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Ethiopia Mobile Money Licence: Safaricom Sends Formal Inquiry

Ahmadu Sulaiman
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Ethiopia Mobile Money Licence: Safaricom Sends Formal Inquiry

Kenya’s largest Telcom company, Safaricom, has formally sent an inquiry for bagging an additional licence for the provision of mobile money services in Ethiopia.

The CEO of Safaricom, Peter Ndegwa, briefed investors about the action of the company, i.e. wrote to Ethiopia’s telecommunications regulator seeking clarification on conditions as well as the additional fees required to obtain the additional licence.

“The letter has gone in. We are currently awaiting a response from the Ethiopian authorities,” said Peter Ndegwa.

“Our understanding is we will be allowed to operate mobile money, but there are certain conditions that the government will be confirming to us including potentially some additional fee.”

The largest Kenya Telcom (Safaricom) won the bid to enter the Ethiopian market under the Global Partnership for Ethiopia in May. This was won by competing with the likes of MTN Group Limited, which is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Global Partnership for Ethiopia includes five different countries of which are Safaricom, Vodacom Group Ltd (South Africa), Vodafone Group PLC (UK), CDC Group PLC (UK), and Sumitomo Corporation (Japan).

Ethiotel is the only Telcom company in Ethiopia, and it launches its own mobile money in May 2021. After Ethiotel launches its own, the country prime minister said, the service would be open to other Telcom companies this year. And before the year runoff, Safaricom, a Kenya company has also shown their interest to launch their own mobile money service.

Ethiopia is the second-largest country in Africa with over 112 million population, and also the last to enable competition in the Telecom sector. This competitive advantage in the Telecom sector could be traced back to the 2019 Economic Reform Agenda (ERA), with the aid of the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

The agenda will enable the private sector to take larger participation in growth amid public sector financing capacity.

African Development Bank’s Coding for Employment Program 2022

Abdulquadri Ayilara
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African Development Bank’s Coding for Employment Program 2022

The African Development Bank’s Coding for Employment program will teach over 500 digital ambassadors to lead a peer-to-peer training model aimed at increasing digital skills among African youth, particularly in rural areas with poor internet access.

The digital ambassadors will be offered an intensive three-month program by Coding for Employment and its technical partners, Microsoft Philanthropies, that will include in-demand skills like web design and digital marketing, as well as soft skills like critical thinking, project management, and communication.

Stipends will be given to digital ambassadors, and they will have access to digital skills training centers in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and Rwanda. They’ll have access to a network of employers, private-sector partners, and freelancing platforms as well.

Requirements

1. Applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 35 and must be citizens of Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, or Senegal.

2. Following the pilot phase, Coding for Employment plans to expand the digital ambassador program to other countries.

Benefits

1. Stipends and access to digital skill training centers in Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and Rwanda will be provided to digital ambassadors.

2. They will be able to connect with a network of employers, private sector partners, and freelancing platforms.

Application deadline: 31st December 2021

French form: https://forms.office.com/r/jzpLsdPcEB

English form: https://forms.office.com/r/1TVYzErAr5

Click here for more information.

TGIF Tech Connect to Hold in December

Hassan Barakat
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TGIF Tech Connect to Hold in December
TGIF Tech Connect to hold in December, organized by Digital Skill School; an ICT Academy located at 10 Hughes Avenue, Alagomeji Yaba.
Digital Skill School is an ICT Academy located at 10 Hughes Avenue, Alagomeji Yaba. Our goal is to train and certify all those who want to improve their profession, business, and lifestyles by learning digital skills. We accomplish this by keeping our school costs extremely low and affordable, allowing anyone to attend.
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Evolve Credit Nigerian Fintech Startup Releases Cloud-based Lending Platform

Mena Adediran
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Evolve Credit Nigerian Fintech Startup Releases Cloud-based Lending Platform

Evolve Credit, founded in 2019, has launched a cloud-based lending software called Configure. It claims that Configure will enable thousands of new loan givers to activate their services for the next five years.

Evolve Credit is a lending marketplace that provides its users access to an “extensive” database of loans, and other financial tools. It connects lenders and borrowers to each other in a singular place. And allows borrowers to compare what loans pay faster, what loans are easier to refund with the cheapest rates.

Configure is a financial credit solution that gives lenders the platform to create, launch and oversee all kinds of loan products or services. It enables end-to-end loan management across several distribution channels.

Configure, the cloud-based software allows for easy and fast deployment of credit products from new microfinance players and independent lenders; promising to take days instead of months to achieve this. It also enables traditional lenders to digitize their services.

Speaking on the Configure roll-out; Akan Nelson, the founder, and CEO of Evolve Credit expressed, “We want to power thousands of new loan providers over the next five years. We want to make billions of dollars in credit available to millions of people and SMEs.”

Lenders in Nigeria and Zimbabwe have begun using the platform with a record of $500,000 disbursement in loans since August when the beta version launched.

Evolve Credit as a fintech startup raised pre-seed funding in October 2020, the amount was undisclosed but included investors: Ingressive Capital, Future Africa, Samurai Incubate, Microtraction, as well as two Angel Investors.

CBN’s eNaira Attracts Merchants Across Countries Amidst Crypto Crackdown

Boluwatife Aponmade
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CBN’s eNaira Attracts Merchants Across Countries Amidst Crypto Crackdown

CBN’s digital currency, eNaira attracts 78,000 merchants from over 160 nations despite the crypto crackdown just a few weeks after its debut. This was disclosed by the CBN who has remained unyielding in its resolve of keeping cryptocurrency transactions on crackdown with claims that banks have increased efforts to stop crypto-related transactions.

The crackdown has resulted in a 43% decrease in peer-to-peer transactions of Nigerians. Nigerians have accounted for about $9.4 million weekly P2P volumes, Kenyans and South Africans have accounted for around @2.8 million and $1.8 million respectively.

Osita Nwanisobi, Central Bank’s Director of Corporate Communications Department said the adoption of the eNaira has been “excellent” in a telephone chat with Bloomberg. “More than 488,000 people have downloaded the consumer wallet- that is needed to transact eNaira – while about 78,000 merchants from more than 160 countries have enrolled”, he had said. Nwanisobi also added that around 62 million worth of virtual currency have been traded since it was introduced.

The eNaira marks a major step forward in the evolution of money and the CBN is committed to ensuring that the eNaira, like the physical naira, is accessible by everyone. The theme of the eNaira is ‘same Naira, more possibilities’, Osita said.

The eNaira is Africa’s first Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and it was launched at the State House by President Muhammadu Buhari on the 25th of October, 2021. The president said it will increase remittance, foster cross-border trade, and enable the government to make welfare payments more easily.

“I am delighted to officially launch the Central Bank of Nigeria’s digital currency called the eNaira. And in so doing, we have become the first country in Africa and one of the first in the world to introduce a digital currency to our citizens”, the President said.

Nestacoin Invests In Lazerpay, A New Crypto Startup

Boluwatife Aponmade
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Nestacoin Invests In Lazerpay, A New Crypto Startup

Nestcoin invests in Lazerpay, a Nigerian cryptocurrency startup that prides itself as the ‘Stripe for cryptocurrency’. Lazerpay, an innovative venture that operates, invests, and builds products that make crypto accessible to everyone has received an undisclosed amount of funds from Nestcoin as an investment.

The amount of money invested in Lazerpay by Nestcoin is undisclosed but it is the first-ever investment by Nestcoin in a crypto-driven project.

Yele Badamosi also took to his Twitter handle to tweet the announcement. “Super excited to announce @nestcoin’s first-ever investment in @lazerpay, founded by @njokuscript, one of the smartest and brightest young minds in the crypto space. Lazerpay makes it easy for anyone anywhere to accept Stablecoins like USDC, USDT, BUSD as payment online”.

At Breach, a media platform whose mission is aimed at spreading crypto education and adoption across Africa, Nestcoin had said it would bring about more products and services by “unlocking the remarkable powers of crypto”. Lazerpay is one of the many products Nestcoin has plans of rolling out and it was founded by Emmanuel Njoku who is a prolific blockchain engineer.

Rather than being just another marketplace for trading crypto, Nestcoin is setting up as a company that builds and invests in products that will introduce the growth and evolvement of the uses of crypto to beginners.

Nestcoin was founded by Taiwo Orilogbon and Yele Badamosi with the aim of democratizing access to economic opportunities by making cryptocurrency simple for everyday people in frontier markets.

The CEO and co-founder of Nestcoin, Yale Badamosi said the work of the media arm is of importance to the goal the company has of increasing crypto adoption.

SA Fintech Startup Ozow Raises $48m Series B Funding Round

Hassan Barakat
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SA Fintech Startup Ozow Raises $48m Series B Funding Round

Ozow, a South African payment gateway, has raised $48 million in a Series B fundraising round to expand the country’s alternative payment options.

SA fintech startup Ozow raises $48m Series B funding round
SA fintech startup Ozow raises $48m Series B funding round

The funding round was led by Tencent, Chinese internet giant, and included other investors like Endeavor Catalyst and Endeavor Harvest Fund.

As the lead investor, Tencent contributed $20 million, accounting for nearly half of the total funds raised, with the remaining coming from other investors.

The company offers alternative payment methods such as QR codes, point of sale, e-commerce, e-billing, and peer-to-peer (P2P) payments across South Africa.

Ozow will be able to increase its product offering and drive more financial inclusion in the country as a result of the funding.

The company is considering strategic investments like mergers and acquisitions to help it develop new products and expand into additional African nations such as Namibia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya in the next six months.

Ozow’s business has grown 100 percent year over year since the company raised $2.5 million in its Series A round in 2019. Ozow raised $1.2 million in angel and seed rounds in 2016 and 2017, bringing its total raise to $3.7 million from investors such as Kalon Ventures. This Series round, however, has increased that figure to $51.7 million.

According to the company, it is developing automated bank-to-bank payment solutions in South Africa for over 47 million bank account customers and more than 100 sectors. All merchants need to have is a bank account and a “smart-enabled device” to receive payments.

Ozow currently offers its services to a wide range of clients, including leading enterprise companies, such as MTN, Vodacom, Shoprite Group, Takealot, and Uber.

Part of the company’s network also includes distributors, payment service providers, and resellers of the company’s goods. They are charged a percentage fee ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 percent.

In terms of funding, in an interview, Ozow’s CEO, Thomas Pays, says, “It’s an honour to bring on board Tencent, Endeavor Catalyst, and Endeavor Harvest Fund. This confirms our position in revolutionizing the financial industry by developing more innovative, convenient, and inclusive payment alternatives for everyone.”

 

Kazang Connect Job Opening: Data Engineer

Sopuruchukwu Elizabeth Mba
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Kazang Connect Job Opening: Data Engineer

Kazang Connect is a significant provider of best-rated financial technology solutions in Southern Africa. It offers prepaid voice, mobile data, and electricity via proprietary mobile vending terminals that process thousands of micropayments per minute. DSTV subscription payments and RICA registration are also available.

We believe that our comprehensive range of products and services are the building blocks retailers can use to navigate towards the success they aspire.

We connect you with solutions to maximize your business potential.

Job Description

  • 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.

Key Responsibilities

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.

  • 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.

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: 1

Location: Cape Town, South Africa

Duration: Full time

Commencement Date: Immediately

 

How to Apply?

Click here to apply

 

 

[Press Release] Cloudmania Opens Opportunities for Africa’s Business Market

Mena Adediran
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[Press Release] Cloudmania Opens Opportunities for Africa’s Business Market

Cloudmania, an exclusive provider of Cloud Partner Programmes in Africa, has opened its doors in 13 countries across the continent. The indirect provider focuses on partner building and enablement by giving resellers the ability to resell superior solutions by leveraging Cloudmania.

According to Winston Ritson, Chief Business Officer, Cloudmania, “We understand the growing need for cloud services and its vital role to ensure seamless collaboration between employees. Our extensive expertise will ensure that you are provided with the appropriate tools to assist your customers on their cloud migration journeys. Just as customers have transformed their business, partners have to transform and rely on a partner invested in their business.”

Cloudmania aims to help businesses keep track of their data, performance and customers, and creates a single-pane view of the entire network. In addition, the programme is designed to increase workflow efficiency, lower operational costs, and most importantly, develop partnerships with resellers.

Cloudmania will assist partners’ profitability by supporting them with marketing, training and specialist advice. Using the programme’s communication channels, the team will source qualified and unqualified leads to help partners build their businesses. The offering is backed by superior world-class technology, equipping a reseller’s business with innovative cloud technology, enabling them to offer exceptional customer solutions.

All resellers will have access to a suite of solutions tailored to suit customers’ needs. The products include Microsoft 365, One Voice – a unified voice solution, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Azure in a box, Cyber Security, cloud connectivity, cloud infrastructure, Google workspace, Windows virtual desktop and Basekit site builder.

Cloudmania will assist in boosting the performance of a reseller offering while ensuring affordability, scalability, improving uptime, availability and provide seamless integration. The offerings are supported by partner development managers in each country, a panel of experts and focused training programmes. Resellers engaging with the Cloudmania will also benefit from in-country billing in specific territories and reseller discounts.

Cloudmania and its impressive suite of offerings is currently available in South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Cameroon, Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Liquid Intelligent Technologies.

 About Liquid Intelligent Technologies:

Liquid Intelligent Technologies, a business of Cassava Technologies, is a pan-African technology group present in more than 20 countries, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. Liquid has firmly established itself as the leading provider of pan-African digital infrastructure with an extensive network covering over 100,000 km. Liquid Intelligent Technologies is redefining network, Cloud and Cyber Security offerings through strategic partnerships with leading global players, innovative business applications, smart cloud services and world-class security on the African continent. Liquid Intelligent Technologies is now a comprehensive, one-stop technology group that provides customised digital solutions to public and private sector companies across the continent under several business units including Liquid Networks, Liquid Cloud and Cyber Security and Africa Data Centres.

This press release was first published on Guardian.ng: https://guardian.ng/apo-press-releases/cloudmania-opens-opportunities-for-africas-business-market/

Educatly, an Egyptian Ed-Tech Firm, Has Raised $1 Million in a Pre-seed Round

Abdulquadri Ayilara
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Educatly, an Egyptian Ed-Tech Firm, Has Raised $1 Million in a Pre-seed Round

Enterprise Ireland, Fala Startups, and other angel investors have invested $1 million in Educatly, an Egyptian edtech firm. Prior to the platform’s launch in late 2020, a pre-Seed round will be held.

Educatly is an educational technology platform that allows students to search, compare, and apply to over 120,00 live and current higher education options throughout the world.

The site has grown to over 100,000 users from 190 countries, with over 500,000 programs viewed since its launch in 2020.

Mohamed ElSonbaty, Abdelrahman Ayman, and Joan Manuel launched Educatly with the goal of assisting students in getting into the colleges of their choice.

Educatly democratizes higher education access by allowing students to connect with themselves, search, compare and apply to over 120,000 live and up-to-date higher education opportunities around the world.

The firm now wants to use the pre-seed capital to grow its product, expand its workforce, and ramp up sales and marketing efforts, with over 100,000 users from 190 countries globally.

The company claims to be revolutionizing education in the same way that LinkedIn revolutionized the job market.

“At the same time, COVID-19 has placed great pressure on institutions to digitize not just their educational programs, but also the manner they offer them and communicate with prospective students,” Joan Manuel, Co-Founder, and Chief Commercial Officer, said.

While the world has seen tremendous progress in digital transformation across all sectors, the startup is especially concerned about the global education ecosystem, which is fragmented and heavily reliant on infrastructure built decades ago that no longer fits the current operation, which has a number of negative consequences for how transparent and effective people access their lifelong learning.

Students, according to Abdelrahman Ayman, Co-Founder and COO, desire unfettered access to all relevant options as well as as much individualized counseling as possible to help them make the best decision.

Individuals may search the most up-to-date database in the world, with over 120.000 higher education possibilities, at educatly.com, and filter results based on their profiles and preferences to locate the programs that are most relevant to them, he says.

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