Is Google Falling Behind When It Comes To AI?
Flutterwave expands to Rwanda and Chipper Cash is weighing a sale
What’s happened this Week:
Nigerian fintechs are creating a blacklist to combat fraud
Chipper Cash is considering a sale after events of FTX and Silicon Valley Bank
and more!
It looks like the AI wars are starting to heat up.
This week, just after Google announced that it’s adding some AI features to its Workspace product for its users, OpenAI announced that GPT4, the next version of GPT3 which currently powers ChatGPT.
Not to be outdone, LinkedIn (which is owned by Microsoft), announced new AI tools for generating content on the platform.
Then Microsoft yesterday at its “Future Of Work with AI” announced its “Copilot” AI assistant for its Office 365 apps including Word, Powerpoint, and Outlook.
Google appears to be falling behind with Microsoft + Open AI seemingly launching new products left and right. And Facebook appears ready to also launch some of its own AI products as well.
The AI wars are definitely getting interesting.
At least, Ghana is doing its part to dip its toe in the world of AI.
In The News This Week:
Payshap Launches To Enable Instant Payments And Transfers Between Bank Accounts In South Africa
A new payment platform called Payshap has launched in South Africa. Payshap is backed by the South Arica Reserve Bank and local banks and allows South Africans to transfer money instantly between their phones, without a bank account.
Nigerian Fintech Startups Partnering To Create A Blacklist To Curb Fraud Cases
According to some reports, some large fintechs in Nigeria are working on a joint strategy to tackle fraudulent transactions within their networks. The group is working on a “blacklist” of suspected criminals.
Ivory Coast To Construct 70 Megawatt Solar Plant In Partnership With UAE Company Masdar
Ivory Coast has signed an agreement with UAE renewable energy company Masdar to explore the development of a 50-70 megawatt (MW) solar power plant.
Chipper Cash Currently Looking At Options Including Weighing A Sale
Microsoft has added 13 new African languages to its Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services Translator, allowing text and documents to be translated to and from these languages across the entire Microsoft ecosystem of products and services.
Flat6Labs Launches New US$95M Venture Capital Fund to Expand its Impact in Africa
Yango has signed a strategic partnership with leasing and logistics company, Leasafric to add thousands of new cars to the service by the end of 2023.
Flutterwave Secures E-Money and Remittance Licenses In Rwanda
Flutterwave, one of Africa’s biggest payments technology companies, has announced that it has received its Electronic Money Issuer and Remittance Licenses from the National Bank of Rwanda.
Zoho To Open New Headquarters In Nairobi In April
Zoho Corporation, the Indian technology company building enterprise management solutions has announced the opening of its new headquarters in Nairobi. The office will be ready for operations by April.
Story Features
Are Ghanaian Banks “Innovative” When It Comes To Consumer Banking?
Does it feel like Consumer Banking in Ghana is kind of “stagnant”?
That depends on who you ask. But there is data to suggest that consumer banking in Ghana is lagging compared to other countries.
According to a 2020 report by PwC Ghana, only 36% of bank customers in Ghana are satisfied with their primary bank, compared to 52% in Nigeria and 74% in Kenya.
We took a closer look at the current environment with consumer banking in Ghana
Africa Ecosystem Funding Activity
Applications open for Green Entrepreneurship Awards 2023 - Disrupt Africa
15 startups selected for Google for Startups Accelerator: Women Founders Africa Programme - Disrupt Africa
SA’s Naspers shutters multi-billion dollar Foundry fund for local startup investments - Disrupt Africa
Nigeria launches $672m fund to boost tech, creative sectors - Venture Burn
Ecosystem Data Portal Updates
We’ve added a new section to our data portal: We’ve added a funding counter for tech startups and companies in Ghana. Here’s a preview of it:
We’re also added in a data component for Africa women in Tech.
You can access all this data by subscribing to our portal here for $20/month (or 60GHC a month)