Author: Akin Naphtal

Moroccan B2B e-commerce and fintech startup Chari has raised a bridge round of funding that values the company at US$100 million. Founded in 2020 by husband-and-wife team Ismael and Sophia Belkhayat, Chari allows traditional proximity store owners in Morocco to order products and have them delivered. It works with more than 50 per cent of the proximity stores in Casablanca, has expanded into Tunisia, and in August announced the acquisition of mobile credit book application Karny. A participant in the Y Combinator S21 batch, the company raised a US$5 million seed round late last year, and now aims to take…

Mr Ike Nnamani is the Founder/Chief Executive Officer of Medallion Communications, a leading data centre company in Nigeria, with tentacles in other African countries. In this interview with Techberg, he speaks on the formation of the company, prospects and challenges as well as other ICT industry issues. Excerpts: How did the idea of starting Medallion start? The medallion was conceived around 2001/2002 when the telecom industry in Nigeria was undergoing full deregulation with the licensing of several telecom operators by the Regulator. I realized there was a place for a carrier-neutral service provider who will act as a bridge across…

BezoMoney, Ghana’s leading fintech provider of out-of-the-box financial tools and solutions for young people and the unbanked has launched its new savings platform, BezoSusu. The platform allows users to make deposits through their mobile money wallets or bank accounts, track and monitor the growth of their money and eventually reach set savings goals. BezoSusu is a part of Bezomoney’s growing portfolio of products and services tailor-made to help mainly young people and the unbanked make smart money moves and earn their way to financial freedom. With Bezosusu, customers who are keen to save, have access to a growing selection of…

IFC and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) has launched a new call for applications for IFC ScaleX, a new programme aiming to help tackle the financing gap that women entrepreneurs still face, particularly in emerging markets, by backing accelerators. IFC ScaleX, for which IFC has partnered with Village Capital for implementation, is a performance-based initiative that will award up to US$25,000 to business accelerators that have helped women-led companies in emerging markets raise equity financing. The aim is to incentivise accelerators to actively help women unlock funding opportunities, catalysing a total of US$40 million into women-led startups over the…

South African mobile gaming startup Carry1st has raised a US$20 million Series A extension round from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Avenir and Google to help it scale across Africa. Founded in 2018 and based in Cape Town, Carry1st is a mobile games publisher serving the first generation of African smartphone users, which has so far reached millions of users across the region with games such as Mine Rescue and SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off. The startup has also launched proprietary payments and an online marketplace to better monetise content. Carry1st raised US$6 million in Series A funding in May of last year,…

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismark Rewane has stated that fintech and mobile payments will increase during the year. Mr Rewane made this statement while giving an outlook on the Nigerian economy in 2022 at the First Bank Nigeria Economic Outlook, themed, “A rearview look at 2021, lessons learnt-Outlook 2022.” The bank introduced the initiative to set the tone for the year through the provision of an opportunity for participants to learn directly from economic experts to stay informed and knowledgeably empowered to make the right decisions in their socio-economic activities in 2022 which will…

Utopia and the World Economic Forum’s new Centre for Urban Transformation have launched a global Urban Innovation Challenge to activate an ecosystem of 800 innovative urban entrepreneurs, investors, and mayors across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The challenge is open to entrepreneurs who are building real-world urbantech solutions that contribute to a better planet, enable vibrant communities, and enhance individual wellbeing. Startups based in Lagos, Nairobi and Kigali are invited to apply. The winners will receive increased visibility, connection with investors, over US$25,000 in startup resources, and an opportunity to join the Technology Pioneers of the World Economic Forum. Early-stage…

Ghanaian fintech startup Float, a cash flow management and spend platform for businesses in Africa, has closed a US$17 million round of debt and equity seed funding to speed its development and launch new products. Float provides credit lines to small businesses, as well as tools to manage business accounts and wallets in one dashboard, and tools to automate bills, vendor and supplier payments, and invoice collections. To put it simply, it aims to serve as a “financial operating system” for businesses. Since its launch six months ago, the startup has onboarded hundreds of customers in a wide range of…

The Minister for Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Pantami, has stated that Nigeria will launch a new communication satellite (Sat 2) into orbit this year to boost the nation’s satellite communications capacity. Pantami, who disclosed this during a one-day working visit and interaction with the staff of the Nigerian Communications Satellite in Abuja on Monday, said he had secured the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari to purchase another Communications satellite for the country. The minister said the new satellite would boost the nation’s satellite communications capacity as well as the economy. He also disclosed that he had gone…

As part of efforts in bridging the digital divide in the country through the implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has continued in its national-wide capacity building on digital literacy for the teeming youths and women across the country. Digital literacy and skills, which is a key pillar in the Agency’s Strategic Road Map and Action Plan (SRAP) 2021-2024 have remained a key focus of the Agency’s Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa, in ensuring the acquisition of digital skills across different works of life as well as support the goal of achieving…