Top 10 CEOs Innovating the African Tech Industry

DPA

African Tech 10. Alpesh Patel, Oju Africa Created in 2012, Oju Africa is part of Mi-Group International and is the first African-centric Emoticon provider. Running the show is Apesh Patel who has set his sights high in trying to bring Apple on board to diversify its range of emoticons; the word ‘Oju’ literally meaning ‘faces’ in the Yoruba language from its native Nigeria. 9. Barbara Mallinson, Obami Voted as one of the top young people to take to lunch, Barbara Mallinson has been labelled as one of the most refreshing…

Africa’s mobile money platform Mpesa expands to Europe

Editor’s note: Tomorrow Transformed explores innovative approaches and opportunities available in business and society through technology. (CNN) — Snapchat may be the latest application with a new mobilepayment feature launched this week, but the idea that made Snapcash possible was spawned more than seven years ago in Africa. When M-Pesa came on the scene in 2007 — a money transfer system devised by Vodafone and Kenya-based Safaricom – it sparked a mini-revolution. With the touch of a button, relatives in Nairobi could transfer cash instantly to their remote up-country families…

Disrupting mobile banking in Kenya; Equity Bank joins the list

EQUITY Bank, whose micro-loans offerings have helped increase the number of Kenyans using formal financial services, is looking to break into Kenya’s booming mobile telecoms market. The bank says it will use the Mobile Virtual Network Operator licence it was granted in April to make financial services even more accessible and affordable. Kenyans transacted more than US$20 billion through their mobile phones in 2013, and Kenya leads the world in its adoption of mobile payments. Equity is looking to tap into this booming market by employing innovative Taiwanese-made ultra-slim “subscriber…

African Mobile Money platform Mpesa adopted in Europe

Vodafone brings Africa’s M-Pesa mobile money to Europe * Launch targets 7 mln in Romania who mainly use cash * M-Pesa has 16.8 mln active customers in emerging markets * Mobile payments expected to grow rapidly in coming years By Kate Holton LONDON, March 31 (Reuters) – Vodafone brought the mobile money service that has revolutionised banking in Africa to Romania on Monday, offering M-Pesa text-message transactions to millions of customers in its first push into Europe. Vodafone said it had chosen Romania to target the seven million people there…

Ericsson chosen for money platform in Peru

Asbanc, Peru’s national bank association, has chosen Ericsson to design and build what is claimed will be the country’s largest private initiative aimed at financial inclusion. The aim is to deliver the underlying infrastructure over which financial services can be pitched to the country’s mobile users, most of whom do not have access to traditional bank accounts. The platform will have a staged rollout but Asbanc wants to see services generally available in Peru during 2015. Ericsson’s platform is intended to host services from different financial institutions and other companies…