Hello,
Victoria from Techpoint here,
Here’s what I’ve got for you today:
- Angosat-2 goes commercial for startups and ISPs in Angola
- Ule Homes wants to fix Nigeria’s rent problem
- X sues startup trying to revive Twitter
X sues startup trying to revive Twitter
X is back in court over a name Elon Musk once said he was done with. The company has sued a US startup, Operation Bluebird, for trying to bring back Twitter as a separate social platform. What started as a trademark challenge has now turned into a full-blown legal fight over who really owns one of tech’s most famous brand names.
What this means is simple: X is no longer acting like Twitter is dead. By suing, the company is effectively saying the Twitter name still matters, still has value, and still belongs to it — even after years of insisting the platform had fully moved on to X.
Here’s how we got here: Operation Bluebird recently asked US trademark regulators to cancel X’s ownership of the Twitter and “tweet” trademarks, arguing that Musk abandoned them during the rebrand. The startup plans to launch a new platform called Twitter.new and says over 145,000 users have already reserved usernames. That traction appears to have pushed X into action.
X’s response is clear: Twitter never really left. In its lawsuit, the company argues that people still call posts “tweets”, the twitter.com domain still redirects to X, and millions of users still access the platform that way. From X’s perspective, Operation Bluebird isn’t reviving anything; it’s trying to cash in on Twitter’s goodwill and confuse users and advertisers.
The case now puts a long-running contradiction under the spotlight. X spent years publicly closing the door on Twitter, but the moment someone else tried to reopen it, the brand suddenly became worth defending. The court will decide whether Twitter was truly abandoned or just renamed, but one thing is already clear: walking away from a powerful tech brand is rarely as final as it sounds.
Ule Homes wants to fix Nigeria’s rent problem
For millions of Nigerians, finding a place to live isn’t really about preference; it’s about timing, luck, and whether you can raise a scary lump sum at once. Rent is usually demanded one or two years upfront, even though most people earn monthly. Add steadily rising rent prices, especially in Lagos, and you begin to see why many working Nigerians are priced out of decent housing. not because they can’t afford rent, but because they can’t afford how rent is collected.
That broken system is exactly what Ule Homes is trying to fix. The proptech startup is betting that rent doesn’t have to be a once-and-done financial shock. Instead, it lets users spread payments monthly while quietly building a credit history along the way. Simple idea, big relief.
Ule Homes was founded in 2024 by Chisom Okorie, Omolade Akinwumi, and Azeez Abdulyekeen, who met during a postgraduate programme at the Nigerian University of Technology and Management. What started as a class project officially launched in August 2024 and quickly took on a life of its own. In under a year, the startup has disbursed over ₦700 million in rent and housing finance to more than 182 paying customers across Lagos, Abuja, and parts of Ibadan.
The idea was deeply personal. None of the founders grew up in Lagos, and arriving in the city was a shock. Rents were higher, payment terms harsher, and saving felt like chasing a moving target as prices kept jumping. Even as working professionals, finding a decent place to live felt unnecessarily stressful. “We wanted to make housing easier and more bearable for people,” says Omolade Akinwumi, Ule Homes’ co-founder and CEO.
Things clicked when the founders shared a short explainer video online. The response was instant. Messages poured in from people who didn’t just relate to the problem; they wanted the solution. That was the moment Ule Homes stopped being an academic idea and became a real company. Curious about how the model actually works? Check out Delight’s latest story for a closer look at how Ule Homes is rethinking rent in Nigeria.
Angosat-2 goes commercial for startups and ISPs in Angola
Angola is opening up its national satellite, Angosat-2, to commercial telecom operators as it looks to push Internet access beyond the limits of fibre and mobile networks. The government has launched a new access hub that allows startups, ISPs, and telecom companies to tap directly into the satellite’s capacity, starting December 16.
What this means in simple terms is that smaller players no longer need to jump through heavy technical or commercial hoops to use satellite infrastructure. Through a new platform called Conecta Angola Comercial, companies can request equipment, services, and satellite capacity from one place, making it faster to roll out connectivity projects, especially in areas where traditional networks don’t reach.
Officials say the move is designed to unlock innovation. By lowering entry barriers, the government wants startups and small-to-medium businesses to build services on top of Angosat-2, from community Internet access to specialised connectivity for businesses and public institutions. “We want to enable SMEs and startups to deliver connectivity and innovation services directly to communities,” said telecoms minister Mário Oliveira.
This push fits into Angola’s broader strategy of using space technology to close its digital gap. Angosat-2 was launched in October 2022 and cleared for commercial use in early 2023. One of its most visible projects so far is Conecta Angola, led by Angola Telecom, which provides free internet to schools, hospitals, and local government offices in remote areas where no mobile operator is present. The programme has already set up dozens of access points and reached hundreds of thousands of users.
The timing matters. Angola’s internet penetration has grown quickly, from about 32.6% in early 2023 to nearly 45% at the start of 2025, according to DataReportal. But millions remain offline, mostly outside major cities. By opening Angosat-2 to the private sector, Angola is betting that satellites, startups, and partnerships can help take connectivity to the last mile faster than cables alone ever could.
In case you missed it
- When Cloudflare sneezes, the Internet catches a cold: Why everything stops working when Cloudflare is down
What I’m watching
- A science-backed guide to freeing children from smartphone addiction | Clare Morell: Full Interview
- One big reason that life on Earth exists – Elise Cutts
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Have a fun weekend!
Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa
