India wants to expand its Unified Payments Interface to Africa

The Indian government is planning to expand its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in Africa through commercial partnerships between payment platforms. According to Mint, an Indian business publication, the government is in talks with "several African countries", including Namibia, Mozambique, and Kenya.

Black Ostrich Ventures launches $20M fund to back startups outside Africa’s “Big Four”

US-based firm, Black Ostrich Ventures has raised a $20 million fund to invest in cleantech, supply chain, agritech, and edtech in Tanzania, Zambia, Morocco, and Uganda.

ICT was the second-highest contributor to Nigeria’s GDP in Q2 2023

Despite a substantial funding gap between male-led and female-led startups on the continent, four investors see immense potential in these women entrepreneurs and consider them a must-watch.

Bloc launches business banking service, appoints Guobadia to assemble its board

After 18 months of enabling fintech startups to build and deploy banking and payment services, Nigerian fintech startup, Bloc has launched a business banking services.

What we know about the Meta Creator Lab Live for Nigerian creators

Last Friday, over 40 young and aspiring Nigerian creators gathered at the Meta office in Lagos for the Creator Lab Live, an educational event that provides an opportunity for creators to learn from experts and collaborate.

Meet the African startups competing at TechCrunch’s 2023 Startup Battlefield 200

The startups cut across Cleantech, SaaS, Fintech, Fintech, HealthTech, AI/Machine Learning, Security and Privacy and Cleantech. The startups are from Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa.

BD Insider 181: TikTok to open an office in Kenya to drive its African operations

The fintech startup said it will use the funds to expand to Europe, Asia, and MENA. We also covered TIkTok's plan to set up an office in Kenya.

LemFi raises $33 million Series A for global expansion

Global payments company, LemFi (formerly Lemonade Finance) has secured a $33 million Series A in a round led by Left Lane Capital.

Kenyan fintech, Cellulant is downsizing its workforce by 20%

Kenyan fintech startup, Cellulant has laid off 20% of its workforce as it transitions into “product-focused strategy”.

Africans secured 60% of the Gates Foundation’s $5M fund for health-focused AI projects

Through its Grand Challenge, Gates Foundation has selected 48 research groups that plan to build artificial intelligence (AI) applications on large language models (LLMs) to help social and healthcare causes in their communities.

Google expands “AI First” accelerator to Africa

Google has launched its AI First program in Africa to provide startups with access to Google's AI expertise, Cloud Platform resources, and networking opportunities.

NALA enters Nigeria’s cross-border payment market

Tanzanian fintech startup, NALA has launched payments from the UK and EU to Nigeria.