A Land Dispute on a Skatepark Could Impact Spotify's Creative Investment Deal in Ghana
Jospong Group to electrify its trucks and SolarTaxi selected for Qualcomm program
What’s happened this Week:
Jospong Group partners with ZeroNox to electrify its truck fleet
Microsoft to host its game studio camp in Africa in July
and more!
In March this year, US Vice President Kamala Harris paid a trip to Ghana where one of her stops was at a place called “Vibrate Space”. Vibrate Space was created was Surf Ghana, an NGO created by Sandy Alibo to help the youth in various ways. Surf Ghana also helped to build Ghana’s first skatepark last year.
The skatepark has attracted a lot of celebrities including Chance the Rapper and Kendrick Lamar.
This week, there was an issue raised by an unnamed person who claimed that the skatepark was built on land they had previously purchased. They hired some workers to demarcate the land with a wall between the skatepark and the Vibrate space building, resulting in an indefinite closure of the entire space.
In the same week of the US Vice President’s visit, Spotify announced an investment into Vibrate Spaces to help it scale.
With the land dispute and the current closure of the space, the state of the deal might be in jeopardy.
In The News This Week:
ZeroNox and Jospong Group Launch World’s Largest Fleet Retrofit Electrification Project
ZeroNox launched its partnership with the Jospong Group of Companies (JGC) to advance clean technology solutions in Africa
Microsoft To Host Xbox Studios Game Camp In Africa on July 15th
Microsoft, through its Africa Transformation Office (ATO), has confirmed that its Xbox Studios Game Camp will be hosted in Africa.
Ghanaian Insurtech Brolly Accepted Into Techstars Accelerator
Brolly, a Ghanaian insurtech specializing in affordable car insurance has been selected for the Summer 2023 cohort of the world-renowned Techstars accelerator in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Ghana’s SolarTaxi Selected For Qualcomm’s Make In Africa Mentorship Program
Qualcomm has announced the 10 startups selected to participate in the inaugural Make in Africa startup mentorship program. The list includes Ghanaian EV startup SolarTaxi.
Story Features
Accra Is An Overrated City In Need Of An Overhaul
Can Accra be considered a “modern” city?
Historically, the city has been falling behind in a lot of areas. From its “outdated“ city design to its ever-increasing traffic congestion to its outrageous prices for accommodation, Accra is not the model you’re looking for when it comes to modern cities like Singapore or Stockholm.
So what’s wrong with it? Where did it all go wrong and can it be fixed?
Africa Ecosystem Funding Activity
Tunisian e-commerce startup Drest raises $336k to fund African expansion - Disrupt Africa
Kenyan fundraising startup Raise secures investment from US-based firm Carta - Disrupt Africa
Egyptian fintech startup Balad raises 7-figure pre-seed funding round - Disrupt Africa
SA e-health startup Quro Medical raises $1.3m funding from Mineworkers Investment Company - Disrupt Africa
New “What’s Your Story” Podcast Episode
Originally trained as an optometrist in Ghana, Nii Lante Heward Mills, is a tech entrepreneur and current country manager of Viamo. He is passionate about developmental work and reducing health inequalities.
The new season is sponsored by Paystack, a leading payments company in Africa.
The new episode is now available on podcast platforms
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