On Eritrea’s Independence Day, May 24, cyber hacktivists attempted to disrupt the nation’s internet networks in a challenge to the authoritarian regime. 

Officials claim that the Eritrean government swiftly stopped the attack with no internet disruptions. While the government claims to know the attackers’ identities, it holds their identities under lock and key. 

Eritrea’s contested independence and ongoing struggles: This incident highlights the ongoing tension between Eritrea’s celebrated independence and its current political climate. 

After gaining independence from Ethiopia in 1993, Eritrea has been under the rule of President Isaias Afwerki’s People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), the only legal political party in the community. Eritrean communities worldwide held protests on Independence Day, condemning the one-party system and mandatory military service.

Eritrea’s struggle for self-determination began in 1961 with the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) opposing Ethiopian rule. Despite achieving independence, many Eritreans feel the promised freedom remains elusive. The lack of a free press, a constitution that is not implemented and basic rights have led some to label Eritrea “Africa’s North Korea.”

Cybersecurity concerns in Africa: While large-scale cyberattacks in Africa often target specific systems, like the 2021 South African ports ransomware attack, this incident raises concerns about cyber security in Africa. Security experts like Kaspersky urge African governments and businesses to invest in cybersecurity measures to combat these costly attacks.

Lagos state government has taken action against the growing threat of cyberattacks in the state. As a proactive step, the Lagos State government in Nigeria launched a new cybersecurity project to protect its digital infrastructure and identify cyber threats.

The Financial Times has ranked Moniepoint as Africa’s fastest-growing fintech based on its absolute and compound growth rate. Read more about it here.

GIF Source: Tenor

The AI race is getting steeper!

AI, like other high-tech industries, requires heavy funding that runs into billions of dollars. High computing costs and the acquisition of rare talents mark up the cost of running and competing as an AI startup. To get by, AI startups raise huge amounts of investor dollars.

In April 2023 Microsoft invested $13 billion in OpenAI after it first invested $1 billion in the ChatGPT maker in 2019. Earlier in March, Amazon completed its $4 billion investment in Antrophic.

And now, Elon Musk-owned xAI has raised about $6 billion—more than the total amount raised by African startups in 2023. The latest investment came from heavyweights including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, and Saudi Arabian Prince Al Waleed bin Talal.

xAi whose only product is the Grok chatbot says it will use the funding to help bring “first products to market, build advanced infrastructure, and accelerate the research and development of future technologies.” 

Why raise so much money? Well, if you can’t beat them, join them get your money up! Hardware costs for powering AI are a bit pricey. AI chip maker, Nvidia, will release its Blackwell B200 AI graphics cards which cost $30,000 to $40,000. Per The Information, xAI would need at least 100,000 of those cards to power an upgraded version of the GrokAI chatbot. Per TheVerge, xAi will launch a new data centre housing these chips by the fall of 2025z 

xAI initially planned to raise $1 billion, according to SEC fillings. xAI’s $6 billion raise adds to a list of big tech companies that are pouring billion-dollar investments to see that they emerge winners of the AI race.

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In 2021, MTN Uganda listed its shares on the country’s stock exchange. The public listing meant that anybody in the country could own a slice of the telecom. MTN, however, fell short of a major Ugandan regulation that mandated it to sell 20% of its shares to local investors—both retail and professional. 

The telecom is now looking to mend its ways. 

Yesterday, MTN Uganda announced the sale of its remaining shares from the 2021 listing. The telecom, which is offering up to 1,574,807,373 ordinary shares, will sell the shares, on the Uganda Securities Exchange’s (USE) secondary market through the USE Easy Portal. Willing investors can also purchase the shares, which currently trade at UGX 170.00 ($0.05), through licensed stockbrokers and trading members. 

The telecom will sell the shares between May 27 and June 10. So hurry to get a slice of the pie. Investors must also buy at least 1,400 shares.

Why does this matter? Previously, MTN, which has the largest market share in Uganda, with 15 million users, fell short of a key Ugandan regulation that mandated selling 20% of its shares to domestic investors. The telecom only sold about a 12.97% stake Now, by offering these remaining shares, MTN demonstrates its commitment to operating within Ugandan regulations. 

MTN Uganda’s rival Airtel Uganda also made a similar move in its IPO offerings last year, reducing its stake to 89.11% from 100%.

MTN’s move to improve its compliance in the East African country comes after the telecom group appointed Mike Silber as its new group executive for regulatory matters. The announcement also comes after MTN’s annual general meeting in May, where it shared a dividend of UGX 6.4 ($0.0004) for every ordinary share they owned with every stakeholder.

Find the answer here  paystack.com/2023

Caantin, a Kenyan startup, is turning things around. 

Initially called Kibanda, it focused on digitising the supply chain for small Kenyan restaurants. Later, it topped its services up as TopUpMama, a B2B e-commerce that helped large Nigerian hotels and restaurants restock supplies through a digital platform. Despite raising $1.7 million in a seed round, TopUpMama had to lay off over 90 employees.

Now, the company has once again rebranded to Caantin, a startup specialises in advanced artificial intelligence solutions. 

During its time as TopUpMama, the company faced a challenge: Most of its target clients were using MS Excel for procurement management. They wanted a dashboard to show payment schedules, customer retention rates, and other key metrics, all in one place. 

TopUpMama saw this gap and evolved into a solution that would solve it. That’s when the company rebranded as Caantin. Njavwa Mutambo, the CEO, described Caantin’s shift to AI as an evolution of this problem. 

Over the past few months, successful Kenyan B2B e-commerce startups have encountered difficulties, resulting in closures and staff layoffs. Despite achieving $20 million in sales, Zumi shut down in March 2023 due to funding challenges. Similarly, MarketForce, previously valued at $100 million, discontinued its B2B e-commerce activities in April 2024.

Caantin listened to customer feedback and became an AI startup that helps businesses analyse and visualise data, “eliminating the need for a data analyst”.

Caantin expanded to the United States in late 2023 with only five employees, serving manufacturers and logistics firms. Most revenue now comes from American clients, with the company achieving its highest monthly revenue in April 2024.

Caantin started focusing on the American market because hiring skilled workers, like data analysts, in the United States is more expensive compared to South Africa. For instance, the average yearly salary for an entry-level data analyst in South Africa is $16,500, whereas in the US, it’s $64,000 but Caantin will charge just between $15 and $100 per user within a company. Currently, it has twelve customers in North America and over thirty in total.

This expansion occurs amidst pressure on African startups to perform well despite economic challenges like inflation and currency depreciation.

GITEX Africa returns a second time on May 29–31, 2024, to Marrakech, Morocco, discussing ways to accelerate the continent’s digital health revolution. GITEX is the continent’s largest all-inclusive tech event renowned for uniting the brightest minds in the technology industry.  Grab your tickets here.

Coin Name

Current Value

Day

Month

Bitcoin
$67,771

– 1.23%

+ 6.19%

Ether
$3,841

– 1.45%

+ 16.22%

Notcoin

$0.0076

+ 41.58%

– 47.17%

Solana
$166.05

+ 0.60%

+ 15.62%

* Data as of 06:25 AM WAT, May 28, 2024.

TechCabal is set to announce its first set of speakers for the second edition of its Moonshot Conference which is set for October 9–11, 2024, at the Eko Convention Centre, Lagos, Nigeria. Moonshot will assemble Africa’s biggest thinkers, players and problem solvers on a global launchpad for change. If you want to join the stakeholders in Africa’s tech ecosystem for three days of insightful conversations, then get an early-bird ticket at 20% off. 

Here’s what we’ve got our eyes on

DFC to Open a Nairobi office
Asia’s richest man set to invest in Ghana’s telecom market by offering 5G tech solutions
Binance executive may die in Kuje correctional facility – Counsel tells Court

Written by: Faith Omoniyi & Towobola Bamgbose

Edited by: Timi Odueso

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