One of the world’s fastest growing cryptocurrency exchanges, Bybit, has completed the integration of the Arbitrum mainnet. With this integration, Bybit users can now deposit and withdraw Ether (ETH), Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) on the Arbitrum network from Jan. 27 onwards.
Arbitrum is an Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) scaling solution and one of the first optimistic rollups that seek to relieve congestion on the Ethereum mainnet. Arbitrum makes transactions on Ethereum cheaper by performing operations off-chain and posting the results to the mainnet to secure proof.
Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO of Bybit.
Bybit users will enjoy trustless security rooted on the Ethereum blockchain where anyone can ensure the correct results of a L2 like Arbitrum. They will also benefit from Arbitrum’s speed, low gas fees and rapid throughput.
Bybit has proven itself to be the most reliable, stable and usable cryptocurrency exchange of the bull run, offering the best liquidity. Unique among major exchanges, Bybit experienced a 99.99% up rate throughout the year with no overload nor downtime throughout.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
Google is creating a new unit dedicated to “blockchain and other next-gen distributed computing and data storage technologies,” according to a leaked email obtained by Bloomberg. The blockchain unit will be led by a longtime Google veteran Shivakumar Venkataraman, Bloomberg reports, and will sit in Google’s relatively new Labs division, which is also home to the firm’s research into virtual and augmented reality.
It’s too early to tell whether Google’s blockchain effort is more research-oriented—aimed at shoring up the infrastructure meeting its massive network and storage needs—or if it just wants to boost Google Pay’s transaction volume.
But mention of “blockchain” inevitably conjures the scenario of Google developing its own crypto. Google could deploy a blockchain in direct competition with JPMorgan’s Onyx project. Or Google’s blockchain could run platforms for the metaverse, such as decentralized projects like Decentraland and The Sandbox already in use.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc’s will invest up to $1 billion in Bharti Airtel in a move that could help bolster the telecom operator’s digital offerings. The investment includes a $700 million equity investment in Airtel at a price of $9.77 per share and up to $300 million towards implementing commercial agreements, including investments in scaling Airtel’s offerings, the companies said.
Google CEO, Sundar Pichai
The share issue is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval and comes months after Airtel raised up to Rs 21,000 crore through a sale of shares to existing shareholders. Airtel shares were up 0.54% at Rs 711 after the announcement.
Google announced plans less than two years ago to infuse $10 billion in India via its digitisation fund over five to seven years through equity deals and tie-ups.
Conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd’s digital unit Jio Platforms, which houses Airtel’s telecom rival Jio, received an investment of $4.5 billion from Google in July 2020. In return, the US tech behemoth got a seat on Jio’s board.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
Pan- African digital payment group DPO has got preliminary approval to operate in the Nigerian market using its subsidiary One Payment Limited. DPO which offers merchant aggregation services to over 60,000 active merchants, including eCommerce companies, airlines and travel agents promises great innovation to the Nigerian digital payment market.
The company announced that the Central Bank of Nigeria has granted it license to carry out certain types of payments services to businesses across Nigeria.
Eran Feinstein, CEO of DPO Group
This licence enables the DPO Group to operate as an independent payment solutions services company in Nigeria as it does across over 20 other countries in Africa. DPO offers merchant aggregation services to over 60,000 active merchants, including eCommerce companies, airlines and travel agents.
Local and global businesses trust DPO Group because its robust and reliable network allows merchants to accept payments in the currency of their choice. Working across local and international channels, DPO also offers strong protection against fraud and helps merchants manage refunds, chargebacks and more.
eCommerce has seen significant growth in Nigeria in recent years, due to high levels of internet penetration combined with being one of the largest digital economies on the continent. Digital payments make up the large majority of payment volumes in the country, and volumes are expected to reach 7.7bn by 2025, representing a growth of 45% from 2019.
Eran Feinstein, CEO of DPO Group, commented, “Nigeria represents a key market for any business with a digital focus, as one of the most innovative African countries when it comes to fintech and eCommerce. This new licence is an exciting development which will allow us to offer an even smoother payment process for Nigerian businesses looking to grow and reach more customers through secure digital payments.”
DPO Group was acquired by Network International in 2021 in a landmark deal for the African payments space. It continues to operate under the same brand in existing territories, and will be launching a new comprehensive payment solution, ‘DPO Pay’ for businesses across Africa and other territories.
DPO’s country manager in Nigeria – Chidinma Aroyewun said, “This licence provides an exciting opportunity for us at DPO. It allows us to work with tens of thousands of Nigerian businesses and help them achieve their growth goals through secure payment technology.”
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
COVID-19 had a serious impact on online travel agencies (OTAs), according to GlobalData, which notes that the OTA market value decreased by a gruesome 60.4% year-on-year (YoY) in 2020. The leading data and analytics company reveals that this strain has amplified OTA’s existing concerns around the growing presence of Google in the market, and how the tech giant’s control could impact competitiveness and, therefore, consumer choice.
Ralph Hollister, Travel and Tourism Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Google’s growing presence in online travel will be ominous for OTAs that have no choice but to rely on the search engine for web traffic. Regulators are starting to control Google’s practices, but the company has to be treated differently due to its position as a dominant search engine, as well as the fact that it is not offering directly competing services. Low competition can lead to rising prices, so it is vital for all travelers that the right balance is achieved.”
Google CEO, Sundar Pichai
Laura Petrone, Thematic Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Google certainly has a huge responsibility when it comes to competitiveness. Google has a monopoly over internet searches, and it has been accused many times of violating competition law to preserve this monopoly. Digital platforms like Google can use data generated knowledge from one market and taking advantage of their scale, they can expand their services to new markets. However, they need to be careful: in doing so they end up attracting even more regulatory scrutiny, as they are viewed as data monopolies in whichever sector they move into.”
From 2015 to 2019, the OTA market was seeing growth of 9.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), reaching $480.3 billion. This rapid growth rate and future growth potential intensified Google’s focus on online travel. By 2019, the OTA market was already blaming weakened visibility in Google search results for poor third quarter earnings. Expedia Group’s net income fell by 22% YoY in Q3 2019, which it partially blamed on changes to Google’s algorithm, resulting in lost visibility.
Hollister continued: “Google really ramped up its activity in online travel prior to the pandemic. When looking at 2019 alone, Google launched its Travel Hub, added flight check-in and hotel booking abilities to Google Assistant, attached lodging listings to its Maps function, created a search site for hotel availability by destination, and Alphabet even launched its own ride hailing app.
“Google clearly has both the business model and capital needed to better weather an event like COVID-19: by 2020, Alphabet’s (Google’s parent company) revenue was over 15 times the amount of Booking’s and Expedia’s combined. Struggling OTAs will rely more and more heavily on Google Search traffic as they look to recover from the impact of the pandemic. Google will have to be mindful not to expand or act too aggressively in the short-term, or it will face more frequent anti-competitive claims, lawsuits, and fines.”
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
Oracle opened a data centre in South Africa on Wednesday to provide local cloud services across Africa for the first time, joining the likes of Microsoft and Amazon Web Services in setting up facilities in the country.
Africa is the US company’s 37th “cloud region” — an area that allows customers to get faster access from a local data centre, in this case in Johannesburg.
Oracle is racing to open at least 44 cloud regions this year as it plans to catch up with cloud computing rivals such as Microsoft, Amazon and Google.
Increased demand for faster computing from banks and telecoms firms has attracted big cloud operators
Cherian Varghese, regional MD for Middle East and Africa at Oracle
Though Oracle has no plans for more data centres in Africa this year, more could come next year as the company explores areas such as West Africa, Cherian Varghese, regional MD for Middle East and Africa, said in an interview.
Increased demand for faster computing from African banks and telecommunications firms has attracted big cloud operators into the largely untapped market, with Microsoft the first to launch data centres in South Africa, followed by Amazon and Huawei.
Fast connectivity provided by submarine communications cable and being Africa’s most developed economy have made South Africa a key location for cloud operators, with over 50 data centres in the country, mostly near Cape Town and Johannesburg.
However, South Africa comes with infrastructure challenges, such as high power prices and frequent power cuts, meaning additional costs have to be set aside for backup power. Smaller cloud operators are also trying to grab a piece of the fast-expanding market for data localisation.
US-based Digital Realty is buying a majority stake in data centre operator Teraco for $3.5 billion, while Vantage Data Centres has also announced plans to invest up to a billion dollars to set up a data centre in South Africa.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
There are windows of opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs and innovation-driven startups based in Nigeria are invited to apply for two new entrepreneurship programmes developed at the University of Oxford.
The Oxford Foundry, University of Oxford, and FMDQ Private Markets Limited has entered into a global partnership with the aim being to support collaboration and knowledge exchange between the UK and Nigerian angel investment communities. The partnership focuses on high-potential sectors such as technology, agriculture, green industries, and healthcare, through co-created programmes, with applications now open for two of these.
Startups
The first is the Young Entrepreneurs Leadership Programme (YELP), a bespoke four-month online programme targeted towards aspiring young Nigerian leaders aged 21-35 years that will provide the necessary skills, resources, and networks to create positive change in their local community and country.
The programme, run by the Oxford Foundry at the University of Oxford, and FMDQ Private Markets Ltd, is aimed at young people who have a goal to contribute towards the achievement of one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Nigeria.
Participants will take part in a tailored leadership curriculum, which will include roundtable discussions with world leaders in business and entrepreneurship, masterclasses to help build leadership skills, and online community social events.
The online programme is part time – at least 10 hours per month – and runs from April until August. Twenty places are available, and the initiative is free.
The second programme is Innovate Nigeria, a two-week intensive accelerator to support innovation-driven startups in Nigeria to become scalable enterprises that have the potential to create transformative social and economic impact.
Successful applicants will benefit from a bespoke curriculum focusing on core entrepreneurship and venture building skills, one-on-one coaching with the Oxford Foundry’s network of experts, leadership training, and introductions to investors and opportunities to pitch to investors.
Applications are invited from purpose-driven startups who have a Minimal Viable Product (MVP) based on an innovation that gives a significant competitive advantage compared to existing companies.
The online programme starts at the end of March, with five places available for the free initiative. Prior to applying, applicants must ensure that they are able to commit to a minimum of 25 hours per week of programming.
Applicants for both programmes can apply here before January 31 at 11:59pm WAT.https://www.fmdqgroup.com/
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
One of the leading providers of entertainment, e-commerce and connectivity services for the travel industry in Africa, Moment, has signed an agreement with Air Côte d’Ivoire to provide a premium cabin experience, relying on the deployment of the portable entertainment system (W-IFE), Flymingo Box. Passengers will now benefit from a digital platform designed to meet their onboard needs and offer maximum comfort.
Since its creation in 2012, Air Côte d’Ivoire is the flag carrier of Ivory Coast, serving the five biggest Ivorian airports, a large number of destinations in West and Central Africa. South Africa will be covered by May 2022.
Laurent Loukou, CEO of Air Côte d’Ivoire
Air Côte d’Ivoire plays a major role in the African airline industry. The airline regularly assesses sector-related issues such as fuel consumption, safety, GSM connectivity and Wi-Fi on board and is known to adopt innovative technologies in order to create added value and strengthen its position as a competitive player. In line with this strategy, the company wants to develop passenger services by offering a quality entertainment solution on all of its flights.
Air Côte d’Ivoire has chosen Moment and its Flymingo Box server, which guarantees smooth access to a wide range of content, including films, music, press, radio, podcasts, digital books and unparalleled streaming speed. Easily installed in the cabin of an aircraft and requiring no intervention from the crew, the Flymingo Box differentiates itself with its ease of use and adaptability. This powerful device allows rapid distribution throughout the cabin of a single-aisle aircraft.
“We are delighted with this partnership with Moment which allows the deployment of a digital entertainment system dedicated to our passengers. We are committed to being a forward-looking airline and Moment supports us in this process” said Laurent Loukou, CEO of Air Côte d’Ivoire. “Among all the entertainment possibilities available on the market, Moment’s solution met the best of our expectations. Offering a broad range of content and services, it can evolve according to our needs to become a genuine point of contact on board. We were also thrilled with Moment uptime and the simplicity of its system both in installation and passenger use. A significant differentiating point”.
“We are pleased to make our expertise available to Air Côte d’Ivoire and to collaborate with the company to equip its entire fleet with our Flymingo Box solution”, adds Dieudonné Kamaté, Sales Director at Moment. “The Flymingo Box’s deployment model and technology are perfectly suited to the strategy of the company and to its aircraft. As an agile solution, it offers passengers a wide variety of content and allows the company to increase on-board satisfaction and loyalty.”
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
The groundbreaking highly innovative BlackBerry will cease to exist in its operational form from today, meaning that devices running the original operating system and services will no longer be supported after 4 January, marking the end of an era for the storied device that catapulted work into the mobile era.
Ontario-based BlackBerry, the company formerly known as Research In Motion whose signature handset in the 1990s came to embody working on the move, said handsets running its in-house software “will no longer be expected to reliably function” after Tuesday, according to its end-of-life page.
Blackberry devices
The move, first announced in 2020, effectively kills off a line-up that remains popular to this day in parts of the world for its reliability and security.
BlackBerry devices and their physical keyboards were once the go-to mobile device both for professionals keeping up with e-mail and younger people messaging on its proprietary platform. The company’s appeal waned as Apple’s iPhone and a slew of Android handsets with larger displays, better graphics and wider app offerings took over the market during the past decade.
The Canadian company stopped making its own smartphones in 2016, shifting to a software-only business and licensing its brand and services to TCL Communication Technology Holdings, which continued to release devices until its deal ran out in 2020. The TCL devices were powered by Android and will be supported until August.
Yet nostalgia for the BlackBerry name made it one of the meme stocks of 2021, triggering a massive spike in its share price in January before a similarly steep decline.
“These devices will lack the ability to receive over-the-air provisioning updates and, as such, this functionality will no longer be expected to reliably function, including for data, phone calls and SMS functionality,” the company wrote. “Applications will also have limited functionality.”
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
For the past 10 years, we’ve been hearing about how new-generation mobile apps, wallets, tap-to-pay, NFC solutions and even the humble QR code are going to spell the end of the magnetic stripe card as a means of payment. And here we are, in 2021, and we’re finally taking big steps towards a brave new world of contactless payments.
In fact, contactless payments are possibly the hottest trend in the financial services industry right now. Globally, Accenture predicts $7-trillion in consumer spending will shift from cash to cards and digital payments by 2023.
Contactless Payments
The Deloitte Africa Digital Commerce Survey found that 22-million South African consumers shopped online in 2020, growing to 32-million by 2024.
Mastercard has become the first major payment provider to start phasing out the magnetic stripe on its cards. By 2033, no Mastercard credit and debit cards will have magnetic stripes. In fact, physical cards are steadily being replaced by virtual cards, which are both safer and more secure.
As businesses scramble to adapt to a world of reduced cash and physical card transactions, we see 4 major advantages for contactless over old-school payment methods, namely:
Germ-Free, Easy Transacting
Contactless was initially all about ease of use. With COVID-19, the ‘no-touch’ aspect became the big winner. Using contactless methods to accept payments means there’s no need to handle cash or a card.
Depending on the technology, there’s no need for customers to physically interact with a point-of-sale (POS) device, enter a PIN or sign a receipt.
It’s Safe and Secure
We’ve all heard horror stories about card-skimming. You think you’re swiping your card for that latte, and next thing you’re seeing unexpected transactions going off your account. With mobile wallets and virtual cards, you don’t even need to carry your bank card, and the merchant doesn’t see any card or banking details.
With QR codes, which remain popular, each QR code is randomly generated, ensuring your personal information remains safe at all times.
They Bring More People into the Digital Economy
As more digital payment solutions come to market, we’re seeing growing numbers of South Africans participating in the digital economy for the first time.
And with solutions like QR codes, merchants don’t even need specialised hardware or POS equipment: the technology needed to enable QR-based payments is typically software-based, which makes it simple and quick to implement and allows merchants to offer a better checkout experience. This is going to be a huge advantage for the informal sector and micro-businesses.
It Goes Beyond the Payment
Contactless payments don’t just create safe transactions: they add an entirely new layer of brand benefits. The speed and ease of contactless payments allow brands to create better service for their customers with fewer abandoned transactions.
Anything they can do to simplify the customer experience and reduce transaction time is a win. On average, it takes 6 to 7 seconds to process a cash transaction. This is reduced to 1 to 2 seconds for contactless. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but the difference it makes to customers is huge.
The research is overwhelming: South African consumers want the ability to make contactless, easy payments. And they want it now. Merchants that ignore the benefits of contactless payments do so at their own peril. And needless to say, Spot scans them all.
Andre Hugo is co-founder and CEO of South African mobile money app, Spot Money.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
