforms like Axie Infinity and Decentraland Recording low activity to Meta’s game, Horizon World Suffering technical setbacks and recent developments from the world of the metaverse is far from being palatable. This week, Meta released its 2022 Q3 report and it shows that the platform recorded a $3.67 billion loss in the third quarter of 2022. Not impressive considering the amount of investment Mark Zuckerberg has exerted into the supposed future of the internet. Also, after six months of back-and-forth, centibillionaire Elon Musk has finally acquired twitter. Due to his well-known pro-crypto stance, there are now different conjectures on what this massive development means for the crypto world. Here is a bit of all the major stories from the crypto space this week. Here we go: New UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak is Pro-crypto Rishi Sunak officially took over as the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister on Monday after opponents Penny Mordaunt and ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson dropped out of the Conservative Party leadership election. Recall that Liz Truss resigned last week after only 45 days in office. While Sunak is assuming office at a time when the global economy is stuttering and inflation remains stubbornly high, the consensus is that his appointment for the UK premiership is good news for the cryptocurrency sector in the country. Related: UK’s Crypto-friendly PM, Liz Truss has resigned, what should we expect? Rishi Sunak has repeatedly voiced his support for cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Last April, while serving as the chancellor of the exchequer, Sunak called for the Bank of England and Her Majesty’s Treasury to create a task force to explore the creation and issuance of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Sunak reiterated his support for crypto earlier this year when he laid out plans to make the UK an international crypto tech hub. Also, under Sunak’s chancellorship, the Royal Mint — the official maker of Britain’s coins — was assigned the responsibility of developing non-fungible tokens to signal the government’s “forward-looking approach” to crypto. As fas as we know, the future of cryptocurrency regulation and innovation in the UK looks promising. Twitter introduces tweet tiles for NFT Yesterday, a tweet from the Twitter Dev account revealed that the site will pilot a feature called Tweet Tiles in order to enhance links to certain NFT marketplaces. The new feature allows users to include a link to an NFT on an external site. The link will automatically expand to show a full-size image of the NFT, plus metadata and a link to its location on its respective marketplace. Marketplaces supported during the trial include Rarible, Magic Eden, Dapper Labs, and Jump.trade. Rarible acknowledged the feature, writing that Tweet Tiles will allow users to “experience NFTs in a whole new way”. Twitter’s developer account said that the newly-added feature is “one more step in our journey to let developers impact the Tweet experience”. We know that Twitter is working on features that will integrate cryptocurrency as well. In September 2021, the site introduced crypto tipping, and this week as well as rumours that it is building a crypto wallet. Related post: Twitter might be working on its own crypto wallet prototype Elon Musk now owns Twitter Elon Musk, the billionaire and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has completed his acquisition of Twitter. Among his first actions as the owner of the company was to fire the managers. CEO Parag Agrawal and chief financial officer Ned Segal left the company’s headquarters in San Francisco. Head of legal policy, Vijaya Gadde, who made the decision to close the account of Donald Trump was also fired. Since April, the social network and Elon Musk have exchanged legal accusations. And now that the acquisition is complete, it remains to be ...
Among those recently fired are the CEO, Parag Agrawal, the CFO, Ned Segal, the Head of Legal, Policy, and Trust, Vijaya Gadde, and the General Counsel, Sean Edgett... After a protracted legal dispute that lasted seven long months and uncertainty surrounding the takeover of the microblogging site, Twitter, the deal has finally come to a close. Elon Musk reportedly completed the transaction on Thursday, a few hours before the deadline set by the Delaware court overseeing the dispute. and a few hours after he visited the Twitter HQ in San Francisco. Twitter has not yet confirmed the takeover, but some investors confirmed the sale to BBC some hours ago. However, it seems Elon Musk had a very active first day, as reports confirm that the billionaire fired a number of Twitter’s senior executives following the closure of his recent transaction. Among those recently fired are the CEO, Parag Agrawal, the CFO, Ned Segal, the Head of Legal, Policy, and Trust, Vijaya Gadde, and the General Counsel, Sean Edgett. In the end, these executives are not overly surprised by this, especially given their prior stances on a few issues. The accusations against Gadde regarding her participation in policy decision-making and censorship, which Elon Musk, a self-described fervent advocate of free expression, condemned and referred to as “left-wing prejudice,” may be the cause of her own dismissal. For Parag Agrawal, since his public appointment in November 2021, The Twitter CEO has been at odds with the Tesla CEO. During the deal acquisition phase and the court battles, conversation logs indicating a fallout between the two leaked online, which may have contributed to Agrawal’s own dismissal. Elon Musk has announced the deal’s completion on his Twitter account and changed his location to Twitter Headquarters while the company undergoes all this purging. the bird is freed Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022 Elon Musk’s dreams for Twitter For Elon Musk, he has said that this is not one of his new money-making schemes. He has over time shown his passion and solidarity for free speech and that seems to be what will drive his new motivation for Twitter. The billionaire plans to reevaluate Twitter’s content moderation policies and also review the ban policy rules, raising speculations that a number of previously banned users in the platform could reemerge including the former president of the United States, Donald Trump and Kanye West (Ye). He also intends to make the platform more aware of fake bots, which were a big factor in the takeover deal’s protracted delay. At the end of the day, fans are looking up to Musk to fundamentally alter the media and political landscape, transform the online public debate, and radically alter the embryonic conservative social media space, which was mostly formed in response to concerns about limits and bans on Twitter and other mainstream sites. My strong intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization Elon Musk It’s unclear what Elon Musk’s strategy is for the new board of directors and management, but he has a reputation for making snap decisions in situations like these. Read Also: Elon Musk has to close Twitter buyout deal on Friday or face court trial The Elon Musk versus Twitter Saga The tumult began in April of this year when the billionaire started fiddling with the notion of acquiring Twitter. Later, for $3 billion, he acquired 9.2% of the company, making him the largest stakeholder. He didn’t, however, stop there. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX announced his intention to purchase Twitter for $44 billion for $54.20 per share less than ten fatal days later. People weren’t ready for the Tesla CEO to assume control of the microblogging site, thus the move prompted a lot of rumours. However, Twitter accepted this offer, and this is when things started to become a little more serious with legal actions and takeover st...
The good thing about this Global talent visa program is that you DO NOT need to have a job offer to apply... You might have heard about the Tech Nation visa. If you haven’t, it is one of the many ways to Japa (migrate) out of Nigeria, particularly to the UK as a tech professional or entrepreneur. The Tech Nation is a network that provides visa opportunities for the most outstanding tech professionals from across the world to work in the UK’s digital technology sector, providing their cutting-edge experience and skillset. So, whether you’re an experienced coder, digital marketer, program manager or any other discipline in the tech space, this article is for you. Although the UK Global Talent visa programme (the umbrella programme) covers several career fields, Tech Nation specifically targets only tech talents, hence, our focus is on this aspect of the programme. So, let us get to it. Read Also: Japa: 4 not-so-popular countries with exciting prospects for tech bros About the Tech Nation Visa program How does it work? The good thing about this Global talent visa program is that you DO NOT need to have a job offer to apply for the program, that is what sets it aside from other visa options. But, you must be inclined in the tech space. There are only two categories when applying for the global talent visa i.e. Exceptional talent: Individuals with more than 5 years of experience and a solid track record as a founder, senior executive, board member, or excellent employee in the digital technology sector are eligible for this category. These individuals must be well-known in the tech world, have been published in well-known media, or have contributed to a renowned platform through research or open-source code. The visa is valid for three years. Exceptional promise: This category is for people who are in the early phases of their profession (5 years or fewer) but have a solid academic record or are making substantial contributions to the digital technology company where they work. Individuals must be able to exhibit future leadership qualities and one of the requirements is solid recommendations from three senior colleagues in the tech industry for this application. The visa is valid for a period of five years. Note: After the application for endorsement, Tech Nation has the right to change an individual’s category, depending on your application. Read Also: 9 places you can get remote tech jobs and earn USD from Africa Who can apply? At the end of the day, not everyone in tech can apply for this program especially individuals who worked in an agency or consultancy firm. There are two categories of career paths that are more than eligible for this program. Technical field: These are front-line technical workers with hard-core tech skills like programmers, designers developers, engineers, analysts etc., and individuals specializing in web analytics and information architectures. Business field: These are for interested individuals who are not the backend or frontend contributors in the tech industry, like marketing, HR, sales, operations, PR or have experience at a C-Suite level within the tech ecosystem. Requirements for the application Individuals must have to have worked in a product-led company/startup Must be able to defend your status as a leading or potential leading talent and prove your impact in the digital tech ecosystem. Must have proof of personal innovation, project work beyond daily tasks, significant contribution or demonstrated academic qualification. All your required documents, proof of impact, evidence and recommendation should have a maximum of 3 pages each. The personal statement should be at most 1,000 words Have a definite plan of how you will contribute to the growth of the UK digital economy, which should be defended in your personal statement. Also, individuals who are already in the UK with other visa options are not eligible for this program. If they want to apply, they have to leave the UK to be eligible...
The combination of 5 subscriptions costs ₦15,726.79 or $36.38 monthly. That is an average of 22.2% of the average monthly wage of Nigerians according to WageCentral (₦70,791)... According to data made available by Picodi.com, Nigeria ranks first globally on the list of countries where citizens pay the highest subscription cost to several streaming platforms in relation to the country’s average wage earnings. The analysis which ranked several countries across the globe considered subscriptions to select popular social media and streaming platforms. These include the two most popular video streaming services (Netflix and Prime Video), one music streaming platform (Spotify), an internationally available e-book and audiobook platform (Scribd), and a gaming subscription (Microsoft’s Game Pass). All the platforms considered are available both on PC and on consoles and offer titles from some of the most well-known content creators around the world. According to the data, Nigeria tops the list of nations with the highest ratio of subscription costs to average hourly wages (the lower the percentage of the salary, the better). Nigeria came in at number 42 in terms of subscription costs with $36.38 Other notable indices show that, among the countries included in the ranking, after conversion to dollars, the Swiss pay the highest price for the bundle of 5 subscriptions – $64.21/month. The second most expensive country in the comparison is the USA ($60.45), followed by the UK in the third place ($51.29). However, after also juxtaposing the price of the subscription services with the average net wage, the situation changes diametrically: the bundle of subscriptions will cost an average Swiss only 1.19% of their salary, an American – 1.50% and an average Brit – 2.22%. Related story: Nigeria telcos gained 2.9m new telephone subscribers in May- NCC report Subscription figures in Nigeria According to the data, this is how the prices of individual subscriptions from the discussed bundle look like in Nigeria: Netflix – ₦3,600.00 Prime Video – ₦2,589.47 ($5.99) Spotify – ₦900.00 Scribd – ₦4,318.66 ($9.99) Xbox Game Pass – ₦4,318.66 ($9.99) The combination of 5 subscriptions costs ₦15,726.79 or $36.38 monthly. That is an average of 22.2% of the average monthly wage of Nigerians according to WageCentral (₦70,791). In comparison, the most favourable ratio can be found in UAE (0.89%), Australia (1.04%) and aforementioned Switzerland (1.19%). On the other hand, Nigerians, Pakistanis and Indonesians have to face the least favourable ratio – 22.22%, 19.49% and 16.24% respectively. Read also: Despite 5G rollout, data shows that 70% of Africans only have access to 2G/3G networks Subscription cost: Other countries Vs Nigeria Apart from Nigeria with a subscription cost of $36.38 (₦15,726.79) and a 22.02% ratio cost to their average monthly wage (₦70,791) for the 5 selected platforms, a quick look at other countries will give a clearer picture why Nigerians may be overshooting their internet usage. Citizens of India, for example, with a population of more than a billion people enjoy one of the cheapest subscription costs in the world at just $23.95. Also, comparatively, their cost-to-wage ratio ranks them as one of the cheapest countries to subscribe to these platforms given their average wage. Other countries which enjoy the lowest prices in the world for the discussed subscription pack include Argentina ($23.36), Turkey ($16.78), UAE ($33.94), Philippines ($24.85), and Colombia ($27.30) Citizens of countries that are paying seemingly higher sums relative to average earnings include Pakistanis (19.5%), Indonesians (16.2%), Egyptians (15.2%) and Ukrainians (12.5%). Average Income: Other countries Vs Nigeria Economists say the average income of a country is the best measure of its standard of living. According to the data from Worlddata.info, Nigeria ranks 60th globally in terms of average. According to the same source, Nigeria’s monthly average income is $...
Amongst the politicians targeted was the President of the United States. President Joe Biden The New York Post’s website and Twitter account were infiltrated by hackers Thursday morning, posting at least half a dozen racist and misogynist extremist headlines under the paper’s red banner. Among the politicians targeted was the President of the United States. President Joe Biden. The headlines had pictures in them, but the links didn’t go to articles. In addition to violent and sexual headlines directed at Biden, his son Hunter, and Ocasio-Cortez, there were also headlines that were racist at New York Mayor Eric Adams and posts that targeted teachers who are unionized. A New York Post spokesperson confirmed in an email to CNBC that the posts resulted from a hack. “We’ve taken down the vile and reprehensible content posted by the hackers and continue to investigate the cause,” the spokesperson said, providing no further comment on the matter. The hackers linked the phoney Post articles about Zeldin making racist remarks about Mayor Adams and the insane opinion post advocating for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s assassination after breaking into the Post’s Twitter account. Soon after, the posts were deleted, and by mid-morning, business as usual had returned to the website of the New York tabloid newspaper. On Twitter, The Post has 2.8 million followers. Requests for comment from the president’s, Ocasio- Cortez’s, and Adams’s representatives were not immediately fulfilled. The New York Post’s publishing platform WordPress didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment either. New York gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin and incumbent Kathy Hochul were also mentioned in explicit headlines as part of the hack. In response, Jerrel Harvey, a spokeswoman for Gov. Hochul’s campaign, urged an urgent explanation of “how this disgusting stuff was made public.” “The New York Post has long fostered an ugly, toxic conversation on their front pages and social accounts, but these posts are more disgusting and vile than usual,” a Hochul representative said Thursday. “The New York Post needs to immediately explain how this reprehensible content was made public. While the Post has made its preferences very clear in the New York Governor’s race, there is no room for this violent, sexist rhetoric in our politics. We demand answers.” A representative for Zeldin didn’t immediately respond to comment. Read also: Hackers have stolen $1.97bn worth of crypto from January to June 2022 Are hacks on US media outlets recurring? This is the second recent hack of an American media outlet. After hackers got access to Fast Company’s website in late September and delivered “obscene and racist” push alerts to Apple News subscribers, Fast Company had to take down its website for almost a week. Fast Company stated on Twitter at the time that a breach had affected its Apple News notifications and its content management system. The business, which also employs WordPress, instantly shut down its website. Later, it claimed to have hired a major crisis response and cybersecurity company to look into the situation.
Operators are required to adopt an integration feature that will automate the tax deductions before December 31st... Nigeria’s tax agency, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) appears to be looking for new ways to address the country’s revenue shortfall that President Muhammadu Buhari identified as Nigeria’s biggest fiscal threat and online gaming seems to be the new catch. The tax agency has recently collaborated with a UK-based financial technology firm, e-Technologies Global Ltd to commence the direct deduction and collection of taxes from online gaming companies operating in Nigeria using a private company, the Sentinal National Payment Gateway and Electronic Solution. FIRS executive chairman, Muhammad Nami told Bloomberg in an emailed statement that the platform will “not only collect tax revenues at source but also provide us with tax-reporting and monitoring tools in real-time,” Read Also: Here are the similarities between P2E Gaming and Ponzi Schemes Online gaming tax: How it will work Sentinal National Payment Gateway and Electronic Solution is a platform that allows financial institutions and governments to easily apply taxes and fees, monitor and control all e-commerce service activities and immediately remit the tax deducted to the government’s treasury. The Federal Inland Revenue Service of Nigeria appears to be particularly interested in the platform as it aims to help the government recover the ‘millions’ in this potential revenue stream. According to FIRS, the platform will help to automate the administration of taxes on online gaming, The goal of the platform is not only limited to only collecting tax revenues, but also provide the tax agency with tax-reporting and monitoring tools in real-time, simplifying tax compliance for companies. This new technology is mandatory for all online gaming operators operating in Nigeria. They are required to adopt a backend integration feature that will automate the tax deductions before the end of this year, 31st of December, 2022. For online gaming operators offering services from outside Nigeria, existing law requires them to connect to the Sentinal National Payment Gateway in order to help the tax agency deduct tax from the gaming transactions of players in Nigeria, although that has not yet been made mandatory. Read Also: Mobile Gaming in Nigeria and why Telcos Like MTN Are Looking to Take Advantage The growth of online gaming in Nigeria The gaming industry in Nigeria has grown significantly over the past few years. This could be attributed to either the country’s growing tech-savvy population or the current economic climate, which has caused people to look for alternative online income streams like gaming and sports betting. The value of the social online gaming business in Nigeria is surging. According to Statista. It is predicted to grow to about $128 million annually in 2023. FIRS is evidently working to understand the potential of the market and establish guidelines for a correct taxation regime. On a positive note, it is significant that Nigeria is actively leveraging technology in this context, to increase revenue generation and improve accountability.
...this development makes Safaricom the first firm to roll out the service commercially in the East Africa region. Kenyans have joined the 5G train, all thanks to its largest telecommunications operator Safaricom which introduced the high-speed technology for the first time in the country on Thursday. According to Reuters, this development makes Safaricom the first firm to roll out the service commercially in the East Africa region. SAFARICOM 5G IS HERE!Introducing Kenya’s first 5G network. Experience the fastest speeds and the most reliable connection ever only on Safaricom 5G network. #Safaricom5GVisit to get connected. Safaricom PLC (@SafaricomPLC) October 27, 2022 A new era The 5G service, which is backed by Nokia and Huawei, is said to be a central part of Safaricom’s attempts to further expand its data business to counter slower growth in voice revenues, as the company aims to target residences and commercial offices in areas that are not currently served by its fibre network. “The 5G network heralds the era of intelligent connectivity and will be a key driver of this strategy by enabling us to build on the investments and successes of the last two decades to catapult Safaricom to the next level as we enable digital lifestyles of Kenyans,” Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa was quoted to have said at the launch ceremony. According to a report by Kenyan local media, Safaricom subscribers who want to use the 5G service will need to acquire new 5G-compatible handsets before they can enjoy the super-fast internet, which offers much faster data download and upload speeds that ultimately ease network congestion. Customers in Nairobi, Kisumu, Kisii, Kakamega and Nakuru with 5G-enabled devices can start to enjoy the service from Thursday. Currently spread across 35 sites, Ndegwa said the firm will expand to 200 sites by next year. According to Business Daily Africa, other regions with access to the 5G network are Kiambu, Machakos, Kajiado, Kisumu, Mombasa, Kisii and Kakamega. Accessibility of the 5G service might be problematic for most Kenyans. Ndegwa said only about 200,000 — out of nearly 27 million smartphones in use in Kenya — are 5G-compatible, citing the high costs of such devices. He, however, said companies such as Safaricom are expanding their financing models to create more access which will, in turn, bring down the prices. Read also: Airtel Africa acquires 5G spectrum in Tanzania for $60m The race for 5G The decision of Safaricom to introduce 5G service in Kenya, where it controls a 65% share of the mobile data market, follows a pattern of telcos deploying the technology across different African countries. It is safe to say 5G is on the rise in the continent, albeit slowly. As of May this year, fourteen African nations were actively testing 5G networks. Analysts predict that 5G service will add $2.2 trillion to Africa’s economy by 2034. Since South Africa spearheaded the 5G journey in Africa, other countries have followed suit, though not all have gone commercial. Earlier this year, telco company Mascom introduced its first 5G services in Botswana. Months ago, Ethio Telecom, Ethiopia’s state-owned mobile provider, launched a 5G network service. In August, MTN launched its commercial 5G network in Nigeria. A month after, Vodacom introduced 5G mobile service in Dar es Salaam with plans to roll it out to about 230 places in additional cities. More recently, Airtel Africa Plc announced that it has acquired an additional spectrum in Tanzania for a whopping $60.1 million. Over time, experts have raised concerns about the growth prospects of 5G in Africa, considering the fact the continent has the lowest number of internet connections. Also, the continent grapples with poverty, barring many Africans from being able to afford 5G-enabled smartphones. The road to a 5G-driven Africa is bumpy.
...it means the company boasts a total of 221 million subscribers. Beating its own projections, Netflix increased its number of paid subscribers by 2.41 million in the third quarter of the year, in what may be considered a massive win for the U.S. streaming giant which lost over a million subscribers in the first and second quarters. Worried by its struggles reflected in declining subscribers and low stock, the company had in July projected the addition of just one million new subscribers by the end of Q3 2022, which was quite understandable if one put Netflix’s situation at the time into consideration. In April, Netflix’s stock price dropped by 35 per cent (%) in April, erasing $50 billion from the company’s value. Earlier, Netflix’s total revenue for the first quarter of 2022 increased nearly 10% to $7.87 billion, falling short of analysts’ expectations of $7.93 billion. Last month, the streaming service saw another round of layoffs as part of its move to downsize, months after the company laid off over 450 employees in a major workforce reduction. Read also: Stranger things series: Netflix expecting subscribers growth by end of Q3. Growth in the face of competition In its October 18 earnings letter to shareholders, Netflix disclosed that it managed to double its own growth projections, bringing its total number of users to 223 million. This feat may not be unconnected to the company’s decision to introduce a lower-priced ad-supported subscription plan for consumers, in partnership with Microsoft. Recall the streaming giant said it plans to launch a cheaper, ad-supported plan in early 2023. Though Netflix prides itself as the pioneer in the streaming service space, the company faces a huge threat from other competitors such as Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, HBO/HBO Max and Hulu, who are ramping up their subscriber numbers to give Netflix a run for its money. For instance, Disney+ recently announced that its total subscriptions had reached 152.1 million. When you add up Hulu’s 46.2 million subscribers and ESPN+’s 22.8 million, it means the company boasts a total of 221 million subscribers. Though Netflix managed to surprisingly increase its subscriber base to 223 million, one thing is clear here: Disney+ won’t give up until it finally snatches Netflix’s crown. Read also: With 221 million subscribers, Disney is leading Netflix in the race for subscribers. In Africa, it’s a streaming war Even Africa, where Netflix supposedly holds sway save for Showmax which is said to dominate the market, is gradually slipping away from its grip. In 2016, the streaming service found its way onto the shores of Africa, with its major appeal being telling African stories with African voices. But between then and now, its direct competitors — Amazon Prime Video and Canal+ — have equally cemented their places in the continent, birthing what has been tagged a “streaming war”. In August, Amazon Prime Video launched a localised version of its service in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest market. Netflix, expectedly, isn’t sleeping, as it continues to invest in more local content. “There’s a curiosity across the world about locally-specific shows from Africa — great creative, great stories. The world wants to know what’s happening in Africa,” Dorothy Ghettuba, Netflix’s director of local language series for Africa, said in a recent interview. No wonder business intelligence company Digital TV Research projects that Netflix will increase its subscriber base in Africa from 2.6 million to 5.8 million by 2026. Read also: Netflix layoffs 70 more staff as Iran joins the crypto club + other stories. But, Netflix remains optimistic But it appears that the rising competition isn’t playing on the mind of Netflix which seems to be more concerned with growing its revenue. For the last quarter of the year, the streaming giant projects revenue of $7.8 billion “with the sequential decline entirely due to the continued strengthening of the US dollar vs. other currencies”. “Th...
South Africa leads the pack with a total score of 88, followed by Mauritius with 76, while Nigeria retains the third spot with 69... Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria unsurprisingly remained one of the top 3 nations with the most developed financial sector in the continent, according to the 2022 Absa Africa Financial Markets Index (pdf) released by Absa Bank and the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF). This comes amidst the economic woes facing Nigeria which its president Muhammadu Buhari recently blamed on “economic saboteurs”. Using six pillars, the Absa index assesses 26 African countries to identify those with the most favourable market environments. The pillars include market depth; access to foreign exchange; market transparency, tax and regulatory environment; capacity of local investors; macroeconomic opportunity; and enforceability of financial contracts. Per last year’s index, Nigeria retained its spot as the third most attractive country in Africa for foreign investment in 2021. With a total score of 63/100, the report described Nigeria as an “attractive regulatory and market environment”. This year, the feat repeated itself, as the top 3 nations, according to the 2022 index include South Africa, Mauritius, and Nigeria. This is because they continue to rank highly in terms of market size, transparency, and the ability to enforce contracts. South Africa leads the pack with a total score of 88, followed by Mauritius with 76, while Nigeria retains the third spot with 69. “Despite macroeconomic headwinds, advances in sophistication, depth and transparency of African capital markets represent a considerable plus. A range of African countries now leads the field in key spheres. In one prime example, Africa has forged ahead in meeting requirements from investors targeting economic sustainability,” – OMFIF chair David Marsh said in the report. Read also: The creative economy currently employs 4.2m Nigerians, to add 2.7m more by 2025. A closer look In the six pillars used in the survey, Nigeria scored 58 in market depth, 67 in access to foreign exchange, 85 in market transparency, tax and regulatory environment, 27 for capacity of local investors, 78 in macroeconomic opportunities, and 100 for legal standards and enforceability — which the report ascribes “to wider use of standard master agreements following legislative reforms in 2020.” When compared with last year’s numbers, this represents a growth, which is however hardly surprising. The Nigerian capital market, for one, has continued to grow in leaps and bounds. In H1 2022, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) was ranked as the 4th best-performing index globally, according to Bloomberg. At the close of trading on Wednesday, the market capitalization rose from N₦24.39 trillion reported on Tuesday to ₦24.43 trillion, representing a 0.15 per cent rise of ₦39.02 billion. Read also: Extended Reality (XR): Here is why Nigeria should not miss the wave. What is responsible for this growth? According to the Absa report, a number of reasons have helped Nigeria retain its spot as one of the top financial market leaders in Africa. The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) also acknowledged Nigeria’s progress in recent times. In August 2021, Nigeria became only the third country in the index to receive a clean netting opinion from the New York-headquartered trade organization, Also in August 2021, the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) introduced a regulatory framework for Robo-advisory services. According to Statista, assets under management in the Robo-Advisors segment are projected to reach $2.22 billion in 2022. Last October, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduced its central bank digital currency, the eNaira to make financial transactions easier and boost Nigeria’s economy. One year since its launch, the eNaira has recorded 700,000 transactions worth ₦8 billion, though its adoption is still relatively low. In April ...
The billionaire seems to be taking these last days to prove his commitment to finally closing the Twitter buyout deal in funny ways... As the court deadline for the close of the deadlocked Twitter purchase deal draws near, Tesla CEO, Elon Musk appears to be having a little fun with it. The billionaire had planned to pull out of the pact a few months back but was threatened with a lawsuit by the microblogging site, and tomorrow was set as the deadline for both parties to strike an agreement. But as the deal looms closer, it seems Elon Musk might be finally succumbing to really closing this deal. Being a very vocal but sarcastic person, the billionaire seems to be taking these last days to prove his commitment towards finally closing the Twitter buyout deal. Read Also: Elon Musk has to close Twitter buyout deal on Friday or face court trial Elon Musk’s money plans According to a report by Forbes on Monday. the Tesla CEO had met earlier with financial teams and other institutions backing him in the deal (i.e. Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and Barclays) to discuss a strategic plan for debt financing. The next day, the billionaire mogul’s lawyers sent a letter to the Twitter legal team agreeing to proceed in closing the deal but in accordance with the April 25 merger agreement of $54.20 per share. On Wednesday, Elon Musk was on a visit to Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco, California, United States. According to his tweet, he met “a lot of cool people on Twitter”. Recall that there was an uproar in the social space a couple of days ago when The Washington Post revealed the billionaire’s intention to cut down 75% of Twitter’s workforce. But, Twitter has denied the claims. And, the Tesla CEO seems to have since withdrawn his statement. Read Also: With $7bn from investors, this is how Elon Musk is funding his $44bn Twitter bid The visit His visit to the HQ sparked a lot of conversation on Twitter. The billionaire made a splashy visit to the HQ with a bathroom sink, which he carried confidently through the front door of the building. With the tweet caption, entering Twitter HQ- let that sink in, it is unsure what exactly that means but fans have begun to dissect the metaphor behind his actions. Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in! Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2022 Some speculated that he might be serious about concluding this deal this time. Others speculated that it could spell the end of the microblogging site. Chief Twit That is hardly the only snark the wealthy mogul has up his sleeve. Elon Musk has also changed his Twitter handle to Chief Twit, which could mean that he will officially take over as CEO of the firm tomorrow. A number of users have indicated a preparedness to leave the microblogging site if Tesla’s CEO eventually leaves the company, owing to the billionaire’s views on what free expression entails. However, these emotions are not limited to Twitter users. Hundreds of Twitter employees have departed and transferred to other major rival internet businesses since Elon Musk unveiled his takeover intention some months ago.
In 2021, "sapa (very low purchasing power) came, and I was broke. So, that was how I said to myself that I had to get serious and I started applying for jobs."- Hanif Hanif Olayiwola is 17 and already wants to make sure that more people know what Web3 is, which is the reason he calls himself a Web3 enthusiast. And when he introduces himself, he says, “I am a Content Writer, Frontend Developer and Web3 enthusiast.” His journey into tech, he says, is a bit complicated as he “left secondary school very young, at 14, and I did not know what to do or confused on what steps to take in my life.” When it eventually started, he said he learnt some skills, “using my mum’s phone. Then she paid ₦1,000 for a copywriting class, but I dropped copywriting and SEO. I was not serious with it.” Hanif Olayiwola says he also learnt fashion designing in 2019-2020 – a skill, just as hair styling and barbing, and mechanic that became a regular skillset for people in the school of hard knocks. In 2021, “sapa (very low purchasing power) came, and I was broke. So, that was how I said to myself that I had to get serious and I started applying for jobs.” At the end of 2021, he was working two jobs, and his journey into tech began to have a face. It was in early 2022 that I realised what tech is all about. I did not have anyone to tell me, ‘this is what tech is all about. Get into this.’ Hanif Olayiwola Hanif Olayiwola as a hustler You would think the ₦1,000 his mum gave him to go learn copywriting was just the beginning of her support for him. But, “all the devices I use to work, I got them all on my own.” Read also: Meet Sumayah Adegbite, a 15-year-old seeking to empower girls between 13-18 with STEM skills Hanif would sigh when he tells you he has learnt a lot. “I learnt graphic design. I learnt digital marketing. I learn almost everything they do on the internet.” Ultimately, his journey kickstarted of his own volition. Why Web3? Money. “To be honest, what caught my interest in Web3 was money. I did not know that Web3 was the future of the internet. I did not know what it was all about,” Hanif Olayiwola says. He saw an opportunity to take up Blockchain Engineering, so he paid ₦10,000 for the class. That gave him more insight, so his interest grew beyond the cash benefits into taking conscious efforts to be part of the progress towards the future of the internet. Hanif looks forward to having a startup for Web3 enthusiasts so he educates other people. Combining Web3, Content Writing and Frontend Development Hanif uses writing as a medium to join all three together. Since I am a writer, I write about Web3. I also have the zeal to educate people about what I do. The aim is to guide newbies entering the Web3 ecosystem, so they understand the nitty-gritty before they jump into it. For frontend development, he is not halfway through the tunnel yet, but he commits to getting to the end. Also, the teenage tech enthusiast wants to start a career in Blockchain Engineering infused with Technical Writing. When asked about earnings. “My average monthly earnings is ₦90,000,” an amount not more than 3% of what people earn when they are that age. Understandable because they are under their parent’s roof and think they have all the time in the world. Interestingly, Hanif Olayiwola splits his earnings, and some of it goes to his family – talk about fast-forwarding your adult responsibilities. Work and education School is not a scam for Hanif, as he is looking forward to getting into university this year [2022], but ASUU has been bickering with the federal government and that dream may be far-fetched. “I have plans for university.” He argues that he has learnt to manage his professional roles well, so his academics are going to run smoothly. He is not envisaging a situation where one hinders the growth of the other. To newbies “They should not be like me. They should get the right guidance and choose a particular path they want to focus on before deciding to diversify...
Old Nollywood brings nostalgia though - because we were used to the available (mediocrity) and not the best... Nigeria houses arguably the second-largest movie industry in the world, Nollywood, but you search through streaming platforms and cinema titles every day and fall into a dilemma of which Nigerian movie is worth your time. If it is not poor characterisation, it is crappy dialogue, or bad or locally unrealistic storytelling, or irritating absence of continuity.we could go on and on. Interestingly, if you flip through pages of Nollywood titles, you will smile a bit and possibly vouch for the producer and director at a gathering. And these have come both in Old and New Nollywood. But why digest crumbs when you can have the whole icing on the cake? This is one reason Hollywood gets all the attention from this part of the world because the storytelling is top-notch. Bollywood comes a bit later but the love and dancing are far-fetched on a global scale, even if it is peculiar to the Indian society. Old Nollywood was a delight to many audiences, but the focus has usually been on the actors and actresses who come up with amazing performances and attempt to draw attention away from the poor storyline that was presented. There were breakout production studios like Mount Zion that traumatised the childhoods of many millennial Nigerians who still refer to that period refer as anti-renaissance. It killed many pop cultures and made people ask anti-progress questions like “Why should I be rich when God wants me to be poor?” Read also: Soòlé is a relatable story of regular Nigerian lives told on a moving-bus I mean, the Nigerian audience has seen a scene where a snake entered a woman through her anus, and she was smiling through the process. Let’s go deeper. Old Nollywood With movies like “Isakaba”, “Diamond Ring”, and “Glamour Girls”, “Living in Bondage”, Old Nollywood led the TV space. People will watch and watch and talk all day about the movies. The actors enjoyed some kind of immunity from the audience because they were overtly dramatic, and people loved the show. No one was bothered about a wig showing on another wig, a red blouse that became green in the next scene, a car accident that was portrayed all the same way by different directors, prolonged boring dialogues with absolutely no substance, and messy action scenes where they used firecrackers to shoot guns. Old Nollywood, especially Mount Zion, cult-oriented stories and Old Yorrywood, is what sold the idea to the world that Nigeria is typically diabolical and hypocritically religious. Up Iweka merchants were the ones on everyone’s lips. All the executive producers and marketers came from there and solved the problem of accessibility. You may be surprised to know that the area was where distribution started and a centre for career pirates. Old Nollywood brings nostalgia though – because we were used to the available (mediocrity) and not the best – and this may be why New Nollywood is doing remakes of the old content. What about the remakes? Remakes are good for the cultural impact, pays homage to the old order, and creates more jobs. But, when we put together the ones that have been done in the last few years, we can boldly say it has not been handled right, maybe because it has all been produced by one studio. Our expectations are low for the next one, except another studio produces it because the current one only cares about the spectacle and the money. Nigerian actor. Name withheld for obvious reasons. There’s no way you’d watch glamour girls and not be angry. After watching the movie,you’d feel so disappointed. Dera. #OBIDIENT (@DeraOnuh) June 27, 2022 From the tweets I'm seeing about this Glamour Girls movie, na waste of time e go be. Elvis Tunde ➐ (@Tunnykvng) June 26, 2022 Nollywood we don't need any more remakes of old movies,you producers,directors&actors are destroying&completely ruining the legacy of the old movies,look at Glamour girls and the negative review...
“The adoption of the central bank digital currency and its underlying technology, called blockchain, can increase Nigeria’s gross domestic product by $29 billion over the next 10 years.” Those were the words of Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari at the launch of the country’s — and Africa’s first — national digital currency, eNaira, by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on October 25, 2021. Nigeria, at the time, was one of the five countries in the world to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Being a novel idea, the eNaira was conceived, as part of the apex bank’s cashless policy — to make financial transactions easier and seamless for every stratum of society and as the president stated, boost Nigeria’s struggling economy. Exactly one year after, the question on the lips of many is: how has the eNaira fared? The answer lies in the numbers, and they have shown that the digital currency is yet to be fully embraced by Nigerians, thanks to the relatively low adoption despite efforts by the CBN to achieve a critical mass of users. To put into context, the eNaira recorded ₦4bn transactions in 10 months, which experts believe is underwhelming. Read also: With ₦4bn transactions in 10 months, eNaira is performing less than expected. The problem with the eNaira That Nigerians are in love with virtual currencies is a known fact. The astronomical growth of cryptocurrency is a pointer to this. Last year, Nigeria ranked sixth in the 2021 Global Crypto Adoption Index published by blockchain analytics organization Chainalysis. According to a recent report, 27 per cent of Nigerian Internet users own cryptocurrency data. But when the CBN introduced eNaira, about seven months after it banned cryptocurrency transactions in the country, Nigerians were quick to express displeasure with the digital currency, despite its heavy promotion by the authorities. Even the ‘Same Naira, More Possibilities’ tagline wasn’t enough to convince citizens who appeared to have lost faith in the apex. “I am still at a loss on what eNaira is meant to solve other than helping the government print money,” Victor Asemota tweeted two days after eNaira’s launch. Every POS agent knows what is called eMoney. That is their digital float. Every bank customer who transacts digitally already knows that funds can be represented electronically. I am still at a loss on what eNaira is meant to solve other than helping the government print money. Osaretin Victor Asemota (@asemota) October 26, 2021 Like a crypto-user friend told me, “You don’t ban cryptocurrency and expect us to jump on a government-owned digital currency. It isn’t possible.” That said, the features of the eNaira had also come under fire. Bad reviews forced the eNaira Speed wallet to be taken off Playstore, barely 72 hours after it went live. Though the app later got restored, that single event reflected the seeming distrust in the apex bank and its policies. On the other hand, experts equally believe the eNaira hasn’t sufficiently addressed setbacks in payments. In other countries where CBDCs have been adopted, they are used for cross-border payments, but the same can’t be said of the eNaira yet due to certain concerns. Read also: IMF names 97 countries with CBDCs, only two have fully launched. Still, the CBN wants a ‘totally cashless’ economy For the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, the destination with the eNaira is to achieve a ‘100 per cent cashless’ economy. How the apex bank intends to pull this off remains unstated, considering the fact that almost half of Nigeria’s population lives in poverty and many Nigerians still don’t operate bank accounts. It’s fair to say cash is still king. However, there is a brighter side to this situation. Per recent data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS), e-payment transactions hit ₦32.8 trillion in September. This means one thing: Nigerians are gradually going cashless. Speaking at an event to mark the one-year anniversary of the digital currenc...
Yinka Owate has since become one of the many poster children of the Japa movement, inundated with requests by followers... Yinka Owate had begun to take more time off social media. TikTok, where she had over 250,000 followers didn’t feel like what it used to be. At the peak of it, when she was still enveloped by the influencer exuberance, pumping out content on a steady, she collaborated with the top influencers whilst balancing a full-time job, managing Pulse, the African news website’s TikTok account with over 1.4 million followers. Occasionally she attended events and interview some of the biggest names in the Nigerian entertainment industry, including one time Don Jazzy. But of late, engagement on her page just hadn’t been how it used to be. And her clients had been MIA. Then she posted what she described as her” countdown video,” clips from key moments — when she got her visa; when she arrived at the airport — in the run-up to her relocating to the UK, where she had been offered a position in the Masters in Multimedia Journalism programs at the University of Kent. Hours later her engagement shut up. @yinxybelle Can’t wait to unleash my prowess at my @universityofkent 🥰🥰 #yinxybelle #japa #kent #uni #universityofkent #tiktokuni ♬ Celebrate the Good Times – Mason The video has now been watched 328 thousand times. “That video actually blew up, compared to all the previous number of views I’ve been having, people yelling about ‘oh my god you’re in the UK,'” she told me. Yinka Owate has since become one of the many poster children of the Japa movement, inundated with requests by followers on how she secured her admission. How she paid her school fees. If she could help them with their own application. “People are like ‘can you help me apply?’ blah blah blah,” she said. The Japa movement As the naira continues to fall against the dollar and the economy remains in a steady downward spiral, Yinka Owate was plunged into the world of the Japa influencers. The Japa influencers are a coterie of young Nigerians who have relocated to the US or the UK or Canada or somewhere in the European Union, who assume the role of a preacher on social media, telling people how they too can relocate, while blogging about their new lives. According to BusinessDay, UK student visas to Nigeria increased by 222.8% to 65,929 in June 2022 from 20,427 in the same period of 2021. While Yinka Owate’s dance videos struggle with engagement, videos of her new life have found mass appeal with her followers. The video of her dormitory mates eating porridge beans has been watched over 100 thousand times. The video comparing education in the UK to Nigeria has been watched more than 30 thousand times. “It has increased my followers,” she said of the Japa content she posts. “My followers were actually reducing before I left Nigeria and I was worried. But I was like ‘let me just focus on my other goals.'” she said. Read also: The making of Alice Marve, the latest TikTok prankster on the block Her move to the UK was premeditated. As an undergraduate, she had first considered pursuing her master’s program abroad at the behest of her final-year thesis supervisor. But her career came along and she decided to give the University of Lagos a chance. It wasn’t for her, she quickly realised. “They didn’t have the type of programs that she was looking for,” she said. Plus the ASUU strike was always looming around. @yinxybelle And here I was thinking it’ll be too spicy for them #yinxybelle #tiktoknigeria #nigerianfood #tiktokuk #kizzdaniel #beans ♬ original sound – greatvado “They don’t even have enough courses, a diverse range of courses. I didn’t see anything like multimedia journalism or digital media in all those Nigerian universities.” And so she decided to go abroad. “What’s the point of doing it in Nigeria?” she asked. Yinka Owate on building a new career in the UK Her career, she said, is already up to a great start. Just barely a month in the UK, she has churned out...
The project is developed by Aptos Labs, a blockchain startup led by two former Meta engineers, Mo Shaikh and Avery Ching... Despite running for exactly a week today, Aptos has already been tagged as one of the potential ‘Solana Killers’. Also, Crypto community members came to understand the stuff Aptos blockchain is made of last week when it airdropped $APT tokens worth thousands of dollars to early testnet participants. But away from that hype and buzz. What exactly is the Aptos blockchain? What does it do differently and why should you pay attention? Let’s get to it. Related post: 3 upcoming project airdrops you can make money from this week What is the Aptos blockchain? Aptos is a scalable Proof-of-Stake Layer 1 blockchain that uses Move, a novel smart contract programming language. The project is developed by Aptos Labs, a blockchain startup led by two former Meta engineers, Mo Shaikh and Avery Ching. This is why it is considered in some quarters as the technological successor of Meta’s abandoned blockchain project – Diem. Aptos blockchain uses a combination of parallel transaction processing with the earlier mentioned smart contract language (Move) to achieve a theoretical transaction throughput of over 100,000 transactions per second. The ecosystem first made waves in the industry in March after raising $200 million in a seed round led by venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz. Also in July, Aptos raised another $150 million at a $1.9 billion pre-money valuation in a Series A funding round led by FTX Ventures and Jump Crypto, before its valuation hit $4 billion two months later in a venture raise led by Binance Labs. Notably, Aptos did all that before launching its blockchain, which only went live on the mainnet last Tuesday. To reward the early users of its testnet and distribute the initial token allocation, Aptos airdropped 150 APT tokens (worth approximately $1,237 on launch but surged as high as $7,000 subsequently) to 110,235 eligible addresses. The Aptos’ selling point A special force behind Aptos blockchain is Move, the Rust-based programming language independently developed by Meta, and the network’s unique parallel transaction processing abilities. The Move is a smart contract programming language that emphasises safety and flexibility. Using Move, the Aptos blockchain is built to theoretically achieve high transaction throughput and scalability without sacrificing security. To put that into context, most high-profile blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum transactions use smart contracts in sequence. In simpler terms, this means that all transactions in the mempool (where all submitted transactions await confirmation by the network’s validators) must be verified individually and in a specific order. This means that the network computing power doesn’t foster faster transaction processing because it is doing the same thing and acting as a single node. In its technical whitepaper, Aptos says: “To maximize throughput, increase concurrency, and reduce engineering complexity, transaction processing on the Aptos blockchain is divided into separate stages. Each stage is completely independent and individually parallelizable, resembling modern, superscalar processor architectures. Not only does this provide significant performance benefits, but also enables the Aptos blockchain to offer new modes of validator-client interaction.” Aptos network leverages all available physical resources to process many transactions simultaneously. This results in a higher network throughput and transaction speed, amounting to lower costs and a better experience for the blockchain users. Read also: DAOs: All you need to know and why you should join one Should you invest in the Aptos token? $APT’s price hit a peak of $13 last week but it has now corrected a little to $9. The token seems like a potentially great investment, especially in the short run, due to its novel, unique architecture and its proven success on its testnet. Additi...
Musk had stated he wanted to acquire the microblogging site for $44 billion in April... The pressure is now high for Tesla CEO, Elon Musk and his lawyers. This long lasted battle with Twitter about the purchase of the microblogging site seems to be coming to an end on Friday. The court overseeing the Twitter case had set October 28 as the deadline for finalizing the buyout. This deadline was set as part of Twitter’s lawsuit to force the deal through. It appears that this tension must have hit the billionaire mogul so hard that he had to meet up with his bankers. on Monday, according to Forbes, citing Bloomberg. This was to craft a plan on how to close the deal. Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and Barclays are some of the banks involved in debt financing for the deal, which is to be finalized by Thursday. We reported that Musk told the banks that agreed to help fund the acquisition that he could eliminate executive and board pay to slash costs and would develop new ways to monetise tweets. Recall that Musk had tweeted about eliminating the salaries of Twitter’s board directors, which he said could result in about $3 million in cost savings. He also told the banks he also plans to develop features to grow business revenue, including new ways to make money out of tweets that contain important information or go viral, reports say. Read Also: With $7bn from investors, this is how Elon Musk is funding his $44bn Twitter bid Why was the Twitter buyout deal delayed? Recall that Elon Musk had stated he wanted to acquire the microblogging site for $44 billion in April. His original financing package included $21 billion in cash, $12.5 billion of margin loans secured against his 16% stake in Tesla, and $13 billion in loans from several banks. Even though the deal is still at the original price of 54.20% per share, securing funding for the deal might have been one of the many reasons for the delay. However, it appears that things are beginning to regroup now as more hands are even willing to help the billionaire close his deal. For instance, Mirae Asset Financial Group, based in South Korea, has also announced they are open to supporting the billionaire. Another reason was the assertions Elon Musk made following a supposed “realization”. According to him, Twitter had been underreporting the number of bots by a significant margin. In response, the mogul pulled out of negotiations. At that time, the Tesla CEO was already the largest shareholder in Twitter at the time with a 9.2% share in the company. He, however, held off on purchasing the entire business until Twitter provided accurate numbers and provided evidence that less than 5% of its user accounts were false. In retaliation, the Twitter board filed a lawsuit against the billionaire, accusing him of adopting a hypocritical plan to cancel the purchase. This dragged on the acquisition deal for quite a while. Read Also: Big question: What are Twitter bots? And, why is Elon Musk agitated about them? What will happen after Friday for Twitter and Elon Musk? If the two parties are unable to come to an agreement by Friday, litigation will resume, a trial date will be set, and the legal dispute will get worse. Elon Musk’s firm’s stock prices may be impacted, and according to Insider, the billionaire may also suffer public humiliation. However, if Musk eventually executes the agreement this week, that does not automatically mean the saga is over. Bloomberg claims that US president Joe Biden is considering reviewing the deal’s security, although, the White House has refuted these claims. Finally, the acquisition will usher in a brand-new era for Twitter. According to The Washington Post, Musk intends to lay off around 75% of the company’s workforce. That possibility is already creating fears in some quarters.
...the internet shutdown significantly disrupted cell and fixed line connections lasting from roughly 9:50 am to 6:15 pm local time. Citizens of Sudan on Tuesday witnessed a “nation-scale internet disruption”, per reports from web monitor NetBlocks. The internet blockade, which was said to have lasted for eight hours, came ahead of planned pro-democracy protests to mark the first anniversary of the October 2021 coup that derailed the country’s transition to civilian rule. Reuters reported that tens of thousands of Sudanese took to the streets, and faced heavy tear gas and stun grenades as they marched towards the presidential palace in Khartoum and in Omdurman across the Nile. One person was reportedly killed in the demonstrations. According to NetBlocks, the internet shutdown significantly disrupted cell and fixed line connections lasting from roughly 9:50 am to 6:15 pm local time. “Metrics corroborate user reports of network disruptions appearing consistent with an internet shutdown affecting multiple internet providers. The disruption is likely to limit the free flow of information online and suppress news coverage of incidents on the ground,” the online monitor noted in its report. ⚠️ Confirmed: Live metrics show a nation-scale internet disruption in #Sudan; the incident comes amid planned pro-democracy protests on the first anniversary of the 25 Oct 2021 military coup that seized power from the transitional government 📉 📰 Report: NetBlocks (@netblocks) October 25, 2022 However, in another update, NetBlocks confirmed that internet connectivity was being restored in Sudan after service was disrupted on multiple providers. The coup of last October saw the military regime in Sudan declare a state of emergency, dissolved the cabinet, and arrested the prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok. The coup, which attracted criticisms from the international community, was accompanied by a week-long internet shutdown that continued despite a local court order calling for access to be restored. Read also: History repeats itself in Sudan as military junta shut down internet after coup Not the first internet shutdown Internet shutdowns are fast becoming frequent in Sudan. In 2018, Sudanese authorities cut off access to the internet for 68 consecutive days to quell protests that culminated in the military coup the following year. This was done in a bid to quell protests that eventually resulted in the military coup the following year. Sudan witnessed another internet shutdown in June and July of 2019, which spanned 36 more days, and reportedly cost the country as much as $2 billion, roughly 7.3% of its 2020 GDP. The current military regime led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan has repeatedly disrupted online access, including in December, January and June, the latest being the one recorded on Tuesday. Read also: ‘Many Sudanese have never used Google’- viewing Sudan’s tech isolation through the eyes of Tarneem Saeed. Sudan isn’t alone In recent times, cutting off access to the internet appears to be the choice of authorities in African countries in critical moments. In October 2020, Tanzania shut down the internet and social media applications during elections. Ethiopia imposed an internet shutdown which lasted for close to a month in June 2020 after unrest that followed the killing of a prominent Oromo singer and activist, Hachalu Hundessa. Zimbabwe, Togo, Burundi, Chad, Mali and Guinea also restricted access to the internet or social media applications at some point in 2020. Nigeria also shut down access to Twitter after the platform deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet that violated its policies. In the wake of anti-government protests, Eswatini (Swaziland) also asked mobile operators such as MTN to block access to Facebook and Facebook Messenger. But, internet shutdowns come at a great economic cost to African countries. Data shows that 759 days (18,225 hours) of internet disruptions cost the global economy a staggering $8.05bn in 2019 and Su...
"I would like to confirm that the allegations of money laundering and card fraud made against Korapay Technologies Limited and Kandon Technologies were not established," - Mike Muia, director, criminal investigations The Asset Recovery Agency of Kenya has withdrawn its case against Korapay, the payment solutions company it levied money laundering and card fraud accusations against in July. Documents seen by Technext show that the agency withdrew its application last week. This comes after the National Police in Kenya finalised its months-long investigation into the matter. Mike Muia, director, of criminal investigations in the Kenyan police said in a notice that its “investigations are now finalised.” Similarly, the police also said that it had finalised its investigation into money laundering and card fraud allegations the ARA also made against Kandon Technologies Limited, another Nigerian fintech company. “I would like to confirm that the allegations of money laundering and card fraud made against Korapay Technologies Limited and Kandon Technologies were not established,” Muia said in the notice. The ARA had accused Kandon of foreign laundering totalling Sh45 million ($381,065.29). Read also: Nigerian Fintech company, Korapay denies money laundering claims in Kenya, heads to court A litany of money laundry charges When the ARA announced money laundering charges against the fintech company, it said that it had observed transactions which raised suspicion: “We established that they received the Sh29.5 million in a single transaction which raised suspicion as to the source of the funds,” the agency said. At that time, Justice Esther Maina of Kenya had issued an order at the time that Korapay Technologies Limited’s Equity Bank account with $249,990 (Sh29.5 million) be frozen. The ARA had also accused similar fintech companies with Nigerian founders that had sought to operate in Kenya of money laundering. Flutterwave and ChipperCash were accused earlier this year and their accounts in the country were frozen. The ripple effect had led to a cascade of bad PR for the Nigerian tech ecosystem, raising distrust for Nigerian players looking to manage global businesses with Africa as a starting point. Other top monetary regulators had begun to look into the activities of Nigerian fintech companies in their countries. The Bank of Ghana announced at the time that it was going to conduct a wide-ranging review of all the activities of Flutterwave in the country. “The Bank of Ghana is conducting a review on Flutterwave Technology Solutions Limited as part of its continuous surveillance of the financial system,” Ismail Adam, the Head of Bank Supervision at the ghana apex bank said. Read also: Flutterwave refutes money laundering accusations But, Korapay had maintained its innocent. The company claimed that the said transactions were part of a process stipulated by the Central Bank of Kenya for securing a payment service provider and remittance operator licenses. “As part of the capital requirements from the CBK for obtaining a payment service provider and remittance operator license, Kora deposited the sum of $250,000 in its freshly opened bank account. In line with CBK requirements” – Gbenga Onalaja, the head of marketing at Korapay said in a medium post. Korapay had said that it will challenge the allegations in court, adding that it has documents to support its denial of the accusations. “As a responsible corporate citizen, we have consistently challenged all these allegations in court and will continue to do so; we have documents that support our position. We are confident that the Kenyan courts will come to see that the accusations against us are not only wholly baseless but borderline malicious,” a statement from Korapay read. This development comes as the company shifts from offering B2C products to only B2B products to its customers. Korapay had been on an expansionist project and had set up shop in the UK. “We saw a bigger problem...
The Mock Action is billed for 16th December 2022. The auction proper will take place on 19th December 2022... The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) has announced that it will auction 2 additional 3.5GHz Spectrum band licences before the end of 2022, to boost the deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) services in Nigeria today. This is coming after the process kickstarted on the 21st of this month, with the publication of the Draft Information Memorandum (IM) for the auction on the Commission’s website. The memo invited stakeholders to study the Memorandum for purposes of making submissions ahead of a review of the IM on 16th November 2022. The final IM is slated for publication on 18th December 2022, while applications will be received by the Commission from 21st November 2022. The closing date for the submission of the application, the deadline for payment of mandatory Intention-To-Bid Deposit (IBD), and the Pre-Qualification Stage is set for 5th December 2022. After which, qualified bidders would be notified on the 5th of December 2022 while notification and publication of the Mock Auction and Auction date will occur on the same day. The Mock Action is billed for 16th December 2022 just as the Auction proper takes place three days later, on 19th December 2022. The process is anticipated to enter its grant stage on 21st December 2022 with the publication of provisional bid winners and the notification of the provisional award of the licence. More on the 5G licence auction According to the release, the payment for Spectrum licence and Operational Licence would open in 2023, where applicable, on 20th January 2023 and on the 23rd of January 2023, the auction process will be concluded with the publication of the result. Meanwhile, according to the Information Memorandum, the Commission reserves the right to make available additional information through the publication of further documentation. Therefore, interested parties are advised to stay abreast with developments in the licensing process by checking regularly for updates on the Commission’s website. Recall that in May, the NCC issued letters of 5G licence awards to MTN and Mafab Communications, after the companies won the 3.5GHz spectrum auction conducted by the Commission in December last year. Since then, the regulators have outlined plans to successfully deploy the Fifth-Generation (5G) broadband network in Nigeria. The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami called for collaboration between major stakeholders including policymakers, national regulatory agencies and network operators to effectively optimise the efficiency that comes with 5G. In his speech, Pantami called on Nigerians to support and accept the new technology, as all industry stakeholders must ensure the provision of robust government policies, excellent regulatory and operational efficiency, as well as optimum network performance. Related story: FG outlines roadmap to successful 5G deployment With the latest development, other network service providers like Airtel, Globacom, or perhaps, companies would be looking to bid and add the 5G spectrum to their service delivery next year. Hopefully, this will contributes to the Nation’s drive to successfully implement and transition into a fully 5G operation broadband.
South African agency, the Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) has accused MTN of misleading customers with a Samsung Galaxy S22 promotion deal that promised new subscribers a free 25W charger with a smartphone contract. This is according to a report by MyBroadBand. Jayden Gelman, an MTN subscriber, filed a complaint with the ARB, explaining that he was a victim of the misleading advertisement. After he acquired the advertised phone, MTN notified him that the deal was only available while stocks lasted and were limited to the first 1,000 customers. Jayden felt that he should have been informed of that fact before buying. If there was a note saying ‘while stocks last’ near the promotion, I would have enquired about stock prior to completing the purchase, and would have avoided disappointment. The advertisement is misleading. – Jayden Gelman In his accusations, he stated that there was no asterisk on the special offer part of the page to signal that there were fine prints tied to the campaign in the advertisement brochure he saw. Regardless, this information could have been communicated better. Read Also: MTN to overtake Vodacom as SA’s leading telco provider with acquisition of Telkom What MTN have to say Reacting to the pronouncement, MTN said that it is not necessary to indicate that qualifying statements apply to an offer with an asterisk or superscript number. The telecommunication provider cited a case involving Vox Fibre and Christopher McCreanor in which the ARB had ruled supporting Vox Fibre that its advertisement was not deceptive with respect to an ongoing service agreement to justify its ad. Whether or not the advertiser refers to these terms and conditions, generally or specifically, the reasonable consumer would understand that they apply, – ARB directorate ruling in the said judgement at that time This means that an advertisement that omits to mention the terms—whether specifically or generally—won’t necessarily be construed as misleading. Based on this, MTN claimed that its advertisement couldn’t be misconstrued because it didn’t include an asterisk to indicate the terms and conditions of the promotion. Additionally, the telco company underlined that “a reasonable customer” should be extremely aware of the terms and conditions that apply to the various advertisements, and that the Y’ello Trader had this section for all of its products and promotions. MTN argued that page 24, which contains the qualifying statements, should have been read along with page 25, even though the advertisement was made on page 25, which did not contain any fine print or qualifiers. Read Also: MTN is biggest gainer as 21,051 subscribers ported in H1 2022 ARB’s final decision Despite all of MTN’s assertions and references, the Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) backed Gelman’s arguments in reference to Clause 4.2.1 of Section II of the Code of Advertising Practice. The decision states that the MTN special offer is only a special offer relating to the availability of a free item at the beginning of the contract and not a contract controlling an ongoing service relationship as in the case of Vox Fibre and Christopher McCreanor. The board also emphasized that since the special offer booklets like the “Y’ello Trader” are sometimes only flipped through rather than read page by page, advertisers should properly disclose all relevant terms and conditions section by section. ARB finally ruled on the matter that the advertisement was indeed misleading and a breach of Clause 4.2.1 of Section II.
Data from Google Search Trends indicate that the global crypto community has started to redirect its interest from Bitcoin to Web3. The studied search trends show that there has been a sharp decline in the buzz surrounding the flagship digital asset and attention is now being paid to the emerging concept, web3. And in order to keep up with innovations from blockchain technology, crypto investors and enthusiasts rely on searching the web to disclose their true sentiments in real time. Recall that in June, searches for the term “Bitcoin dead” reached an all-time high, due to heightened anxiety among investors amid the ongoing intense sell-offs at the time. Read also: 3 upcoming project airdrops you can make money from this week Bitcoin & Web3: a look at the Google numbers Interest over time comprises the number of Google searches in content represented by a number between 0 and 100. A value of 0 or close to 0 means there is little or no interest. Meanwhile, a value of at least 50 means that the term constitutes a substantial part of searches by the world population. Google trend data says interest in Bitcoin currently stands at 28 while Web3 is at 88. This may be owing to the protracted bearish market conditions. On the flip side, Google searches for Web3 have picked up steam and recorded an all-time high in terms of peak popularity in 2022. A closer analysis shows that interest in Bitcoin is strongest in El Salvador, the first country to adopt the digital asset as a legal tender (100). Followed by the largest African crypto market, Nigeria (48) and the Netherlands (32). On the other hand, China (100) leads globally on the search trend list for Web3. With Singapore (22) and Nigeria (20) completing the top 3. Why the shift of interest? For those that are familiar with the trends in the blockchain space, it wouldn’t come as a surprise that attention is shifting away from bitcoin to Web3.2022 has been a difficult year for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, with major tokens losing around 65-80% of their values from the all-time-high rates. Although the concept is still loosely defined, web3 broadly refers to initiatives aimed at building a decentralised version of the internet based around crypto networks. That is, the movement proposes overhauling the internet in a way that would move popular online services over to decentralised technologies like the blockchain. Since buying and selling cryptocurrencies have become an extremely volatile sport and investors are still neck-deep in losses, the reality is setting in. The realisation that the concept of crypto does not just start and end with buying bitcoin and ether with the intention to flip for profit is gradually becoming mainstream. Related post: Declining hype? NFTs trading volume has declined by 97% in 2022 Interestingly, Nigeria is in the list of the top three countries for both Web3 and Bitcoin Google searches. This indicates that the decline of the crypto market and unclear regulatory conditions are not hindering Nigerians from learning and tapping from the dividends of blockchain technology. Recall that the Nigerian government recently conducted early-stage talks for a crypto-friendly economic zone with crypto exchange Binance. This might have contributed to the surge of interest in blockchain-based concepts in a way. Generally, we are at an inflexion point that will lead to a faster pace of innovation and growth in Web3. The concept is in a speculative boom stage and it’s interesting to see that people are starting to see blockchain technology as a disruption that can affect them in realtime.
She will be supported by the company’s COO, Delali Attipoe while Dr Ene-Obong will continue to support the company in the role of Senior Advisor... Co-founder and chief executive officer, Abasi Ene-Obong (Dr) has stepped down from his role as CEO of African genomics, 54gene. According to a statement shared with Technext, the company announced that Teresia L. Bost, 54gene’s General Counsel will assume the role of interim CEO role. The transition is with an immediate effect. She will be supported by the company’s COO, Delali Attipoe. Meanwhile, Dr Ene-Obong will continue to support the company in the role of Senior Advisor and retain his position on the 54gene Board of Directors. This follows the resignation of the company’s co-founder and VP of Engineering, Ogochukwu Francis Osifo just a month for unknown reasons. It is yet unclear exactly why the CEO is stepping down. But, we know that the company may be struggling to retain its staff force. Dr Ene-Obong’s resignation is coming two months after 54gene laid off 95 employees in August. According to Techcrunch, the layoffs affected employees, mostly contract staff (in labs and sales departments) recruited to work in 54gene’s COVID business line launched in 2020 to complement its flagship product: a biobank of the African genome. Recall that at that time, allegations of financial impropriety were levelled against him and his executives from a group of employees. But such claims are still unconfirmed. But a statement by 54gene’s board chairperson and Managing Partner at Adjuvant Capital, Jenny Yip indicates that the board is grateful to the former CEO for being “a champion of major strides made in the company”. “We thank Dr Ene-Obong for shining a light on the need to bring novel drugs to the world based on insights drawn from the healthcare and research ecosystem in Africa. His vision and innovation has positioned 54gene to make a long-term impact on people around the world, and his tenure as CEO has seen him record significant strides in Africa’s, and the global life sciences sector”, he said. On his part, the outgoing CEO, Dr Abasi Ene-Obong expressed gratitude to the board and said that he will continue to work with the company as it embarks on a new phase: “I have always believed that the scale of genetic diversity in Africa and other highly diverse populations will materially impact our understanding of biology and lead to better medicines and interventions for the global population, and I am proud of what has been achieved at 54gene. I will continue to support the company and the scientific ecosystem, particularly the African genomics ecosystem”, he says. Going forward, interim CEO, Teresia Bost will lead the company into its next phase. She brings with her a wealth of over 20 years of extensive knowledge and experience in leading global teams across pharmaceutical, biotechnology and healthcare industries and has been responsible for strategic support of securities matters, corporate governance and finance matters in previous roles. Chairperson Yip expressed the board’s confidence and assurance of support: “We are confident that she will continue to build upon 54gene’s impressive record of carving the way for African genomics on the global stage and continuing to build a truly unique biobank that will generate insights to shape global healthcare challenges”, she said. COO, Delali Attipoe also has more than 15 years of experience in the pharmaceutical sector ranging from logistics and supply chain management to commercial marketing and managed care, including the African market. Going forward, the primary focus will be on the unique genomic research the company has started by further leveraging its genomic datasets derived from 54gene’s state-of-the-art biobank, that currently houses over 130,000 unique patient samples and corresponding genomic data. These will be done with the objective of positioning the company to make contributions to precision medicine and drug discov...
...Developers are only allowed to give users the option to pay for purchases within the apps. Tech giant, Apple released new guidelines addressing NFTs and other content on crypto trading apps yesterday. This development shows that for the first time, Apple is clarifying specific rules for the purchase of NFTs. Taking into cognisance the size of the iOS apps market, it is going to have a tremendous effect on the development path that decentralised applications will choose subsequently. A look at the new rules According to the updated App Store guidelines, now, developers will be able to leverage In-App Purchase (IAP) to sell NFTs or offer services tied to them like minting, listing and transferring. But, NFTs acquired from other platforms apart from Apple are limited to viewing functions. However, developers will not be able to implement alternative payment solutions, so users will be limited in the ecosystem created by Apple. And, Developers are only allowed to give users the option to pay for purchases within the apps. This means that they cannot go to external platforms to pay. Since Apple does not support crypto payment options, this means that payments using crypto coins or tokens will not be allowed. “Apps may use in-app purchase to sell and sell services related to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), such as minting, listing, and transferring. Apps may allow users to view their own NFTs, provided that NFT ownership does not unlock features or functionality within the app. Apps may allow users to browse NFT collections owned by others, provided that the apps may not include buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms other than in-app purchase.” – Apple Guidelines. Read also: Here is all you need to know about creating crypto coins Furthermore, Apple is not going to allow the use of NFTs as keys to unlock premium content or additional functionality. Basically, Apple is saying it is fine with letting NFTs be viewed and used, but the ability to use NFTs to acquire more features is prohibited. Also, Apple will be preventing apps from unlocking any content and functionality by using mechanisms such as “QR codes, cryptocurrencies, and cryptocurrency wallets”. On taxation of NFT sales, Apple has integrated the in-app NFT purchases to apply a standard 30% commission rate on all purchases. All trades will attract a 30% Apple tax for NFT marketplaces. It further adds: “Apps may facilitate transactions or transmissions of cryptocurrency on an approved exchange, provided they are offered only in countries or regions where the app has appropriate licensing and permissions to provide a cryptocurrency exchange”. The controversy Conventionally, Apple is known for taking a 30% cut on in-app purchases (branded the Apple Tax). It is not shifting its position for NFTs. Just to note, the company has always faced backlash for its 30% commission on NFT sales conducted through apps of popular NFT marketplaces like OpenSea or Magic Eden. It is considered overpriced because the average commission on NFT purchases is around 2.5%. Owing to the exorbitant taxes, Magic Eden earlier said that they have scaled back their functionality and removed the services from the App Store. With the Magic Eden Apple app, users can only browse and view their owned NFTs which limits the functionality. Related post: Declining hype? NFTs trading volume has declined by 97% in 2022 Also, secondary NFT purchases can become a problem as exchanges like OpenSea, payment ramps like Moonpay and others will not be able to get into Apple’s payment flow, missing out on millions of dollars in revenue. However, thanks to the new guidelines, cryptocurrency exchanges will be able to operate with more clarity from now on. It is also heartwarming that NFTs are now making faster inroads in the crypto space and even global tech giants are warming up to it.
...at the time of writing, no official notice or comment from the company has been made. With the massive adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies by tech giants globally, the microblogging site, Twitter might also be tapping into this limelight. According to the Software engineer, Jane Manchun Wong, a social bird very well known for her reports on soon-to-be-launched tech features, Twitter is currently working on implementing its own crypto wallet. She said that the project is still in its prototype phase. The crypto wallet, according to Manchun Wong, will allow users to deposit and withdraw funds without relying on third-party services. Although, at the time of writing, no official notice or comment from the company has been made. Twitter is working on a “wallet prototype” that supports “crypto deposit and withdrawal” Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) October 24, 2022 Read Also: Finally, Twitter is set to roll out the edit button feature this month Twitter, a huge supporter of blockchain technologies While this is big news in the industry, it comes as no surprise given that the microblogging site has long been a backer of the cryptocurrency market and blockchain technologies. The company has remained one of the most crypto-friendly platforms, especially with the several features the company has launched that allow users to link their already existing crypto wallets to their Twitter profiles. If you recall, this feature was initially only compatible with Bitcoin addresses but was later expanded to include Ethereum addresses as well. Not long after, users were allowed to display their non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on their profile pictures. Also, since August of this year, the microblogging site has been working on a “tweet tiles” feature with some well-known NFT markets such as OpenSea and Rarible. The feature is planned to allow Twitter users to distribute non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as well as collection objects (CTAs) on the platform. Recall that Jack Dorsey also launched “Bluesky,” a new division, of the company. It is a research initiative focused on developing a decentralised social network protocol outside of the traditional company structure. This essentially demonstrates the microblogging site’s support and interest in the future of emerging technologies. This is a drastic switch from the platform’s stance 4 years ago when it banned ads for cryptocurrency-related products. The worldwide ban affected initial coin offerings (ICOs), cryptocurrency wallets, and token sales. Read Also: Binance invests $500m into Musk’s bid to boost the “use and adoption of crypto and blockchain technology” How it is likely to work Although Jane Manchun Wong did not provide any additional details about this new initiative, it appears like Twitter is attempting to become a full-fledged Web3 platform. For the native Twitter crypto wallet, it is still one of those predictions for Twitter’s future. However, if this is implemented, this might be a breeze-through feature for users, especially when sending and getting tips and using the NFT profile image feature. There would be no need to link or manage an external wallet as all the services are embedded in one platform.
Are Nigerians beginning to fall in love with Nollywood movies? Two weeks ago, we told you that three Nollywood movies made the top five of that week’s highest-grossing movies at the box office, according to data from the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN). Among those three movies is Brotherhood, an action-packed story which showed how two brothers can be on two totally different paths in life, representing contrasting figures in society and the end, have an ending that might not be anticipated. 4 weeks after its release, the movie has continued to draw Nigerians to the cinemas. According to data from the weekend, the movie came close to being number one at the box office in Nigeria, grossing a total of N30,535,037 compared to Hollywood’s The Woman King’s N31,652,490 despite being a global blockbuster. The cumulative revenue of the movie so far is N209,461,296, with an average revenue per location of about N500,574. The movie continually remains in 61 locations in cinemas around the country. This brings to mind the question: can Nollywood movies gross more than Hollywood movies if they can muster up deeper storylines and better image qualities? Read also: Nollywood regains dominance in the cinemas in October: ‘Brotherhood’, ‘Anikulapo’ makes top 3 Other figures from the Box Office Apart from Woman King which has occupied the top position for 5 weeks straight since its release, the list of the top five grossing movies of the weekend is made up of Nollywood’s Passport and Gbege as well as Ticket to Paradise, a Hollywood movie. Passport was part of the top 3 movies some weeks ago It has been a part of the top 5 grossing movies at the box office for over a month. The movie has been in the cinemas for a total of 7 weeks since its release and has made a cumulative revenue of N84,104,025. The star-studded movie featured Mercy Johnson, Zubby Michael, and Jim Iyke. It grossed a total of N1, 866,550 over the past weekend in 25 cinemas nationwide. That amounts to an average of N74,662 per location. Similarly, Gbege, a movie portraying how laws can be rivals to established cultures, completed the list of the top 5 with total revenue of about N6,019,600 just after two weeks after its release. The movie which is directed by Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen, grossed over N1.6m this weekend with an average grossing per location (21 cinemas) of N77,031. The movie is also a testament that Nigerians love contents curated around culture and powerplay. Read also: “Brotherhood” is Nollywood’s best attempt at an action film. with a poor dose of dialogue Can Nollywood sustain its dominance? It seems Nigerians are beginning to fall in love with locally curated content if the data from Box Office these past few weeks is anything to go by. However, a critical look at the movies grossing the highest shows a mixture of culture, comedy and action. Well, I am not saying that romance is not gaining relevance anymore. Much of Nollywood’s romance stories dwelt on the characters that portray instances that might not totally give a “bigger picture or meanings” in relation to relatable cultures and social powerplay. A watch of My Village People and Namaste Wahala will help illustrate this idea. A change in the pattern may improve the numbers from that vertical. Going forward, Nollywood can consolidate on these numbers by curating contents and visuals that richly dwell on culture amidst sophistication and modernisation. Still, a greater visual quality has been the major challenge of the industry, and if that is solved, then Nollywood might just maintain their dominance locally. That is purely my take, though.
...the outage appears to be affecting users globally. Popular Meta-owned instant messaging app, WhatsApp appears to be facing a downtime, according to users. The outage began at about 8:20 AM (WAT), according to user complaints. According to TechCrunch, WhatsApp has acknowledged the outage through DownDetector and WaBetaInfo, two web services that track the Facebook app. Downdetector has had more than 60,000 reports of issues with the service, and the outage appears to be affecting users globally. DownDetector shows that users in the U.S. and India are among those most impacted by the outage. India is the largest market of WhatsApp users. In a statement, Meta spokesperson said: “We’re aware that some people are currently having trouble sending messages and we’re working to restore WhatsApp for everyone as quickly as possible.” WhatsApp outages are still relatively rare, but they have major implications for communications worldwide as the service is used by more than two billion people each month. When WhatsApp went down last year, a number of Brazilian workers lost their jobs according to a report by The Verge.. Hence, the recent downtime has resulted in a global users frenzy, with most trooping to similar social media platforms like Twitter to express shock, disappointment and very rare instances of amusement after they found out the site was down in a most amusing way. Some reactions: WhatsApp Engineer right now #WhatsAppDown MB (@bowx_) October 25, 2022 Soon after, a hashtag, #WhatsappDown emerged on the trend table on Twitter and the trend is growing by the minute. When your WhatsApp is playing up but you come to Twitter and see that everyone else is having the same problem #WhatsAppDown Jamie (@GingerPower_) October 25, 2022 WhatsApp outage: what we know This isn’t the first time social media networks have been down. A similar incident occurred last year. Instagram went down for 1 hour in May 2021 and all Meta platforms went down in June. That was the most recent of many outages. But, this is the first major WhatsApp outage since the service went down as part of a massive outage that also took down Instagram, Messenger, Oculus, and Facebook last year. That outage took nearly six hours before it was resolved and WhatsApp was back online. Read also: #WhatsApp Down: Nigeria is One of Many Countries not Affected by Global Outage This is the first major WhatsApp outage since the service went down as part of a massive outage that also took down Instagram, Messenger, Oculus, and Facebook last year. At that time, Meta, known as Facebook claimed that the outage was owing to a configuration change to its routers. This time, Meta’s other platforms- Instagram, Messenger, and Facebook- are all functioning fine right. The outage has affected WhatsApp, it seems. This is a developing story.
Exambly is an educational app that offers students the “best” preparation for any exam through individualised practice and an easier learning process. The application says it has answers to over 250,000 previous questions. The app also states that it uses a curriculum that is connected to the relevant exam standard and is based on a methodology that has been shown to promote long-term retention. The app, which was released in 2020 has over 10,000 downloads on the Play Store app. The app is 9.8MB in size and requires an Android 5.0 OS and up to function. Signing up for the app was as simple as ABC and it just took a few seconds to activate my account. After signing in, there are different types of exams (WASSCE/GCE, POST UTME, NECO, JAMB/UME, BECE, ACCA) and class categories (JSS 1-3, SS1-3). Users can choose which sections that are best for them. Read Also: All You Need to Know About the Free CBT Prep Kit for WAEC Candidates by Chronicles Software App Design The only colours used in the app are green and white for the background. There are only three icons on the home page; to view your exam histories, to send a mail invitation to friends to download the app, and to log out of the app. The app is comparatively easy to use and navigate. However, let us focus on the main purpose of the app creation. With their promises, the Exambly app seems to have a lot of confidence. One of them is that students will be able to pass these tests in a single sitting. Can you really do that with this app? Let’s find out What the App Promises Preparation for Local Examinations WASSCE/GCE: Typically, WAEC students write a minimum of 8 subjects, including the two core subjects, Math and English, as well as a unique subject that is relevant to their selected field of study at university. This app contains 16 subjects, including Data Processing and Marketing, which are both highly interesting. Exam questions from 1993 are included in some of the subjects. The most recent year, however, is 2020. POST UTME: After preparing for WASSCE, you can go immediately into practising for POST UTME, although the Exambly app only offers questions for two universities (OAU and UNILAG), and the exam questions are only from 2006 to 2019. JAMB/UME: While only 4 courses are required for the Jamb tests, this app contains more than 14 subjects, making it simpler for candidates to select the 4 subjects that are most relevant to their specific university course applications. Past questions are available for some of these questions from 2003 through 2021. BECE (Junior WAEC): Few applications have given BECE (Junior WAEC) exams any thought, thus the Exambly team did a good job with this one. Although a BECE sitting can only have a maximum of eleven disciplines, candidates must pass at least six of them, including English and mathematics. There are just six subjects, including English I and II, and only 2018 and 2019 questions in this app. Exams in Secondary School: The Exambly app also aids secondary school students in exam preparation. The app has at least three years’ worth of prior exams from JSS1 to SS3 set aside for preparation. The crazy thing is that as the class size increases, fewer subjects are offered. Only three courses and their prior exams are made available for the SS3 class. Read Also: WAEC makes NIN compulsory for exam registration in 2022 International Examinations Surprisingly, the programme also provides exam study for the Association for Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA). The previous tests covered subjects including Management Accounting and Accountant in Business (AB) (MA). Although there are only 2020 prior questions available. What we think about Exambly So, am I dissatisfied with the app? Perhaps just a little. My expectations were much higher, especially given the juicy claims on Google Play. The app claimed a plethora of old questions for competitive examination preparation, such as ICAN, TOEFL, CIMA, IELTS, CIPM, and others, however as you...
As Secretary of State for International Trade, Liz founded a trade network that she thought could benefit significantly from blockchain technology... The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Liz Truss, announced her resignation last week. With the development, Liz Truss became the shortest PM in UK history. Although Liz Truss’s short stint (44 days in office) was mired with controversies, she was believed to be pro-crypto since her days in the Boris Johnson administration. The question is: Is this another loss for the crypto community? But there is a bit of good news from the African region. On Wednesday, South Africa’s financial regulator issued a notice to declare cryptocurrencies as a financial product. It was also announced that crypto firms in the country will need to apply for a license to operate legally. You know that a crypto week isn’t complete without a story of a hack, right? So, here: the hacker behind the $9 million Moola Market hack has chosen to return a majority of the cryptocurrency stolen during the exploit. That is a thief with home training, in my opinion. So, here is a bit of all the major stories from the crypto space this week. Here we go: Jack Dorsey’s tweet may be sold for $97 Crypto entrepreneur, Sina Estiva purchased an NFT of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s first-ever tweet for a whopping $2.9 million ( 1630.6ETH) in March 2021, Today, the piece could sell for just under $97. At the close of the first auction in early April, the NFT managed to fetch only seven offerings with the highest bid at $0.09ETH which was roughly $277 at the time. With the further rout in the cryptocurrency market taking a toll on NFTs, Estavi’s piece continued to be bumped up by nominal bids. As of September 16, it had only managed to attract a top bid of 0.075ETH ($96.49) With Ethereum price plunging by roughly 70% since November 2021, NFTs volumes have also dived. Given that most NFTs drew their high price tags due to hype, it will be difficult to predict whether they will reclaim their lost glory or sell at such high prices ever again. Read also: Sell these 3 cryptocurrencies off your portfolio before they crash Crypto-friendly PM, Liz Truss resigns Liz Truss resigned from her position as UK prime minister yesterday after a 44-day stint that rocked the country’s sterling and gilt markets. The outgoing crypto-friendly prime minister stepped down after calls from at least twelve members of the Conservative Party. Recall that Crypto industry pundits welcomed Liz Truss into office on September 6, 2022, hoping she would offer a light regulatory touch. Liz Truss hinted at a more complementary approach to crypto in a 2018 tweet that gave the crypto industry reason to hope. As Secretary of State for International Trade under former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Liz Truss founded a trade network that she thought could benefit significantly from blockchain technology. “We want to achieve a world-leading data and digital agreement, underwriting data flows but also dealing with issues like blockchain and artificial intelligence, thereby making sure that we and the U.S. are leading the world and able to share these economic opportunities,” Liz Truss said at the time. Following Truss’s resignation, the future of crypto in the UK is now uncertain. Crypto is now a financial product in SA South Africa’s financial regulator on Wednesday issued a notice to declare cryptocurrencies as a financial product. It was also announced that crypto firms in the country will need to apply for a license to operate legally. The Financial Sector Conduct Authority’s (FSCA) newly issued notice updates the Financial Advisory and Financial Intermediary Services Act to declare cryptocurrencies as a financial product to protect consumers and regulate the market. The Act also defines a crypto asset as a “digital representation of value,” and mandates that assets must be regulated in South Africa. Cryptocurrencies will also be required to apply for a l...
The bill offers tax breaks for startups and their employees, a path to dialogue with government officials and the Startup Investment Seed Fund for young Nigerian entrepreneurs... The Nigeria Startup Bill, the messiah legislation many players in the tech ecosystem have billed as the long-awaited reform that the space needs, is now the law of the land. President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria signed the bill into law, this week. The bill offers tax breaks for startups and their employees, a path to dialogue with government officials and the Startup Investment Seed Fund for young Nigerian entrepreneurs. But the bill has also been criticised for stifling young entrepreneurs who are not Nigerians but own businesses in the country. Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim, the Minister of Digital Economy made the announcement on Twitter after the bill has been on the president’s desk and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) since October last year. BREAKING!His Excellency, @MBuhari has just assented to Nigeria Start-up Bill. It has now become Nigeria Start-Up Act, 2022. It was an Executive Bill, initiated by both Office of the Chief of Staff & the Office of the Minister of Comms & Digital Economy. Congratulations to all! Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim (@ProfIsaPantami) October 19, 2022 The Nigeria Startup Bill has been years in the making, the brainchild of key stakeholders in the ecosystem, who have lobbied top elected officials for commonsense regulations in the space. But in a tweet, President Buhari dismissed their efforts claiming that it was his administration that in fact developed the bill, even as Oswald Guobadia, the Senior Special Assistant to the President (Digital Transformation) called the approach to draft the bill “the ‘Big Tent Approach.’ Our commitment to creating an enabling environment for Nigerian technology startups should never be in doubt. Today I signed into Law the Nigeria Startup Bill (NSB), developed by our administration to provide stable legal framework and incentives for technology innovation. Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) October 19, 2022 Though Guobadia led the team that developed the Bill, critical players in the space were part of the process. “Today I signed into Law the Nigeria Startup Bill (NSB), developed by our administration to provide stable legal framework and incentives for technology innovation,” the tweet from the president reads. The president also restricted his replies in the tweet announcing the move. The signing of the bill was part of a wide-ranging development that the president took yesterday, including rolling out a National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy, a National Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, and National Data Protection Bureau. This comes barely months before the presidential elections, as his political party (the APC) lags in numerous polls conducted. The APC is shown trailing Peter Obi, the Labour Party candidate for president who has more mass appeal with young Nigerians who will be impacted by the bill the most. Read also: The Nigerian Startup Bill may not solve most startup problems as we think Just last week, the president honoured young Nigerians who have been responsible for innovative companies including Flutterwave co-founders; Iyinoluwa Aboyeji and Gbenga Agboola and PayStack co-founders; Ezra Olubi and Shola Akinlade with the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), one of the highest honours the president can bestow. To be considered for the benefits of the bill, a Nigerian must own more than half of the stake in the company. Our new look! What do you think? Congrats, once again everyone! 🎉🎊 You all made this possible. The Nigeria Startup Act (@StartupActNg) October 19, 2022 “The Nigeria Startup Bill serves as an enabler for tech hubs to attain sustained growth,” Guobadia said of the bill in an interview with the Punch. “The implementation of the Act is going to be more deliberate than the initiation of the bill. It is going to be more engaging. What we are hoping for...
The startup acceleration Bootcamp is slated to take place in Luxembourg between the 24th and 28th of October 2022... The Luxembourg House of Financial Technology (LHoFT) has announced the selection of 15 African startups from over 400 applicants for the fifth edition of its CATAPULT Inclusion African program. This year’s edition of CATAPULT Inclusion Africa programme will harness Luxembourg’s Inclusive Finance and Fintech ecosystem to assist chosen firms in building their operations and attaining their inclusion goals. The startup acceleration Bootcamp is organised for fintech startups and is slated to take place in Luxembourg between the 24th and 28th of October 2022. The African countries represented on this year’s CATAPULT Inclusion African list include Mali, Cameroon, Zambia, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, and Uganda. In this piece, we will share a bit about the African startups selected for the fifth edition. Meet the 15 African startups selected AFRICRED (Bamako, Mali) AFRICRED, which was founded in 2020, is a platform of the fintech AFA Digital Finance and an African fintech solution. Its mission is to provide digital finance solutions (adapted blockchain-based technology adapted loans to grow loan portfolios) to microfinance, micro-insurance to unbanked and MSME companies across Africa, and banks on a revenue-sharing model, via innovative technology, a new business model, and an adaptive financial solution. AgrixTech (Yaounde, Cameroon) Agrix Tech, founded in 2018, is an Agri-FinTech company that assists small-scale farmers in transitioning from subsistence farming to commercial farming while maximising profit. Agrix Tech packages give farmers everything they need, including funding, farm inputs, consulting, insurance, and market access when possible. The company uses machine learning and satellite data to improve credit decisions, and automated operations keep costs low and process scalable. Alajo (Lagos, Nigeria) Alajo is a personal finance platform founded in 2021 that is designed to be the smart solution to the traditional savings system for the under(un)banked and non-smartphone users, using USSD and SMS Infrastructure. The platform also integrates Data Analytics through AI/ML to help them save money every day. It also keeps their financial records and uses them to develop a credit score system as well as provide advice to help users can make better financial decisions. ChapChap Africa (Kampala, Uganda) ChapChap Africa, founded in 2016, provides financial digital solutions to African MSMEs by helping informal entrepreneurs to establish new business lines as well as providing financial services to low-income earners. It helps business owners to automate bookkeeping so they can build a verifiable digital credit profile. From value-added services to new prospects to finance through their partners, ChapChap Africa is constructing a long-term ecosystem for MSMEs to develop and thrive with them as partners. ComGrow (Lusaka, Zambia) ComGrow is a fintech startup that digitises informal savings and credit groups among friends and family networks, giving a plethora of opportunities as well as an end-to-end secure, technical solution for village banking operations. Their goal is to provide financial assistance to persons who do not have access to traditional banking services. With ComGrow, users keep track of all individuals who participate, what organisations they belong to, how much and when they transact, and any other data supplied relevant to each user on the platform. Radava Mercentile (Nairobi, Kenya) Radava Mercantile, an Agritech firm founded in 2021, is on a mission to empower smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa with an agricultural commodities exchange market, alternative financing, and post-harvest technologies. Starting with its electronic receipt system, the company improves trade by linking smallholder farmers to a global marketplace and deploying a viable commodities exchange model for the African ...
...represents a significant growth for the company whose stock is currently the 105th most valuable stock on the NGX Leading ICT company, Computer Warehouse Group (CWG Plc) emerged as the top gainer in yesterday’s trading session in the Nigerian Stock Exchange Market (NGX). The company gained (+9.6%) in its volume traded for the day. Other gainers in the market were JAPAULGOLD (+7.7%) and WAPIC (+5.9%), while BETAGLAS (-10.0%), ALEX (-9.7%) and RTBRISCOE (-9.7%) posted as yesterday’s top losers. This represents significant growth for the company whose stock is currently the 105th most valuable stock on the NGX with a market capitalization of NGN 2.02 billion and makes up about 0.0084% of the Nigerian Stock Exchange equity market. The new milestone might not be far-fetched from the company’s growth in revenue coupled with the reduction in its liabilities consecutively in the last three fiscal years barring this year. CWG’s total assets in 2021 were ₦8.4 billion, according to results from the financial report posted on the NGX, which was an increase of 4.5% from the ₦8.1 billion recorded for the year ended 2020. The company’s total liabilities were ₦7.4 billion, down 1.8% from the ₦7.5 billion recorded for 2020. The company disclosed in its audited June 2022 financial report that the value of its total assets for the second quarter was ₦13.8 billion while its total liabilities for the same period were valued at ₦12.4 billion. CWG’s continuous rise Founded in 1992, CWG operates through three divisions: CWL Systems, DCC Networks and Expert Edge Software. The Nigerian tech company is offering integrated ICT solutions to commercial enterprises in sub-Saharan Africa. The company listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX) in 2005 and has risen above so many difficulties in its 30 years of doing business across the shores of Africa and beyond, this is according to the founder, Austin Okere. In celebrating its 30years anniversary last month, the founder disclosed that the major challenge the business has encountered has been regulatory inconsistencies which include pre-shipment, inspection or destination inspection. He cited an instance of a CBN policy banning banks from putting ATMs outside the bank branches. “We had a warehouse full of ATMs that we had shipped with interest running on them,” because banks cancelled the deal with CWG to install ATMs. “That nearly killed the company.” Austin Okere, Founder of CWG Plc He noted that the company had some damages as a result of such policies. However, the company was able to survive those periods due to financial discipline and raises which helped it, although the policy was rescinded 18 months later. A Growing Profitability CWG has continually maintained a positive growth trajectory since 2019 and has maintained its hold as the largest Information and Communication Technology solutions and service provider in Nigeria. According to its financial report in 2019, the company made a revenue of N9.56 Billion in the financial year (FY). The figure represented a 23.4% increase from the N7.75 billion gross revenue the company recorded in 2018. Also, for the first time in two years, the company posted profits after taxes in that same year. According to the report, the company made a profit of N72.7 million in FY 2019. This is a significant turnaround from an N1.5 billion loss after taxes recorded in 2017 and the N1.1 billion loss after taxes posted in 2018. Followung that, CWG Plc recorded a Profit After Tax (PAT) of N487 million in its 2020 result. This represents an increase of 570 per cent when compared to N72.7 million posted in the previous year in 2019. In its unaudited financial statement for the period ended December 31, 2020, the largest system integration company in Nigeria, also recorded revenue of N11.8 billion and a gross profit of N2.6 billion, representing an increase of 23.4% and 13.9% Year-on-Year (Y/Y) respectively. In 2021, the company also posted revenue of N9.44 billion in ...
the startup initially sought to solve the talent gap problem, but along the way, the need to empower participants with soft skills became necessary... Since the past decade, the Nigerian tech ecosystem has grown in leaps and bounds. But finding talent remains a major headache for many startups in the country. For instance, there are about 114,536 developers in Nigeria, a country with 200 million people and an unemployment rate of over 33%. Ironically, despite how low this figure is, some of the available tech talents are also leaving Nigeria in search of better opportunities, raising fresh concerns about the talent gap in the ecosystem. The message is clear: getting more people into tech is non-negotiable. This is the founding mission of Skillup Africa, a startup that trains exceptionally talented individuals in globally viable tech skills and helps them kickstart their journey into tech. Why Skillup Africa? In an interview with Technext, CEO, Temitayo Adegoke explained that Skillup Africa started as a response to a problem of talent recruitment he faced after setting up his software development company. Perturbed by the difficulty in finding talent to work with, he thought of a solution: help people get digital skills that can plug them into opportunities in the tech space. So, Adegoke put up a Facebook post, asking persons interested in tech to contact him. Those selected were housed in his apartment for about six months and were trained in different digital skills. All of these, Adegoke says, were completely free. And after the training, most of the participants were absorbed into his company. That was the point he knew he had to extend the solution to other companies in the Nigerian tech ecosystem where the talent gap remains a worry. Then, in 2020, Adegoke officially set up Skillup Africa. Read also: How CreditChek is helping lenders verify creditworthiness in Africa. Grooming tech talent According to Adegoke, the training — which started off as corporate social responsibility (CSR) intervention — was remodelled into the Digital Skills Empowerment Program (DSEP), a paid 6-month fully intensive residential training program where participants are made job-ready with both tech skills and real skills. He said the DSEP’s core areas include frontend and backend development, data analytics and mobile apps development, and it costs around N600,000 for the training alone, and N1.3 million for the full package which includes feeding, accommodation and other services. Speaking on the selection process, he explained that there is a five-stage screening system: the initial application, statement of purpose, online exams, a Bootcamp and the interview. “For the present cohort [which is the fourth], we had over 8,463 applications and only 80 were eventually selected into the program. Our screening process helps us get the best talents,” he said. So far, the training has produced hundreds of tech talents from three cohorts who have secured roles in different startups. The success stories, Adegoke said, are what have kept the project going. He adds that Skillup Africa also has an online school for short non-coding courses like product management, UI/UX, etc., and a Stepup programme for people in the intermediate phase interested in moving to a senior level. Not a coding school Adegoke explained that the startup initially sought to solve the talent gap problem, but along the way, the need to empower participants with soft skills became necessary. According to him, there is a six-month curriculum for soft skills as part of the DSEP. While weekdays are meant for tech training, Saturdays are for imparting soft skills to the participants. “We are just not trying to get people to learn how to code. No, we are not a coding school. We are an institution that is trying to create regenerative individuals. So we teach them soft skills to help them become persons of impact,” he said. Two years after its creation, Skillup Africa’s major appeal, the ...
Some examples of well-known DAOs are BanklessDAO, MakerDAO, PleasrDAO, DAOHaus, HerStory DAO, The Komorebi Collective DAO, RaidGuild... As web3 and blockchain become more mainstream as the days come by, new acronyms and terminologies with little to no explanation are being thrown around in the space. One of them is DAOs (pronounced ‘Dows’). Members of the crypto community predict that DAOs will become the next big trend in the space. But what exactly is a DAO? How do they operate and how can you benefit from them? We will answer these questions in this article. What is a DAO? A decentralised autonomous organization is basically a group of people who come together- without a central leader or company dictating any of the decisions – to achieve a common goal or purpose. Decentralised autonomous organisations can be likened to a kind of clubs for crypto enthusiasts that typically operate under a shared goal and give each member an equal say in making decisions. Each DAO has a different mission, whether single-purpose or part of a larger project. Some of them are based on personal interests while others can have larger goals that involve operating or running a business as a group. In regions like Africa, DAOs can be formed to raise money for a charity or to form an investment firm where all the members contribute funds in exchange for equity in some company or project. Each participating member might pay a certain amount of cryptocurrency, and the amount would dictate how many tokens the participant might receive from the DAO. The pay-in and pay-out might operate according to a schedule written into the smart contract on the blockchain. Some examples of well-known DAOs are BanklessDAO, MakerDAO, PleasrDAO, DAOHaus, HerStory DAO, The Komorebi Collective DAO, RaidGuild and countless others. Members of DAOs often buy their way in, most of the time purchasing a governance token specifically for the DAO that gives them the ability to vote on decisions that are made around how the pool of money is spent and managed. Read also: Here is all you need to know about creating crypto coins How do DAOs work? Most DAOs rely on blockchain and smart contracts, which are collections of code that run on the blockchain. The blockchain as a decentralised digital ledger acts as a backbone, keeping the structure and rules of DAOs on the chain. Remember that in traditional organisations, there’s normally a hierarchy consisting of a formal board of directors and executives. That is the upper management determines the structure and has the power to make changes. But DAOs, on the other hand, are decentralised, which means they aren’t governed by one person or entity. The rules and governance of each DAO are coded in smart contracts on the blockchain and cannot be changed unless voted upon by the DAO’s members. What this means is that power lies in the hands of all members, rather than a concentrated few. An instance is when PleasrDAO members collectively decided to buy the Wu-Tang Clan album in 2021. After the purchase, they created an NFT to represent a deed of ownership to the album. Members of PleasrDAO co-own the NFT deed, and in that process, share ownership of the album. Why are DAOs important? One of the reasons why a DAO is better compared to traditional organisations is that decisions impacting organizations are made by a collection of individuals rather than a central authority. Additionally, DAO encourages people, mostly from different regions of the world, to come together to build a single vision and pursue it, seamlessly. How to get started The first step is to identify your goals and purposes and look for a DAO that fits them. You could try exploring DAOlist and DeepDAO to find one with objectives that align with your interests. When you’ve decided on the best for you at that moment, Join the community. It will come in handy to get involved in conversations on the Discord server and contribute to the community with any of your skills. Rela...
In September 2021, Bumpa raised $200k in pre-seed funding... African social commerce startup, Bumpa has raised $4 million in a seed funding round. The new fund will help the startup to execute its mission goal of helping underserved SMEs efficiently manage their business. The round was led by automation-focused VC, Base10 Partners. It saw participation from Plug & Play Ventures commerce fund, SHL Capital, Jedar Capital, Magic Fund, DFS Labs, FirstCheck Africa Angel Program, E62 Ventures, Club14, and Fast Forward Ventures (led the last pre-seed round) According to Luci Fonesca, principal partner at Base10, the investment indicates that her team has recognised the value the startup is providing. She said, Bumpa is building a mission that we love and were excited to get behind, enabling e-commerce and reducing friction for millions of SMBs. The more we spent time with Kelvin and Teejay, the more we saw that they are very special founders and have a powerful mission to build the defining e-commerce platform in Nigeria and across Africa. Luci Fonesca, Principal of Base10 Partners. It is important to note that this funding was duly executed at a time when venture funding market in Africa declined. For the Q3 of the year, venture funding in Africa has dropped by 54% YoY. Read Also: We checked out the Bumpa app and here is what we think Realising Bumpa’s vision Bumpa wasn’t always a social commerce platform when it was first launched by Kevin Umechukwu and Adetunji Opayele. The company was first known as SalesCabal, and one of its main goals was to introduce e-commerce to the MSMEs and business owners in the area by addressing their daily financial problems. However, in an effort to offer more substantial solutions, the team announced the initial edition of their app, which was centred on giving business owners free websites and other online business management tools. One of the most important features which were quite significant stance in the social commerce ecosystem was the integration with Meta bridging the gap between social media and digital commerce for online sellers. In September 2021, Bumpa raised $200k in pre-seed funding and a $50k grant from the Google Black Founders Fund a few months after the round. This funding at that time was focused on staff expansion and the introduction of new features. Read Also: Nigerian e-commerce startup, Bumpa closes $200k pre-seed round to improve support for merchants Future plans for Bumpa Speaking on the raise, Kelvin Umechukwu, CEO and Co-founder of Bumpa said: The goal is to do three things: connect, innovate and scale. Bumpa2.0 for us as a startup is to connect all the relevant tools, channels, and places that SMEs need all in one place: the Bumpa app. It is also to innovate by bringing simpler, automated ways to do any business transaction or operation on the app. In order to better serve the expanding number of African SMEs in need of digital solutions, the firm plans to increase access to new African markets and the range of products it offers. Finally, Bumpa is trying to grow its team in order to reach this newly established milestone. As it prepares to assist more merchants in achieving commercial success, Bumpa will also be growing its workforce. “It is also to scale our user’s businesses, our position as key players in the African commerceindustry, and to scale the capacities and reach of the employees and even we, the founders”, the CEO concludes.
The project seeks to support site managers in digitally documenting heritage sites at risk due to climate change... Google Arts & Culture partnering with The Adunni Olorisha Trust and CyArk announced the launch of the first and largest digital library of content showcasing the Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove. The launch, which marks the digital preservation of one of Nigeria’s last remaining sacred groves, is part of Google Arts and Culture’s wider Heritage on the Edge project. The project seeks to support site managers in digitally documenting heritage sites at risk due to climate change, using the imagery captured to further support community maintenance and conservation. The Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove project can be explored via goo.gle/osun-osogbo. Highlights include a 75ha Street View of the Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove, including the Busanyin Shrine before it was affected by the flood and 3D models of four of the site’s dynamic shrines. The collection allows people to view 900 high-resolution photographs of the site, contemporary and historical artworks and sculptures, artists and spiritual leaders. It also tells 28 stories about art, community and spirituality at the Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove, and the effect of climate change at the site and includes three audio interviews, including one with popular artist Jimoh Buraimoh about Susanne Wenger. Read also: Google Arts & Culture’s Eko for Show to showcase Lagos’s creative genius to the world The project also allows visitors to watch 27 video interviews and see aerial views and 3D views of the site while annotated 3D tours of the Busanyin and Iya Moopo shrines showcase the legacy of art and spirituality at the sacred grove. Speaking on the project, Chance Coughenour, Program Manager and Digital Archaeologist, at Google Arts & Culture said: “Google Arts & Culture’s mission is to preserve and promote the world’s art and culture online, allowing anyone, anywhere in the world to share in it. We are grateful that through partnerships we are now able to preserve one of the most recognised, culturally rich Yoruba heritage sites, known for active traditional worship and contemporary art movements”. “Through the use of state-of-the-art technologies, site managers will be able to monitor and mitigate the effects of the changing climate and more broadly provide resources to support growing the capacity for the preservation of heritage sites” added Coughenour. Located on the forested banks of the Osun river in the city of Osogbo, in Osun State of Nigeria, the Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove, a UNESCO World Heritage site is several centuries old and among the last sacred groves of their kind which joined the edges of most Yoruba cities before the mass shift from rural to urban areas. On the site, Yoruba deities are embodied in shapely, sculpted shrines where creativity and spirituality come to life. Recently, the Grove has been in danger of destruction due to flooding, heavy rain and climate change. Read also: Google launches Mali Magic to preserve Mali’s 40,000+ manuscripts, art and culture The Busanyin Shrine was damaged in floods shortly after being digitally captured. On his part, Olufemi A. Akinsanya Akinsanya, Chair, Save Our Art! Save Our Heritage! The campaign said this about the project: “The Yoruba community is one of the largest in Nigeria and the Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove is truly a unique and special place that embodies the essence of the Yoruba culture and heritage. We are excited about the digital preservation of the site and the partnership with Google Arts & Culture. It offers a noteworthy body of work that portrays the admirable culture of the Yoruba people to the world” Similarly, Kacey Hadick, Director of Programs and Development, CyArk said this about his team’s participation in the project: “CyArk’s work in Osogbo has been a true collaboration between Nigerian government officials, local NGOs, the community of Osogbo, and His Royal Highness Jimoh Oyetunji Olanipekun Larooye II, who a...
The XR market is expected to reach approximately $346 billion by 2026 which represents a compounded annual growth rate of 46.5%... Imagine yourself in your favourite mall shopping for your favourite items, without leaving the comfort of your home. That’s what extended reality (XR) allows you to do. By definition, XR is the umbrella term for immersive technologies — technologies that can merge the physical and virtual worlds — such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). Virtual reality immerses users in a simulated digital environment. Augmented reality, on the other hand, integrates virtual elements with the users’ physical environments. In recent years, the use of extended reality has gained traction globally, with tech giants –Google, Samsung, HTC, and Facebook — launching VR products, which has in turn amplified the interest in XR. However, its adoption is still largely believed to be in its infancy. Read also: All you need to know about the Metaverse and 4 ways you can take advantage of it. The state of Extended Reality in Nigeria: A brief journey To bring it home, Nigeria began its XR revolution in 2016 — the year, Imisi3D, a female-founded extended reality creation lab hosted an AR/VR hackathon. Being the first of its kind in the country, the event shifted the attention of many towards XR and how this emerging technology can be used to create solutions. In 2019, Microsoft set up its Africa Development Centre in Lagos and Nairobi, the first XR engineering teams on the continent for a Big Tech company. The same year, ‘Daughters of Chibok’, a film by Nigerian filmmaker Kachi Benson won the Best VR Story at the Venice International Film Festival. With the COVID-19 pandemic came national lockdowns which restricted in-person gatherings. This expectedly sparked different virtual reality technological interactions and brought attention to the possibilities of XR. In 2020, Dr Eugene Ohu, a faculty at the Lagos Business School (LBS), won a grant of $234,000 from Templeton World Charity Foundation, Inc (TWCF) to conduct two-year virtual reality research. Between 2016 and now, a number of Nigerian companies (including startups) across different industries adopt XR to improve their services. For instance, Taeillo, a Nigerian furniture maker, uses XR to create virtual showrooms to display its products. Another XR startup, StanLab, is a 3D interactive, virtual laboratory application that provides practical science education to students. SwiftXR, a web platform, provides solutions for building lightweight interactive 3D, AR, and VR experiences. Also, Quadron Studios produces VR animation content for advertising and storytelling. Just recently. Kunle Adewale, a Nigerian visual artist, launched a project that allows elderly people in Nigeria’s retirement homes to listen to and watch their favourite musicians and music videos through VR headsets. A few weeks ago, tech giant Meta hosted the 6 winners of its Future Africa Grant to XR exhibition for creators in Lagos, Nigeria. Read also: Meta hosts 6 winners of Future Africa Grant to XR exhibition for creators in Lagos. Bright future ahead, but much needs to be done In 2021, the global extended reality market reached a value of $42.86 billion. According to Crunchbase data, the same year saw an investment of nearly $3.9 billion invested in VR/AR startups. Buinesswire predicts that the market for AR and VR technologies will reach $60.55 billion and $34.08 billion by 2023 respectively. The XR market is expected to reach approximately $346 billion by 2026 which represents a compounded annual growth rate of 46.5%. Nigeria, being a leader in the African tech ecosystem, is certain to have its own share of the pie. The XR industry in the country, however, isn’t without its challenges. Finding talent, government policy and getting more people and businesses to embrace the application of extended reality are some of the biggest problems key players in the space identified in the 2022 Af...
At 25, Adora has achieved quite a lot and that is inspiring a lot of other women in the Nigerian tech ecosystem... Growing up, Adora Nwodo was that child who was enthralled by computers and technology and spent most of her time trying to figure out how they worked. Her brothers were her first instructors in the basics of computer operation. Her interest grew as a child and she has begun to learn Microsoft programs and create rudimentary graphic designs. It’s no surprise that she’s now a key player in the tech industry; she has always known she belonged there. In this week’s women in tech, Adora Nwodo shared her career journey with us. Adora Nwodo’s journey Adora Nwodo made it a point to pursue her interest in building things to the maximum. After receiving a first-class degree in computer science from the University of Lagos (UNILAG), she decided to start a career in software engineering in 2017. While in her penultimate year in university, she worked as a software intern at an advertising company and continued even after her NYSC service. She rose to the position of an Associate Software Developer in 2 years. In 2019, Adora, like every other enthusiastic person, felt she had garnered enough experience and was ready to upscale her career path. For her, the degree and experience she has acquired were sufficient for her to move forward in the industry. She started working with Microsoft in August of that year, where she currently works with the Microsoft Mesh team. For Adora Nwodo, landing the job with Microsoft was not as difficult as it seems. She believes she was already equipped enough for the role. Most of the CS fundamentals I know, I learnt while I was in school through books I read or classes or interactions with a bunch of my peers. The entire university experience added to my Software Engineering knowledge. However, you do not need a computer science degree to get knowledge in this field or work in big tech. I know people that have done it in the past and nowadays, I’m seeing more people do it. Read Also: Want to be a digital nomad? Here are 5 African countries to consider Becoming a digital content creator One thing you need to know about Adora Nwodo is her great sense of creativity. In so many interviews, Adora often mentioned her love of the disc jockey (DJ) lifestyle and fashion entrepreneurship. But that is not all. Over the years, she has taken to the social space to influence and inspire people with her knowledge of tech. You can practically call her a digital content creator. She currently has a YouTube platform with over 6000 subscribers, a large Twitter audience of over 71,000 followers and a LinkedIn platform with more than 31,000 connections where she shares life tips, career knowledge and advice to people looking to or is already into the tech space. She also has a blog, AdoraHack, a platform for newbies in the space to learn more about tech and software development using articles content she uploads. How she manages to combine all this influencing life and a 9-5 job seems practically impossible and unreal even for Adora Nwodo. She acknowledges this as one of the “biggest miracles’ in her life. “I can sit here and say things like prioritize, use your calendar, manage the time you spend on tasks and get enough rest so that you’re sharper and can do work faster. I do these things, but I think the biggest factor that contributes to my ability to manage all these things effectively is the fact that I’m used to doing multiple things.” She told me that even as a child, she has been pretty used to multitasking and as she grew older, she has been able to master the act. “The only difference is that now, I’m creating productive and impactful work for myself to do”, she adds. Read Also: Want to be a tech bro? Here are 4 high-paying tech careers to consider Challenges as a woman in tech Adora Nwodo told shared some of the most common issues. These include harassment and being a victim of unconscious bias in the wo...
"Soòlé" makes a difference, though, as moving-bus movies are not shot often, and it takes an extraordinary production to make it happen... "Soòlé" makes a difference, though, as moving-bus movies are not shot often, and it takes an extraordinary production to make it happen. "Soòlé" is a 1 hour and 58 minutes movie, released November 26, 2021, directed by Kayode Kasum and produced by Adunni Ade and Lou-Ellen Clara. When you begin to watch “Soòlé” as a Catholic, you wonder why a nun travels all the way from Enugu to Lagos to request funds for an orphanage, remembering that the church has deaneries and dioceses. Then you see the Reverend Father asking the nun to “make do with what you have, right? The children will be fine,” asking the nun to go back empty-handed and you are worried that the storytelling is almost inaccurate. However, what answers your questions is the issue raised in that second scene: the extraordinary rise of inflation in the country. “.and the galloping inflation in the country,” the reverend tells the nun. Lead Cast in “Soòlé” Sola Sobowale – Ifeoma Femi Jacobs – Ifebuchi Meg Otanwa – Justina Adunni Ade – Sister Veronica Adedimeji Lateef – Julius Shawn Faqua – Driver Kelechi Udegbe – Ryder Ikponmwosa Gold – Pastor Oko Soibifaa Dokubo – Yinusa Plot “Soòlé” (Rough English translation: cheap pick up) follows the story of Veronica, who travels from Enugu to Lagos to seek funds for an orphanage, but is sent back empty-handed and has to make do with cheap transportation back to Enugu. “Am I better than those that do [enter soòlé]?” Veronica tells the driver, who takes her to the cheap vehicle park. On her way, on the luxury bus, she experiences what some people write a book for: the activities of a criminal mastermind, including a poorly planned robbery. At some point, too, she realises the existence of a baby factory and insists on helping the girls who have been forced to become baby-producing employees. What we see at the end is a nun who is happy to go home with ‘dirty’ cash just to fund the orphanage and make the kids happy. “Reverend, these children need to feel loved. They need to be included in the festive period,” will be Veronica‘s excuse to sing and dance at the acquisition of the dirty cash. Besides the story, some interesting characters helped the story have life. Let’s name some of them: Read also: “Brotherhood” is Nollywood’s best attempt at an action film. with a poor dose of dialogue Characters in “Soòlé” Veronica: The nun. The one who bothers about how children will spend the festive period and insists on helping the girls at the baby factory but is not bothered about dirty money acquisition. Her character tells us that people in ‘holy clothing’ can have more sins to their name than strippers at nightclubs. “Modesty is overrated,” Veronica says to a ripped-jean spaghetti top wearing Justina. How interesting. She covers that mysterious comment with, “Books are meant to be judged by their covers. That is why they are there.” She is two personalities indeed! Driver: The one who is unrelatable and stupid to agree to transport a bag, and the receiver’s number will be unavailable until he gets to the destination. He is the idiot who would rather do cheap pickup than fill up his bus at the park. Justina: The virgin dressed like a social individual and sells sex toys. She eventually partners with Veronica to start helping young girls in distress. Ifebuchi: The character who saves the day, runs away with all the stolen money but shares some months later. He is an opinionated character and is the one to make comments on the illicit activities of supposed pastors in Nigeria. “This man just insulted all of you, cursed you, told you were going to die and go to hell.what is wrong with people in this country,” he says to people in the bus giving the preacher money ‘for his ministry. You have no modicum of integrity. You are a thief. He says to the pastor. Meanwhile, he is a man with magical powers. He also ...
By the time he launched Chike: The Sky Raiser in 2017, a mobile game set in Lagos, he had become a household name... Shola Edu had always liked games. He likes playing them, recommending them, and talking about them. And so it was no surprise that after he graduated from University with a Political Science degree, he pursued a career trying to make games. In 2009, when Figma was only but a pipe dream, and Twitter accounts with “UI/UX Designer” planted in their bios like flags didn’t exist, Shola Edu and two friends started watching YouTube tutorials. What they sought to learn was how they could make a game, more specifically, a fighting game. Midnights were burnt in cyber-cafes, or anywhere where they could find access to the internet. “We were not just gamers. We wanted to know more, to know how this content works. We’ll go to a friend’s place that had internet access and watch and download tutorials,” he said in an interview with Technext. “We couldn’t do it because we didn’t have the skillset and we didn’t have the experience for that.” But there was Game Maker Studio (a platform that allows you to build games without coding) and there was his tenacity. He started first by learning how to make animations, and produce graphic design work, drawing from a habit he had picked up from a childhood of making sketches when he could. After NYSC, he landed a job at a media company as a graphics designer. Then he quit, taking on freelance jobs. Bootstrapping a game studio In 2013 he got his company registered; “Deluxe Creation Studios” he calls it. a lone ranger in uncharted territory. He was ready to pursue his passion. In 2014, he made his first game. It wasn’t exactly the fighting game of his dreams. By his own admission, “it was bad.” But it was a feat enough that some newspapers ran profiles on him. He came out of the incident with the experience that he needed to do more. “It was really difficult to communicate with people, to get things done because most people were not doing that”, he said of his early days working on the game. “But it was fun. It was great.” By the time he launched Chike: The Sky Raiser in 2017, a mobile game set in Lagos, he had become a household name. It was also his first game on iOS. the previous ones had only been on the Google Play Store. Similar read: Oscar Michael wants the world to know about the African Games Industry Shola Edu on running a nimble and profitable studio Over the years, he had been able to build for himself a lucrative business making animations, TV commercials, and previsualization for all kinds of companies through his Deluxe Creation Studios. “I was able to use it to survive, to make money and float my passion,” he said. But the lines were fallen in pleasant places for him. The game-making arm of the company has been profitable for the last three years, bringing him more revenue for the business than the freelance animation production he also offers. He also has been able to roll out a word game, a fleet of games for children, and chaser games, all optimised for mobile. Thanks to the boom of the digital marketing industry, he has been able to support his games-making enterprise by opening them up for online ads that dot mobile apps these days. This gives him a sense of stability and steady income. “Because we are creating our own products, we don’t have to say ‘ooh we’re looking for clients or anything,'” he said. The cash flow is steady and consistent. These days he also works on games for other companies. Play either endless or challenge mode, we’d be adding more modes soon in future updates. #splitstars #stickman #superhero Edu Shola (@EduSholaTweets) October 14, 2022 As the industry has become more lucrative, more Nigerians have sought to strike while the iron is hot. They go to Deluxe Creation Studios with game ideas and Shola Edu and his team make the games. Installs of the games from Deluxe Creation Studios have not been bad as well, especially for a company without the ...
In this article, we have curated the top five African countries that techies can travel to without a study visa... Recently, the brain drain phenomenon wave (also known as the “Japa”) has gained significant momentum in Nigeria. The magnitude of this Japa movement has seen almost everyone witness a family member or a friend of a friend who has fled the country, usually discreetly. With many tech bros working remotely– which is a great employment perk, especially in Nigeria– with above-average earnings, these guys are still seeking ways to leave the country, mostly for more security and tranquillity. In this article, we have curated the top five African countries that techies can travel to without a study visa, living their best lives as digital nomads while working remotely. Digital nomads are independent contractors and individuals who operate remotely from any location using technology and the internet. All the necessary requirements for a digital nomad’s lifestyle, such as dependable internet, security, co-working spaces, and appealing cities, can be found in these African countries. Quite intriguing, huh? Let’s look at the list. Read Also: Japa: 4 not-so-popular countries with exciting prospects for tech bros Top 5 African countries to travel as a digital nomad for tech bros Namibia The southern African country is home to one of the oldest deserts and breathtaking scenery, and a perfect spot for digital nomads. Windhoek, Namibia is one of the country’s tech hotspots and could be an excellent place for tech bros to explore. It also offers fantastic co-working spaces scattered around the cities, and Namibia has it all when it comes to fast internet connectivity. It was one of the first countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to receive complete Internet connectivity. On the digital nomad visa, it’s good news with this country. The Namibian government and the Namibian Investment Promotion and Development Board have just announced the introduction of a new digital nomad visa. The most intriguing aspect is that the visa is valid for six months. Mauritius Although Mauritius is frequently thought of as a wonderful romantic getaway, the subtropical nation is also one of the best places to live in Africa and a great place for digital nomads. This is because it has consistently ranked as one of the most technologically innovative nations in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Mauritian government recently introduced the Mauritian premium visa expressly for digital nomads, and it has since become one of the most sought-after visas due to its 12-month length and less stringent financial criteria. The country is open to all applicants as long as they have adequate health and travel insurance and can substantiate that their primary source of income comes from somewhere else. Rwanda One of the best countries in Africa to explore is Rwanda, especially if you’re searching for a place with fantastic ecotourism facilities. Kigali, Rwanda, is one of the African cities known as the “African Silicon Valley” and is a terrific place for tech bros. A number of major global corporations, including Google, Andela, Amazon, and others, have offices in the city. It also offers fantastic benefits, particularly for digital nomads, such as excellent co-working places and speedy internet. It is much easier to explore this city as a digital nomad, especially as a Nigerian tech bro. Rwanda, on the other hand, grants a 30-day visa on arrival without prior application. However, depending on the class, purpose, and duration of your stay, you might want to check out other visa options. These include an E-visa, Single Entry Visa-Online Visa, Multiple Entry Visa, and Class T6-1: Single Entry. Read also: With new $1bn innovation hub, Rwanda is becoming Africa’s leading tech destination Cape Verde In addition to being a tropical paradise with amazing food, Cape Verde is one of the emerging African nations that is embracing ICT centres and technology, making it the ideal spot for tech...
...the U.S-based company raised the fund at a $30 million valuation Maplerad, a global Banking-as-a-service (BaaS) player targeting Africa, has raised $6 million in seed funding. Although the founders declined to comment, the U.S.-based company which is coming out of stealth, raised the round at a $30 million valuation, according to sources. Although the seed round (Maplerad’s third seed African investment) was led by The Petr Thiel-founded VC firm, the fintech’s founders Miracle Anywanwu and Obinna Chukwujioke claim that they also invested their money into the company. Other players in the seed round include Golden Palm Investments Corporation, Michael Vaughn (ex-COO, Venmo), Fintech Fund, Babs Ogundeyi (CEO, Kuda) Armyn Capital, Dunbar Capital, Strawhat Investment, Polymath Capital, Unpopular Ventures, Sean Mahsoul and MyAsiaVC. While in Stealth mode, Maplerad saw over 100 companies added to its platform, processing millions of dollars each month for startups like Pastel, Spleet, Bridgecard, Onboardly, Vella, Crowdforce, Dojah, GetEquity, and a few banks. Now that it is out of the shadows, the company says it intends to use the funding to increase client acquisition, obtain new licenses, expand its staff, and firmly establish its position across Africa. According to a statement by the CEO and CTO, Miracle Anyanwu, the company which officially launched in 2020 as Wirepay, gained traction from businesses and customers alike when the company grew in terms of subscribers. This, he claimed, drew businesses to inquire about the in-house infrastructure powering the features on its consumer app. “People wanted to use the infrastructure powering Wirepay, our license coverages, and banking relationships,” Read also: Kenyan’s MoKo Home + Living raises $6.5m in series B round More about Maplerad Maplerad’s journey as a company can be traced back to 2020, when the founders launched its first product, Wirepay. The app’s initial goal was to facilitate cross-border payments for users by providing fiat and cryptocurrency cross-border payment options. But over time, it evolved into what it calls an “all-in-one finance platform,” allowing users to pay bills, create virtual and physical cards, and receive, retain, and make payments in a variety of currencies. According to Anywanwu, in a call with TechCrunch, Maplerad had always wanted to spin off this infra for other businesses. However, when outside requests flocked in en-masse, they finally arranged to beta-launch Maplerad in August, the infra product that allows companies to embed powerful financial features like accounts, payments, FX, and cards into their products. The company last year raised an undisclosed pre-seed, including a $125,000 check from OnDeck. Golden Palm Investments Corporation, Greenhouse Capital, some Stash executives, and Berrywood Capital were other investors in the round. “From day one, when we built Wirepay for our consumers, we knew the end move would be infrastructural even though we didn’t start the business infrastructure first. For anyone to build anything finance-related, they have a whole lot of banking stack that they have to start with and even before integrating features, they have to go past many hurdles,” said the chief executive. “One of them is banking relationships and compliance. The other is licencing. So Maplerad is solving financial infrastructure problems for these businesses in Africa. We handle that whole stack and provide the best-in-class APIs to use that can make you launch a financial product within five minutes. So instead of a company spending 8 months and a couple of million dollars to start building a fintech product, you can integrate with our APIs and go live”, he added. Read also: Crypto investment platform, Pillow attracts $18m funding round, expands rapidly in Nigeria The Nigerian banking space is gradually heating up with the rising of Banking-as-a-service platforms. One major factor sponsoring this rise is the inefficiency of the...
For those looking to upgrade their portfolio in terms of quality, here are some cryptos to sell right now... Seeing a post with ‘cryptos to sell’ heading might be a bit weird but there is a saying that – ‘desperate times call for desperate measures. In the bull market of 2021, virtually any investor who threw money at any digital currency saw handsome returns. But today, we need to come to terms with the reality that there is a time to buy high-flying momentum-driven cryptocurrencies, and there is also a time to be looking at which cryptos to sell off. We believe in cryptos and the technology behind them. Even at that, we understand that not all currencies will win in the long term. Take your minds back to five years ago and discover that over 90% of cryptos ‘in vogue’ then are literally extinct now. Twitter Influencers may continue with the “to the moon” chants but experts have continued to argue that over 90% of existing digital assets would not make it out of the current vicious market condition. So what’s the best strategy going forward in this precarious time? Establish a core position with high-yield and viable cryptocurrencies. Also, get rid of low-yield and unviable cryptos, especially ones with a slim chance of making it out of the current tide. Read also: Here are 4 cryptocurrencies you should buy and keep for the long term If you are considering tidying up your portfolio before the ebb goes lower, here are some crypto suggestions you might want to consider selling right away. Shiba Inu Shitcoins rise and fall in popularity as attention waxes and wanes unpredictably. Prices go up and down according to uncontrollable factors, not based on fundamentals. Shiba Inu was one of the hottest trending cryptos of 2021. The token surged millions of per cent in a matter of months, making investors who put up relatively small amounts of money very rich in a short amount of time. As it is with these get-rich-quick schemes, what goes up often comes down just as fast. This was the case for Shiba Inu. It has lost over 95% of its value from its peak last year. Like typical shitcoins, there’s really not a lot under the hood when looking at Shiba Inu. With little fundamentals to value this token, it’s unclear just how low SHIB can go. So, for those looking to protect capital, this is one of the cryptos to sell right now. Dogecoin Dogecoin was famously (or infamously) created as a joke but it’s still worth mentioning that there is nothing technologically unique about Dogecoin that makes it superior to the other 20,000+ cryptocurrencies in the market. As an original shitcoin, it is driven entirely by momentum, hype, and sentiment. Dogecoin’s rise to fame has largely been associated with the token’s self-proclaimed “Dogefather,” Elon Musk. But in recent times, those tactics are having little to no effect. After months of back-and-forth over his Twitter takeover – dogecoin was touted as one of Twitter’s payment options if it goes through – Elon Musk announced last week that his newly launched perfume called ‘Burnt Hair’ could be purchased with dogecoin. In 2021, that type of announcement would have seen the Shiba-themed token spike crazily, but now those shillings have no effect. With no clear direction of development, we think it’s time to move on from Dogecoin. It is clearly one of the top cryptos to sell. Related post: Here are 3 cryptocurrencies you should consider buying this October Bitcoin Cash This token is the direct result of a hard fork in the Bitcoin blockchain. As one of the oldest fork-related chains out there, Bitcoin Cash is a token that many have watched for a long time. However, the token has found it hard to get out from under the shade cast by the flagship asset, Bitcoin to differentiate itself and advance. Also, BCH has been witnessing a massive outflow, mostly tied to the ongoing macro concerns and the broader market selloff. For these reasons, Bitcoin Cash is one of the cryptos to sell for investors looking to de-r...
Solana-based DeFi trading platform Mango Markets suffered a major hack on Tuesday, losing $117 million... The dust hasn’t settled on the BNB Chain exploit that took place last Thursday where a hacker made off with at least $100 million. Now, there are several reports of another exploit on Mango Market, a Solana-based trading and lending platform. These occurrences and many others have once again brought to the fore discussions surrounding the vulnerabilities of DeFi and if it is truly capable of taking over the world of finance. On a bright note, the United Kingdom has passed a digital document bill that could see it adopt blockchain technology. And, on our weekly follow-up of the Terra drama, Do Kwon this week accepted an interview invite from Journalist Laura Shin. More details about the aftermath of the Terra ecosystem crash are expected to be seen when the report is up. Now, here is a bit of detail on these stories and many more from the crypto space this week. Here we go: Binance unveils $500 million crypto mining project In the early hours of today, Binance Pool announced the launch of a $500 million miner lending project to support BTC mining and other mining infrastructure, providers. The Binance Smart Pool is a service allowing users to get higher profits by auto-switching hash rates to mine different digital assets using the same algorithm. The official announcement from Binance reads: “As one of the world’s leading crypto mining pools, Binance Pool has a responsibility to help maintain a healthy digital asset ecosystem. In light of current market conditions, Binance Pool is launching a $500million lending project to support crypto miners and digital infrastructure providers.” With this project, Binance said that it will focus on providing debt financing to both, public and private Bitcoin miners. Besides, Binance also plans to support different crypto asset infrastructure companies globally. Binance Pool will be offering $500 million worth of loans for an 18 to 24-month term. The interest rates for the loan will range from 5% to 10%. The Miner Lending Project should come as a big relief for crypto miners who have been looking for fresh capital support during this year’s crypto winter. Read also: Here are 3 cryptocurrencies you should consider buying this October $117 million lost in Mango Market hack Solana-based DeFi trading platform Mango Markets suffered a major hack on Tuesday, losing $117 million. According to blockchain auditors, OtterSec, the attacker was able to manipulate the value of his collateral to take higher loans from the platform. “The [MGNO] governance token was valued for far more than it should be. With that, [the attacker] was able to take out large loans against it and then drain Mango’s [liquidity] pools. It’s like a lending-borrowing race: if you have overvalued collateral, you can then borrow against that collateral, and that’s what they did.” Joshua Lim, Derivatives Lead at Genesis Global Trading, threw more light into the incident explaining that the hacker offered 483 million units of perpetual contracts and then funded another account with 5 million USDC to purchase the contracts at $0.03 per unit. The attacker started moving the spot price to $0.97 per unit and took out a $116 million loan leaving the platform with a negative balance. Assets withdrawn include BTC, USDC, MNGO, etc. The United Kingdom passes digital document bill The legislation necessary to enable the use of blockchain technology as a solution for the storage of documents has been approved by the UK government. The announcement was made in a press release yesterday. The Electronic Trade Documents Bill, which was passed on Wednesday, in the House of Lords, would make it possible for electronic paperwork to be legally recognised and will result in a reduction in carbon emissions by at least 10% and reduce the estimated 28.5 billion paper trade documents printed and flown around the world daily. According to the UK Digit...
...there are a lot of opportunities in the blockchain space, so Africans deserve to have their own share of the pie. With the increasing adoption of cryptocurrencies globally, the demand for blockchain developers is on the rise. More than ever, developers, who can build and design exciting applications and systems using blockchain technology, are much sought after in the market. Interestingly, recent forecasts suggest the blockchains market will climb to over $39 billion by 2025. Since blockchain development is a rapidly growing field, the supply of developers doesn’t match the ever-increasing demand, and Africa appears to be far behind in the race. This is the problem Polygon, the leading Web3 infrastructure used by some of the world’s biggest companies including Meta, Stripe, and Reddit intends to solve. In partnership with Xend Finance, the leading global crypto bank, Polygon recently commenced the Polygon Africa Bootcamp, an eight-week intensive certified mentorship program and hackathon for over 2,000 Africans with a prize pool of $60,000. Read also: Polygon to train 2,000+ Africans at blockchain Bootcamp organised in partnership with Xend Finance. What’s the motivation behind the Bootcamp? In an exclusive interview with Technext, Damilare Aregbesola, the Developer Marketing Manager for Africa at Polygon, explained that the motivation behind the Bootcamp was to place the continent on the global blockchain map “Being an emerging technology, Africans have little or no knowledge about blockchain development. That was a motivation for us at Polygon, we decided to bring the knowledge and resources to the doorsteps of Africans. And since they [Africans] are pretty much interested in learning about tech, we just knew the Bootcamp was necessary,” he said. He notes that there are a lot of opportunities in the blockchain space, so Africans deserve to have their own share of the pie. “Currently, there are about 100,000 blockchain developers in the world, with a population of 8 billion people. So we want to ensure that we place Africa on the global map this time,” he said of what Polygon sought to achieve with the project. He added that the Bootcamp aims to equip Africans with the right knowledge and resources to be part of the blockchain revolution, which he believes, is the only solution to the different financial difficulties being experienced by Africans. The list of mentors and judges includes big names in the African tech ecosystem such as Iyin Aboyeji, Founder & General Partner at Future Africa, Shodipo Ayomide, Global Head of Developer Advocacy of Polygon, Ugochukwu Aronu, CEO of Xend Finance, Victor Osaretin Asemota, and Yele Bademosi, CEO of Nestcoin, amongst others. Developers are the target According to Damilare, the Bootcamp — which is 100% virtual — is mainly targeting developers with proven experience in either web2 or web3, adding that there are two learning tracks: the Beginners Track and the Mastery Track. While the Beginners Track will be open for developers who are new in the web3 space and don’t have any web3 experience yet, the Mastery Track will focus on advanced web3 learning and is targeted at those who have some experience in the web3 space. Both tracks, he added, have a designed curriculum. “Participants of the Mastery track will have practical workshop sessions on how to build on the Polygon blockchain. So we are talking about six weeks of intensive learning and practical workshops for these people, both the beginners and the masters. And after that we have a hackathon where the top three Projects of the Mastery track will be given direct access to Polygon’s incubator/Accelerator program for further mentorship & funding,” he said. In the Mastery track, the first place will receive $10,000, while the second and third places will get $7,000 and $5,000, respectively. For the Beginners track, the sum of $5,000 will be doled to the first place, followed by $3,000 and $2,000 for the second and third places, r...
"Before Christie's, if you want to measure success by money, I was already selling my artwork for huge amounts of money..." “So don’t focus on the money, focus on making authentic arts, arts that are really true to yourself and then you put it out there, and people are going to love you for your authenticity not because you’re making arts in the style of Osinachi because Osinachi sells. That would mean that we won’t move forward in the space, we’re going to be in a space that is stagnant creatively because people would probably just be recycling ideas.Be true to your art, the power is in your hands, go on Twitter and engage with the community. Also across the world, it’s a decentralised space. Join discord servers, hopefully, people are going to see your work as being authentic and the world cares so much about authenticity. When you enter a certain space, it’s that authenticity that sets you apart from every other person. And when everybody is authentic, we have a more colourful, lively and beautiful space.” Born Prince Jacon Osinachi Igwe, Osinachi is a renowned digital artist who became the first crypto-artist from Africa to have his work sold by Christie’s Auction House in London last year. In an interview with Technext, the 30-year-old recounts his journey before recognition, the experiences after Christie’s, the benefits of the concept of NFTs and how he is planning to help upcoming creators upscale their careers in the NFT space. The formative years Osinachi grew up and had his primary/secondary education in Aba, the Southeastern part of Nigeria. He recalls how being an avid reader and ‘cyber cafe’ user as a kid helped refine his writing skills. “My dad took me to the cafe where I opened my first email and I felt this was an opportunity to show the world what I had been writing. So I started using Microsoft word, to save things and send them out to magazines and at some point I got bored. I started drawing pieces, logos and some abstract stuff.” That was how his interest in art started. The encounter with NFT After finishing NYSC in 2015, Osinachi got an appointment in his Alma mater, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka(UNN) as an Academic Liberian. He however still found time to continue doing his art. His first encounter with arts on the blockchain or what is now known as NFTs was in late 2017 when he saw an article written about the subject through a google alert for visual and digital arts that he had set up. “I was going through the alerts and I saw something about arts on the blockchain and I felt this was something I’m interested in. I reached out to the guy that the article was written about. It turned out that they were just starting out and were experimenting with this thing called arts on the blockchain which is crypto arts or NFTs that we know today.” Osinachi says he eventually entered the NFT space in 2018. He started doing his thing despite the fact that he didn’t know he would become this big. “I was still working full-time as an Academic Liberian. I just felt that since people were not paying so much attention to me as an artist because my work is digital, maybe this is where I could reach out to more people and probably be able to buy snacks from the sales/proceeds of my work.” Osinachi turned out to be the first African in the space. There are concerns in the traditional art space around digital arts, which makes them place digital arts below traditionally made arts. These concerns revolve around provenance, proof of scarcity and some other issues. Read also: Anthony Azekwoh: The digital artist with a story to tell For instance, if an artwork is bought from a particular artist who makes his work traditionally, you can be certain that through the certificate of authenticity that his work is one of one. That it is unique, no other copy is anywhere. Osinachi says: “These and some other concerns are what blockchain addresses when it comes to arts, and so with the records on the blockchain, an individual ...
The Google Cloud Platform infrastructure service will initially accept cryptocurrency payments from a handful of customers in the Web3 space... The weekend is here and we believe that it is a good time to reflect on the major news reports that have made the waves in the tech space this week, even as you rest from all that you have done. This week, Google joins the league of countries and entities that have adopted crypto as a payment means. The tech giant made the announcement in partnership with Coinbase. Similarly, Microsoft unveiled the latest surface computers. We will tell you what this entails in the later part of the report. In case you missed other major tech news from across the world, this week, don’t worry. We have got you covered in this roundup. Let’s get to it. Here is the summary of this bulletin: Google adopts crypto as a payment token, in partnership with Coinbase YouTube to introduce @usernames to help creators Microsoft unveils 3 new surface computers iPhone 14’s Crash Detector feature experiences flaws 6 African companies among 250 promising fintech globally Crypto gains more with Google’s latest adoption This week, Google became the latest to adopt crypto as part of its payment structure through a partnership with Coinbase. This, it says, would enable its customers to pay for its services using crypto. In a statement released on Tuesday, Google said it will rely on Coinbase to allow customers to pay for cloud services with cryptocurrencies beginning in early 2023 while Coinbase said it would draw on Google’s cloud infrastructure. The deal announced at Google’s Cloud Next conference might succeed in luring cutting-edge companies to Google in a fierce, fast-growing market, where Google’s top competitors do not currently permit clients to pay with digital currencies. The cloud business helps diversify Google’s parent company, Alphabet, away from advertising. It now accounts for 9% of revenue, up from less than 6% three years ago. Coinbase, which generates a majority of its revenue from retail transactions, will move data-related applications to Google from the market-leading Amazon Web Services cloud, which Coinbase has relied on for years, said Jim Migdal, Coinbase’s vice president of business development. After the announcement, Coinbase’s shares rose by as much as 8.4% in Tuesday’s trading session, although the stock is still down over 70% from last year’s price. There has been a number of wins for cryptocurrencies of late with so many entities and countries adopting them. Recently, Russia and Iran adopted cryptos as a payment option in order to facilitate international trade amidst economic sanctions. Related story: Russia to legalize crypto, Apple launches iPhone 14 + other major tech stories last week Gear up for @usernames on YouTube YouTube is set to join its counterparts in adopting the @username thingy for creators using its platform for easier direction and accessibility to their channels by their subscribers. The company introduced “handles” this week, a new way for creators to identify their channel with an @username format in order to interact with their viewers across YouTube Shorts, channel pages, video descriptions, comments and more. These handles will be made available to everyone on YouTube — you don’t need to be a creator of a certain size or subscriber count to claim your own unique @handle, YouTube says. Over time, handles and usernames have become popular on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and even TikTok. But YouTube had only offered limited support for the format, allowing creators to mention channels in video titles and descriptions with the @ symbol, or mention other users in YouTube Live chats, for example. But the @username option was not available in other areas and discussions. Instead, you’d have to reply to another YouTube user’s comment in order to tag them. Read also: YouTube announces new ways for creators to make money with content The latest i...
This is to support network development for mobile data as well as fixed wireless home broadband capability, including 5G rollout... Telecommunication company, Airtel Africa Plc has announced that it has acquired an additional spectrum in Tanzania. The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) sold the 140 megahertz spectrum split between 2600 and 3500 MHz bands to Airtel for $60.1 million. This is to support network development for mobile data as well as fixed wireless home broadband capability, including 5G rollout, and to provide significant capacity to match the country’s sustained robust data growth. Speaking on this acquisition, the telecommunication company in a statement said, This investment reflects our continued confidence in the opportunity inherent in the Tanzanian market, supporting the local communities and economy through furthering digital inclusion and connectivity, Airtel Africa’s expansion With the advent of 5G technology, telco company, Airtel Africa has been working to establish 5G presence in 14 African nations and is working to broaden its coverage. And, this is coming at an unusual cost. In 2020, Airtel Africa purchased 10MHz of spectrum in the 900MHz for $94 Million in order to broaden and enhance its services in Nigeria. The spectrum was anticipated to cost $70 million, excluding the obligatory NCC fees. Sources later revealed that Airtel Nigeria will actually pay $94 million for the spectrum. In June 2022, Airtel also acquired a 58MHz spectrum in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for $42 million. This spectrum is divided throughout the 900, 1800, 2100, and 2600 MHz bands. This was done to promote the DRC market’s 4G expansion for mobile data and fixed wireless home internet. Just one month after acquiring the DRC spectrum, Airtel Africa paid $40 million to the Communications Authority of Kenya for a 60MHz of 2600MHz telecom spectrum. That is a total transaction of $82 million in two months. Why Tanzania? With seven mobile operators, including Airtel and Vodacom, Tanzania is one of the most competitive markets in Sub-Saharan Africa. Vodacom is leading the pack of other telecommunications companies in terms of coverage and revenue. In an analytical report by Ookla. Vodacom had approximately 15.6 million subscribers at the end of Q2 2022. This translates to a 28.8% market share, while Airtel has a 27.4% market share in Q2 2022 with 14.8 million users. In September 2022, Vodacom introduced 5G mobile service in Dar es Salaam with plans to roll it out to about 230 places in additional cities. Vodacom will eventually increase its speeds as more people switch to 5G smartphones and pricing. It is also investing in new ways to expand its services. In May 2022, the company entered a partnership deal with the National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB), a national fibre optic cable network to expand its network’s scope. This decision signals Airtel’s desire to win a significant market share and maybe overtake Vodacom as its leader.
A total of $74.5 billion was raised in Q3 2022... Venture funding in Africa surprisingly dropped by 54% in Q3 2022, the CB Insights State of Venture Q3’22 Report has indicated. Meanwhile, this isn’t just an African problem. According to the 262-page report released on Wednesday, global funding fell to its lowest levels since Q2 2020. A total of $74.5 billion was raised in Q3 2022, which represents a 34% drop QoQ, the largest quarterly percentage drop in a decade. The figure also means that global funding is down by 58% from its peak in Q4 2021. What the numbers are saying According to the report, startups in Africa raised a total of $367 million in Q3 2022, representing a significant decline when compared to the $804 million raised in Q2 2022. Also, the volume of deals fell from 135 recorded in Q2 2022 to 117 in Q3 2022. In comparison, the drop in venture funding in Q3 2022 represents a 13% fall QoQ. Period (2022) Amount raised Deals in numbers Q1 $922m 173 Q2 $804m 135 Q3 $367m 117 This decline no doubt raises concerns, considering the fact that Africa was the only region to record three-digit growth in the first quarter of 2022. But in July, Africa’s tech ecosystem recorded the lowest funding this year, raising $239,706,000 – a 43.77% decrease from June’s $426,280,000. However, experts believe the seeming slowdown in venture funding globally is the result of venture capital firms changing their focus from growth-stage startups to early-stage startups. Recall in May, global venture funding fell to $39 billion, marking the first month in more than a year when it dropped below $40 billion. Read also: African startups raised $239m in July 2022, a 43.77% decline from June. Top equity deals The third quarter of this year saw a number of African startups raise interesting amounts in different funding rounds. Listed in the CB Insights report are 13 top equity deals in Q3 2022, with Nigeria taking the highest number with four deals. Leading the pack is Nigerian fintech startup TeamApt which raised $50M in what was termed a “pre-Series C round”. The amount represented 13.6% of the company’s total funding. Another major deal involved Mauritian digital connectivity and infrastructure provider, West Indian Ocean Cable Company Holding Ltd (WIOCC Group) which secured a $30 million equity investment from International Finance Corporation (IFC) in September. A month earlier, Nigerian sports gaming platform Scorefam raised $25 million from Bahamas-based investment firm GEM Digital Limited. Egypt-based furniture and home supplies marketplace Homzmart, also raised a $23 million pre-Series B round in August. Just recently, YC-backed food procurement platform Vendease raised $30 million in an equity and debt funding round. Other top deals in Q3 2022 are: South African biometrics start-up iiDENTIFii- $15 million Nigerian fintech startup, NowNow- $13 million Egyptian e-commerce platform Cartona– $12 million South African home cleaning startup, SweepSouth- $11m pre-seed Tanzanian SaaS platform Ramani- $10m Insurtech startup, Turaco- $10m Seychelles-based crypto exchange platform, KuCoin- $10 million South African startup, DataProphet- $10 million Read also: Venture capital investment in Africa will hit $7bn by the end of 2022- Report. Better days ahead At a time when global funding was reduced by 3% in the first half of the year, the cumulative value of venture funding deals reported in Africa reached US$3.5 billion, representing a 133% YoY increase from the same period last year. The reasons for this exception may include the efforts of African governments geared at “enabling entrepreneurship and investment to thrive,” the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA), an industry group, said in a recent report. According to The Big Deal, a newsletter that tracks fundraising in Africa, over $4 billion have already been raised by startups in Africa in 2022. Bloomberg predicts that if this funding trend continues, the continent may...
...over the past three years, MoKo has grown five-fold, and its goods are now in more than 370,000 homes in Kenya. Kenyan home furniture manufacturer and retailer, Moko Home + Living has closed a $6.5 million series B debt-equity funding round. The Series B round was led by Novastar Ventures (also co-led the Series A round). The other major players in the round include US-based investment fund Talanton and Swiss investor AlphaMundi Group Ltd. The latest funding will see the company close the availability gap for quality furniture in African homes. According to Co-founder, Eric Kouskalis, the company’s goal is to expand the existing quality furniture market for households in Kenya as well as make furniture relatively cheaper for families. “We entered this market because we saw a real opportunity to guarantee and deliver quality furniture. We also wanted to bring convenience to customers, by making it easy for them to buy home furniture, the largest asset for most families in Kenya,” Eric Kouskalis, MoKo’s Managing Director and Co-founder The company is also planning to use the fund to grow its presence in Kenya using online channels as well as build partnerships with retailers and outlets to increase offline sales. It also plans to purchase more equipment. MoKo’s investment partner, AlphaMundi in a statement expressed satisfaction with the company’s objective of driving a sustainable production of suitable and affordable furniture that is ecofriendly. “We were impressed by MoKo’s climate friendly local production capabilities. The company is a leading innovator in the industry because they’ve turned sustainability into a remarkable commercial advantage. Every step they’ve taken on this front not only protects the environment, it also improves the durability or affordability of MoKo’s offering to its customers,” Miriam Atuya of the AlphaMundi Group Read also: Lifestores Healthcare raises $3m pre-series A to fuel expansion across Nigeria What you need to about MoKo MoKo Home + Living was founded in 2014, initially as Watervale Investment Limited, first with an aim to fix raw material supply issues for furniture makers. It changed course in 2017 to service the general market and began a pilot for its first consumer product, a mattress. A year later, MoKo Home + Living was introduced. According to the startup, it has grown five-fold over the past three years and its goods are now in more than 370,000 homes in Kenya. It hopes to further sell to millions of homes over the next few years, as it embarks on scaling up production and growing its product line “We plan to have an offering for each major piece of furniture in a typical home – bed frame, TV stand, coffee table, carpet. We are also developing even more affordable products in existing product categories – sofas and mattresses,” said Kouskalis. By 2025, the furniture-making company hopes to expand its customer base and enter three new markets as the need for furniture on the continent grows as a result of population expansion, urbanization, and rising incomes. “The potential for growth is what excites us the most. There’s still so much room to better serve millions of families in Kenya. That’s just the beginning – MoKo’s model is relevant for most markets in Africa, where families face similar obstacles in making comfortable, welcoming homes,” said Kouskalis. Read also: Helicarrier’s BuyCoins Basic set to transition into Accrue with latest investment
TransferWise explained in an email that it is because the transaction services have not been extremely "reliable"... UK international money transfer service provider, Wise, formerly known as TransferWise has announced plans to suspend all USD money transfer services to Nigeria effective from November 1st and until further notice. According to a tweet by @iamDavemarz on Twitter, TransferWise explained in an email that it is because the transaction services have not been extremely “reliable” and “quick,” and this issue requires an adequate solution. It keeps getting worse 🥲🥲 The Webflow Guy💙 (@iamDavemarz) October 12, 2022 It’s not the first time the money transfer service has had to halt operations in Nigeria. The company also announced in 2020 that it will no longer send remittances to Nigeria after new rules by the country’s apex bank changed the currency of payment to the U.S. dollar from naira. Due to a recent regulatory update, we are no longer able to offer transfers to Nigerian Naira. We’re working hard to bring money transfers back to Nigeria. We’ll let you know as soon as they are available again. Wise (ex-TransferWise) (@Wise) December 17, 2020 The reason for this recent announcement is unclear but analysts believe that it could be owing to the recent FX restrictions by the Central Bank of Nigeria which had seen many international companies protest their inability to repatriate funds. At the same time, rising dollar demand has been putting pressure on the naira. Importers with obligations have scrambled for hard currency, while providers of foreign exchange, such as offshore investors, have exited owing to insecurity, policy somersaults and an unstable political atmosphere. Read Also: TransferWise, Others Top Players Left Out of Central Bank of Nigeria’s Approved List of Foreign Remittances Operators CBN’s policy effect on TransferWise’s services Similarly, the fintech company ceased all naira transfers to Nigeria in 2016 due to problems with currency exchange. It had only recently begun operating in Nigeria when this happened. TechCabal at that time speculated that the decision was owing to the unpredictability of the naira’s value at the time. In 2020, the Central Bank of Nigeria said that two international services were not licensed to operate as International Money Transfer Organizations in Nigeria: TransferWise and Azimo. At that time, the CBN also announced a significant reform concerning international money transfers to Nigeria. They authorised beneficiaries of diaspora remittances to receive US dollars into their bank accounts as well as cash withdrawals in dollars under a new policy order to increase foreign currency availability. The changes in the regulation caused the fintech company, Wise to halt all transactions with Nigeria. Read also: Nigeria’s diaspora remittances rose 15% to hit $9.3bn in H1 2021, the highest since the pandemic CBN and Remittance plans Remittances or money transfers are the second-largest sources of foreign exchange receipts in Africa’s largest economy after oil income. According to the World Bank, around $26.4 billion was given to Nigeria last year. But, given that this is a significant source of revenue for the country, why are there so many restrictions governing these transactions? It is possible that the central bank intends to tighten regulations in accordance with the US dollar remittance policy in order to better track all transactions. To further encourage people, in collaboration with Western Union, the CBN launched the Naira 4 Dollar scheme in 2021, which offers a return incentive on all USD money transfers made to recipients in Nigeria. The programme is carried out in collaboration with commercial banks in Nigeria and is a part of the bank’s attempts to improve the inflow of remittances from the diaspora into the nation. Users’ opinion on this Announcement Users have taken to Twitter to voice their dismay at this latest revelation. While some are still finding their wa...
TM finds a place that suits her perfectly where she can claim to be "breaking those barriers with conversations because that's what I'm good at," she says... Toke Makinwa has ventured into the podcast scene with a new show from EggCorn Digital, the young ambitious podcast production company that also houses I Said What I Said. In the promotional episode of Toke Moments, the hour-long spinoff of her YouTube vlog/hot takes corner/gossip centre of the same name, Toke Makinwa tells her audience that this will be her new home. But the underpinnings of her new home are no different from her other previous homes; Twitter, Instagram, Rhythm FM, Ebony Life TV, and other places where she has monetised by giving her opinions on relationships and experience with cheating men and favourite reality tv shows, not without getting into hot water for them. Toke Makinwa’s hubris all throughout her career has been her penchant for playing to the gallery, sometimes, for multiple contradictory audiences at the same time. At any given time, TM, the public persona she has summoned into existence in the last few years, is both the staunch feminist and the sugar baby. Like she was when she went to the other EggCorn hit podcast Tea with Tay and bragged about asking men for expensive gifts. And in the same breath spoke about how she can afford the gifts. And then finally claimed to be low maintenance. Starting out with Toke Makinwa Just in its first episode, the cosplay that Toke Makinwa continues to drench herself in behind the microphone already bares itself. As she and ace radio presenter, Toolz dive into Maroon 5’s lead singer Adam Levine’s cheating allegations, it is difficult to tell where TM’s loyalty lies. With women? With men? Or with the feminists? She dips herself into the pool of opacity and comes out with different contradictory takes on the topic, or more specifically on the women that surround Adam Levine. Even as she builds her conversation around the women, she wonders mid into it why society over the years has failed to apportion blame to the men who cheat. Then she dives into her own experience with a cheating partner, an experience she agrees to have “milked.” But she quickly runs into a split-screen on the matter. When Toolz asks her later in the conversation if that experience and the flurry of negative PR she received catapulted her to fame, she demures. “I wouldn’t say that that skyrocketed my career. I’ll say that it was already going there. And just the way that I handled it, is what I feel sort of got a lot of people curious.” When she started the narrative that she was a reverent Christian, she no sooner was criticised for making quotes from the bible that are just not factual. Later she will give up on posting passages of daily devotionals on the internet entirely and claim to not be the first point of contact when people think of a Christian. After she launched a line of lip stains, Twitter branded her “Ikorodu Kylie Jenner.” Initially, she played with the idea, owning the narrative as part of a joke she’s in on. But the audience won’t quit laughing at her, even as she demands they laugh with her. That didn’t work out and so she dumped it. Read also: Here are the top 7 podcasts you can listen to in Nigeria right now One time she said that she would prefer men not call on WhatsApp because she wants them to spend their money, calling on WhatsApp being cheaper. She was met with backlash. She hadn’t considered her Twitter audience when saying that. It’s not that Toke Makinwa will only speak after she has gauged her audience, and consciously contribute to the conversation that which they’re likely to agree with that is the problem. The real problem here is that she’s never been very good at gauging her audience at all. How then did she manage to occupy such a significant space in our consciousness? More conflicting conversations What is certain about Toke Makinwa’s rise to popularity is itself tied to this new public display o...
Sumayah Adegbite, 15, started her journey into tech at age 5, when she would do things like Powerpoint presentations, then 2D and 3D animations... The girl-child is only beginning to find more space to become indispensable and have a strong voice in society, but the journey still has some distance. Sumayah Adegbite wants to help young girls like her become techies, too, which is the reason, she is a co-founder at @thegirlstechie. Alongside her team, she “empowers and connects young girls to STEM skills,” knowing that women are underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers. Sumayah Adegbite, 15, started her journey into tech at age five, when she would do things like Powerpoint presentations, then 2D and 3D animations, before she began coding at nine. By age ten, she had learned Python, but because her instructor advised her to learn something new, she moved on to Scratch. Indeed, the role model intervention in having more girls working in STEM, where popular faces go into schools to talk to them about their careers, increases their likelihood of choosing a STEM career, but Sumayah’s story is different. She is not a popular face but is an inspiration to girls like her – especially those who use social media. With @thegirlstechie, Sumayah Adegbite aims to bridge the gap of labour gender gap in highly technological and mathematical careers. The beginning Sumayah started on solid ground. “Her parents, relatives, and schoolmates” were her first role models. “They made me understand what tech was. Without their help, I would not have known what tech was,” Sumayah says. Notably, her dad was interested in exposing her to AI, and “that’s why he asked me to learn the Python language.” But, she dropped Python at some point. From Python to Mobile/Web Development Sumayah journeyed into mobile/web development when Python was not working. Now, she currently works as a Flutter developer, but her everyday coding activities make her sound like an adult. “I am supposed to work from 9 am-1 pm. But, sometimes, if my code isn’t working, I have to work up until night, sometimes overnight, especially if I want to get the results as soon as possible.” Read also: A chat with Ikram Babs-Lawal about being a machine learning engineer, and co-founder at 14 Sumayah Adegbite and the world Sumayah just finished high school and wants to keep playing an active role in the tech space and is keen on solving problems for African society. The reason she is currently working on a full-stack project – a site similar to Pexels – but will only have pictures of black people. “My sister wanted to make a video, and she checked online but could not find African photos, especially on Shutterstock.” This was Sumayah’s inspiration. She is the only one working on it, and she says it has been challenging, knowing that she first has to search and use existing photos. Then, she has to get a license and has to find models to work with photographers effectively. Amid that, she wants to continue her education and is taking A’level courses to prepare her for university. Sumayah says to other young Nigerians. Like the Nike tagline, Sumayah says, “just start.” She adds that people who don’t know where to start or are afraid to start should just pick up the bucket to fetch the water. It is easier to focus on a field that interests you. If you love playing games, you should be learning game development. Sumayah Adegbite. She also says young people can start with Udemy, a platform that has pre-recorded videos of the courses offered, making it easier for people to learn. About The Girls Techie With The Girls Techie, Sumayah and her team want to empower girls between 13-18 with STEM skills. The ultimate aim is to build a community of young girls with the same interests. “In our research, we found a low percentage of girls in STEM in Africa because these young girls usually do not have anyone who inspires them.” The community uses the peer-to-peer mo...
"Alpha Male Mentality" is a brotherhood, of some sort, of social media knights who mostly post disparaging comments about feminism and women... It is easy to mistake Groove Papi, for one of the many relationship experts on the internet who promises their followers tips that are sure to get them into relationships. In part because the pinned tweet on his Twitter is a thread on how to woo a girl. “STOP TRYING TO APPROACH WOMEN THROUGH INSTAGRAM, SNAPCHAT OR TWITTER. She can easily disqualify you if you don’t reach her delusional standards, but when you approach her face-to-face then your personality will cover for you,” he says in the thread. STOP TRYING TO APPROACH WOMEN THROUGH INSTAGRAM, SNAPCHAT OR TWITTER. She can easily disqualify you if you don’t reach her delusional standards, but when you approach her face-to-face then your personality will cover for you Groove 💰 (@groovepapi) August 30, 2022 He tells his followers to approach her in person. If you’re at a party, talk to about ten women he says. Six could be interested. But on closer examination, his real intention bares itself. He is not offering regular dating advice. Groove Papi is at the forefront of the war, and he has struck the first punch. The Alpha Male Mentality They call themselves members of the “Alpha Male Mentality.” It is a brotherhood, of some sort, of social media knights who mostly post disparaging comments about feminism and women. “Society will applaud a Lady for beating a man up. They would rather stay back, watch and laugh when a woman hits a man, still blame the man and call him a weak man. ‘How can a woman beat you?’ But when these men y’all call weak to retaliate, it becomes assault. Y’all ain’t real,” TheManShola, who has assumed the role as the de-facto leader of the park in Nigerian cyberspace tweeted recently. “Feel free to fight her man to man,” he adds in another tweet. He tells his followers to never apologise to women when she is wrong. “Dump her before she dumps you,” he says. It’s ok for w0men to say they can’t date short men but where we draw the line is when men say they can’t date fat w0men. So, men aren’t allowed to have preferences? Calling a man who ain’t got height short is fact but calling a fat w0man who eats like a th!ef fat is b0dyshaming? Shola (@ThemanShola) October 8, 2022 Tweets from members of the Alpha Male Mentality carry this type of theme: how women are in fact the sex that benefits the most from the gender imbalance in society, how they should be grateful to have the attention of any man, how feminism has come to destroy the world order of men in leadership positions. They reject notions of men being emotional or vulnerable. Read also: Discord is gradually losing its nerd-community feel as ‘violence’ streams in from Twitter and Clubhouse The movement cuts across cultures, geopolitical zones, religious ideologies, historical moments and now social media apps. How it all started Long before people that subscribe to the Alpha Male Mentality found camaraderie on the internet, they had been gathering together for centuries, encouraging one another, holding the fort against the feminist movement. During the suffragist movement in the late 20th century, when women stormed state properties in Europe demanding their right to vote, they were met with backlash. Members of the Alpha Male Mentality plastered fear-mongering posters on the streets; they depict men feeding their babies, cleaning their homes etc. When radio emerged as the next frontier, talk show hosts with similar ideas quickly found their niche. Rush Limbaugh, the American talk show host embodied the movement. He disparaged feminists on his radio show as “feminazi.“ He described women’s right to choose if they wanted to become mothers or not as “a modern-day holocaust.” He described women who attained the highest level of education and became professors “professorette,” a term he used to make fun of them. He called them “militant women,” who “don’t need men in...
The cost of creating a new cryptocurrency is usually around $15k to $35k, according to Coinscreed.com... The ecosystem is saturated with an endless pool of cryptos and tokens to invest in and trade. According to Data from Coinmarketcap, there are currently over 20,000 different cryptocurrencies in circulation. But, does that necessarily mean that it is easy to create a cryptocurrency? The answer is yes. Anyone can create crypto coins or tokens, as long as the necessary expertise, technique, tools and resources are possessed. But before creating your own cryptocurrency, there is a need to know the difference between a crypto coin and a crypto token. Although the two terms are often used interchangeably in the space, they technically differ in some ways. Crypto coins are digital currencies designed to work within a particular blockchain built specifically for it. Think about flagship digital assets Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Cardano and some other cryptocurrencies which run on their own blockchains. While crypto tokens are digital assets built on top of an existing blockchain. This means that tokens do not have their own blockchains, but they are built on existing networks like Ethereum, BNB Chain, Solana and so on. Tokens in this category are Shiba Inu ( built on the Ethereum network) and Baby Doge (Binance Smart Chain and Chain Link built on Solana). It doesn’t need to be mentioned that it is apparently harder to create crypto coins than tokens. Creating a coin means building a blockchain network entirely from scratch. When it comes to creating cryptocurrency coins, a lot of expertise including a team of Developers is required in contrast to the creation of tokens that require less effort and technical expertise. Interestingly, you can create crypto tokens using already existing blockchains like Binance, Polygon, Ethereum, Solana or Smart Chain and this can be done in a few minutes. Read also: Dami.eth: All you need to know about Ethereum Name Service (ENS In this article, we are going to examine how to create crypto coins and how to create crypto tokens. Note: Regardless of how simple it might be, basic knowledge of the technical aspects of computers is required. How to create a crypto coin The cost of creating a new cryptocurrency is usually around $15k to $35k, according to Coinscreed.com. The process takes between one to six months, depending on how complex the blockchain and coin are. Creating a coin involves writing code to create a new blockchain, this blockchain supports your native cryptocurrency. This is where blockchain developers come in. You can find some with extensive technical skills and training in Solidity, Nodes, Rust etc. The first step is to choose a Consensus Mechanism. All cryptocurrencies require a mechanism to determine how nodes will process their transactions. There are several consensus mechanisms, including Proof of Work, Proof of Stake and more. Second, create the Blockchain Nodes. Blockchain nodes are electronic devices with IP addresses that connect to blockchain networks. Nodes are the communication endpoints to enable users to interact with the blockchain. Any distributed ledger technology, including blockchain, depends on nodes. Crypto creators must determine how these nodes will function. Details to consider include: Permissions, Hardware (physical versus virtual nodes) and Hosting requirements (software, RAM, etc.) The next step is to deploy Blockchain Permissions. Blockchain permissions determine who has access to the blockchain. Public blockchains allow anyone to join and participate in the core activities of the network. Private blockchains allow only selected, verified participants. Permissioned blockchains have qualities of both private and public blockchains and are increasingly common thanks to the ability to admit or deny specific permissions to various users selectively. Your choice of blockchain permissions will largely depend on your goals. Afterwards, build the Blockchain Arc...
By 2023, Lifestores hopes to reach four times as many patients—from 100,000 to 400,000... Nigerian health tech startup, Lifestores Healthcare has announced that it has raised $3 million in a pre-seed funding round. The latest round was led by Health54, the healthcare-focused corporate venture capital arm of CFAO Group, with participation from Aruwa Capital Management and other existing investors. Commenting on the raise, Bryan Mezue, Co-founder & CEO of Lifestores Healthcare said, We’re thrilled to have Health54 join our mission of democratizing access to quality and affordable primary healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa, together with existing investors, such as Aruwa Capital and the Lionbear consortium, With the new funding, the startup hopes to improve its software capabilities and expand into other Nigerian markets. In 2020, the startup had a similar plan when it raised N365 million in a seed round led by Flying Doctors Nigeria. However, in addition to improving their services and expanding into other Nigerian markets, the health tech company claims that this latest round of funding will also allow them to expand their sales and engineering teams, as well as their senior management. Read Also: Lagos-Based Health Startup, Lifestores Raises N365 Million to Expand Drug Distribution to Other Parts of Nigeria About Lifestores Healthcare Lifestores Healthcare, founded in 2017 in Lagos, Nigeria, by Bryan Mezue, Ken Ahaotu, and Andrew Garza, has continued to pursue its mission of transforming healthcare outcomes for underserved populations and ensuring a more effective pharmaceutical supply distribution. While the African pharmaceutical market has grown tremendously and is expected to grow at a 10% CAGR to $100 billion by 2023, it is plagued by highly fragmented and undercapitalized supply chains rife with counterfeit medications, which kill thousands of patients each year. In Nigeria alone, about 20-40% of medications distributed and consumed are counterfeit. This is one of many issues Lifestore Healthcare is attempting to address in the Nigerian ecosystem, especially through its OGA pharmacy services. Andrew Garza, COO & Co-founder of Lifestores Healthcare, explained the scope of the health tech startup saying, Our scope goes beyond merely distributing medicines and stabilizing prices. Essentially, pharma wholesalers are the ‘banks’ of the healthcare supply chain in Nigeria, and their impact on the overall economy is considerable. By optimizing how we extend credit to our healthcare provider partners and modernizing patient access to health financing, we are able to power the growth of our partners and increase patient access to quality care Plans and future goals OGApharmacy, a B2B pharmaceutical marketplace run by Lifestores, offers pharmacies 10–20% group discounts, innovative supply chain software, and the assurance that the drugs they are selling are genuine and not counterfeits. More than 10% of Nigeria’s pharmacies are registered users of this market, which has seen monthly market growth of 25%. By 2023, Lifestores hopes to reach four times as many patients—from 100,000 to 400,000—by increasing the market share of OGApharmacy customers from 10% to 25% of Nigeria’s overall market. With this new funding, Lifestores will launch new technology features as part of its B2B offerings, including pharmacy management software, AI-driven predictive ordering, advanced credit offerings, and patient management initiatives, in addition to opening a new processing centre in Lagos. Meet the investors Health54 is the Corporate Venture Capital fund of the CFAO Group, which is the largest healthcare distribution channel in Sub-Saharan Africa. The VC firm invests in and supports the growth of startups that provide innovative healthcare services and technologies across Africa. This funding round, which was 50% oversubscribed, is the first for Health54, CFAO Group’s corporate venture arm. By enabling operators to give patients in Nigeria stable...
...the September 2022 figure shows an increase of 39.5% in comparison with the ₦23.5 trillion recorded in the same month last year. The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) has said that in September 2022, e-payment transactions through the NIBSS Instant Payment platform (NIP) hit ₦32.8 trillion which represents a 1.2% decline from the ₦33.2 trillion recorded in August. However, experts believe that the worsening economic downturn in the country contributed to the decline. According to the NIBSS, the September 2022 figure shows an increase of 39.5% in comparison with the ₦23.5 trillion recorded in the same month last year. According to the latest numbers, the total value of e-payment deals in the last nine months currently stands at ₦271.5 trillion It said the value of e-payment transactions is responsible for the rise in the volume of deals within the month. The NIP volume rose to 438 million in September 2022, which represents a 48% increase over 296 million recorded in the same period last year. Earlier this year, the NIBSS reported that e-payment transactions grew by 40% to ₦205.4trn in H1 2022 — a 40% increase from the ₦145.8 trillion recorded in the same period last year. Read also: E-payment transactions grow by 40% to ₦205.4trn in H1 2022- NIBSS report. More Nigerians go cashless In 2012, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) kicked off the cashless policy to reduce the amount of physical cash in circulation in the country. The apex bank had sought to encourage the use of electronic platforms for settlement or payment for goods and services. The CBN in September 2019 released circular directing deposit money banks to implement the cashless policy. The move, interestingly, attracted a lawsuit which was eventually struck out by the court in April this year. A look at the NIBSS figures shows exponential growth in the use of electronic platforms by Nigerians. There is no gainsaying that the CBN cashless policy has gained traction over the years. The apex bank recently disclosed that the value of electronic transactions in Nigeria rose by 50 per cent year-on-year to ₦330 trillion in December 2021 from ₦198.61 trillion at the end of December 2020. No wonder experts said the surge in the volume of e-payment transactions means that more Nigerians are going cashless. And the number of e-payment transactions is projected to grow in the coming years, thanks to the rise of e-payment platforms and fintech companies. In its 2023 – 2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, the Budget Office of the Federation projects that the Federal Government will generate ₦484bn from e-payment channels. A look at e-payment transactions by months In January, transactions worth ₦26.6 trillion were recorded in January. Year on year, this showed a 43.7% increase compared with ₦18.5 trillion recorded in the same month of last year. In February, deals worth ₦27.2 trillion were sealed over the electronic platform. Compared with February 2021, when ₦18.3 trillion was recorded, this represented 48.6% growth. In March, NIP recorded ₦31.8 trillion in transactions, a 44.5% increase over the ₦22 trillion recorded in the same month last year. In April, the value of transactions on the NIP platform stood at ₦29.2 trillion. This also shows a 41.6% increase over the ₦20.6 trillion recorded in April 2021. In May, the value of e-payment transactions stood at ₦29.6 trillion, a 43% increase compared with ₦20.7 trillion recorded in the same period last year. The NIP transactions rose to ₦31.7 trillion in June 2022, a 37% growth over ₦23.1 trillion posted in 2021. In July, provided data reflected a 31% increase from ₦22.4 trillion in 2021 to ₦29.3 trillion this year. In August, the value of e-payments in Nigeria rose to a monthly all-time high of N33.2 trillion, representing a 50% increase when compared to N22.1 trillion recorded in the same period last year. Related article: Is NIBSS NQR really the solution to Nigeria’s e-payments puzzle...
The Bitmama app has had over 10k downloads and is rated 4.8... There is no doubt that the global financial system is gradually shifting from what it has always been, which is usually the traditional fiat form to a more robust and sophisticated system in cryptos, popularly Bitcoins. Although facing stiff regulation in some countries in Africa, and totally prohibition in others, Bitcoin has continuously risen above these challenges to emerge as a popular payment tender globally. In fact, a recent report indicated that there are five crypto companies on the list of the top ten most prominent Fintech organisations in 2022. This goes far to show the level to which cryptocurrency is taking over the fintech space. The Bitmama App, is one of those innovations that is offering traders of bitcoins and other popular coins a platform to buy and transfer coins within Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya. The App allows you to buy, sell and swap Bitcoins (TC), Ethereum, Celo, USDT, XRP, Usd Coin (USDC), Stellar Lumens (XLM) and other cryptocurrencies instantly with an easy-to-use and user-friendly crypto app. Also, it facilitates these trades with the Nigeria Naira (NGN), Ghanaian Cedis (GHS) and Kenyan Shilling (KES). Related story: Bitmama launches first African physical crypto cards for in-store payments About the Bitmama app The Bitmama app is a cryptocurrency app designed to facilitate crypto trading between countries. It also helps convert these cryptos to US dollars and helps you spend it online or at any retail location with the Bitmama crypto card. Apart from buying and transferring cryptos, the platform also facilitates swapping of one crypto for another easily. Seamlessly, Bitcoins can be converted to Ethereum, Tether or even another cryptocurrency instantly. It further supports purchases of bitcoins and other cryptos with fiat currencies on its P2P feature. Getting started The app is 17MB in size and requires an Android 5.0 OS and up to function. Owning an account is relatively simple on the app. With an automated set of sequential instructions, any user can go ahead to register and login in the space of 5 minutes, just like I did though. All that is required, is that you input your name, email address, phone number and finally a One Time Password (OTP). The OTP is meant to verify the whole process and is sent twice to the email address provided and the phone number. The app has had over 10k downloads. App Design The app design is simply simple and exquisite, with a colour blend that matches the country you are operating in. From my experience, the landing page offered me an introspect into all I needed to see and click on at any point. Interacting with the app is not so difficult as it doesn’t contain unnecessary features and images that might cluster it. Just a show of the daily forecast of prices of bitcoin and major coins and other features you can use the app for, Read also: Blockchain Payment startup, Bitmama raises $2m pre-seed funding Bitmama offers more than just crypto trading Apart from its major value proposition of allowing users to buy and sell their cryptos seamlessly on its platform, the app further allows its users to buy, sell and trade bitcoins and other cryptos with fiat currencies (your local money) anytime on the P2P crypto app. Furthermore, it allows users to buy cryptos and pay later. Users have the opportunity to secure loans without collateral from Bitmama to buy Bitcoins, Ethereum and Celo and pay back in 30 days. Another way users can make money through the app in a passive way is to refer people to use the apps and gain when those referrals use Bitmama to trade in the next three years. Finally, what we think about the app The app doesn’t fall short of what it actually offers, being a major crypto exchange and facilitator of funds around the crypto space in these three major countries in Africa. The app is easy to use and possesses a simple colour blend design that works with any personality and identity. Its ...
This trend is eliciting discussions around whether the NFT hype is fading or the possibility that the market is experiencing an adjustment... According to data from Dune Analytics, NFT trading volume is on a downward spiral. After reaching an apex of $17 billion in January 2022, Non-fungible tokens trading volume has fallen to around $470 million in September 2022, a whopping 97% drop in just 9 months. This shows that the wild volatility and upheaval experienced in the financial markets has not only affected cryptocurrencies. The digital art/collectables market has also suffered a decline in terms of growth and adoption. This trend is eliciting discussions around whether the NFT hype is fading or the possibility that the market is experiencing an adjustment. NFTs on the decline Specifically, the Dune Analytics report says that the monthly trade volume dropped to $466 million in September after reaching a high of about $17 billion at the beginning of 2022. A deeper analysis shows that this crash is in tandem with a five months period of consecutive decline, as the interest in NFTs started to wane. Recall that in August, Technext did an analysis which says there was a 26% decline in the total volume of NFT sales between June and July 2022. Read here: Global NFT sales volume declined by 26% in the past month Also, according to data from DApps tracker DappRadar, over the third quarter of 2022, total sales of NFTs amounted to just $3.4 billion. This represents a drop of more than half from the previous quarter’s $8.4 billion, and nearly two-thirds from the first quarter peak of $12.5 billion in total sales. The sales of NFTs on OpenSea, the largest marketplace for digital collectables plummeted in Q3 2022, a 60% decline compared with the second quarter, according to the data published by market analytics platform Cryptounfolded in October. Finally, from a mid-January peak of over 900,000, the number of weekly sales of NFTs have also halved, according to data from NonFungible.com. Over the past three months, the number of sales have dropped over 50% to a daily average of just 23,000. What is the cause of the decline? Through 2021 to the beginning of the year, NFTs were the talk of the town as almost every other celebrity, artist, and company jumped on the train. The institutional adoption was also fueled by the enthusiasm behind cryptocurrencies that saw total market capitalisation reach $3 trillion when the market was at its peak in November last year. However, NFT fortunes began to take an unfortunate turn in May as a result of rapidly tightening monetary policy. Consequently, investment flows were being cut off from speculative assets, contributing to a bigger wipeout in the crypto industry. This saw around $2 trillion leave the market since its peak. This wipeout of the global crypto market cap is a catalyst for the fall in interest and demand of NFTs. The individual adoption rate has not improved significantly too as most buyers aren’t buying NFTs to keep for the long time. Recall that in June, we analysed a survey which found that the vast majority of customers, particularly 64.3% of persons surveyed, only purchased digital collectibles in order to sell them at a higher price and make money. Another 14.7% purchased them in order to “join a community and flex,” while only 12.4% of NFT customers bought them for the sake of collecting digital art, and a very small portion (8.6%) purchased them to access games and tools. Related post: 64% of traders buy NFTs just to make money Hence, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that trading volume declined during the second and third quarter of the year, given that more than half of investors purchase NFTs only for the purpose of increasing their financial position and since the broader crypto market was no longer pofitable, they have moved on to other ventures. Going forward The NFT market is currently experiencing what can be branded a process of ‘separating the wheat from the chaff’. Tho...
...this isn’t the first time that MC Oluomo’s association would be looking to brand itself as a technology-driven body. Just close your eyes and imagine a technology-enabled danfo bus. Pretty difficult to imagine, right? Well, the truth is that it can be as simple as pasting a QR Code on each danfo and this is what the chairman of Lagos state parks and garages, Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya whom you all know as MC Oluomo appears to have cracked. Simply called the Bar Code, MC Oluomo claims that the technology solution would help reduce kidnapping and other crimes perpetrated by either danfo drivers or criminals carrying out their nefarious activities with public transportation in the state. “Our goal is to leverage technology to detect some criminal elements using our parks and garages to perpetrate crimes. We want to make our parks and garages as safe as possible. We will make them hell for anyone with criminal intention” – he said as reported by Vanguard. While the giddiness of having tech-enabled danfo buses coasting the roads of Lagos in rickety splendour might be driving the current buzz (at least with MC Oluomo and his people), eventually the excitement would simmer down and the core issues surrounding this move would come into question. Over the years, the crime rate has risen very sharply in the country. In Lagos, the blame was put mainly on the presence of motorbikes popularly called okadas. This led to the ban on commuter motorbikes in February 2020, a move that ultimately heralded the demise of bike-hailing companies like Gokada, Oride and Max in the state. Following another wave of clampdowns across the state in early 2022, the Lagos state Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Frederic Oladeinde claimed in August, that the overall crime rate has dropped by a colossal 86% as a direct result of the okada ban. Despite this claim, however, Lagosians don’t feel 86% safer than they did before the ban. Indeed, according to Numbeo, the largest database of user-contributed data about cities and countries worldwide on living conditions, crime rate and other indices, 63% of sources say that crime in the state has increased in the last 3 years. As a matter of fact, 74% of Lagosians say they are very worried about being assaulted and robbed, a category of crime which the typical one-chance scheme perpetrated with commuter buses falls under. The only crime category which recorded a higher percentage of worry for Lagosians is the worry of being forced to pay a bribe/corruption (88%). In March, news broke of how a 22-year-old Ogun-state-based woman, Bamise Ayanwole, was assaulted in a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) vehicle before being abducted and murdered. The story was shocking because while it was common to hear of passengers being attacked in regular danfo buses, it was unheard of about BRT vehicles until then. While the driver of the bus had been accosted, Bamise’s killers are yet to be identified until today. So, how would MC Oluomo’s QR code have made a difference in such a situation? MC Oluomo’s QR Code: What we discovered While launching the barcode, the secretary of the Lagos State Parks and Garages, Comrade Olayiwola Lemboye explained how it works. Apparently, every bus registered to the association would be assigned a unique QR code which would be pasted on the body of the bus as a sticker. Commuters would be required to download a yet-to-be-named app with which they could scan the QR code before boarding. Interestingly, the information that will be revealed in the scan does not include details like the name of the bus driver, the conductor, or its real owner seeing as many drivers do not own the vehicles they drive, etc. Rather, as reported by Vanguard, what will be revealed include the vehicle number plate and the secretary of the park/garage where the vehicle took off from. This, therefore, begs the question; if the name of the driver or bus owner wouldn’t be declared in the barcode, what then is its purpose? If the driver ha...
"Brotherhood" is an upgrade of gunshot and accident scenes in typical Nollywood... If you have been to the cinema to see what the heck the fuss about the recently released movie, “Brotherhood”, is about, you will meet an audience who love that the main character, who is a hardened criminal, got away after providing the strategy to hack two bullion vans and was successful with it. But that is a story for a later part of this review. “Brotherhood” is a story of two brothers who are on either side of the law – one a hardened criminal (who shows some signs of empathy and contentment), the other, a policeman, who intends to run through the ranks to make a statement about doing good for society. The trailer got people talking because it showed signs of growth from bizarre, supposedly action-packed movies. Not to release any kind of spoilers, but “Brotherhood” is an upgrade of gunshot and accident scenes in typical Nollywood. The Plot – “Brotherhood” There are three kinds of brotherhood in the movie. One is of the twin brothers whose parents died at the beginning, and are obviously orphaned and may have to struggle their way to old age. The other is a criminal gang that regards themselves as brothers, and the third is a police force who are keen on reducing crime in society and has a leader with integrity. The several brotherhoods in the movie simply project what the brothers – Akin and Wale are about. The movie begins with a scene that leaves unanswered questions – the kind that will make you wonder if we are supposed to imagine what would have caused the murder of two people. This becomes worse when you do not find out if the murdered individuals were either influential or wealthy. However, the shooting in that scene already tells you there will be some closeness to reality in gunshots and blood and death. Except that we would have loved that the brothers showed some kind of emotion after seeing their parents killed before their eyes. What happens after the scene is the story of Wale and Akin, the protagonists of a story of criminality, betrayal, and familial and romantic love. It is a simple story and must have been told severally, but stories have unique qualities, yeah? The climax of “Brotherhood” comes towards the end when everybody becomes enlightened about who is who. Read also: Aníkúlápó tells you a star-studded production can have a good story, but it leaves us hanging Besides the story, some interesting characters helped the story have life. Let’s name some of them: Characters in “Brotherhood” Akin, a.k.a. Kalashnikov or Kala (Tobi Bakre) – is the main character in “Brotherhood”. He eventually becomes the central figure in a criminal gang but is keen on not killing people. He will interest you if you love a strategist in your clique. Wale (Falz the bahd guy) – had to write his stage name in full because he brings the bad guy vibe to the movie, and this time, he is a policeman. When you put together Wale and #EndSARS, you will want to tell a story of a Nigerian police force with good eggs in it. Shadow (Basketmouth) – the CEO of The Juju Boys. The inspiration for the name juju boys will fly over your head every time, but he is the leader of the group that gave the police force headache. Izra (O. C Ukeje) – This one is a subtle reference to a typical Nigerian whose greed leads to the choices he/she makes. He is the one who brings up the plan to rob two bullion vans within 48 hours. But, something will kill a man, right? Aunty (Ronke Oshodi Oke) – Aunty projects a typical struggling Nigerian parent who would love their wards, notwithstanding their choices, but would not question their source of wealth when they should. There are, indeed, several other interesting characters, as it is a star-studded film (with three former Big Brother Naija housemates), but you would have to watch it to see them. The issues raised 1- Child abuse: You may be surprised at a scene where kids are used to process hard drugs, but it is an underre...
These add-ons are browser extensions that you may not be aware of but will most likely install after reading this article... Among the many features Google incorporates into Gmail these days, one that has long been lacking is a simple and effective way to interact with your calendar from your inbox. Although we’ve all found a way around this problem thanks to scheduling tools like Calendly, it still doesn’t allow you to interact with your calendar directly from an email message. But don’t worry: while Google has been overlooking the calendar in favour of cramming Google Meet down our throats, other companies have stepped up to fill the void. Today, we’ll look at some of the best Gmail add-ons, — in particular new Gmail-integrated Calendar scheduling systems that streamline work and scheduling. These add-ons are browser extensions that you may not be aware of but will most likely install after reading this article. Read Also: Tope Awotona’s Calendly ventures into recruitment scheduling with acquisition of Prelude Gmail Meeting Scheduling Tools Gmail Meeting Scheduler by CloudHQ With this extension, you can schedule meetings without exchanging emails back and forth. But wait, there’s more. Some of its distinguishing features include: The extension on Gmail is fully integrated with Google Calendar. Individuals do not have to fill in double entries of the same meeting because of the synced nature with Google calendar. With this, there are no scheduling phone tags because people can see the precise dates and times when they receive the first email. Based on the recipient’s precise availability, the meeting’s type, and their time zone, people can send customised invitations. Through the invitation, you can also find out who will be present at the meeting; recipients do not need to send a follow-up message. The tool also supports multiple calendars and you can edit existing meetings. How it works The extension is installed on a browser—preferably Chrome—and integrates with your Gmail account automatically after that. You are given a meeting parameter by the feature. The add-on icon can be found in the upper left corner of your Gmail homepage on your screen. You can access your CloudHQ dashboard through the icon to view all of your meeting histories. Additionally, it is accessible from a calendar icon in the bottom toolbar when writing a new email. This is how scheduling a meeting looks like The recipient then receives an email with a link after this is completed. The sender can preview the meeting invite to see how the recipient will see it and follow up on the meeting to find out when it has been confirmed without the recipient knowing. When the recipient clicks the link, it takes them to the full agenda for the scheduled meeting. After they select a time and date that works for them, the meeting is confirmed, and the sender is notified via email. Both parties have the option of changing the meeting’s details. The recipient may also cancel the meeting. Read Also: Google to merge Google Meet and Duo into one single app Boomerang for Gmail This has long been a classic Gmail tool, and some of its incredible features include; You can set a future time for emails. You can also configure a notification to remind you to follow up on unanswered emails. Additionally, you can send recipients a live view mail to let them know when you are available and unavailable. You can delay receiving new emails until you are ready to read them, and you can ask for a read receipt so that you know when a link has been clicked. Respondable, an AI tool, is used in the add-on to create better emails. How it works The extension is integrated automatically into your Gmail. The tool is much simpler to use than CloudHQ. One of the reasons is that after the installation, there is a tutorial session where it explains all of its features on the Gmail home page, what they do and where you can find them. Once the Boomerang extension is installed, any email you are w...
...latest example of how Google is delivering on the $1bn investment commitment made last year by company's CEO On this week’s Technext Global news roundup, Google has announced the launch of its first ever Google African cloud region in South Africa, while Twitter has rolled out its ‘Edit’ button for users in the US. If you missed this and other global tech stories this week, don’t worry, as we have got you covered with the roundup of the news making waves in the tech space. Here is the summary of the news: Google launches First African Google cloud region Twitter rolls out edit buttons for its Twitter Blue users in the US Amazon to support upcoming tech startups with $150m Google is redefining search engine Musk to settle twitter dispute out of court Google launches first African cloud region in South Africa Google has announced its intent to establish a new Google Cloud region in South Africa, the very first on the continent. The news, which came at the second Google for Africa event, is the latest example of how Google is delivering on the $1bn investment commitment made last year by the company’s CEO, Sundar Pichai. Google also announced that Equiano now runs through Togo, Nigeria, Namibia and South Africa, which is expected to deliver faster, lower-cost internet to the continent by connecting St. Helena, Togo, Nigeria, Namibia and South Africa with Europe. Other announcements by Google include: Google announced the launch of voice typing support for nine more African languages in Gboard, the Google keyboard (isiNdebele, isiXhosa, Kinyarwanda, Northern Sotho, Swati, Sesotho, Tswana, Tshivenda and Xitsonga). 24 new languages are now supported on Google Translate, including Lingala, which is used by more than 45 million people across Central Africa. To make Maps more useful, Google has also refreshed Street View in Kenya, South Africa, Senegal and Nigeria with nearly three hundred thousand kilometres of imagery. This helps people virtually explore and navigate neighbourhoods on Google Maps. They are also extending the service to Rwanda, meaning that Street View will now be available in 11 African countries. Google also announced the launch of Google Warmups, a machine-learning-powered tool that helps job-seeking candidates to maximize their career opportunities by enabling them to undertake mock job interview questions, with a view to improving their interview performance for the real-life application process. Twitter’s edit button finally reaches US subscribers Subscribers to popular social media platform in other parts of the world except the US may finally get their hopes up on getting the edit button they have been clamoring for, as the edit button finally reached subscribers in the US yesterday. This is coming after twitter announced some few days ago that its new ‘Edit’ button would launch to its paying subscribers in select market. The company disclosed that the service would start to roll out to its American audience via its Twitter Blue subscription. Previously, the edit button was being made available to Blue subscribers in Canada, Australia and New Zealand only. The edit button, a very much anticipated demand from Twitter’s user base, enables users to make changes to their tweets for up to 30 minutes after posting them. This feature can be used to, among other things, add hashtags, explain or rectify a mistake in a tweet, amend a small typo, and more. Amazon to strengthen tech startups with $150 million fund This week, Amazon announced the launch of Amazon Catalytic Capital, a $150 million commitment focused on investing in underrepresented builders in tech, according to TechCrunch reports. According to the release, the initiative will contribute to funds that support pre-seed and seed-stage businesses founded by Black, Latino, Indigenous, women, and LGBTQIA+ founders. Over the course of the following year, it is hoped that the funds would assist more than 10 funds and, as a result, more than 200 businesses. T...
Finding the best crypto coins to buy requires a little ingenuity in times like these... The entire crypto market has taken a beating recently. In fact, there were some pumps in September but market corrections also followed. Finding the best crypto coins to buy requires a little ingenuity in times like these. Since volatile times call for investment strategies that take advantage of the market’s upside while mitigating risk, it is important to take profits as soon as they come. With that in mind, we have come up with a list of three cryptocurrencies that can work together to form a profitable, resilient portfolio in October 2022. These tokens represent a healthy variety of the crypto market’s most promising and reliable investment opportunities you can tap a few bucks from in this uncertain period. Take a look at them below: Elrond (EGLD) $EGLD is a native utility token powering Elrond, a platform offering very fast transactions through the use of Adaptive State Sharding. Elrond is a blockchain protocol that distinguishes itself by its use of the sharding mechanism, which in turn grants extremely fast transaction speeds. There are numerous new developments in the ecosystem expected to launch this October which is expected to push the market price of the token which is used for staking, paying network fees and rewarding validators. Some of the updates are: Elrond Growth 2.0 Elrond Gamify Staking Phase 4 NFT Marketplace Multi-signature model for DAO Although $EGLD has been on a downward move recently in tandem with the general market condition, these updates should be a catalyst for a bullish movement. It is important to take profits as soon as they come. Related post: Here are 4 cryptocurrencies you should buy and keep for the long term Reserve Rights ($RSR) The Reserve Protocol is a decentralised system aiming to create truly decentralised stablecoins that can stand the test of time and resist inflation. The main idea behind the project is the creation of baskets of tokenized assets that can serve as alternative pegs for crypto assets. $RSR is a cryptocurrency created to stabilize the Reserve Protocol. As an ERC-20 token, it is based on the Ethereum blockchain. RSR has two principal uses for the protocol. Firstly, it acts as a governance token. It also serves to insure Reserve stablecoin (RTokens) through staking. The Reserve Protocol announced that it will begin the deployment of its full protocol in October, with the mainnet launch date in the month too. At this time, the platform and decentralised application (dApp) will go live, allowing for the creation of RTokens. The hype has been decent and the atmosphere in the RSR community is positive. Hence, it should be on your list of coins to buy in October. Cardano ($ADA) Cardano is a proof-of-stake blockchain typically considered an Ethereum competitor and its native token, $ADA is another token investors should add to their portfolios in October. Cardano is not just popular but is also considered one of the fastest-growing crypto coins in the world. The network has several advantages worth considering. The ecosystem launched a recent update called Alonzo. This update brings smart contracts to its platform and will allow developers to create DeFi applications and NFTs. In addition, the network’s recent Vasil Hard Fork, a significant upgrade similar to Ethereum’s Merge, was implemented towards the end of September. This upgrade will improve the network’s efficiency and scalability. More application development on the network is expected to take place. And given Cardano’s strong developer interest, this could mean a greater valuation over time. This is because a general theory supporting the valuation of projects asserts that a token should be worth the aggregate total of all the projects on its blockchain. Read also: Want to invest in the Metaverse? Here are 3 coins to consider Thus, as Cardano’s ecosystem grows, so should its valuation. Therefore, for those looking for anot...
"Looking back, I think becoming a digital financial services expert has always been an unconscious plan as I have been very deliberate in choosing the organizations I worked for..."- Chilekwa From a young age, Zambian-born Chilekwa Banda was always interested in computers and loved opening things up to figure out how they worked. It is little wonder that she is now a key player in the tech space as she had always known that this was where she belonged. Chilekwa Banda is not just a tech Sis. She is well-versed in notable aspects of the tech ecosystem in Zambia. She shares her journey so far with us on this week’s women in tech. Chilekwa’s interesting career path Chilekwa obtained a degree in information and computer technology from the Zambian Centre for Accountancy Studies. After school, she began an interesting journey around the industry that spanned over one decade. First, she got a job at Celtel Africa (now Airtel), a job which saw her fixing software on devices that came into Zambia for the telco. After a while at Celtel, she moved to Blackberry as a country representative and later to the UBA Zambia as the head of Digital support where she oversaw the implementation of digital banking projects and provided strategic support for its digital platform. After spending 3 years at UBA, Chilekwa would move on to Zoona, a mobile money transfer company, one of the first few in Zambia years ago. At Zoona, she carried out field research for 2 years before helping to launch products like the zone wallet. She left the company as head of corporate relations and strategic partnerships after 3 years. She has also worked at Paygo, a subsidiary of the Zanco bank, Zambia as head of strategic partnerships. She later joined fintech unicorn, Flutterwave as Zambia’s operations and partnerships manager. She later joined Postdotnet as managing director. Chilekwa tells me that the journey has been tough, especially because the industry is predominantly male-dominated: “The industries I have worked in have largely been male-dominated. In my college class, we were just 5 women in a class of 41. I had a similar experience at my first job.” Consequently, she had to do more to prove herself and continue to earn her place at the table: “A male-dominated industry requires women to think like men and act like one. This has its advantages and disadvantages with the latter outweighing the former. You are forced to prove yourself. I have been in some rooms where people expect me to come in with a superior male or colleague and they are surprised it is just me and the weight of expectation is palpable.” She admits that the conditions are getting better: “.we now have more women in the space. But. some of the challenges are still there. It has really been an interesting journey, full of challenges but interesting nonetheless.” She adds. Becoming the tech connoisseur Having a wealth of experience from working with different organizations, Chilekwa has been able to position herself as the go-to person people for ideas about the digital financial space in Zambia. “I have worked in several organisations and most of them are in the digital financial services space. Looking back, I think becoming a digital financial services expert has always been an unconscious plan as I have been very deliberate in choosing the organizations I worked for”, she explains. She told me that acquiring loads of experience has a cost. Chilekwa had been questioned a number of times by interviewers who sometimes saw it as being unstable. “For me, it was a journey of getting a holistic understanding of the digital finance sector. This means I have what it takes to build an organization with an experience in sales, technology, implementation, leadership and customer relations”, she said. To cement her place as the go-to person for all things digital finance in Zambia, Chilekwa is a member of several associations. These include the alliance for digital financial services and the associati...
Samsung has unveiled its latest pocket-friendly Galaxy A04s codenamed 'The Eagle' in Nigeria Today, Samsung Nigeria officially launched the Galaxy A04s into the Nigerian market. The launch of this device reinforces Samsung’s commitment in providing affordable yet quality devices that addresses the daily needs of consumers. The smartphone is packed with 4G/64 GB & 4G/128GB storage variants expandable to 1TB and runs on a One UI Core 4. The device supports Dual SIM and is built with a glass front and plastic back with side mounted fingerprint sensor. It also comes in attractive color variants of Black, Green, Copper and White. “Today is quite remarkable as we introduce Galaxy A04s, ‘The Eagle’. People want a device that is convenient, safe and affordable. They want a device that is a one-stop shop to enjoy watching movies, playing games and be productive at the same time”, The Galaxy A04s speaks to these needs said Charlie Lee, Managing Director, Samsung Nigeria. Read also: Samsung unveils new foldable smartphones, plans to maintain market lead “Galaxy A04s, another pocket-friendly mobile device from Samsung has been launched in Nigeria to edge out competition, ahead of other emerging markets”, the MD added. “The Galaxy A04s is an impressive device at excellent value that builds on our growing Galaxy A Series portfolio”. “With the Galaxy A04s, our customers can experience next-generation performance, demonstrating Samsung’s commitment to providing accessible devices without compromising on quality”, he said. Speaking about device specifications, Stephen Okwara, Product Manager, said “Galaxy A04s, ‘The Eagle’ has a 50MP front facing camera and 5MP selfie so that you can click some life-like pictures. Features on the rear camera setup include Digital Zoom, Auto Flash and Touch to focus. In addressing the current economic situation, Joy Tim-Ayoola, HOD MX division added that Samsung through a pay small small scheme called Flex Pay has provided the opportunity for consumers to buy the device and pay in 3-12 months’ installment with as low as ₦11,000 per month. And that is not all, customers can also repair their screens as low as ₦12,500 with no limits to frequency or time. The Samsung Galaxy A04s Price in Nigeria According to Chika Nnadozie, HOD Marketing, “The introduction of the Galaxy A04s promises to improve the position of Samsung in the mass market segment of the mobile phone market especially with its price positioning”. The recommended retail price for 4+64GB is ₦96,000 and 4+128GB is ₦103,000 and devices are readily available at authorised dealer stores nationwide and online partner stores.
...we are yet to see the Central Bank of Nigeria come up with a framework that regulates the crypto space The Technext panel session on Crypto and Africa: the strains, the gains and the future hosted physical speakers like Chris Ani, CEO and founder of Daba, Buchi Okoro, founder and CEO of Quidax, Senator Ihenyan, President of Stakeholders in Blockchain Association of Nigeria (SIBAN), Ruth Isalema, CEO of Bitmama and Chinedu Obidiegwu, Product Manager at Luno. Also, the physical panellists were joined online by Osamede, Arhunmwunde, CEO of GIGX and Sandi Bitec, CEO of 3air. The panel discussed the problems associated with integrating blockchain technology and trading cryptocurrencies in a developing continent like Africa. They also considered the sweet gains, victories, and liberty that come with financial inclusion. The panellists, after weighing both sides of the discussion proffered a way forward for the continent. A major highlight of the conversation was that crypto has the power as a tool, to reduce the limitations in finance. According to Chris, it is a tool for financial freedom in Africa. Read also: #TNC2022: “DeFi will solve the problem of financial inclusion in Africa”- Obi Emetarom The strains of crypto adoption in Africa According to Blockchain analytics platform, Chainalysis in its Global Crypto Adoption Index for 2022, no African country makes the top ten of crypto adoption globally. Africa’s two leading countries, Nigeria and Kenya which ranked 5th and 6th respectively in the last report, have significantly been relegated from the list. Nigeria dropped to 11th position while Kenya now is at number 19. Morocco has joined the top 20 with a surprising overtake of Kenya to the 14th position. Related story: Kenya, Nigeria drop out of top 10 countries on 2022 global crypto adoption index According to the report, the major reason for the drop was due to the fact that Africa, in particular Nigeria and Kenya, had no institutional players or low centralised exchanges. Most of the players in the space in Africa are individuals who transacted for their personal gains. A major challenge confronting the space in Africa, according to the speakers, was the stiff regulation or the inability of regulation to catch up with Blockchain technology and its importance in solving economic difficulties. The prohibition of cryptocurrencies in Nigeria in 2021, was one of the references cited by Senator, who mentioned that the central players in the financial system are yet to fully adopt and accommodate its usage. The regulators are not really accommodating cryptos yet. For instance, we have the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) come up with new rules which regulate the crypto market, but we are yet to see the Central Bank of Nigeria fully come up with a framework. This is the way the Central players accommodate cryptos in the rest of the world. – Senator Ihenyen One of the major limitations of crypto in Africa is the lack of investment into the infrastructure with enhances its adoption, just like creating the right policy framework for its ascension to the next stage of institutionalised trading. Recently, a study by Utility Bidder showed that five out of the top ten most prominent Fintech organisations for 2022 are crypto companies. These companies are unsurprisingly located in countries outside Africa. Read also: Crypto companies dominate list of global top 10 influential fintech companies in 2022 The question then becomes, what is Africa doing to ensure it catches up with the rest of the world at a time when it is dominating the financial sector globally? Will Africa fully come to an understanding of its importance and fully utilize the gains that come with backing its adoption? This only shows the possibility of Africa rising up to solve its economic challenges through blockchain technology and crypto.
Besides progressive regulatory policies, Hong Kong's government offers multiple grants to help startups establish, grow and expand... In its Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2022 Fintech Edition, Startup Genome has listed the top fintech ecosystems in the world. The top 5 ecosystems include Silicon Valley, New York City, London, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Among the top five, Hong Kong is reported to be a new entry due partially to its number of fintech-focused accelerators and incubators, which are reflected in its focus factor score. The city also scores well in funding, which includes early-stage funding volume and growth, as well as the number of local investors, the report stated. In 2021, Hong Kong produced two fintech unicorns: ZA and Amber Group. Its most recent unicorn, created in May 2022, is Babel Finance. The positioning of Hong Kong as a key innovation and technology hub for the Greater Bay Area and international financial centre – as laid out in China’s 14th Five Year Plan – will enable fintech firms in the city to leverage Hong Kong as a test bed for further expansion to mainland China’s massive markets. It will also enable them to raise capital and create demand, according to Edmond Choo Chiang Yong, in Attracting funding to Hong Kong fintech sector. Highlights of the report: North America and Asia both have eight ecosystems in the top 25, making up 32% each. Europe holds 24% with six ecosystems. MENA, Latin America, and Oceania each have one ecosystem in the top 25 (4% each). No African ecosystems are represented. The top 5 fintech ecosystems across the globe 1. Silicon Valley Silicon Valley, located in the South San Francisco Bay Area of California and named after the main material in computer microprocessors, is now the destination of choice for technology businesses. Big tech companies like Apple, Cisco, Google, HP, Intel and Oracle, etc., already established their headquarters in Silicon Valley, and they record phenomenal growth and business success. According to Investopedia, many of the reasons for this region’s success have to do with the social and cultural aspects of the tech community that has grown there. As authors of The Culture of Innovation: What Makes San Francisco Bay Area Companies Different?, a 2012 joint study by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute and Booz & Co. said, What we found was a special trait that distinguishes Silicon Valley’s firms from ordinary companies: the ability to integrate their innovation strategies with their business strategies.” It is ranked 10/10 in performance, funding, startup experience, talent, and legacy by the report. Read also: Lagos houses 88.4% of Nigeria’s startups – report 2. New York City New York City ranks second in global fintech ecosystems – ahead of London, with which it previously shared a spot. New York is one of the world’s great financial centres, so, naturally, a centre that hosts the headquarters of some of the largest banking and investment companies would also be home to a thriving fintech scene. “New York was an obvious choice for a lot of the companies who knew they’d be able to attract a lot of financial talent,” said Wong in 2016. “On the other side of that, you’re seeing a lot of tech and engineering talent wanting to move to New York. Knowing that the financial system is so deeply embedded in New York, and knowing that the tech ecosystem in New York overall is on the rise, I think is the primary reason you’re seeing a lot of fintech companies wanting to set up here instead of in the Bay Area.” New York City has a strong presence of incubators and innovation labs that have been set up to support Fintechs right from seed funding to exit. 3. London According to The Global City, with nearly 90,000 finance and insurance firms in the UK, London has one of the world’s highest concentrations of financial and professional firms. More reason it is a thriving fintech ecosystem of around 2,500 companies in Britain, mostly in London, making Lon...
It took the investigative panel six weeks to reach a conclusion. Embattled founder and former CEO of fintech startup Risevest, Eke Urum, has been found guilty of sexual impropriety, abuse of power and workplace bullying following a six-week investigation into complaints of sexual abuse levelled at him. This is coming after he was earlier asked to step aside from his role to allow for investigations into these allegations. Consequently, the panel in a statement has disclosed that the evidence presented couldn’t prove sexual abuse, but Urum was found guilty of sexual impropriety, bullying, and abuse of power amongst others. “The evidence presented to the panel could not prove sexual assault by Eke Urum. However, the evidence presented to the panel including admitted sexual relations with an employee and unwanted, inappropriate jokes and conversations revealed sexual impropriety. It also showed a pattern of abuse of power, intimidation, retaliation and workplace bullying by him,” the statement reads. Panel’s decision on embattled Risevest former CEO Following the panel’s findings, A member of the investigation panel, Toun Tunde-Anjous shared that the panel recommended that Urum will not be reinstated, but remain frozen out as Risevest’s CEO. Tony Odiba, the acting CEO who replaced the founder in an acting capacity, will stay on in that capacity until a newly constituted board appoints a new CEO. Also, as a result, Urum will move into a non-executive member role of the new board and will lead the startup’s investment strategy and provide guidance on technology. In his response, the former CEO has accepted the judgement and recommendations of the panel. He also stated his willingness to learn from all that has happened and seek proper guidance. He said: “As a leader, I have grown a lot over the years and still have a lot of growing to do, which is why I’m going to be taking additional coaching and executive training. “I regret the distraction that my actions may have caused and fully respect the integrity of the process the Risevest investors and the panel underwent to identify the gaps in our systems and my leadership.” Eke Urum, former CEO of Risevest Urum also stated his intention to support Tony Odiba to make the necessary adjustments to Risevest’s culture in order to keep it inclusive, secure, and welcoming. Read also: Risevest assures customers of funds safety despite court order freezing its account It took the investigative panel, comprised of Odun Longe and Toun Tunde-Anjous, and chaired by Tomi Davies, speaking with almost 60 current and former employees, six weeks to reach a conclusion. As part of the recommendations of the investigation panel, a Board of Directors comprised of Urum, Tony Odiba, two investor representatives, and one independent member approved by both founder and investor groups, is to be immediately constituted. Risevest does not previously have a BoT. The panel called that after the board is formed, the conversion of currently-held (simple agreement for future equity) SAFEs into equity should take place. Back in August, Urum was asked to step aside by investors at the company, despite owning the largest part of the company, until the end of the investigation by panel members appointed by the investors. “Following allegations of sexual and non-sexual impropriety from someone who can be reasonably expected to have knowledge of such, investors of Risevest have asked Eke Urum to step aside from his role as founder and CEO and an independent investigation is ongoing,”the statement read. Read also: Google to host its first African cloud region in South Africa. Gives report on $1bn fund
With Locket, users are offered a path to a close-knit digital community of no more than 20 people at a time... On the Locket app, there isn’t any followers icon. Users can’t see who has who on their lists. They add people, typically friends and family already on their contact who also use to app to a list which they currently can’t have more than 20 people on. What they do is share photos with people who they have on the list. If they don’t have you on the list, you can’t see whatever they share on the list. Comments are allowed from members of the list. But only list owners get to see the comment. It’s like Whatsapp Status but on speed dial. Instagram but without the incessant demand for seemingly unattainable standards. On Locket, users have a chance to be themselves, unfiltered. With the rise of big social media giants like Instagram and Facebook, countless data and research have echoed the rising rate of depression among Millenials and Gen Zer birthed by their experiences on the apps. The model of these social media companies is for users to grow their followers by sharing content strategically on social media. On many of these social media apps, followers, likes, comments, and clicks are the currency, the status symbol. According to research by The Child Mind Institute, a think tank that focuses on mental health and learning disorders in young people “in several studies, teenage and young adult users who spend the most time on Instagram, Facebook and other platforms were shown to have a substantially (from 13 to 66 per cent) higher rate of reported depression than those who spent the least time.” Read also: Discord is gradually losing its nerd-community feel as ‘violence’ streams in from Twitter and Clubhouse The data is worse for women. The Women Media Centre discovered, in a research, that just having a feminine presenting display picture, or username on the internet opens one to attack 25 times more than other users. The research says that they “are sent threatening and/or sexually explicit private messages 25 times more often than those with male or ambiguous usernames.” It’s no wonder the Locket app has become popular among Gen Zers. This is why locket has become very popular with Gen Zers, jaded by the drama and constant unsolicited reminders of how inadequate or imperfect they are on social media. How Locket is different Occasionally, users’ phones will chime. It’s the Locket widget, notifying them of a new post from someone who has them on their list. It will be near impossible for the world to time machine back to a time before social media. Earthlings have tasted social media and can’t look back. But as Gen Zers, so called for being born into the digital world, look for their sanity in the place they know best, the internet they are beginning to find some. With Locket, users are offered a path to a close-knit digital community of no more than 20 people at a time, where they can update each other about their day as it goes by. “I use Locket cause to me it’s really private and IDK. I just love the fact that I can post whatever anytime and it doesn’t matter if I look pretty or not. I don’t get judged by people,” Ola, a young Nigerian teenager told Technext. “And it’s like you get to see the goofy side of your friends or people you consider to be friends,” he added. “Locket is just a fun app to keep in touch with ur friends and their daily activities,” Mark another teenage Nigerian user said of his experience with the app. But discord in their seasons of peace could be brewing. Meta, the owners of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp among other social media machines is always on the lookout for a new app to swallow or whose features it can integrate into its other apps. This week, it announced a new feature that will allow users of its apps to switch between them without leaving the apps entirely. All this is so it can keep the eyeballs on its products. @locketcamera Link in bio #locket #widget #2021 #2022 ♬ origina...
In case you missed the event, here is a brief summary of all that happened at the event for your reading pleasure... At the Technext Coinference 2.0, the largest blockchain gathering in Africa, held in Lagos two days ago, key stakeholders and enthusiasts held heated debates on the future of blockchain in Africa. In a series of panel sessions and keynote addresses industry insiders touched on hot-bottom topics ranging from regulations in the crypto space, the future of decentralised finance (DeFi), opportunities for Africa with Web 3 and how NFT is disrupting the industry. In case you missed the event, here is a brief summary of all that happened at the event for your reading pleasure: Keynote on “Blockchain for Africa: Decentralised Economies, Merged Future” Speaker: Hanu Fejiro, CEO Patricia Hanu Fejiro, the CEO of crypto exchange company Patricia led the call at the plenary session for a more robust adoption of Web3, especially in African countries. “Crypto creates a new way of web creation, especially in ways we’ve never seen before. You create an NFT, put it on OpenSea and you could get 95% of the royalties, that’s really the game changer,” he said. He went on to add that the massive adoption of crypto by Africans is poised to give the continent a major stake in the burgeoning blockchain industry. “I believe that Africa has the most use cases for crypto and can become the headquarter of crypto while Nigeria becomes the SI unit, that is my dream and vision and conversations like these will drive that,” Hanu said. Read also: Web3 can solve the inflation and currency devaluation problem in Africa- Hanu Fejiro Breakout Panel Session: DeFi and the future of finance in Africa Moderator: Emmanuel Onwuka, Presenter, Nigeria Info FMPanellists: Buki Ogunsakin, BBO Solicitors Sandi Bitenc, Chief Executive Officer, 3air Obi Emetarom, Co-founder and CEO, AppZone Mohammed Jega, Co-founder, Domineum Blockchain Solutions Gideon Orovwiroro, COO, Korapay Technologies In a more intimate session, panellists debated the rising adoption of DeFi in Africa and how it will affect the way Africans think of finance in the nearest future. Obi Emetarom of AppZone made the case that with DeFi anyone with an interest in digital assets has the opportunity to own numerous digital assets using the Blockchain wallet system. Buki Ogunsakin of BBO Solicitors said that more legal work and sensitisation are needed for the space to reach its full potential in the nearest future. Read also: “DeFi will solve the problem of financial inclusion in Africa”- Obi Emetarom Breakout Panel Session: Building a Career in Blockchain Moderator: Ebere Etike, Journalist, TechnextPanellists: Deji Awosika, Founder, Web3 Bridge Famous Ehichioya, CTO, Youverify Seun Lanlege. Founder, Polytope Labs, Lagos, Nigeria How does one start a career on the blockchain? Panellists in the session debated the topic. They said that beginners looking to start careers in blockchain need to be intentional with the specific field that they want to veer into. They said that getting mentors in the field is a good way to accelerate their careers in the blockchain. Breakout Panel Session: All you need to know about Web 3 Moderator: Oluwadamilare Akinpelu, Communications Manager, TechnextPanellists: Oloye Oluniyi, Co-founder, CryptoRoundupAfrica Ebenezer Ugo Akachukwu – Artist & Web3.0 Oluchi Enebeli, Founder, Web3 Ladies The message from the panellists was clear; Web3 is for all who would have it. “Everyone can play a part in web3. You don’t really need to know the technical and coding aspects to consider doing something with Web3,” Oloye Oluniyi of CryptoRoundupAfrica said. They also called for more people with different skill sets other than coding to explore opportunities in the space. “Blockchain technology, crypto, NFTs, DAOs, and others require diverse skillsets other than just coding,” Oluchi Enebeli, of Web3 Ladies said. But even then panellists want beginners in the space to know that it’s m...
For instance, in 2021, 604 African startups raised a record high figure of $5.2 billion, according to the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA)... A look at the industry numbers shows that 2022 has been quite an interesting year for startups in Africa. Since the beginning of the year, a huge flow of venture capital investment has found its way into the African tech ecosystem, with many startups on the continent raising unprecedented amounts to expand their services. According to The Big Deal, a newsletter that tracks fundraising in Africa, over $4 billion have already been raised by startups in Africa in 2022. This figure, however, represents some sort of decline due to Q3 numbers which were said to be “slightly disappointing”. Unlike the first and second quarters of the year, Q3 “registered a fall of -53% YoY in the amount raised and -25% YoY in a number of deals ($100k+, excluding grants),” the newsletter said. The reason for this may not be unconnected to a slow down in ‘mega deals’ of $100m and above. But of course, better days are ahead if one considers the impressive numbers recorded in the past. For instance, in 2021, 604 African startups raised a record high figure of $5.2 billion, according to the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA), an industry group. Read also: Constant Ventures is offering up to $15m venture fund for West African startups. Edging towards a ‘magic figure’ In its 2022 H1 African Venture Capital Activity Report released last month, AVCA projects that the amount of venture capital investment in Africa will hit an all-time high of $7 billion by the end of the year. According to the report, the first half of 2022 saw 445 VC deals involving 300 unique companies take place in Africa’s venture ecosystem, which corresponds to YoY growth of 72% from 2021 H1. “Assuming all else remains unchanged and a similar compound annual growth rate carries forward into 2022 H2, we can expect the total volume of VC deals to reach approximately 900 deals by the close of 20225 – a 38% YoY increase from the 650 deals that took place in 2021,” the report said. Related news: Home cleaning startup, SweepSouth raises $11m pre-seed funding. An impressive run So far, VC funding in Africa has witnessed impressive growth in 2022. While startups in nearly other regions of the world struggled to replicate the venture capital funding they raised last year in the second quarter of 2022, their African counterparts were an exception to this global trend. According to data by Crunchbase, global venture funding fell to $39 billion in May 2022, marking the first month in more than a year when it dropped below $40 billion. However, according to the AVCA report, the cumulative value of VC deals reported in Africa reached US$3.5 billion in 2022 H1, representing a 133% YoY increase from 2021 H1. This impressive run is hardly surprising. For AVCA, the growth in startup funding, beyond the depth of the potential the continent has to offer, is all thanks to the “concerted effort byAfrican governments” who in recent years have nurtured “vibrant and supportive ecosystems, enabling entrepreneurship and investment to thrive”. Just recently, the Zambian government kick-started a bid to transform the country into Africa’s tech hub, a move backed by Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin. In August, Zanzibar launched its “Silicon Zanzibar”, aimed at attracting tech companies from across Africa to the island. A month earlier, the Nigerian legislature passed a startup bill to create a friendly environment for tech-based startups in the country. The report added that if all indices remain unchanged and a similar compound annual growth rate carries forward into 2022 H2, the value of capital generated by African startups is expected to reach US$7.0 billion by the close of 2022, representing a 35% YoY increase from the US$5.2 billion raised in 2021.
NFTs will be used in movies and NFTs will be used as a way of promoting art in Africa on a global scale... On Monday, October 3, at Landmark Event Centre, VI, Lagos, Technext hosted the second edition of the largest blockchain gathering in Africa, hosting enthusiasts and experts with the theme “Blockchain and DeFi: Beyond the Hype“. Technext Coinference 2.0 had about 2,000 attendees, two keynote presentations and four breakout sessions, one of which was ‘Making money from NFTs.’ The session, moderated by Omoleye Omoruyi, a journalist at Technext, had the Founder/CEO of Hashgreed, Efosa Ighodaro, the President at Panaramic, Tunji Anjorin, and an NFT creator, Adisa Olashile as panellists. When asked about his NFT journey and how he got to sell his viral NFT – Baba Onilu, Adisa said: “I was a mobile photographer who took photos of my friends back in university. I had no idea about NFTs. A few years later, I learned about NFTs from a schoolmate, and he got to learn about it and started trading NFTs.” On how he got to sell Baba Onilu, he said, “I didn’t expect to make money that day, I just saw the old man, took his picture, the picture went viral, and a collector reached out to me to mint it, and he’ll buy it. I minted it, and it got sold.” He told the audience that he gave the old man 50% of the money due to the fact that he didn’t expect to make money that particular day. On minting and trading NFTs “We have to create African art and take it to the world through the NFTs” – Efosa Ighodaro Efosa described how Hashgreed can help make NFT trading easy for Africans. On Hashgreed, we’ve made buying and selling NFTs, and it is easy to get started. You can create your NFT on the platform for as low as 0.001 KSS, which will be multiplied by five and makes it easier for NFT creators and traders to mint and sell NFTs. Efosa Ighodaro He further described how Hashgreed aims to take NFTs to the next level in Africa with a platform where you can gain access to different types of NFTs – Music NFTs, Startup NFTs, Services NFTs, and lots more. “We’ve partnered with art galleries like Nike Art Gallery that can showcase your NFTs, and in future, we would have movies which would have your NFTs showcased in them,” Efosa said. On trading NFTs safely In response to a question on how to trade securely with NFTs and ensure you don’t get scammed, Tunji Anjorin said: “In NFTs, you should always do your research, in fact, whatever you do in life. Firstly, check the project. Are their founders doxed? Meaning, are they known? Or undoxed? Are they unknown? Also, check their discord community to whether they have bots, as some channels will have over 250,000 members and they’ll all be bots. “Next, only click on the project’s official links, making sure you don’t make any mistake in the spellings as a simple mistake could cost you all your funds.” Staying away from suspicious links is the best way to protect your assets from hackers and scammers- Tunji Anjorin Do we need ‘backyard runs’ to sell NFTs? In response to a question on how true it is that you need to have “long legs” (underground workings) to sell your NFTs and trade on the market, Tunji said, “yes, you need connections as when people get to know your art and trust you, you’ll get to sell your NFTs.” Adisa reiterated his point of view by saying that without connections or a strong network, your NFTs may not reach the right places for them to be eventually sold. Efosa also described how Hashgreed aims to help NFT creators have connections to sell their NFTs. He said, “Come join us, and we’ll be your legs in your NFT journey.” Does the NFT space have a future in Nigeria? On the issue of the growth or death of the NFT space in Nigeria, Efosa stated that “in the future, we’ll be seeing more celebrities in Africa use NFTs. NFTs will be used in movies and NFTs will be used as a way of promoting art in Africa on a global scale. As an individual, you should think about creative ways to adopt NFTs into your...
Africa is one of the fastest-growing markets for cryptocurrency adoption, according to Forbes The Technext Coinference breakout session on DeFi and the future of finance in Africa hosted had Obi Emetarom, CEO and Co-founder of Appzone, Gideon Orhovhowo, COO Korapay, Buki Ogunsakin, BBO Solicitors and Mohammed Jega, Co-founder of Domineum Blockchain Solutions share their thoughts on decentralised finance and its prospects in Africa. The speakers spoke on how DeFi and digital assets are helping to transform the economy from traditional finance systems. They also spoke on how DeFi and digital assets were in themselves enhancing inclusive lending as well as a robust financial system that has the potential to help the African economy leapfrog to a higher pedestal. One of the major problems of finance in Africa is the inability of certain individuals, usually the unsophisticated or lower income class to access finance and credit from conventional institutions due to unavailability and limited coverage. According to the speakers, this problem can be solved with a decentralised finance model. Most notably, the speakers discussed how Decentralised Finance paves a way for all-inclusive finance for all, which supports individuals at all levels of societal strata to benefit and grow their ideas. In holding digital assets individuals can make transactions seamlessly and not have to worry about lending at any point. For them, Decentralised Finance is a major player when it comes to innovation and creativity, which are fundamental for an economy to thrive. According to Obi, DeFi platforms give everyone the opportunity to own numerous digital assets using the Blockchain wallet system. This will help any African to create and store wealth without direct inflationary effects that affect its value. What is Decentralized Finance (DeFi)? DeFi is an emerging financial technology based on secure distributed ledgers similar to those used by cryptocurrencies. It is a system that is actually meant to represent the opposite of the traditional centralised way finance has always been accessed, transacted and recorded. In Nigeria for instance, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), defines the rules and regulations for centralized financial institutions like banks and mortgages, which consumers rely on to access capital and financial services directly. DeFi challenges this centralized financial system by empowering individuals with peer-to-peer digital exchanges. Individuals can now hold money in a secure digital wallet, and transfer these funds in minutes. Anyone with an internet connection can use DeFi. DeFi and Africa Currently, there are 41 central banks in Africa. While each independent country has its own apex bank, two currency unions are connected to global central banks. These Central Banks have over time been the major regulators of the direction of finance in their jurisdiction. However, with the introduction of Blockchain, a major component of DeFi, digital finance is gradually eliminating the need for Central Banks and their regulations. Digital currencies like cryptos have become an alternative way people hold and meet financial obligations and according to a new report by Chainanalysis, Africa is one of the fastest-growing markets for cryptocurrency adoption. The African crypto market has grown by over 1,200% in terms of value received over the past year. Chainalysis estimates that African countries collectively received around $105.6 billion worth of cryptocurrency between July 2020 and June 2021. However, Africa is still the smallest crypto economy of all the regions that the research firm studies. Read also: Crypto explainer: All you need to know about Decentralised finance (DeFi) What this means for the future of finance in Africa With the rate of adoption of cryptocurrencies, a major aspect of DeFi, the African continent is on a trajectory that poses a threat to conventional institutions and even countries’ monetary policy institutions. ...
One last thing the panellists all agree on is that the next best time to be a part of web3 is yesterday... One thing that has always been the fear of many when they hear Web3 or Web3.0 or any of its other variants is the hardcore knowledge of the technical details they need to know. However, panellists at Technext Coinference 2.0 cleared up the doubts about that. The event, which was held at the Landmark Events Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, had a breakout panel discussion on “All you need to know about Web3”. Speaking on the panel, we had Oloye Oluniyi, Co-Founder, CryptoRoundupAfrica; alongside Ebenezer Ugo Akachukwu, Artist and Web 3.0 Advisor, Rywave; Oluchi Enebeli, Founder, Web3Ladies; and Hanu Fejiro Agboje, CEO, Patricia, speak on what Web3 is and how everyone can play a part in this new internet. According to Oloye, “everyone can play a part in web3. You don’t really need to know the technical and coding aspects to consider doing something with Web3.” This is based on the premise of Web3 itself, as it embraces decentralization and is being built, operated, and owned by its users, which puts the power in the hands of individuals rather than corporations who have currently monopolised the internet. This means, no censorships like we currently have from the big techs, a unique identity that will reduce fraud and complete ownership. So while Web 1 was ‘read-only’, and the internet we currently know is ‘read-write only’, Web3 is ‘read-write and own’ Web3 in Africa: Where are we? According to Oluchi, this is still only the “early days” and “grand-scale adoption is still a few years away before we move to the full decentralised system.” Hanu reiterated, saying this is why we currently have centralised exchanges for various components of this new internet. However, as adoption grows, we will begin to see more use cases for web3 beyond what we currently have. According to Akachukwu, there will be more DAOs and more blockchain solutions, including those on social issues, and in turn, we will begin to see more innovation and a shift towards full decentralisation. As such, web3 might not be banking the unbanked just yet as the technology is still early. Not until adoption reaches a certain level, which Hanu says will be a “long transitional phase and policy and regulation must come into place and web3 concepts must be broken down into simpler terms to aid it.” One of the ways the panellists suggest improving adoption is through education. According to Akachukwu, people need to be educated that “Web3 is just beyond making money by buying crypto or minting NFTs, but also about creating value and improving lives”—while still getting rewarded for it. How to position yourself for Web3 According to Akachukwu, Web3 has “currently evolved to a ponzinomics kind of setting where only adopters get the benefit of it” which is not how it should be. But as adoption grows in the next 10-15 years, more people get into it using it for every facet of life, the whole “ponzinomics” system will go away. The way to do that is to build network nodes of real values for the Web3, how can this be done? By being a part of it There’s no one size fits all but according to Hanu, one way will be to be in places where relevant conversations are being held around this technology, so as to be able to jump on the next big thing. Similarly, Oloye advised that people should join communities, attend events such as Technext Coinference 2.0 and also get in early and be part of the early adopters who will herald this new phase. One last thing the panellists all agree on is that the next best time to be a part of web3 is yesterday.
As in Yoruba history, the movie makes subtle references to the hostility towards anti-norms - like having sex outside of a formal union... Sometimes, as a Nigerian, you wonder how many times you get a good story from Nollywood, but when movie director and producer, Kunle Afolayan, tells you he has something in the works, you wait for it. “Aníkúlápó” is a good example. “Aníkúlápó” starts with enthralling stellar visuals, including aerial views of the ‘sacred forest’, hinting that a significant chunk of the story will revolve around the elements that reside in the forest. Besides that are the historical references “Aníkúlápó” makes starting from the beginning: Bi oku ba ku ni ile Yoruba, won ki n gbe ile ki wo sin wo. (when someone dies in Yoruba land, they are not buried) The narrator adds that the corpses are usually thrown in the sacred forest, and ‘Ifa so fun wa wi pe, eye Akala o ni agbara a ji ku (Ifa says the Akala bird has the power of the resurrection). That is the narration that connects the story. The movie illustrates the culture of ancient Yoruba land, including their system of marriage, industrious nature, folklore and traditions. Read also: “The Woman King” is entertaining but historically debatable The plot – “Aníkúlápó” Apart from the reference to the Akala bird and how the Yorubas dealt with dead people, the story is straightforward, telling of Saro, the visitor to Oyo – a man seeking greener pasture, but after an affair with the king’s wife, he encounters his untimely death. The Akala bird tries to intervene in the life and death cycle but realises he doesn’t deserve to live again. What happens next is what drags the story further. Towards the story’s climax, Awarun warns Saro of his greedy nature, but, like a proud Yoruba demon, he does not heed. Saro.O shi ti n nowo si n ti o se ti e. (Saro, you are stretching your hands to things that are not yours.) Awarun to Saro Also, in the movie, Oyo is portrayed as the land of green pastures. The characters You would naturally expect the characterisation to be Yoruba-ish, but this one is star-studded and is an amazing combination. Let’s name some of them: Saro (Kunle Remi) – is the main protagonist and one of two who encounters the legendary Akala bird and uses its power for personal gain. He is a greedy polygamist, a habit that leads to his downfall. Awarun (Sola Sobowale) – the promiscuous member of the Oyomesi, and Saro‘s first host and eventual ‘sugar mummy’. Olori Arolake (Bimbo Ademoye) – the Queen forced into marrying the king, and Saro‘s mistress, who eventually causes the second death of Saro. She is an excitingly scheming character, “bi ejo” (like a snake), who first poses as a naive character. Akanji (Adebowale Adedayo) – A talkative, or gossip and the one who first warned Saro of Awarun‘s promiscuous nature and his straying into the path of slavery. Yoruba culture in “Aníkúlápó” If you are an advocate of indigenous languages, “Aníkúlápó” may excite you as it lays out the proper structure of the language all through to the end, unlike what we see on Africa Magic Yoruba (what many call code-mixing). This includes proverbs, which are typical of the indigenous Yoruba people -we would have wanted more proverbs, though. On marriage systems, the movie highlights that polygamy is not a new concept in Yoruba land, and constant quarrelling between polygamists’ wives is a recurrent phenomenon. But why Saro is a dull figure in that system is surprising. Though aso ofi is gradually coming back into contemporary fashion, its presence in the fashion industry is rather blurry, and this is why Saro‘s career in “Aníkúlápó” is an excellent storytelling element. As in Yoruba history, the movie makes subtle references to the hostility towards anti-norms – like having sex outside of a formal union. But, it tells us that Awarun is a powerful promiscuous woman who is untouchable and who can get any man she so desires. This is why Akano (Kunle Afolayan) comes into the picture a...
The news came at the second Google for Africa event today... Google today announced its intent to establish a new Google Cloud region in South Africa – it is Google’s first on the continent. The news, which came at the second Google for Africa event, is the latest example of how Google is delivering on the $1bn investment commitment made last year by the company’s CEO, Sundar Pichai. The new Cloud Region will help users, developers, businesses and educational institutions across Africa to move more information and tools online, improve access options for customers and in turn, create jobs. According to research by AlphaBeta Economics commissioned by Google Cloud, the South African cloud region will contribute more than a cumulative USD 2.1 billion to the country’s GDP and will support the creation of more than 40,000 jobs by 2030. Speaking at the event today, Niral Patel, Director of Google Cloud Africa explained that the project is part of the tech giant’s open and healthy ecosystem of technology solutions to support Africa’s digital transformation goals as well as create more opportunities for businesses in the region. He explains how the project fits into Google’s broader mission for Africa: “Along with the cloud region, we are expanding our network through the Equiano subsea cable and building Dedicated Cloud Interconnect sites in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Lagos and Nairobi. In doing so, we are building full-scale Cloud capability for Africa.” Patel noted that Google Cloud is already working with customers across the continent – helping them solve business-critical challenges, get online, and access the benefits of digital technology. In South Africa, Google Cloud works with leading retailer TakeAlot to help their three million local customers enjoy a hassle-free online shopping experience. TakeAlot built its e-commerce platform on Google Cloud, which has enabled the business to avoid system crashes during high-traffic periods like Black Friday. While in Kenya, Google Cloud works with Twiga Foods – a technology-driven company addressing and improving food security in Africa – helps them connect 1,000 farmers to 140,000 vendors, delivering 12,000 orders every day and storing two million kilograms of fresh produce.” Read also: Google announces $1bn fund to support digital transformation in Africa over 5 years One year since Google’s $1bn announcement: So far, how far? Last year, CEO, Sundar Pichai announced the plan to invest $1 billion over 5 years to support Africa’s digital transformation. The company revealed at that time that the fund will cater for a plan to enable individuals and businesses to access affordable internet access, build helpful products, invest in entrepreneurship and technology, empower businesses to embark on their digital transformation as well as provide funding for nonprofits. Sundar also disclosed that the investment will also include the landing of its, subsea cable Equiano which will enable faster internet speeds and lower connectivity costs. It also includes low-interest loans to help small businesses and equity investments in African startups. Today, Google announced that Equiano now runs through Togo, Nigeria, Namibia and South Africa, which is expected to deliver faster, lower-cost internet to the continent by connecting St. Helena, Togo, Nigeria, Namibia and South Africa with Europe. A recent economic impact assessment conducted by Africa Practice and Genesis Analytics found that by 2025, the cable is set to accelerate economic growth with the GDPs of Nigeria rising by USD 10.1 billion, South Africa by USD 7 billion and USD 260 million in Namibia. The report also indicated that Equiano will indirectly create 1.6 million jobs in Nigeria, 180,000 in South Africa and 21,000 in Namibia, driven by the expansion of the digital economy and peripheral sectors during the same time. Nitin Gajria, Managing Director, Google Africa said that through its $50 million Africa Investment Fund that targets e...
Pillow Fund, a financial services company has launched in Africa with the sole mission to provide Africans with a reliable way to save and grow their wealth. The company now has a market presence in Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria, with a variety of products and services that allow users to earn interest on their deposited funds, while also actively solving the problem of increasing costs of living. Having helped over 100,000 users in 60+ countries across the world hedge against inflation and its growing pangs that are slowly threatening to cripple economies globally, Pillow is set to level the playing ground for Nigerians through financial inclusion in the opportunities that lie in cryptocurrencies. Pillow encourages users to save in USD-backed cryptocurrencies from the comfort of a mobile app. For the savings made by users, they earn an interest rate of 14% per annum. Pillow is one of the few apps that pay out interest every day to the users. Apart from USD-backed cryptocurrency, users can invest in multiple blue-chip cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc. Users can withdraw whenever they please as interest on crypto investments. Although many have dubbed the app the “digital piggy bank”, the company has plans to do a lot more to elevate the personal finance journeys of the people in Nigeria. Pillow truly aspires to reward a culture of savings and financial discipline in Nigeria, where young, hardworking, ambitious Nigerians are able to take control of their finances, achieve their life goals and work towards financial freedom. And we’re creating a suite of high-quality, secure, & transparent financial products that will grant our users access to global economic opportunities and let them take control of their finances. Arindam Roy, CEO of Pillow Pillow in Nigeria In Nigeria specifically, the app has been praised for its ease of use and user-friendly interface. Some users have even called it a “lifeline” in these difficult financial times. Pillow has also partnered with multiple experts and advisors in the Nigerian and the broader African ecosystem who can help provide valuable financial education. According to KaganTech, one of the country’s foremost Tech advisors, “I think the problem Pillow looks to solve is simple, “how do you protect your finances from inflation?”. They are saying let’s help you save your money and get you the best returns with the power of crypto. While I would always advise everyone to do their own research, it also helps to know there is a brand that’s got your back.” There is also a dedicated focus on security and transparency on the app. By leveraging the biggest custody and security technologies in the world, Pillow takes special care to ensure that users’ funds are safe. Apart from the security measures, the app uses BitGo, which provides a $250Mn custody insurance to add an extra layer of safety of funds. Pillow has secured the backing of some of the biggest global investors, among the likes of Elevation Capital, founders of Polygon and Defi Pulse. The time to build your wealth and ensure it is generational is now! Start a savings habit with as little as 1000 Naira. The Pillow app is free to download on both iOS and Android devices. For more information & inquiries, please visit www.pillow.fund/ng. Read also: Blockchain memo: The state of blockchain in Africa
Nigeria became a member of the Union on November 4, 1961 In clear recognition of the critical role Nigeria is playing on the global telecom stage, the country has been re-elected earlier as a Council member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nation’s specialised agency that oversees global telecommunication operations. As a result, Nigeria will serve on the Council again from 2023-2026. Nigeria became a member of the Union on November 4, 1961. The USA joined on July 1, 1908; the United Kingdom, on February 24, 1871, and UAE on June 27, 1972. The Nigerian delegation was successfully led to the global event by the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami. Other members of the delegation include the Chairman, Board of Commissioners of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Adeolu Akande, and the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta. Commenting on Nigeria’s re-election into the council, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Umar Danbatta, thanked the ITU member states for the confidence it has in Nigeria expressed by the re-election into the Council, in which the country has been playing a critical role over the years. “The re-election of Nigeria as a member of ITU Council for the next four years, again, points to the globally-recognised leadership role Nigeria is playing in Africa and at the level of ITU Council in the area of telecommunications policy formulation and technical regulations development to drive ITU’s mission and vision,” the EVC said. The election of Nigeria and other countries, on Monday, October 3, 2022, into different regional groups that constitute ITU Council, was the high point of the Plenipotentiary Conference 2022 (PP-22) ongoing in Bucharest, the capital city of the Republic of Romania. The International Communication Union is governed by the Plenipotentiary Conference and the Administrative Council. The Plenipotentiary Conference is the supreme organ of the Union. It is the decision-making body which determines the direction of the Union and its activities. Read also: Broadband penetration in Nigeria reached 44.5% in July, NCC says More about the ITU event The ITU, originally established in 1865 as the International Telegraph Union and became a United Nations specialised agency in 1947, was set up to coordinate telecommunications operations and services throughout the world. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. At the conference, which started on September 26, 2022, and is scheduled to end on October 14, 2022, member states at the event voted on the composition of the next ITU Council and the 12 representatives to serve on the Radio Regulations Board (RRB) for the next four years. The 21st Plenipotentiary Conference of the Council, also saw the election by member states, of Doreen Bogdan-Martin of the United States of America as the organisation’s next Secretary-General. Like Nigeria and the countries elected into the Council, Bogdan-Martin, as the first woman to lead ITU in its 157-year history, will begin her four-year term from January 2023, when Houlin Zhao would have completed his second final term of four years in office as ITU Secretary General. The seats in ITU Council are divided into five regions, A to E. Nigeria was elected into the ITU Council, Region D for Africa, which has 13 seats. Other 12 countries elected alongside Nigeria are Algeria; Egypt; Ghana; Kenya; Mauritius; Morocco; Rwanda; Senegal; South Africa; Tanzania; Tunisia; Uganda. Elections of member states also took place in Region A for The Americas (nine seats); Region B for Western Europe (eight seats); Region C for Eastern Europe & Northern Asia (five seats); and Region E, for Asia and Australasia with 13 seats as Africa. The Council, on the other hand, acts as the Union’s governing body in the interval between Plenipotentiary Conferences. Its role is to consider broad ...
...he cautions that the audience should not begin trading without having done extensive research on how the crypto market works. Nollywood star and social media influencer, Akan Nnani speaking to an audience of blockchain enthusiasts and key stakeholders at the Technext Coinference 2.0 held on Monday at Landmark Event Centre VI, Lagos, made a strong case for digital currencies, even as the crypto industry is wrecked by a series of bad months of decline in value. Digital currencies have been falling for months raising questions about the viability of the entire blockchain space writ large. Both current and prospective crypto investors have been seeking the answer to whether or not there is a blueprint to timing the crypto market which has become famous for consistent fluctuation of crypto valuation. “There is no blueprint,” Akah Nnani said of determining when the market will fall or rise. “Just have a goal of how much you want to get back. When you get that, pull out,” he explained. Read also: Here is all you need to know about Davido’s new Echoke token Akah Nnani added that now more than ever as the crypto is in decline is the time for prospective investors to make their move. But he cautions that they should not begin trading without having done extensive research on how the crypto market works. “Right now, you have an amazing opportunity to get into the space,” Akah Nnani said. “When everywhere is red is the best time to invest. I’ll consider it fate and life-giving us another chance to have a wealth transfer,” he said of the fall of crypto. But the decline of crypto has made many young investors, especially those without massive disposable incomes weary of the fate of their funds if they delve into the space. Akan said that there is still so much work to be done in the space but for the now his advice is for people who seek to go into the trading digital currency to approach it with only their disposable income, money that they can afford to lose, he said. “To date, all the money that I have invested and all that I have put into it, I have never taken anything out,” Akah Nnani said. Read also: Crypto Exchange platform, Quidax unveils Don Jazzy as brand ambassador But he added that people some people are willing to move into the space but do not have any disposable income. He said that they should consider the risk involved and note that all investments come with sometimes huge risks. “People don’t have that option of investing with what they can lose. What they have is their all. But there is no chance of changing your financial trajectory without risk. I don’t think there is a clearer legal way of making money. People who can make it in the crypto space are people who have a spine,” he added. Akah Nnani is also optimistic about the future of crypto to create opportunities for people who have been financially marginalised and excluded by traditional forms of investments. “People need an alternative,” he said of traditional forms of investment. “There is a huge opportunity for people who have been unbankable to get into the space and begin to transact. Crypto is making money and creating wealth on your terms.” But all of this Akah Nnani added will not be possible without the influence of the government in regulating the space and instituting policies that enhance cryptocurrency trading. Countries like Nigeria have taken the other route putting policies that stifle the progress of cryptocurrency. Last year the Central Bank of Nigeria placed a ban on the use of cryptocurrency in the country. “The truth is as crypto exchange tries to move forward, we belong to countries and governments that make policies that also restrict all of these things. Africa needs a chance at creating wealth on its own terms,” Akah Nnani said.
The ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED UX3402ZA is an Intel Evo-certified laptop, and this certification applies only to high-end laptops with the latest Intel 12th generation processors... ASUS has a range of Zenbook laptops designed as premium, thin and light devices that offer superior performance and battery life for day-to-day mobile professionals. The Zenbook 14 OLED UX3402ZA has the latest Intel 12th generation Core i7 processor, a stunning OLED display and proves to be a good performer. Key Specifications CPU: Intel Core i7-1260P Present: 14-lope OLED 2880 x 1800p, 90Hz GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics Memory: 16GB LPDDR5 Storage: 512GB NVMe PCIe Gen4 Battery: 75WHr OS: Microsoft Home windows 11 64-bit It is powered by an Intel i7-1260P processor (2.1GHz) and equipped with Intel Iris XE graphics, 16GB LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB NVMe SSD. The 14-inch laptop has chassis made of aluminium alloy and the ASUS logo design on the lid is formed with simple lines. The new lid design features the ASUS monogram with refreshing new colours across the series; giving a fresh and artistic feel to the traditional ASUS brand logo. The Zenbook 14x OLED UX3402ZA measures 313 x 220 x 16.9mm, and weighs a mere 1.39kg. On the right edge of the Zenbook is 1 x HDMI 2.0b, 3 x USB-C with Thunderbolt 4 support, a 3.5mm audio jack, and 1 x MicroSD card slot. On the left, users get 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 type-A connector situated alongside the laptop’s ventilation air vents. Read also: ASUS Vivobook 13 Slate OLED (T3300) review: It is a versatile, detachable laptop! When powered up, the Zenbook 14 OLED UX3402ZA starts with a sharp, vibrant 14-inch OLED display, powered by 2880 x 1800-pixel resolution at a 16:10 aspect ratio, 90Hz refresh rate, 0.2ms response time and cinema-grade 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut. OLED displays are gaining popularity due to their high contrast ratio and lower power consumption, compared to the more common LCD. The OLED screen offers sharpness and brilliance along with high-resolution images with ultra-high-definition videos. The Zenbook 14 OLED UX3402ZA also boasts 550-nit brightness, which means pictures and videos would still look vivid when you view them outdoors, any time of the day even under direct sunlight. If you find the screen too glaring, you can easily adjust the brightness using the function keys on the keyboard, and the device provides a total of 10 levels of brightness control. We also noted that the hinges allow the display to be tilted backwards to a full 180-degree, which is ideal for those who use a vertical dock at home or in the office, with an additional keyboard and mouse. The full-sized keyboard provides a comfortable typing experience, but in order to have sufficient spacing between keys, the directional keys at the bottom right are made smaller; each of them about half the size of a button on the keyboard. The trackpad underneath is spacious with a relatively smooth surface that is comfortable to use and all gestures work reliably. The Asus Numberpad feature projects the numeric keypad, allowing you to quickly type in a few numbers without the need for a separate numeric keyboard. This function can be activated with the button in the upper right corner of the trackpad. The keyboard buttons are all equipped with backlight and three levels of brightness control via the function keys, suitable for those who frequently use their laptops in a dim-lit room. The power button on the upper right corner is also a fingerprint sensor, which can be used to register a fingerprint as a log-in option via Windows 11 settings. Read also: Gadget Review: ASUS ZenBook 13 OLED (UX325) – affordable OLED display ultrabook The Zenbook 14 OLED features a Dolby Atmos stereo sound system that is certified by Harman Kardon and claims to deliver powerful and immersive audio. The ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED UX3402ZA is also an Intel Evo-certified laptop, and this certification applies only to high-end laptops with the latest Intel 12th generation processors tha...
“No matter your currency, we want you to have access to the financial service, wherever you are on the continent.." - Chris Maurice Chris Maurice is co-founder and CEO of Yellow Card, a leading crypto exchange platform with operations in twelve countries, including Nigeria, Zambia, Kenya and others. With an American background, it was quite a challenge coming down to Africa to propagate the crypto gospel. Apart from his indecision on who has the best Jollof between Nigeria and Ghana, Chris shared with Technext bits and pieces of his entrepreneurial journey in Africa, in this interview. Chris Maurice got into the blockchain space in 2013 while scavenging through the web. He did a great deal of reading on crypto and bitcoin for about a year and a half. He remarks that: “By 2015 I was fully in the rabbit hole.” What originally interested Chris was the borderless finance aspect. He had done some international business previously. And, he knew that making payments to many parts of the world is terrible, extremely inconvenient and difficult. So, he saw blockchain technology as a solution to that mammoth problem. Bringing Yellow Card to Africa He put paid to the question of Yellow Card’s future in Africa when Chris Maurice met a Nigerian man at Wells Fargo in the United States. He was trying to send $200 to his family in Nigeria and the bank charged him $90 for the transaction. “And I thought that sounded absolutely insane. I talked to the guy. Have you heard of bitcoin? It’s free, it is fun and it is great stuff.” Maurice said. When Chris got home, he started thinking about this guy’s family. Thinking about what his mom in Lagos could do with $200 bitcoin. He identified the problem – you could get bitcoin over to her, but can she pay rent or buy food with that? Read also: Clinton Felix on how you can become a successful blockchain devoloper Chris Maurice started gaining interest. He did research and learned everything about Nigeria and Africa broadly as he could. “During all that research I stayed in Lagos for a while, loved it and that was also when I realised the world doesn’t need another remittance company. The continent needs to actually be able to transact with crypto.” After this, Chris crafted Yellow Card’s vision, which is to make blockchain technology accessible to anyone. “No matter your currency, we want you to have access to the financial service, wherever you are on the continent. This technology has so much potential to change the world and how people do business with the money around the world.” – Chris Maurice. Chris believes that there are too many issues entrepreneurs face in Africa. Apart from significantly less access to funding, there are inherent issues with doing business on the continent. “The currencies are facing serious inflation. And, in some countries, banking is really archaic. South Africa doesn’t even have electricity right now. You’re dealing with all these inherent infrastructural issues on the continent and then you combine that with factors like lack of funding, you’re gonna get fed up.” He however observes that these difficulties are what generate the pool of opportunities because there are so many problems to solve. To overcome the challenges, Chris Maurice and Yellow Card focused on the product and feedback from customers. “We started out during the COVID-19 lockdown era. Being stuck inside, people became more comfortable with digital solutions, especially in Nigeria. I think when I got to Lagos before Covid, cash was so popular. Now, people are significantly more comfortable with digital solutions across the world. And yeah we built something that people needed and when they needed it most.” Regulation in Africa The most controversial issue in the African blockchain space is regulation. There is an unending discourse among innovators and regulators owing to the state of regulation in many African countries and the effect on many businesses. But, Chris Maurice thinks that regulation is not ...
For the Anambra-born entrepreneur, this isn't just another business opportunity, but a game changer in the transportation sector in the country... Earlier this year, tech entrepreneur Francis Obiakor found himself in a chat with a friend who lamented about the never-ending traffic gridlocks that dominate Lagos roads. So he thought to himself that something had to be done about the situation. Then he came up with a solution to make transportation more convenient and less troubling: electric bicycles. Yes, you read that right. Being one of the over 20 million Lagos residents exposed to air pollution caused by traffic congestion, Obiakor decided to start Electric Bikes Lagos, a company dedicated to the sales of luxury electric bicycles as an eco-friendly alternative means of transport. “It [the project] came up as an idea from two friends sitting in the corner. We told ourselves: ‘Look at the traffic situation in Lagos. How can we bring something that will make transportation easier for us and other people?’,” he told Technext. But first, he had to bring the idea to life. He would go on to set up a five-man team which worked on the project from March to September 18 when the company’s physical store was launched in Lekki Phase 1 in Lagos. Yesterday we unveiled Electric Bikes Lagos, now you can travel round Lagos for a week with a 6-hours battery charge. Beat the traffic! Go Electric!! ⚡️ Buchi 🌿 (@buchiofearth) September 19, 2022 A game changer Tapping into the growing leap of e-mobility in Nigeria, Obiakor said he entered into a partnership with three international companies to facilitate the importation of electric bicycles into Nigeria to sell to Nigerians. For the Anambra-born entrepreneur, this isn’t just another business opportunity, but a game changer in the transportation sector in the country, which already boasts of its first electric bicycle manufacturing company and one of the very few on the continent. In Obiakor’s words, Electric Bikes Lagos is an innovation, referencing how countries across the globe have embraced the use of electric bicycles to address climate change. “I honestly feel that Nigeria shouldn’t be left behind in the race.” – Francis Obiakor. He then called on the Nigerian government to emulate other countries and create dedicated cycle lanes. This, according to him, will create safety to cyclists in Nigeria and reduce incidents of road traffic crashes. Read also: Still, Africa needs to catch up on the Electric Vehicles (EV) revolution. Features and costing According to Obiakor, there are currently two models of electric bicycles in stock. The Matt Black e-bike which comes with features like a 350W battery capacity, 26 inches all-terrain flat tyres, dashboard display meter, LED light, back carriage and 1-7 gear, is currently priced at N1.5million. And, the Luxury Black/Red Sport e-bike has similar features, albeit with some upgrades such as a 400W battery capacity and a LED dashboard screen. It costs N1.8million. “With a six-hours full charge, these bikes can last you for a day or two, depending on the distance covered. Not just that, they can also move as fast as regular vehicles “ he said of the capacity of the bikes. He added that they are now available for sale at their physical store. He, however, admits that access to electricity is still a problem in Nigeria. According to the Energy Progress Report 2022, Nigeria has the lowest access to electricity globally with about 92 million Nigerians lacking access to power. “This is why the e-bikes have a manual option. When there is no power, you can simply use the pedals,” he said. On accessibility Poverty remains a hydra-dreaded problem in Nigeria. According to a World Bank report, the number of poor persons in Nigeria will rise to 95.1 million in 2022, almost half of the country’s estimated 200 million population. So, acquiring these highly-priced bicycles will be particularly challenging to many Nigerians. To put into context, it would take 50 mont...
TravelTank's universal goal is to ensure everyone enjoys a seamless travel experience... This month, TravelTank, one of the top online travel agencies in Nigeria, marks its one-year anniversary. The business has built a stellar reputation in just one year for providing Nigerians with a huge selection of travel products online. Since its launch in 2021, tech travel agency, TravelTank has been on a mission to make travel planning and bookings quick, fun and affordable using technology. Founded on September 16th 2021, the company is contributing to the tourist environment by making travel opportunities accessible to everyone. In a bid to further establish its stake and contributions to the Nigerian travel ecosystem, the company celebrated its 1st Anniversary by organizing a Webinar series on Friday, September 16th 2022 titled, TravelTank @1: Revitalizing the post-covid online travel experience. Mr Charles C. Chukwujekwe, the CEO of Travel Quest Limited, Ms. Annabel Bonney, Founder of Travevo travel & migration and Travevo properties, Oluwabunmi Abe The founder of EasyTravelsConnect, Tochi Margaret Umezinwa is the Director of Fly up Travel and Tours Limited and Henry Tugbiyele Founder and CEO of Expatico and Yemi Smith, CEO of TravelTank were on the Webinar panel to drive conversations around stimulating post-covid travel solutions in Nigeria and across the globe. Read also: 6 travel vloggers you should check out While speaking on resolving past challenges in the tourist industry, Founder and CEO of Expatico, Henry Tugbiyele stated, “one thing we cannot take away is that humans need to travel. There must be movement. Before the pandemic local tourism was not in the spotlight and during the pandemic that part of tourism suffered”. According to Tugbiyele, the travel industry has to refocus on home first, in his words, “There must be provision to get people to appreciate Nigeria as a destination”. Charles Chukwujekwe buttressed the point stating, “we cannot make local tourism happen without the serious input of the government. Covid-19 exposed us to a lot of uncertainties and if we focus our attention on local tourism, we would reduce the FX problem we are struggling with today”. Mr Smith, CEO, TravelTank contributed thus, “Partnership is definitely key. We need to develop strong partnerships amongst ourselves. Yes, we need the government’s help, but at the same, we travel agents need to look inwards and develop partnerships with each other to allow inbound tourism to scale and flourish. A lot of us are distanced and in different regions, so it will take value-laced collaboration to make local tourism truly flourish in the country”. Within its first year, TravelTank’s business growth has extended exponentially. From 5 travel sharks to over 20 hungry travel sharks. From less than 7 flight bookings in September 2021 to well over 10,000 bookings to date as well as an increase in its affiliate membership base from 20 to over 278 to date. Read also: 6 must-have travel apps for the vacation season “It has been an incredible run, and we are thrilled that our customers value our online offerings,” said Mr Smith. “Our company views the occasion of our one-year anniversary as an opportunity to reflect on the lessons we have learnt as a whole and to reaffirm our vision for the online travel industry for the coming year and beyond,” he said. Branching out, from independent flight booking services at the beginning of 2022, to providing other travel supplementary services to its ever-growing clientele, TravelTank now connects its affiliate members to other value-added travel services thus empowering more and more small business units within the travel industry. “Throughout Nigeria, we have partnered with some wonderful travel agents. While it has been challenging at times with an uncertain economy, especially due to the pandemic, our focus has always been to provide our affiliates access to a wide range of travel products online with impressive...
British Vogue named her one of its 50 Trailblazing Creatives And Young Activists From Across The Globe Share Their Hopes For The Future in 2020... At the turn of the last decade, there was a seismic shift in the Nigerian media space. A new crop of journalists, mostly writers, who broke away from what one could best describe as legacy Nigerian media, emerged. They built portfolios parallel to their western counterparts. They worked at young media startups tailored to young educated middle-class Nigerians. Aisha Salaudeen was one of them. A relative newcomer with bylines in the Financial Times and Al Jazeera, she quickly rose to the top, snagging the Future Award prize for journalism in 2020 and landing a high-profile gig as a producer at CNN. British Vogue named her one of its 50 Trailblazing Creatives And Young Activists From Across The Globe Share Their Hopes For The Future in 2020. Aisha’s podcast journey Then last year, she started a new venture, a podcast — I Like Girls, with the intention of telling women’s stories. She shared her motivation with me: “I had spent at least four years telling stories in written format,” she said of the decision to start the podcast. “I had done TV production. I had written so many articles. So it was kind of like, what other way can I tell stories that I had not explored yet? And it was podcasting that came at me because I had not done it.” Over the years, podcasts have become the leading media product in Nigeria. Radio presenters, Instagram influencers and everybody with a friend have launched podcasts promising their listeners insightful, raw or honest conversations. But Aisha is not in the game for the “conversations” per se, at least not with her friends chatting about them on the podcast. She is more focused on telling the poignant stories and then hopes it sparks the conversations that as a society, we fail to have. In one episode she tackles religion and feminism. In another, she dives into the controversial “Kayan Mata” phenomenon. With her podcast, I Like Girls, she broke away from the ubiquitous type of podcasts popular in the country. Those types of podcasts which she describes as the “my friend and I are coming online to gist podcast or I’m interviewing a guest and we’re having laughs.” That type of podcast she said would not have been “sufficient” for the type of story she is interested in telling. “It was extremely deliberate,” she said of the storytelling narrative arch I Like Girls typically takes. “It was informed by the types of podcasts that I consume. So it just made sense that when it was time for me to create mine, I was like, you know what, let me mirror the kind of podcast that I normally listen to.” That decision has already paid off. Just in its second season, she has been able to bring Paystack and PiggyVest on board as advertisers. This is in part because she tailored the themes of her podcasts to issues that she said the companies care about — issues about women. Read also: For the culture: Here are the top 7 podcasts you can listen to in Nigeria right now “I’m a fan of telling the type of stories that you have authority over and not the one that you don’t really know anything about,” she said. “In my career as a journalist, I’ve covered a lot of women’s stories. Telling the stories of women is just something I feel extremely strongly about. It’s possibly the one thing that I feel strongly about.” As the world pays close attention to African women doing big things and small things, many of the stories being told through various media channels about women are mostly presented with a depressing arch to them —women fleeing oppressive traditions, women fleeing abusive workplaces etc. There have been agitations from some feminist quarters calling for more positive stories, especially of African women. What does Aisha think of the debate? “I understand where telling depressing stories about women comes from,” she said. “It just comes from reality. If you claim to b...
Last year, Amazon spent over $4.3 million on anti-union consultants alone... One of the major stories on the global tech scene this week is that Amazon has finally acceded to its workforce’s clamour for an increase in the average hourly pay. In other news, Google is redefining its ‘search engine’ to help people explore and gather information in new ways, plus an interesting report that crypto organisations are topping the fintech space in terms of performance. If you missed out on these major tech updates across the world, this week, don’t worry. We have got you covered. Here is a roundup of major Global Tech news from across the world. Summary of the Bulletin: Amazon finally concedes to Union Apple stocks dip Tesla appoints AirBnB co-founder to Board Google is redefining search engine Crypto platforms lead the fintech space Read also: Global roundup: Samsung unveils new foldable phones, Amazon Prime Video launches in Nigeria Amazon accedes to Union demands Amazon has finally acceded to a request to increase the hourly pay of its workers after spending almost $4.3 million on anti-union consultants alone last year. This raised further questions as to why the company would not just pay the money to workers instead. Now, Amazon has done just that. Over the next year, Amazon will dedicate nearly $1 billion to increasing the average wages of its warehouse and transportation workers from about $18 to $19 per hour. Amazon will also expand access to Anytime Pay, a tool that allows employees to access up to 70% of their paychecks sooner than once every week or two, TechCrunch reports. Amazon staff received their first union in Staten Island earlier less than 12 months ago. Other unions have risen after that across different locations. Ever since, these unions have raised conversations about overheating warehouses, poor COVID-19 working circumstances, unlawful intimidation techniques and low pay. Meanwhile, the National Labor Relations Board has issued numerous citations against Amazon for improperly interfering with employee labour organizations. Apple stocks dip After launching the latest iPhone 14 iOS phones earlier this month, Apple has told suppliers that it will be taking a step back from production due to low demand for the latest model. Read also: Here is all you need to know about the new iPhone 14, other gadgets launched by Apple yesterday Shares of Apple fell 1.3% on Wednesday on a report that the company has told suppliers to bail on plans to increase iPhone 14 production. Demand for the new models failed to spike as high as anticipated, according to Bloomberg. Apple will no longer aim to increase production by 6 million units in the second half of the year as it had planned, according to the report. The company will strive to produce 90 million units instead, which is roughly in line with Apple’s forecast and production from last year, Bloomberg says. Suppliers and producers for Apple were also harmed by the news. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s stock dropped 1.2% as well. Hon Hai, popularly known as Foxconn, saw a 2.9% decline in share price. Apple’s iPhones are made by Foxconn. Tesla appoints AirBnB co-founder to Board Tesla has appointed Airbnb co-founder and billionaire Joe Gebbia to its board of directors, according to a securities filing. Gebbia, a designer who co-founded Airbnb, officially joined the board on September 25 as an independent director and is replacing Oracle Chairman and CTO Larry Ellison who left the board earlier this year. “We are pleased to welcome Joe Gebbia to Tesla’s Board of Directors, effective September 25, 2022,” Tesla said in a blog post on Wednesday. According to TechCrunch, His appointment comes a few months after leaving day-to-day operations at Airbnb. He is now an advisor to the short-term rental company and also serves on its board. Gebbia also is on the board of Airbnb.org, an organization that encourages its hosts to open homes in times of crisis. Gebbia has spent the last 14...
"I am still in the exploring phase," Ikram says... Tech is not for everyone, especially coding. So, if you are getting into tech [anything], do thorough research first. Open Google, and learn to research - Ikram Babs-Lawal. Ikram Babs-Lawal starts her story with her titles, including her experience as a Machine Learning Engineer, and co-founder of Yoable. She explains what Yoable is about, but we will get to that later. Ikram, 14, says her earliest encounter with tech was when her father bought her sister a PC and a phone and “I got jealous because I always fancy devices.” She made a request, and her dad got her the toy equivalent of the devices. This was about nine years ago, in 2013/14. But, she would eventually get bored of the toys, even though she was just about six years old. “I could not do anything apart from playing games.” At this point, her inquisitive nature began to expand in scope, and her mom’s phone was the tool for personal growth. It was the same games she played on her mom’s phone, but she began to develop an interest in how the games were made. I started googling how to make apps and games. And after a few days of research, Google recommended a platform where I could make apps without coding. Ikram Babs-Lawal In contrast to other teens in tech who want to learn to code, she was not interested. Yet, she was able to build a gallery app just to check pictures, and her interest grew to how to code from this. If you are a millennial or were born in the early years from when the Gen Z era began to count, you would be reminded every now and then that ‘coding’ was not exactly in any school curriculum. And, the call ‘learn how to code here’ was not usually a Google or Facebook ad. Read also: Meet James Udotong, a 20-year-old student, developer, designer and co-founder of Skibble But, Ikram kept seeing ads that persuaded her to learn to code. Indeed, those ads can be quite persuasive, and your time on the internet can be annoying if you do not use an ad blocker. “My curiosity sparked again. So, I mistakenly clicked on one of the ads, and I saw the backend way of building the app.” She started with JAVA but did not learn so much about it. But, she became even more interested, and with her brother’s help, she signed up for freeCodeCamp – a non-profit organisation that consists of an interactive learning web platform, an online community forum, chat rooms, online publications and local organisations that intend to make learning web development accessible to anyone. Ikram Babs-Lawal is an explorer “I am still in the exploring phase,” Ikram says, almost wondering why she was asked about her work experience. She adds that she has been exploring for the last three years and is not ready to work. She says later that she is not rushing as “I still have a long way to go.” Besides, there is school, and she is “putting the priority in the right place. I mean, if I don’t go to school, I would not even understand tech.” As for coding, she keeps building bridges. I started with Machine Learning, then went to app/web development and UI/UX. I have not been learning as much, just exploring. Ikram Babs-Lawal However, Ikram has built a chat box using javascript and a machine learning project that “predicted correctly” – her two most exciting projects. The Yoable project To answer this, Ikram is excited and tells us that Yoable is a non-profit organisation, and its objective is to “empower, inspire, and connect youths, ambitious youths.” So, if you want to acquire valuable skills to become an entrepreneur or a player in the tech space, Ikram recommends Yoable. Unsurprisingly, she references the labour market and the lack of adequate skills in the country. “We want to reduce the skills deficit, especially as the ones who have the skills are emigrating.” But sustainability seems to be an issue here. However, to solve this, Ikram says the team is looking for sponsorships and partnerships to keep the ball rolling. To corroborate the impor...
Lagos is said to be the hub housing most of Nigeria’s startup companies, as 88.4% of the 481 companies tracked for the report started or are in the state. According to the Nigerian Startup Ecosystem Report 2022 by Disrupt Africa, approximately 88.4% of the Nigerian tech startups tracked by the report are based in Lagos. In the report, out of 173 fintech companies tracked, only 12 are outside Lagos. Though, in the 2021 Fintech Times report, Nigeria’s fintech landscape consists of 210 to 250 fintech companies, key stakeholders (banks, telecom companies and the government), enablers and funding partners (i.e. universities and research institutions, investors, incubators, technology and consumers). So, the number may be more. Of the 58 e-commerce companies tracked for the Disrupt Africa report, only six are outside Lagos. Two are in Abuja, one in Aba, one in Port Harcourt, and two in Ibadan. In that space is Alerzo, a retail-tech company that employs 684 people. The e-health space has 45 companies, and 34 are in Lagos. The ed-tech sub-sector boasts 34 companies, but only three are outside Lagos. The other tech subsectors, including entertainment, marketing, agri-tech, legal-tech, prop-tech, mobility/logistics, etc, have a combined 170 companies that have only 24 outside Lagos. Why are innovators building in Lagos? Silicon Valley investor, Derek Distenfield wrote about his visit, saying, “Lagos is exploding with growth, internet connection can be patchy and faces frequent outages.Despite these circumstances, innovation is rampant in sub-Saharan Africa, partly because the younger demographic is chomping at the bit for the adoption of new technologies.” For now, commerce in Lagos continues to grow and expand its horizon, and with other states only looking on and enjoying the sight, Lagos will remain the country’s centre of commerce. Journalist, Alex Onukwe, adds to this thought, saying, “most commerce in Nigeria already happened in Lagos before the startup boom, but it’s also because Lagos tends to get the first taste of new technology infrastructure startups needs. 5G is one example of this.” ‘Tomi Davies, Collaborator-in-Chief (CiC) at TVC Labs, says it is a numbers game. He adds that “it is the combination of population and supporting infrastructure that makes Lagos a startup magnet. “When you have over 20 million people – and growing – mixed with digital and physical infrastructure the way we have it in Lagos, you get the basics. And, on top of that is the perennially entrepreneurial spirit that defines Nigerians.” Lagos, a home for all The former governor of Lagos, Akinwunmi Ambode, 2017, estimated that 86 immigrants enter Lagos from other parts of Nigeria every hour, and less than 50% go back. Why not? It is where everything happens and the only state where development occurs, even though it is only in tiny bits. Lagos is the cultural and commercial centre of Nigeria, home to the most active ports (sea and air), and is the hub of the country’s fastest-growing sector – Technology. It is known to be the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa. However, you may laugh at its mass when you check the map – but that does not matter, yeah? This indicates that out of 481 companies tracked, 425 (88.35%) are in Lagos. And, because the report is focused only on 481 tech companies, there is every reason to believe the number is more than that. Lagos is the hub of Nigeria’s startup ecosystem and is the leading startup city in Africa. The city is home to Bitmama, a fast-growing crypto platform; Cowrywise, a savings and investment platform; Jumia, Africa’s largest e-commerce site; FairMoney, a loan and payments platform, and it is no surprise. The growth of the tech sector in Lagos is indispensable, knowing how much attention the city draws to itself and its young population. Its centralisation has always guided innovation. And, the city has always been the centre, just as journalist, Alex Onukwe notes: We had te...
Of the 4 African startups, Nigeria has a total of 3 while Ghana has one... TechCrunch has announced the list of 200 exemplary startups out of thousands of applicants to feature in this year’s annual event, TechCrunch Disrupt 2022 Startup Battlefield, slated to hold in San Francisco from October 18 to 20. From among these startups, 20 will be chosen to compete for TechCrunch’s $100,000 equity-free prize to help them scale up their ongoing work. The startups selected are players in some of the emerging technology spaces. These include fintech, healthtech, bio-tech, Blockchain, Cleantech, Mobility, Future of Work, Retail, SaaS, Education, Climate, Space, AI, ML, Robotics, Security, Enterprise, HR, and Transportation sectors. Of the total lot, Africa has four startups listed. Of the 4 African startups, Nigeria has a total of 3 while Ghana has one. Here is a brief description of each: The 4 African startups selected for TechCrunch Disrupt 2022 Oze (Ghana) Founded in 2017 by Meghan McCormick and Dave Emnett, Oze is a fintech platform that provides digital recordkeeping tools with embedded finance products to MSME businesses across West Africa. The company’s mission goal is to build 100 million profitable small businesses in Africa and its mobile platform makes it easy for these MSMEs to track sales, expenses and customer information, Oze currently claims to be the largest online community of MSMEs in Ghana. Commenting on this selection, Meghan McCormick, Co-founder & CEO said, Getting selected is an amazing opportunity to showcase the revolutionary tools we’ve been building with and for our customers in West Africa in the heart of Silicon Valley. It’s proof that the future will be built everywhere. Meghan McCormick, Co-founder & CEO. Since January 2021, the Ghanaian startup has raised $3.7 million in pre-seeding rounds to help upscale its services and operations. Read Also: Meet the 23 Nigerian startups selected for Google’s Black Founders Fund cohort II PressOne Africa (Nigeria) Founded by Mayowa Okegbenle, PressOne Africa is a tech startup that provides businesses and individuals with professional phone numbers to facilitate smoother operations. This startup’s services are provided via a mobile application. The mission goal is to allow entrepreneurs to coordinate the running of their business operations and communications without the interference and intertwining of personal communication, and to separate business from personal calls. AltSchool Africa (Nigeria) Founded in 2021 by Adewale Yusuf and Sultan Akintunde, AltSchool Africa is an ed-tech startup that aims to provide Africans with in-demand tech and employability skills to help them build their careers. The startup’s mission goal is to solve the longstanding dilemma of talent shortage in the tech space, particularly with its flexible educational system. Disrupt Africa reports that four months after its launch, the ed-tech startup has received over 8,000 applications from students from 20 different countries for its School of Engineering. In February 2022, the ed-tech startup raised $1 million in a pre-seed round with participation from local investors. Shekels (Nigeria) Founded in 2021 by Sanmi Olankanmi and Benjamin Oladokun, Shekels Mobiility, is a B2B credit financing and dealership management platform that helps small and mid-sized used-car dealerships manage their entire business. The platform offers financial services to local dealers as well as the ability to conduct cross-border transactions by connecting virtual dealers with local dealers. The mission goal is to power used car dealership transactions and operations for Sub-Saharan African automotive retail SMEs. Over the course of its operation, the startup claims to have worked with over 300 merchants and completed over 2500 transactions. About TechCrunch Disrupt Every year, Techcrunch hosts TechCrunch Disrupt, a gathering of the world’s startup community to share knowledge, work together, and celebrate success...
In this explainer, we are going to explore what Ethereum Name Service usernames are and why you should consider getting yours... Active Twitter users would have come across handles such as temitope.eth, chukwu.eth and many others. With how proliferated this is, many are still confused about what it means and used for. The advent of blockchain technology came with a combination of numerics, alphabets and symbols known as wallet addresses. A wallet address is a string of letters and numbers from which cryptocurrencies or NFTs can be sent and received. Basically, it is your unique trading address on the web. These addresses, due to the set-up, look too abstract and technical, especially to newbies in the blockchain space. This problem led to the creation of what is known as ENS. In this explainer, we are going to explore what Ethereum Name Service usernames are and why you should consider getting yours. Let’s get to it. What is the Ethereum Name Service? Simply put, it is a name and lookup service built on the Ethereum blockchain. ENS allows crypto users to translate machine-readable addresses to human-readable addresses. A sort of nickname generator for Ethereum wallet addresses, just to make crypto more accessible to the common people. Think of this scenario, a friend of yours wants to send you some money in ether. To do so, you must send your Ethereum public address made up of 42 hexadecimal characters, which looks like this – ‘0x0806BD2dA9A4a4A767c1Ffe5add05b4B3DeAFcaA’. The problem attached to the address above is that firstly, it is too long. Then it looks too technical for the common person. With ENS, you can create a “nickname” for your wallet address. So instead of sending that complicated string of characters to your friend, you can have something like ‘Dami.eth’, which is connected automatically to your public address. Related post: All you need to know about the Metaverse and 4 ways you can take advantage of it Apart from Ethereum addresses, ENS also offers human-readable domains for other crypto wallets, websites, content hashes and metadata. Essentially, it aims to be your Web3 username that connects all your addresses and websites under a single name, for you to receive any type of cryptocurrency or NFTs via your ENS domain. According to the ENS Documentation, the protocol calls it “a distributed, open, and extensible naming system” that offers decentralised, blockchain-secured domain naming and look-up services. And, owing to its decentralised nature, ENS isn’t controlled by a central authority. Why should you get an ENS username? Owning an ENS domain allows you to have a simple and human-friendly username that will redirect to your long and complicated wallet address. So, instead of having to remember or constantly copy that long and boring address, you have a memory-friendly nickname instead. This is somewhat similar to the DNS system of the traditional internet. When you type in “google.com”, under the surface it actually redirects you to a long and complicated IP address. Ethereum Name Service shows the powerful potential of web3. Instead of having to create individual accounts and profiles with every website (thereby relinquishing your data and control over to a centralised entity), you instead own your profile and identity and it goes around the web with you. How to get started Registering an Ethereum Name Service username is quite straightforward, and all you need to do is have a wallet like MetaMask funded. Go to app.ens.domains, the official website for registering an ENS username. Click on the “Connect” button on the top left and select your preferred wallet. When you’re connected, type in the name you’re trying to buy to see if it’s still available. If it is, you will see an estimate of what it costs including the current gas fee. Read also: Here is all you need to know about Sweatcoin, an app that rewards you for walking You’ll be required to sign two transactions, one to request to register, and th...
IFC has invested $30 million in equity in West Indian Ocean Cable Company Holding Ltd (WIOCC Group) to support the expansion of high-quality broadband internet and data hosting services in Africa. IFC previously provided $20 million in financing to WIOCC Group through its fast-track COVID-19 financing facility, which was established to support economies and protect jobs during the pandemic crisis. The additional funding will assist WIOCC Group in completing the construction of new subsea cables, expanding its existing terrestrial fibre-optic network infrastructure, and establishing top-notch open-access core and edge data centre facilities across the continent. Speaking on this raise, Chris Wood, WIOCC Group Chief Executive Officer said, This new investment supports our goal of establishing an integrated, open-access, core-to-edge cloud ecosystem throughout the African continent, underpinned by truly scalable, carrier-neutral, open access, shared infrastructure that delivers high-quality and affordable digital connectivity. Chris Wood, WIOCC Group Chief Executive Officer Since 2007, IFC has been a founding lender of WIOCC and a strong supporter of accessible digital connectivity in emerging markets. In the fiscal year of June 2022, IFC invested $1.3 billion in the digital infrastructure of which a portion was used in Africa’s telecommunications, media, and technology sectors. IFC is committed to closing the digital divide in Africa, as this partnership with WIOCC demonstrates. Read Also: NCC, Google collaborate to drive Nigeria’s digital transformation Digital Infrastructure in Africa The internet economy in Africa is increasingly being supported by digital infrastructure. According to eConomy Africa 2020, fibre optic networks and data centres are being integrated over time to increase access to faster, more affordable internet across the continent of Africa. According to a study by the International Telecommunication Union, a 10% increase in mobile broadband penetration in Africa would result in a 2.5% increase in GDP per capita. This increased access also has the potential to significantly transform the continent by fostering economic opportunities, creating jobs, and offering creative solutions to complex problems like access to healthcare, education, and finance. The goal of the IFC’s digital infrastructure strategy in Africa is to enable dependable, cost-effective connectivity. Along with supporting mobile operators, this entails making investments in the development of independent tower operators, data centres, and broadband, with a focus on fostering increased connectivity in low-income and fragile-state (FCS) international development association countries (LIC-IDA). Read Also: Nigeria’s fibre connectivity journey: so far yet still a long way to go About IFC The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is a World Bank Group member and one of the largest global development institutions focused on emerging market private sectors. IFC has committed and mobilised more than $7 billion in digital infrastructure and services over the last decade, with more than $2.5 billion committed and mobilised between July 2020 and June 2022. In the previous fiscal year (July 1, 2021–June 30, 2022), 34% of IFC’s investments in digital infrastructure were made in FCS and IDA nations. IFC committed a record $32.8 billion to private businesses and financial institutions in developing nations during the fiscal year 2022, utilising the private sector’s ability to promote shared prosperity and end extreme poverty as economies deal with the effects of the world’s compounding crises. About WIOCC WIOCC Group is Africa’s leading provider of digital connectivity. It provides connectivity services to cloud operators, content providers, broadband and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) across Africa via its extensive open-access, carrier-neutral digital infrastructure, which in turn provides voice, data, application...
..if you have a hankering for your favourite local dish, all you need to do is screenshot it, and Google will connect you with nearby restaurants serving it. Google, on Wednesday, September 28, held the 2022 edition of ‘Search On’, the company’s annual virtual event to announce new features and developments in Search. The search engine giant, at the live-streamed event, revealed how machine learning advancements are helping people to gather and explore information in new ways, and of course, made some key announcements. Here’s a closer look at some of them: 1. Multisearch is expanding According to Google, each month, people use Lens to answer more than 8 billion questions, using their camera or an image. Earlier this year, the company introduced multisearch, which it describes as “a major milestone in how people search for information”. “With multi-search, you can take a picture or use a screenshot and then add text to it — similar to the way you might naturally point at something and ask a question about it. Multisearch is available in English globally, and will now be rolling out in 70 languages in the next few months,” Google said in a statement. 2. Multisearch near me Google said “Multisearch near me” — which it previewed during its Google I/O conference in May — supercharges multi-search capability, which allows users to take a screenshot or a photo of an item, and then find it nearby. It added: “So if you have a hankering for your favourite local dish, all you need to do is screenshot it, and Google will connect you with nearby restaurants serving it. Multisearch near me will start rolling out in the U.S.A later this year.” Related article: Google search trend shows Bella, Beauty. Khalid are the most popular BBNaija housemates. 3. Translation in the blink of an eye For the search engine giant, one of the most powerful aspects of visual understanding is its ability to break down language barriers. With Lens, Google said it has gone beyond translating text to translating pictures by translating text in images over 1 billion times per month, in more than 100 languages. Citing major advancements in machine learning, the company said it is now able to blend translated text into complex images, which makes the text look and feel much more natural: “For example, if you point your phone at text on a poster, the translated text will be realistically overlaid over the pictures underneath.” Google has also optimized their machine learning models to do all this in just 100 milliseconds — shorter than the blink of an eye. This uses generative adversarial networks (also known as GAN models), which is what helps power the technology behind the Magic Eraser on Pixel. The tech giant announced that the improved experience is launching later this year. 4. Google for iOS updates Google appears not to be joking with iOS users. The company said it is putting some of its most helpful tools right at the users’ fingertips on iOS. “From now on, you’ll see shortcuts right under the search bar to shop your screenshots, translate the text with your camera, hum to search and more,” it announced. Just recently, Google began to roll out its first iOS 16 Lock Screen widgets with updates to Chrome and Drive. Read also: Peter Obi, Afcon, Buga: top words Nigerians searched on google in the first half of 2022. 5. Even faster ways to find what you’re looking for Google said it is working to make it possible to ask questions with fewer words -or even none at all and still help users find what they are looking for. Ever desired a faster way to find what you’re searching for? The solution is here. In the coming months, when you begin to type a question, Google will start providing relevant content right away, before you’ve even finished typing. And for those who don’t know exactly what they’re looking for until they see it, Google will help you to specify your question. So if you’re looking for a holiday destination in Kenya, Google will provide keyword or t...
The exchange is one of the top five biggest exchange according to CoinMarketCap KuCoin, a global cryptocurrency exchange launched in September 2017, with its operational headquarters in Seychelles, is celebrating its fifth anniversary and announcing commemorative events while outlining its strategy for the coming years. The platform which is currently one of the top five biggest exchanges in the world according to CoinMarketCap, currently serves 20 million crypto users across more than 200 countries and has witnessed rapid growth in the number of users. Whilst recording the highest single-day trading volume in a tone of over $30 billion, the exchange has also exceeded $2 trillion in its cumulative trading volume on the KuCoin platform. In a press release, the company talks about its major achievements and successes, expansion plans, model and focus going forward. Read also: 58 million Nigerians now own cryptocurrencies- Finder report 5-year highlights KuCoin was founded in 2017, and since then, it has scaled 142 times from its original seven co-founders to a highly productive staff of over 1,000 individuals worldwide. As the number one altcoin exchange, KuCoin supports more than 700 coins and 1200 trading pairs, providing users with a wealth of investment targets and options. In addition, KuCoin has built one of the largest crypto communities in the world, supporting 23 languages and over 1 million community members. In 2022, The Ascent and Forbes named KuCoin the Best Crypto App for enthusiasts and one of the best crypto exchanges of 2022 respectively. KuCoin’s User-centric approach In a bid to meet the needs of its diverse users while providing a better trading experience, KuCoin has been continuously enriching its product line. With its Trading Bot automatic trading function, KuCoin offers Spot Grid, Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA), Futures Grid, Smart Rebalance, and Infinity Grid products. In 2022, KuCoin futures broke into the list of top 5 Global Futures Exchanges with its peak daily trading volumes surpassing $10 billion. Another major feature, KuCoin Pool, also became the world’s top 10 largest Bitcoin mining pool, having increased its computing power by 500% in 2022, the company says. A major product expansion of the platform is its recent dive into the Web3 space and the launch of Wonderland – an interactive NFT launch platform designed for crypto and traditional games. Another recent product is Windvane, a one-stop and inclusive decentralized NFT marketplace that supports mainstream NFT blockchains. The KuCoin Wallet flagship product was officially launched in June to provide users with a secure and convenient multi-chain crypto wallet. Making crypto mainstream In driving its core policies of globalization, the company has coined the title: “People’s Exchange.” In light of changing market realities, The exchange is planning to launch the long-term “Glocal (Global + Local)” strategy, foreseeing the establishment of regional headquarters in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Dubai, and other regions. About 200 new positions will be opened in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, and Dubai at the first “Global” stage. As a core mandate, KuCoin places a high emphasis on protecting user interests, which makes it necessary for the exchange to conform to peculiar environment rules and operational regulations. The company mentions that its exchange’s experts are currently finalizing a flexible strategy that meets current realities, one that will allow it to support all users, giving them free and unrestricted access to digital assets. Read also: Meet the confirmed speakers for Technext Coinference 2.0 Commemorative events KuCoin has outlined a series of events starting from September 28, 2022, to thank users for their support. These events include trading campaigns, Buy BTC/ETH/KCS with a 10% discount, 5th Anniversary Limited Edition NFTs, and more. Its release of Mystery Boxes is one of the planned events. Owning any one of the boxes of two diff...
Here is the list of confirmed speakers you will be meeting at Technext Coinference 2.0, in no particular order... It’s just few days away from the second edition of the largest blockchain gathering in Africa, Technext Coinference 2.0. The event is billed to hold on Monday, the 3rd of October, 2022, at the Landmark Event Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos. The theme remains unchanged: Blockchain and DeFi: Beyond the Hype. In previous articles, we gave a foretaste of what you should expect at Technext Coinference 2.0 and our official sponsors. In case you missed them, you can simply click on the links and read. When you bring together key players in the African crypto space, you’re certain to expect engaging conversations. Here is the list of confirmed speakers you will be meeting at Technext Coinference 2.0, in no particular order. Fejiro Hanu Agbodje Hanu Fejiro Agbodje, a pioneer in the African crypto space, is the Founder/CEO of Patricia Technologies, an alternative payment solutions company redefining everyday transactions through the power of Blockchain Technology, one crypto transaction at a time. An avid traveller on a never-ending quest for knowledge, Hanu has, over the past five years, proven himself a trail-blazer in the fintech and crypto space and has been honoured with awards and recognitions for his contributions to the African Fintech and Crypto space. Hanu will be delivering the first keynote presentation, Blockchain for Africa: Decentralised economies, merged future at Technext Coinference 2.0. Emmanuel Babalola Babz, as he is fondly called, is the current CEO of Bundle – an Africa-focused social payments app for cash and crypto. He is a self-taught software developer that has created multiple apps and products. He was previously the Business Development Manager at Binance in Nigeria, where he led the Africa chapter of the world’s largest crypto exchange and blockchain infrastructure provider. He also served as the VP of Sales & Marketing at Churchplus, the biggest church management solution in Nigeria. At Binance, Babalola has pioneered education initiatives such as Binance Masterclass which provides free blockchain education courses to the masses, especially in Africa and has reached over 400,000 people. He has also helped establish self-regulated blockchain institutions in Nigeria that have played a key role in building the crypto & blockchain ecosystem across Africa. Babz will be delivering the second keynote address, DeFi in Africa – Possibilities beyond the Hype, at Technext Coinference 2.0. Buki Ogunsakin Buki Ogunsakin is a legal practitioner with a track record of excellence in Crypto, Nanotechnology, Drone, IoTs, and NFT consultation/management. She is the Principal/Head Satoshi of BBO Solicitors, an organization that offers a spectrum of legal services to individuals, corporations, institutions and NGOs in the crypto space. She practises primarily in three areas of law – emerging technologies (crypto, NFTs, AI etc), data privacy, and cybersecurity. Ogunsakin is also currently a Consultant with InterStellar Inc; and the Director of Strategy at Emerging Technologies for Emerging Markets (E4E). Ogunsakin is also a Blockchain/Crypto/Smart Contract Researcher at Smart Contract Research Forum – a Canada-based forum that serves as a bridge between academia and industry, and a Kleros Decentralized Justice Fellow. She is also a Certified NFT Expert from the Blockchain Council and a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). Sandi Bitenc Sandi is the Chief Executive Officer at 3air, a blockchain-based startup structured to provide African communities with broadband internet connectivity while at the same time offering a wide variety of digital services. He is a serial entrepreneur and a computer geek. His professional computer career started already in his teens when he was part of a hosting and domain registrar startup company that went to become the biggest in the Adriatic area...
This is coming nine months after it acquired Egyptian home service platform, FilKhedma... South African Online home services platform, SweepSouth has announced that it has raised $11 million in pre-seed funding, its biggest. This is coming nine months after it acquired Egyptian home service platform, FilKhedma The round was led by Alitheia IDF (AIF), Africa’s first and largest gender-lens private equity fund. Naspers Foundry, The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, and Futuregrowth Asset Management also participated in the round. Other investors in the rounds also include Endeavor Catalyst, Endeavor’s Harvest Fund II, Caruso Ventures, E4E Africa. In addition to growing and further developing its infrastructure and team in South Africa, the online cleaning company claims that this most recent round of funding will enable the company to pursue both new expansions and acquisitions across the African continent and beyond. The company also plans to roll out new services to its existing markets. Commenting on the raise, Aisha Pandor, Co-founder of SweepSouth, said: This round is an important one for our team as we continue to scale in South Africa, and further grow our operations in Kenya, Nigeria, and Egypt. We’re excited to continue SweepSouth’s work in connecting customers with home service providers across the continent, building a platform that empowers domestic workers and local tradespeople. Aisha Pandor, Co-founder of SweepSouth According to Nairametrics, the sum raised is a reflection of the company’s valuation and its social impact. The startup has grown significantly since its previous funding round. Read Also: Eden Life expands to Kenya, acquires Lynk About SweepSouth Co-founded in 2014 by Aisha Pandor and Alen Ribic, SweepSouth is an online home cleaning service company. The cleaning company has established a presence for itself in each of Africa’s four major tech markets. It commenced operations in South Africa in 2021 and later expanded its services to Kenya and Egypt. In 2022, the company launched its services in Nigeria. With the new fund, the startup will be better positioned to compete favourably against similar players like Fichaya and Eden, which have also raised similar funds. Read Also: Naspers Foundry Invests $2.1m in On-Demand Cleaning Service Startup, SweepSouth A bit about the Investors The SweepSouth investment round was spearheaded by Alitheia IDF (AIF). Two women-led businesses, Alitheia Capital (Lagos, Nigeria) and IDF Capital, co-founded and manage the women-led private equity fund, which has a gender lens and is worth $100 million (Johannesburg, South Africa). At the close of 2021, the raise surpassed all other gender-lens private equity funds in Africa. Commenting on the investment, Polo Leteka, Principal Partner at Alitheia IDF Fund, said, We are proud to support SweepSouth’s growth as it expands its platform that substantially improves the financial and social outcomes for domestic workers across Africa, most of which are women. Polo Leteka, Principal Partner at Alitheia IDF Fund
Set in 1823 in the former African kingdom of Dahomey (located within present-day Benin), "The Woman King" features the nation's female warriors called Agojie... Movie: "The Woman King" Year: 2022 With all the bias in our veins.Okay, before we go on, this review of “The Woman King” includes spoilers but will surely encourage you to go see it, so you learn of the dramatic portrayal of the Dahomey people who, led by a woman, fought to stop oppression and what was a thriving slave trade in the 1800s. Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood Producers: Viola Davis, Julius Tennon, Maria Bello, Cathy Schulman Screenplay: Dana Stevens Run time: 135 minutes As we wanted to say earlier, “The Woman King” is no doubt one of the year’s standout films and will surely compete for many awards to come. For Viola Davis, talking to Essence, “The Woman King”, in many instances, has significance stretching across her career and many generations of struggle, and it is a lot more than box office numbers. “There are no words to describe the journey, the sweat, the blood the war, that is being a Black artist and being a Black female artist,” she said. “If people understood what goes on in the room, what goes on in the studio, what goes on in a heart, what freaking dies in us at times.If they see the blood, sweat and tears of what it took, not just for this movie, just what our journey is. Then they would be on board. They would be on board because they would understand the absolute importance of it.” Besides that sad part of history, historical spectacles usually fare well at the box office, especially ones that bring up emotions and cause conversations on colonialism (more like the sinister entry of white men into Africa and the rule that came after), the history of the slave trade, and the history of old-time kingdoms. But, there’s nothing like perfection. Shall we? Set in 1823 in the former African kingdom of Dahomey (located within present-day Benin), “The Woman King” features the nation’s female warriors called Agojie, and its fierce commander, Nanisca (Viola Davis). Read also: The movie ‘Day Shift’ isn’t superclass but it delivers as a vampire-horror genre The film begins with a bloody scene: A group of men camping in a field. They hear rustling in the tallgrass. Suddenly Nanisca – the fierce general – is up, and an entire platoon shows up behind her, charging and slaughtering the men – women excluded – and is part of Nanisca’s mission to free their imprisoned kin. However, Nanisca loses so many soldiers that she decides to train a new batch of recruits. After that scene, the plot begins to feel convoluted. But, even that serves the film’s goals. What comes next is the offering of a ‘delinquent’ teenager, Nawi, (Thuso Mbedu) to King Ghezo (John Boyega) by her domineering father, who is frustrated by his daughter’s refusal to bow and be married to one of her suitors. In a twist, Nawi does not get to the king and is instead picked up by an Agojie warrior, Izogie (Lashana Lynch), who sees Nawi‘s misdemeanour as a strength and enlists her in Nanisca‘s training. Indeed, being part of the Agojie is a channel to freedom, especially for many girls like Nawi, but the story is different for those who are part of the conquered, as they are offered as tribute to the draconian Oyo Empire, who trades them as slaves to Europeans in exchange for guns. Nanisca wants to break that circle of oppression. And she says, “If you want to hold a people in chains, you have to first convince them that they are meant to be bound,” to support this. But, before that, a dream has haunted the leader of the Agojie, and the disobedient Nawi, the one who would not obey simple rules, especially the ‘No Men’ requirement of the amazons, might be the key to what ails her. Nawi, though a supporting character, eventually becomes one to stand beside Nanisca when she matches into the kingdom, having defeated both the Oyo empire and Europeans who were slavers. The Woman King’s presentation of t...
Prelude's name, services and products will remain unchanged, and any future changes will be communicated to customers in advance... Scheduling company, Calendly announced today the acquisition of Prelude, a recruiting operations platform, for an undisclosed sum of money. The scheduling company, which is valued at $30 billion dollars has finally made its first acquisition. This acquisition of Prelude is in line with Calendly’s mission to offer a seamless scheduling solution for all market segments including the recruitment industry, modernise the planning process for recruitment and offer businesses a comprehensive solution to external challenges. According to the announcement post, the scheduling company has been used to schedule millions of interviews and meetings related to recruiting. With the help of Prelude, this merger will allow businesses of all sizes to streamline the coordination of every interview scenario as companies share the same future vision of offering a well-defined integrated solution for recruiting teams. Commenting on the acquisition in the blog, Tope Awotona, Founder of Calendly said, It’s what I set out to do when I first founded Calendly — to listen deeply to customers about how we could best serve them, and build solutions for real people who are just trying to do good work. It’s become a key pillar of how we operate, and I look forward to collaborating with Prelude through that same strong customer-focused lens. Tope Awotona, CEO and Founder of Calendly Read Also: Calendly founder, Tope Awotona, is 1 of 2 black tech billionaires in the U.S Calendly purchase: What does this mean for Prelude? The vision of Prelude has always been to solve “Calendar Tetris” and supercharge recruiting coordination. Since its inception, the company has raised $2.4 million in seed funding and assisted over 100 startups. However, according to the company announcement, this acquisition marks the beginning of a new chapter for them. Will Laufer, Founder and CEO of Prelude, commented on the acquisition and the new phase. He said, Here’s to the next chapter of Prelude, joining forces with Calendly to delight candidates and make coordination a breeze. We are honored to work with you now and into the future. Will Laufer, Founder and CEO of Prelude But what about the customers? Before now, everyone involved in a company’s hiring process, including talent acquisition teams, hiring managers, and company leaders, have specific meeting-related needs that call for comprehensive scheduling automation solutions. According to the Prelude, this acquisition will make them as a company become an integral part of Calendly. They will also work in tandem with the scheduling automation platform, as both companies are passionate about creating simple and delightful solutions to frustrating and complex problems. It adds that Prelude comes in this way helping companies efficiently schedule interviews across the recruiting lifecycle, from phone screens and hiring manager interviews to panel interviews. The announcement adds that Prelude has been able to increase speed to hire, improve quality of hire, and create a delightful candidate experience for 100+ companies, including Cloudflare, Duolingo and Glassdoor. New in #tech: “We’ve acquired Prelude, a recruiting operations platform designed to build a better hiring process.” – @Calendly Anna-Lysa Gayle (@AnnaLysaGayle) September 27, 2022 Prelude would continue to exist and grow with the help of the scheduling team. Prelude’s name, services and products will remain unchanged, and any future changes will be communicated to customers in advance. However, in the future, both companies will be merged into a single entity to provide our customers with a unified experience — a single scheduling platform for multiple departments within the organisation.
Technext Coinference is the biggest Blockchain gathering out of Africa... We know you are excited that the year is gradually coming to an end, and the anticipation for ‘Detty December’ is very much high, but have you met your target of network growth you set at the beginning of the year? As a tech-savvy enthusiast, one of the very ways to grow your network, expand your knowledge and meet major key players in the ecosystem is through gatherings like conferences, webinars and hangouts. If you have been thinking of tech events to attend this October, don’t worry, we have got you covered. Here are 5 major tech events taking place in Africa in October that would not want to miss. Below is a brief about each. Technext Coinference 2.0 Technext Coinference is the largest Blockchain gathering out of Africa. At the event, industry experts, enthusiasts and key players will discuss issues around blockchain, crypto and Defi in Africa. The event will also feature the latest trends that are gradually reshaping the space. The maiden blockchain event, Technext Coinference was held last year with the theme: Reimaging the future of finance. It had a list of key players in the African crypto ecosystem to discuss the possibilities of cryptocurrency in Africa as well as encourage the audience to position it for future leverage. This year’s event has the theme: Blockchain and DeFi: Beyond the Hype and the scope of the conversation will cover the possibilities of Blockchain, Crypto, Web3 and the DeFi for Africa. The event will have 2 plenary keynotes, 1 plenary panel and 4 breakout panel sessions. Major conversations include: DeFi & the future of finance in Africa Building a career in Blockchain All you need to know about Web 3 Making money from NFTs See event details below: Date: Monday, October 10, 2022 Time: 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM WAT Venue: Landmark event Centre, VI Lagos. Register to attend the event here. Registration is free Global DevSlam Global DevSlam is the premier learning, talent-acquisition, and networking event for developers, data scientists and software engineers. It will bring together the world’s brightest talent and teams in Dubai to develop creative and inspiring solutions to themed but real-world challenges. Participants stand the chance to win potentially up to 24 scholarships worth USD 51,000. The event will also bring together the world’s leading tech & solution providers in Low-code, No-code, Software, full-stack development, Pycon, Java, DevOps, Cloud Kubernetes and more. The event has been organised in partnership with Coders HQ, a transformational project by the UAE government to help coders in becoming strategic enablers of the UAE digital economy. The event is supported by Microsoft, Oracle and Red Hat. Other sponsors include Tech and Digital, Future lab, A-nex. See more details below: Date: Monday, October 10 – Thursday, October 13 Time: 10: 00 AM – 5:00 PM daily Venue: Dubai World Trade Centre Register to attend the event here. Datafest Africa 2022 Datafest Africa is a 2-days event designed to showcase all data professions in the data space in Africa. The event will host individuals in the following profession: data analysts, data scientists, data engineer, AI/ML engineers, low code developers, students, researchers, data managers, data consumer, or recruiter. The conference will hold in Lagos with an expected audience of 3000 participants and over 50 speakers and mentors. It will also feature 3 keynotes, a demo which presents participants the opportunity to network, breakout sessions and booth visitation. Also, the organisers are promising a lot of prizes as well as a product showcase. See more details below: Date: Friday, October 14 – Saturday, October 15 Time: To be communicated Venue: To be communicated Register to attend the event here. Registration is free The Nigerian Fintech Week The Nigerian fintech week is one of the largest gatherings of players in the Nigerian and African fintech ecosystem. The week-long ev...
The app promises a lot of great things, and we'll look into some of its amazing features... Quality early childhood education is the core of a child’s journey, as the success of all later stages of schooling depends on it. Have you thought about teaching your children using their native language? Perhaps, you are wondering about how to provide your kids with quality education without going to a physical lesson. The Teesas Education app could be the answer to all of these troubles. Now, let us check it out: About Teesas Education Teesas is an African ed-tech app that focuses on early childhood education (kindergarten to primary 6). It does this by utilising technology to deliver high-quality educational content that is locally adaptable in both English and local languages. The edtech app believes that education holds the key to transformational growth in Africa and that mastering complicated ideas at a young age will lead to exceptional academic performance as the child progresses to higher classes. The app, which is currently only accessible in Nigeria, adheres to the national curriculum. Olamilekan Popoola, Senior Brand/Digital Marketing Lead at Teesas, claims that all subjects are taught in accordance with the various curricula available and in accordance with the various grades. He disclosed this in an exclusive interview with Technext. Read Also: ‘Teesas gives young learners a well-rounded education’ – Osayi Izedonmwen, Teesas CEO Getting started The app is 24MB in size and requires an Android 6.0 OS and up to function. Signing up for the app is relatively simple, especially with the assistance of a parent or guardian. There are options to assist individuals in developing questions and content that are relevant to their school curriculum and class. There are five types of schools from which students can choose: British, National, Military, Catholic, and Static. However, there is no verification process, and I discovered that the same phone numbers can be used to open multiple accounts when I tried it several times. App Design The app contains numerous design elements that appear to contribute to the creation of enriching experiences that are age-appropriate. The app’s features are also gamified, with common animated pictures that kids can relate to. Interactions within the app appear to be well-structured, simple, and consistent. The app’s background colour is green, which is a great choice because it has been shown to calm children and help them concentrate on tasks. What the app promises The app promises a lot of great things, and we’ll look into some of its amazing features. Video Quality Video: All of the videos on the app are of high quality. They are also very brief in order to maintain user engagement. Furthermore, the video method is gratified in animation and musicals, which is a good strategy for capturing and sustaining the attention of children. Live classes: The app also includes online classes tutored by Teesas instructors to help these children strengthen their learning journey. This is a fantastic plan because children require guidance when it comes to learning. Parental Guidance: In addition to the live classes, the app has various methods for providing guidance to these children. The app includes a report section that displays the child’s daily and weekly activity performance. There is also a companion app that reports this information in greater detail. Entrance Exam Preparation: The app also promises to help children prepare for entrance exams. Basic subjects such as Math, English, and Science are dissected in the curriculum to create copious exam practice tests accompanied by video lessons for kids to practice with. Indigenous Languages: Apart from the basic subjects like English, Math and Science, The app promises to educate children in their indigenous languages, and it appears to do so. With over five local languages, including Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa, the app has made it easier for these childre...
Health technology platform company 54Gene identifies reliable cloud provider to further their mission of increasing African representation in geonomic datasets used by scientists around the world... Less than 3% of genetic materials used for global pharmaceutical research come from Africa. This comes as a surprise considering Africa represents a more unique and diverse genetic pool than any other population on the planet. This is why, in 2019, African genomics start-up 54Gene sought to bridge this divide. So successful has it been that the start-up has secured $45m in funding from various investors and is now at the forefront of bringing genetics to the world. African genomics start-up 54Gene has implemented the services of Amazon Web Services (AWS) as part of its efforts to realise its promise of bringing precision medicine to Africa and the global population, by bridging the geographical disparity gap evident in global genomics data. “At present, some parts of the world (usually developed countries) have widely sequenced genomics databases, while others (usually developing countries and particularly the African continent) have far fewer datasets. As genomics grows in its scientific uses (recently playing a key role in understanding the SARS-CoV-2 virus), it is important to correct this gap to ensure that scientific discoveries are distributed across all and relevant to all populations around the world,” says Francis Osifo, vice president of 54Gene. Read also: Nigeria’s 54Gene closes $25m Series B funding to advance drug discovery through clinical trials 54Gene’s main goal is to address this inequity through its health technology platform, which is now powered by AWS. The company is building diverse datasets to better facilitate scientific discoveries in the field of genomics, as well as enhance diagnostic and treatment outcomes in Africa, and around the world. “When modern humans originating from Africa wandered and explored the globe, a bottleneck effect was created leaving behind large genetic diversity on the African continent,” says Osifo. “And now, less than 3% of genomic data represented in research is from African populations. “We are pioneering the inclusion of the African genome in research. We are re-imagining a world where precision medicine is equalised and everyone can live longer.” Says Robin Njiru Business Lead-East & West Africa at AWS, “AWS has substantial experience in healthcare and medical research around the world, and our technology has powered some incredible innovations in this space in recent years. We believe that 54Gene is the next in these innovative, forward-looking medical research breakthroughs. The Covid-19 pandemic has shown the world the importance of genomic sequencing, and an entire continental gap in data on this is a massive barrier to making sure any innovations are relevant in an African context. At AWS, we are growing our support for companies that work to bridge such gaps and support innovations that are relevant to the African content and her people.” 54Gene’s Genomics Infrastructure & Insights Ecosystem (GENIISYSTM) platform has highly curated genomic, clinical, and phenotypic data from which they derive insights that lead to innovative medicines and diagnostics. The assets created by and derived from GENIISYSTM are expected to improve the state of healthcare for the entire world. Despite being at the forefront of this specific technology, 54Gene struggled to find a reliable cloud provider that would consider the company’s ecosystem and assist it through every stage of the company’s growth. “AWS is highly configurable with robust support,” explains Osifo. “The uptime for their services is a huge plus. And the biggest gain is the fact that there is a solution to every problem.” After architecting, AWS services were deployed within three weeks, leaving 54Gene able to implement, deploy and manage all of their internal and external facing solutions. This in turn meant that the compa...
The intended number of participants is over 2,000 which will be drawn from different parts of Africa, with a prize pool of $60,000... Polygon, the leading Web3 infrastructure used by some of the world’s biggest companies including Meta, Stripe, and Reddit, and Xend Finance, the leading global crypto bank, has announced Polygon Bootcamp, an eight-week intensive certified mentorship program and hackathon in Africa. According to a statement shared with Technext on Monday, the Bootcamp aims to solidify Polygon’s efforts in Africa, by equipping the participants with the required knowledge/education for blockchain development, financial incentives to motivate their interest in the space and offering mentorship/funding opportunities for outstanding developers. The Polygon Bootcamp and Hackathon will be the company’s first in Africa and introduce developers in the region to the Polygon ecosystem using Xend Finance and Polygon technologies. The intended number of participants is over 2,000 which will be drawn from different parts of Africa, with a prize pool of $60,000. “Africa has the greatest potential to harness the power of Web3 and bring a borderless economy and stability to its people,” said Sandeep Nailwal, COO and Co-Founder of Polygon. “We are excited to hold our first hackathon and bootcamp in Africa, which we hope to do for years to come.” Also commenting on the development, Ugochukwu Aronu, CEO of Xend Finance said: “As a Web3 infrastructure for developers, which includes a crypto payment API and wallet infrastructure, we are very excited to help a generation of developers reach a global audience”. “Working with Polygon allows our existing developer base, along with new developers, to tap into the power of the Polygon blockchain and ecosystem using our technology. We are Africa and we are proud to support our community.” “The Polygon Africa Bootcamp is one of the many initiatives we have undertaken in the continent. Polygon has partnered with various developer communities such as Web3Bridge, Web3Ladies, etc. to train and transition African Web2 developers into blockchain developers, equipping them with the necessary professionals and funds to give them the very best mentorship experience. We have also hosted and sponsored various conferences across Africa such as ETHSafari in Kenya, Africa Money & DeFi Summit in Ghana, and CryptoFest in South Africa, to enlighten Africans about the various possibilities of blockchain technology in the continent’s fintech industry,” said Dalip Tyagi, SVP, Developer Relations Lead at Polygon. Those chosen for the mentor-led program will learn how to build decentralized apps on the Polygon blockchain and receive the official Polygon Africa Bootcamp Certification upon completion. Mentors and judges will include Iyin Aboyeji, Founder & General Partner at Future Africa, Shodipo Ayomide, Global Head of Developer Advocacy of Polygon, Ugochukwu Aronu, CEO of Xend Finance, Victor Osaretin Asemota, and Yele Bademosi, CEO of Nestcoin, amongst others. Read also: Major boost for Ethereum as Polygon plans $450m raise led by Sequoia India. Breakdown of the Bootcamp The Bootcamp will consist of a 6-week learning phase and a 2-week hackathon phase where participants will have to build decentralized projects on Polygon blockchain and compete for huge financial & mentorship prizes. The Bootcamp will have two tracks namely: the Beginner track and the Mastery track. For the first six weeks, tagged the Learning Phase, participants will learn how to build on the Polygon blockchain, and also enjoy weekly sessions with mentors from Polygon and Xend. During the Hackathon/Build Phase, which will span for 2 weeks, participants will form teams or build projects individually with the help of Industry leaders. This phase will happen in both the Beginners and Mastery tracks. Participants at the Beginners track will be exposed to an introduction to Web3. This track will be open for developers who are new in the web3 spac...
. . .Company Hits Milestone of 2.4 million visitors in one hour after QR Code Advert aired on Africa’s Largest TV Show African-founded crypto exchange, Quidax on Friday announced the launch of a US Dollars (USD) savings feature. The feature allows its customers anywhere in the world to save in USD from local currencies like Naira or using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and several other cryptos. Quidax Customers are able to earn up to 10% annual interest when they save in USD with interest paid daily. They will also be able to choose between two savings plans; Flexible Savings and Fixed Savings. The Flexible Savings Plan offers daily interest payments and allows customers to withdraw their money at any time. While the Fixed Savings Plan makes it possible for people to save in US Dollars for a fixed period and earn higher returns. According to the announcement on the Quidax Blog the USD savings feature was a result of feedback Quidax had received from some of its existing customers. One such feedback was from a customer called Samuel who said he was looking for ways to protect his money from inflation and still earn interest. Similar read: Crypto Exchange platform, Quidax unveils Don Jazzy as brand ambassador It is no news that the US Dollar has remained one of the strongest currencies in the world, while also being the unit value for both traditional and decentralised finance; and that is why millions of financially literate people all over the world save in USD. Quidax’ Dollar Savings product provides a great opportunity for investors to protect themselves from local currency devaluation experienced in most countries of the world. Now people in countries experiencing inflation and currency depreciation can protect their finances by saving in the currency that remains most stable globally i.e. USD. 2.4 Million People Visit Quidax’ website after QR Code Advert on Big Brother Naija According to several reports the Quidax website briefly crashed after running a QR code advert on Africa’s largest reality TV show, Big Brother Naija (BBNaija). As a sponsor for the show’s 7th season, Quidax turned its regular 30 seconds TV advert into a floating QR code. As a result, Quidax got more than 2.4 million hits to its website from over 25 countries which made the startup’s website crash for a few minutes. The QR Code was very similar to the popular Snake game on the Nokia 3310 and the handheld Brick Game, which was popular in the 90s and early 00’s. By simply scanning the QR code, viewers could attempt to win out of 10 million Naira and an all-expense paid trip for two to Dubai via a 2 step signup process. Read also: From Yellow Card to Quidax, here are the top 5 most-funded African Crypto startups According to Quidax the advert aired during the show’s Saturday party, Sunday eviction show and Monday head of house games between the 17th to 19th of September.Following the campaign’s success, the advert is also said to run again on the 1st and 2nd of October during the show’s Saturday night party and Sunday Eviction show. This year, Quidax has taken several steps toward driving awareness and cryptocurrency adoption. Earlier this year the company announced Mavin records founder and CEO, Michael ‘Don Jazzy’ Collins as its brand ambassador. In addition, Quidax became the first African crypto exchange to be listed on CoinMarketCap. CoinMarketCap is the world’s most-referenced price-tracking website for crypto assets. CMC as it is often called is commonly cited by CNBC, Bloomberg, and other major news outlets. Its data is also used by the U.S. government and several other governments. The company also launched a free Cryptocurrency Academy that makes it easy for anyone to learn crypto. The academy has seen over 37,000 people take the 10-minute course and earn a crypto certificate.
The digital platform has moved more than 400,000 metric tonnes of food through its platform... Vendease, a Y Combinator-backed digital platform that allows restaurants in Africa to buy supplies, access financial services and power their business operations, has raised $30 million in an equity and debt funding round to consolidate its growth and operations in Nigeria and Ghana as well as support its expansion across the continent. The series round was co-led by TLcom and Partech, a rare joint investment by two of the biggest Africa-focused funds. It also saw participation from VentureSouq, Hustle fund, Hack VC, GFR Fund, Kube VC, Magic Fund and Kairos Angels, who re-invested after participating in the previous round. The fund will help the digital procurement company to enable restaurants in 8 cities across Nigeria and Ghana to buy food supplies at considerably cheaper rates than the open market prices, with a guaranteed 12-hour delivery. This solves the problem of food accessibility and efficiency in these regions. According to the announcement by the startup, the round was raised from the local finance market. As a result of their investment, Andreata Muforo (Partner at TLcom) and Cyril Collon (General Partner at Partech) will join Vendease’s board as new directors. Commenting on the funding, Tunde Kara, CEO and co-founder of Vendease, said; “our mission is to enable the efficient flow of food across the continent, from point of production to point of consumption. It is more than just placing orders for supplies, we want to transform how the entire sector works and remove the bottlenecks that stunt the growth of restaurants and food businesses.” “With greater efficiency in the supply chain, we believe we can unlock more growth opportunities across the board, which is why we are excited to have raised this round, led by two of Africa’s biggest VCs, who understand what it takes to power such an ambitious mission”, he added. The digital platform has moved more than 400,000 metric tonnes of food through its platform, helping its users save more than $2,000,000 in procurement costs and more than 10,000 procurement man-hours. Its data has also helped them reduce wastage from overstocking by an additional $485,000. Commenting on the raise, Andreata Muforo, Partner at TLcom, expressed commitment to working with Vendease to provide and build a platform that delivers a very affordable and convenient way to access food deliverables while delivering an efficient procurement process across Africa. “Restaurants and food businesses play a vital role in communities across the continent and Vendease is on a mission to bring affordability, convenience, and reliability to these businesses and builds a platform that allows the wider food sector to optimise their operations. We look forward to working alongside the team as they pursue the next phase of growth and unlock significant value in Africa’s fragmented food supply chain.” In his comment, Cyril Collon, General Partner at Partech, noted that Vendease was addressing a very critical issue on the continent with its model. “Vendease is delivering vital solutions that impact critical issues around the food system in Africa,” “We are thrilled to be working with them to take these solutions to more restaurants and food businesses across the continent. We see huge scope for growth in Nigeria and beyond and we are very optimistic about what can be achieved”, he mentioned further. Read also: Carbon at 10: Chijioke Dozie and Ngozi Dozie share experiences, insights at anniversary About Vendease Africa’s restaurants and food producers currently provide daily meals to 700 million people around the continent. However, these businesses lose $100 billion every year as a result of high and unstable supplier costs, a lack of data to guide purchasing choices, theft and wastage, and a lack of liquidity to finance purchases. Vendease is addressing this by building an operating system that automates the flow o...
The app offers no fee on money transfers from the UK, Europe & Canada and a low fixed fee from the USA to Nigeria... "My experience with Taptap Send has been good- and cheap! Taptap Send is a very good application, I use it to send money to my family. Even when I was in Ivory Coast on holiday I was using it to send money to myself" - Aye la Joie, London "Taptap Send is a mind-blowing experience for me because of its great exchange rate, fast service and secure transferring process. Money was transferred within seconds and I even got an extra $10 the first time using this app. Will share it with my friends here in Canada!" -Trang, Toronto. "Sending money has never been so easy! It's cheap, with a good exchange rate and it's so easy for my family to withdraw. It's like being in Senegal!" - Awa, Paris. Diaspora remittance is a major source of income for families and a major inflow volume for African countries. For many growing economies, diaspora remittances form a significant bulk of the GDP. Hence, a growth- however slight- in the rate has an instant effect on the people and their spending capacity. Overall, remittances to developing countries increased by 4.9 per cent in 2019 to $554 billion. Nigeria and 47 other Sub-Saharan African countries increased their trade by 4.3 per cent to $48 billion in 2019, up from $46 billion in 2018. For instance, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria, the country’s balance of payment account indicates that remittances climbed to $9.3 billion in H1 2021. That is a 15 per cent increase from the same period in 2020. According to the Central Bank’s figures, Nigeria has received $115.15 billion in diaspora remittances over the last five years, while outflows were $1.18 billion, resulting in a net credit of $113.96 billion. Foreign or diaspora remittances are the phrases used to describe the household income received from relatives, friends, and people living abroad. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) describes these inflows as cash and non-monetary things that move through legal channels such as electronic wires or through informal channels such as money or goods carried across borders. Remittances “assist poorer receivers to meet basic requirements, fund cash and non-cash investments, pay education, promote new businesses, service debt, and ultimately, fuel economic growth,” according to research by the renowned accounting firm PWC Nigeria. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) estimates that six out of every 100 Nigerian households get remittances from abroad. These families get an average of N84,741 in diaspora remittances, with 80% of the money going toward basic needs. Yet, sending and receiving funds in Africa is still posing a significant challenge for many. With many tech startups playing in the space, there is still the need for a process that is simpler and more efficient. Read also: Nigeria’s diaspora remittances rose 15% to hit $9.3bn in H1 2021, the highest since the pandemic Meet Taptap send Meet Taptap Send a digital international money transfer service that helps Africans in the Diaspora to send money home swiftly at a low cost. With it, users in the UK, EU, US and Canada can send money to friends and family in a matter of minutes. Taptap Send is available for download on the iOS App store and Google Play Store. Getting started with Taptap Send is easy. Senders have the option of signing in with their Apple Ids or Google accounts or signing up with their email. To sign up, users input basic information; Full name, email address, phone number, and home address. Design and functionalities Taptap Send has a straightforward, clean user interface. It is designed to help customers experience ease as they make transactions. The taskbar is located in the upper left corner of the app and contains about 5 features: Transfer History, Account, Payment Methods, Contact Us, and About to allow users to navigate the app, manage their account and help keep track of transactions At the bott...
Judging by the deep penetration of social commerce in Africa, the future looks promising... Social commerce, which is simply buying and selling goods on social media, is one of the trends that has changed the dynamics of commerce in recent years. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have become go-to marketplaces for business owners and their customers. According to data from Statista, sales through social media channels around the world are expected to almost triple by 2025. In Africa, one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets in the world, social commerce has huge potential. According to a Q1 2022 Social Commerce Survey, the social commerce industry in Africa and the Middle East is expected to grow by 70.3% annually to reach US$8 Billion in 2022. Is social media enough to scale commerce? At the 2022 edition of the #FutureofCommerce conference organised by tech-media organisation, TechCabal, in Lagos, last week, one of the leading conversations was centred on social media and the future of commerce in Africa. There was a panel session focused on “How is social media shaping commerce?”. Speakers on the panel included Joshua Chibueze, co-founder/CMO of Piggyvest; Brian Mogeni, co-founder and CEO of Wowzi and Kelvin Umechukwu, co-founder and CEO of Bumpa. Judging by the deep penetration of social commerce in Africa, the future looks promising. According to Kelvin, social commerce has the potential to triple the e-commerce market in the coming years, more than traditional commerce. “It [social commerce] is fast becoming an inherent part of how consumers think. These days, we see people go to WhatsApp or Instagram to find the best vendors for certain items. People are now looking for a personal touch to commerce, so we can expect social commerce to be a big driver of revenue in Africa”, he said. Speaking on the scalability of social commerce in Africa, Brian said that the existing market is massive and offers a lot of opportunities for small businesses on the continent to grow. However, Joshua said though social media was a major part of Piggvest’s growth since its creation in 2016, it is not enough to scale social commerce, adding that there are other factors that come to play such as payments, access to market, fulfilment and strategic partnerships with other players in the ecosystem. Read more: How Nigerian Businesses Can Run Shops on Social Media with Facebook and Instagram Shops. Driving up the adoption of social commerce The footprint of social commerce in Africa is unmissable, as many African business owners currently rely on social media platforms to sell and promote their products and services to reach their customers. Unlike online marketplaces like Jumia and Konga, social commerce allows business owners to manage and process transactions and creates opportunities for direct business-to-consumer interaction. And, the panellists agree that there is still a need to do more to drive up adoption among more entrepreneurs on the continent. For instance, Joshua opined that trust is one of the major barriers to social commerce in Africa, saying certain structures should be designed to build trust among consumers. For him, Nigeria, for one, also has a logistics nightmare, which is generally affecting the adoption of social commerce. For Brian, influencer marketing platforms like Wowzi have a major role to play in getting more people to embrace social commerce. On his part, Kelvin thinks that more solutions still need to be created to empower small businesses to position the train. Read also: Elloe, a social e-commerce startup, exceeds $1m funding target in pre-seed round. Social commerce is not everything Social commerce is here to stay in Africa. That is one point all the three panellists agreed on. But again, Joshua reiterated his earlier argument that social media cannot do everything. “We mostly use social media for lead generation. How then do you convert the generated lead into customers? That’s what all of...
Nigeria lost over ₦100 billion in that deal... ‘’Now that Atiku himself has spoken on the controversial NITEL GSM contract involving Ericsson and Motorola, it is obvious that the attempt at confusing issues persists. It is untrue that the NITEL GSM contract in question was split. Rather it was awarded to Ericsson, but at the lower price submitted by Motorola, because of Atiku’s intense lobby deployed to advance Ericsson’s bid. Atiku and Abdullahi Yari, his then ADC, at different times spoke to el-Rufai to favour Ericsson. On Wednesday, June 15, 2011, it was reported that the federal government had failed in its efforts to privatise the state-owned telecoms company, NITEL, saying it had terminated the process after the reserve bidder failed to pay a $105 million bid security. The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) had given the Omen International Consortium a June 10, 2011, deadline to make the payment and granted an additional 5-day grace period after a last-minute plea from the group. However, it still failed to transfer the funds. “Following the inability of Omen International Consortium . to revalidate its bid bond of $105 million at the deadline of June 10, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has terminated the privatisation of the telecoms utility which began in 2009,” the BPE said in a statement. Then BPE Director General Bolanle Onagoruwa (current independent Non-Executive Director, Transcorp Hotels Plc) said that if Omen fails to pay, the agency will look at other options, including setting a minimum price for NITEL and offering it to the remaining bidders, or liquidating the struggling company. That attempt to privatise NITEL was another in a string of efforts by the government to sell the telecoms company that monopolised the sector and was the darling of everyone. Attempt to sell NITEL 1: PENTASCOPE It was in 2002 when the Obasanjo-Rufai group moved to auction NITEL and sold it to the International London Limited (ILL) for $1.2 billion. But, it turned out that the company was hastily put together by a gang and was just an emergency vehicle later discovered to be unqualified in all ramifications – ILL had no such fund and sourced the money locally, most of it from the First Bank, and only raised 10%. When the deal fell through, the BPE (led by Nasir el-Rufai), handed over NITEL to a company to manage it. It was called PENTASCOPE. Pentascope was registered on January 1, 2002, a public holiday worldwide, with a workforce of only eight persons, including its janitor. It was not registered in Nigeria to do business, as required by the Companies and Allied Matters Act. In his article, The rape of NITEL, Owei Lacemfa said, “the transaction (with Pentascope) brought down the First Bank management, and the government had no choice but to annul the messy deal.” Nigeria lost over ₦100 billion in that deal. Read also: CWG Plc: The story of 30-year-old Nigeria tech company that inspires us all Between April 2003 and March 2004, Pentascope had squandered a gain of ₦15 billion, which it inherited to record a loss of ₦19.15 billion. Also, turnover had also dropped to ₦41 billion from ₦53 billion. In those 23 months, the working NITEL lines had fell from 553,471 to 291,000. Meanwhile, Pentascope did not meet any of the criteria the Bureau listed in its advertisement. The pre-qualification criteria demanded that: “Interested managers MUST be international telecommunications operators and MUST demonstrate, one, evidence of having installed and managed at least a million telephones; two, a successful track record of expanding a telecommunications network in a developing country; and three, sufficient management resources to grow NITEL and enhance shareholder value.” Among the revelations from a February 2005 probe by the House of Representatives Committee on Communications that probed the appointment of Pentascope as management contractor to NITEL is the evidence by former Chairman of NITEL Board, Aneze Chinwuba that showed that ...
In this article, we will tell you about the people that are making this event happen -- our official sponsors... A few days ago, we gave a foretaste of what you should expect at Technext Coinference 2.0 – from the engaging conversations to the plenary keynotes and breakout panel sessions as well as the celebrity spotlight. Blockchain and decentralized finance (DeFi) are two buzzwords thrown around by folks in the crypto space and appear confusing to the everyday man. To decipher the concepts and discuss the issues surrounding them, Technext is bringing together key players in the African crypto ecosystem, cryptocurrency enthusiasts, innovators and regulators at Technext Coinference 2.0, the largest blockchain gathering on the continent. Billed to hold on Monday, the 3rd of October, 2022 at the Landmark Event Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos, the event — which happens to be the second edition — is themed, Blockchain and DeFi: Beyond the Hype. The scope of the conversation will cover the possibilities of Blockchain, Crypto, Web3 and DeFi for Africa. Read also: Here is what to expect at Technext Coinference 2.0, Africa’s largest blockchain gathering. In this article, we will tell you about the people that are making this event happen — our official sponsors. Here we go! Polygon Our headline sponsor is Polygon, a leading blockchain infrastructure development company. Founded in 2017, Polygon—formerly known as Matic Network—is an Ethereum scaling platform that offers scalable, affordable, secure, and sustainable blockchains for Web3. Its growing suite of products offers developers easy access to major scaling solutions including L2 (ZK Rollups and Optimistic Rollups), sidechains, hybrid, stand-alone and enterprise chains, and data availability. Polygon’s scaling solutions have seen widespread adoption with 19,000+ decentralized applications hosted, 1.6B+ total transactions processed, 142M+ unique user addresses, and $5B+ in assets secured. So, it is in order to say Technext Coinference 2.0 is brought to you by Technext and powered by Polygon!!! Hashgreed Hashgreed is the first African marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Hashgreed provides a blockchain-powered file certification tool, a multipurpose NFT/ web3 marketplace, access to real estate and tech startup ownership and low-interest DeFi-powered loans. Launched in January 2021, the company prides itself on making NFT easy and accessible for Africans. In an exclusive interview with Technext, Efosa Ighodaro, the CEO/Founder of Hashgreed, disclosed that he saw NFT as a way to prove ownership and tokenise real-world assets and launched a platform for African content creators to monetise their craft even when NFT was not yet as mainstream as it is right now. Ighodaro will be speaking during the final panel session, Making money from NFTs, at Technext Coinference 2.0. Gigxpad Gigxpad, widely tagged “the crypto bank”, is an emerging exchange that is gradually becoming marketable in the Nigerian crypto space. This platform enables users to buy, store, swap, send, borrow, stake, and earn returns from real-world business assets directly with close to zero fees. They have Android and iOS mobile apps and an easy-to-navigate website. Out of the numerous outstanding features of Gigxpad, the most appealing is the referral option made available to users. Verified users are to get a whopping $5 on every single user they refer to trade and complete a transaction worth just $100, arguably the most rewarding referral scheme in the crypto space. GIGX was the headline sponsor of the maiden edition of TechnextCoinference! Bitmama Bitmama, the US and Africa-based blockchain payments startup, is a highly-secured and fast-growing crypto platform to buy, sell or trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Celo and other cryptocurrencies at the best rates. Currently in three African markets; Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya, Bitmama enables users to be able to buy and sell cryptocurrencies conveniently using thei...
..the duo who recently made peace and are currently on their 100-city tour. Hey people! Remember that P-Square song that has this intro: P-square is back again! Seems like they saw the future as it is a perfect intro for the duo who recently made peace and are currently on their 100-city tour. Alas, the music duo are not the only thing that is making a comeback this week, the inexhaustible, never-ending conversation. about marriage is again making the rounds in the social space. Thankfully, it is the end of another week and whew are we glad. Is it just me or does it seem like the traffic situation has gotten worse since we entered the ember months? Hopefully, it doesn’t get worse than it already is as it won’t be funny, especially for workers who have to commute a long distance to and fro work. Also, why is it still raining in September? As is our custom we will be looking at social conversations that caught our attention in the social space. Let us dig in. Marriage conversations again? It won’t be entirely farfetched if we says that we are obsessed with marriage as a people. If you think this is not true then tell us why marriage has been trending in the social space all through this week. Week in and week out men are women are constantly arguing about one aspect or the other concerning marriage. This week’s conversation was probably triggered by the story of a woman who died while allegedly chasing her husband and his mistress in a car. In another story, a model came out and accused the lead singer of an American pop band, Maroon 5, Adam Levine of cheating on his Victoria secret wife, Behati Prinsloo with her. Or, is it the story of the Celtics coach, Imeh Udoka cheating on Nia Long? Take your pick. We may never see the end of these conversations that are often triggered by events but it would sure be nice to see some good examples of marriages working rather than the constant bad news coming out daily about marriages on the social media. P-square is back again, and we love to see it! Highly celebrated music duo, Peter and Paul Okoye (popularly known as P-square) after a recent reunion has taken their act to 100 city tour across the world, apologizing to their fans and giving them evergreen hits back to back alongside great choreography, dancing and overall splendid performance. This week, P-Square took their show to the UK and ended the tour with a spectacular performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The venue was sold out and filled to the brim, we learnt. For this great encore, they had Dbanj and a host of others perform and the videos were quite thrilling. When asked backstage by Maria Okran why they ever broke up? Paul of the P-square regretfully replied “ na Devil”. Well, the good news is that they are back giving the fans good music and great performances and we are here for it! Hopefully, they do a mega concert in Lagos this December so the home-based fans can show some love. Would you attend a P-square event if it comes to your city? Let us know what you think. Tobi Amusan conferred with National honours Tobi Amusan has been conferred with a National Honour in Abuja, with the 100m Hurdles World Champion receiving: The officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) Honor from the Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari. Tobi Amusa shot to global fame after setting a new world record at the 100m hurdle race at the World Athletics Championships, Oregon 2022. Some of the star athlete’s achievements this year include a world 100 metres heat championship with a world record of 12.12s, Diamond League Champion, African Champion Commonwealth, Champion Commonwealth Record Holder, and National Champion World Leader. Other athletes like Ese Brume and others who won medals at the recently concluded commonwealth games were also given awards. The athletes were also said to have received a monetary gift of N200m from the the office of the President. Congratulations to them! And on our final bit of news from the social space: Congra...
"We still see ourselves as a charity, rendering a sane safe place for working girls and boys to advertise their services."- CodedRuns admin The women are very quick. No time for chitchat, straight to the point. Polite, courteous. It’s like going on a date but without all the hassle of trying to woo your date or eat right or say the right things. On CodedRuns, the Nigerian sex forum that dates back to the days of 2go chatrooms, all your fantasies can come to life, for the right price of course. The forum has grown into a massive hotbed, promising all kinds of sexual desires. The website CodedRuns.com occupies a 4 terabyte server space, more than some commercial banks in Nigeria. The reach has expanded to twenty-five countries, with thirty thousand escorts and fifty thousand registered clients, all over Africa. This data does not include unregistered clients who can book sessions with escorts without having to register. On the website these days, everything is on sale. There is an e-commerce category for the sale of sex toys, raunchy underwear, and all kinds of aphrodisiacs. Hotel and short-let apartment owners advertise their spaces in another category. Adult content creators own a category described as “Naughty Videos.” A new category that if you click on simply says “coming soon” is called Live Cam. CodeRuns in a conservative country? For a country that prides itself on its conservative values, where only 0.6% of its population claim to not be religious, and 53.5% claim to be Muslim, with the advent of the internet, forums selling sex have seen massive growth. On the social media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok accounts selling sex have proliferated. A quick search of the keywords “hookup” or “sugar mummy” provides multiple accounts with thousands of followers offering access to sugar mummies, sugar babies and all manner of people with the prefix -sugar. “Hot Sugar Mummy For You – More than 500 SugarMama Free Connections,” a post on the link to one of such accounts blasts. “Get Free Hookup with international Women Here,” another says. Even LinkedIn, the social media platform for professionals has seen its own fair share of users selling sex. But CodedRuns, or just CR if you know it well, has been able to dominate the space over the years by being tactical, verifying accounts, requesting clients share testimonials, outlawing pimping, soliciting or transferring of accounts, rating performances and staying consistent. But most importantly by focusing on the safety of the escorts. The forum started out as a place where people talk about their sexual fantasies. As a rite of passage, new members in those days will share with the forum their first time being intimate. After a new member shared her experience, a horrific incident of sexual abuse, members suggested that the admin create a space for people looking to have safe hookups. “We then meticulously embarked on building CodedRuns with a mindset to create a sane safe place for escorts to advertise their services,” – the Admin who manages the website said in a mail to Technext Read also: The weirdest places people are searching for love on social media these days The appeal of the online sex trade ChubbyBrat (not his real name) who works full-time consulting on scholarly research, registered on CodedRuns because he didn’t see himself making a full-time commitment with any woman. He has remained a loyal client who has had more than ten sessions, first because of how professional the escorts are, but also because of the interface of the website. “It’s quite user-friendly,” he said. “You can browse, you can search based on location to the exact state and even city.” He said he likes the galleries, scrolling through the pages, looking at the rates of the escorts, and how specific they are. Escorts on the website have everything single detail available on the profile so clients are only reaching out if they are sure they can provide whatever their fantasy for that day or ...
For Africarare, as Nedbank joins these global metaverse trends, some of the early settlers in the Ubuntuland remain MTN, World Data Lab, and M & C Saatchi Abel... South African banking institution, Nedbank, has teamed up with Africarare, the continent’s first metaverse, to purchase a 12×12 hamlet in Ubuntuland for an undisclosed sum of money. As the first financial service organisation in Africa to enter the metaverse, this is added to enhance and solidify its presence. This new acquisition is part of the financial services group’s strategy to adopt digital technology to uplift its banking system, to better serve its customers, and maintain a competitive edge through innovative technological solutions. Commenting on the financial services goals, Khensani Nobanda, Group Executive for Marketing and Corporate Affairs at Nedbank Group said, “Creating experiences that go beyond banking has always been a focus for Nedbank. Our entry into the metaverse is not merely about having a presence in this space. It is about meeting the needs of our clients on platforms that resonate with them, while offering an array of touchpoints that continue to demonstrate our commitment to lead the digital space.” Khensani Nobanda, Group Executive for Marketing and Corporate Affairs at Nedbank Group The new Nedbank acquisition aims to focus on customer value and services, as well as provide a variety of experiences such as virtual gaming, a sports lounge, and more. Read Also: Want to invest in the Metaverse? Here are 3 coins to consider Financial institutions making inroads into the metaverse As the digital economic voyage into the metaverse starts to accelerate, major global players in trade and industry are poised to develop custom experiences in this digitally enhanced world, which is being heralded as the future of eCommerce. This abrupt transformation may have occurred since more digital technologies are being adopted and formats are changing from analogue to digital in the current financial environment. Earlier this year, JP Morgan became the first bank to enter the metaverse. The US financial giant purchased a sizable portion of Decentraland. Other financial institutions have followed suit, including DBS Bank, HSBC, Fidelity Investments, and Kookmin, a South Korean bank that offers one-on-one consultations in the metaverse as a customer care alternative. Other global companies such as Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Square have also made significant moves toward establishing a presence in the metaverse. Nedbank joins these global metaverse trends, some of the early settlers in Africarare’s Ubuntuland. Other companies include MTN, World Data Lab, and M & C Saatchi Abel. MTN is the first African company to enter the metaverse by purchasing digital real estate in Africarare. According to Bernice Samuels, Group Executive for Marketing, through its presence in the metaverse, MTN intends to increase its customer attractiveness through a series of experiences merges with consumer passion points like gaming and music Read Also: MTN enters the metaverse, buys 144 plots of digital land About Africarare The first metaverse in Africa, called Africarare, was established in October 2021 with the goal of connecting Africa to the global digital economy, bringing African creativity to the metaverse, and releasing African potential. The African Virtual Reality metaverse features a digital land called Ubuntuland. It is an Afro-themed metaverse developed by Africarare and Mann Made Media. It is set to showcase some of the nest of African art, fashion, entertainment, sports, tech and creativity. Commenting on the positive outcome of this huge investment, Mic Mann, Co-founder and CEO of Africarare said, We are thrilled to welcome Nedbank into Ubuntuland and look forward to creating positive change with them. By entering the metaverse, this organisation will pave the way for new solutions for Africa and play a role in the future of banking in this exciting world. Mic Ma...
"Tech bro-ing in Lagos is a struggle..." Being a product manager at a fintech company means two things to Sodiq Idowu: endless strategic meetings with different teams to create value for the business and its customers, and dealing with the troubles of working from the most stressful city in Africa, Lagos. Sodiq has lived all his life in Lagos, yet he finds the city troubling. For the engineering graduate who secured his job in his final year in the university, commuting from Epe on the outskirts of Lagos – where he schooled – to his workplace on the Island was particularly challenging, as he had to spend productive hours stuck in traffic, a daily ritual for most Lagosians — albeit with consequences. As he puts it, “Tech bro-ing in Lagos is a struggle”. Lagos loves tech Lagos, thanks to its seeming potential and the many opportunities it offers, is no doubt the hub for technology in Nigeria and Africa. The old neighbourhood of Yaba, for instance, takes pride in midwifing many success stories in the Nigerian tech space. Described as the Silicon Valley of Africa, the nation’s economic capital houses a multitude of successful tech start-ups on the continent as well as an attractive tech hub. Think of a listed company like Jumia, Africa’s largest e-commerce company and Paystack, the fintech acquired for a reported $200 million by U.S. payments giant Stripe. They were launched in Lagos within the past 2 decades. Even, Africa’s leading payment technology company, Flutterwave runs its operations from Lagos. But, Lagos, for all the good things we can say about it, is chaotic. Notorious for its endless traffic jams and growing large population, Nigeria’s commercial centre is ranked the second-worst city to live in the world, just a little above Syria’s war-torn capital, Damascus. A study puts Lagos on the long list of cities exposed to extreme heat due to climate change. So, it is hardly surprising that for tech bros, living and working in Lagos comes with a lot of problems. Read also: Here is the ultimate guide to becoming a ‘tech bro’ in Nigeria, according to seasoned bros. Surviving traffic Lagos is synonymous with traffic congestion. Every day, Lagosians hit the roads as early as 4 A.M not because they don’t enjoy their sleep, but because it is what the city demands, due to its sweltering traffic jams. Not only do commuters get to endure longer hours on the road before getting to their destination, but they also get to deal with the effects on their mental and physical health. Tech bros aren’t immune to this daily struggle. Saheed Ibrahim, a software developer, works hybrid, meaning he has to go to work twice in a week. What is supposed to be a 30-minute journey from his Gbagada residence to his workplace at Victoria Island sometimes morphs into one of two hours, thereby affecting his productivity at work. According to a 2018 report, Lagosians spend an average of 30 hours a week in traffic. The situation is grimmer because traffic congestion causes air pollution which exposes commuters to several health risks. And this study showed that spending hellish hours in the bus also results in a physical breakdown, mental stress and psychological effects. “Living in Lagos is like living in bondage. Every fresh day comes with its own fresh troubles. The two times I go to work, I start my day by fighting for a space on the bus, then staying in traffic again. By the time I get to work, I am already tired and mentally checked out,” Ibrahim lamented. Battered social life If there is anything all tech bros would agree on, it has to be the demanding nature of their job. Though the tech ecosystem pride itself in offering great pay, flexible work condition and other perks, workers still have to face the pressure to work long hours, be consistently productive, and meet urgent deadlines. These, of course, affect their social life, causing loneliness and relationship struggles. For Kazeem Oladimeji, a full-time system analyst, his job demands that h...
Over the next few weeks, TikTok will clamp down on politicians’ posting videos asking for donations... This week offers another opportunity to stay updated with exciting stories making rounds and causing major trends in the tech space globally. This week saw creators being looked out for, through the rollout of features and plans for them to earn income and connect with fans more while politicians were at the receiving end as fund-raising was banned by TikTok. If you missed out on the major tech updates across the world, this week, don’t fret. We have got you covered. Here is a roundup of major Global Tech news from across the world. Here is a summary of the bulletin: TikTok has banned political fund-raising YouTube to roll out new monetisation plans for creators Facebook has added new “Pages features” to help creators connect with fans Bitcoin dropped to its lowest level in 3 months Adobe is set to acquire Figma for $20bn Read also: Netflix layoffs 70 more staff as Iran joins the crypto club + other stories TikTok bans political fund-raising TikTok has blocked politicians and political parties from fund-raising on its platform. In a blog post on Wednesday, the social media platform said it would prohibit solicitations for money by political groups. The company said that political accounts would immediately lose access to advertising features and monetization services, such as gift giving, tipping and e-commerce capabilities. Over the next few weeks, TikTok will clamp down on politicians’ posting videos asking for donations, or political parties directing users to online donation pages, the company said. Excerpts from the post TikTok has long prohibited political advertising, including both paid ads on the platform and creators being paid directly to make branded content. We currently do that by prohibiting political content in an ad, and we’re also now applying restrictions at an account level. This means accounts belonging to politicians and political parties will automatically have their access to advertising features turned off, which will help us more consistently enforce our existing policy. YouTube to help creators make money Earlier in the week, there was an indication that YouTube would announce more opportunities for content creators to earn money on its video service in the hope to guard its role as home to popular personalities as well as gaining an edge against rival TikTok. So, on Tuesday, the platform rolled out major changes to its YouTube Partner Program. The new update will allow creators to earn ad revenue on Shorts, its TikTok competitor. Now, Shorts creators can qualify for the Partner Program, which allows creators to earn ad revenue from YouTube. The existing Partner Program requires YouTubers to have over 1,000 subscribers on the platform and 4,000 watch hours in the last year. Also, Shorts creators can now join the Partner Program if they have at least 10 million views on the platform over the last 90 days. As members of the Partner Program, these creators will earn 45% of ad revenue from their videos. I’m proud to say this is the first time real revenue sharing is being offered for short form video on any platform at scale YouTube Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan He’s right. TikTok has started experimenting with ad revenue sharing, but its efforts seem to focus more on the advertiser than the creator, as only the top 4% of all videos on TikTok can be monetized through its TikTok Pulse program. For the most part, creators have found it increasingly difficult to make money from TikTok’s Creator Fund. Facebook adds new Pages features Now, a piece of similar news, Facebook is introducing new Pages features that are designed to help creators get discovered and connect with their followers on its platform, the company announced Tuesday. Most notably, the social network is rolling out a new setting for creators that makes content exclusively available to top fans and subscribers. Creators can select the o...
It is all part of our customer obsession - Fincra’s Compliance Manager, Sanmi Lawal Payment infrastructure company Fincra has received a compliance status on her obligations in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) for implementing all the statutory requirements to protect the privacy rights of Nigerians and its customers. The NDPR is the leading data protection regulation in Nigeria. It makes provision for the rights of data subjects, the obligations of data controllers and data processors, transfer of data to a foreign territory, among others. To ensure that Fincra is in line with NDPR requirements, the company subjected itself to an audit from a Data Protection Compliance Organisation (DPCO). DPCOs are entities licensed to, among other things, carry out Data Protection Regulations Compliance and Breach Services. After auditing the company’s process, the DPCO filed an audit report with the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB). This Federal Government agency supports the process for the development of legislation for data protection and privacy. The DPCO reported that Fincra had undergone the NPPR audit process to ascertain its compliance levels and identify improvement areas. With this report, the NDPB has granted a compliance status to Fincra. This status means that the company has engaged a Data Protection Compliance Organisation to train their staff and implement data protection protocols across the enterprise. “This compliance status means that customers’ data is safe and secured as the NDPR governs us,” Fincra’s Compliance Manager, Sanmi Lawal said. “It is all part of our customer obsession, a value we hold dear in the company. Now customers can trust us and be assured that their data is safe with us.” About Fincra Fincra is a payment infrastructure for fintechs, global businesses and platforms. The company provides online and offline payment solutions that help businesses to send and receive payments securely and offer seamless financial services to their customers.
"I set out to create this solution with the aim of building an application that is tailored for the blockchain sector..." Loveth Chukwu didn’t know much about the blockchain space (including the very popular cryptocurrency) at the onset. But, while offering financial advisory services with Morgate, she had several clients who had businesses in the blockchain space and made a lot of revenue. “Sorting out their blockchain accounts was often a mess. The accounting was always very tacky”, she told me. The desire to not only simplify but automate blockchain accounting would lead Loveth to build a solution to this effect. Loveth Chukwu speaks to Technext about her Journey into tech, her motivation for building a blockchain accounting solution, Counti and much more in this edition of women in tech. How it started Loveth has always been in the financial space, she earned her first degree in banking and finance from the University of Uyo and her MBA in financial Technology which she tells me she decided to do to enable her to get a better understanding of the fintech space. “I got an MBA in fintech because I wanted to get an in-depth understanding of how fintech companies work, the nitty gritty. I wanted to go deeper, to understand the tech that powers fintech, so that I would have better standing to run another tech startup I may start”. Before venturing into the blockchain space, Loveth founded Morgate financial services in 2018 with its core services being automating accounting for small and medium businesses. While running Moorgate, she realized most of her revenue came from blockchain companies. And, this made her really curious. How were they able to make so much money? She also realized that their accounting system was quite different and complicated. After she got the knowledge she needed from her MBA, Loveth’s curiosity led her to go into the blockchain space and she began trading crypto. She started by doing a lot of trades because she really wanted to have first-hand experience of how it all worked. While trading, she wanted to track and calculate her transaction to ascertain if she had made a profit or loss, and then she realized that there was no accounting software in the blockchain space to do that. Founding Counti Solutions Realizing there was no accounting software to help calculate blockchain transactions, Loveth resorted to using excel but it didn’t give the desired result. She told me that “it came out very tacky and I didn’t find any solution so I resolved to build this solution myself.” Loveth got the idea to build a solution that other people can pay for from a pain point. That was how she got the idea for Counti. “People would come to me and ask me to teach them to use the excel method I was using for my crypto accounts and I began to teach people how to use it for a fee. Even at that, I would still get requests from people asking me to help them out or if there is s software they could just plug in to do the calculations.” Although Counti is live, Loveth tells me that the app is going through the Alpha testing stage and is only available on the android PlayStore. The testing is private and only available to private crypto communities at the moment for just a few months. She adds that the solution has been created with everyone in the blockchain space in mind: “I set out to create this solution with the aim of building an application that is tailored for the blockchain sector. So, if you are in crypto, if you are in NFT, if you’re a trader, a market maker, if you own a coin, a token, everything blockchain literally, so long as you are there to make money then you will always want to track what you have done if you have made profit or loss”, she says. Challenges Loveth does not mince words when asked about challenges as a woman in tech. She tells me that the challenges have been enormous. Top of the list for her is the challenge of working with tech talents, especially working with Nigerian tech talents. “I de...
..the primary goal of the board is to advise Binance on some of the most complex regulatory, political, and social issues confronting the entire crypto industry. Leading cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has announced the creation of a new Global Advisory Board (GAB). The new board is composed of well-known 11 members who are experts in public policy, government, finance, economics, and corporate governance. These include two Africans, Leslie Maasdorp from South Africa and Ibukun Awosika from Nigeria. Others include Former U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, Max Bacus (USA), Advisor of the Korea Presidential Committee, HyungRin Bang (Korea), Managing Partner, Cathay Capital, Bruno Bezard (France), Former Minister of the Economy, Brazil and Henrique de Campos Meirelles (Brazil). Others include the Honorary Board Member of The Aspen Institute Mexico, Adalberto Palma (Mexico), Non-Profit and Political strategist, David Plouffe (USA), Founder and Managing Director of acs plus, Christin Schäfer (Germany), Member of the House of Lords, Lord Vaizey (UK) and Chair, EUROFI, David Wright (Europe). According to an announcement by the company, the primary goal of the board is to advise Binance on some of the most complex regulatory, political, and social issues confronting the entire crypto industry as it rapidly grows and evolves. For more than 5 years, Binance has been at the forefront of the cryptocurrency exchange industry as it explores the fascinating new frontiers of blockchain, Web3, and cryptocurrencies. With this new GAB, the company aspires to make the advantages of contemporary finance and blockchain accessible to everyone. Commenting on the creation of this new Advisory Board, Binance founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao said: With the GAB, we’re supercharging our ability to manage regulatory complexity by tapping into the highest level of expertise available anywhere in the world. This collaboration between Binance and the leading experts of the GAB is a testament to our focus on compliance, transparency and ensuring a collaborative relationship with the world’s regulators as they develop sensible regulations worldwide. – Binance founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao By commenting on the most difficult and delicate regulatory and compliance issues affecting cryptocurrency, blockchain, and Web3, Binance is leveraging the GAB’s unmatched collective experience and expertise to advance the sustainable growth of the industry as a whole. Read Also: How over $2bn was laundered through Binance between 2017 and 2021 Leslie Maasdorp- SA Leslie Maasdorp has over 25 years of experience in investment banking, corporate strategy, and economic policymaking. He has held important executive positions during this time in the public and private sectors. Prior to joining Binance Global Advisory Board, Leslie served as the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the New Development Bank. He graduated from the University of the Western Cape with a BA in Economics and Psychology and holds an MSc in Economics from SOAS, University of London. Commenting on the new collaboration with Binance, Leslie Maasdorp said, The blockchain and crypto industry can act as a true catalyst for growth and economic opportunities. For the cities that are willing to partner with companies like Binance in order to create progressive regulations and an effective Web3 environment, I expect it to enable a number of investments into the space. I look forward to working with a number of experts as part of Binance’s Global Advisory Board in order to collaborate. Leslie Maasdorp In 2002, Leslie was the first African to be appointed as an international adviser to Goldman Sachs. In 2006 he was appointed as Managing Director and Vice Chairman of Barclays Capital. In 2011 he was appointed as President of Bank of America Merrill Lynch In July 2014, Read Also: Binance raises $500m fund for cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies Ibukun Awosika- Nigeria Prior to joini...
Following a Technext report indicating that most Africans have access to only 2G/3G, data from Ookla has shown that MTN South Africa delivered the fastest median download speeds across analysed African telecom operators, at 65.95 Mbps in Q2 2022. In Nigeria, Airtel leads the pack, both in terms of median download and upload speed in Q2 2022, averaging 30.35 Mbps download speed and upload speed at 10.28 Mbps. In comparison, MTN Nigeria registered a 26.30 Mbps download speed and 9.13 Mbps upload speed. Across Africa, Airtel is one of the most popular networks and operates in Burkina Faso, Chad (Airtel Chad), Republic of the Congo (Airtel Congo Brazzaville), Democratic Republic of the Congo (Airtel DRC), Ghana (Airtel Ghana), Kenya (Airtel Kenya), Nigeria (Airtel Nigeria), Uganda (Airtel Uganda) and others. According to the report, Airtel surpassed other telecom competitors, in Nigeria, for the best consistency rating on cell throughout Q3 2021 at 89.4%, which is a 7% increase from Q2 when Airtel had a consistency score of 82.5%, while broadband supplier, ipNX, had the most effective pace rating (21.66%) and consistency rating (40.2%) in Nigeria throughout Q3 2021. Airtel registered the quickest pace rating at 33.43% and Kano was identified as the location with the fastest network reception for downloads and uploads throughout Q3 2021. Ookla In Q1 2022, Airtel registered 22.42 Mbps. MTN ranked second with 21.71 Mbps. Globacom and 9mobile registered 8.70 and 8.32 Mbps, respectively. Airtel recorded the lowest latency in Q1 2022 with 26ms; Globacom ranked second with 32ms; MTN recorded 33ms, and 9mobile is last on the list with 34ms. Also, Airtel also topped the consistent score list with 85.4%, followed closely by MTN with 81.5%. In Q2 2022, MTN Nigeria has 38.9% of Nigeria’s mobile market, with its 74.1 million subscribers almost double that of Airtel’s 46.0 million. Read also: Despite economic downturn, Airtel, MTN record $2.9bn revenue from Nigeria in 6 months MTN has remained Africa’s largest mobile network — where the top five (Vodafone, Airtel, Orange, Etisalat) are owned and operated by non-African companies. The company operates in 21 African countries, including South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Sudan and Congo. Airtel’s footprint across Africa In Q2 2022, Airtel Kenya registered 28.58 Mbps download speed, and 8.44 Mbps upload speed. To consolidate this number, Airtel Africa announced, in July, that its Kenya subsidiary, Airtel Kenya, has concluded its purchase of additional spectrum in the country. Airtel Kenya purchased 60 MHz of additional spectrum in the 2600 MHz band from the Communications Authority of Kenya for a gross consideration of $40 million. “This additional spectrum will support our 4G network capacity expansion in the market for mobile data and fixed wireless home broadband capability and will allow for future 5G rollout, providing significant capacity to accommodate our continued strong data growth in the country,” the company wrote. In Uganda, Airtel registered a 28.48 Mbps download speed and 14.84 Mbps upload speed. Airtel Rwanda follows with 15.21 Mbps download speed and 3.02 Mbps upload speed. Airtel Tanzania recorded a 12.89 Mbps download speed and a 9.02 Mbps upload speed. While Airtel DR Congo had a 12.15 Mbps download speed and an 8.15 Mbps upload speed. MTN across African markets MTN South Africa delivered Africa’s fastest average download speeds of 65.95 Mbps and an upload speed of 12.65 Mbps. Here, MTN went ahead of rivals – Airtel, Orange, and Vodacom – regarding the speed available on their respective network. However, Vodacom in Johannesburg was the fastest telecom operator considering speeds across top cities, reaching 81.36 Mbps median download speed in Q2 2022. MTN Uganda delivered 32.71 Mbps download speed and 9.68 Mbps upload speed. Following suit is MTN Nigeria, with 26.30 Mbps download speed and 9.13 Mbps upload speed. In Rwanda, MTN registered a download speed of 23.77 Mbps and an upl...