Newsletter 20102023

Newsletter 20102023: Nokia to lay off 14,000 people over the next 3 years | Kippa shuts down its offline payments product, KippaPay

WORKFORCE

Nokia to lay off 14,000 people over the next 3 years

Finnish mobile company, Nokia, announced that it will be letting go of about 14,000 people or about 16% of its work force, over the next three years. Currently it has a headcount of 86,000 and it will be reducing this to between 72,000 and 77,000 by the end of 2026.

This layoff is part of the company’s effort to reduce its cost base by EUR 800–1,200 million on a gross basis over a three year period to secure long-term profitable growth in the face of a more challenging market environment. The announcement was made in the context of a reported 20% drop in sales and a 69% plunge in profits in the most recent quarter, spanning July to September, in comparison to the same period last year..…Continue reading

STARTUPS

Kippa shuts down its offline payments product, KippaPay

Nigerian fintech, Kippa announced that it is pulling back its offline payments product, KippaPay from the market. KippaPay was introduced last year, after it obtained a Super Agent Banking Licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria, to support merchants with offline payments and agency banking through its POS terminals.

Last year, it raised $8.4 million in a seed round to develop financial products that help SMEs grow their businesses and grow its team in Nigeria.

CEO Kennedy Ekezie, in a company announcement, stated that the “company decision is related to profitable product portfolio consolidation.”

With this development, the company is letting go of the core of its team supporting the KippaPay product in December 2023. Though it did not mention the number, it is reported that about 40 employees have been notified…….Continue reading

SOCIAL MEDIA

Meta is bringing “Channels” feature to Facebook Page

Meta is extending its “broadcast channels” feature, akin to Telegram’s channels, to Facebook and Messenger. After its introduction on Instagram and WhatsApp earlier this year, Meta has revealed that this feature will soon be accessible on these two platforms.

The functionality empowers creators and public figures to convey one-to-many messages for direct interaction with their followers. Channels facilitate various content types such as text, images, polls, reactions, and more. Only the channel creator has message-sending privileges, while viewers can react to messages and participate in polls..….Continue reading
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WhatsApp Desktop users! “Search message by date feature” is coming your way!

WhatsApp will soon introduce a feature that users search for messages by date. As reported by popular WABetaInfo, the “Search message by date” feature will make it easier for users to quickly search for messages shared on a specific date within their conversations.

WABetaInfo reported WhatsApp has plans to release the new feature for the web client in the future. It will a calendar button which will allow you to open a date picker panel (see image below). On tapping a particular day, you can see messages shared on that date…….Continue reading

OTHER STORIES

• Vodacom, a telecom provider in South Africa, is facing a 1 million Rand ($53,000) fine for breaching the country’s Consumer Protection Act (CPA). The fine was imposed by the National Consumer Tribunal.  ….Continue reading

• After slogging through years of delays and redesigns, the Tesla Cybertruck can finally be seen on public roads this holiday season, the company announced. Deliveries of the long-awaited luxury EV SUV will begin to select customers starting November 30, before the vehicle enters full production next year at its Texas Gigafactory…..Continue reading