Innovation Village Newsletter
Posts
Binance to cease all Naira Services🪙 | Accenture acquires Udacity 🏦 | Bolt in North Africa 🚗

Binance to cease all Naira Services🪙 | Accenture acquires Udacity 🏦 | Bolt in North Africa 🚗

Innovation Village
March 06, 2024

In today’s menu 🥘

🪙 Binance to Cease all Naira Services Amidst Regulatory Troubles in Nigeria
🪙 Bitcoin Surpasses $69,000 Mark, Achieving New All-Time High Since November 2021
🏦 Accenture to acquire Udacity to build a learning platform focused on AI
🏦 Bolt expands into North Africa with Launch in Egypt offering incentives for riders and drivers

If you haven't subscribed, join over 7,000 people curious about Innovation, New Products, New Technologies in Africa.

🪙 CRYPTOCURRENCY

Binance to Cease all Naira Services Amidst Regulatory Troubles in Nigeria

Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, has announced that it will cease all its services related to Nigeria’s currency, the Naira, from March 8. The decision has been made in light of the company’s current regulatory issues in Nigeria. A statement made via its mobile application revealed this news.

Binance has been experiencing a crackdown on its operations in Nigeria, a West African nation. As part of this cessation of activities, Binance will discontinue deposits in Naira after March 5. Furthermore, the ability for customers to withdraw funds in Naira will stop from March 8.

On Tuesday, Binance released an official statement that all remaining NGN balances in the user accounts on Binance will be automatically converted into USDT – a cryptocurrency stablecoin that mirrors the price of the US dollar. Moreover, Binance will delist all the existing NGN spot trading pairs on March 7. The move also affects Binance Pay, the company’s payment solution service, with the exclusion of Naira from the list of accepted payment methods..…..continue reading

Bitcoin Surpasses $69,000 Mark, Achieving New All-Time High Since November 2021

Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, has been experiencing a busy year, and it’s only March. This digital currency reached a new all-time high, the first since November 2021, surpassing $69,000 early on Tuesday morning. The recent increase in demand follows the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S and the anticipated halving of bitcoin in late April……continue reading

_{PRODUCT DESIGN FUNDAMENTALS TRAINING}
Powered by Tenth Code Media Limited

Embark on a transformative journey into the realm of Product Design with our Fundamentals course. Unveil the essential principles that underpin successful product design, exploring the intersection of creativity and functionality. This comprehensive training is tailored to equip you with the foundational knowledge and skills needed to navigate the dynamic landscape of product design.

Start Date - 6th April, 2024 👉🏽 Register Now

📲 TELECOMS

Major investors, including FMR LLC, reduce stake in Kenya’s Safaricom amid dividend repatriation delays

FMR LLC, a prominent American multinational financial services firm and one of the top five investors in Kenya’s Safaricom, is significantly reducing its stake in the company by selling off millions of shares. This decision follows a delay in dividend repatriation and has led FMR to decrease its Safaricom shareholding from 921.1 million shares as of September 2022 to approximately 314 million.

Despite this, Safaricom announced that it will be paying an interim dividend per share of KSh 0.55 ($0.0038) in February 2024. This payout marks a slight reduction from the previous dividend of Sh0.58 ($0.0040) per share and signifies the second year in a row that Safaricom has maintained this payment plan. The telecom company’s board approved the interim dividend during a meeting held on 21st February 2024.

The process of selling off shares by FMR LLC reportedly commenced in the last quarter of 2022. The decision was influenced by delayed dividend payouts, largely due to the scarcity of dollars in the Kenyan market, which has greatly impacted the company.…..continue reading

🏦 ACQUISITIONS

Accenture to acquire Udacity to build a learning platform focused on AI

Accenture, a global leader in professional services, recently announced its strategic move to acquire Udacity, a renowned digital education pioneer specializing in technology courses. The acquisition aims to strengthen Accenture's LearnVantage platform, offering clients comprehensive technology learning and training services.

Udacity, founded in 2011, has evolved into a talent transformation platform with a focus on career development in AI and technology. The company is recognized for its innovative learning approach, emphasizing practitioner-level technical skills. With a team of over 230 professionals, Udacity's expertise lies in blending online learning flexibility with the benefits of human instruction.

Accenture LearnVantage, the recipient of Udacity's team, will now provide clients with enhanced technology learning and training services. This move is in response to the growing need for enterprises to upskill their workforce in cloud, data, and AI as they navigate digital transformations. Kishore Durg, global lead of Accenture LearnVantage, highlights the significance of this acquisition in meeting the demands of the evolving workplace....…..continue reading

HR startup Deel continues acquisition spree with largest purchase yet, African-based PaySpace

Human resources (HR) startup Deel is expanding its portfolio by acquiring PaySpace, an African-based payroll and HR software company. This acquisition, which is Deel’s largest to date, comes less than a week after it acquired Zavvy, a Munich-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup developing tools for personalized career progression, training, and performance management.

Based in Johannesburg, PaySpace has an extensive customer base of over 14,000 clients using its software and services in 44 countries across Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. Notable clients include multinational corporations such as Heineken, Coca-Cola Beverages, and Puma Sports SA. The acquisition by Deel, a $12 billion HR startup operating in over 70 countries and specializing in talent hiring, payment, and management, aims to strengthen its presence in Africa….continue reading

🚗 RIDE HAILING

Bolt expands into North Africa with Launch in Egypt offering incentives for riders and drivers

Ride-hailing company, Bolt, has extended its operations into Cairo, Egypt, a move that places it in direct competition with other transport service providers such as Uber and inDrive. The expansion signifies Bolt’s pursuit of a broader market footprint in North Africa, in sync with its strategic growth plan in Africa.

The launch in Cairo comes with an attractive promotion to entice riders — a half-off discount for a six-month duration is being offered, for which Bolt will foot the bill entirely. In a bid to attract and incentivize drivers, Bolt is also offering a reprieve from the standard 15% commission fee it typically charges...…..continue reading

👨🏻‍💻 SOCIAL MEDIA

Instagram introduces editable DMs, pinnable chats, and saved stickers for enhanced messaging experience

Instagram has unveiled a new feature allowing users to edit their direct messages up to 15 minutes after sending, aiming to help users correct typos or rephrase messages. Users can activate it by pressing and holding the message and selecting ‘edit’ from the drop-down menu. Once edited, the message will be marked as “edited” to inform the recipient of the amendment.

This functionality is reminiscent of Apple’s edit feature for iMessage, introduced almost two years ago. Additionally, Instagram is rolling out the ability for users to pin up to three message threads to the top of their inbox......…..continue reading

TikTok says its revamped creator fund has increased total creator revenue by over 250%

TikTok announced today that its revamped creator fund has increased total creator revenue by over 250% within the last six months. The company says the fund, which launched a year ago and eventually replaced TikTok’s original $1 billion Creator Fund, is exiting beta in the coming weeks. TikTok also announced that its LIVE Subscription monetization tool is being renamed to “Subscription” and is soon expanding to non-LIVE creators….continue reading