Africa Tech News

Dating platform Bumble is looking to enhance its non-dating social features with a further investment into its Bumble BFF feature, first launched in 2016. TechCrunch reports that Bumble was venturing more into the social networking space, and Bumble recently hinted at this development during its first-quarter earnings, announced this month. The company described the test as offering new ways for p...

The official unveiling of Bitnob, a financial technology company, has been unveiled as the official elite sponsor for the Nigerian professional football league. Amaju Pinnick, the NFF president, commended the CEO of Bitnob and assured him of the NFF’s support adding that they would help Bitnob get all the possible leverage from the deal. Bernard Parah, CEO of Bitnob, acknowledged that the day was...

The Nigerian government has created a new tax on phone calls in the bid to fund free healthcare for Nigerian citizens who cannot afford healthcare—the vulnerable group. The law defines the vulnerable group in society as Children under five, pregnant women, aged, physically and mentally challenged persons, and indigent people as may be defined from time to time. The provisions of Section 26 sub-sec...

KuCoin, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, has raised $150 million in a pre-Series B funding round led by Jump Crypto, the investment arm of US proprietary trading firm, Jump Trading, to further its Web3 presence and offerings. Tak Fujishima, Head of Asia, Jump Crypto says KuCoin provides a comprehensive platform of crypto services to a global audience, which is one of the many reasons they’re pro...

Candle Media, the new media company headed by former Disney execs, Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, has made another acquisition this time with an eye on social storytelling and reaching a Gen Z to a millennial audience. The company announced it will become the new owner of ATTN: a media company that uses entertainment to discuss topical issues that help explain the world to a younger audience, particu...

The next story is one that shook and is still shaking the market, it has to do with Elon Musk and Twitter, Now Musk Is Pausing Twitter Buy Until Platform Proves Less Than 5 Of Users Are Spambots Twitter is currently in the midst of an existential crisis with spambots holding up Twitter's deal with this announcement. Here is the tee! Elon Musk doubled down on his previous tweets basically saying th...

Now, One of the promises made by web3 entrepreneurs is putting data back in the hands of owners through decentralization and Singapore-based CyberConnect one of the handful of blockchain startups working to fulfil this vision has closed a Series A financing round totalling $15 million. This is a step in the right direction. CyberConnect CEO and cofounder Wilson Wei say in web2, that companies with...

The Indian central bank has rejected the application of Chaitanya India Fin Credit seeking permission to become a bank. This is a major setback to Flipkart billionaire Sachin Bansal, who has been looking to take his newer venture, Navi, public. Their reason for this rejection is that they were not found suitable for running full-fledged banks in the world’s second-most populated market. The Reserv...

One Of the big shots in the tech space, Google held its annual developer conference where it revealed an expanded line of new products and services. The tech giant announced 3 new smartphones and its first in-house smartwatch as well as plans to release a new tablet next year. Google also announced updates to several of its most popular tools including Maps, Google Translate and its core search pr...

Safaricom is making waves, I mean it is the largest telecommunications provider in Kenya and now it Plans to Launch Commercial Operations in Ethiopia. The branch in Ethiopia is planning to bring mobile financial services to Ethiopia. Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa says they have made the first test call, sent the first test SMS and completed the first test data session. Safaricom increased its service...

The African payments company has announced an investment from LeapFrog Investments and Tana Africa Capital. However, it has not confirmed the amount it received from the firms but says the precise terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. In case you don’t know, Interswitch is an Africa-focused integrated digital payments and commerce company which facilitates the electronic exchange of mo...

Topship, a Lagos-based logistics startup helping African businesses export and import goods worldwide, has closed a $2.5m seed round to improve its technology and fuel growth. The round was led by Y Combinator, Flexport (the world’s leading digital freight forwarding company) among others The CEO says they are experimenting and arriving at different iterations of their solution. He also added that...

Some of the biggest names in bitcoin including Jack Dorsey, Tom Lee, and Michael Saylor have banded together to refute claims made by House Democrats calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate the environmental effects of crypto mining. Rep. Jared Huffman along with nearly two dozen House legislators, wrote to the EPA last week asking that the regulatory body ensure mining compa...

Warren Buffett bought the dip in his No. 1 stock Apple during the tech giant’s sell-off in the first quarter. Berkshire Hathaway’s chairman and CEO told CNBC’s Becky Quick that he scooped up $600 million worth of Apple shares following a three-day decline in the stock last quarter. Apple is the conglomerate’s single largest stock holding with a value of $159.1 billion at the end of March, taking u...

The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it will close to double its cryptocurrency enforcement division, adding another 20 positions to the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit which has been newly renamed from the Cyber Unit. The SEC cited a booming period for crypto markets and a corresponding responsibility to keep investors safe from the growing risk of fraudulent investment schemes....

Bboxx, a London-headquartered cleantech startup that provides clean energy in Africa, has reportedly acquired PEG Africa, another cleantech startup based in Accra, in a deal that pushes its valuation to well over $300 million. The acquisition is still subject to customary closing conditions, including an agreement with lenders. Institutional lenders like Nairobi- and London-based Sunfunder and Swi...

Bunq, a European challenger bank based in Amsterdam, has announced that it plans to acquire Tricount, a popular mobile app to manage group expenses. Bunq isn’t disclosing the terms of the transaction and the acquisition is pending regulatory approval. Bunq founder and CEO Ali Niknam says Tricount’s commitment to simplicity, transparency and community perfectly aligns with their own values. Tricoun...

A group of industry associations in China issued a warning against the potential financial risks of non-fungible tokens, digital assets that represent real-world objects or intangible goods like a song. The country’s banking, internet finance, and securities associations say NFTs must not be traded with cryptocurrencies, and they must not be used to create securitized products. The financial assoc...

Amazon says that it aims to export locally produced Indian goods worth $20 billion by 2025, doubling its initial goal of $10 billion during the same time frame as the e-commerce group attracts over 100,000 exporters in the key overseas market. Amit Agarwal, SVP of India and Emerging Markets for Amazon, says they are excited to build a strong foundation for MSMEs to realize their export potential,...

Ventures Platform, an early-stage pan-African VC firm, has announced the addition of 10 new African startups to its portfolio. The firm shared that it had invested in the 10 startups through its newest $40 million funds. Founder Kola Aina says the launch of a new $40 million fund aimed at finding, funding and supporting groundbreaking market-creating innovation opportunities to create prosperity a...

The International Finance Corporation and Viva Technology have listed two Nigerian startups, Primed E-health and Koolboks among 45 African startups driving innovations on the continent. The organisers of the awards say the finalists were selected from a pool of over 300 applications topped by startups from Nigeria. IFC’s Managing Director Makhtar Diop, says the number and quality of applications r...

Products have emerged over the years to address the problem of code maintenance, including the cloud-based code quality management service SonarSource. SonarSource announced that it raised $412 million in a funding round co-led by Advent International and General Catalyst at a $4.7 billion valuation. SonarSource CEO Olivier Gaudin says organizations across all industries have long understood that...

Twitter has announced that it has accepted Musk’s offer to acquire the publicly traded company at $54.20/share, valuing the social media platform at $44 billion. Twitter’s Independent Board Chair Bret Taylor says the Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing. He says the proposed transaction w...

The China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair) is introducing a debut campaign with 150 online events for companies to showcase their products on its platform. The debut events will provide buyers around the world with innovative achievements in advanced technology, intelligent manufacturing, better lifestyle, low-carbon environmental protection and trade services. Alan Liu, Deputy Director-Genera...

League Baseball is set to employ a variety of technology to make the fan experience more fun, including personalized video search and Statcast for analytical statistics, as well as streaming and mobile applications and games for its fans. The league has already welcomed NFTs and is considering AR and VR as it strives to make the most of whatever technology is available. Become a supporter of this...