Mallam Nasir El-Rufai's $100 million fund for startups

TODAY’S MENU

• Former Kaduna state governor Nasir El-Rufai plans $100 million venture capital fund for startups in Nigeria

• 8 female businesses awarded $800,000 in the 2023 YouthAdapt challenge

• Google reportedly planning to postpone the launch of its Gemini AI until 2024

• OpenAI’s GPT Store won’t be released until early 2024

• How to protect yourself against deepfake attacks

• Spotify is laying off 17% of employees across the company amid rising capital costs

• Samsung Galaxy S24 leak

INVESTMENT

Former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai plans $100 million venture capital fund for startups in Nigeria

The Former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai announced that he is planning to launch a $100 million venture capital fund for startups in Nigeria.

He made this known in a discussion with BusinessDay newspapers while in Marrakech at the Africa Investment Forum in November. He mentioned his readiness to invest $2 million from his own funds to support the offtake of the fund. He said he would persuade investors to contribute the remaining funding. The investors will mostly be those “who believe in us but don’t have the capacity or the time to do the analysis and evaluation. But they trust our judgment and they will come with us.”

He expressed his desire to establish a venture capital fund or private equity initiative aimed at investing in young Nigerians with innovative ideas. He added that the industry segment didn’t matter – whether it was agriculture, ICT, or the creative sector – as long as the ideas had the potential to add value to the world.

The fund, set to launch, in January 2024, will begin operations initially in Abuja with Jimi Lawal, Hafiz Bayero, Eyo Ekpo and Kabir Yabo as founding directors and initial shareholders. Mallam Nasir El-Ruafi will be the part-time Chairman of the Board......…….read more

COMPETITION

8 female businesses awarded $800,000 in the 2023 YouthAdapt challenge

Eight visionary enterprises led by dynamic young African women have emerged triumphant in the 2023 YouthAdapt challenge, each securing grant funding of up to $100,000. This transformative initiative, jointly organized by the African Development Bank Group and the Global Center on Adaptation, with support from the Africa Climate Change Fund, aims to propel micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) towards innovative climate change adaptation solutions.

The competition, which commenced in 2021, has witnessed the allocation of over $5 million to 33 young entrepreneurs hailing from 19 African nations. This year, the spotlight is on female-owned enterprises at the forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), leveraging technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data analytics, virtual reality, robotics, Internet of Things, quantum computing, additive manufacturing, blockchain, and fifth-generation wireless for climate adaptation……..read more

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Google reportedly planning to postpone the launch of its Gemini AI until 2024

Google has postponed its anticipated Gemini launch events — which were initially scheduled for the next week — with the new release date for its GPT-4 competitor set in January. The company first introduced Gemini at the I/O 2023 event as a fundamental model boasting “remarkable multimodal capabilities” early in its development process.

The tech giant originally aimed for a unique end-of-year launch amid the holiday season — which wasn’t publicly announced — but inside sources informed about Gemini’s struggles with non-English inquiries. As a result, CEO Sundar Pichai decided to postpone its release.

Gemini is designed to accommodate various applications, integrating different forms of data like images and text for more complex tasks…..read more

OpenAI’s GPT Store won’t be released until early 2024

OpenAI is reportedly delaying the launch of its GPT Store until early 2024, as per an email viewed by The Verge. The company unveiled its GPT Builder tool at its inaugural developer conference in November, providing subscribers with a simple method to create custom AI bots.

OpenAI also announced it would soon launch the GPT Store, where users could list their GPTs and potentially profit from them. The initial plan was to launch it in November, but unexpected disruptions, including the temporary removal of CEO Sam Altman, resulted in a change of plans…..read more

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DEEPFAKE

How to protect yourself against deepfake attacks

Deepfakes are a form of synthetic media created using artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, particularly deep learning algorithms. The term “deepfake” is a combination of “deep learning” and “fake.” These technologies use neural networks to manipulate or generate realistic-looking content, often involving the substitution of one person’s face or voice with another’s

Protecting yourself against deepfake attacks involves a combination of cybersecurity practices, awareness, and proactive measures..….Click to read about how to protect yourself against deepfakes.

OTHER STORIES

Spotify is laying off 17% of employees across the company amid rising capital costs

As an unexpected revelation before the holidays, Spotify’s CEO, Daniel Ek, announced in a corporate press statement that the company would be reducing its workforce by 17 percent. He attributes the dismissals to the “forthcoming challenges”, choosing to implement them at once rather than executing smaller cutbacks over a period. Employees impacted by this decision will receive notifications later today, Ek further mentioned…..read more

Samsung Galaxy S24 leak

The upcoming S24 devices from Samsung are set to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) for real-time translation across messaging apps in more than a dozen languages. Additionally, these devices may incorporate Samsung's AI-driven Zoom Anyplace camera framing feature. Powered by Qualcomm modems featuring Smart Transit functionality, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra introduces a refreshed design with a flattened screen, a robust titanium frame, an enhanced 50 MP 5x telephoto camera, improved vapor chamber cooling, and support for Wi-Fi 7. Further insights into these devices, along with official images from Samsung, can be explored in this article….read more