Headline:
Variant Hunters Race to Find New Strains Where Testing Lags
Description:
In countries without much sequencing, new versions of the Covid virus can go unnoticed. Scientists across Africa are collaborating to track them down.
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Afriex raises $1.2M seed to scale its payments and remittances platform across Africa
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Sending money from the U.S. to Nigeria can be a painstaking process. For remittance platforms like Western Union, it will cost a transfer fee and take between one to five business days for money sent from a U.S. debit card to enter a Nigerian bank account. C…
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Airtel Africa receives additional $100M for its mobile money business from Mastercard
Description:
Two weeks ago, TPG’s Rise Fund invested $200 million in Airtel Mobile Commerce BV (AMC BV) — the mobile money business of London-listed telecom Airtel Africa. After closing the deal, the Bharti Airtel subsidiary noted that it was still in discussions to give …
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Backed by YC, Vendease is building Amazon Prime for restaurants in Africa
Description:
For small and mid-sized restaurants in Nigeria and most of Africa, food procurement can be a complex process to manage. The system is such that a business can easily run out of money or have considerable savings. Most restaurants don’t have access to deal dir…
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DiDi Chuxing expands to South Africa, to take on Bolt and Uber
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Chinese ride-hailing company, DiDi Chuxing has started operations in South Africa today according to Reuters. Founded in 2012, the Beijing based company operates in more than 400 cities in China. It claims to serve over 550 million users in 16 countries acros…
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Why South Africa-based car subscription company Planet42 is going carbon neutral
Description:
Since ride-hailing companies like Uber and Bolt disrupted the transportation industry, one of the thorns on their sides has been traffic congestion and pollution. Research has shown that trips from ride-hailing cars have more emissions than those from persona…
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'This child was alive again'
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The journey from Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the deadliest migration routes in Europe.
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Ghana’s Redbird raises $1.5M seed to expand access to rapid medical testing in sub-Saharan Africa
Description:
For patients and healthcare professionals to properly track and manage illnesses especially chronic ones, healthcare needs to be decentralized. It also needs to be more convenient, with a patient’s health information able to follow them wherever they go. Redb…
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Binance-backed Xend Finance launches DeFi platform for credit unions in Africa
Description:
Nigerian startup Xend Finance uses decentralized finance (DeFi) to address currency devaluation. DeFi aims to bridge the gap between decentralized blockchains and financial services. Aronu Ugochukwu and Abafor Chima founded the startup in 2019, and Ugochukwu …
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The women fighting South Africa's 'infodemic'
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South Africa has faced a wave of Covid misinformation, but volunteers are fighting back.
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South Africa level one-day series against Pakistan despite Fakhar's 193
Description:
Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman hits a stunning 193 but South Africa win the second one-day international by 17 runs to level the series.
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South Africa’s Quro Medical comes out of stealth with $1.1M to expand its hospital-at-home service
Description:
For a continent with such stark inequality, Africa has seen limited innovation to increase access to healthcare and reduce healthcare delivery costs. Over the years, there has been continued investment in traditional care models despite the overwhelming evide…
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Japanese VC Samurai Incubate closes $18.6M fund for African startups
Description:
Samurai Incubate, a Tokyo-based venture capital firm, announced today it has closed its “Samurai Africa 2nd General Partnership” fund, totalling 2.026 billion yen (~$18.6 million). According to the firm, the fund was oversubscribed as it targeted 2 billion (~…
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Most African YC-backed startups in today’s batch are focused on fintech
Description:
In Africa, Y Combinator is known to be a major backer of most of the continent’s well-known startups. Two of the most talked-about in the last two quarters — Flutterwave and Paystack — are YC-backed. Their successes (Flutterwave’s billion-dollar valuation and…
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Twitter to set up its first African presence in Ghana
Description:
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, via a tweet today, announced that the company would be setting up a presence in Africa. “Twitter is now present on the continent. Thank you, Ghana and Nana Akufo-Addo,” he said. Twitter is now present on the continent. Thank you …
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Daily Crunch: Microsoft acquires Nuance for $19.7B
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Microsoft makes a big healthcare tech acquisition, Twitter is building a presence in Africa and Apple may be cooking up some new smart home products. This is your Daily Crunch for April 12, 2021. The big story: Microsoft acquires Nuance for $19.7B Microsoft a…
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Babar hits first international T20 ton in thumping Pakistan win over South Africa
Description:
Babar Azam makes his first international Twenty20 century as Pakistan cruise to a target of 204 and a nine-wicket victory against South Africa.
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U.N. experts alarmed by Russian security contractors' 'abuses' in Central Africa - Reuters Africa
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U.N. experts expressed alarm on Wednesday over reports of executions and other abuses by Russian security contractors in Central African Republic and over their close contacts with U.N. peacekeepers.
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Botswana bans poultry imports from South Africa after avian flu outbreak - Reuters
Description:
Botswana has banned the importation of poultry and poultry products from South Africa after an outbreak of avian influenza was detected on a chicken farm in South Africa, the agriculture ministry said on Wednesday.
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The holy month of Ramadan - Reuters Africa
Description:
Children sit near a mosque as they wait to break the fast during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Palu, Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, April 13, 2021. Antara Foto/Mohamad Hamzah/via REUTERS