Tech

Ethiopia restores social media access after five months

Published

1 year ago

July 19, 2023

After five months of social media blackout, the Ethiopian government has lifted internet restrictions on major social media platforms.

The restrictions which affected platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, TikTok and YouTube were imposed by the government in February following anti-government protests triggered by tensions within the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church, the country’s largest religious body.

The lifting of the access to social media came months after an agreement was reached between the Synod and a breakaway Synod in March mediated by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and church elders.

The social media blockade had drawn criticism from human rights groups, especially the Committee to Protect Journalists, who had insisted that it was a violation of the freedom of expression and access to information, while the Media Council of Ethiopia had also called for the restrictions to be lifted.

Local media reports that during the shutdown, Ethiopians resorted to using VPNs to access the internet and social media.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church had faced a split in February when some archbishops from the Oromia region said they wanted to form a new Synod as they wanted to hold services in the Oromo language, a move which led to deadly clashes, prompting the prime minister to weigh in and broker a truce.

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Tech

South African fintech Peach Payments partners Kenya’s Sukhiba for conversational commerce

Published

23 hours ago

October 10, 2024

Isaac Dachen

South African payments service provider, Peach Payments, has announced a strategic partnership with Kenyan commerce and CRM platform, Sukhiba, to offer its South African merchants a new conversational sales channel, and facilitate WhatsApp-based sales.

Peach Payments, which was founded in 2012, provides a complete toolkit to help businesses accept, manage and disburse payments through web and mobile, and is the second largest online payment gateway in South Africa, and has also expanded to Kenya and Mauritius.

Ananth Raj Gudipati, the CEO of Sukhiba who spoke on the partnership, said the platform was built on top of WhatsApp, and was currently active in South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Nigeria, Oman and India.

“Sukhiba is used by more than 35,000 SMEs dealing directly with manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors.

“Sukhiba’s technology lets merchants add their catalogues to WhatsApp and facilitates everything from product purchases to payments to scheduling deliveries.

“We are confident that the deep knowledge and network that Peach Payments brings to this partnership will accelerate WhatsApp commerce and payments in South Africa,” said Gudipati.

“This partnership effectively utilises Peach Payments’ platform on WhatsApp, which opens up a new sales channel for our merchants in the run-up to Black Friday and that gives their customers the flexibility of paying by card, EFT, buy-now pay-later and other alternative payment methods,” said Peach Payments CEO and founder Rahul Jain in a statement.

Tech

France’s VC firm Bpifrance launches in Egypt in bid to expand into Africa

Published

2 days ago

October 9, 2024

Isaac Dachen

France’s largest venture capital firm, Bpifrance, has partnered with Egyptian venture capital firm, Sawari Ventures, to launch a new base in Egypt in its strategic bid to expand into Africa.

In a statement by the VC firm, the move is to ease its entry into the North African region and enhance cross-continental collaboration.

It added that another key player in Egypt’s startup scene, Flat6Labs, will be actively involved in this new venture.

‘Together, we aim to support growth-stage companies and entrepreneurs by providing crucial access to funding, resources, and networks.
This partnership is consistent with Bpifrance’s desire to strengthen ties between Europe, Africa, and the Middle East,” the statement said.

“This partnership comes as African entrepreneurship continues to garner global attention. Startups across the continent are flourishing, and this collaboration will tap into this momentum by offering critical financial support and guidance to innovative businesses.

“This development provides better access to financing for French companies expanding into African markets and offers African startups opportunities to establish research and development (R&D) operations in France,” it added.