Happy Weekend Guys!
I know you are ready for the African Tech News Roundup. However, before we dive into today’s roundup, we would love to bring to you notice that global e-commerce store Amazon is now 25! We say a big congratulations to them!
Now let’s get to the business of the day, the Africa Tech News Roundup!
Have a fun read!
Guess who’s off the US Trade Blacklist? You guessed right!
The US has lifted the ban that blacklisted Huawei from trading with the US. President Trump lifted the ban at the G20 summit held in Osaka, Japan. Huawei can now import hardware’s and software’s from the US. Read More
Googles Equiano will boost cloud computing in Africa and Europe!
Search engine giant Google is planning to install Equiano—a submarine cable across Africa and Europe. This will help boost its cloud computing infrastructure. Read More
Here’s a sneak peek of Google’s Project Loon in Africa
Google in conjunction with Kenya’s Telkom will be test running Project Loon soon. The project will provide internet access to rural communities globally. Read More
Hello Talented African Artiste, see how to monetize your work
Nigerian-based music service Playfre rolled out SongRoute. It is a feature that will allow upcoming and old musicians in Africa to upload their work online for free. The feature allows artists to upload their music with the aid of an aggregator. See How
Safaricom is being sued for a huge sum of money!
Kenya’s telecom giant Safaricom is being sued for a whopping Ksh115 trillion! The suit was filed against Safaricom due to an alleged data leak of over 11.5 million consumers. See Full Details
YouTube cancels the plan to live-stream sports
YouTube who revealed plans to launch live sporting event earlier in the week, retracted the statement in just a day after. They stated that they would stick to showing only highlights and video-on-demand sports. See More
Africa is about to get its first Biobank, courtesy of 54gene
Healthtech startup 54gene plans to build a pan-African Biobank for research and development of the African genome. They intend to achieve this through the $4.5 million seed fund they raised. Read More Here
A new on-demand service is in Nigeria!
Kwik Delivery an on-demand delivery service provider recently launched in Lagos, Nigeria. They aim to serve SMES in B2B transactions. They can be accessed via their mobile app. See Full Details
Is Kwesè Play gone or is there more to it?
Econet owned video streaming service Kwesè play which is powered by Roku—an American streaming service, has been shut down. Econet and Roku have both released contradictory statements regarding this matter. Read More
Guess which company is coming to West Africa?
UAE mobile solution provider Workz Group is expanding to Dakar, Senegal. The firm is hoping to bring its traditional SIM, eSIM, Z-OT, scratch card printing services to West Africa. Read More
And there you have it on this week’s edition. Follow us on all social media platforms @techgistafrica for the latest tech gists’ in Africa. Also, check the blog for our article that celebrates the tech category of Forbes Africa 30 under 30.
Have a super-duper weekend.
Yours sincerely,
Team TechGist Africa.