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Tanzania Gets Ready to Launch Central Bank Digital Currency

Tanzania gets ready to launch Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), a digital legal tender issued by the central bank that is equivalent to fiat currency and may be traded for it.

Florens Luoga, the Governor of the Bank of Tanzania, announced the preparedness of Tanzania’s central bank to launch the digital form of its local currency at the finance conference tagged, “20th Conference of Financial Institutions (COFI).” The event organized by the central bank of Tanzania was held in Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Luoga said, “the bank of Tanzania has started preparations for its digital currency to ensure the country is not left behind others in adopting central bank digital currencies (CBDC).”

“The country will follow in Nigeria’s footsteps and launch its digital currency,” Governor Luoga revealed the news at the finance conference.”

Nigeria became the first African country to adopt CBDC when it launched its digital currency. The digital currency, e-Naira was rolled out one month ago. Tanzania’s central bank intends to follow suit in this regard.

In a similar report, Zanzibar, an autonomous Tanzanian region off the coast of East Africa, is also interested in keeping abreast with the new development in the country by adopting the digital currency.

According to the report by Bitcoin.com News, Ghana is another West African country close to launching its digital currency. Other countries like South Africa and Namibia said they still carrying out investigations on the possibility of launching a digital currency.

In 2019, the central bank of Tanzania banned cryptocurrencies, adding the digital currency is not recognized by the local law.

Following the ban of cryptocurrency, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan urged the central bank of Tanzania in June shortly after becoming the President to start preparations for the adoption of cryptocurrencies. In response, the spokesperson for the Bank of Tanzania said the central bank is heeding the call and hinted at the possibility of reversing the ban on cryptocurrency.

According to Bloomberg, Luoga also stated at the conference that the country is still skeptical of cryptocurrencies and that the general people should exercise caution while making crypto-related investments.

 

 

Flutterwave Launches Flutterwave Market to Grow Small and Mid-Size Businesses

Flutterwave launches Flutterwave Market to grow small and mid-size businesses. 

Flutterwave, one of Africa’s leading fintech companies, launched this e-commerce – Flutterwave Market – to help small and mid-size businesses reach larger customers thus, augmenting sales and revenue. 

Flutterwave Market is poised to bring different collections of merchant stores to customers in one place. The e-commerce service will enable customers to buy a wide range of products from choice businesses at comfort.

Futterwave Market is designed to display merchant stores across a variety of product lines and countries. To make the experience worthwhile for customers, Flutterwave will have features such as country filter, and product search category display.

Beauty, food, men’s and women’s fashion will be among the product categories on display, as these are the most popular among Flutterwave store customers. Customers will be able to buy desired products and have them delivered to their exact location.

Flutterwave launches Flutterwave Market, an e-commerce service that is an extension of the Flutterwave online store established in April 2020 during the wave of COVID 19. 

With the impact of COVID 19 on small businesses – several of which were forced to close as a result – Flutterwave developed an e-commerce platform for them, allowing them to continue doing business by creating online stores. 

Since then, the e-commerce solution for small and mid-size enterprises has recorded rapid growth, accommodating over 30,000 businesses with added features enabling multiple product uploads and discount coupons.

In recent data from Statista, the number of digital buyers increased to 281 million in 2020. In 2021, the number is expected to rise to over 334 million, and by 2025, it will have risen to 520 million, nearly doubling the number of e-commerce consumers in Africa in 2019. 

Flutterwave Market has now introduced a new way of finding and purchasing from these businesses which are quite different from the previous method of just following the store link.

“This is an exciting next chapter for the Flutterwave brand, and we’re excited to introduce this new marketplace experience to our merchants worldwide,” said Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Flutterwave.

“Flutterwave Market is a fully functional e-commerce service that serves as a megastore where buyers can purchase a variety of goods from multiple sellers under one roof.

Since the successful launch of Flutterwave Store, we have listened to our customers and acted on what they need to scale their businesses. Launching the new marketplace will transform their businesses, taking them to the next stage of growth. Flutterwave Market is for us a way to create endless possibilities for our Flutterwave Store users. We’re not merely aggregating existing stores, we’re positioning them to make more sales,” he added.

 

Africa Startup Initiative Programme (ASIP) 2022

Applications for the Africa Startup Initiative Programme (ASIP) 2022 are now open! The program is for African tech startups with about EUR 15,000 in cash funding.

The Africa Startup Initiative Programme (ASIP) was founded by the CEO of Telecel Group, Moh Damush as a CSR activity. Telecel Group is the anchor partner for ASIP which is an ideal program for tech-oriented startups in Africa looking to scale up corporate and public sector partnerships.

ASIP skillfully scouts and scales early-stage startups through rigorous drilling via intensive coach and exposure to opportunities for pilots and proof of concept projects that eventually open doors for commercial agreement in the long term.

Telecel Group the official anchor partner for the program also partnered with Startupbootcamp (SBC) AfriTech in order for the ASIP accelerator program which has been contributing in a meaningful way to the African community to further reach young African startups whose innovative ideas are making a huge difference in their respective communities. 

SBC Afritech has also recorded incredible success so far. Kickstarted in 2017, the first SBC program facilitated about 40 spectacular African startups that have set a high expectation of subsequent programs.

  • 50% of the startups’ initial funds have closed rounds at evaluations worth more than 10x since Demo day
  • 40% of them have successfully raised follow on rounds of funding
  • 90% are still in operation and soaring at impressive rates

The Africa Startup Initiative Programme (ASIP) 2022 Requirements:

For eligibility, each startup

  • must be formally incorporated 
  • have at least 2 employees working on the project and committed to it by at least 50% of their time
  • must have users already exploring the products or services rendered
  • is presently generating revenue from the product or services

Why you should participate in the Africa Startup Initiative Programme (ASIP) 2022

3- Month intensive course: there is going to be an intense 3- month program designed to assist entrepreneurs to scale their fast industry-changing tech businesses 

Masterclasses: sessions will be led by experts covering all required scaling fundamentals ranging from lean methodology, business model canvas to fundraising.

Corporate Partners: networking to leading corporate bodies in individual industries for pilot projects, partnership privileges, and as customers.

Global Network: access to a global network of mentors, experts in the industry, corporate partners, and alumni across over 40 countries.

Tailored Mentorship: access to 1000+ carefully selected mentors who will be providing hands-on support and worthwhile introductions.

Coworking Space: access to free deks to your team members in a dynamic co-working space for a span of 3-month( depending on the recent pandemic).

Living Expenses: a grant of EUR 15,000 in cash for each team to cover living expenses during the course of the program.

Perks and Discount: over EUR 500k+ with exclusive partnership deals from leading tech providers like Amazon, SendGrid, Hubspot, and others.

Alumni Growth Program: continuous post-program support after the 3-month program through annual alumni-only events, deals, and tailored introductions.

Industry Events: exclusive opportunities to partake in leading commerce conferences and events.

Investor Access: meeting the most active VCs and Angel Investors in the individual industries from across the globe.

Demo Day: a day to celebrate team achievements during the program with over 400 investors, corporates, mentors, and press attendees.

BENEFITS

During the covid pandemic, SBC launched Accelerator Squared as a digital platform that aids startups to access the entire library of content, group workshops, one on one mentoring, collaborative sessions with entrepreneurs in Residence, and invite-only discussion forums with founders across the world.

The program took a hybrid format and begins in Dakar, rounding up in a physical Demo Day where startup founders pitch their soothing solutions to a range of audiences of media, investors, corporate partners, and industry stakeholders.

The successful 10 startups in the program will receive benefits evaluated at about over EUR 500k including, credits from AWS, Google cloud services, Hubspot, and much more. ASIP Accelerator program will also invest about EUR 15,000 in cash to each startup team.

For more information: Visit Africa Startup Initiative Programme (ASIP) 2022 official webpage.

Goldman Sachs Africa and Caribbean Recruiting Programme 2022

The Goldman Sachs Africa & Caribbean Recruiting Programme is open to all African and Caribbean students designed to expose students to the financial world through hands-on experience. 

The program will be an interactive multi-day event for African students and Caribbean graduating students in 2022 and 2023.

Participants will be opportune to:

  • to get tangible resume-enhancing skills as well as tips via interactive workshops
  • closely work with peer groups of like minds to develop technical and soft skills
  • explore the extensive range of engineering career opportunities available in the financial industry
  • collaborate and network  with Goldman Sachs professionals and get informed about their experiences alongside diverse backgrounds

In the previous year, the initiative spread across the continent as representatives of Goldman Sachs visited Nairobi, Kenya for the first time in addition to previously visited cities like Accra, Ghana, and Lagos, Nigeria.

This served as both a recruiting and an educational visit that exposed the students to the opportunities of Goldman Sachs’ culture and careers in Engineering. A total number of 164 students were successfully admitted from over 1,200 applicants.

Application Instructions for Goldman Sachs program

Eligibility: Graduating students of the year 2022 and 2023

Date: TBD

Process: While applying, applicants should select the listed criteria below

  • Recruiting Year – 2022
  • Position – Summer Analyst (London)
  • Division – Engineering
  • Sub Division – Africa Recruiting Programme

For more information, kindly visit the official webpage of Goldman Sach Africa & Caribbean Recruiting Programme

NFTs in South Africa, 8.3% Own, a Further 9.4% Plan to Buy

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NFTs in South Africa, 8.3% own, a further 9.4% plan to buy in the future. This has been shown by a study carried out by Finder.

According to the results of the online survey, 8.3% of the 1,205 South African internet users polled own a non-fungible token (NFT). These findings have led to South Africa being ranked as the country with the world’s 12th highest NFT adoption rate.

In terms of internet users who intend to acquire NFTs in the future, the survey indicated that 9.4% of those questioned in South Africa intend to do so. When this is added to the number of internet users who already own NFTs, South Africa’s NFT adoption rate could quickly reach 17.8%. This proportion is greater than Vietnam’s (17%), which is now ranked fifth in the world.

According to the findings, in percentage, the Philippines has the most NFT owners (32), followed by Thailand (27), Malaysia (24), and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (23). Nigeria, is the top-ranked African country, rated the sixth in the world, with 13.7 % of the surveyed users admitting ownership of an NFT.

Meanwhile, the results suggest that South African men are more likely than women to own NFTs. 10.5 percent of men own one compared to 6.3 percent of women. This gender difference of 4.2 percent points, according to Finder, is larger than the global average of 2.7 percent.

As expected, younger South Africans dominate, with the youngest age group accounting for over 10% of the country’s NFT owners.

According to the survey, “in South Africa, people aged 18 to 24 are the most likely to have NFTs” (11 percent ). People aged 55 to 64 (5.2 percent) are on the other end of the spectrum.

Globally, only Thailand and Venezuela have more women purchasing NFTs than men, while the UAE has the lowest number of women who possess NFTs.

While many expect worldwide NFT adoption to rise, the survey indicated that internet users in Japan had the least knowledge of NFTs. Approximately 90% of them have no idea what NFTs are. With 83 percent of individuals confused, Germany comes in second, followed by the United Kingdom with 79 percent of people undecided.

Job Opening: Market Research Executive at Lisse Africa

Lisse Africa is a dynamic human resource consulting firm with a key interest in recruitment with the aim of providing employees that are professional, verified, and with a good cultural fit.

At Lisse Africa, our aim is to build the world’s most valued recruitment solutions company to clients, candidates, colleagues, and the communities where we work and live with regard to support staff recruitment, background verification, and staff documentation services.

We solely focus on the enhancement of client organizations by providing quality services on various aspects of their human resources and by letting the organization focus on its core issues.

Our client, a trading company is currently in need of a Market Research Executive.

Job Description

We are looking for a Market Research Executive that would conduct in-depth detailed research and feasibility study on the textile/pharmaceutical/agrochemical industry and market opportunities in Lagos and Kano.

Job Title: Market Research Executive.

Job Type: Full Time.

Location: Kano, Lagos, Nigeria.

Job Responsibilities

  • Make detailed retail store expansion plan, implement it into the specific expansion roadmap, and according to the company’s opening and expansion process, do early-stage market research analysis and cost-benefit analysis of new stores, and provide accurate and scientific feasibility analysis report.
  • Responsible for investigating consumer demand and product category demand of the textile/pharmaceutical/agrochemical market.
  • Responsible for commodity retail market research and analysis.
  • Business negotiation with potential customers.

Job Requirements

  • Sc/HND from a reputable university.
  • Familiar with Lagos/Kano wholesale market for textiles.
  • Familiar with Lagos/Kano textile industry or pharmaceutical industry or agrochemical industry.
  • Proficient in using office software (Word, Excel, PPT).

Salary

  • N100,000 to N150,000 monthly.

How to Apply

Interested and qualified candidates should forward their CV to lisseafrica@gmail.com using the position as the subject of the email.

 

 

 

 

 

Lagos Talented Teachers ICT Workshop Jan. 2022

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The Lagos Talented Teachers ICT Workshop is held on Monday, January 10, 2022 till Tuesday, January 11, 2022; in Yaba, Lagos. The event is organised by Ibrosoft International Development Foundation and aims to train teachers in ICT courses to empower them with digital skills. The goal of the workshop is to elevate teachers to become “confident, professional, and effective” ICT users in class. 

Digital methods of gathering and processing information as well as learning are evolving and it is necessary that teachers are up-to-speed with such technologies. This is essential to enable teachers to pass on these skills and knowledge to their students, thereby fostering a digitally-aware generation.

Day 1 of this workshop will cover topics from introduction to ICT, application of ICT in education, ways ICT affects teaching and learning, accessing educational resources on the internet, amongst others.

Day 2 will further expand the training course to explore ICT tools for storing and disseminating information, cloud computing, practical class on creating animated slideshows, connecting with international professors, amongst others.

Ibrosoft International Development Foundation organises regular ICT conferences in a bid to enhance quality education in Nigeria and promote the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. They train teachers and school administrators on methods to employ to transform how they provide education. The organisation began hosting these workshops in 2018 and have had about 118 schools in participation as well as effectively train over a thousand teachers in different regions of Nigeria.

The workshop is free to attend, however, there are limited slots so click here to register in time!

Binance Unveils Collaboration With Big Brother Naija Stars, Whitemoney, Pere and Cross

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Binance, has announced a partnership with Hazel Oyeze Onou (Whitemoney), Pere Egbi (Pere), and Ikechukwu Sunday Okonkwo(Cross), ex-housemates from Big Brother Naija season 6 ‘Shine Ya Eye’. The leading blockchain and cryptocurrency company is on a mission to encourage cryptocurrency adoption and financial independence for Africans.

Binance has continued to develop key aspects of the blockchain ecosystem and provide new services and financial opportunities to Africans throughout the year. It hopes to take its efforts to the mainstream by collaborating with some of the country’s top talents.

Whitemoney said; “Crypto is the new currency, and I’m happy to spread the Binance message since trading crypto doesn’t need being wealthy or well-educated,”.

“I am ecstatic to be affiliated with the brand because I have been trading with the Binance app for numerous years,” Cross said. Working with the brand is an honor, and I will make sure that young people understand the advantages of investing in cryptocurrency.”

“It is much easier to promote something you are linked with – I have been dealing with crypto for many years and so, I will leverage the passion, expertise, and knowledge that I already have from Binance to drive this adoption,” Pere, who couldn’t hide his excitement, said.

Binance Director for Africa, Emmanuel Babalola, spoke about the relationship and said that the three were chosen as brand ambassadors to help bring bitcoin to the masses across Africa.

Our goal is to help people understand crypto and make incorporating it into their daily life as simple as possible. One of the things we’ve seen is how these influencers and their tales exemplify the Nigerian spirit of entrepreneurship, hard work, and way of life. We share the goal of providing more Africans with the knowledge and resources they need to attain financial independence, so it’s a natural fit, and collaborating with them is a huge victory,” he said.

Binance has been instrumental in growing cryptocurrency adoption in Africa through a number of efforts, one of which is education. Binance hosts masterclasses to educate and train blockchain developers.

Through Binance lectures, social media posts, videos, and general contact with their audience, the Big Brother Naija stars will help promote mainstream crypto acceptance by educating people with little or no knowledge of crypto.

Binance’s portfolio company, Bundle, will also participate in this campaign in order to make crypto more accessible to everyone. The software was created to allow crypto beginners and professionals to trade cryptocurrency in the most convenient method possible. Bundle is partnering up with influencers as part of this agreement to emphasize the convenience of trading cryptocurrency through insightful and educational material for both crypto beginners and pros.

Job Opening: Sales Executive at Lisse Africa

Lisse Africa is a dynamic human resource consulting firm with a key interest in recruitment with the aim of providing employees that are professional, verified, and with a good cultural fit.

At Lisse Africa, our aim is to build the world’s most valued recruitment solutions company to clients, candidates, colleagues, and the communities where we work and live with regard to support staff recruitment, background verification, and staff documentation services.

We solely focus on the enhancement of client organizations by providing quality services on various aspects of their human resources and by letting the organization focus on its core issues.

Job Description

Job Title: Sales Executive.

Job Type: Full Time.

Location: Kano, Lagos, Nigeria.

Job Summary

  • The overall responsibilities will be to find new business prospects, generate sales leads and contacts that will lead to closed deals.
  • Experience within the textile, pharmaceutical, or agrochemical industry is highly desirable.

Responsibilities

  • Selling the products and services through a variety of sales activities (e.g., networking, prospecting, seeking referrals, working marketing leads, etc.) Initiate the sales process, making sales presentations to sales prospects.
  • Pursue identified prospects via consistent visits/ calls and follow-up for timely closure within the specified time frame.
  • Establish an excellent ongoing working relationship with prospects and clients; optimize each contact with new and existing clients.
  • Achieve other targets as per budget including, average size of deals, and other key sales efficiency and productivity tracking ratios as communicated.
  • Prepare daily call memos, weekly activity reports and monthly sales forecasts to be forwarded to a supervisor.
  • Other related duties as directed by the supervisor.

Requirements

  • Bachelor’s Degree / HND.
  • 3 year(s) sales experience within the textile/pharmaceutical/agrochemical industry.
  • Ability to meet up with targets.

How to Apply

Interested and qualified candidates should forward their CV to lisseafrica@gmail.com using the position as the subject of the email.

Job Opening: National Public Health Institute (NPHI) Technical Officer, Western RCC.

Amref Health Africa was founded in 1957 and has since grown to become the largest African- based international health development organization; currently implementing more than 140 programs, directly reaching more than 12 million people across 35 African countries.

Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, Amref Health Africa has offices in eight countries in Africa, including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Malawi, South Sudan, Zambia, and Senegal. Amref’s work in each country responds to local needs and priorities strengthening existing capacities in communities to take control of their health and strengthen the local health systems.

In addition, eleven advocacy and fundraising offices are located in Europe and North America. In the spirit of Ubuntu, partnership and networking are key elements of Amref Health Africa’s approach. Amref has a staff complement of over 1,500.

Amref Health Africa is driven by its vision of ‘Lasting health change in Africa’ and its mission ‘To increase sustainable health access to communities in Africa through solutions in human resources for health, health service delivery, and investments in health’.

Job Description

Job Title: National Public Health Institute (NPHI) Technical Officer, Western RCC.

Reporting to: RCC Coordinator.

Directorate: Africa CDC/Office of the Deputy Director.

Division: Regional Collaborating Centre (Western).

Duty Station: Abuja, Nigeria.

Deadline: December 3, 2021.

Job Purpose

The NPHI Technical Officer, Western RCC will serve as the NPHI focal person in the RCC and liaise with the Member States in the RCC to develop and strengthen their national public health institutes.

Under the direct supervision of the RCC Coordinator, the staff will work closely with the Principal and Senior Technical Officers for National Public Health Institutes at the HQ and the RCC coordinator to strengthen NPHIs in the Member States.

The incumbent will perform any other assignments given by the RCC coordinator in implementing the NPHI support to the Member States.

Job Responsibilities

Main Functions:

  • Carry out a variety of technical assistance in the implementation of the National Public
    Health Institute and Research Division activities in the area of National Public Health
    Institutes (NPHIs), public health workforce development and research.
  • Work closely with Member States’ NPHIs and the Africa CDC Regional Collaborating
    Centers (RCCs) to coordinate and monitor all the activities related to establishing NPHIs
    and strengthening their core capacities.

Specific Responsibilities:

  • Support and assist activities of the Public Health Institutes and Research division with
    special focus on strengthening NPHIs in the RCC.
  • Participate in capacity assessments and mentorships of NPHIs in the Region.
  • Build and maintain strong partnerships and relationships with partners interested in
    strengthening National Public Health Institutes in the Region.
  • Work closely with Member States’ NPHIs and the Regional collaborating Centres (RCCs) to coordinate and monitor all public health research and workforce development activities.
  • Provide technical and administrative assistance to the RCC and work as a liaison to
    communicate activities done in this area to the Public Health Institutes and Research
  • Support networking and peer-to-peer experience sharing among NPHIs in the Region.

Required Qualifications

Academic Qualifications:

  • Master degree in Public Health, Epidemiology, Health Systems Management or a related
    health field from an accredited academic institution with at least two (2) years of relevant
    professional experience.
    Or
  • University degree in the above fields with five (5) years of relevant professional experience
    in Public Health, Health Systems Management, or related fields.

Relevant Experience:

  • Experience in supporting the implementation of public health programs with an emphasis on setting up Public Health Institutes, public health research, workforce development, health planning, or other related activities.
  • Demonstrable technical expertise and experience in supporting and/or managing complex, public health programs with special emphasis on public health research and workforce.
  • Practical experience in setting up new institutions preferably for the health sector.
  • Demonstrable experience and in-depth knowledge of operations of the Africa CDC, Regional Collaborating Centers, and National Public Health Institutes.
  • Clear understanding of the health systems on the Continent and fair knowledge of operations of the Ministries of Health in the Member States.

Knowledge and Skills:

  • Demonstrable technical expertise and experience in supporting and/or managing complex, public health programs with special emphasis on public health institutes.
  • Demonstrable analytical skills as needed to respond to myriad program management
    support issues.
  • Demonstrable skills to conceptualize, plan, develop, implement, and evaluate resource
    management support requirements.
  • Demonstrable familiarity with accepted tools, techniques, and the Africa CDC framework for workforce development is an asset.
  • Knowledge of oral communication techniques and skills in presentation delivery, program consultation, and credible verbal response to inquiries.
  • Knowledge of interpersonal relationship practices and skills to meet and deal with persons of diverse backgrounds.
  • Demonstrable proficiency in MS Word, MS Excel, PowerPoint, data visualization, and
    statistical packages as well as data analysis skills are mandatory.
  • Skills in program monitoring and evaluation are an asset.

Competencies:

  • Excellent organizational and time-management skills and a proven ability to deliver under tight deadlines and work well under pressure.
  • Excellent skills and abilities applied to translating technical information into presentations, briefings, and report and funding proposals for both technical and lay audiences.
  • Strong interpersonal relationship, coordination, training facilitation, planning, organizing, and communicating.

Languages:

  • Fluency in English including excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  • Knowledge of two or more languages would be an added advantage.

Remuneration:

  • Competitive based on qualification and experience.

Click here to get the PDF

How to Apply

Click here to apply

Note:

  • You will be directed to our online portal where you will need to create an account in order for you to be able to submit your application.
  • Your application should include a cover letter detailing why you are the best fit for this position and your CV with relevant skills and experience.
  • Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and the advert may be pulled down before the closing date.
  • Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.