This Week in African Tech 🌍

Welcome to Tech Safari!

Your tour guide on African Tech 🧭

Hello to the new folks who have joined the Safari since the last edition.

If you haven't subscribed, join thousands of smart folks curious about tech in Africa.

Happy Sunday! 👋🏽

Let’s get into This Week in African Tech.

Tech Roundup

• Flutterwave has secured a Payment Service Provider (PSP) license in Ghana. Flutterwave can now offer money transfers and support businesses with various payment solutions in Ghana.

• LemFi, the African fintech facilitating diaspora payments, is expanding its global reach. It’s launching in Brazil and Mexico to serve the Latin American diaspora with fast, low-cost money transfers. This follows the company's recent US launch.

• Crypto operators in Kenya can breathe freely after the court of appeal declared the Digital Asset Tax unconstitutional. The ruling scraps the 3% tax on crypto exchanges' revenue from trading digital assets and overturns the heavily criticised September 2023 tax on Kenya's digital asset market.

• On the 1st of August, Zambia launched a net metering program that will allow solar panel users to feed power into the national grid. The initiative addresses the country's 1,000-megawatt power shortage, which has led to daily 12-hour blackouts.

• Creator Avi Schiffmann has launched "Friend", a wearable AI device with an always-on microphone. Despite criticism, Schiffmann has defended his $1.8 million domain purchase and believes in the product's potential.

• JumiaPay has appointed Anthony Mbagwu as its managing director from rival fintech PalmPay. The company aims to boost its market share and focus on profitability. Mbagwu brings over 15 years of financial services experience to the role.

• OurPass, a former Nigerian e-commerce startup, has secured a microfinance banking licence to offer business banking services to large corporates. It wants to combine traditional banking stability with fintech-driven efficiency and customer experience.

• Nigeria wants public institutions to adopt electronic communication for official correspondence, contracts, and legal proceedings. They hope the proposed National Digital Economy and E-Governance Bill boosts digital literacy and efficiency.

• Google has expanded its Wildfire Boundary Tracker, an AI-powered tool, to 17 more countries, including Kenya. This tool helps communities prepare for and respond to wildfires. The tracker uses Google Search and Maps to give real-time updates on wildfire boundaries.

• Ghana's Ministry of Roads and Highways has launched a mobile app called Maintain My Road, and a call centre for citizens to report road defects. The initiative aims to improve response time and efficiency in road maintenance across the country and will be piloted in major urban centres for the next five months.

• Africa Data Centres has expanded its Cape Town facility, doubling capacity with three new halls. The expansion is driven by increasing demand for colocation services in South Africa and features innovative design, advanced cooling technology, and 100% renewable energy power supply.

Deal Roundup

• Egyptian AI startup Synapse Analytics has raised $2 million to expand its AI technologies for financial decision-making across Africa and the GCC region. The company wants to address financial inclusion issues by providing AI software for credit scoring, cross-selling, and other financial processes.

  

  Ahmed Abaza and Galal El Beshbishy, co-founders, Synapse Analytics

• HAVAÍC, a Cape Town-based VC firm, announced the first close of its $50 million African Innovation Fund 3, securing $15 million in commitments for its initial closing. The fund will invest in 15 early-stage African startups with high growth potential.

• Cartona, an Egyptian B2B e-commerce platform, raised an additional $8.1 million in Series A extension to expand its operations, including market expansion and support for retailers. The new funding will be used to grow its FMCG and HORECA verticals and provide working capital to retailers.

• Educatly has secured $2.5 million in funding to expand its platform and reach seven million students by the end of 2024. The Egyptian ed-tech startup will use the investment to develop the platform and expand its reach in key markets across Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.

• South African fintech startup TurnStay, which targets the travel sector, has raised $300,000 from US investors for Africa expansion. TurnStay's platform cuts costs for travel firms and streamlines global tourists' checkout.

• Furniture marketplace Kemitt has secured undisclosed funding to expand into Saudi Arabia. The platform, which connects designers with consumers and handles logistics, aims to replicate its success in Egypt by offering a similar service to Saudi customers.

Events and Opportunities

• The second Women Who Build Africa (WWBA) Assembly will take place in Nairobi, on the 5th-6th of September, with the full conference day on the 6th. The event is hosted in partnership with Delta40 and the African Fintech Summit. If you’re a startup who’d love to participate in a workshop day, applications are open here.

• Stitch, a South African fintech startup, is gearing up to host its third annual Scale Summit on Thursday, the 3rd of October in Johannesburg. The event is themed “The Year of the Consumer” and is free for attendees. Sign up here to save a spot.

• Angel Fair Africa returns to Nairobi in November. The annual event, which connects African entrepreneurs with investors, will be held on the 7th and 8th of November. This year, Dr. James Mworia, group MD and CEO of Centum Investments Company, promoters of the Two Rivers International Financial and Innovation Centre (TRIFIC), will be the keynote speaker.

And that's a wrap for this week!

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

• 💸 Invest with the Tech Safari Syndicate

• 🐦 Find me on Twitter

• 💬 Holler on Linkedin

• 💌 Reply to this email

• 🚀 Partner with Tech Safari

And if you don't already, make sure to sign up to get this in your inbox next week.

And remember - it just takes just five referrals to join our WhatsApp community 👇🏾

Catch you soon!