Innovation Archives - Inside Business Africa

Apr122021 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

New digital wallet set to raise banking competition

Innovation

A digital app that enables users to receive and send money for free and perform other banking services seamlessly has taken off, raising the emerging competition for banking services. The app was unveiled by Nigeria’s payment solution provider, PurplePay, but it targets the huge global electronic payment ecosystem hopes to leverage and revolutionise the emerging peer-to-peer transfer lifestyle. The digital payment platform promises to offer consumers’ experience and deliver seamless transactions to change the way businesses and other organisations send and receive funds. It is the pocket-friendly, convenient and safest way to send and receive money, pay bills and top-up airtime with ease anytime and from anywhere, the promoters said. Users would also enjoy physical dollar ...

Mar162021 by info@insidebusinessafricang.comNo Comments

PayPal, Flutterwave partner to enable merchants receive payments across Africa.

Business, Innovation, Technology

PayPal has announced a partnership with Flutterwave users to allow its users anywhere in the world pay African merchants directly using their Flutterwave Store account. This announcement comes barely a week after Flutterwave completed its Series C funding with a funding of $170 million. Pushing the value of the company to over $1 billion. Through this partnership, African businesses and individuals can now connect with more than 377 million PayPal users globally and overcome the challenges presented by the highly fragmented and complex payment and banking infrastructure on the continent. Prior to this partnership, PayPal’s full range of services were only accessible to 12 African countries. However, this agreement brings PayPal closer to over 50 countries where F...

Jan122021 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

Macron tells Idris Elba he will invite young Africans to summit, not leaders

Innovation

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has pledged to invite young Africans rather than their political leaders to a key France-Africa summit in a video call with the actor Idris Elba. The Élysée Palace said Elba, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations’ international fund for agricultural development, had asked to speak to the French leader. The Guardian was the only newspaper invited to attend the discussion at the Élysée, which marked the start of the One Planet biodiversity summit in Paris. Macron also announced that he would increase France’s contribution to the International Fund for Agricultural Development from €57.8m to €86.7m. Elba and his wife, Sabrina Dhowre Elba, asked the president to join them in their campaign to stop the economic shock caused by Covid-19 trig...

Dec152020 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

HexGn & Africa Islamic Economic Foundation (AFRIEF) Team up to Train 100,000 Youth in Africa for Innovation Economy

Innovation

HexGn, a consulting firm known for fast-tracking entrepreneurship and upcoming technologies globally, has joined hands with the Africa Islamic Economic Foundation (AFRIEF) (AFRIEF.org) to launch its flagship start-up program, HexGn Start-up Explore, in Africa to accelerate the careers of African youth, including students, and graduates towards the innovation economy. HexGn Start-up Explore, is an action learning programme that equips participants with critical thinking development skills, innovation, entrepreneurial mind-set and informed choices for their future. For Africa, HexGn is offering 100,000 StartUp Explore Programme licenses that will train and support 100,000 youth annually to become founders and owners of businesses, job creators and global age experts. The scale a...

Nov252020 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

Experts urge intervention for Nigeria’s fragile innovation system

Innovation

National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM) has stressed the need to strengthen Nigeria’s innovation system for economic development and sustainability, while canvassing huge investment in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI). NACETEM’s 2020 National Business Innovation Survey, undertaken to measure the state of innovation in Nigeria’s manufacturing and service sectors, showed the country has a weak national innovation system. Director-General of the Centre, Prof. Okechukwu Ukwoma, argued that science and technology can only have a meaningful impact on the socio-economic transformation of countries if it influences development processes and births new products in the market. Ukwoma added that the experience of successful developing countries shows that integrating STI ...

Sep292020 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

FG to disburse N300m MSMEs Survival Fund to mark 60th anniversary

Innovation

Government has concluded arrangements to share about N300million under the National Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) Survival Funds scheme to about 333,000 artisans and transporters, as part of measures to commemorate Nigeria’s 60th Independence anniversary on October 1st. The government named target beneficiaries of the scheme include mechanics, taxi drivers, hairdressers, keke NAPEP riders, Okada riders, plumbers, electricians among others. It said the beneficiaries are to be drawn from 12 states, including Lagos, Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano, Plateau, Borno, Ekiti, Anambra, Abia, Kogi, Ondo, and the FCT respectively for this first phase of the scheme. The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Ambassador Mariam Yalwaji Katagum, made this known in Abuja, while ...

Sep282020 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

Nigeria sees accelerated cloud uptake as companies push digital transformation

Innovation

Olajide Osho-Thomas Nigerian businesses are becoming increasingly innovative as they implement digital transformation strategies, finding new ways to improve business processes with the use of technology that will ultimately yield better efficiency and cost savings for the business. The country’s key technology stakeholders are in the financial services sector, which is resulting in a push for broader financial inclusion by government and sector regulators. Currently, about 40% of Nigeria’s adult population are financially excluded. The goal is to address this and instead drive financial inclusion up to 80% by the end of 2020. Traditional banks, which are facing growing competition from emerging fintechs, are having to embrace digital solutions to improve service levels and reach a bro...

Sep102020 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

Sterling Bank to host Africa’s biggest digital agriculture summit

Agriculture, Innovation

What comes to mind when you think of Agriculture? The produce, the farmers, investments, tech or the next level? The next level that will propel us into the much-needed transformation with the design and implementation of the right policies, scalable innovation alongside focused and sustained investment. It is no news that the existing frameworks and age-long practices in Africa’s agriculture sector are outdated and need to be improved upon. Transforming the continent’s agriculture sector into a powerhouse that will not only feed the continent’s growing population but will also boost the economy, create decent employment for millions of people and hopefully absorb the shocks from the Coronavirus pandemic. Agriculture is one of the sectors Sterling Bank holds close to its HEART. As one...

Aug272020 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

Dr. Akinwumi Adesina re-elected as President of the African Development Bank Group

Innovation

Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina has been re-elected to serve a second fiveyear term as President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB.org) on Thursday, August 27, 2020 by the Board of Governors of the Bank. A globally renowned development economist and a World Food Prize Laureate and Sunhak Peace Prize Laureate, Dr. Adesina has distinguished himself in driving a bold agenda to reform the Bank and accelerate Africa’s development. He was first elected as President of the Bank on May 28, 2015. As newly re-elected President, Dr Adesina, a former Nigerian Minister of Agriculture, will begin his new term on September 1, 2020. The election result, which gave him a hundred percent of votes of all regional and non-regional members of the Bank, was announced by the Chairperson of the Board o...

Jul232020 by Joshua OlotuNo Comments

Twitter sees surge in users; revenue slides amid turmoil

Innovation

Twitter said Thursday user growth soared in the past quarter even as ad revenues took a hit amid civil unrest in the United States. The short-messaging service reported a net loss of $1.2 billion in the quarter, most of that coming from setting aside funds for income taxes. Revenue slumped 19 percent from a year ago to $683 million. Despite some modest rebound from the pandemic-induced economic slump, Twitter said that “many brands slowed or paused spend in reaction to US civil unrest” in May and June. Twitter said ad revenue declined 15 percent over the last three weeks of June, but appeared to have rebounded since then. A key metric for Twitter, the number of “monetizable” daily active users, hit 186 million for a jump of 24 percent from last year. This was “driven by ...