Jack Dorsey, Twitter CEO, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Square, Inc. will be the closing keynote speaker at this years’ Africa Fintech Summit 2020.
The virtual summit will take place from the 9th to the 12th of November 2020. With Jack speaking on the 12th. His closing keynote will revolve around the concepts of decentralized finance and opportunities it creates for financial inclusion.
The three-day event will foster discussions on the fintech ecosystems across the continent. It will also look at fintech enabled businesses and the business of fintech across the region.
Jack’s Square Inc. introduced a suite of innovative tools and services that supports financial inclusion and the growth of businesses. With the company announcing recently it would become one of the first publicly traded U.S. companies to hold Bitcoin on its balance sheet.
Africa Fintech Summit 2020 will host the regional finals of Pegasus Tech Ventures’ Startup World Cup global pitch competition. With the winner getting a chance to compete for US$1M at the global semi-finals in Silicon Valley in May 2021.
Uber is announcing the second edition of its Tech For Safety Summit for Sub-Saharan Africa. Scheduled to be held virtually on the 22 October 2020.
The event will foster conversations around safety challenges and how technology can be used to build safer communities.
Like last years’ Uber says the conversation will be around our daily safety concerns. Also noting that it will be “bigger, better and built with you in mind.”
We’re excited to again bring safety, technology and innovation to the forefront. … Bigger, better and built with you in mind, the summit plans to tackle some of Africa’s most pressing safety-related concerns. Which has been further complicated and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The safety of people across Africa is a priority that must be acted upon immediately in order to afford citizens the opportunity to enjoy their community and their country. The summit aims to redirect the constant ‘looking over our shoulders’ as we set our sights on a future that is safe, and attainable.
The event will also see startups pitch their “tech for safety” ideas live to a panel of judges and potential investors.
Update: New date for Nigeria event announced. Watch the full Kenya event below.
Join Microsoft Africa Development Center software engineer and program managers as they share their journey and experiences. Also, get to know the Microsoft product and services they are and have been working on. Finally, find out what it will take for you to join them in this virtual meetup.
There will be two virtual meetup sessions for each site location. The site in Lagos focuses on building Microsoft AI and Mixed reality services. Whilst the Nairobi team builds solutions and experiences for Windows and Microsoft 365. Click to register to participate in the event. There will be a Q&A session. so come with questions.
Introducing the Africa Development Center in Nigeria will now take place on the 4th of March 2021, 5:00 pm-6:00 pm (GMT+1). It was earlier scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 21 October at 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm West Africa Time (GMT +1). But due to the end SARS protests Microsoft has since postponed the Nigeria event and will be announcing a future date.
“Our team has been thoroughly assessing the recent situation (ENDSARS protest) in Nigeria, and based on the latest news, we decided to postpone our live event for a more suitable date in the future. We will come back with regular communications regarding the potential date of the event.“
Missed the Nairobi, Kenya event? Watch the it below.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella notes the Microsoft Africa Development Center will be at the forefront of building innovative solutions that benefit Africa and the entire world.
This year the Microsoft software engineers in Africa celebrated their first anniversary. The Lagos team also saw Azure Object Anchors mixed reality service for HoloLens become available in private preview as announced at Microsoft Ignite 2020.
Update February 22 2021, 6:40 PM GMT: Article updated with the new date and time for Nigeria event.
Update October 16 2020, 6:00 PM GMT: Article updated with additional details on the postponement of Nigeria event. Update October 16, 6:00 PM GMT: Article updated with additional details on the postponement of Nigeria event. Update October 27 2020, 2:30 PM GMT: Article updated with Youtube video of the Nairobi, Kenya event.
Chinese technology company Huawei is partnering with digital payment company Mondi Pay to bring seamless, contactless payments to customers in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region.
The partnership will give Huawei customers a simple, fast and secure way to pay for online services using their mobile phone without a card.
Mondia Pay will launch on HUAWEI Mobile Services’ (HMS) AppGallery as an e-wallet service in the MEA Region. With the service available in about twenty countries in Africa. These include Egypt, South Africa, Tunisia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Madagascar, Liberia, and Botswana.
Mondi Pay notes the strategic partnership will allow for increased direct carrier Billing service (DCB) coverage. And IAP (In-App Purchase) kit capabilities for global developers.
This is an endorsement of Mondia Pay’s industry expertise and deep routed knowledge of Africa. Notes Simon Rahmann, CEO of Mondia Pay, Speaking about the partnership.
“Customers across the continent will benefit from our fully integrated digital payment technology to make frictionless payments in a fast, safe and secure manner. We also support the natural progression towards cashless societies, fast-tracked by current affairs such as COVID-19.”
Adam Xiao, Managing Director, HMS and Consumer Cloud Service for Huawei Consumer Business Group MEA says the partnership is part of Huawei’s ongoing commitment to making it easier for local and global developers offer their services to millions in the MEA region.
“We welcome the opportunity to partner with Mondia Pay. To provide Huawei users across the MEA region with even more payment options. Mondia Pay allows for contactless payments without the need for bank cards in a safe and secure manner that protects the privacy of users,” he continues.
What do you think about the new Huawei Payments partnership? I’ll like to know your thoughts, share them with me in the comments.
The U.S. – Africa Tech Challenge will seek to identify African technologies that address the issues of state and non-state disinformation and propaganda.
Dr. David Bray inaugural Director of the Atlantic Council’s GeoTech Center and Executive Director of Commission on Geopolitical impacts of New Technologies and Data highlighted this during this year’s East AfricaCom 2020 virtual event.
The challenge will be held in a teo-part virtual event. The first event will take place virtually in April 2021. The second event also virtual will colocate with East Africacom 11th to 12th May 2021. Up to three winners of the U.S. – Africa tech challenge will receive a total grant of up to $250,000 USD.
Dr. Bray notes that “the very technologies that allow us to communicate and relate to each other online can and will be influenced by other nations and internally. We need to think about how we actually address these challenges“.
Atlantic Council will act as implementing partners of the challenge. It is sponsored by the U.S. State Department’s Global Engagement Center. It also is in partnership with, Twitter, U.S. Embassy Nairobi, the European Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IAD) and Park Advisors.
Watch the U.S. Africa Tech Challenge announcement below
Update: This now includes link to the event page, event dates and total grant amount for up to three winners, $250,000 USD.
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