Africa Tech News

Amazon alleged in a legal filing published that the National Labor Relations Board is unconstitutional. SpaceX and companies that, like Amazon, have repeatedly faced labor law violations from the federal agency have recently made similar attacks that threaten national worker protections. Amazon claims that the NLRB’s structure is unconstitutional because administrative law judges are insulated from presidential oversight, thus violating the separation of powers. The company also argues against the structure of NLRB itself, as well as its ability to fine a company for unfair labor practices after a hearing, rather than a full jury trial.

Partech has closed its second Africa fund, Partech Africa II, at $300 million+, just one year after reaching its first close. Partech Africa, which originally targeted €230 million before its fundraising efforts started, solidifies its position as the largest fund dedicated to African startups. Amidst a backdrop of global VCs and institutional investors pulling back from Africa, Partech Africa’s recent fund closure is significant. The continent witnessed a notable decline in investor activity, with a 50% decrease in 2023 compared to the previous year, as highlighted in a Partech report. This retreat, influenced by global economic shifts and local challenges, translated into reduced venture capital inflows for African startups, totalling between $2.9 billion and $4.1 billion last year, down from $4.6 billion to $6.5 billion in 2022.

Roam, a Kenya-based electric vehicle company has raised $24 million in equity and debt to expand local manufacturing capabilities in Kenya, scale up production at its new 10,000 sqm Roam Park facility, invest in research and tooling for cost efficiencies, and streamline local and global supply chain networks. The $14 million Series A funding round was led by Equator Africa and participation from At One Ventures, TES Ventures, Renew Capital, The World We Want, and One Small Planet, among other prominent private and institutional investors. The $10 million debt facility was provided by the International Development Finance Corporation. Estimates from the BloombergNEF show that EV sales are projected to reach 16.7 million in 2024, representing a 20% increase from the previous year.

Botswana’s telecoms regulator has warned the public against the importation, use, and resale of Starlink devices in the country. The importation, use, and resale of Starlink devices are punishable offences in Botswana, according to the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority. Starlink is not yet licensed in the country and the regulator has stated that it is currently vetting the service’s application. Reports indicate that some owners of Starlink devices, who claim to be using them for personal use, are being barred from entering the country with them at the Kazungula border post with Zambia, where the service has officially launched.

Disha announced the product will be paused indefinitely from March 31, 2024. Its 100,000 creators have until then to migrate their content and profiles to other platforms. Flutterwave’s CEO Olugbenga Agboola says at the time, that he considered Disha the creator version of Flutterwave Store which now serves over 900,000 businesses across 154 countries. Early in 2022, Flutterwave also paused its Barter by Flutterwave, its virtual dollar card service, due to problems its partner company, Union54, faced with chargeback fraud.

The country, in 2019, approved $433 million to bankroll a five-year project that would provide everyone with unique 11-digit identification numbers that would be registered to every SIM card. So far, about 102.39 million NINs have been registered. Security officials in the country’s tech capital of Lagos have announced the reactivation of tracking devices to apprehend kidnappers. The Lagos State Commissioner of Police says that it’s working with several other agencies to apprehend culprits in hot zones. The tech used to track SIM cards and match the national identity numbers registered to the cards has been deactivated since 2021. The sources also revealed that the payment for the tracking service at the NPF was suspended at the same time.

Oregon may soon become the latest state to pass right-to-repair legislation. Last month, Google lent its support in an open letter, calling Senate Bill 1596 “a compelling model for other states to follow. The bill, sponsored by a sextet of state senators and representatives, was inspired in part by California SB 244, which Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law in October. Apple openly supported that bill — a rare endorsement from a tech giant that loves playing it close to the vest. Cupertino is, however, less enthusiastic about certain inclusions in the Oregon legislation that were absent from the California law. John Perry, Apple's senior manager, of Secure System Design, says Apple agrees with the vast majority of Senate Bill 1596 and appreciates her willingness to engage in an open dialogue.

Ethiopia is placing a ban on gasoline and diesel car imports, and express admission on electric vehicles. Transport Minister Alemu Sime, says prioritises both green energy and reducing dependence on fuel imports. The ban will involve smoke tests for current vehicles, with those failing considered unsuitable for road use. The government intends to establish a robust network of EV charging stations to support the expected increase in electric vehicles. The government’s decision in 2022 to offer tax exemptions for electric cars also underscores its commitment to green initiatives. However, several companies are starting to assemble and sell EVs locally, including Hyundai and Marathon Motor Engineering.

Kenya has proposed an AI and robotics law that includes fines of up to $6,250 for unlicensed businesses. The Kenya Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Society Bill 2023 introduced the fine to regulate and support the growing sector. The bill also outlines the establishment of the Robotics Society of Kenya (RSK), a proposed regulatory body empowered to issue licences and levy the $6,250 fine on unlicensed businesses. Failure to comply could even land offenders in jail for two years. This body will also advise the government on emerging trends in AI and robotics. The proposal has sparked discussions among AI enthusiasts and advocates, who view the law as a severe threat to innovation and growth and believe that it is merely another avenue for the government to create unnecessary bureaucracy and generate revenue.

Ibrahim Ibitade, CEO of Leatherback, a cross-border payments startup that operates in seven countries, has successfully cleared his name following an intense episode with Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the EFCC. Ibitade deemed the EFCC’s actions bullying and is now seeking accountability for the agency’s lack of due diligence. Leatherback denied the rumours, of lost money to SDQ Facilitators but an EFCC investigation into SDQ Financials was launched. The investigation revealed that SDQ used Leatherback’s naira and USD wallets, but Leatherback claims they were unaware of any fraudulent activity. Leatherback says it will continue its trajectory towards success, as the company claims it processed $500 million in monthly transactions by June 2023 and was nearing the $1 billion mark before the EFCC episode.

African fintech giant Flutterwave is seeking to retrieve $24 million illegally transferred in October 2023 through a combination of a technical glitch and potentially fraudulent activity by POS merchants. The fintech company will reach out to over 6,000 account holders across 35 banks and financial institutions involved in unauthorised transactions. A recent High Court ruling will allow Flutterwave to contact account holders via email, SMS, and WhatsApp messages, with assistance from a recovery agency to recover the funds, according to court documents

MTN-owned fibre solutions Bayobab announced that its subsea internet cable, 2Africa, has landed in Nigeria and Ghana. TechCabal reports that the cable was set to land in Nigeria in November 2023. The 45,000-kilometre cable is being hailed as the world’s largest subsea cable project, and Bayobab, which is backed by Meta, says the cable will provide Ghanaian and Nigerian internet providers with more capacity and fairer access to data centres, leading to faster, more reliable internet for businesses and individuals alike.

The Space X-owned service which kicked off in Nigeria has snaked its way across the continent, launching in Kenya, Rwanda, Zambia even eSwatini, all while avoiding South Africa. Starlink won’t acquiesce to South Africa’s equity requirement: that 30% of its company or any foreign company launching in the country must be owned by South Africans. South Africans are however using Starlink though via resellers like IT Lec and StarSat. Starlink says resellers are violating its terms of use, and its copyrights by using the Starlink logo for their marketing. The SpaceX-owned company has also asked resellers to cease all unauthorised resales immediately.

The Central Bank of Nigeria eliminated the cap on exchange rates quoted by International Money Transfer Operators. CBN previously controlled the exchange rate at which International Money Transfer Operators like Western Union and MoneyGram could sell foreign currency to Nigerians. The CBN previously allowed the IMTOs to deviate from the official rate by a maximum of 2.5% (-2.5% to +2.5%). The new development is in response to the suspected hoarding of foreign currency by Nigerian commercial banks. The FG earlier gave a directive to commercial banks to release non-essential foreign currencies—currencies not needed for legitimate import payments, overseas travel allowances, or student tuition fees—to tame the naira’s depreciation against the dollar.

The European Union’s AI Act, a risk-based plan for regulating applications of artificial intelligence, has passed what looks to be the final big hurdle standing in the way of adoption after Member State representatives today voted to confirm the final text of the draft law. The development follows the political agreement reached in December — clinched after marathon ‘final’ three-way talks between EU co-legislators which stretched over several days. The work to turn agreed positions on scrappy negotiation sheets into a final compromise text for lawmakers approval kicked off — culminating in today’s Coreper vote affirming the draft rules. The planned regulation sets out a list of prohibited uses of AI (aka unacceptable risk), such as using AI for social scoring; brings in some governance rules for high risk uses (where AI apps might harm health, safety, fundamental rights, environment, democracy and the rule of law).

CEO Stefan Ytterborn says Electric motorcycle startup Cake filed for bankruptcy February 1. The Swedish company was in the middle of a funding round, just prior to the filing, but apparently the withdrawal of an investor was what tipped the company over the edge. Ytterborn says that he had nothing else in mind but to find a solution in one format or another. Cake raised a $14 million Series A in 2019. It followed that with a $60 million Series B round in 2021 led by Swedish pension fund AMF. The capital was meant to fund manufacturing facilities in Europe, North America and Asia and to scale up its retail capabilities.

MultiChoice says it will make a new $89 million cash injection in Showmax, its streaming platform, by the close of March 2024. The latest development comes as Showmax gears up for its February 12 relaunch. MultiChoice is now in talks to be acquired by Canal+ after the French giant offered to acquire all outstanding shares they don’t already own in the company for R105 ($5.65) per share—an increase from the broadcaster’s current share price of R79 ($4.25). Canal+ began acquiring shares in the South African company in 2020, and steadily increasing its stake to 31.7% by June 2023. Vivendi, owners of Canal+ stated that it was increasing its stake in MultiChoice for international expansion.

Starlink has had its application to launch in Botswana rejected The low-orbit satellite service, owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, was denied its application to operate in the African nation ahead of a planned Q4 2024 launch. The regulator says that the company did not share all the necessary information. It is unclear which information Starlink did not provide in its original application. Starlink also continues to face regulatory pushback in Southern Africa. The South African government rejected its application for failing comply with a mandatory requirement of 30% ownership to historically disadvantaged people. In Zimbabwe, legislators based their rejection of Starlink’s application on an EU investigation into X.

Airtel Africa, a telecom company operating across 14 African countries faced headwinds from Nigeria’s naira devaluation and reported a loss after tax of $151 million in its Q1—April 1 to June 30, 2023 results. The telecom giant recently released its 9-month financial report ending December 2023, of a profit before tax of $2 million, a significant decline from the $523 million profit it recorded in the same period in 2022. Airtel witnessed a significant drop in profits last year due to the decrease in the value of currencies in some of its main markets: Nigeria, Malawi, Zambia, and Kenya.

Spotify issued its response to Apple’s new DMA rules, calling the new fees imposed on developers extortion and Apple’s compliance plan a complete and total farce that demonstrated the tech giant believes that the rules don’t apply to them. Apple earlier this week announced a host of changes that comply with the letter of the EU law. The company say that app developers in the EU will receive reduced commissions, but it also introduced a new core technology fee that requires developers to pay €0.50 for each first annual install per year over a 1 million threshold, regardless of their distribution channel. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, whose company sued Apple over antitrust concerns, already condemned Apple’s plan, saying it was a case of malicious compliance and full of junk fees, and now Spotify is essentially saying the same.