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📱CBN, NCC to fix failed airtime/data payments

📱CBN, NCC to fix failed airtime/data payments

Plus: ☁️ AWS Outage Disrupts Canva, Snapchat, and Global Platforms

Innovation Village
October 21, 2025

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Good Morning Valued Subscribers👋

Yesterday was one of those days that remind us just how connected and dependent our digital lives have become. One glitch in the system and suddenly half the internet hits pause. If you noticed your favorite apps acting weird yesterday, you weren’t alone — AWS had a major outage that sent platforms like Zoom, Canva, and Snapchat offline for hours.

Funny how quickly we realize the weight of “the cloud” when it stops floating. Behind every upload, message, or click are thousands of servers quietly doing the heavy lifting until one goes down and everything reminds us how fragile “always online” really is.

Still, tech doesn’t sleep for long. By evening, systems were back up, engineers were knee-deep in recovery reports, and social media had already moved on to the next trending joke about it. But it raises bigger questions about reliability in an age where downtime feels almost impossible — until it happens.

So as we roll into today, maybe take a second to appreciate the small miracle that your screen just… works. If yesterday showed us anything, it’s that even the biggest names in tech have their off days.

Let’s dive in👇

Today’s Menu ☕️

📰 CBN and NCC team up to fix Nigeria’s failed airtime and data payments
💼 CAC and SMEDAN Are Covering Your Registration Fees
🤖 Madica invests $400k in two AI startups – Hypeo AI and Anavid
🩺 Egypt’s SehaTech raises $1.1M seed to automate health insurance rails and widen coverage
☁️ AWS Outage Disrupts Canva, Snapchat, and Global Platforms
📲 X to Launch Marketplace for Buying Inactive Handles

📱TELECOMS

CBN and NCC team up to fix Nigeria’s failed airtime and data payments

You know that feeling when you buy airtime or data, get debited, and… nothing shows up? Well, Nigeria’s top money and telecom regulators say they’re finally fixing that mess.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) just announced they’re teaming up to make sure every failed airtime or data purchase gets properly tracked and refunded fast.

Here’s what’s changing:
There’ll now be clear response codes for every transaction, so you’ll know exactly what went wrong and where — bank, payment switch, or network. And if your transaction fails, you might not have to wait a week for a refund anymore. The goal is 24 to 48 hours, tops.

They’re also setting penalties for any company (bank or telco) that doesn’t follow the rules. So no more “it’s not our fault” excuses..…..…continue reading

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This free, 5-minute-long daily newsletter covers everything you need to know about AI. The biggest developments, the most pressing issues, and how companies from Google and Meta to the hottest startups are using it to reshape their businesses… it’s all broken down for you each and every morning into easy-to-digest snippets.

If you want to up your AI knowledge and stay on the forefront of the industry, you can subscribe to The Deep View right here (it’s free!).

💼ENTREPRENEURSHIP

CAC and SMEDAN Are Covering Your Registration Fees

So, here’s the math: ₦6 billion divided by 250,000 businesses equals ₦24,000 each — and that’s exactly what the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and SMEDAN are putting behind one of the biggest youth entrepreneurship pushes we’ve seen in a while.

They’re giving 250,000 young Nigerians free business registration — no fees, no stress. And honestly, it’s about way more than just a piece of paper. That CAC certificate is what lets you open a corporate bank account, apply for loans, and actually look credible when chasing contracts.

The goal is simple but powerful: move Nigeria’s massive “hustle economy” — from content creators and fashion plug pages to mini-agro startups — into the formal system where real growth happens....…..…continue reading

🤖ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Madica invests $400k in two AI startups – Hypeo AI and Anavid

Madica is making big moves again — this time betting on African AI. The early-stage investment program (backed by Flourish Ventures) just funded two new startups, Morocco’s Hypeo AI and Tunisia’s Anavid, while teaming up with the African Business Angel Network (ABAN) to open up more early-stage capital for founders across the continent.

Each startup is getting $200,000 and access to Madica’s 18-month support program, which includes mentorship, coaching, and investor connections.

Hypeo AI wants to make influencer marketing smarter — automating how brands find, manage, and pay creators. Anavid, meanwhile, is tackling retail theft by using AI-powered CCTV that can detect suspicious activity in real time without the need for new equipmen.......…continue reading

🩺 HEALTHCARE

Egypt’s SehaTech raises $1.1M seed to automate health insurance rails and widen coverage

SehaTech, an Egyptian insurtech startup, just raised $1.1 million in seed funding, bringing its total to $2 million — and it’s on a mission to fix how health insurance works across Africa.

The company, backed by investors like Ingressive Capital, Plus VC, and A15, is building the digital plumbing that connects hospitals, insurers, and patients. Think of it as the behind-the-scenes system that makes approvals, claims, and payments faster, cheaper, and more transparent.

Instead of the endless paperwork and back-and-forth calls that slow down healthcare payments, SehaTech’s platform uses AI and automation to handle everything from checking who’s covered to spotting fraudulent claims. CEO Mohamed Elshabrawy says it’s not just about efficiency — it’s about giving more people access to reliable health coverage by making insurance easier to manage........…continue reading

☁️ CLOUD

AWS Outage Disrupts Canva, Snapchat, and Global Platforms

From Snapchat and Canva to Zoom, Roblox, and even the London Stock Exchange’s data feeds, platforms around the world started glitching or going completely dark. If you couldn’t join a meeting, play a game, or design that presentation, it probably wasn’t your Wi-Fi — it was AWS.

The problem started in AWS’s US East region, one of its biggest cloud hubs, and it spread fast. Amazon’s engineers rushed in to fix it, saying they were “working to mitigate the issue.” Meanwhile, companies like Perplexity AI and Canva had to post awkward “we’re down, please be patient” updates to calm frustrated users.

This isn’t the first time AWS has tripped — it’s happened before, and every time it does, it reminds us of one uncomfortable truth: the internet is more centralized than we like to think. One company’s outage can take half the digital world down with it.........…continue reading