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South African calling app startup, Talk360, gets $7m seed funding following new backing

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South Africa’s international calling app, Talk360, a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) startup, has secured an additional US$3 million in seed round funding, taking its total seed round to US$7 million after its first funding in May.

Talk360’s latest investors include lead angel investor, HAVAÍC, Allan Gray E2 Ventures (AGEV), Kalon Venture Partners, E4E Africa, Endeavor, and Tjaart van der Walt and Coenraad Jonker.

The app which enables people around the world to make reliable and affordable calls to any landline or mobile phone worldwide, co-founded in 2016 by South African venture builder, Dean Hiine with Dutch entrepreneurs Hans Osnabrugge and Jorne Schamp, provides phone calls to any offline landline or mobile phone in the world.

Earlier in May, the startup had secured a US$4 million seed round, which has now grown to $7 million with the additional $3m it secured on Monday

Hiine who spoke on the new investment, said the funds will help the company “grow its market share in South Africa, drive its growth on the rest of the continent and launch its market first pan-African payment platform in 2023.”

“Our mission is to bridge distance and connect lives by offering reliable, affordable, and easy-to-use digital services, delivered in a localised manner to all communities, particularly emerging countries, so they can connect to the world,” Hiine said.

“But we’re not just solving socio-economic issues: we’re also offering micro-entrepreneurship and income generating opportunities to our growing network of agents across the country,” he added.

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ADB signs $15m transaction guarantee facility with Zimbabwe’s NMB Bank

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The African Development Bank (ADB) has signed a $15 million Trade Finance Transaction Guarantee Facility with Zimbabwe’s NMB Bank aimed at unlocking trade finance opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as agri-business and trade distribution value chains in the country.

At the signing ceremony held at the NMB Bank Headquarters in Harare, ADB Country Manager for Zimbabwe, Moono Mupotola, signed on behalf of the Bank while NMB Bank Chief Executive Officer, Gerald Gore, signed on behalf of the bank.

Speaking shortly after the brief ceremony, Mupotola said the African Development Bank’s board had earlier approved the project in November 2023, with the facility offering up to 100% coverage to confirming banks, effectively mitigating non-payment risks linked to NMB Bank’s trade transactions on a per-transaction basis.

“It is tailored to support trade between Zimbabwe and other African countries and with overseas markets by significantly diminishing the risk for international financial institutions actively engaging in trade finance activities with Zimbabwean businesses,” Mupotola said.

“The African Development Bank is committed to supporting the development of the private sector in Zimbabwe. This is a significant step forward in supporting the growth and competitiveness of Zimbabwean businesses.

“By mitigating risk and facilitating access to trade finance, we are empowering SMEs and local corporates to participate more actively in regional and international trade,” she said.

Also speaking, Gore emphasized the agreement’s importance for Zimbabwe’s economic development.

“This facility will be instrumental in enabling NMB to provide crucial trade finance support to a wider range of Zimbabwean businesses. This will not only unlock new trade opportunities but also contribute to job creation and economic growth.

“SMEs often face challenges in accessing trade finance compared to their larger counterparts. This initiative directly addresses this gap, fostering a more vibrant and inclusive business environment in Zimbabwe,” Gore said.

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Ghana’s communications regulator predicts subsea cable repairs could take five weeks

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According to Ghana’s communications regulator, it will likely take at least five weeks to fully restore service relying on the damaged subsea cables causing internet outages throughout West and Central Africa.

Many businesses that are connected to the internet and telecommunications, such as banks, phone companies, money transfer services, and stock exchange markets, have been severely disrupted as a result of the cable break.

Equinix, a data centre operator, reported on Friday that a “external incident” caused a cut to its cable system in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of West Africa, near Cote D’Ivoire. It excluded human activity as the reason.

 

The four subsea cable landing service providers—Africa Coast to Europe (ACE), MainOne, which is owned by data centre operator Equinix (EQIX.O), opens new tab, South Atlantic 3 (SAT-3) and the West Africa Cable System (WACS)—as well as mobile network operators were present at the meeting, according to Ghana’s National Communications Authority.

“The cable landing service providers have indicated an estimated time frame of a minimum of five weeks for full service restoration from the time the vessels are dispatched to the various locations,” the regulator said.

It stated that the service providers had determined the general location of the damage and were getting ready to send out repair ships.

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