Tag: South Africa
Africa Roundup: Visa connects to M-Pesa, Flutterwave enters e-commerce
It seems the demand for Safaricom’s M-Pesa payment product never eases. Since its 2007 launch in Kenya, the fintech app has commanded over 70% of the mobile money market in that country. When COVID-19 hit the East African nation of 53 million in March, the Kenyan Central Bank turned to…
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African fintech firm Flutterwave launches SME e-commerce portal
San Francisco and Lagos-based fintech startup Flutterwave has launched Flutterwave Store, a portal for African merchants to create digital shops to sell online. The product is less Amazon and more eBay — with no inventory or warehouse requirements. Flutterwave insists the move doesn’t represent any shift away from its core payments business.…
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Goldman backed ventures Jumia and Twiga partner on produce in Kenya
Pan-African e-commerce company Jumia and B2B agtech startup Twiga Foods are partnering to deliver produce in Kenya using adaptive measures during COVID-19. In 2019, Jumia became the first VC funded tech company in Africa to list on a major exchange, the NYSE. Based in Nairobi, Twiga raised a $30 million…
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Amazon opens its first cloud data center in Africa
Amazon’s cloud data centers have arrived in South Africa, helping millions of people, businesses and organizations to benefit from faster connectivity and viable access to next-generation technology. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is located in Cape Town… Source
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In Nigeria PalmPay waives fees and creates ₦100M COVID-19 payout fund
Africa focused payment startup PalmPay will waive transfer fees in Nigeria and offer direct payouts to customers who have contracted COVID-19 in the West African country. The venture — that launched in 2019 backed by China’s Transsion — has created the PalmPay Support Fund. The initiative will start with 100…
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African genomics startup 54gene raises $15M led by Adjuvant Capital
Greater availability of African genomic data could lead to medical breakthroughs for the continent’s 1.2 billion people. That’s the driving proposition of 54gene — a U.S. and Nigeria based startup — that collects African genetic code for use in health research and drug development. The company has closed a $15…
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