Author: Akin Naphtal

Moroccan retail-tech startup WafR, which helps retail brands to deliver promotions to grocers, has closed a seed round worth US$1.075 million as it bids to expand its operations and grow its team. Founded in 2021, WafR is an app that enables retail brands to broadcast and deliver smart promotions to grocers in order to increase their market share in the traditional channel. It was reported April that the startup had secured investment, and it has now increased the size of its seed round to more than US$1 million, valuing it at US$9 million. The funding was raised from Launch Africa…

Egyptian insurtech startup Nice Deer has raised a US$1 million pre-seed round of funding to help it provide health insurance services to SMEs. Founded earlier this year, Nice Deer aims to bridge the gap between health care providers, health insurance companies, and beneficiaries by facilitating insurance and repayment of insurance claims. The startup uses a one-window platform to connect medical service providers with insurance companies and facilitates communication between doctors and patients. It also facilitates the approval and disbursement of medication, radiology and scan requests. Its US$1 million pre-seed round was led by Disruptech Ventures, and will be used to…

Kenya’s ICT and telecommunications industries have responded with alarm over the government’s passing of the ICT Practitioners Bill 2020, which is currently under review by the country’s President. This is the last stage a Bill must get to before either being passed into law or being returned to Parliament. The Bill requires any ICT practitioner to have an ICT-related degree from a recognised university and also pay an annual licence fee. Additionally, would-be IT practitioners must have a minimum of three years’ experience to qualify as a licensed operator. It also makes provision for the creation of an ICT Practitioners…

South Africa will mark Youth Day on 16 June in part by emphasising the importance of digital skills development. One of the latest initiatives announced is a multi-year collaboration between PwC, UNICEF South Africa and Capacitate to launch YoMobi, a youth empowerment platform. The platform, a result of PwC’s ‘New World. New Skills’ global campaign and UNICEF SA’s Generation Unlimited initiative, is expected to serve as a catalyst to bridge the glaring skills gap that exists in South Africa. Muriel Mafico, Deputy Representative of UNICEF South Africa, said: “I believe what brought us together was the shared knowledge that if…

The Administrator of Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), Prince Sefah recently paid a 3-Day Working Visit with a technical support team, to some select project sites of the Fund in the Greater Accra and Central regions. The working visit which was part of efforts to strengthen project oversight and implementation, also afforded him the opportunity to enhance relationships with some stakeholders of the Fund, especially Municipal/ District Chief Executives and traditional authorities. The tour took Mr. Sefah to five of the 30 newly-constructed Community ICT Centres (CICs) in the two regions. In the Greater Accra Region, the Administrator…

Chinese multinational ICT and telecommunications solutions provider Huawei has reaffirmed its commitment to help Cameroon position itself as Central Africa’s digital hub. President of Huawei Northern Africa Terry He confirmed the position following a meeting this week with Cameroon’s Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute. He said Huawei will continue to support Cameroon’s digital economy ambitions and the country’s broader economic plan to establish itself as an upper middle-income country by 2035. The latest interaction is a follow-up to an ICT-focused alliance between Cameroon and China negotiated on the sidelines of the Sino-Africa Summit in September 2018. He said, “We discussed…

The Methodist Girls Senior High School at Mamfe in the Eastern Region of Ghana has received 20 laptops and 1 projector from Huawei Ghana, as part of measures to boost the teaching and learning of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the school. Speaking at the donation ceremony held at Mamfe, the Deputy Minister for Education, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, thanked the management of Huawei Technologies (Ghana) S. A Ltd for its regular support in the development and advancement of education in the country. The donation, he said, comes in handy as government continues to focus on providing vital resources…

Tunisian ed-tech startup GoMyCode has raised a US$8 million Series A funding round to drive its expansion plans across Africa and the Middle East. Founded in 2017, GoMyCode started life as a coding school but now offers different types of training programmes for technology and digital jobs. The startup uses a blended model comprising offline and online learning to offer training in web and app development, artificial intelligence, data science, user experience, video game development, and business intelligence. Disrupt Africa reported last year the startup was busy expanding across Africa, Europe and the Middle East, and in furtherance of those…

AirtelTigo is set to reward its customers with over ¢1.0 million in the “To Gu Me So” Reloaded Promotion launched. To Gu Me So Reloaded is a target-based promo designed to reward customers with weekly cash prizes, and this edition seeks to provide equal opportunities for all. The promotion will run from 6th June 2022, through to middle of September 2022 and thousands of customers across the country will be rewarded weekly. Unveiling the promotion, Chief Marketing Officer of AirtelTigo, Atul Narain Singh said, “last year, with the introduction of AirtelTigo “To Gu Me So”, we were able to make…

South African investment app Franc has raised ZAR8 million (US$522,000) in a seed extension round, and announced a B2B offering that enables quick and easy adoption of savings and investment products by partner businesses. Launched in 2017 by Sebastian Patel and Thomas Brennan, who were frustrated by the complexity and high barrier to entry of existing investment offerings, and concerned by the poor rate of investment among South Africans, Franc allow users to make investments via a mobile app. The startup saw 400 per cent growth in 2021, and has now announced its B2B offering – Franc Business. The new…