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Summary of the news

• Kenya's M-Pesa is speaking to Amazon to become a payment partner
• The supreme court said it would deliver judgment on the suit challenging CBN's naira redesign policy on March 3
• The tech industry has laid off 108,346 workers so far in 2023
• Amazon.com Inc. says it has completed its purchase of 1Life Healthcare Inc., for $3.49 billion

Ecosystem

• Payday which announced this week that users can pay for their Starlink on its platform said that it now has over 200 thousand users, a significant feat for the company that is only a year and some months old. But the celebration quickly ran short as users lamented on social media delayed responses. "We appreciate your patience and understanding during this time. We promise to keep working hard to improve our customer service," the company said in a statement. (Twitter)
• South Africa's Planet42 has raised $100 million to scale its operations across South Africa and Mexico. CEO Eerik Oja said the investment includes $15 million of equity, $10 million of debt from shareholders and a $75 million credit facility, TechCabal reports. “In South Africa, we want to put the pedal to the metal using this new financing to quickly add about 10,000 more cars to the fleet. In Mexico we are exploring where best to find customers, and how to switch on dealerships," he said.
• Bosun Tijani, CEO of Co-Creation Hub which launched just launched a $15 million edtech accelerator said the company is focused on bridging the gap between the ecosystem and government authorities. “It is important that when we build a program that not only finds the smartest people in the startup ecosystem but also connects the startup ecosystem with government authorities, public sectors, schools, and academic institutions so that we can ensure that there’s a clear understanding of how to scale education solutions in the space,” he told TechCrunch.
• Kenya's M-Pesa is speaking to Amazon to become a payment partner, moving forward with a conversation that was first ignited in 2021, Techpoint Africa reports. The company is now also distancing itself from its parent, Safaricom which is struggling with dwindling share prices.

A word from Yellow Card

Policy

• The supreme court said yesterday that it would deliver judgment on the suit challenging CBN's naira redesign policy on March 3, Technext reports. “With the way this matter is going, they are looking for a scapegoat and we refuse to be that scapegoat. We are going to hear everything and take our decision. If you have a contempt proceeding, we will also hear it today," Justice Inyang Okoro said.

Social Tech

• The tech industry has laid off 108,346 workers so far in 2023, per data from Layoffs.fyi, a website that tracks job losses in the tech sector. This represents about 67.2% of the total amount of tech layoffs recorded last year: 160,997, according to the layoff tracker, Technext reports.
• Reviews for African Queens: Njinga now on Netflix are coming out. "Many stories need to be retold by the hunted as hunters are usually the storytellers and are always keen on tilting the story to suit their narratives and validate their biases. Njinga’s story is one of them," Technext writes.

A word from Polygon

Global News

• America's Supreme Court heard debates yesterday on whether Twitter can be held liable for failing to remove "terrorist content," CNBC reports. The question in the case is whether Twitter can be held accountable for aiding and abetting a specific international terrorist act because it did not take more aggressive action against terrorist content on its service, given that it generally works to moderate and remove terrorist content under its policies.
• Amazon.com Inc. says it has completed its purchase of One Medical parent 1Life Healthcare Inc., sealing the $3.49 billion acquisition after the US Federal Trade Commission declined to challenge it, Bloomberg reports. The deal gives the e-commerce giant a network of primary-care doctors, Amazon’s biggest move to date into the healthcare industry. The announcement comes as Amazon employees express dismay about the sudden return-to-office policy at the e-commerce giant.
• Yesterday the Bank of Israel published principles that would guide the operation of stablecoins in the country. The central bank’s recommendations include stablecoin issuers maintaining reserves equivalent to the amount of crypto in circulation and dividing supervisory functions between numerous regulators, Technext reports.

Latest in funding

• Planet42 bags $100 million to make affordable car renting a reality in South Africa and Mexico

Other stories we are following

• How to use the INECTrainingBot to get answers about the 2023 elections
• As Nigeria’s big banks struggle with reliability, more customers are turning to digital alternatives
• How to monitor the 2023 presidential election results with the INEC Result Viewing portal (IReV)
• How big techs’ paid blue checkmarks will affect the creator economy
• Judge Hears Arguments in Suit Over Musk’s Tesla Pay

Correction