The Briefing: Cybercrime
The Briefing: Cybercrime
It is vital that business owners feel as secure and safe from cybercrime as possible
The week started with every fintech startup with a USD virtual card taking their claims on Starlink. Starlink is from Elon Musk SpaceX, providing high-speed, low-latency broadband internet across the globe. May 2022 - last year, Starlink announced that it is coming to Africa and in January 2023, it announced its operations in Nigeria - making the giant of Africa the first African country to experience the promise of faster and more reliable internet speed.
Yesterday - many fintech startups took to the internet to fight for their share of the pie. It started with Payday’s CEO - Favour Ori the below message on LinkedIn -
20 months old Payday (Techstars '21) has become one of Starlink’s payment partner to enable them process orders from Nigeria 🇳🇬
Since then all payment startups with the USD virtual card have been blowing their trumpets. Enjoy the screenshots:
According to Africa Facts Zone, Rwanda will become the second African country to get Starlink: “Rwanda will connect 3,000 schools to Starlink by 2024 through financing from the World Bank and China Exim Bank.”
But as Africa rejoice over the speed and reliability of Starlink, “the internet penetration rate in Africa, from a peak of 66% in Southern Africa to a low of 24% in Central Africa. This is The Briefing. - Samson.
Quick Stats.
The average internet download speed in Sub-Saharan Africa was highest in Rwanda, South Africa, and Madagascar in 2022. These countries registered internet speeds reaching 52.17 megabits per second (Mbps), 28.62 Mbps, and 19.29 Mbps, respectively.
Chipper Cash Sacks 100+ Workers & Scraps Crypto In Further Shakeup
A number of known Kenyan tech publications including Techweez and TechTrendsKE have put out information that Chipper Cash has dismissed more than a third of its workforce, terminating over 100 workers out of a reported previous staff strength of 350.
This extends a restructuring exercise that materialised last year when Chipper cut its staff count by 13%, during which 50 employees across Product, Marketing, and Compliance were let go, as WT had learned, though the biggest cuts were meted out on the Engineering roster which sources say had been especially turgid before now and was perhaps rightly downsized. WT
One Startup’s Plan to Help Africa Lure Back Its AI Talent
This month, Moiloa Pelonomi - Lelapa founder, will join some organizers of Deep Learning Indaba to launch Lelapa, a commercial and industrial AI research company focused on serving the needs of the 1 billion people in Africa. The co-founders hope the startup can develop into a magnet for top African AI talent, somewhat like the way top AI brains have for years been drawn to the deeply resourced labs of OpenAI, the startup and Microsoft partner behind ChatGPT, or Google’s DeepMind. Wired
Investors need intentionality and targets to combat gender inequity – Janngo
Speaking on Disrupt Podcast, Fatoumata Bâ - founder and managing partner of Janngo Capital says a certain level of gender awareness is warranted when making investment decisions in order to counteract the inequality in the amount of funding which goes to female founders. It is not about forced targets, but about having an intentional awareness of the benefits of having a diverse investment portfolio, she says. Entrepreneurial talent is equally distributed around Africa, and among men and women, but financial opportunity is not, as such investors should operate with intentionality and ambitious targets to counteract this inequity. Disrupt-Africa
MasterCard Plans to Help SMEs Fight Cybercrime, Partners With Fintech Startup NowNow
Executive Vice President, of Product Optimization and Customer Advancement, Cyber & Intelligence, Paul Trueman said, “As Mastercard brings the next billion people into the digital economy, it is vital that business owners feel as secure and safe from cybercrime as possible. Our partnership with NowNow is key to achieving this. Whether large or small, businesses deserve the peace of mind to operate knowing that they are being kept safe.” InvestorKing
Only 20% of funded African tech startups had a female founder in 2022
This is according to the eighth edition of the annual African Tech Startups Funding Report released by startup news and research portal Disrupt Africa, which is available free to all as part of an open-sourcing initiative in partnership with Flat6Labs, MarketForce, 4Di Capital, Mercy Corps Ventures, Newtown Partners, and InsiderPR. Disrupt-Africa
Criminals are now going after solar panels in South Africa
A new trend is emerging where criminals are targeting solar panels in South Africa as more homeowners purchase alternative power supplies, says private security group Fidelity ADT. “Over the past few weeks, we have received reports of solar panels being stolen from properties, typically during the day while homeowners are at work,” it said. BusinessTech
Zimbabwe to host Transform Africa 2023 at the Victoria Falls
Zimbabwe will be hosting the 6th Transform Africa Summit (TAS) from the 26th to the 28th of April 2023 at the Victoria Falls. Zimbabwe was selected against bids from the other 36 members of the Smart Africa Alliance. “The Transform Africa Summit will be held outside Rwanda for the first time and we are pleased to have our active member country Zimbabwe hosting us in the city of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Tech-ish
High cost to women as African apps spread gospel of gig work
Women who mop, sweep and clean homes across Africa are riding a new wave of digital platforms that promise flexible work and fresh opportunity – but critics say the fast-growing apps only expose the gig workers to age-old abuse and exploitation. “The narrative of the gig economy is that domestic workers have flexibility, but in reality they have less autonomy, they feel subordinated to both the platform and the clients,” said Kelle Howson, a researcher who is an expert on gig work in South Africa. The Star
What we are reading.
Facebook parent company announces monthly subscription, charges iPhone and Android users more
Biden makes surprise trip to Kyiv before invasion anniversary
Top African countries with the best property value in 2023
Bolt to invest over €500m in Africa over next two years
Armed with a $17 million warchest, Naked wants to digitise insurance in South Africa
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About The Briefing.
The Briefing is a quick bite briefing of African tech and business activities trending. The writers’ opinion on one huge trending topic that matters, followed by “In Other News” and “What We Are Reading”
This Briefing by Sam.
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