This week in African Tech 🌍

Welcome to Tech Safari!

Your tour guide on African Tech 🧭

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Morning from Oakland Airport! This week was busy.

We held our first Tech Safari event at Chipper Cash's San Francisco HQ - and it was pretty special.

Thanks to everyone who came and to Chipper, Benue Capital, Termii and HoaQ for making this possible.

Washington DC and New York are up next, and details will be coming out this week. Make sure you RSVP for them.

Do you want to sponsor our next event?

Our DC event is already full with incredible sponsors, but we have a few spots left for our New York event - email me back for more information 💌

FYI - Today's update is a bit slow, so I'm featuring something a bit outside of tech.

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Black Coffee

Last night I went to a Black Coffee show with a crew from our Chipper event.

While I don't usually share my social life on Tech Safari, Black Coffee's story is inspiring and I had a bit of a moment.

Hailing from South Africa, Black Coffee is one of the most influential DJ's in world and pioneered dance music in South Africa, fusing house music with African sounds.

But get this - Black Coffee had an accident that paralysed his left arm. So he DJs with just one arm. You can see him riding the decks below (with his right hand only).

Last year he took home his first Grammy.

When he arrived back in South Africa he received a heroes welcome - with fans and government officials waiting for him at the airport and celebrations lasting the whole week.

And last night he played outside the Oakland City Hall. The plaza was packed and everyone was immersed in the set.

It gave me the same feeling I have when I see founders in Africa win: pride.

And it shows Africa isn't just producing tech innovation. It's producing art, creativity and culture, too.

Tech Roundup

• Convergence Partners, an Africa-focused PE, has acquired a strategic stake in 42Markets Group, an incubator and investor in financial businesses.

• Wasoko, a B2B consumer goods platform, has announced plans to invest over $1 million in Zambia. It will launch a hub in Lusaka, enabling small retailers to access goods for same-day delivery and working capital financing.

Deal Roundup

• Drest, an Tunisian e-commerce platform, has raised US$336,000 from 216 Capital Ventures to expand into the African market.

• Nomba, a Nigerian payments startup, has raised a US$30 million pre-Series B funding round. Nomba will use the investment to deliver payment solutions designed for specific services, such as restaurants and transport and logistics companies.

• Balad, an Egyptian remittance-focused fintech, has raised a seven-figure pre-seed round, led by Acasia Ventures.

• DigsConnect, a digital student accomodation platform, has secured an undisclosed amount of Series A funding from Intaba Capital.

• Quro Medical, a South African e-health startup that offers hospital-at-home solutions, has raised $1.3 million in funding from the Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC).

Events + Opportunities

• The GSMA Innovation Fund for Climate Resources and Adaptation fund supports startups using tech to make a positive impact in areas vulnerable to climate risks. Startups will receive between $125,000-$200,000. Apply here before May 16.

• Nvidia is hosting a session on how Nvidia became a leader in the AI market and how African startups can integrate AI into their companies. Its on Wednesday May 17 - don’t miss out!

• Termii Elevate is a conference on the importance of customer communication and branding placement in Lagos. The event will be on June 24 - register here!

• I'm hosting a live interview with Iyin Aboyeji - Co-Founder of Andela, Flutterwave and now Future Africa on Thursday. It's for Safari Club (our WhatsApp Community) members only. To get an invite use your link below to refer 3 friends.

And that's a wrap for this week! We will be back with a feature story this week.

Did we miss anything? Or just want to say hey? I'd love to hear from you! You can

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Catch you soon!

👋🏾 Caleb