This Week in African Tech 🌍

MultiChoice said No 💔

Caleb Maru
February 10, 2024

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Hey everyone, Caleb here. Welcome to another edition of This Week in African Tech!

On Thursday, we hosted the first Nairobi Tech Safari Mixer of the year. And it was so great to be back on the scene and tap in with Nairobi!

The Mixer was a pre-event to Africa Tech Summit, which will be happening in Nairobi on the 14th and 15th of February. You can get your tickets to the Summit here and use ‘SAFARI’ for a 20% discount.

Hope to see you there!

And if you’re looking to attend other tech events in Nairobi during ATS week, check out Anthony’s handy events guide here.

Now let’s get into this week’s roundup.

MultiChoice has turned down a $1.6 billion offer from Canal+ to buy them out. Why? MultiChoice told shareholders it refused the offer because it’s too low, and they’re worth more than that.

The SA Supreme Court of Appeal has ordered Vodacom to pay the 'Please Call Me' creator, Nkosana Makate, $1 billion within 30 days. Vodacom is expected to pay Makate between 5% and 7.5% of the revenue raised from ‘Please Call Me’ over the last 18 years, plus interest.
Mastercard is investing $200 million to buy a 3.8% minority stake in MTN's fintech division. This comes six months after Mastercard announced its plans to get a stake in MTN MoMo. With this deal, MTN Group is looking to expand MoMo and ultimately launch it as a separate business.
LemFi has returned to Ghana as RightCard Payment Services Limited, two months after the Bank of Ghana tagged them as illegal. But now, RightCard’s got the approval they need to operate in the country.

South Africa’s Absa Bank has rolled out ChatWallet, a new way for its customers to bank through WhatsApp. Even users without a bank account can handle their funds with it. The aim? To make it easier for people to access basic banking services in South Africa.
The internet and phone networks in Sudan have been down for several days, as the country is currently facing political conflicts. The situation has affected the major telcos in the country, putting around 14 million internet users in the dark.
Senegal has shut down internet access across the country following President Macky Sall's postponement of the Presidential elections, which sparked widespread protests. This is the third internet suspension in Senegal in the last nine months.

Nigerian edtech startup Klas raises $1 million in pre-seed funding to scale across Africa and expand its online teaching platform to India and North America. Ingressive Capital led the funding round, with Techstars, HoaQ Capital, and several angel investors participating.
Nigerian startup alGROWithm, which offers edtech solutions to growth hackers, raises undisclosed funding from Digital Africa. The funding will be used to provide scholarships for aspiring growth hackers and expand its training programmes across Africa.

PowerUP, a Uganda-based electric cooking startup, raises undisclosed funding in its seed round led by Delta40, with participation from Autodesk Foundation and pro bono support. PowerUP plans to use the investment to launch a range of electric stoves later this year.
Remoteli, a Ghanaian startup that links African tech talents to remote jobs, raises $315,000 in pre-seed funding to scale operations and expand across Africa. The funding round was led by Jeremie Frimpong, a Ghanaian-Dutch professional footballer.
World Innovation League, formerly NaijaHacks, raises $1.2 million in funding from a Canadian accelerator, Digital Technology Supercluster. World Innovation League will use the funding to equip African immigrants in Canada with tech skills, mentorship, and work experience within four months.

Telecel Global Services raises a $20 million investment from Africa Credit Opportunities Fund (ACOF), a private credit fund. Telecel Global Services will use the funding to expand its footprint in West Africa and reduce the digital divide in the continent.

Founders, are you ready to scale your startup with Visa? Applications are now open for the second cohort of the Visa Accelerator Program - Africa! Apply here before the 18th of February, 2024.

Applications are now open for the Qualcomm Make in Africa Startup Mentorship Programme. The programme offers startups access to coaching and engineers, as well as guidance on protecting their IP. Applications are open here until the 18th of February, 2024.
Applications are now open for the fourth edition of Nomfro Technologies’ Entrepreneurship Empowerment Project (NTEEP). The Project aims to provide startups with access to a community of like-minded entrepreneurs. If you’re an entrepreneur or early-stage startup based in Africa, apply here before the 14th of March, 2024.
The Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Foundation Programme is now accepting applications. The programme offers entrepreneurs customised training to tackle practical, real-world challenges. This year, the application window is open until the 1st of March, 2024. Learn how to apply here.

Are you a junior staff at a VC firm? Share your experience with the 2022 African Venture Capital Salary Insights team to help future venture capitalists make informed decisions about their career paths. Please fill out this form before the 29th of February, 2024 to share your experience.

And that's a wrap for this week!

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