African cultures have long inspired the world through mediums such as film and music. But now, investors, international companies, and social media platforms are showing a huge appetite for the space, prompting growth in startup funding, investment in original content, and attracting global audiences.
An enduring moment from former US president Barack Obama’s visit to Kenya in 2015 was a quick chat with the founders of home solar power provider, M-Kopa at the Power Africa Innovation Fair in the United Nations compound in Nairobi. Power Africa was Obama’s signature Africa initiative to help boost electrification across the continent and has had mixed impact depending on who you ask.
Hi [%first_name | Quartz member%],
When Blessing Amidu, a Lagos-based geologist, first had the idea for a feature-length animated movie in 2016, she paid a prolific Nollywood filmmaker to get the job done. But, after nearly two years and around $40,000 spent, no headway had been made.
Emmanuel Izochukwu, a 22-year-old forward, had planned in June to take his soccer career to the next level by making a move from Nigeria to Macedonia. Instead, he was met with crushing disappointment.
The effects of the lack of access of credit for a majority of middle-class Africans show up in different ways.
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, a major worry in African tech startup circles has been a drying up of early-stage funding with investors expected to focus more on established companies.
At any point in the last few years, Nigeria’s naira has always had multiple exchange rates.
Back in 2012 when it first launched, Jumia’s long-term goal was to become the leading e-commerce player on the continent.
For nationals of 15 African countries, applying for a US visa is about to become up to 50 times more expensive.
Given Nigeria’s ethnic heterogeneity, with over 300 ethnic groups scattered across its 36 states, it’s pretty difficult to settle on a national dish.
Over the past five years, high-profile visits to African tech ecosystems by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Alibaba founder Jack Ma have been signposted as marks of validation.
In February, data showed that, for the fifth year in a row, more Nigerians emigrated to Canada in 2019 than the year before.
The world’s largest free trade area since the World Trade Organization has taken one step closer to becoming a reality.
In response to Covid-19 outbreaks across the continent, Jumia—the largest pan-African e-commerce operator, made a shift in its business model.
Google’s latest attempt to power internet connectivity in Africa will involve invisible light beams transmitted at high altitudes.
When it first launched in Nigeria in 2012, Jumia quickly realized just how much work was needed to build a logistics service that could enable its e-commerce ambitions across the continent.
The projected dip in remittances to African countries will not be as bad as initially feared.
For much of the past month, Nigeria was gripped by widespread #EndSARS protests calling for an end to police brutality, particularly the disbandment of a rogue police unit.
Between 2015 and 2018, around 80% of the 14 million used cars exported from the European Union (EU), Japan, and the US, went to low and middle-income countries.
Nigeria’s former minister of finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has already started getting congratulatory messages for becoming the new director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
As small-scale renewable energy solutions have become mainstream across African households over the past decade, one of the key drivers has been easing the financial access barrier for end users.
After initially existing mainly as a recurring hashtag on social media, #EndSARS—a campaign against police brutality in Nigeria—evolved into mass protests which drew thousands of Nigerians across in several locations across the country this month.
In September 1987, a laboratory in China sent an email to a German university—the first-ever email the world received from the Communist country. It read: “Across the Great Wall, we can reach every corner of the world.”
