This Week in African Tech 🌍

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Welcome to This Week in African Tech!

Tech roundup

• South Africa has passed its digital nomad visa regulations into law, which allows skilled remote workers from other countries to get visas for up to three years. The catch? The visa requires a salary of at least $53,000 per year.

• YouScribe, a French digital library, has launched in Ghana with the help of Digital Virgo and MTN. The library is partnering with local publishers to update its catalogue with content tailored to the Ghanaian audience. Ghana is the second English-speaking country YouScribe has launched in.

• LemFi can now offer remittance services in Kenya after receiving approval from the Central Bank of Kenya. The startup has partnered with Wapi Pay to launch remittance services in Kenya.

• Mono, a Nigerian fintech company, has teamed up with Mastercard to offer an account-to-account payment solution called DirectPay Pay with Bank using Mastercard’s Gateway technology. This partnership will allow African businesses to access efficient A2A payment solutions and other open banking products.

• Kenyan traveltech startup, Triply (formerly Tripitaca), has joined Y Combinator's 2024 winter batch as the third African company selected. The startup accelerator invested $500,000 into Triply, making the startup Y Combinator’s first-ever traveltech investment in Africa.

• The Binance-Nigerian government saga is still on. Now, the crypto firm has asked the Nigerian government to release its executive still in their custody, saying that he has no decision-making power in the company and should not be held responsible while discussions are ongoing between both parties.

Deal roundup

• Zeepay, a Ghanaian remittance and mobile money service company, raises $3 million in equity investment from Verdant Capital Hybrid Fund. The startup will use the new funding to strengthen its financial position ahead of its growth prospects this year.

• The Adenia Africa Fund raises $470 million from the European Investment Bank and the World Bank’s International Finance Corp. The fund will target growth opportunities in high-potential sectors across the continent, including fintech, telecom, and healthcare.

• BURN Manufacturing, a Kenyan clean cookstove production company, raises $12 million in carbon financing. The round was led by Key Carbon Ltd. and backed by Cartesian. The funds will help BURN distribute electric and biomass cookstoves across Africa.

• South African breakdown management startup, RNR, raises $640,000 in a round led by HAVAÍC. The funding will be used to grow its team and scale locally and in Southern Africa.

Events and Opportunities

• Calling all devs, startups, and tech enthusiasts. After three fully booked Infobip Connect Meetups held last year, it’s back in Nairobi! 🇰🇪 The next meetup will highlight local tech initiatives and introduce the Infobip Developer Community’s tools and solutions. Details below.

🏫 Location: Nairobi Garage Kilimani, 7th Floor, Pinetree Plaza Kaburu Drive, Nairobi, Kenya

📆 Date & Time: Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 5:00 pm

🎙 Speakers include Wayne Gakuo, Angular GDE and Frontend Engineer at Sky Garden, Caleb Maru, Founder and Writer at Tech Safari, Kendi J, Associate Flutter Developer and Duncan Mochama, Account Executive at Infobip.

• StarNews Mobile and the Global Black Economic Forum are calling for applications for the newly launched StarNews Business Competition. Selected ventures could win up to $4,000, get access to StarNews’ network of investors, and be featured on the StarNews web platform. Interested parties can apply here.

• Applications are now open for the Africa Tech Startup Forum, a market access and acceleration programme designed to prepare and connect tech startups with opportunities. ****Startups from Kenya, Morocco, Rwanda, Egypt, Uganda, Nigeria, South Africa, and Ghana, are invited to apply here before the 19th of April, 2024.

• The 2024 edition of the eLearning Africa conference and exhibition is happening in Kigali, Rwanda! Attendees will engage with the latest advancements in digital learning. This year’s edition has over 75 sessions and workshops in a range of interactive formats. The full programme can be found here, and if you’re interested, register here. The conference will take place from the 29th to the 31st of May, 2024.

And that's a wrap for this week!

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