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Venture Vaya Africa, launches an electric taxi service

July 13, 2020May 22, 2023 Dianne Jacobs

Vaya Africa, a ride-hail mobility venture founded by Zimbabwean mogul Strive Masiyiwa, has launched an electric taxi service and charging network in Zimbabwe with plans to expand across the continent.

Venture Vaya Africa, launches an electric taxi service Vaya Africa, a ride-hail mobility venture founded by Zimbabwean mogul Strive Masiyiwa, has launched an electric taxi service and charging network in Zimbabwe with plans to expand across the continent. Vaya Africa, a company registered in Mauritius, responsible for the transport of people and goods in Africa and the generation of adjacent revenues in this sector, launched a new product on the Zimbabwean market. It is the electric vehicle called “Vaya Electric”. The South African headquarters of Vaya Africa has acquired a…

Opera’s Opay Pulls Plug on ORide, OCar, Shifts focus to eCommerce & payments

July 6, 2020June 8, 2023 Dianne Jacobs

News earlier in the week broke that Opera-backed Nigerian fintech startup, OPay has reportedly shut down all its business operations in Nigeria following a letter issued by its foreign investors amidst the poor economic climate caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.. A report claims that all verticals of the startup, including ride hailing, ORide and OTrike — which were still active in other states aside Lagos; the recently launched B2B and B2C eCommerce platforms, OMall and OTrade; OExpress for logistics; and food delivery feature, OFood will be closed down. Opay launched…

Amazon to manufacture self-driving cars after acquiring start-up Zoox for $1bn

July 3, 2020May 23, 2023 Dianne Jacobs

Amazon is making strides into developing its own self-driving vehicles, agreeing to buy Californian start-up Zoox in a deal said to be worth more than $1bn (£810m). The takeover was first reported by tech website The Information and was later confirmed by Amazon. Talks were said to have started between the two companies last month. Zoox’s chief executive Aicha Evans and chief technology officer Jesse Levinson will continue to lead the team as a standalone business after the deal has completed, Amazon said. The takeover is believed to be part of Amazon’s plans to begin…

Power Panel at DCA WebForum voice their thoughts on impact of COVID-19 SME Financing in Africa

July 3, 2020May 23, 2023 Dianne Jacobs

DCA WebForum Series 3 Executive Roundtable The Impact of COVID-19 on SME Financing in Africa

The DCA Group hosted an engaging and insightful Executive Roundtable conversation, with Top Industry and Business Leaders and Representatives of SMEs operating in African countries, as businesses and individuals globally seek solutions for the COVID 19 crisis to innovative ways to achieve their goals. The panel of distinguished speakers exchanged expert insights, practical approaches and good practices on the topic: The real effects on the ground for SME’s; the plans that are being implemented to curb further negative effects on the market; future strategies that organizations can rely on to…

TikTok announces TikTok For Business with branded content and advertising solutions

June 29, 2020April 27, 2023 Editor

TikTok has announced the launch of TikTok For Business, a platform that will provide marketers with a range of branded content and advertising solutions to help them utilise the short-form video app for their brand campaigns. At launch, the site will include access to TikTok ad formats, including its marque product, TopView, which is the ad that appears when you first launch the TikTok app. Other products under this TikTok For Business umbrella include Brand Takeovers, In-Feed Videos, Hashtag Challenges and Branded Effects. TikTok said in a statement, “The magic…

Digital WhatsApp Payments for SMEs launched, Pilots in Brazil

June 18, 2020May 25, 2023 Editor

Facebook has launched its WhatsApp payments service in Brazil, enabling people to send money and make purchases from within the chat app. You use it by linking up your WhatsApp account to your Visa or Mastercard credit or debit card. This now adds Facebook as one of the digital payments and mobile money providers like Mpesa WhatsApp began testing P2P payments in India in 2018 but Brazil, where the messaging service has 120 million users, becomes the first country to get a nationwide rollout. Brazil would be the first to…

DStv to add Netflix and Amazon Prime Video on its platforms in a strategic shift

June 15, 2020May 25, 2023 Editor

DStv will add Netflix and Amazon Prime Video to its platforms, in a strategic shift that has seen its parent firm, MultiChoice, sign partnership deals with the giant movie streaming services. Netflix poses a growing competitive threat to MultiChoice and its own streaming service, Showmax, and the partnership move marks a shift in MultiChoice’s strategy from trying to compete with such players to working with them instead. The parent company of DStv and GOtv has been facing competition from movie streaming service and internet providers such as Zuku and Safaricom…

COVID-19 crisis could accelerate African businesses toward innovation and digitization

June 12, 2020May 25, 2023 olivia Craig

Mali based insurtech startup OKO Finance helps rural farmers access crop insurance innovation

McKinsey recently released a report titled, “Reopening and reimagining Africa: How the COVID-19 crisis can catalyze change,” which recommends policies aimed to help Africa use the crisis as an opportunity to create a recovery that features a more inclusive economy, more competitive industries, and more resilient services The report recommends using the pandemic as an opportunity to accelerate digital transformation across the continent. Figure 1 highlights a number of industries poised for swift growth in digitization following the pandemic. Among these, some are already relatively digitized, such as information and…