When most countries were forced into lockdowns in 2020, there were concerns about the impact on Internet speeds.
With more people working from home, it was expected that there would be increased traffic resulting in slower Internet speeds. With most African countries primarily running on 4G networks, some telcos began testing 5G networks.
In South Africa, MTN is doing the same and, on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, announced a $39.1 million investment in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. This news started our discussion on the Techpoint Africa Podcast.
For our Senior Reporter, Oluwanifemi Kolawole, although 5G can only work with 5G-powered devices, bringing 5G connectivity to rural areas could help organisations in these places. It could also encourage migration from remote workers, a phenomenon that Emmanuel is counting on.
Y Combinator’s impact on African startups was the next topic on the agenda. If you were not aware, Y Combinator is the Ivy League of accelerators and has backed some of the most successful companies globally, including Stripe and Airbnb.
Some of the most valuable startups in Africa, including Wave, Paystack, and Flutterwave, are Y Combinator alumni.
Our Intelligence arm just concluded a report in partnership with Y Combinator, which you can download here. The discussion on Y Combinator’s impact led us to share our thoughts on funding as a metric for judging successful startups.
Oluwanifemi and Ogheneruemu said startups should be judged by factors other than how much they have raised, a position I agree with. After all, recent events (read Fast and Theranos) have proven that a startup’s ability to raise money does not indicate how well the business is doing.
Last but not least was Norebase’s $1 million seed round and its launch of what I call Incorporation as a Service (IaaS).
Let the best of tech news come to you
Give it a try, you can unsubscribe anytime. Privacy Policy.
With this new offering, B2B startups can now help businesses on their platform get incorporated or register a business name. We also discussed the possible use cases and the possible effects on both businesses and governments.
The Techpoint Africa Podcast is available on all Podcast platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. You can also share insights or snippets on social media with the hashtag #TechpointAfricaPodcast. We also welcome feedback at podcast@techpoint.africa.
