This Week in Tech: Volvo delivers first heavy electric truck to Morocco
Dufay's strategy is to reduce Jumia's losses by 50% by the end of the year, through a combination of cutting costs and targeting high-growth rural markets.
Hi,
There was no "The Briefing" this week, but it will return next week. In the meantime, let's take a look at what's been happening in the African tech space.
The growth of e-commerce (and retail commerce) has been increasing in Africa, with funding coming in to help fix many of the frictions. Jumia, an African unicorn with steady growth since its debut on the stock market, has partnered with Leroy Merlin on African e-commerce. Leroy's CEO, Francis Dufay, said, "It's part of Dufay's strategy to reduce Jumia's losses by 50% by the end of the year, through a combination of cutting costs and targeting high-growth rural markets." And because e-commerce is painful without logistics, it's good news that "Volvo has delivered its first heavy electric truck to Morocco". - Sam.
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Lagos govt, network want women to embrace technology for growth
Lagos State Government, yesterday, urged women to embrace technology and its digital tools for personal growth and business development. The state’s Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Co-operatives, Dr. Lola Akande, gave the charge at an event entitled: “DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality,” organised by NECA Network of Entrepreneurial Women (NNEW) to mark the International Women’s Day, in collaboration with International Chamber of Commerce Nigeria and supported by ActionAid Canada in Lagos. The Guardian
Factor[e] Ventures launches Africa-focused venture studio
Factor[e] Ventures, a team of venture builders that invests in early-stage companies in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, has launched a new venture studio specifically for African startups. The new venture studio, Delta40, will invest $100,000 to $600,000 in African energy, agriculture, and mobility startups. TechCabal
M-PESA Africa opens a $2 Million in Shared Service Operations Centre in Nairobi
M-Pesa Africa on Wednesday launched a Shared Service Operations Centre (SSOC) in Nairobi to oversee service operations and technical support. This will include incident monitoring and resolution, managing platform changes and upgrades, deployment of new features and capacity management, and coordination with technology vendors. “For 16 years, M-Pesa has been at the core of our purpose to transform lives by using technology to connect customers to different opportunities. The M-Pesa Africa Shared Service Operations Centre builds on our purpose by enabling us to deliver a higher service quality and increased platform reliability as we expand to more markets and add more products to the platform,” said Peter Ndegwa, CEO – Safaricom. TechTrends
AltSchool Africa partners OpenLabs Ghana in daring play to democratise access to globally relevant learning in Africa
The focus on senior talent by companies like Andela and TalentQL led everyone to ask. Where will the future senior talents come from? That’s what AltSchool Africa was trying to solve but with a slight twist. “We’re giving them diplomas because a lot of people can be good but cannot apply to certain opportunities because they do not have a certificate. So we’re giving them skills and a certificate,” Yusuf told Techpoint during AltSchool Africa’s launch. TechPoint
Ananse Africa partners with Mastercard, Ecobank and DHL to train fashion creatives in Kenya
The ecommerce platform connects African designers with local and international consumers. The platform showcases the rich and diverse tapestry of Africa’s creative talent and simplifies international ecommerce payments and logistics for creative entrepreneurs on the continent. The training which is scheduled for Thursday, 23 March is part of a wider initiative aimed at equipping African fashion entrepreneurs with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in today’s digital economy. It covers various topics, including the fundamentals of digital marketing and e-commerce, SEO, social media marketing campaigns, content strategies, online advertising, and more. Techmoran
SA’s Competition Commission establishes inquiry into distribution of media content via digital platforms
According to the commission, the inquiry has been set up to address existing market features in digital platforms that distribute news media content. In a move mirroring that of Australia which led to Google threatening to ban Search in the country, South Africa’s Competition Commission has announced that it has published the draft Terms of Reference (ToRs) for a market inquiry into the distribution of media content on digital platforms. TechCabal
Fin Acquires Thuthukani Housing Finance In South Africa
Fintech firm Fin has announced that it has completed the acquisition of South African housing finance provider Thuthukani Housing Finance (“Thuthukani”). This acquisition continues Fin’s expansion into all relevant finance offerings for individuals & SMEs across its markets. With this acquisition, Thuthukani’s incremental housing finance offering was renamed to Fin Home Loans and integrated into Fin’s South African portfolio. Fin Home Loans’ aim will remain to give middle to lower-income Fin customers access to affordable finance. Supported projects range from new builds and renovations to fitting a kitchen, solar & backup systems, and more. TechNovaGH
The Growth Of The Tech Startup Ecosystem In Cote D’Ivoire
According to Digest Africa, the 10 most funded startups in Ivory Coast have raised a combined $19 million across 23 deals. The largest amount was raised by Afrimarket, an e-commerce platform that enables expatriates to send money and goods back home. Afrimarket secured $11.5 million in a Series B round led by Orange Digital Ventures in 2016. TechNova
Jumia partners with Leroy Merlin on Africa e-commerce
Jumia Technologies made a deal to sell French retailer Leroy Merlin’s products in West Africa, part of a plan to expand its reach and cut losses in half by the end of 2023. It’s part of Dufay’s strategy to reduce Jumia’s losses by 50% by the end of the year, through a combination of cutting costs and targeting high-growth rural markets. The company can expand into smaller cities at a fraction of the capital spending needed for larger ones due to the lack of competition, CEO Francis Dufay said. TechCentral
Volvo delivers first heavy electric truck to Morocco
Volvo Trucks has delivered its first heavy electric truck to the country of Morocco. Volvo delivered its truck to refuse collection company Arma. The delivery will be the first heavy battery-electric truck from a global manufacturer to be in commercial operation in Africa. TechNova
Diaspora remittances, impact of SVB’s failure on African startups in focus as ADIS begins today
The closure of SVB triggered panic on the African continent, and that fear is not without reason, according to the head of American technology startup accelerator Y-Combinator (YC), which has 80 African startups in its portfolio. “About 30 per cent of our companies exposed through SVB can’t make payroll in the next 30 days,” said YC president, Garry Tan. “All the startup founders groups I’m in are in full-on panic mode. Everyone is moving money around. Nobody knows which banks are safe.” Guardian
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