This Week in African Tech 🌍

Rwanda gets its first digital postal service

Author

Caleb Maru
May 26, 2024

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Happy Sunday!

Next week we’ll be at GITEX Africa in Morocco, the continent’s biggest tech and startup conference.

We’ll be doing a side event on Wednesday - come say hey, and save your spot here.

Let’s get into This Week in African Tech!

Tech Roundup

  • MPost, a Kenyan digital postal service, has launched its e-PO box service in Rwanda. This means over a million Rwandans can now use their phone numbers as postal addresses to receive mail and parcels, instead of revealing their physical address.

  • The Kenyan government wants to increase taxes on solar and lithium-ion batteries, and electric vehicles. This will increase the cost of making a 60kg solar battery by $312 (45,000 KES). This tax may stunt the growth of EVs in Kenya which climbed by 5x last year.

  • Egyptian fintech startup, Bokra, has partnered with precious metals investments firm Dahab Masr. They’re launching a platform that helps users to invest and save in various precious metals such as gold, silver, and platinum.

  • BuuPass, a Kenyan mobility firm, plans to expand into 8 new African markets by next year. So far, the startup has sold over 16 million travel tickets and made over US$100 million. This expansion plan comes after it acquired QuickBus, a Nigerian ticketing platform for an undisclosed amount.

  • South African founders, Chido Dzinotyiwei and Isheanesu Misi, just launched Vambo AI, which allows users to use AI in their local languages. The platform currently understands 11 languages including Arabic, KiSwahili, IsiZulu and French.

  • Microsoft and UAE-based AI firm, G42, have partnered to build a $1 billion data centre in Kenya, powered by geothermal energy. It’s part of a plan to increase cloud computing capacity in East Africa.

Deal roundup

  • Egyptian consulting firm, Glint, has closed its second venture fund at $3 million. The new fund will support early startups through its venture studio with checks ranging from $250,000 to $500,000.

  • Early-stage VC firm, OpenSeedVC has launched its first fund which closed at $10 million. It plans to invest mainly in the future of commerce, B2B software, AI, fintech, health, and work - and is offering up to $150,000 starter cheques.

  • Cash for Microfinance (CMF), an Egyptian microfinance company, has partnered with Microfinanza, a consulting firm, to launch a $2.4 million project to support African entrepreneurs. The project will provide a mix of startup incubation, funding, and technical support.

Events and opportunities

  • Leta, Paystack and Zucchini are hosting an event for business leaders and owners on June 6th. ​If you're looking for ways to optimize your business operations and drive growth, the "Tools to Grow Your Business" event is for you. Register here to save your spot.

  • Secha Capital has launched the Junior Operator-Investor Network (JOIN). This five-month programme dives into VC/PE investing and strategy consulting and helps investors build operational skills. Applications for the June 2024 cohort are open. Apply here by May 31st.

  • The 6th edition of the $100k GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize Competition is back. It’s the biggest agripreneurship competition on the continent. It will end in a final pitch contest in Kigali in September, and two winners will win $50,000 each. Applications are open here till the 10th of June.

  • The third cohort of the Obuntu Launchpad Program is now open to African-focused fund managers. The fellowship features sessions by industry experts. Nominations are open until the 9th of June.

  • In African markets, owning a piece of a successful company is like owning a ticket to future wealth. But how can we enable more African stakeholders to own a part of the innovation on the continent? To answer this question, Tech Safari has teamed up with two equity management startups, Raise and Carta, for a webinar on the 30th of May. Register here to save yourself a spot.

  • The second Infobip Connect Meetup is happening in London this June and is being hosted in partnership with The Association of Croatian British Professionals. It’ll introduce the local tech community to Infobip Developer tools and solutions. Register here for free to attend. More details below 👇️ 

    • Location: Impact Hub London - King’s Cross, 34b York Way, London, N1 9AB

    • Date & Time: Tuesday, June 4, 2023, 6:00 - 9:00 pm

    • Speakers: Eli Holderness (Developer Advocate), Caleb Maru (Founder and Writer at Tech Safari), Filip Tremac (VP at Three Ships UK), Julia Biro (Head of DevRel at Infobip), and Nikola Pavesic (Director of DevEx & Startups at Infobip)

And that's a wrap for this week!

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