Telecoms

South Africa is seeing another multinational exit with network operator Lyca Mobile’s shutdown. 

The news: Last week, the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) stated that it’s cutting ties in SA. Users had until January 9, 2024, to hop onto another network or face the risk of losing their phone number and access to text, call and data services.

The reason: Lyca’s announcement didn’t say much, but the company’s long-time partner Cell-C is facing significant financial challenges. Lyca launched in SA in 2017 thanks to a partnership with Cell-C. As an MVNO, Lyca uses other telecoms’ physical infrastructure—in this case, Cell-C’s. 

Cell-C, however, has lost 9 million customers between 2021 and 2013, and has a R10.7 billion debt ($576 million). Some analysts deem the company technically insolvent. 

South Africa is expensive for telecoms: South Africa’s load shedding is also leaving businesses blind. The country’s continuing declining electricity supply forced MTN to spend an extra $84 million on power supply and security last year. Vodacom has spent at least R4 billion ($218 million) on generators since 2020, and Telkom says it spent R655 million (35.2 million) on diesel and batteries in 2023 alone.

While Lyca didn’t have to deal directly with these as an MVNO, its partner certainly did as Blue Label, Cell-C’s parent company, also reported profit declines due to load shedding.

Meanwhile, Lyca is still active in Tunisia and Uganda where, in October 2023, it refuted rumours of a shutdown. Around the same time, it also suffered a hack that disrupted services for its 16 million customers across the world. Lyca is the second MVNO to exit South Africa in three years; the first was Virgin Mobile which exited the country in 2021 after succumbing to financial hurdles.

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Layoffs

In what is the biggest layoffs of 2024 so far, global investment bank Citigroup has announced that it will cut 10% of its workforce, about 20,000 jobs, by 2026. 

A tough quarter = tough decisions: According to chief financial officer Mark Mason, the layoffs are part of the company’s reorganisation and bid to boost its bank results. The company has had four rough quarters culminating in Q4 2023 when it recorded $1.8 billion in losses, the biggest losses recorded since 2009 when it recorded $8.9 billion in losses in its fourth quarter.

At the time, the company was recovering from a humbling financial crisis that saw 73,000 jobs cut in 2008 due to a $20 billion loss. To recoup some of its 2008 losses, the company sold off some of its business arms and raised $9 billion in the process. 

History repeats itself: Citigroup is playing the same card. The bank has sold some of its operations outside the US including its China consumer unit, its Vietnam business unit, and several other businesses across South East Asia. In Mexico, failed efforts to sell its consumer unit Banamex have led the company to list it as a standalone firm in pursuit of a 2025 IPO listing.

Startups

A surprising turn of events has Nigerian fintech Woven has retracted its shutdown announcement.

In an email shared with customers last Wednesday, the company had announced an imminent shutdown. “After a thorough analysis of the current market dynamics and their impact on our business model, Woven Finance has resolved to cease its payment services operations in the first quarter of 2024,” the email read.

And now? Woven says the email was sent in error. In a call with TechCabal, a highly-placed source said the email was unauthorised. The company also backtracked on its service transfer to Hydrogen. Woven says it will continue to operate until its board or shareholders decide to cut the wool. 

Woven acquired a PSSP licence in 2022, and this could mean the company is exploring new avenues for their operations without abandoning existing services. 

Zoom out: The incident exposes communication problems at Woven. While the company promises to send updates, mixed messages won’t reassure customers and could spark a bank run if there isn’t one already. 

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TC Insights

Electric mobility in Africa is still in its development stage. Although the sales of electric vehicles (EVs) on the continent have increased in recent years, they have remained the lowest worldwide. 

For instance, South Africa is the continent’s largest e-mobility market, yet electric vehicles account for 0.05% of the total 12 million automobiles in the country at 1,000 EVs as of 2022. While these electric vehicles offer cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternatives, their path to widespread adoption is faced with controversy and challenges.

The chart shows that the projected stock of electric vehicles (EVs) in sub-Saharan Africa by 2040 is expected to be 13.5 million in the base case and 25 million in the accelerated case. The base case assumes that current trends continue, while the accelerated case assumes that there are significant policy interventions to accelerate the transition to EVs.

As the majority of EVs in sub-Saharan Africa are expected to be two-wheelers, this also makes electric motorcycles hold significant potential in Africa, given the continent’s vast fleet of two-wheeled vehicles due to their affordability, durability, and manoeuvrability as attractive options for African riders. Now, the ambitious goals of African EV startups are met with doubts due to several factors such as high EV prices, unfriendly government policies, lack of charging infrastructure, high customs duties, and poorly maintained roads create substantial roadblocks for the industry.

A major hurdle for EV adoption in Africa is the reliability and affordability of electricity supply. Inconsistent electricity availability and sky-high prices are clogging the wheels of EV adoption in Africa. African governments need to elevate their game and invest in improving the grid infrastructure to power up the EV revolution. However, such infrastructure development requires substantial investment. According to estimates, an annual funding of $100 million is needed from international governments and aid organizations to scale EV adoption in Africa to 10% of total vehicle sales by 2027.

Africa’s electric vehicle revolution promises a jolly ride towards sustainable transportation. But there’s controversy already in the air. From carbon footprints to charging challenges and the need for international funding, the road ahead may be a bit bumpy. African governments, alongside international support, need to step on the accelerator, address policy barriers, and spark innovation to make this EV adventure a success to set Africa ready for an electrifying future on its roads.

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Stat of the week

1.6 million: That’s how many point-of-sale (POS) agents Nigeria has.

Source: WeekTracker

Crypto Tracker

Source:

Coin Name	Current Value	Day	Month
Bitcoin	$42,933	– 0.36%	+ 0.66%
Ether	$2,538	– 0.91%	+ 11.40%
Myro	$0.14	– 19.59%	+ 278.56%
Solana	$96.80	+ 4.48%	+ 24.81%

* Data as of 17:20 PM WAT, January 14, 2024.

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Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the launch of a digital securities platform. Nairametrics reports that NASD Plc will launch the Digital Securities Platform (N-DSP), developed in collaboration with Blockstation under the Regulatory Incubation (RI) Programme. 

Per the news, the N-DSP is a way for everyday Nigerians to invest in secure digital assets, providing opportunities for young investors and offering a gateway for businesses to raise capital through digital means. The NASD believes that Nigeria ranks second globally for blockchain wallets, and a platform like N-DSP will support high-quality blockchain assets, and the tokenisation of assets like entertainment rights and real estate which could mean more money for Nigeria’s content creators, and increased future investments in real-estate which already has a deficit of 28 million houses. 

Jobs

• Big Cabal Media – Product Manager, Data Analyst Intern, Associate Consultant – Nigeria
• Rubicon – Business analyst – South Africa (on-site)
• Voltrox – Full stack developer – Lagos, Nigeria (remote)
• Sun King – Technical product manager – Lagos, Nigeria (Hybrid)
• Areeb – UI/UX designer – Egypt
• Duplo – Bizdev and partnerships manager – Lagos Nigeria(Remote)

What else is happening in tech?

• Next Wave: Why local IPOs are the wrong priority
• How Africa focused VCs are turning to secondary markets for liquidity lifelines
• Wellahealth Founder wins the fifth edition of Africa’s Business Heroes prize
• BlackRock acquires Bayo Ogunlesi’s GIP for $12 billion
• Safaricom, M-Pesa Africa and Sumimoto launch the Spark Africa Programme

Written by: Timi Odueso

Edited by: Ope Adedeji

Want more of TechCabal? Sign up for our insightful newsletters on the business and economy of tech in Africa.

• The Next Wave: futuristic analysis of the business of tech in Africa.
• Entering Tech: tech career insights and opportunities in your inbox every Wednesday at 3 PM WAT.
• In a Giffy: business decisions powered by data-driven insights and analysis you can trust.

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Companies

Mobility startup Swvl just flipped the script with the announcement of its first-ever net profit of $2.1 million. The company also posted an operating profit of $13.4 million. 

Compared to H2 2022 when the company posted $56 million in operating losses, this is a huge swerve! 

Swvl’s reversal of fortune from struggling to profitable business is notable, as the company has faced recent struggles such as currency devaluation in Egypt, its biggest market, and reduced appetite from investors to back startups, resulting in its woes on the public market.

So how did Swvl turn the tides? Muktar Oladunmade has the deets in From Bleed to Bloom: Swvl Posts First Ever Profits.

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Energy

So here’s the good news: South Africa has plans to end load-shedding for good. The bad news though, is that it will take a couple of years.

Last week, energy minister Gwede Mantashe published the country’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) which is basically South Africa’s plan for stable electricity supply from now till 2024.

Ending power cuts and meeting demands: The IRP sets out two timeframes: 2023–2030 to stabilise South Africa’s power and end load-shedding, and 2031–2050 to generate enough power for the future. The plan involves various energy sources like gas, solar, wind, and batteries to eliminate load-shedding. 

An ironic emoji, but load shedding in South Africa has worsened since 2007. The country suffered at least 4,000 hours of blackouts last year—that’s about half a year without electricity!

To solve this present problem, the IRP may see South Africa add new power sources—6,000MW of gas, 1,500MW solar, 3,000MW wind, and 2,000MW battery storage—by 2027.

All of this is pretty expensive too, with costs ranging from R5.9 trillion ($315 billion) to R8.4 trillion ($449 billion).

Will Eskom survive till then? The plan notes that Eskom will continue to provide energy to the country, but that may not come to fruition as the struggling electricity-generating company is at risk of shutting down for harmful emissions. Its 2023 results showed that the company is emitting more harmful particles in the air with every watt it produces. The company’s former CEO also said several private companies are gearing up to provide whatever electricity Eskom cannot supply.

We can see this happening with energy startups on the continent, last year, raising over $500 million. This includes a $48 million raise by South African solar energy startup Wetility.

Meanwhile, if you’ve got comments on the IRC, you’ve got till February 23, 2024, to accept the minister’s invite for comments or you’ll have to forever hold your peace.

Economy

In more ironic news, Nigeria’s apex bank has confirmed that the country’s stablecoin, the cNGN, will launch on February 27, 2024. 

Why is this ironic? Well, in October 2023, the World Bank listed the naira as one of the worst-performing currencies in Africa, stating that the currency fell by 40% in 2023. Another report states that the naira unexpectedly dropped by 67% in 2023. 

While you’d think that the Zimbabwean dollar would be top of the list for worst-performing currencies—and it is on the list—it’s not atop it because the Zim dollar has been steadily devaluing since 2009. The naira has been devaluing too, but the 40%—67% devaluation happened within such a short period, it brought the naira to everyone’s attention.

So will a stablecoin help? Theoretically, stablecoins help with currency stability because they’re backed by stable assets, but as we’ve noted, the naira has been anything but stable this past year. 

The other promises of stablecoins—lower remittance fees + financial inclusion—might not be enough to help Nigeria’s ailing currency. 

And we know this because Nigeria has already implemented what many consider to be an even better digital currency, a CBDC. In October 2021, after banning banks from providing services to crypto companies, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) launched Africa’s first central bank digital currency (CBDC), the eNaira, for similar uses—increasing remittance inflow and border trade and financial inclusion.

eNaira, e No Gree: Two years after its launch though, the eNaira barely accounts for 0.50% of the currency-in-circulation in Nigeria. In May 2022, the IMF reported 802,000 transactions, fewer than the 919,000 downloaded wallets. By 2023, Bloomberg’s report revealed a rise in wallets to 13 million and a 63% increase in transaction value to ₦22 billion. 

Can the cNGN succeed where the eNaira failed? The CBN’s argument for the cNGN is that since it’s co-created by commercial banks and not controlled by the CBN like the eNaira is, interoperability will be better. But the slow uptake of the eNaira was due to several factors from a few use cases, to an uninformed public and bad tech. We predict that the cNGN will fall into the same echo chamber. What do you think?

Fincra payment gateway enables you to easily collect Naira payments as a business; you can collect payments in minutes through cards, bank transfers and PayAttitude. Create a free account and start collecting NGN payments with Fincra.

Layoffs

Remember last week when we said Cellulant might have laid staff off in December 2023? 

TechCabal can now confirm that the layoffs did indeed happen; the fintech confirmed that it quietly laid off staff last month. 

Third time’s the harm? This round marks Cellulant’s third round of layoffs in 2023. Early in the year, the company laid off 27 staff members in a bid to restructure its business after it failed to raise $100 million for its Series D round. Cellulant, which raised $54.5 million between 2014 and 2018, effected a second round of layoffs by August 2023, cutting off 20% of its staff.

While it didn’t reveal how many employees were affected in its third round of layoffs, the company did note that its last two rounds of layoffs were part of a recently adopted product-led structure. 

An executive exit: Last week, we learnt Akshay Grover, Group CEO of the company left his position to focus on personal matters. Grover’s exit, however, was premeditated by the exit of four unnamed senior executives at Cellulant, all of whom left between October and December 2023.

So who’s left at Cellulant? The past chief financial officer (CFO) Peter O’Toole has been announced as acting CEO, but the company has noted that it will be strengthening its leadership team within coming months. 

Power is changing hands: In the past thirteen months, we’ve seen a slew of CEOs of notable companies moving on. Other than Cellulant’s Ashkay Grover, we’ve seen Jumia’s co-CEOs Jeremy Hodara and Sacha Poignonnec step down in December 2022, OPay’s Olu Akanmu in July 2023; Bob van Dijk of Naspers/Prosus in September 2023; Noel Doyle of South Africa’s Tiger Brands in October 2023; then Massimiliano Spalazzi, CEO of Jumia Nigeria in December 2023; Peter Njonjo of Twiga Foods in January 2024; and a planned step-down of Airtel Africa CEO Segun Ogunsanya scheduled for July 2024.

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Global News

ChatGPT might be able to predict your next sentence, but it didn’t predict the number of lawsuits coming at it.

Last Friday, the ChatGPT parent company and its investor Microsoft faced a fresh lawsuit when two authors sued the company for allegedly using their books to train the AI service.

In a class action lawsuit, Nicholas Basbanes and Nicholas Gage claim that OpenAI infringed on copyrighted works to build an empire that’s now worth millions of dollars. Now, the authors want the courts to stop OpenAI from using their works without authorisation, and about $2.5 million in damages.

Sounds familiar? That’s because it’s been four months since Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin along with 16 other authors including Grisham and Jodi Picoult sued OpenAI for the same reason, copyright infringement. The first hearing for that case was held in November, and a second hearing date has not been set.

It’s also been two weeks since the New York Times also sued the company for copyright infringement. The lawsuit, which is over 150 pages long in total, accuses OpenAI of “copying and using millions of The Times’s copyrighted [articles].”

A superficial service? Already, OpenAI has admitted to using copyrighted works to train its language models, and this has raised ownership concerns about the content that AI services generate. 

Plus, this might just be the beginning of lawsuits against AI companies/services which gained prominence in 2023. Getty Images, for example, sued StabilityAI, the developer behind the image generation tool Stable Diffusion, in early 2023. Additionally, in October, multiple music publishers including Universal Music filed lawsuits against Anthropic, the creator of Claude.ai for distributing copyrighted lyrics.

In other global news: The US Aviation watchdog is grounding several Boeing 737 planes. This comes after an Alaskan Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing after a section of the plane blew out mid-air on Friday. Luckily, none of the 117 passengers was hurt, but the accident did cause one child to lose his shit shirt.

Crypto Tracker

Source:

Coin Name	Current Value	Day	Month
Bitcoin	$43,005	+ 0.74%	+ 2.08%
Ether	$2,236	+ 0.10%	+ 0.07%
Sei	$0.66	– 0.66%	+ 143.89%
Solana	$95.47	– 8.01%	+ 35.51%

* Data as of 12:10 PM WAT, January 7, 2024.

Effortlessly make global settlements in over 30 currencies across 120+ countries spanning four continents, delivering cost-effective and reliable solutions to your clients, suppliers, and customers. Get started today.

The US is close to getting bitcoin ETFs approved. CoinDesk reports that the major crypto exchanges that will list the bitcoin exchange-traded funds have filed amended documents, suggesting they expect U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approval in the coming days. Analysts predict that once ETFs are approved, bitcoin will create trillions of dollars in value, but it could see bitcoin prices drop at first.

Founder of US-based crypto startup Bill Lou has revealed that he lost $125,000 to a crypto scam. In a post on X, Lou said he got scammed after clicking on the wrong website in a bid to claim an LFG Airdrop. In a later post, Lou noted that investigations revealed the scammer had stolen an additional $31,000 from others, and work was being done to apprehend the culprits.

Job openings

• Elite Software Automation – Nocode Developer – Nigeria (remote)
• Moksh Tech – Senior Network Engineer – South Africa(remote)
• HHS Careers – IT cybersecurity specialist – Kenya (on-site)
• Clevertech – Mobile Engineer – Ghana (remote)
• ADS Kenya – Project Manager – Kenya (0n-site)

What else is happening in tech?

• Nigerian equities ride New Year wave as early bets on 2024 drive record highs
• Google broke labor laws when it refused to bargain with YouTube Music contract workers
• Ghana to receive $1.15 billion from World bank and IMF by end of February

Written and Edited by: Timi Odueso

Want more of TechCabal? Sign up for our insightful newsletters on the business and economy of tech in Africa.

• The Next Wave: futuristic analysis of the business of tech in Africa.
• Entering Tech: tech career insights and opportunities in your inbox every Wednesday at 3 PM WAT.
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Startups

Yesterday, a TechCabal investigation revealed that capital marketplace GetEquity was at the centre of a police complaint on unpaid funds. 

According to the report, another startup, Peppa, filed the complaint after GetEquity stalled in remitting about $14,000 which Peppa had raised on GetEquity’s platform. 

The report led to the detention of GetEquity co-founder Temitope Ekundayo who was invited for questioning by the police force and subsequently detained for two days.

Backstory: GetEquity operates as a private marketplace where other startups can raise money from private individuals. In July, Peppa had raised $43,000 on GetEquity’s platform. When it requested a payout, GetEquity instead proposed a four-week payment plan which Peppa founders say GetEquity did not stick to.

According to Jude Dike, co-founder at GetEquity, fluctuations in dollar rates affected the startup’s ability to remit funds. Investments on GetEquity are made in several currencies, but the platform remits its funds in US dollars.

At the time of the complaint, GetEquity had remitted $29,000 to Peppa and had $14,000 to balance. With the report and detainment of its co-founder, the startup now says it has paid the outstanding amount.

While Peppa says it only filed a police complaint as a last resort, GetEquity says it’s now considering legal action over the detention of its co-founder.

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Layoffs

Alerzo, an e-commerce startup, has laid off at least 100 employees eight months after it laid off 400 employees.

The e-commerce startup, which secured $10.5 million in a Series A round in 2021, cited the implementation of an “end-to-end warehouse management system” and improved process automation as the reasons for the layoffs. 

Insiders familiar with Alerzo’s operations revealed that the majority of the affected workforce worked in the company’s 40 warehouses. The company implemented new software that eliminated the need for several lines of approval, leading to redundant roles, and at least two staff members were let go from each warehouse.

Support measures: Alerzo is taking steps to support the impacted employees. Laid-off employees will receive a one-month severance package and continued Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) coverage until the end of the year.

Funding

Aduna Capital has launched its first $20 million fund dedicated to discovering and nurturing early-stage startups across Africa, especially those in Northern Nigeria.

The investment firm, founded by TTLabs founding partner Surayyah Ahmad Sani and CoLab Founder Sanusi Ismaila, is focused on empowering female founders and startups in underserved regions like Northern Nigeria.

Northern Nigeria? Yes. With a population of over 100 million people, Northern Nigeria offers a vast untapped market, positioning itself as a pivotal region for growth.

Additionally, research has shown that female-led startups generate 78 cents in revenue for every $1 invested, while male-led startups generate only 31 cents. The firm aims to focus on this by giving 50% of its investments to female-led startups.

A pan-African approach: Aduna Capital’s investment focus also has a pan-African approach beyond northern Nigeria. The fund will put 25% of its investments towards startups in the rest of Nigeria, and another 25% across the African continent. 

Per Ahmad, the fund will be investing between $50,000 to $200,000, in startups, but will occasionally write angel checks to help fill gaps in funding from other investors in the region. The firm also plans to sell its stakes in companies when they reach the Series A stage. However, Ahmad mentions that the firm intends to keep about 20% of the companies they invest in and continue to invest more money in these chosen companies as they grow.

Zoom out: Aduna joins a growing number of venture capital firms that are recognizing the entrepreneurial potential of Northern Nigeria. THESCATHGROUP (TSC), for example, has already provided early-stage funding and advisory support to ten tech startups in the region, including The AgroTrader and OffKay. These investments are helping to fuel innovation and economic growth in Northern Nigeria.

Tighten security for your business by declaring the specific IP addresses from which Paystack should process API requests. Here’s how to set it up.

Media

Spotify users across three countries in sub-Saharan Africa no longer have to worry about data to stream music on the platform. 

Telecom Orange has partnered with Spotify to allow smartphone users in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, and Mali to listen to music on Spotify without buying data. 

How does it work? The French telco will be providing free data bonuses for Spotify users who sign up for an Orange mobile offer in these countries. The subscribers will then have access to Spotify’s extensive music library. This service is set to expand to Guinea soon.

Why? The partnership between Orange and Spotify wants to tackle the expensive mobile data issue in Africa. According to the latest data from Statista, the average price for 1 GB of mobile data in SSA in 2022 was $4.47, one of the most expensive worldwide.

Zoom out: Despite the challenges, Africa has witnessed a substantial increase in internet usage, with nearly 602 million users in 2022—six times the number in 2010. The partnership between Orange and Spotify reflects a broader effort to overcome barriers and foster connectivity and entertainment across the continent.

Let’s revisit and review the tech sector in Q3 2023. Here are the main points:

• African startups raised $499 million in Q1 2023 alone, down by 47% from the $916 million raised in Q2. 
• Energy-focused startups received the most funding compared to other sectors.
• The number of acquisitions stood at 7.
• Over 738 tech workers were laid off in Africa as harsh macroeconomic conditions persist.
• Namibia and South Africa officially approved the licensing of crypto platforms mandating all crypto platforms in both countries to hold a license before they can operate.

Download the report here and get more information about the major trends that shaped African tech in Q3 2023.

Telecom

Telkom is looking for an understanding regulator. The network provider is asking South Africa’s telecom regulator to move the next spectrum auction from 2024 to 2025 as it needs more time to prepare. 

According to Telkom, it’s worried that the tough economic situation, including South Africa’s increasing load shedding, could make it hard to join the auction. 

This delay comes while the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (ICASA) plans to release more high-speed internet spectrum by March 2024. This spectrum could make 5G better and maybe even cheaper across the country.

Buying more spectrum: In March 2022, during South Africa’s first spectrum auction, Telkom won some spectrum for which it still owes ICASA R2.5 billion ($80.6 million). Telkom had problems paying for it because of signal issues in certain areas which it now says it has solved. 

It’s now requesting more time for the 2024 auction to conduct studies on how it uses its spectrum.

But Telkom is spending less on its network: This request comes on the heels of its halftime year fiscal report which shows that the telecom has spent less money on its network this year which could influence how regulators respond to the telecom’s request. It has, however, reported a 4.1% Y-o-Y increase in revenue, and a 46.7% increase in its half-year profits. 

A towering sale: Amidst the profit surge, the company is also in talks to sell the tower assets of its Swiftnet tower business to a private equity firm. Under Swiftnet, the telecom controls about 6,255 masts and towers, and the company has been trying to sell the business off for a while. Per Bloomberg, it’s in an exclusive conversation right now but there’s no assurance that the deal will pan out. 

Crypto Tracker

Source:

Coin Name	Current Value	Day	Month
Bitcoin	$36,688	– 2.43%	+ 24.57%
Ether	$1,958	– 3.70%	+ 24.15%
Solana	$55.37	– 4.25%	+ 92.03%
Celestia	$5.55	– 17.47%	+ 164.00%

* Data as of 23:31 PM WAT, November 21, 2023.

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Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has resigned as part of a settlement with the US Department of Justice. Changpeng who, along with his company in March, was accused of breaking anti-month laundering rules in the US will also plead guilty to the charges as part of the deal and pay $50 million in fines. Sentencing for the founder is also set for a later date, and he will be replaced by the head of regional markets Richard Teng who is the new CEO of Binance. 

Binance, on the other hand, is to make a complete exit from the US. The company will also have to pay a $4 billion fine, and appoint an independent compliance monitor for three years and report its compliance efforts to the U.S. government. 

For Zhao, the deal will see him continue to keep his majority shareholder status in Binance. He’ll also be allowed to return to work in Binance after the three-year compliance monitoring period.

Opportunities

• Applications are open for the Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa: Doctoral Dissertation Research fellowship 2024(up to $15,000). The Social Science Research Council offers fellowships to support the completion of doctoral degrees and to promote next-generation social science research in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. The fellowships support dissertation research on peace, security, and development topics. Apply by February 11, 2024.
• The citizens of Commonwealth countries in Africa can now apply for the Commonwealth Africa Cyber Fellowship Programme 2024. Selected experts will serve as fellows for a year, and get exclusive access to academic research opportunities, networking events and annual conferences, with a focus on enhancing cybersecurity policies and institutions across Commonwealth countries in Africa. Apply by December 10.
• Applications are open for the Mastercard Foundations Scholars Program 2023/2024 at the Carnegie Melon University Africa. The program provides generous financial, social, and academic support for students whose talents and promise exceed their financial resources. Apply by January 15, 2024.

What else is happening in tech?

• Telegram is offline in Kenya as internet authorities remain silent
• Sam Altman is still negotiating his return with the OpenAI board
• X (Twitter) is scrambling to minimise damage from its anti-semitic posts
• The end of anonymity on China’s social media platforms

Written by: Mariam Muhammad & Timi Odueso

Want more of TechCabal? Sign up for our insightful newsletters on the business and economy of tech in Africa.

• The Next Wave: futuristic analysis of the business of tech in Africa.
• Entering Tech: tech career insights and opportunities in your inbox every Wednesday at 3 PM WAT.
• In a Giffy: business decisions powered by data-driven insights and analysis you can trust.

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