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Good Morning!
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The exodus of Africa's ultra-rich due to economic challenges signals deeper issues within the continent's economic landscape.
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As reported by Bloomberg, "the number of millionaires living in Africa dropped by nearly 20,000 in the past decade as the continent’s ultra-rich either moved away or saw dramatic currency depreciations eat away at their wealth."
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"There are now just 135,200 individuals with wealth of $1 million or more, an 8% decline from 2013," the report continued.
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While capital flight undoubtedly hinders local investment and economic growth, it can also be a wake-up call for African governments. The question becomes: is this a cause for despair, or an impetus for reform?
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The flight of capital and talent highlights the need for policies that promote stability, encourage investment, and foster an environment conducive to wealth creation within Africa.
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Instead of relying on short-term fixes, governments must prioritise long-term strategies aimed at building sustainable economies that benefit all citizens.
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Failure to address these underlying issues risks perpetuating a cycle of economic instability and further widening the wealth gap.
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Below are the tech stories you need to know to start your day, carefully curated by Technext.
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Summary of the news
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- Google fires 28 employees for protesting $1.2 billion Israeli contract
- Wema Bank removes seven fintech partners from its payment gateway platform over fraudulent activities
- LinkedIn has quietly started testing a new service for small and medium businesses
- Amazon started a fake business called Big River Services International to spy on rivals
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Ecosystem
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Global smartphone shipment continues to witness impressive growth as the first quarter of 2024 saw 289.4 million smartphones shipped across the world.
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This number represents a 7.8 per cent year-on-year increase as well as a third consecutive quarterly growth.
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This is according to data from the International Data Corporation (IDC). According to the Corporation, the smartphone market is seeing a major shift powered by sharp increases from Chinese makers. Chief among these Chinese makers are Transsion and Xiaomi.
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While Xiaomi reported a shipment of 40.8 million smartphones registering a 33.8 per cent growth, Transsion, on the other hand, witnessed the biggest growth in the quarter, shipping 28.5 million smartphones representing an astounding 84.9 per cent growth. (Technext)
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- Wema Bank has said that it has removed and suspended about seven fintech partners from its payment gateway platform over fraudulent activities. A statement from the bank on Wednesday revealed that there had been a recent increase in fraudulent inflows into some wallet accounts operated by some of its fintechs partners using its third-party wallet accounts. (Punch)
- Pishon Health, a leading African healthcare innovation incubator, announced the launch of its Social Innovation Incubator program. The 12-week program aims to empower innovators in developing technology-driven solutions with the training, mentorship, and potential funding needed to transform their healthcare visions into thriving realities while addressing the continent’s most pressing healthcare challenges. (Technext)
- Nigeria’s MAX, a pioneer in electric vehicle solutions in Africa, and Ghana’s Kofa, a leading innovator in energy networks, have partnered in a deal that will see MAX offer financing options for over 2,000 revolutionary TailG Jidi bikes, co-developed by Kofa and TailG. MAX democratises access to vehicle ownership and electric mobility across Africa through a tech-driven platform that offers a spectrum of services, including subscription-based vehicle financing,cutting-edge electric vehicle options, and comprehensive support services. (Disrupt Africa)
- MTN Group and Huawei have officially launched the Technology Innovation Lab in South Africa. The partnership aims to reduce the time it takes for MTN's products and services to reach the market. It also aims to improve rural network coverage, increase energy efficiency, and make it more affordable. The innovation lab will conduct research and development in areas such as 5G and 5G-A technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics, cloud computing, FTTH, automation, and digital finance. (Techpoint)
- Findings from a new study reveal that marginalised groups such as women and people with disabilities are still faced with obstacles like harassment, pay disparities, and limited access to smartphones and bank accounts when trying to use digital platforms for livelihood opportunities. (Techpoint)
- Mobile money operators (MMOs) in Nigeria, comprising the likes of OPay, Palmpay, and others, witnessed a surge in transactions in the first quarter of 2024, hitting 17.2 trillion naira. This is according to data released by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS). The mobile money transactions figure for Q1 2024 represents an 89% year-on-year. growth when compared with the 9.1 trillion naira transactions recorded in the same period in 2023. (Nairametrics)
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Crypto
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Remember last week when we talked about Bitcoin halving? It's happening this week and we thought to remind you.
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Another Bitcoin halving is expected to take place on April 20. This makes it the fourth time the leading crypto coin has been halved since the cryptocurrency’s first block was mined in 2009.
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Bitcoin Halving happens roughly every four years.
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The most recent Bitcoin halving event took place on 11 May 11, 2020. This time, Bitcoin has seen an appreciation of 14% in the month leading up to the halving so far.
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But what is the halving about and what does it mean for bitcoin users/enthusiasts?
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Every four years (after 210,000 blocks), the bitcoin halves as a way to reduce the reward given to these miners.
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- The CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance said the company is working very closely with Nigerian authorities following the detention of its head of financial crime compliance. A Nigerian court has adjourned until May 2 a case against the executive, Tigran Gambaryan, and another Binance official, who are accused of laundering more than $35 million, the country's anti-corruption body said on April 8. (Reuters)
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Policy
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Kenya plans to mandate TikTok to publish compliance reports every three months as part of its strategy to increase efforts to regulate the short-video platform.
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The Ministry of ICT recently informed lawmakers that this move is part of a strategy to address TikTok's negative effects rather than ban it from the country.
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According to the new development, ICT Principal Secretary John Tanui stated to legislators, "To facilitate easy community reporting, TikTok is required to share quarterly compliance reports with the ministry, clearly showing content removed and reasons for the same."
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In March 2024, Kenya’s Interior Ministry considered limiting the use of TikTok by government officials to protect sensitive data and Kenyans' security. (Techpoint)
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- The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has said that Nigerian students will need to present their National Identification Number (NIN) and Bank Verification Number (BVN) to access student loans. In addition to these requirements, the students are also required to provide their Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination registration number. (Nairametrics)
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Social Tech
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LinkedIn has quietly started testing a new service for small and medium businesses.
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The company is working on a new LinkedIn Premium Company Page subscription, which — for fees that appear to be as steep as $99/month — will include AI to write content and new tools to grow follower counts, among other features to raise the profiles of the company using them.
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LinkedIn quietly started to post information describing its new Premium Company Page six days ago. (TechCrunch)
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Global News
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Amazon started a fake business called Big River Services International to spy on rivals such as Walmart, eBay, and FedEx—an operation it called “Project Curiosity”—according to a Wall Street Journal investigation.
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The project started in 2015 as a way to compare the experiences of third-party sellers on Amazon’s site to those of e-commerce rivals—already a questionable aim—and quickly morphed into a means of snooping on competitors, especially Walmart.
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Big River bought merchandise and sold it on Best Buy, Overstock, and Walmart. It stored its inventory with Fedex, UPS, and other logistics services that rival its own, The Journal reported. (Quartz)
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- A financially motivated criminal hacking group says it has stolen a confidential database containing millions of records that companies use for screening potential customers for links to sanctions and financial crime. The hackers, which call themselves GhostR, said they stole 5.3 million records from the World-Check screening database in March and are threatening to publish the data online. (TechCrunch)
- Meta has released the latest entry in its Llama series of open generative AI models: Llama 3. Or, more accurately, the company has debuted two models in its new Llama 3 family, with the rest to come at an unspecified future date.
- Google has fired 28 staff following a prolonged sit-in protest at the company’s Sunnyvale and New York offices. The employees were protesting against Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud computing contract inked by Google and Amazon with the Israeli government and its military three years ago. The controversial project, which reportedly also provides Israel with the full suite of Google Cloud’s artificial intelligence and machine learning technology, allegedly has strict contractual stipulations that prevent Google and Amazon from bowing to boycott pressure. This effectively means that they must continue providing services to Israel no matter what. (TechCrunch)
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Other news we are following
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