Ecosystem

Google has added 15 more African languages, including Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba, to Voice Search, Gboard talk-to-type, and Translate dictation features. It attributes this result to advances in AI, specifically multilingual speech recognition, which translates speech into text.

Edge Growth has secured $2.1 million to support South African SMEs, particularly high-growth companies aligned with social impact.

Egypt’s Sawari Ventures is launching a $200 million fund, “Sawari Ventures II,” in 2025, targeting startups in Egypt, North Africa, and West Africa. The fund focuses on fintech, deep tech, digital education, health tech, and climate tech sectors. The news:

Reunert Group of South Africa has merged its subsidiaries IQbusiness and +OneX to form iqbusiness, a business and technology services “digital integrator” that includes iqx and midnight.

DOB Equity, a Kenya-based impact investment firm, is shifting its strategy under new CEO Karen Serem Waithaka. The firm will now focus on sustainable food systems, renewable energy, and water sanitation in East Africa.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has committed $25 million to Acumen’s Hardest-to-Reach Fund, a part of a $200 million initiative to improve energy access in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited has signed a deal with Adani Energy Solutions to develop $736 million in transmission lines and substations. Adani will fund the project through debt and equity, to be repaid over 30 years.

he US-based BG Titan Group has launched its Titan E-Farms initiative in Uganda as part of a $650 million project. Following its debut in Uganda, BG Titan Group intends to expand the Titan E-Farms model to neighbouring East African countries.

XA Network, an investment firm founded in Southeast Asia, has said it’s expanding into Africa, with the launch of its subsidiary, XA Africa.

Bpifrance, a France-born venture capital (VC) firm, has set up a new base in Egypt as part of its strategy, with plans to expand across Africa and the Middle East (AME).

VC firm Equator Africa has closed an additional $ 5 million from the International Financial Corporation to bridge funding gaps for African climate tech innovations.

After the ₦100 million AI fund from Google faced significant backlash, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy announced that the government will launch a $1.5 million (₦2.5 billion) fund from Luminate on October 7.

The African Development Bank has approved €9.51 million ($10.5 million) for Comoros to build and operate a new data centre, enhance an existing one, and establish an incubator. The project will also create a National Authority for the Protection of Personal Data and Access to Information.

African-focused venture capital firm, TLcom Capital, leads fintech LittleFish’s seed round in its first South African investment, with Flourish Ventures as a co-investor.

Itana and the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) have formalised an agreement to jointly develop the first digital economic zone in Africa. The partnership was announced yesterday at the Global Africa Business Initiative (GABI), held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.  The AFC will lead the financing of the first phase of the…

Kenya’s Safaricom, a telecommunications company, has led a consortium of companies that will invest KES 104,808,136,478 ($812.4 million) over a ten-year period in the implementation of an Integrated Healthcare Information Technology System (IHTS).

Uncap, a VC firm that operates out of Germany and Kenya, has launched a $33 million Unconventional Fund to drive the growth of African small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The UK government’s West Africa Research and Innovation Hub has announced up to £1.9 million ($2.5 million) in funding to support science, technology, and innovation in Ghana and Nigeria. Proposal applications and submissions are expected by October 25, 2024.

Sultan Ventures, based in the United States, has expanded into the Middle East and Africa (MENA) region by acquiring Egypt’s Acasia Group, a multi-incubator operator and angel investment syndicate. However, Acasia Ventures is excluded from the acquisition.

The European Investment Bank and the Development Bank of South Africa have announced an additional commitment of $1.1 million each to the initiative launched to support private sector solar and wind energy projects in South Africa.