Kenya Protests Lead to Vetoing of Finance Bill
Kibo School shuts down operations and Andela adds new code playback feature
What’s happened this Week:
Kenyans can purchase Starlink with MPesa
Killer of Gokada Founder convicted of murder in court
and more!
In The News This Week:
Starlink Enables MPesa and Mobile Money Payment For Users in Kenya
Starlink, the space internet company from SpaceX, has introduced new pricing for Kenyan users as well as activating payments via MPesa and Airtel Money.
MTN In Discussions To Be Part Of 5G Public Network Infrastructure – Ghana Minister of Communication
In an interview with Citi Breakfast, a local morning radio show in Ghana, the Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu, answered a range of questions including the recent 5G public network infrastructure deal signed with Next-Gen Smart Infraco as well as other topics including Surfline, 5G rollout in Ghana, and taxing social media networks in Ghana
EdTech Kibo School Announces Shut Down Of Its Operations
Kibo, an online school that offers several STEM degree programs targeted at students in Africa, has announced that it will be shutting down and effectively ending its degree program in computer science.
In the rest of the news:
Claims By Ghanaians for Refugee Status In Canada Skyrocketed Between 2023 and 2024
Andela Adds Code Test Playback Feature to Bring Transparency to Technical Hiring Process
Tyrese Haspil Convicted Of Murder Of Gokada Founder in Manhattan Court
Five Influential Podcast Shows In Ghana You Should Listen To
Deep Dive
Kenya President “Vetoes” Finance Bill 2024 Which Sparked Protests Across The Country
Details: Kenya President William Ruto this week declined to sign the controversial finance bill which had sparked days of protests from Kenyan citizens.
Zoom In: The controversial Finance Bill 2024, a critical piece of legislation, was designed to overhaul the country’s tax system, aiming to increase revenue collections to support the government’s budget for the fiscal year 2024/25.
Zoom Out: As of 2024, Kenya’s national debt has reached significant levels. The total public debt stands at approximately KES 11 trillion (USD 78.9 billion), which represents a debt-to-GDP ratio of about 61.9%.
Africa Ecosystem Activity
Launch Africa Ventures has invested $4.3m in 16 startups from its 2nd fund so far - Disrupt Africa
Egyptian investtech startup Bokra plans swift Saudi, UAE expansion post-launch - Disrupt Africa
Launch Africa Ventures has invested $4.3m in 16 startups from its 2nd fund so far - Disrupt Africa
Egypt’s Connect Money raises $8m seed funding to launch embedded finance platform - Disrupt Africa
PODCAST: Jorge Appiah, Founder of Kumasi Hive and SolarTaxi
Jorge Appiah is a Ghanaian technopreneur and is the founder of the tech hub called Kumasi Hive and also the EV company SolarTaxi.
Jorge founded Kumasi Hive after his university studies which brought in people who had an interest in engineering and making hardware.
Later on, with a passion for creating net zero projects, he founded an EV company called Solar Taxi, which manufactures and assembles electric vehicles in Ghana.
The company is currently on a path to build EV vehicles locally with the acquisition of a license from the government to assemble vehicles locally in Ghana.
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Stat of The Day
According to new data from Top Universities, South Africa had the highest rankings for their universities in the Africa region.
The University of Cape Town topped the list for highly-ranked university in Africa
View more data insights below: