Airtel became the second telecom to launch 5G in the East African country, following Safaricom’s October 2022 launch. Airtel says that it has 370 5G sites spread across 16 counties. However, the service is expected to focus on customers in major areas and cities such as Nairobi, Nakuru, Mombasa, and Kisumu. Ashish Malhotra, the managing director of Airtel Kenya, says Airtel 5G will revolutionise various sectors, such as smart cities, education, healthcare, agritech, transport systems,...

Airtel Zambia has announced that it has purchased 60MHz of additional spectrum spread across the 800MHz and 2600MHz bands from the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority for a gross consideration of $29 million, payable in Zambian Kwacha. Airtel Zambia says the additional spectrum will support the expansion of the telco’s capability in providing mobile data and fixed wireless home broadband services, and help accelerate the 5G rollout. ZICTA further clarified that the...

Kenyan business publication Business Daily reported that the telco had acquired the necessary spectrum in Kenya, and is planning to introduce 5G network in high-income neighbourhoods in Kenya. Airtel Africa CEO Segun Ogunsanya, says the service will be launched in selected cities where Airtel recognises enough devices and enough purchasing power to really enjoy the benefits of 5G. He believes that 5G is good in the medium term adding that their focus will continue to be on expanding our 4G...

The Central Bank of Kenya has announced the successful separation of the mobile money business from the telecommunications business, which was previously under Airtel Networks Kenya Limited. The CBK licensed Airtel Money Kenya Limited as a payment service provider on January 21, 2022, and also granted a transition period to complete the transfer. AMKL and ANKL are now separate subsidiaries of Airtel Africa Plc, which has operations in 14 African countries and is listed on the London Stock...

South Africa, international marketplace Airbnb launched a $500,000 fund geared towards supporting tourism in Africa. Per Velma Corcoran, the company’s regional lead for MEA, says the fund will be used to help governments, entrepreneurs and tourism organisations identify and unlock new tourism opportunities across different communities in Africa. The funds will also be dispersed via awards and grants given to local stakeholders. The company will also give access to the City Portal to 10...

Airbnb acquired a secretive AI startup, GamePlanner.AI for around $200 million. GamePlanner was co-founded by Adam Cheyer, who famously helped co-launch the startup Siri, which Apple acquired and whose technology became the basis for Apple’s AI-powered Siri assistant. Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky hinted that the 12-person startup combines expertise in AI and design toward crafting AI-driven experiences — sort of like an AI-focused consultancy. This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if...

Afropolitan, a startup that wants to build a digital nation for Africans, has raised pre-seed funding of $2.1 million, according to its co-founder, Eche Emole. Afropolitan started out as an organisation that organised parties, events, and festivals for the African diaspora. The former CTO of Coinbase, Balaji Srinivasan conceives a network state as a digital nation built without the historical constraints of a physical nation, and that presents citizens with a fresh stab at societal and...

Nigerian payment service provider Nomba has raised $30 million in a pre-Series B investment to support the delivery of bespoke payment solutions for African businesses. The round, which values the company at $150 million+ according to YCombinator data on its most valuable companies, was led by San Francisco-based Base 10 Partners. Partech and Khosla Ventures, existing investors from its $5 million Series A round in 2019, participated, as well as new backers, including Helios Digital Ventures...

Airtel Uganda has shifted the closing date for its initial public offering from October 13 to October 27. The company will begin trading its shares on November 7 instead of the initial November 3. Airtel is offering 20% of its total stock, 8 billion shares, on the main investment market segment of the Uganda Securities Exchange at Shs100 ($0.0269) per share. Airtel opened its IPO for subscription on August 30, 2023, and was expected to close by October 13. T he company expects to raise...

The African Development Fund and Smart Africa Alliance have jointly launched a $1.5 million project to streamline digital trade and e-commerce policies across 10 African countries. The project will evaluate policy gaps in the digital trade and e-commerce ecosystems of Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Ghana, Liberia, Uganda, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, the Republic of Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The project will see the implementation of regional training and...

American multinational computer software Adobe announced that it will acquire the design startup Figma for $20 billion, taking out one of its biggest rivals in the digital design space. Figma CEO, Dylan Field, says that with Adobe’s amazing innovation and expertise, especially in 3D, video, vector, imaging and fonts, they can further reimagine end-to-end product design in the browser while building new tools and spaces to empower customers to design products faster and more easily. The $20...

South African accounting firm Mazars stated that crypto exchange Binance.com is fully collateralized. Binance had commissioned the report to assure customers that it had enough reserve funds to cover customers’ assets on the exchange at a ratio of at least 1:1. Binance’s bitcoin asset balance (Binance’s bitcoins) was 582,486 bitcoins and its customer liability balance (customers’ bitcoins) was 597,602 bitcoins. Comparing these two figures, Binance’s bitcoin holdings are under-collateralized...

British multinational bank Standard Chartered (StanChart) revealed that it had completed negotiations to have all its sub-Saharan African assets acquired by Access Bank. The deal, which is set for competition in 2024, will see the sale of StanChart’s subsidiaries in Angola, Cameroon, Gambia, and Sierra Leone, with the exception of StanChart’s Nigerian subsidy. Access Bank will also acquire Standard Chartered’s consumer, private, and business banking business in Tanzania. Standard Chartered...

The payment app, Abeg, has rebranded and will now be called PocketApp, a move that underlines its transition from a payment app to a social commerce app. Abeg, a subsidiary of Piggytech Global Limited, secured approval-in-principle for a mobile money operator license application from the Central Bank of Nigeria to expand the scope of its social commerce operations across the country. Piggytech Global co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer Joshua Chibueze says that PocketApp is trying to...

AWS announced its AWS Digital Sovereignty Pledge as nations across the globe introduce legislation that governs how and where businesses can keep data on their local users, the large clouds either have to offer attractive solutions or run the risk of having their customers move to local clouds. Matt Garman, AWS’s senior vice president of Sales, Marketing and Global Services, notes that giving customers control over their data has always been a priority for AWS, but with constantly shifting...

Nigeria-based agritech AFEX has secured $26.5 million in funding. The British International Investment signed a new partnership with the agritech that will see the investor commit $26.5 million to the company’s activities. AFEX has BII’s investment for the development of 20 modern warehouses strategically located in Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda. The new warehouses are expected to offer an additional storage capacity of 230,000 metric tons for AFEX. This expanded storage infrastructure will...

Google announced that 60 African startups have been selected for the second cohort of its Google for Startups Black Founders Fund. Each of the selected startups will receive support in the form of a 6-month training programme that includes tailored workshops, community-building sessions and access to a network of mentors to assist in tackling challenges that are unique to them. The 60 startups will also get equity-free funding between $50,000 and $100,000, and up to $200,000 in Google...

DataPortal’s Digital 2023 South Africa report shows that more than a quarter of the country’s population still does not have access to the internet. South Africa had 43.48 million internet users, an internet penetration rate of 72%. Social media users stood at 25.80 million people, roughly 42.9% of the total population which stood at 60 million. The number of internet users in the country increased by 357,000 compared to the same period in 2022. This show is part of the Spreaker Prime...

Google is granting equity-free funds to startups in Europe and Africa through its Black Founders Fund. This year’s cohort showcases remarkable diversity, with 25 out of 40 startups originating from Africa, and an impressive 72% of them being led or co-founded by women. Google’s BFF grants 25 African startups $4 million in funding and support. Each startup will receive up to $150,000 cash, $200,000 Google Cloud credits, mentorship, and valuable connections. Nigeria leads with 10 grantees,...

Airtel Africa has announced plans to list shares on the Uganda Securities Exchange. The company plans to sell 20% of its shares—equivalent to 8 billion shares— to the public via an initial public offering and It will do this through its subsidiary in Uganda, Airtel Uganda Limited. Airtel Africa stated that the offer is expected to result in significant local ownership of Airtel Uganda Ltd., prioritising Ugandan investors. Additionally, this initiative is anticipated to play a role in...