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Built With Bitcoin Foundation Partners Satoshibles Non -fungible Token (NFT)

Hassan Barakat
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Built With Bitcoin Foundation Partners Satoshibles Non -fungible Token (NFT)

The Built With Bitcoin Foundation has announced a partnership with the team behind Satoshibles Non -fungible Token (NFT), a successful crypto collectable project on the Ethereum blockchain.

The Built With Bitcoin Foundation (BWB) is a humanitarian organization dedicated to ensuring equal opportunity by providing clean water, quality education, sustainable farming, and humanitarian assistance, all of which are supported by bitcoins.

Built With NFT is an NFT collection created by BWB and Satoshibles that will donate hundreds of ETH to humanitarian activities.

Students from BWB campuses around Africa, notably the Nursery and Primary schools in Rwanda, Kenya, and Nigeria, contributed artwork to the NFT collection.

From this artwork, 10,000 unique NFTs will be up for purchase.

The Foundation’s ongoing efforts to create schools and communities around the world will be funded entirely by the earnings, with their next projects beginning in West Africa and Central America in 2022.

This launch is timed to coincide with #GivingTuesday, a day dedicated to encouraging others to donate to charity organizations and causes.

The Built With Bitcoin Foundation has so far constructed six schools (two in Rwanda, two in Kenya, and two in Nigeria), ten water projects, and dozens of farms. By 2030, the Foundation hopes to have built 100 schools and communities.

While this campaign is still in its early stages, Satoshibles has already donated 10 ETH to BWB to help them start Phase I of their project, which includes installing a water well, solar system, computer lab, laptops, landscaping, and fencing at the site of two existing nursery and primary schools in Kaduna State, Nigeria, which serve a community of over 2,000 people.

The project is already in the works, with BWB aiming to finish by the end of December 2021.

“We think that with access to education, water, and finance, individuals can build the life they want,” stated Ray Youssef, Executive Director of Built With Bitcoin.

“Over the years, we’ve had the honour of delivering critical resources to tens of thousands of people all over the world, not just by building schools, but also by forming strong and long-lasting communities.”

“We intend to create a passion for giving back while redefining how the world views crypto by launching the Built With NFT line with Satoshibles on Giving Tuesday.” He further said.

“These students have made it possible to create a large amount of funds while improving the lives of communities all around the world,” Built With Bitcoin’s Director of Philanthropy, Yusuf Nessary, stated.

“Through this project, these young kids have the power to contribute to the education of other pupils like themselves,” Yusuf explained.

“We believe this emphasizes the critical nature of humanitarian activities.” Serving one community has a cascading effect that provides the community with resources.

“This is the first initiative to harness NFTs for social good at this scale,” Satoshibles creator Brian Laughlan stated. We’ve created a one-of-a-kind collection with a captivating story using the Built With Bitcoin Foundation’s community and our expertise in launching NFT initiatives.”

“With this launch, we intend to kickstart new initiatives and demonstrate how NFTs can be utilised to promote change.”

Aladdin Rebrands to Become Africa’s First Super app Serving the SMB Economy

Abidemi Ogunyemi-Aderibigbe
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Aladdin Rebrands to Become Africa’s First Super app Serving the SMB Economy
Aladdin is a fintech startup providing ecosystem banking to over 40,000 users today announced it is changing its brand identity.
 
Aladdin stands as Africa’s top ecosystem bank that supports SMEs, individuals, and freelancers with the financial, commercial, and social aid they need to thrive.
 

The Rebranding of Aladdin

For the past few months now, the rebuilding of the Aladdin application has been ongoing. The company is looking to offer a new banking experience in line with its evolved vision and customers feedback.
 
Going by a report from the fintech company, the changes are to present the company’s evolving vision better to users. The vision is to become the first super app in Africa serving SMEs and freelancers.
 
Part of the rebrand includes a release of a brand new design and logo that incorporates its core values of transparency, innovation, and resilience.
 
The previously existing brand colors “purple and orange” are still retained for all the company’s branding and marketing purposes.
 
In a couple of days, users are to expect the rollout of the rebuilt and rebranded Aladdin app will take effect.
The application will have new features such as a marketplace, an in-app social network, an escrow payment option, and lots more to serve its users.
 
The Co-founder and CEO of Aladdin, Darlington Onyeagoro said;
 
“Our vision is to empower millions of SMB owners & freelancers with necessary commercial, financial, and social tools to thrive beginning in Africa”
 
In addition, he said
 
“After Africa, the company looks to expand to other developing countries across the globe”.
 
On Aladdin, users will be able to save, borrow, invest, make payments, get insured, get cards, buy and sell products & services and also mingle with other users.

 

 

TE Markets Launches Its Cryptocurrency and Africa’s First Consolidated Exchange Platform

Hassan Barakat
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TE Markets Launches Its Cryptocurrency and Africa’s First Consolidated Exchange Platform

TE Markets, an investment firm, has developed the first digital exchange allowing African local producers to sell their products, set a competitive price, and earn direct benefits for their efforts.

The platform is called African Consolidated Exchange, and it’s for actors in the financial markets and Africa’s digital finance ecosystem, according to the company (ACEX).

ACEX would act as a digitalized general store for all forex dealers, crypto traders, stakeholders, and investors in the financial industry on the African continent and beyond, according to the company.

According to the corporation, ACEX will be a pan-African and multi-asset trading platform that will allow consumers to buy and sell equities, ETFs, Bonds, Forex CFDs, Cryptocurrencies, and Commodities, among other things.

“ACEX will be a lively exchange with Liquidity Providers, Merchants, Traders, and Investors alike, as a market that never sleeps.”

“On the African continent, there is no one exchange where natural minerals and agricultural products native to the continent are traded.”

“ACEX will be the first exchange where African native producers may advertise their goods, set a competitive price, and receive direct compensation for their efforts.” TE Markets stated that “African items like cobalt, cocoa, and lumber will be synthetically indexed and supplied as quotes for traders to take advantage of.”

While recognizing that processes throughout the world have been digitized, TE Markets believes Africa, with its vast territory, vibrant young population, and enormous economic potential, must enter the fray.

It went on to say that ACEX would bridge the digital divide between what is and what should be in the financial markets, particularly on the African continent.

Invictus Capital Unveils First NFT Collection

Hassan Barakat
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Invictus Capital Unveils First NFT Collection

Invictus Capital through the Invictus NFT Lab, has released its first non-fungible token collection, named “Out of Africa.” Invictus Capital will use blockchain technology to display fine art and link African artists with the rest of the world through this collection.

Invictus and NFT Collection

According to the It Online report, the distribution of NFT posters is anticipated to commence in January as part of this effort. An auction for NFT representations of the original, physical artworks will take place in February.

Stakeholders in the art world have praised Invictus Capital’s move to release the NFTs. Marelize van Zyl, the curator of the Out of Africa NFT collection, praised Invictus Capital’s efforts, saying, “The Out of Africa Collection is made up of 100 unique NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain and is the first time many of the artists have worked in the NFT arena.” This collection is a victory for these artists, as it features some of the best new, emerging, and established talent available.

NFTs allow artists direct access to “a genuinely global audience and a royalty-driven business model made feasible by blockchain,” according to another stakeholder, Charl Bezuidenhout of Worldart.

Invictus Capital CEO Daniel Schwartzkopff said an NFT collection like the one his business revealed, “would go a long way toward introducing NFTs into mainstream investing portfolios.” Traditional art collectors, current NFT collectors, and everyone in between will enjoy the collection, according to Schwartzkopff.

Prospective investors who wish to be a part of this project can receive information on collaborating artists and artworks via a subscription newsletter, according to the report.

TECNO Security Response Center’s Commitment to the InfoSec Community

Abidemi Ogunyemi-Aderibigbe
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TECNO Security Response Center’s Commitment to the InfoSec Community
The Security Bsides 2021 Ahmedabad, India sponsored by TECNO Security Response Center (SRC) shows its commitment to digital information security.
 
With over 400 security experts and specialists in attendance exchanging ideas with TECNO and other industry experts, organizations, and researchers.
 
The sponsorship enhanced the playing field, delivery of the latest research and knowledge. This was beneficial to amateurs and professionals who can not travel to or get access to such prominent conferences.
 
This contribution by TECNO’s shows how committed to securing its own devices, software, and the broader I.T security society.
 
Conference Discussion on Spyware, Android Vulnerabilities and More
Security BSides founded in 2009 is a community-driven framework for making events for and by information security community members.
 
BSides events are usually intense, filled with participants’ discussions interactions, and demos. Manage and engaged by the community itself, these conferences are where conversations for the next big thing happen.
 
Heath Adams, the Cyber Mentor (TCM) opened the program with a keynote address on information security, ethical hacking, and cybersecurity. He also pointed security issues of concern to both individuals and organizations.
 
The conference talks about the latest updates and research on Google Vehicle Routing Problems (VRP), mobile spyware, android vulnerabilities, Amazon misconfiguration, and more.
 
A full-day car hacking workshop was a part of the program and the idea was to reveal how a vehicle can be remotely maneuvered and used for system penetration with an entire array of tools at the hacker’s disposal.
 

SRC Improves TECNO Technologies and InfoSec Community

SRC backs TECNO on its mission to unlock the latest intelligent technologies across global emerging markets. Giving it access to the digital world available and affordable while being ethical and clean.
 
Following up on its promise to support the community, TECNO SRC has disbursed monetary and mobile phone rewards for detecting and submitting vulnerabilities on its system. This adds to the bag of bug bounties and penetration test rewards for ethical hackers.
 
Security is critical in the l.T world. As the rise in global usage of digital devices and services grows, cyber security gains more importance. Thus, the need to protect individual network devices and digital assets is of utmost importance.
 
TECNO SRC aims at building the potentials of the I.T security researcher’s community, and plans for the future. This includes cooperation with the international vulnerability public testing platforms to grow a robust TECNO security ecosystem. This will look to offer secure mobile experiences to users in more than 70 emerging markets that users can trust.
 
Going by the values of TECNO, TECNO SRC is the trademark of a company that cares about the needs of its users from different markets. They also understand the technical and cultural implications of I.T security for society.
 
TECNO SRC is taking its place as a significant contributor to the I.T security world with its continuing education and advancement on information technology, security, privacy, and critical infosec issues.

 

Digital Mobile Overdraft Facility Fuliza Outshines Loan Apps in Kenya

Hassan Barakat
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Digital Mobile Overdraft Facility Fuliza Outshines Loan Apps in Kenya

Digital mobile overdraft facility Fuliza outshines loan apps in Kenya. This is barely three years after its launch.

The digital mobile overdraft facility named Fuliza by Kenya’s biggest telco Safaricom Plc has started giving the country’s popular loan apps a run for their money.

Fuliza enables Safaricom clients to obtain unsecured credit by overdrawing on M-Pesa, the telecommunications company’s mobile money wallet that enables users to pay bills, transfer, receive and withdraw money using their phones.

According to a study conducted by the country’s monetary authority, Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) in collaboration with Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and Financial Sector Deepening Trust (FSD) Kenya, the uptake of Fuliza is currently at 18.3 percent across the country, while that of loan apps has decreased by 6.2 percentage points to 2.1 percent in the last two years.

When compared to other financial goods and services offered by credit unions, banks, and microfinance institutions, digital lending apps had the biggest drop in utilization, according to the current bi-annual FinAccess Household Survey study.

According to the research, “this may be explained by competition from official digital credit products like Fuliza, (and) unjust debt collection techniques by digital lending apps.”

The CBK’s rule prohibiting unlicensed digital lenders from disclosing personal information about loan defaulters with credit reference bureaus (CRBs) may have stopped the apps from lending to problematic individuals, according to the research.

Furthermore, at the COVID-19 peak, the ambiguity surrounding the CBK’s regulation of the apps may have deterred them from offering loans to new borrowers.

In a previous interview with TechCrunch, the Digital Lenders Association of Kenya, which represents roughly 25 of Kenya’s more than 100 digital lenders, said that its members typically send out loans worth $40 million per month, a sum that was half during COVID.

Fuliza is a fully registered and regulated business that works in collaboration with two local banks, KCB and NCBA. The product appears to have filled a regulatory void in mobile lending, increasing competition for mobile loan apps like the Silicon Valley-backed Branch, which launched in Kenya in 2015, and the PayPal-backed Tala, which launched in Kenya in 2014 — one of the first digital lenders to enter the East African country.

According to a report from Safaricom, the telco extended $3.1 billion in Fuliza credit in the 2020/21 fiscal year, up to a 43 percent increase from the previous year. Fuliza gives an estimated $12 million credit to Kenyans every day. M-Pesa is used by 23.8 million Safaricom customers.

Mobile lending in Kenya began in 2012 when Safaricom launched M-Shwari, a mobile-based savings, and loans product that is still operational today in cooperation with NCBA Bank. Since then, Kenya has seen a surge in the number of digital and micro-lending apps, which now number in the hundreds.

Loan apps and services like Fuliza provide quick, collateral-free credit, eclipsing loans from traditional banking institutions, which require lengthy approval processes and often considerable collateral. These fintech advancements could possibly be one of the reasons Kenya’s formal financial inclusion rate has increased from 26.7 percent in 2006 to 83.7 percent in 2021.

While the lending apps have helped people who have been denied credit by traditional banks, they had functioned in an unregulated environment for years until the president approved a new law granting CBK the authority to license and oversee their activities a fortnight ago.

Because of the lack of regulation, predatory pricing has flourished, with some applications charging annualized interest rates of over 800 percent, rendering many borrowers bankrupt.

Vibra Begins VIBRAnt Stars Reward Programme

Mena Adediran
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Vibra Begins VIBRAnt Stars Reward Programme

Vibra (styled VIBRA), a crypto trading app launched by African Blockchain Lab, has started a programme to reward “VIBRAnt Stars.” VIBRAnt Stars are volunteers from the Vibra community who will provide assistance to users with questions and other concerns.

Vibra claims that its mission is to empower Africans with their finances and as such it makes cryptocurrency easy enough for beginners to understand, invest and trade cryptocurrencies. Vibra wants to build a community of people who are interested in crypto and that will help Vibra move to the next level. Vibra has opened up an invitation and says that anyone can participate.

The belief is that having a “welcoming community” that is available to assist beginners or new users will facilitate the adoption of cryptocurrency in Nigeria, and Africa.

Vibra plans to reward the most active VIBRAnt Stars with a range of benefits. The benefits are financial and non-financial; VIBRAnt members will earn points upon completion of given tasks, which will be accumulated by the end of that month. A VIBRAnt star can also make up to 1,000 naira for every 2 people referred. The tasks include referring new users to download the Vibra app and join the Vibra community, as well as onboarding.

The VIBRAnt Stars programme is part of a larger Vibra partnership programme wherein Vibra seeks publishers, promoters, influencers, agents, and merchants.

African Blockchain Lab recently raised $6million in a Series Pre-A round to fund the launch of Vibra. Vibra is the first product from African Blockchain Lab, as part of its mission to “drive the mass adoption of digital assets and blockchain technologies in Africa,” as articulated by Vincent Li, the co-founder of African Blockchain Lab.

Kazang Job Opening: Data Engineer

Boluwatife Aponmade
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0
Kazang Job Opening: Data Engineer

Kazang is one of Southern Africa’s leading providers of value-added transaction services. It provides prepaid voice, mobile through electricity, and data proprietary mobile vending terminals that handle thousands of micro-payments every minute. Other services include DSTV subscription payments and RICA registration.


As a Data Engineer, you will have the opportunity to play a leading role in the design and development of an ETL solution to centralize data from various sources into a single environment.


This solution will be used across businesses to empower both Analytics and Data Science. The Data Engineer will need to play a role in the designing of the architecture around the ETL pipelines, but also in the handling of the data itself to create, maintain and ensure the integrity of features for business needs.


The successful applicant will work alongside Software Engineers, Data Scientists, and Business Analysts to scope business and technical requirements in their day-to-day role.
This role requires a candidate with a strong passion for data who is excited to be involved in the decision-making and implementation of such a system from conception to implementation.


The responsibilities of the position include:
This role requires a candidate with a strong passion for data who is excited to be involved in the decision-making and implementation of such a system from conception to implementation.


Key Responsibilities:
• Develop an understanding of where and how data is currently stored within our environments.
• Formulate strategies on how to aggregate data across multiple systems into a single repository for both analytics as well as data science.
• Implement the above strategies to improve our data warehouse and to make a single-source-of-truth database available for consistent analytics across our company.
• Build and maintain a feature store for use in Data Science.
• Develop dashboards in PowerBI.
It is a full-time job and its location is in Cape Town, South Africa. The deadline is on the 18th of January, 2022.


Requirements:
• Minimum 3 years experience as a Data Engineer
• Extensive experience in MySQL, Postgres, AWS, Redshift, Python, R, Linux
Minimum requirements:
• BSc in Computer Science Degree or BSc in Statistics would be an advantage


Number of positions available: One

Commencement Date: Immediately

Click here to apply.

The Delta Job Opening: Product Manager

Boluwatife Aponmade
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0
The Delta Job Opening: Product Manager

Who we are?
The Delta is a corporate venture builder that specializes in working with corporates who want to drive innovation through corporate venturing. Led by a team of venture builders, we have a significant amount of experience in ideating, validating, designing, building, and launching startups from the ground up. Unlike accelerators or incubators, we see ourselves as co-founders of a startup who work closely with the corporate intrapreneur.


We have a highly skilled and dedicated team of Product Managers, Designers, Engineers, and Marketers who are all inspired and motivated to build, launch and scale successful products and ventures. One of our values is to “make an impact with every product we build”, and we ensure that this value is represented in everything that we do.


Why work with us?
We combine lean startup methodology with corporate assets using cutting-edge technology, design principles, and processes applied to real-world problems. By doing this we create the sweet spot for disruptive innovation. You will have endless opportunities for learning new skills in a wide range of disruptive technology, market areas, and various industries.


How we work
We encourage you and allow you to move forward with new ideas to help grow the company. Most importantly, we encourage you to be yourself and have fun. We don’t promote work/life balance in the traditional sense, rather we believe in “work/life integration.” We like having a good time at work, not just outside of it. There’s no need to hide your random quirks or awkward dance moves from us. In a way, you might be taking a “break from life” by working here!


Who we are looking for
We are looking for a Product Manager who demonstrates an entrepreneurial mindset who will work in the product team. The Product Manager is responsible for the strategic research, planning, and execution throughout the product life-cycle, including identifying potential products, conducting market research, generating product requirements, determining high-level specifications (production timetables, pricing, and marketing strategies), and time-integrated plans for product introduction.


Some of the things that you’ll do
Depending on your role, team, experience, and skillset, this includes:
The Product Manager is responsible for gathering and prioritizing product and customer requirements, defining the product vision and roadmap, and working closely with product owners, project managers, engineering, sales, marketing, and other specialist product stakeholders to ensure that product launch, revenue, and customer satisfaction are met. The Product Manager’s job also includes ensuring that the product supports the company’s overall strategy and goals.


The Product Manager will be expected to use a high level of knowledge and experience in setting the long-term vision and strategy of the product and communicating this strategy to internal and external stakeholders.


Pending the scope and size of the project, the Product Manager may also take on some tactical and execution responsibilities of a product owner, such as prioritizing needs, managing the product backlog, creating user stories and acceptance criteria, and overseeing development stages working within a SCRUM team.

• Determine customers’ needs and desires by specifying the research needed to obtain market information.
• Recommend the nature and scope of present and future product lines by reviewing product specifications and requirements, and appraising new product ideas and/or product changes.
• Assesses market competition by comparing the product to competitors’ products.
• Provide source data for product communications by defining product marketing communication objectives.
• Obtain product market share by working with the venture owners/sponsors to develop product sales and marketing strategies.
• Provide information for venture owners/sponsors by preparing short-term and long-term product sales forecasts and special reports and analyses, and answering questions and requests.
• Bring new products to market by analyzing proposed product requirements and product development programs, preparing return-on-investment analyses, and establishing time schedules with product owners, project managers, and engineering teams.
• Contribute to team effort by accomplishing related results as needed.


What you’ll need
• Experience working as a product manager, preferably in a similar role, with a BA/BSc or equivalent.
• Good understanding of software development life-cycle models as well as knowledge of both Agile and traditional product-management principles and practices, and the ability to blend them in the right proportions to fit a project and business environment.
• Sufficient level of technical background to be able to accurately and objectively evaluate complex project risks and issues.
• In-depth knowledge and understanding of the business need with the ability to establish/maintain a high level of customer trust and confidence.
• Excellent oral and written communications skills and experience interacting with both business and IT individuals at all levels including the executive level.
• Creative approach to problem-solving with the ability to focus on details while maintaining the “big picture” view.
• Customer-first, ABCD thinking mindset.
• Proactive, self-starter with an ability to manage multiple tasks effectively.
• Critical thinker and problem-solver who pays attention to detail.
• Ability to engage, influence, and inspire stakeholders to drive collaboration and alignment.
• A high degree of organization, individual initiative, and personal accountability.
• Understanding of development methodologies and processes, such as Agile, SCRUM, and Kanban.
• Team player.
• Excellent time-management skills.
• Great interpersonal, troubleshooting, and communication skills.
Our process
• Initial CV and LinkedIn screening.
• A 30-minute call to assess skill and experience and get to know each other with a relevant team lead.
• A face-to-face/online technical interview, possibly a whiteboard problem or take-home assignment.
• A chat with Team & Culture and /other team leads.
• Reference checks (at least 2) and personal checks (socials, networks, etc).
• On the option of hanging out with the team (online/offline).
Additional reasons to love us
• Great culture.
• Co-drive the corporate venture start-up space (co-found a startup).
• Cutting-edge technology.
• Flexible working hours and remote working options.
• Be part of shaping the next venture game-changer.


The job location is Cape Town, South Africa and it is full-time. The deadline is on the 29th of December, 2021.


Click here to apply.

Engage Launches Paystack Integration to Help Merchants Link Their Accounts

Hassan Barakat
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0
Engage Launches Paystack Integration to Help Merchants Link Their Accounts

Engage, a marketing automation solution that helps businesses send personalised messages to customers has launched its Paystack integration. Paystack merchants can now connect their customer billing events to Engage and send personalised emails and SMS to their customers as a result of the integration.

Merchants can link Engage to their Paystack account in minutes and leverage their customers’ billing activities, such as successful charges, new subscriptions, and more, to generate distinct groupings (what we call segments) or send customised emails or SMS based on these actions. They can also automate payment receipts, subscription renewal reminders, and other messages.

“This is a huge issue,” says Engage founder Opeyemi Obembe. “It gives merchants a lot of value.” Customers can be up-sold new services or goods, inactive customers can be identified and re-engaged, top customers can be rewarded, and tailored messages can be sent. As a result, customer retention will improve, and income will rise.”

Engage was launched in February 2021, and leading firms from a variety of industries throughout the world already use it for customer messaging. Indie Campers, Reliance HMO, Kura, ExtraGas UK, Crop2Cash, and Monument are just a few of them.

“Definitely!” Opeyemi said when asked if there are any additional payment gateway integrations in the works. We have Stripe integration, Paystack integration, and a Flutterwave integration in the works. In a few weeks, this should be ready.”

The Paystack connection is already live on the Engage dashboard and is available to all users for free.

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