Zooming out. Huawei says it wants to train up to 3 million African youths to work with cutting-edge digital technology such as artificial intelligence. In 2019, OPay raised a $120 million Series B round backed by Chinese investors. And recently, raised $400 million - that’s a massive war chest to take hold of the African market.
Looking ahead. The question, I think, should be for the African governments; ‘what laws are they going to put in place to ensure ethical business practices for these Chinese startups and the investor’? What if the Chinese use its competitive advantage for selfish gains. Who owns the data? What kind/type of data are the Chinese companies allowed to have and access?
Also, with the rise of local investors in Africa, we could one day start having outside funds - China/US etc., as an added one for the international market sake. Away from the dependence.
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💹 China coming for Africa startups
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Hello! Here's what you need to know for September 3rd in 3 minutes.
The answer could seem so simple yet tough. So, yes and no!
What’s going on? In a recent VOA news article, experts warn there could be potential negative impacts and influence of China's stretching startup investment in Africa. Is this a result of fear about recent clampdowns by the Chinese govt on tech companies, ensuring they don’t become too big a problem? In a way to tighten their grips, they’ve quietly taken a board seat on Bytedance - TikTok’s owner, and also put a time limit on the duration kids spend on playing games.
Zooming out. Huawei says it wants to train up to 3 million African youths to work with cutting-edge digital technology such as artificial intelligence. In 2019, OPay raised a $120 million Series B round backed by Chinese investors. And recently, raised $400 million - that’s a massive war chest to take hold of the African market.
Looking ahead. The question, I think, should be for the African governments; ‘what laws are they going to put in place to ensure ethical business practices for these Chinese startups and the investor’? What if the Chinese use its competitive advantage for selfish gains. Who owns the data? What kind/type of data are the Chinese companies allowed to have and access?
Also, with the rise of local investors in Africa, we could one day start having outside funds - China/US etc., as an added one for the international market sake. Away from the dependence.
What do you think? Pls, share your thought?
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