Here are this week’s top headlines on startups, entrepreneurship, innovation and tech around Africa.
Dangote + Jumia. Dangote Cement has partnered Jumia Nigeria to sell cement online, in a bid to drastically reduce costs and curb logistic bottlenecks. A bag will retail for ₦2,500 and shipping is free but the catch is that there is a minimum order threshold and delivery is available only to Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.
While this is definitely a novelty from a corporate perspective, it is not the first time anyone will attempt to sell cement online in Nigeria. In 2015, a third-party merchant listed a truckload of cement on Konga for ₦2m. There have also been startups like Cribpark playing in the building materials space.
Travelstart acquires majority stake in Safarinow. Yesterday, South African-based travel booking company Travelstart announced its acquisition of a majority stake in Cape Town-based SafariNow.com — South Africa’s largest accommodation booking website. Read more on Ventureburn.
These online messages could soon be a crime in South Africa. Living in South Africa? Here’s some motivation to watch what you say online or end up with a 3-year jail term. Read more on BusinessTech.
Faiba waya. On Tuesday, Jamii Telecom introduced “Faiba” (an obvious play on fibre internet), a new 4G-only mobile network, into the already competitive Kenyan market with the promise of free on-net calls for life and ridiculously cheap data bundles. Needless to say, the Kenyan consumer space was agog with the news. Read more on Techweez.
Make-IT accelerator programme. The Co-Creation Hub (CcHub) recently announced the selection of 15 African startups, from a pool of over 280 applicants, that will take part in its Make-IT accelerator programme next year. Read more on CcHub website.
Have a digital technology solution for health, cyber-crime, Oil and Gas? Join the 2020 Nigeria Oil and Gas Hackathon. Submit your innovation at www.nogtech.ng.
Techpoint Build 2020 is holding virtually in August. Register free now to attend.
Nigerian startups raised $55.4m in Q1 2020; over 99% of which came from foreign sources. Find out more when you download the full report.
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