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Summary of the news

• 54gene has sacked 25% of its workforce
• Amazon Web Services has launched a fintech accelerator for Africans
• Elon Musk said Twitter is now worth about $20 billion
• Nigerian lawmakers have said CBN should tell banks to upgrade their mobile apps technology

Ecosystem

• Amazon Web Services has launched a business accelerator for fintech companies in Africa, TechCabal reports. Startup Loft Accelerator will focus on fintech and fintech-adjacent startups operating in Africa. The AWS FinTech Africa Accelerator will train chief executive and chief technology officers in strategy, tech team management, product development, and helping founders prepare for navigating the complexities of fundraising.
• 54gene has carried out another round of layoffs, letting go of 25% of its workforce, TechCabal reports. The company now has less than 30 people working there. “54gene’s new leadership is focused on prioritising the company’s core mission and positioning the company for future success, and that means certain roles were redefined or eliminated in recent months,” the company said.

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Policy

• The Nigerian House of Representatives has adopted a motion asking CBN to direct commercial banks to rebuild their existing electronic banking platforms to provide Nigerians with a seamless online banking experience, Technext reports. Hon. Sergius Ogun of Edo (PDP), said that sections 88 (1) and (2) of the Nigerian constitution empower the National Assembly to conduct investigations into the activities of any authority executing or administering laws made by the Assembly, like the CBN.

Social Tech

• Twitter said that it will remove the “legacy” blue checkmark badges from verified accounts on April 1. Any accounts verified under the old system will no longer have the blue checkmark badge on their profiles unless they subscribe to Twitter Blue, Technext reports.

Global News

• Ethereum-based adult entertainment platform SpankChain is shuttering its crypto payment processor, SpankPay, after losing its payment service provider Wyre in February and failing to find a new one, Cointelegraph reports.
• Elon Musk said Twitter is now worth about $20 billion, according to an email he sent the company’s employees on Friday, a significant drop from the $44 billion that he paid to buy the social network in October, the NYTimes reports. “Twitter is being reshaped rapidly,” Musk wrote, adding that the company could be thought of as “an inverse start-up.”
• TikTok CEO, Shou Chew defended the app and its parent company ByteDance, during a five-hour hearing before the American Congress, arguing that the Chinese government didn't control the app. “ByteDance is not owned or controlled by the Chinese government. It is a private company.” “We do not trust TikTok will ever embrace American values. TikTok has repeatedly chosen the path of more control, more surveillance and more manipulation. Your platform should be banned," an American politician said during the session.
• In America, Federal labour regulators have concluded that Amazon’s policy of restricting the warehouse access of off-duty employees is illegal. The Amazon Labor Union contends that the access policy makes it difficult for workers to exercise their right to talk to co-workers about joining or supporting a union, the NYTimes reports. An Amazon spokeswoman, Mary Kate Paradis, said that the company had adopted the rule to protect employee safety and building security and that it applied the rule fairly and in a way that “has nothing to do with whether an individual supports a particular cause or group.”
• Apple enjoys a "symbiotic" relationship with China, CEO Tim Cook said on Saturday, as the iPhone giant looks to move production out of the country. Cook, who is in China to attend the high-profile China Development Forum, said "Apple and China grew together," the Financial Times reports.

Latest in funding

• Dylibso raises $6.6M to help developers take WebAssembly to production
• Huupe, a ‘smart’ basketball hoop startup, raises its game with $11M

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Other stories we are following

• Why Whatsapp chatbots are rising in popularity in southern Africa
• ‘So infuriating’: TikTokers are fuming over potential ban
• The teen mental health crisis: a reckoning for Big Tech
• Meet Duke Ekezie-Joseph, Kippa’s president on a mission to improve African SMEs
• ChatGPT started a new kind of AI race — and made text boxes cool again
• The layoffs will continue until (investor) morale improves