Here are last weekend’s top headlines on startups, entrepreneurship, innovation and tech around Africa.
Bottling up 7up. Majority shareholder in struggling Seven-Up bottling company, Affelka has made an offer to buy out minority shareholders for ₦19.33 billion ($60 million), in a takeover deal that will delist the company from the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Read more on Reuters.
Do-It-Yourself ISP. Mankosi is a small and remote rural community in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province that struggles with basic amenities like power and connectivity. But with help from a research team at the University of the Western Cape, they’ve been able to develop arguably South Africa’s first and only Internet Service Provider (ISP) that’s owned and run by a rural cooperative. Read more on MyBroadband.
Cloning Bill Gates? Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) board, Sen. Olabiyi Durojaiye says the Commission will soon unveil a strategy that would enable Nigeria leverage the ongoing digital revolution to produce “many Bill Gates” in the country (whatever that means). Read more on Vanguard News.
Konga ends Pay on Delivery. Nigerian eCommerce giant, Konga recently laid off about 60% of its workforce, in what seems to be a move to drastically reduce operational costs. They’ve also made the decision to put a stop to Pay on Delivery (PoD) for good. Read more on Techpoint.
Top 10 African countries ranked by ICT development. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)’s ICT Development Index (IDI), here are the most advanced African nations in ICT development. Spoiler: You won’t find Nigeria in the top 10. Read more on the ITU website.
Featured Image: Abayomi Abiru.
