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Africa is a continent of contradictions. The scars left behind by its many nations’ storied histories, as well as the new wounds opened by recent social and economic upheavals such as the global recession, the pandemic, climate change, and geopolitical tensions, mean that the continent continues to contend with challenges such as inequality, poverty, and other socio-economic issues. Yet, in the midst of these challenges, a quiet revolution is underway. Africa, often overshadowed by outdated stereotypes, is emerging as the next frontier for impact investing – a realm where profit meets purpose and where opportunities to catalyze positive change are

There’s a lot that goes into building a search engine. While it seems simple enough — you type a question, and we find results that match — we’ve taken on many deep, technical challenges to make Google what it is today. And the reality is that Search is never a solved problem. Old challenges evolve, and new challenges are constantly popping up — because the internet and the world are always changing. Here are some of the biggest technological breakthroughs we’ve made through the years— and where we’re continuing to push the boundaries of innovation — as we build and

By Mark Redguard Walk down the streets of any major city around the world and take a look at all the people you pass along the way. Chances are you’ll see more people wearing earphones and headphones, in all of their shapes and sizes, than not. Most of those people, whether they’re consuming music or podcasts, will be listening through an audio streaming platform. In fact, Spotify’s 500 million-plus users spent more than 132 billion hours streaming audio on the platform in 2022.  And that’s just Spotify. Factor in other platforms, including the likes of Mdundo and Audiomack, and the

By Philani Mzila The past 12 months have seen a significant decline in venture capital (VC) funding in Africa. The total amount raised declined by almost 40% between July 2022 and June 2023 compared to the same period between 2021 and 2022. This sharp decline is particularly evident in the “Big Four” markets of Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, and Kenya, with funding contracting by as much as 77% in some. Due to these challenging market conditions, numerous startups are nearing the end of their financial runway and are struggling to secure further investment. Founders in this situation usually face three

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) has extended the deadline for filing annual tax returns by residents of the metropolis. The deadline was extended by the agency for two weeks, a statement disclosed, noting that the new date is Wednesday, April 14, 2021. Individuals living in Lagos were earlier given till Wednesday, March 31, 2021, to file their annual tax returns but the LIRS explained that it decided to shift it forward in furtherance of the commitment to continuously mitigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on taxpayers in Lagos State. “Statutorily, the filing of individual

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A new global branded content campaign to demonstrate the impact of Dangote Industries’ investment across Africa through its transformational projects will soon hit the airwaves. The programme is packaged by the CNN International Commercial (CNNIC) and it tells the story of Dangote’s vision of a self-sufficient Africa, how the company’s investments are transforming the lives of communities and powering the economic growth of the region through agriculture, technology and infrastructure. At the centre of this campaign is a film that highlights the impact of various landmark Dangote projects and initiatives including the world’s largest oil refinery that

By Okechukwu Keshi Ukegbu It’s not a period to roll out the drums because the bell has tolled for one of us, Elder Sunday Ukaegbu, and, according to John Donne, has tolled for us- his remaining siblings. All the same, I return all glory to the Almighty for sparing my life. It has been a life full of struggle and adventures, especially the struggle for a better society- which we have fought mostly with intectualism. The struggle has seen us traversing the nooks and crannies of the country: from Bauchi to Jos, Kaduna, Benin, Katsina, Kwara, Jigawa, Enugu, Owerri, Onitsha,

By Dipo Olowookere A female lawmaker representing Cross River North Senatorial District, Mrs Rose Okoji Oko, has died at a United Kingdom medical facility. The second term Senator, who is Chairman, Senate Committee on Trade and Investment, was aged 63. She died after a battle with an undisclosed illness. A relative of the deceased, Mr Patrick Ikorgor Okoroji, who confirmed the unfortunate incident, said the first female representative from her senatorial district traveled to the UK for medical attention but succumbed to the disease on Monday night. “Heart broken to hear of the passing of my dear Cousin Senator Dr

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has announced the approval of a new Gender Equality Trust Fund (GETF), aimed at pushing forward gender equality and women’s empowerment across the continent. The fund is worth $7 billion and will see a first tranche of up to $2 billion given to the beneficiaries in credit, with a further $5 billion. The fund is purely to support women-empowered businesses in Africa. The AfDB, in a statement over the weekend, explained that the GETF, which was funded by donors, would support the delivery and scale-up of the Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action

By Adedapo Adesanya The Borno State Government has said reintroduced the common entrance exams at the primary six class before getting admission into junior secondary schools in the state. Governor Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno State made the disclosure when he hosted 84  principals of all public secondary schools in the state at the Government House in Maiduguri as part of efforts to tackle the terrible state of education. Mr Zulum directed the enforcement of a qualifying policy that henceforth, only pupils who pass the examination by securing a cut-off mark should be eligible for admission into the first year

Mr Henry Nkemadu has been appointed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) as Director Public Affairs. His appointment as Director Public Affairs was announced to the participants at the annual Workshop for Judges taking place at Enugu where he (Nkemadu) is participating as part of the commission’s delegation. About a fortnight ago, Mr Nkemadu became a full Director at the Commission and until on Friday morning, he was Head, Special Intervention Projects at the Projects Department of the agency. A graduate of veterinary medicine from the University of Nigeria, Mr Nkemadu has traversed the length and breadth of NCC acquiring

By Dipo Olowookere World’s premier Digital Industrial Company, GE, recently joined a delegation to Silicon Valley led by Ghana’s Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who is currently spearheading the country’s digital transformation project. The VP’s focus with this project is to accelerate the digitization of the Ghanaian economy and move Ghana beyond aid dependence. The delegation aimed to explore the possibilities of developing strategic insight and partnerships with leading technology companies in the Silicon Valley area such as GE and others like Google and IBM, both of whom were also represented on the trip. The VP and his team took