Posts by Alastair Tempest

Journalists and media freedom activists in Lesotho are objecting to a government proposal to restrict social media, saying it amounts to stifling free speech. The regulations, which are before Parliament, would require all social media users…

The Seychelles’ government is finalizing amendments to the Business Tax Act to become compliant with the European Union on tax matters, and the legislation is expected to come into effect…

SAPO has been planning an ecommerce platform for the last 4 years, since it was awarded the task to provide the Southern Africa region with a centralised ecommerce service by…

Investment in African startups could drop by as much as 40% by the end of the year due to the Covid-19 pandemic—but the bigger question for smaller startups is if they will…

Mdundo, which was launched in 2013 and is now based in Denmark, provides access to all the continent’s favourite music to over 5 million monthly active users in 15 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, with…

Gozem started out in the ride-hailing business in Togo in November of 2018 and expanded to neighbouring Benin in 2019 while adding auto-rickshaws (“tuk-tuks”) to its taxi services. In July 2020, it launched an ecommerce delivery services in Lome and Cotonou, allowing…

In Namibia, “Citizen Connect,” a collaboration between the Microsoft 4Afrika Initiative, the MyDigitalBridge Foundation, and the Millennium Challenge Account Namibia, is delivering broadband Internet to 27 schools and 7 circuit offices of the Ministry…

Mastercard has partnered with Samsung, Airtel and Asante on a Pay-on-Demand platform designed to provide safe, secure and convenient consumer financing via Samsung devices with the embedded Knox security platform,…

A report by fDi Intelligence shows that there were 998 projects financed by foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa last year.  Egypt, South Africa, and Morocco were responsible for the greatest share, with Egypt (136 projects in…

U.S. blockchain research firm Chainalysis reports that monthly cryptocurrency transfers to and from Africa of under $10,000  (typically made by individuals and small businesses) jumped more than 55% in a year to reach $316…