Hey guys,
It’s finally Friday! As usual, we entertain you with the ‘African Tech News Roundup’ where we bring you the highlights of African Tech News over the week.
Enjoy!
Orange Social Venture Opens Call for Submissions
We start with the big news; Orange Social Venture Prize has thrown open the door for submissions. The initiative aims to promote social innovation by supporting development through information and communication technology. In addition to funding of up to £25,000 euros, Orange will provide a six-month support to the 3 finalists of its program. Application is open from 4th March – 30th May, 2019. Interested? Apply here
Miss.Africa Initiative Announces Seed Funding of $5000 for Women in Africa
We follow up with the news that DotConnectAfrica Academy led Initiative ‘Miss.Africa’, has announced a $5000 Seed Fund in Africa- to support women and girls in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Deadline: July 2, 2019. Interested? Apply here
Nigerian Fintech, ‘Onefi’ secures $5million to Increase Debt Facility
Moving on, One Finance Nigeria has announced that it recently secured a $5million internationally-backed debt facility, for Paylater. This facility will be used to deploy more loans to Paylater’s customers through a suite of new products. Read Article Here
Jumia, African E-commerce Platform Files for IPO on NYSE
Speaking on investment, Jumia, an African E-commerce platform has made a move to go public, as it filed for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday. This move by Jumia is in a bid to secure a stronger hold than they already have and not sink in like their competitors. Read Article Here.
Nigerian Fintech TeamApt to Expand to Latin America
On expansion, TeamApt- a Lagos-based fintech firm has made moves to expand to Latin America in the third quarter of the year. This is in conjunction with the announcement they made last month during their investment funding where they closed 5.5 million USD. Read Article Here.
Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation, Fliptin, Microsoft Set up Technology Hub in SA
On innovation, The Kaglema Motlanthe Foundation has partnered with Fliptin, Microsoft and Idea Collective to host AI in Mitchells Plain boot camp on the 15th to 17th of March 2019. This girl-only boot camp will tend to the exclusion of youth in diverse careers, by offering a platform for knowledge and better prospects at female digital inclusion and socio-economic forecast. Read Article Here.
M-PESA Now Available On Alibaba
Still on innovations, Safaricom’s M-PESA– a mobile payment service provider has secured a deal to launch on ‘Aliexpress.com’ to enable Kenyans make payment in Kenyan Shillings.
While shopping on Aliexpress.com, they will be presented with M-PESA as one of the payment options and once M-PESA is selected, they will be able to make payment. Read Article Here.
Winch Energy to Power 24 villages in Sierra Leone via Solar
Earlier in the week, a UK based firm signed a contract with the Ministry of Energy in Sierra Leone to provide Solar mini-grid powered energy to 24 villages in the country. The energy company intends to become fully operational in June 2019, with aims to power over 6,000 people directly from the first phase. 12 mini-grids have already been installed and 12 larger mini-grids will be installed by the company by the 4th Quarter of 2019. Read Article Here.
Careem Provides Free In-ride Insurance for Passengers & Drivers
Careem, a major ride-hailing company in the Middle East and African region has launched a free in-ride insurance programme for both passengers and Captains in all 15 countries it operates in. The firm aims to pay up to $20,000 to cover expenses related to death or serious injury caused by accidents during a Careem ride. This is effective from the moment the app is online and available to pick up passengers, through the trip to pick-up the passenger and until the passenger gets to their destination. Read Article Here.
Angola’s UNITEL signed as first WEF Partner
Finally, Angolan mobile network operator, ‘UNITEL’ has joined the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) exclusive network of Partner level companies. This makes it the first African company from the Southern region to become partner. This will allow UNITEL support WEF in Africa and be represented in the 2020 Davos Annual Meeting, an annual meeting of the new Champions in China and the Regional Summits in Africa and in the Middle East. Read Article Here.
This brings us to the end of our Weekly Roundup. Kindly follow @TechGistAfrica on all social media platforms for more updates and visit Techgist Africa to get the latest in African and World Tech as it happens. See you next week.