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French TV Canal+ acquires ROK film studio from IROKOtv for an undisclosed amount

July 15, 2019 olivia Craig

French television company Canal+ has acquired the ROK film studio from VOD company IROKOtv for an undisclosed amount. The company founded by Jason Njoku in 2010—and backed by $45 million in VC—IROKOtv boasts the largest online catalog of Nollywood film content in the world reports TechCrunch Based in Lagos, ROK film studios was incubated to create original content for IROKOtv, which can be accessed online anywhere in the world. Actress and producer Mary Njoku—IROKOtv CEO Jason Njoku’s wife—founded ROK studios and will stay on as Director General under the Canal+…

Regulate? Mobile-based online lending firms may be money laundering channels says Central Bank of Kenya governor

July 12, 2019 olivia Craig

Mobile-based lenders pose money laundering risk, says CBK

Mobile-based online lending firms should be regulated to avoid their usage as channels for introducing illegally-obtained cash into the financial system, Central Bank of Kenya governor Patrick Njoroge has said. In a presentation to parliamentarians Wednesday, Dr Njoroge singled out Tala, Branch and Okash — three highly-popular digital money lenders — as credit-only mobile lending institutions that could be easily used to launder illicit cash. Money laundering, which involves transferring and disguising illegally obtained cash to make it look legitimate, is mostly used by criminals and the corrupt to clean…

Payment app Venmo has 40 million users, parent company PayPal discloses

July 1, 2019 olivia Craig

Popular payment app Venmo has ushered in 40 million users to the platform, its parent company PayPal announced on Wednesday. This is the first time PayPal has disclosed user numbers for the millennial-focused, peer-to-peer app. In its first-quarter earnings report, PayPal said it now has a total 277 million total customer accounts — including 22 million merchant accounts. Total payment volume for Venmo grew 73% year over year to $21 billion in the first quarter, the company said. PayPal said Venmo is still on pace to do $100 billion in…

MumsVillage enters ecommerce to help mothers earn revenue

June 28, 2019

Isis Nyong’o’s MumsVillage has diversified into ecommerce to help mothers make money with the launch of MumsVillageShop. The move into ecommerce has been supported by impact investor Gray Matters Capital’s digital accelerator program – GMC Calibrator. MumsVillage also participated in the Unilever-DFID TRANSFORM partnership and Alibaba efounders Fellowship. “It is great to see one of the members from the first class of the eFounders program bring their vision to life. The program aims to empower young entrepreneurs to be champions for an inclusive digital economy, and the growth of MumsVillage serves as a…

Startups and Partnerships, EurAfrican Forum enables cross pollination of ideas: Dr. Precious Lunga – Baobab Circle

June 24, 2019June 24, 2019

Search Results Featured snippet from the web Dr. Precious Lunga is CEO and Co-Founder of Baobab Circle, a health technology company delivering innovative health solutions via phones across Africa. She will be joining the 2nd edition of the EurAfrican Forum in Portugal as a speaker.

Dr. Precious Lunga, CEO and Co-Founder of Baobab Circle, will be joining the 2nd edition of the EurAfrican Forum in Portugal as a speaker, taking place on July 4-5. The EurAfrican Forum exists to explore and promote the power of diasporas as a connecting force between cities, regions and continents, between cultures, companies and people. It is an action-oriented gathering of leaders that aims to foster stronger collaboration between Europe and Africa to promote a shared green and inclusive growth for the two continents, fostering mechanisms for collaboration and creating…

Swvl, Egyptian bus bokking app raises $42 million for expansion into more African countries

June 20, 2019

Swvl, an Egyptian app for booking buses, has raised $42 million as it looks to expand into other parts of Africa, including Nigeria. The two-year-old company, which started in Cairo and also operates in Alexandria and Nairobi in Kenya, got the money from venture-capital firms including Sweden’s Vostok, Dubai-based BECO Capital, China’s MSA and Endeavor Catalyst, based in New York. “The plan is to be in at least two or three more African cities by the end of the year,’’ Mostafa Kandil, the 26-year-old founder and chief executive officer, said…

goAfrica partnership with Foxconn, iFP targets local market with cheaper iPhones

June 17, 2019

Ordinary Kenyans can now afford to buy iPhones at lower prices after goAfrica, an online platform, partnered with Foxconn and iFP to ship reconditioned smartphones to the local market. The smartphones are expected to retail at between 20 and 30 percent lower than what new smartphones cost in Apple Stores. “We are offering quality products to the market at an affordable price,” said goAfrica general manager Boniface Munywoki. The appetite for iPhones has grown steadily in the local market in the past few years, but the high cost of new…

Capital Market’s Authority Launches regulatory sandbox for Kenya’s startups to develop inTech products

June 7, 2019 Editor

Kenya’s Capital Market’s Authority announced plans last year to set up a regulatory sandbox for startups to join and develop their FinTech products and they have started accepting applications to the sandbox. Apply for the CMA Regulatory Sandbox for a 12-month period to deploy & conduct live tests on innovative products, solutions & services that have the potential to broaden the Kenyan capital markets. Eligibility https://t.co/mqDeIgZzcT | Application process https://t.co/v3sTqdjT1p pic.twitter.com/XeZ1F8QWJf — Capital Markets Authority_Kenya (@CMAKenya) June 6, 2019 First regulatory sandboxes have been implemented around the world in at…

Global payments firm Adyen partners with Cellulant to onboard M-PESA on Netflix, eBay, Airbnb, Facebook

June 4, 2019 Editor

Cellulant has announced a partnership with Adyen – a global payment company, further increasing Adyen’s capability to offer its global merchants access to key local payment methods in major African markets. The deal will see Ayden, which replaced PayPal on eBay, bring mobile money platforms such as M-PESA, Airtel Money, Equitel, Tigo Pesa and MTN Mobile Money, as well as several online and mobile banking payment methods to eBay, Facebook, Airbnb, Spotify, Uber and Netflix. Adyen will have access to 40 mobile money operators, over 600 local & international merchants and over 120 banks in…

EurAfrican Forum 2019: Chef Elijah Amoo Addo Confirmed To Address About How Food Can Foster Stronger Relations Between Europe And Africa

June 3, 2019June 3, 2019 Editor

Chef Elijah Amoo Addo Confirmed To Address About How Food Can Foster Stronger Relations Between Europe And Africa EurAfrican Forum 2019

CASCAIS, May 31, 2019, The EurAfrican Forum organization announced today that chef Elijah Amoo Addo, founder and CEO of the Food for All Africa, will deliver a pitch about how food can be a link between people and regions to establish stronger relations for Europe and Africa on the first day of the event, July 4, at the Forum’s lunch. “The EurAfrican Forum is a major platform which addresses the realities of Europe’s influence on Africa and the need for Europeans to work with youth led African organizations and entrepreneurs…