A selection of tech news from Nigeria and Africa at large.
TECHGhana’s mPharma downsizes | Itana raises $2 million | 40% fintech security issues | AltSchool launches new schools | DRC-based Itot learning services | Flutterwave Expands to India
TECHGhana’s mPharma downsizes amid economic challenges – Ripples News
Ghanaian healthtech platform mPharma, founded in 2014, has made a significant workforce reductions amid challenging economic conditions in Africa.
The startup, which raised around $90 million in funding, including $30 million in 2022, has announced the layoff of 150 employees due to macroeconomic conditions linked to the devaluation of the Naira.
This step is aimed at ensuring the continued service of over 200,000 patients who rely on mPharma’s Mutti service, the startup’s online pharmacy service.
The economic challenges faced by mPharma are not unique. Several startups across Africa have had to take drastic measures to adapt to the tough economic climate. Read more here:
Itana raises $2 million pre-seed to build Africa’s first digital free zone – Nairametrics
Nigerian startup, Itana, formerly known as Talent City, has raised $2 million in a pre-seed that will power its dream of building Africa’s first digital free zone.
The pre-seed round was led by global venture capitalists LocalGlobe, Amplo, Pronomos Capital, and Future Africa. The deal brings together a powerhouse of deep industry expertise and technical know-how from partners that have backed model digital societies such as e-Estonia and are building products that scale.
Founded by CEO Luqman Edu, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, and Coco Liu, Itana plans to enable global tech and service companies to situate their African operations from Nigeria, and also take advantage of globally competitive business policies and incentives. Read more here:
40% of fintech apps in Nigeria have security issues – Nairametrics
Mobile application security company, Appknox, has said that its analysis of fintech apps in Nigeria shows that 40% of the apps are vulnerable to high and critical impact issues.
The Chief Executive Officer/Co-Founder of Appknox, Harshit Agarwal, disclosed this during a round-table meeting organized by CED Technologies and Appknox with the theme, ‘How to think security first in a super-fast mobile economy – Act or React’.
Of the 40%, he said over 80% lack sufficient code obfuscation, 60% have broken/disabled SSL and certificate pinning, 35% are affected by network security misconfiguration and 25% indicate recording of audio and screen activity. Read more here:
Nigeria’s AltSchool Africa launches new schools to upskill Africans in creative, business industries – Disrupt Africa
Nigerian skill-to-market platform AltSchool Africa has expanded its learning faculty to introduce creative economy and business schools, following an impressive 40 per cent completion rate in its first year.
Founded in 2021 by Adewale Yusuf and Sultan Akintade, who are also co-founders of another Nigerian ed-tech company TalentQL, AltSchool aims to equip Africans with in-demand tech and employability skills to help them launch their careers.
Taking a non-conventional approach to learning, the tech-enabled platform has traditionally offered courses directly related to in-code and no-code. Strengthening its push in the ed-tech sector, the startup has added content creation, sales, and music business – using Afrobeats as a case study – to its existing nine courses, with applications now open for the first cohort of these new streams.
The startup, which raised a US$1 million pre-seed round in February 2022, has in the last two years facilitated nearly three million hours of training for tech roles, including software engineering, data science, and product design. The new programmes are focused on non-traditional careers beyond the technology field, and are designed to provide a comprehensive and experiential upskilling platform for aspiring learners looking to forge careers in other growing sectors. Read more here:
How DRC-based Itot Africa is providing online learning services to upskill African youth – Disrupt Africa
DRC-based startup Itot Africa is providing customised digital content, coding, programming, training and e-learning to businesses, SMEs and entrepreneurs in Africa and the United States.
Itot Africa, an ed-tech startup based in Lubumbashi and launched in 2017, recently received EUR54,000 (US$59,000) in matching funds from the Catalytic Africa initiative, supporting an investment made into the startup by DRC Impact Angels.
The startup’s flagship product Okademy is an online learning, on-demand training and career tracking platform. Meanwhile, with its network of affiliated and trained students, Itot Africa also supports the digitisation process of its clients by creating technology solutions.
“We cater to three primary categories of individuals – those seeking knowledge to fill a personal gap or follow technological trends, those aiming to meet recruitment requirements or find employment, and professionals looking to reinforce their skills,” co-founder Samy Mwamba told Disrupt Africa.
“Our comprehensive services extend beyond training to include recruitment and software development, supporting businesses in their digital transformation journey. We engage our alumni to provide apt solutions based on specific corporate demands. Additionally, companies seeking human resources turn to us for recruitment and placement services, benefiting from our robust database of skilled professionals.” Read more here:
Africa Payment Giant, Flutterwave, Expands to India – Techeconomy
According to reports, African payments startup Flutterwave has partnered with IndusInd Bank to enter the Indian market. Olugbenga Agboola, Flutterwave Co-Founder and CEO asserts that this move makes Flutterwave the first African company to scale up remittances from India to Africa, easing the process for users.
Agboola, who is currently in India after receiving an invitation from Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to attend the Nigeria-India Business Roundtable that took place on the fringes of the G-20 Summit, stated that Flutterwave will seek out more partners to expand its footprint in India.
A more intensive and clearly defined regulatory partnership between the two nations, he continued, may assist in advancing and encouraging information exchange and technology transfer as well as improving the Nigeria-India remittance corridor. Read more here:
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Image Credit: Ripples Nigeria
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