Africa Tech News

A group of traders are threatening to sue the Uganda Communications Commission if it does not reopen Facebook within two weeks. The notice states that the traders have lost approximately 3,874,000 clients who were active Facebook subscribers in Uganda at the time of the closure, along with 2.9 billion potential clients in the global market. Per Luyimbazi Nalukoola, the lawyer representing the trad...

Tech firms in the UK will have to take more responsibility for the content on their platform. The UK government has passed an Online Safety Bill that places immense responsibility on tech giants to ensure children’s safety in the digital world. Social media platforms must ensure that age limits are enforced and that children are protected from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content. The A...

Nigerian commercial bank, Fidelity Bank, has quashed its qualms with neobanks and reinstated customer transfers to OPay, Moniepoint, Palmpay and Kuda. Fidelity claimed that the removal was due to ongoing upgrades, other sources stated that it was due to KYC violations from the neobanks. Neobanks saysthat they had been in contact with the commercial bank to resolve all concerns. The reinstatement h...

Paddy Cosgrave has stepped down as CEO of Web Summit, the 14-year-old conference business that he cofounded and which has gone on to host one of Europe’s biggest annual tech events, along with four other events around the globe. Following a week of controversy surrounding comments Cosgrave made about Israel and Palestine. The conference organizers say they will be appointing a new CEO as soon as p...

Sony has launched the Sony Innovation Fund to support the growth of entertainment startups on the continent. Sony will invest about $10 million in seed to early-stage startups across gaming, music, movie and content distribution sectors. Gen Tsuchikawa, CEO of Sony Ventures, says that in addition to the fund’s seed and early-stage investment strategy, it will offer follow-on investments to its por...

Kippa, the Nigerian fintech, which provides bookkeeping and finance management tools for small businesses, is discontinuing its agency banking business, KippaPay. The startup also plans to lay off 40 employees associated with the product. The company declared that KippaPay would be discontinued starting November 15. Sources also claim layoff notices have been sent out to affected staff, with their...

The World Bank is flexing Kenya’s data protection laws. The international financial organisation suggested changes to the Kenyan Data Protection Act of 2019, advising the Kenyan government against the localisation of data. The global lender has asked Kenya to revoke a law that forces companies to store sensitive personal data on servers located within the country. The World Bank says the law is li...

Amazon, the e-commerce giant will launch its online shopping service in South Africa in 2024. South Africa will become the second African country, after Egypt, to host a locally-dedicated Amazon shopping website. Amazon says that independent sellers in South Africa could register their businesses on its marketplace website—Amazon.co.za—starting next year. The launch of Amazon’s service comes at a...

The country’s Competition Commission has launched a Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry to scrutinise the distribution of media content on South African digital platforms. The inquiry follows a complaint lodged by Publisher Support Services in 2021, an industry association representing several South African news publishers. PSS has argued that the transition to digital news consumption and...

Vodacom agreed to pay a R1 million fine levied by South Africa’s National Consumer Tribunal. Vodacom violated the Consumer Protection Act by imposing substantial penalties on customers who wished to cancel their fixed-term contracts. These penalties amounted to 75% of the remaining contract balance, effectively preventing customers from exercising their right to terminate their contracts early. Th...

The Nigerian government has reintroduced a bill aimed at regulating digital platforms, including social media. The bill proposes a number of measures, including requiring social media users to register with the government and giving the government the power to censor social media content. The commission’s director-general, Balarabe Ilelah, referred to social media as a monster and emphasised the n...

Trezor, a hardware crypto wallet company, debuted two new products this week at the Bitcoin Amsterdam conference. Trezor Safe 3, a hardware crypto wallet, and Trezor Keep Metal, a “mistake-proof” backup solution for wallet passwords, launched in celebration of the company’s 10-year anniversary. Matěj Žák, CEO of Trezor, says the new crypto wallet is designed specifically for new digital asset entr...

Airtel Uganda has shifted the closing date for its initial public offering from October 13 to October 27. The company will begin trading its shares on November 7 instead of the initial November 3. Airtel is offering 20% of its total stock, 8 billion shares, on the main investment market segment of the Uganda Securities Exchange at Shs100 ($0.0269) per share. Airtel opened its IPO for subscription...

Rida Nigeria is gearing up to unveil an ambitious and exciting helicopter taxi service for Lagos commuters. The helicopter tariff programme aims to help commuters to break free from the shackles of Lagos commercial traffic Rida Nigeria’s simple, yet revolutionary idea is aimed at elevating daily commutes by providing an unparalleled air travel experience, transcending the limitations of traditiona...

Zimbabwe launched a new gold-backed digital currency in an effort to halt re-dollarization, which the administration of President Emmerson Mnangagwa worries could destroy the country's already struggling economy. The digital tokens, also known as Zimbabwe Gold which are primarily measured in milligrams, can be used for transactions by both private individuals and businesses. They can be purchased...

The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority banned the use of VPNs without a permit in the country. The TCRA clarified that using VPNs is not prohibited, but users must report the VPNs they use and provide necessary information. Residents and citizens must fill out a form available on the TCRA website by October 30, 2023, providing their individual user IP addresses and specifying whether the...

Onsurity, an Indian startup that offers monthly subscription-based insurance solutions to micro, small and medium enterprises, startups and growing businesses, has raised $24 million in a funding round led by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation. India has over 63 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), covering close to 400 million employees and supporting 675 million f...

Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest man, has teamed up with US billionaire investors to back a $500 million Africa-focused fund. The investors, Alterra Capital Partners, an Africa-focused private equity firm, has ambitious plans to raise up to $500 million in the coming months and has already secured $140 million in its initial closing. The firm’s investment strategy is centred around critical sectors...

An industry group representing several major U.S. tech companies has opposed the Indian government’s proposal against dark patterns and said the move would adversely affect the state promise of enabling ease of doing business in the economy and bring regulatory overlap with existing laws. Asia Internet Coalition has suggested that the proposed rules may stagnate the growth of the country’s digital...

Telkom reportedly lost 1.6 million subscribers in one year, according to a report by tech publication Business Daily. Telkom had 2.25 million active Kenyan subscribers in June 2023, a 39% drop from March 2022’s 4.14 million subscribers. The Communications Authority of Kenya earlier began switching off inactive and irregularly registered SIM cards in the country. Other Kenyan telecoms were also aff...

Google has introduced its inaugural Africa AI First accelerator programme. Google says eleven startups were selected to address Africa’s challenges and broader global issues. These startups will undergo a 10-week accelerator journey, gaining access to Google’s AI expertise, receiving $350,000 in Google Cloud Credits, benefiting from mentorship, technical guidance, and extensive networking opportun...

Twiga has confirmed that it is in talks with Incentro Africa, a Google services reseller, to resolve their ongoing legal tussle. Twiga was taken to court by Incentro to recover a $261,878 debt. Incentro Africa asked the court to give a liquidation notice to Twiga if the debt remained unpaid. Twiga appealed the notice, arguing that Incentro’s court filing was in bad faith. The startup also confirme...

Volkswagen’s $2.1 billion plan to launch a dedicated electric-vehicle factory in Wolfsburg, Germany is kaput. The automaker instead reportedly plans to modify its existing plants in Zwickau and Wolfsburg to handle production of a new flagship EV — the postponed Project Trinity — and an all-electric Golf hatchback. VW passenger cars boss Thomas Schaefer says VW’s roof is on fire in a meeting with s...

Some digital lenders have resumed harassing borrowers on their platform, even in cases where laws protect them against personal data abuse. The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner has fined three entities a total of KES 9.3 million in a move set to further enforce sanity in the online lending space in the country. Mulla Pride Ltd, which operates two online credit platforms, KeCredit and Fai...

Kenya has officially joined the Pan African Payments and Settlement System. The service was launched in January 2022 and is currently used by commercial banks and payment service providers in nine African countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Djibouti, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. Kenya became the tenth country to join the service. Trade Secretary Moses Kuria noted that th...