Author: Akin Naphtal

Nigerian fintech startups Cleva and Miden have secured spots in the W24 batch of the renowned Silicon Valley-based Y Combinator accelerator, as part of 137 startups participating in the event, which commenced in January. Cleva, founded in 2023, positions itself as a platform “democratising access to USD banking for emerging markets.” The startup enables users to receive payments into their digital Cleva accounts from clients, employers, and investors worldwide. In January, Cleva announced a successful pre-seed funding round of US$1.5 million, with Y Combinator as a notable investor. The round was led by 1984 Ventures and included participation from The…

Global leader in digital payments, Visa, is hosting the first demo day of its Africa Fintech Accelerator program in Nairobi, with the event aiming to spotlight innovations from emerging fintech startups representing 18 countries across Africa. Launched in June 2023, the program is designed to support Africa’s burgeoning startup community by providing expertise, connections, technology, and investment funding. The Africa Fintech Accelerator program starting on Tuesday, 13th February, will see startups from the program’s inaugural cohort pitching their innovations to key stakeholders, including ecosystem players, funding partners, angel investors, and venture capitalists. These startups were selected from over 1,000 applicants…

‘Adventures in the Cloud World’ – aimed at children aged 6 to 12 – follows Bella and Nini’s adventures to Cloud World as they seek to better understand the internet after their Wi-Fi turns off at home. In Cloud World, they meet JB, a programmable machine that processes information, who explains how data centers work and asks for their help in the server room to find loose connections. The creativity of ‘Adventures in the Cloud World’ is a lovely way to speak to young children, about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and the endless possibilities. The book has been…

As Africa steadily embraces digital assets, Yellow Card, the continent’s largest licensed stablecoin on/off ramp, has introduced USD Coin (USDC), a digital stablecoin on the Stellar network, aiming to transform cross-border payments, remittances, and treasury management globally. USDC is a digital currency backed by US dollar reserves, ensuring that each USDC token maintains a value closely pegged to one US dollar. In essence, USDC represents a tokenised version of the US dollar, providing users with stability and confidence in its value equivalence to the traditional fiat currency. Yellow Card, renowned for its user-friendly platform and present across 20 African countries,…

Moneyhub, FinTech, Open Banking, Crown Commercial Service, DPS, Open Data, Open Finance, UKMoneyhub has been named as a supplier of Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS) Open Banking Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) framework for its Open Banking and Payment services. Crown Commercial Service supports the public sector to achieve maximum commercial value when procuring common goods and services. The DPS framework, which is open to any approved supplier of open banking services, was rolled out in January 2024, to reduce costs, curb fraud and reduce delays in payouts using faster payment rails. Moneyhub is a data and payments platform built on Open…

Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab CEO Jensen Huang said on Monday that every country needs to have its artificial intelligence infrastructure to take advantage of the economic potential while protecting its own culture. “You cannot allow that to be done by other people,” Huang said at the World Government Summit in Dubai. Huang, whose firm has catapulted to a $1.73 trillion stock market value due to its dominance of the market for high-end AI chips, said his company is ‘democratizing’ access to AI due to swift efficiency gains in AI computing. “The rest of it is really up to you…

Google, in its bid to see more advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), has pledged 25 million euros ($26.98 million) to help fund initiatives that will enhance AI education across Europe. While making the pledge on Monday, 12th February, Google announced its commitment to ensuring that people from all backgrounds have the opportunity to learn and benefit from AI technology. The initiative invites social enterprises and non-profits to apply for funding to support AI education programs targeting individuals who are most likely to benefit from such training. Additionally, Google plans to establish “growth academies” to provide support to companies leveraging AI…

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has launched the Remote, Appraisal, Supervision, Monitoring, and Evaluation (RASME) initiative in Tunis, aimed at bolstering the supervision of development projects through cutting-edge processes. This collaborative effort between the AfDB, the World Bank’s Geo-Enabling for Monitoring and Supervision initiative, and KoBoToolbox, provides real-time digital data-gathering tools to enhance project preparation, progress reporting, and impact evaluation transparently. The launch event, led by AfDB’s Director General for North Africa, Mohamed El Azizi, and the Director General of Cooperation in the Tunisian Ministry of Economy and Planning, Tarek Bouhlel, signifies a milestone in leveraging technology for efficient…

Motorola Solutions and Google Cloud have partnered to innovate cloud solutions within Motorola Solutions’ safety and security technologies, and leverage cloud infrastructure and assistive intelligence to effectively address real-world safety challenges. The partnership will focus on advancing capabilities such as highly accurate and reliable video content delivery, mapping, and AI functionalities. By harnessing Google Cloud’s robust infrastructure and expertise, Motorola Solutions aims to enhance its offerings and make safety and security solutions more accessible and actionable for its customers. Empowering Safety and Security through Innovation Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Motorola Solutions, Mahesh Saptharishi, believes the collaboration…

Google is reportedly bidding farewell to its Bard chatbot, which will instead be revamped as Gemini, according to leaks which have surfaced in recent weeks. The core functionality of the chatbot will remain intact but Google seeks to usher in a new era of innovation and efficiency in digital interactions. Alongside the rebrand, Google is rumoured to be introducing Gemini Advanced, a specialised tier within its Google One subscription service. This premium tier will grant users access to enhanced generative AI capabilities powered by the cutting-edge Gemini Ultra AI model. Leaked details indicate that Gemini Advanced will be bundled with…