Author: Akin Naphtal

Dr Keabetswe Modimoeng has been appointed as Corporate Affairs and Stakeholder Relations Group Executive for MultiChoice Africa with effect from January 2023. Dr Modimoeng is the former executive chairperson of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) and has previously held a corporate communications role at Anglo American (Kumba Iron Ore) and served as corporate citizenship manager for Samsung Electronics (Africa). Fhulu Badugela, MultiChoice Africa Holdings CEO, said, “Kea is a seasoned leader with over 15 years’ experience in corporate communications, stakeholder relations, government, and regulatory affairs. He will play a key role in helping us to navigate the…

The Ghana-based Jetstream Africa, an e-logistics platform for Africa’s exporters and importers, has raised US$13 million in a combination of debt and equity financing to help it expand. Jetstream Africa is an e-logistics company founded in Tema, Ghana and operating across 14 African countries. Its core product, pre-financed logistics, enables businesses to rapidly book and monitor door-to-door logistics, financing, insurance and other trade support services online. The startup raised a US$3 million seed round in 2021 and has now progressed to Series A with a US$13 million investment. New investors include French development institution Proparco through the Digital Africa Bridge…

No doubt, startups in Africa have gulped multimillion dollars in investment deals. Across the continent, several venture capital (VC) firms have created special funding kitties focusing on women-led tech startups. There are also several investment vehicles that only fund women-led enterprises across the continent. A report released by The Big Deal, a research firm tracking startups across the continent has revealed that African startups active on the continent and led by women raised $203.2 million in 2022. Though still a significant amount, it is 58% less than what enterprises of this sort mobilised in 2021. The report further notes that…

London-based AI company InstaDeep has entered into an agreement to be acquired by the German tech firm BioNTech in a £562m deal. Founded in 2015, InstaDeep has become one of Britain’s most promising tech firms, scoring major money deals for its Series A and Series B funding rounds, including a $100m investment in January 2022 that saw participation from Google, as well as BioNTech. READ ALSO: MediaTek Reiterate Commitment to Increasing 5G Adoption in Africa with Affordable Chipsets Report Shows Fintech is the Most Vibrant Sector in Kenya Google Plans to Charge 16% VAT on Taxable Goods and Services In…

Chipmaker MediaTek has announced its commitment to driving increased 5G adoption in Africa. In a recent chat, Rami Osman, the company’s Director, Corporate Sales and Marketing MEA said the company will continue local testing to make 5G a reality. Across Africa, the adoption of these networks has been slow with a number of telcos citing the high prices of 5G devices and regulation as the reason behind this. MediaTek says it will continue to bring devices that are ready to meet customer expectations. The Dimensity 5G family for example is expected to power high-end smartphones launching in Kenya this year…

A report released by pan-African publication and research firm Disrupt Africa has pointed out fintech as the most vibrant subsector within the Kenyan startup ecosystem. The report dubbed The Kenyan Startup Ecosystem Report 2022, says that fintech is leading in terms of levels of activity. Out of the 308 companies that the report tracked, 93 of them were within the fintech space, representing 30.2%. Agri-tech and e-health subsectors come in second at 10.1% per cent of Kenyan startups while e-commerce and retail-tech, recruitment and HR, and ed-tech coming in third, fourth and fifth respectively. “Kenya has an extremely varied range…

Tech giant Google has announced it will introduce a 16% Value Added Tax (VAT) on some of its goods and services sold in Kenya from February 1, 2023. This follows the introduction of a new levy by the Kenyan government through the Digital Marketplace Supply (Amendment) Regulation, 2022. Several international tech companies including Spotify and Netflix have also indicated that they will include the levy in their products and services beginning next month. This automatically raises the cost of these products and services, as the companies seek to collect the levy on behalf of the Kenyan government. Google has already…

Microsoft is in talks to invest US$10-billion into OpenAI, the owner of ChatGPT, which will value the San Francisco-based firm at $29-billion, Semafor reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. The funding includes other venture firms and deal documents were sent to prospective investors in recent weeks, with the aim to close the round by the end of 2022, the report said. Microsoft declined to comment, while OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. OpenAI was founded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and investor Sam AltmanThis follows a Wall Street Journal report that said OpenAI…

Tanzanian fintech startup NALA has officially launched in the European Union (EU), adding 19 new countries to its list of send countries and aiding its mission of connecting Africans globally. NALA is an African payments company and money transfer app that enables users to make secure and reliable payments from Europe, the UK and US to Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Ghana in seconds. The company has now launched in the EU by adding 19 new Eurozone nations to its list of send markets. After expanding from the UK to the US earlier this year, NALA has grown rapidly via…

After several years of development, Apple’s first major step into the metaverse—a high-end, mixed-reality headset—will reportedly be unveiled to the world for the first time this spring. According to recent report, the tech giant is likely to show off its hybrid headset in the coming months, ahead of its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which typically takes place in June. Some third-party developers are reportedly already building apps for the device, which may be called the Reality Pro. After the spring announcement, the combined augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) headset will reportedly be released later this year, alongside…