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African governments must be enablers of innovation
Panelists at the Africa eGovernance Conference (AfreGov) urged African governments to become enablers and create environments that allow citizens to participate in the digital economy.
Kenya's central bank grants 19 digital lenders licenses
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has licensed a further 19 digital lenders, bringing up the total number of licensed Digital Credit Providers to 51 in the East African country.
Connecting Africa Podcast: S3 Ep. 1 – Trending topics in 2024
The Connecting Africa Podcast is back for season three. In this episode, we discuss startups and companies making their mark across emerging trends like social commerce, AI and smartphone affordability, and we venture into the hot topic of climate tech.
Mastercard, MTN Group launch virtual MoMo card for 13 African markets
MTN Group and Mastercard have launched a prepaid virtual bank card and a physical Mastercard companion card for MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) users across 13 markets in Africa.
MWC 2024: African telco deals
Connecting Africa has compiled a list of all the major deals that African operators announced at MWC 2024 in Barcelona, Spain.
GSMA, SA operators partner on API services to fight mobile fraud
South African mobile operators MTN, Telkom and Cell C are implementing the GSMA's number verification and SIM swap APIs to combat mobile fraud, as part of GSMA's Open Gateway initiative.
Omdia View: January 2024
Highlights in January 2024 in the Middle East and Africa included a $200 million fintech deal between MTN and Mastercard as well as 5G network trials by Telecom Egypt – that and more in this month's Omdia View.
SA's iKhokha invests $105M in small businesses
South African fintech firm iKhokha has distributed more than 2 billion South African rands (US$105 million) in working capital to its small and midsized enterprise (SME) customer base.
Mastercard appoints new West Africa head
Global payments firm Mastercard has appointed Folasade Femi-Lawal as its new country manager and area business head for West Africa.
Safaricom users in Ethiopia tick up
Kenyan-headquartered Safaricom now has 9 million mobile customers in Ethiopia and just over 3 million M-Pesa users after a year of operating in the Horn of Africa nation.
Mastercard invests $200M into MTN fintech, MoMo offers loans via JUMO
Mastercard is investing $200 million into MTN Group's fintech business, and MTN's mobile money platform MoMo has partnered with banking tech company JUMO to launch short-term loans in South Africa.
Vodacom, Airtel Africa see strong financial services growth
Pan-African operators Vodacom and Airtel Africa reported strong third-quarter results this week, with financial services revenue growth a highlight for both telcos.
Innovation hub
Omdia View: February 2024
Highlights in February 2024 in the Middle East and Africa included 5G launches in Senegal and 5G trials in Egypt as well as Kenya's first 5G MVNO. Airtel also launched a new wholesale connectivity business while MTN and Huawei are planning a joint Innovation Technology Lab in South Africa – that and more in this month's Omdia View.
Key adoption areas for machine learning in Africa
ICT analyst Francis Hook identifies some of the key sectors that could be positively impacted by machine learning, including education, government services, healthcare and climate tech.
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Africa Tech Festival 2024
November 11-14, 2024Cape Town, South Africa
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Industry announcements
- New Africa eGovernance Conference comes to Rwanda
Kigali, Rwanda, Tuesday, February 27, 2024 - Africa Tech Festival announces finalists for Startup World Cup
Johannesburg, Friday, October 27, 2023 - AfricaIgnite Hosts the African leg of the Startup World Cup at ATF
Johannesburg, Wednesday, October 11, 2023
Africa Tech Perspectives
Uber's Marjorie Saint-Lot on inclusion and sustainability in Africa
Uber's Country Manager for Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire, Marjorie Saint-Lot, shares how the ride-hailing company is approaching public-private partnerships, environmentally friendly initiatives and gender inclusion in Africa.
The 100 most influential African leaders in 2023
A new report from Africa Tech Festival and Connecting Africa puts a spotlight on the top 100 African leaders in the telecoms and technology sector in 2023.
Deep dive into East Africa's tech startup ecosystem
New survey reveals a lack of access to investors, reliance on international VCs and global recession trends as the biggest barriers for East African tech startups to access funds.
Partner perspectives
Empowering Africa through enhanced global connectivity
By China Mobile InternationalFuture proof your business with integrated customer experience
By Digital Solutions GroupGuest Perspectives
Omdia View: January 2024
By Omdia AnalystsHighlights in January 2024 in the Middle East and Africa included a $200 million fintech deal between MTN and Mastercard as well as 5G network trials by Telecom Egypt – that and more in this month's Omdia View.
Omdia View: September 2023
By Omdia AnalystsHighlights in September 2023 in the Middle East and Africa included more 5G spectrum licenses, vendor and operator strategies, and partnerships – that and more in this month's Omdia View.