africa
Oxfam Novib and Goodwell target East African startups with €20M Pepea fund
Impact investor Goodwell Investments and Oxfam Novib, a Dutch foundation and Oxfam International affiliate, have set up Pepea, a €20 million ($21.7 million) fund, to provide financing to early-stage
After chargeback fraud debacle, Union54 CEO says fintech in Africa ‘isn’t child’s play’
Nine months after Union54 encountered overwhelming chargeback fraud that made it shut down temporarily, its CEO shares some lessons.
Payday wants to power the future of work for Africa with $3M seed led by Moniepoint Inc
Payday, a Techstars-backed neobank issuing global accounts to Africans and the diaspora, has raised funding in a round led by African soonicorn Moniepoint.
Meta disputes it can be sued in Kenya, again
A Kenyan court has today upheld interim orders issued last week temporarily barring Meta from engaging its new content moderation subcontractor, Majorel, pending determination if the social media gian
Techstars-backed Fez Delivery gets funding to scale its last-mile logistics platform
Fez Delivery, a Lagos-based last-mile logistics startup with hubs across Nigeria, has raised $1 million led by pan-African investor Ventures Platform with participation from Voltron Capital, Acasia Ve
Google removes hundreds of Kenya-focused loan apps from Play Store
Google has taken down hundreds of loan apps from the Play Store in Kenya since its new policy, which requires digital lenders in the East African country to submit proof of license, went into effect i
Rwazi to scale its market intelligence platform backed by $4 million seed funding
Rwazi provides market insights backed by verified data collected directly from consumers, who use a web or mobile app to log their purchases.
Meta barred by Kenyan court from engaging its new content moderation partner
Meta has been temporarily barred by a Kenyan court from engaging its new content moderation subcontractor, Majorel, pending the hearing of a new case, filed by 43 content moderators yesterday over ill
Meta faces third lawsuit in Kenya as moderators claim illegal sacking, blacklisting
Social media giant Meta and its Kenya-based content moderation partners, Sama and Majorel, are facing a new lawsuit in Kenya. In a petition filed today, 43 content moderators allege “unlawful termin
Credable, a digital banking infra startup that wants to build Unit for emerging markets, gets funding
Embedded finance solutions in less developed markers are becoming more prominent as platforms look to provide various financial solutions to the unbanked and underserved. Banking infrastructure provid
SVB collapse forces African startups to rethink their banking options
The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) last week sent ripples in startup ecosystems around the world, and it is emerging that millions of dollars held by African startups and venture capital funds
Nigerian credit-led fintech FairMoney acquires PayForce in retail-merchant banking play
Nigerian credit-led digital banking platform FairMoney has acquired PayForce (sub-brand of YC-backed CrowdForce), a merchant payment services that serves small businesses, as the digital lender looks
MENA VC Flat6Labs’ new fund to back startups in East, West Africa
Flat6Labs is amongst the most active VCs in Africa, having invested in more than 100 startups to date across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. And now, after 11 years, the Egypt-based se
Naspers shuts down Foundry, its $100M fund focused on South African startups
Naspers, Africa’s most valuable tech company by market capitalization, has wound down the operations of its R1.4 billion (≈$100 million) South Africa-focused venture capital fund Naspers Foundry,
Flutterwave’s troubles in Kenya yet to end as second case proceeds
Africa’s most valuable unicorn Flutterwave is still not off the hook in Kenya. About $3 million of its money that was confiscated in the second government seizure over money laundering and fraud cla
Online food delivery platforms in Kenya under probe
The competition regulator in Kenya is probing the conduct of online food and grocery delivery platforms to inform its suggestions on regulatory and policy options, to bolster healthy competition and e
Nigerian B2B e-commerce startup Alerzo cuts 15% of full-time staff in second round of layoffs
Alerzo, a Nigerian B2B e-commerce platform that digitizes commerce and payments processes between FMCG suppliers and informal retailers, has laid off 15% of its full-time workforce, the company confir
Alleged security breach leaves millions of dollars missing from Flutterwave accounts
Last month, Flutterwave, Africa’s largest startup by private valuation, was involved in a hack that resulted in more than ₦2.9 billion (~$4.2 million) missing from its accounts, according to local
Big Tech on notice as regulators in Africa group to investigate their market conduct
Several competition watchdogs in Africa plan to collectively interrogate the market conduct of global digital firms, putting big techs firms like Google and Meta, which have faced investigations and r
African watchdog forces Jumia to review its terms in push to protect consumers
Africa’s largest e-commerce site Jumia has amended its terms and conditions after the regional watchdog, the COMESA (Common Markets for Eastern and Southern Africa) Competition Commission, compelled