Author: Akin Naphtal

Ghanaian insurtech startup, Brolly, has partnered global ride-hailing company, Bolt, to offer insurance solutions exclusively in Ghana, with Brolly seeking to provide ride-hailing drivers with convenient daily premium payments. Backed by finance and insurance firms, Techstars and Allianz, Brolly, prior to its collaboration with Bolt, had successfully piloted its pay-as-you-go auto insurance solution, allowing drivers the option to pay premiums daily or weekly. This initiative was tested with over 2,000 ride-sharing drivers, setting the stage for Brolly’s partnership with Bolt. Through this collaboration, Bolt drivers in Ghana can now seamlessly access insurance directly within the Bolt driver app, eliminating the…

In its bid to help create a digitalised Africa, Smartphone giant, Huawei, took centre stage at the AfricaCom Conference held in Cape Town, with the company’s Sub-Saharan Africa President, Leo Chen, championing digitisation and decarbonisation for the continent’s sustained growth. Addressing the audience at the conference which ended on 16th November, Chen spoke on the transformative potential of the digital-physical convergence era, asserting that Africa could advance digital economy development by embracing advanced and inclusive connectivity infrastructure. Chen believes that “developing connectivity infrastructure that is more advanced, more future-proof, and more inclusive and accessible is the first and foremost priority…

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has collaborated with DHL Express to conduct a pilot test featuring the ID.Buzz Cargo fleet in South Africa. Over the next six months, four ID.Buzz Cargo units will be stationed at DHL Express Service Centres in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban. These units are earmarked for specialized last-mile delivery services as part of DHL’s local pilot initiative aimed at achieving global zero emissions logistics. This collaboration marks a significant step in realising Volkswagen Group South Africa’s electric vehicle strategy for the Volkswagen brand in the country. “Our partnership with DHL Express on the ID.Buzz Cargo test…

Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, has disclosed on X, Tuesday night that the Federal Government has launched a portal for the Startup Support and Engagement Portal. According to him, the portal, which is a key requirement of the implementation of the Nigeria Startup Act, is meant to drive the identification and aggregation of startups in the country. He tweeted, “We are pleased to announce the launch of the Startup Support and Engagement Portal, https://startup.gov.ng/, a key requirement for the implementation of the Nigeria Startup Act. The startup portal will drive the identification and aggregation…

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI has announced that Sam Altman, the company’s ousted co-founder, will be rehired as CEO, following his sudden dismissal last week from the startup he co-founded. The Firm disclosed that the board will be restructured, with Bret Taylor as Chair, and Larry Summers and Adam D’Angelo as members. The statement was made known by the company’s official X account some minutes ago. According to the statement, it says it is still working to figure out the modalities and necessary details to have the former leadership back. READ ALSO: Vertiv trends forecast sees intense focus on AI enablement and energy…

Uber Technologies, announced it proposed offer of $1.2 billion aggregate principal amount of Convertible Senior Notes due 2028, which is subject to market conditions and other factors. The notes are being offered only to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Uber also intends to grant the initial purchasers of the notes an option to purchase, within a 13-day period beginning on, and including, the date on which the notes are first issued, up to an additional $180.0 million aggregate principal amount of the notes. Uber intends…

MTN has disclosed in a recent statement that there would be periodic reviews of the company’s tower contracts to drive efficiency and ensure optimal performance from vendors. According to the CEO of MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola, he stated and said this was against the backdrop of the recent award of tower contracts to ATC and the fact that another 1,500 site contracts would soon be due for renewal. He made this remark during the MTN Nigeria’s Capital Markets Day, which was held at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja. He said: “Efficient tower contracts are key in driving cost-effective, deep broadband penetration…

Chat app, Telegram, boasting over 700 million monthly active users, has been experiencing outages in Kenya for more than two weeks, disrupting the activities of primary users of the app, and forcing them to use other platforms. Despite the prolonged disruption, Kenya’s Communications Authority (CA) has not officially confirmed the situation, leaving users and digital rights advocates in the dark. The disruption, which only happens during daytime, and is happening alongside the ongoing Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations, has led people to suspect that Telegram’s offline issues were deliberately created to prevent students from using the app to…

South African lender and wealth manager Investec has unveiled a new trading app for investors and traders called Clarity, which offers access to local and global markets. According to the bank, “Retail investors and traders looking for a simple and cost-effective platform to grow their portfolios in their own way can now do so with Clarity by Investec”. Through Investec-issued contracts for difference (CFDs), investors can trade or invest in over 600 local and international shares and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). And they have the option of trading with or without margin, at any value. “We are launching Clarity for…

The rising cost of telco tariff and data plans in Nigeria has been a source of concern for many consumers and businesses. The high cost of operating and maintaining telecom infrastructure in Nigeria, especially in rural and remote areas where there is poor power supply, security challenges and multiple taxation. The depreciation of the naira against major foreign currencies, which increases the cost of importing telecom equipment and paying for international bandwidth. The inflationary pressure on the economy, which erodes the purchasing power of consumers and reduces their demand for telecom services. The need to ensure a fair return on…