Microsoft lays off Kenyan employees

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Editor’s Word

Week 13, 2023
Learn time: 5 minutes

This version brings you tales from Kenya the place Meta stays embattled, betting companies are attempting to evade tax and the federal government is making an attempt to construct an electrical BRT system. Then we cross the continent to Nigeria, the place the CBN determined to maintain open banking open.

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Pamela Tetteh Editor, TechCabal.

Editor’s Picks

	Microsoft lays off Kenyan employees On a cost-cutting spree, Microsoft is ready to put off 10,000 staff. It has laid off a few quarter in Seattle. Now the firing squad has come to Kenya. If layoffs are really contagious, as teachers say, the Microsoft workplace in Lagos is perhaps getting some quickly. Learn more.
	Kenya Airways remains to be shedding cash Kenya Airways’ books haven’t seemed good for the previous 10 years. This week, the airline reported its tenth consecutive loss with a document Ksh38.26 billion ($290 million) full-year loss, pushed by debt and skyrocketing gas costs. Learn more.
	Fb rapist escapes jail by faking his loss of life Thabo Bester, infamously referred to as the “Fb Rapist”, was serving a life sentence handed in 2012. He was imprisoned for homicide and a collection of rapes, however he escaped jail by faking his loss of life. Learn more.
	Betting companies are evading tax in Kenya Kenyan betting companies have been enjoying their very own model of hide-and-seek with the taxman. Now the federal government has invalidated any tax break not permitted by the parliament. Learn more.
	Nigeria to maintain open banking open Nigeria’s central financial institution (CBN) initially wished to make the nationwide fee settlement mechanism, NIBSS, the mediator for open banking. However banking specialists mentioned it might take the “open” out of “open banking.” The CBN listened to their qualms and has modified its thoughts. Learn more.
	MTN goes off the grid in South Africa MTN SA is taking a watt-worthy step by lowering its reliance on the grid and amping up investments in different energy sources. That is in a bid to keep away from some surprising circumstances of theft and vandalism which have sparked up throughout load shedding. Study extra.

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	Kenya receives $378 million to affect BRTs Kenya is developing Africa’s first-ever electrical bus fast transit (BRT) system with a whopping Ksh50 billion ($378 million) financing settlement with the European Fee. It’s undoubtedly a vibrant concept to scale back emissions and save the setting. Learn more.
	MoniePoint and PayDay deny $40-million acquisition deal Moniepoint, a Nigerian enterprise financial institution, and PayDay, a neobank, have denied stories of a deliberate $40 million acquisition. This comes after MoniePoint led PayDay’s $3 million seed spherical. Learn more.
	Kenya licences extra digital lenders After what seems like without end, the Central Financial institution of Kenya (CBK) has formally licensed an extra 10 digital lenders to function within the nation, bringing the whole variety of authorised digital credit score suppliers (DCPs) to 32. Learn more.
	Meta can’t escape Kenya’s courts Meta needs to play in Africa, however Zuck and his crew are shortly studying that in the event that they need to play on this pit, they must play by the principles. A Kenyan court docket rejected Meta’s pleas to dismiss a lawsuit levied by 43 of its former content material moderators within the nation. Read more.

Who introduced the cash this week?

This week, PayDay, a Rwanda-based neobank, raised $3 million in an oversubscribed seed funding spherical led by Moniepoint Inc (previously TeamApt Inc).
Nigerian logistics startup, Fez Supply, closed a $1 million seed spherical from Ventures Platform, with participation from Voltron Capital, Acasia Ventures, and different angel traders.
Nigeria’s HouseAfrica, a prop-tech, received US$400,000 in funding from traders equivalent to Future Africa, SSE Angel Community (SSEAN), ARM Labs, CV VC, StartupBootcamp AfriTech, Area of interest Capital, and Insurgent Seed Capital.