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🛒 Afrikrea closes shop |🏦 Access Holdings to acquire National Bank of Kenya |💵 Google €250m fine

🛒 Afrikrea closes shop |🏦 Access Holdings to acquire National Bank of Kenya |💵 Google €250m fine

Innovation Village
March 21, 2024

In today’s menu 🥘

🛒 Afrikrea, the African marketplace, shuts down after 11 years of operation
🏦 Access Holdings expands in East Africa with the acquisition of National Bank of Kenya
💵 Google fined €250 million by French Competition Authority
📱Kenyan Content Creators to Monetise Facebook and Instagram Posts Starting June
💰P1 Ventures completes a second close of $35 million for Fund II
🤵🏽‍♂️Microsoft appoints Mustafa Suleyman to lead Microsoft AI division

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🛒 ECOMMERCE

Afrikrea, the African marketplace, shuts down after 11 years of operation

Moulaye

Moulaye Taboure, CEO and Co-Founder of ANKA, has announced that Afrikrea, the marketplace, is shutting down after 10 years of operation.

He made this known in a video on social media. According to him, “This is the end of Afrikrea … Your support has meant everything, so thank you for 11 years of love, sharing and community. Don’t miss out on this important update, hit play now and uncover the details!”……continue reading

🏦 FINANCIAL SERVICES

Access Holdings expands in East Africa with the acquisition of National Bank of Kenya

Access Holdings, the parent body of Access bank, has announced plans to acquire the National Bank of Kenya. Access is buying the bank from Kenya’s KCB Group who incidentally bought the bank in a rescue deal engineered by the central bank in 2019.

This is the second bank acquisition in Kenya after the acquisition of Transnational Bank in 2020. In 2022, it entered an agreement to acquire Centum Investment Company Plc (‘Centum’) 83.4% stake in Sidian Bank Limited but it fell through..….continue reading

Commercial Bank of Ethiopia scrambles to recover over $40 million after “Technical Glitch”

Ethiopia’s banking sector faced a major setback recently when the country’s largest bank, the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, encountered a technical glitch that allowed customers to withdraw more money than was available in their accounts. The aftermath of this incident has left the bank scrambling to recover over $40 million in lost funds.

Reports surfaced indicating that long queues formed at ATMs across Ethiopia as customers attempted to take advantage of the malfunction. According to local media, university students played a significant role in spreading news of the glitch through social media channels and were among those who withdrew substantial amounts of money……continue reading

⚖️ REGULATION

Google fined €250 million by French Competition Authority

The Competition Authority has slapped a hefty fine of 250 million euros on Alphabet Inc, Google LLC, Google Ireland Ltd, and Google France, collectively known as “Google.” This fine comes as a consequence of Google failing to uphold specific commitments mandated by Decision 22-D-13, issued on June 21, 2022.

It’s worth noting that this decision marks the fourth ruling by the Competition Authority in the span of four years regarding this matter. These decisions are situated within the context of the enactment of the law of July 24, 2019, on related rights, aimed at redefining the negotiation dynamics between publishers, press agencies, and digital platforms..…continue reading

SOCIAL MEDIA

Kenyan Content Creators to Monetise Facebook and Instagram Posts Starting June

In an exciting development, Kenyan content creators are set to earn revenue from their posts on Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram, commencing June this year. This significant stride stems from a collaborative effort between President William Ruto and the social media giant, Meta, signaling a breakthrough for Kenya’s digital content landscape.

Following discussions at State House Nairobi, Meta’s President of global affairs, Nick Clegg, announced that Kenyan content creators meeting the eligibility criteria would have the opportunity to monetize their content on Facebook and Instagram platforms. This announcement underscores a year-long endeavor by the Kenyan government to empower creators to derive income from their online endeavors, mirroring successful models observed on platforms such as YouTube and X...…continue reading

💰 INVESTMENTS

P1 Ventures completes a second close of $35 million for Fund II.

As international investors pull back from African startups, local VC P1 Ventures proves the market still holds huge potential for those on the ground as it completes a second close of $35 million for Fund II. The fund welcomes the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) as its first public institutional investor. It’s also expanded its in-house data science team to further leverage AI in its sourcing for dealflow and talent. .…..continue reading