Saviu Ventures, a venture capital firm specialising in Francophone Africa, has closed a second €25 million (USD 26 million) round for its Saviu II fund.  The fund aims to support early-stage startups in the region, continuing its strategy of investing from Seed to Series A rounds. The announcement was made on Wednesday. AXIAN Investment, the […]

Beltone Venture Capital, the VC arm of Beltone Holding in Cario, has announced a strategic equity investment in LNKO, a leading omni-channel D2C eyewear startup in Morocco. The investment, disclosed on February 6, 2025, strengthens Beltone’s expansion strategy across Africa, supporting high-growth startups that drive market transformation. Read also: Beltone expands into African financial services […]

Smpl Fund I, a $10 million venture capital fund launched by Smpl Holdings in Abu Dhabi, has invested $250,000 strategically in multiple AI and technology companies within the Qora71 portfolio. This investment, announced on Wednesday, reinforces the fund’s commitment to supporting AI innovation and strengthening the MENA region’s tech ecosystem. Read also: FEC approves National […]

AXIAN Telecom, a prominent pan-African telecom company, declared on Tuesday that it has signed the GSMA Humanitarian Connectivity Charter (HCC). The HCC was established by the GSMA in 2015 with the goal of improving Mobile Network Operators’ (MNOs’) capacity for planning, reaction, and recovery in the event of rapid onset catastrophes, including natural disasters. AXIAN […]

Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the establishment of the National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Trust, reinforcing the country’s ambition to become a global leader in AI development. The announcement was made by the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy on Wednesday. Read also: Harnessing technology to combat Female Genital Mutilation in Africa The […]

Ghana-based digital streaming platform Aftown Music, which promotes and digitises African music, on Monday announced its launch in Francophone Africa, starting with Cameroon. The expansion is a collaborative effort with Cliq Empire, a creative agency and entertainment hub, to guarantee a smooth entry into the Cameroonian market. “We are thrilled to be working with Aftown […]

Since Saturday, February 1, residents of several Congolese cities, including Kinshasa, Goma, Bukavu, and Lubumbashi, have faced difficulty accessing popular social media platforms like X and TikTok. While there has been no official announcement, analysts suggest these restrictions are aimed at curbing the spread of information about the escalating situation in the eastern part of […]

Today, February 6, marks International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation—a day when we reflect on one stark reality: Over 200 million girls and women worldwide have undergone this harmful practice. In Africa, where FGM is most prevalent, technology is emerging as a powerful tool in combating this injustice. The statistics are stark: […]

InDrive, a ride-hailing service active in nine African countries, is rolling out a bank transfer feature in Nigeria.  The feature, dubbed “Light Cashless,” enables drivers to display their preferred bank account details within the app, allowing passengers to copy and paste the information for direct payment. InDrive announced this addition on February 5, 2025. Read […]

Egypt is accelerating its transition to a private sector-driven economy, as highlighted at the Egypt VC Summit 2025, held on February 4-5 in Cairo.  Organised by the Egyptian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (EPEA), GIZ Egypt on behalf of the German government, and implemented by Changelabs, the event brought together over 400 participants, including […]

To protect consumer interests, the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) has directed Airtel Zambia to compensate customers following a major network outage on February 2, 2025.  Over three hours, the outage disrupted data services in Lusaka and the southern, western, central, and eastern provinces. Read also: Airtel Zambia, ZICTA launch e-waste collection campaign […]

Chinese tech giant ByteDance has developed a new AI system to turn a single photo into a video of a person talking, singing, and moving naturally. The new technology, OmniHuman-1, was announced on Wednesday and is the next step in AI-generated media. It goes beyond past models that could only move faces or upper bodies. […]

The launch of “Generation AI: Boosting 1000 Moroccan SMEs” initiative was announced on Tuesday, February 4 by the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM), in collaboration with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the professional social network LinkedIn. “Generation AI” seeks to address the Moroccan economic ecosystem’s increasing demand for digital acceleration […]

Mariam Hamadou Ali, Djibouti’s Minister of Digital Economy and Innovation, met with representatives of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) during a workshop on Monday. This engagement is part of Djibouti’s ongoing efforts to seek international collaboration to implement its digital transformation roadmap, with the goal of becoming a digital […]

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has taken decisive action by suspending two Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres for violating registration procedures during the ongoing 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).  The announcement was made on Tuesday, and the suspension will last 14 days. Read also: Nigeria sets 3-year timeline to transition JAMB, NECO, WAEC […]

In a statement released on Tuesday, the government of the Republic of Zambia revealed plans to create a payment gateway for organisations, including local authorities. It is anticipated that this cutting-edge platform would completely transform the way that citizens pay for taxes and services while guaranteeing that the appropriate organisations get money straight into their […]

On Monday, February 3, Guinean Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah formally delivered 1,000 laptops to students at public universities throughout the nation. Supported by MouNa Group Technologies in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research, and Innovation, this project seeks to advance the technical advancement of Guinea’s educational system while enhancing students’ access […]

Mastercard officially opened its first office in Kampala, Uganda, on Wednesday. This move marks a pivotal step in the company’s strategy to broaden its reach in East Africa, a region ripe with potential for digital financial services. Mastercard’s commitment to financial inclusion and digital transformation was highlighted by key stakeholders at the inauguration ceremony. Read […]

On Tuesday, Safaricom and the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) unveiled a bold proposal to designate Pesalink as Kenya’s primary fast payment system (FPS).  This move seeks to unify the country’s increasingly fragmented digital payment systems, complicated by private agreements between banks, SACCOs (Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations), and fintech firms.  The proposal suggests leveraging Pesalink’s […]

Neuralk-AI is making significant strides in the AI landscape by focusing on what many consider the backbone of enterprise data management: structured data. While unstructured data has dominated AI research with the advent of large language models (LLMs), Neuralk-AI’s approach stands out by focusing on more traditionally formatted data, such as SQL databases, spreadsheets, and […]