Ecosystem

EXCLUSIVE

Google adds Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, 12 other African languages, to Voice Search and Translate dictation

Google Translate Search

EXCLUSIVE

South African investment firm gets $2.1 million to support SMEs

Edge Growth

EXCLUSIVE

Sawari Ventures to back more African startups with new $200 million fund

Sawari Ventures

EXCLUSIVE

South Africa’s Reunert merges IQbusiness and +OneX to have a digital integrator

EXCLUSIVE

Kenya’s DOB Equity shifts focus to sustainability under new leadership

Karen Serem Waithaka

EXCLUSIVE

IFC invests $25 million in Acumen’s fund to improve energy Access in Africa

Funding

EXCLUSIVE

KETRACO inks a $736 million deal with Adani for Kenya power lines

EXCLUSIVE

US-based BG Titan launches E-Farms in Uganda, plans to expand across East Africa

EXCLUSIVE

XA Network expands to Africa with the Launch of XA Africa

inve

EXCLUSIVE

Bpifrance launches in Egypt to strengthen venture capital ties with North Africa

EXCLUSIVE

Equator Africa gets $5 million to support climate tech innovation in Africa 

Equator VC

EXCLUSIVE

$1.5M AI fund: Nigeria’s move after Google’s ₦100M fund faces backlash

Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Technology, and Innovation, Bosun Tijani

EXCLUSIVE

Comoros gets $10.5 million from AfDB to construct a new data centre 

Data Centre

EXCLUSIVE

TLcom Capital leads seed investment in South African fintech LittleFish

TLcom Capital partners, Ido Sum, Omobolaji Johnson, Andreata Muforo, Maurizio Caio, and Eloho Omame

EXCLUSIVE

Itana and AFC look to create Africa’s Silicon Valley with Nigeria’s first digital economic zone

Itana

EXCLUSIVE

Safaricom and two others invest over $800 million in Kenya’s health digitisation

Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa

EXCLUSIVE

Kenyan-based Uncap launches $33 million fund to support early-stage SMEs in Africa

Uncap

EXCLUSIVE

UK Government invests up to $2.5 million into Ghana and Nigeria’s science, technology, and innovation

EXCLUSIVE

US-based Sultan Ventures expands reach into MENA with acquisition of Egypt’s Acasia Group

EXCLUSIVE

Investors increases support to $6.65 million for SA’s private sector renewable energy initiative





















Google adds Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, 12 other African languages, to Voice Search and Translate dictation

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.

Follow the story

South African investment firm gets $2.1 million to support SMEs

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

Follow the story

Sawari Ventures to back more African startups with new $200 million fund

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:

Follow the story

South Africa’s Reunert merges IQbusiness and +OneX to have a digital integrator

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.

Follow the story

Kenya’s DOB Equity shifts focus to sustainability under new leadership

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.

Follow the story

IFC invests $25 million in Acumen’s fund to improve energy Access in 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.

Follow the story

KETRACO inks a $736 million deal with Adani for Kenya power lines

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.

Follow the story

US-based BG Titan launches E-Farms in Uganda, plans to expand across East Africa

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.

Follow the story

XA Network expands to Africa with the Launch of XA Africa

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

Follow the story

Bpifrance launches in Egypt to strengthen venture capital ties with North 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).

Follow the story

Equator Africa gets $5 million to support climate tech innovation in Africa 

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

Follow the story

$1.5M AI fund: Nigeria’s move after Google’s ₦100M fund faces backlash

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.

Follow the story

Comoros gets $10.5 million from AfDB to construct a new data centre 

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.

Follow the story

TLcom Capital leads seed investment in South African fintech LittleFish

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.

Follow the story

Itana and AFC look to create Africa’s Silicon Valley with Nigeria’s first digital economic zone

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…

Follow the story

Safaricom and two others invest over $800 million in Kenya’s health digitisation

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).

Follow the story

Kenyan-based Uncap launches $33 million fund to support early-stage SMEs in Africa

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).

Follow the story

UK Government invests up to $2.5 million into Ghana and Nigeria’s science, technology, and innovation

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.

Follow the story

US-based Sultan Ventures expands reach into MENA with acquisition of Egypt’s Acasia Group

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.

Follow the story

Investors increases support to $6.65 million for SA’s private sector renewable energy initiative

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.

Follow the story