Category: BUSINESS

VC4Africa Releases Its Annual Venture Finance In Africa Report

Staff Writer
VC4Africa

The 2016 Venture Finance in Africa research has been released by VC4Africa and it shows that growing investor interest in African startups is resulting in tangible investments. Data from the 2016 research shows that the total invested capital more than doubled from almost $27 million to almost $73  million, secured by 224 ventures who took part in the survey. The average amount invested per venture also increased from $200,000 to $326, 000. The data from the report showed that in terms of the number of ventures, ICT was leading with…

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2016 Innotribe Startup Challenge Winners Announced

Innotribe

The winners of the 2016 Innotribe Startup Challenge were announced yesterday in Mauritius. The winners were South Africa’s Hello Paisa, a low cost international money transfer solution and The Sun Exchange, which deals with crowd lending for solar energy and Cameroon’s WeCashUp, that deals with mobile money transfer across Africa. The three each received a 10,000 USD cash prize. They also received invitations to attend Sibos, SWIFT’s annual global financial services conference that will take place in Geneva from the 26th to the 29th of September, techmoran reports. Sido Bestani,…

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Bill Gates To Give the 14th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture

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Bill Gates

This year, the Annual Nelson Mandela lecture will be delivered by Bill Gates, the Nelson Mandela Foundation in association with the University of Pretoria has announced. The lecture which will be delivered on July 17th, the eve of Nelson Mandela day, will focus on the theme, “Living Together”. The lecture is one of the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s programmes that seek to honor the late Nelson Mandela. In line with this, the lecture seeks to raise topical issues affecting South Africa and the rest of the world. Encouraging dialogue often about…

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Showmax Launches in 36 Sub Saharan Countries

Just a few months after Netflix launched in African countries, one of its competitors, Showmax has followed in its footsteps and launched in 36 Sub Saharan countries. Showmax, which was launched last year in August and which is backed by Napsers will for $7.99 per month, provide unlimited viewing  Internet TV services with approximately 15,000 TV show episodes. Barron Ernst, Chief Product Officer for Showmax said: “The speed and cost of connectivity are significant hurdles for any internet-based service in Africa. Getting it right means you’ve got to do much…

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Vodacom Will Discontinue M-Pesa South Africa From 30th June

Vodacom

  Earlier in the year, Vodacom said that it was reviewing M-Pesa South Africa. The service that was launched in 2010 and re-launched four years later, was expected to have millions of users but it only garnered 76,000 active users. Shameel Joosub, CEO, said in a statement that the decision was based on the fact that the business sustainability of M-Pesa is predicted on achieving a critical mass of users. Their revised projections and the high level of financial inclusion in South Africa meant that there was little prospects of…

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A Greener South Africa Thanks To UberGreen

UberGreen

A new initiative by Uber seeks to make the South African environment cleaner by reducing carbon dioxide emissions. In South Africa, 13% of carbon dioxide emissions are on account of the transport industry. Uber through a partnership with BMW and Nissan is seeking to bring that percentage down with UberGreen. UberGreen is a pilot project where Uber users will be able to request Electric vehicles, the BMW or the Nissan LEAF. These vehicles will be operated by drivers at  Uberx prices giving Uber users the satisfaction that they are helping…

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Apple Gains Support From It’s Greatest Rivals

Staff Writer
Apple

The last couple of weeks have been interesting in the world of tech, as we are in the throes of what might be the biggest tech battle of the decade. As we had reported last week, Apple was facing pressure from the FBI and the Department of Justice to not only hack into the San Bernadino shooter’s iPhone but to also create a permanent backdoor into all future versions of the iOS. In the beginning, tech enthusiasts declared their support for Apple but now tech giants have gone a mile…

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2016: The Internet Forecast to Quadruple in Size in Next Four Years

Staff Writer
Google

Global mobile Internet data traffic is forecast to increase 18 times from 2011 to 2016, to 10.8 exabytes per month (or 130 exabytes annually). Recently, Cisco issued results of the annual Cisco® Visual Networking Index (VNI) Forecast (2011-2016), the company’s ongoing initiative to forecast and analyze Internet protocol (IP) networking growth and trends worldwide. The VNI Internet Forecast update covers 2011-2016, and quantitatively projects the significant amount of IP traffic expected to travel public and private networks, including Internet, managed IP, and mobile data traffic generated by consumers and business…

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Apple suspends online TV service development efforts: Bloomberg

Staff Writer

Apple Inc has suspended plans to offer a live Internet-based television service and is instead focusing on being a platform for media companies to sell directly to customers through its App Store, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. Apple’s plan to sell a package of about 14 channels for $30 to $40 a month has run into resistance from media companies that want more money for their programing, Bloomberg reported, citing a person with knowledge of the matter. Apple was in discussions with broadcasters such as CBS Corp and Twenty-First Century Fox…

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Zurich, Switzerland: Chairwoman of GEDA Group gives a Thought Leadership Keynote at the Quantum Global Symposium

Staff Writer

The Founder and Chairwoman of GEDA Group Sophia Bekele was invited to speak on a Thought Leadership Keynote Panel, held by Quantum Global Advisory Board Symposium on 19th November 2015, Zurich, Switzerland, convened at the Zürich Marriot Hotel. The Symposium was focused on the essential role and growing impact of female African entrepreneurs, business women and innovators on the Continents burgeoning growth trajectory and wider socio-economic development. Africa has the greatest potential and as such has experienced tremendous interest from the global frontier especially on information technology and more so…

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