⚕️Moderna cancels $200M Kenya plant | 🚗 Uber Teen Accounts launch

In today’s menu ☕️

⚕️Moderna halts plans for $200M vaccine plant in Kenya amid decreased demand in Africa
🧑🏽‍🌾 ThriveAgric and Acorn-Rabobank forge partnership to provide carbon credit access to Nigerian farmers
🚗 Uber South Africa introduces Uber Teen Accounts with enhanced safety features for family peace of mind
💰GTBank parent company GTCO to raise $750 Million amid new central bank capital requirements
👨🏻‍💻 Opportunities

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

NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT & MANAGEMENT TRAINING

Register now to join the next class organised starting on the 18th of April, 2024. Click the link:  https://forms.gle/sYGBTB5ZFfq6Rvjf6

⚕️HEALTHCARE

Moderna halts plans for $200M vaccine plant in Kenya amid decreased demand in Africa

Moderna, the American biotechnology firm known for manufacturing vaccines, has put a hold on its project to establish a vaccine production facility in Kenya valued at $200 million. This suspension comes in spite of the Kenyan government’s pledge to offer various inducements to facilitate the project, among which were tax exemptions.

On April 11, Moderna announced that it is currently in the process of evaluating the prospective need for Covid-19 vaccines as a basis for its future operations. The company’s reconsideration of its investment plan occurs amidst concerns related to the prolonged process of acquiring the necessary land for building the facility. The intended location for the plant was set to be a special economic zone situated on the periphery of Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, which has become a subject of delay and uncertainty.

The cessation of Moderna’s plan represents a significant shift from earlier momentum, highlighting the complexities and challenges in expanding vaccine manufacturing capabilities in regions like Africa, where the demand for such infrastructure is critically high...…….continue reading

🧑🏽‍🌾 AGRICULTURE

ThriveAgric and Acorn-Rabobank forge partnership to provide carbon credit access to Nigerian farmers

ThriveAgric, a pioneering Agritech company based in Nigeria, has recently unveiled a momentous collaboration with Acorn-Rabobank, marking a significant stride towards environmental sustainability and economic empowerment for smallholder farmers. This alliance is set to benefit upwards of 30,000 farmers across nine states in Nigeria, providing them with access to the lucrative carbon credit market.

This ambitious initiative is poised to enable the sequestration of an impressive 1.3 million metric tons of Carbon Reduction Units (CRUs), with expectations to amass over $50 million in revenue from carbon credits alone. This venture is not just a huge leap for environmental conservation but also promises to spawn substantial social and economic benefits for local communities concentrated in the states of Kaduna, Gombe, Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi, Jigawa, Niger, Nasarawa, and Kano......continue reading

🚗 TRANSPORTATION

Uber South Africa introduces Uber Teen Accounts with enhanced safety features for family peace of mind

Uber South Africa has launched a new service called Uber Teen Accounts, which is specifically tailored to enhance safety and peace of mind for parents and guardians with children aged between 13 and 17 years. This innovative feature enables parents and guardians to set up special Uber accounts for their teenagers, allowing the teens to independently request rides while still under the watchful eye of their guardians.

The introduction of Uber Teen Accounts signifies a notable shift from the company’s earlier policy, which restricted Uber account registration solely to individuals who were 18 years of age or older. With the new service, parents and guardians can now directly track their child’s location in real-time and receive frequent updates about the status of their trips.........continue reading

💰 FUNDING

GTBank parent company GTCO to raise $750 Million amid new central bank capital requirements

Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), the umbrella organization for Guaranty Trust Bank which ranks as Nigeria’s fifth-largest commercial bank in terms of assets, is preparing to petition its shareholders for the green light to accumulate an additional $750 million in capital. This strategic move comes on the heels of a decision by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to increase the minimum capital requisites tenfold for the country’s largest financial institutions

The capital augmentation initiative will involve GTBank issuing an array of financial instruments, such as new ordinary shares, preference shares, convertible notes, and bonds, among others. This capital drive is not merely a response to regulatory changes but also a step towards fortifying the banks with a solid financial cushion. This buffer is intended to shield them from both international and internal economic perturbations, thereby contributing to the fortitude and consistency of the overall financial framework within the nation.......continue reading

OTHER STORIES

• Shoprite and Global Retailers Unite to Establish W23 Global VC Fund for Grocery Sector Innovation…..read more

• MasterCard and Equity Bank partner to enable cross-border remittances in Kenya……read more

• FTX Co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried files appeal against fraud conviction and 25-year sentence…..read more

OPPORTUNITIES

• Huawei invites applications for Kenya’s Seeds for the Future Programme 2024…..read more

• Entries open for 2024 Edition of Global Startup Awards Africa: Aiming to spotlight Africa’s top innovators and entrepreneurs…..read more

• 12 African entrepreneurs win a total of US$400,000 in grants from the FINCA Ventures Prize Competition…..read more

• AgriTech4Egypt Innovation Challenge invites applications from agri-tech ventures for a sustainable agricultural future….read more

• Irish Tech Challenge 2024: Call for South African startups to help address global issues….read more