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🏦 Sidi Ould Tah elected as new AfDB President

🏦 Sidi Ould Tah elected as new AfDB President

Plus:📱Meta AI now has 1 billion MAUs

Innovation Village
May 30, 2025

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Today’s Menu ☕️

🏦 Sidi Ould Tah elected to succeed Akinwumi Adesina as new AfDB President
✈️ SORA Technology Secures Fresh Funding to Scale Drone and AI Solutions for Global Health in Africa
💰Francophone Africa Ushers in a New Era of Innovation with $69 Million DeepTech Fund
⚖️ Elon Musk Exits Trump Administration After Controversial Efficiency Drive
📱Meta AI now has 1B monthly active users
🤖 Perplexity’s new tool can generate spreadsheets, dashboards, and more

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🏦 APPOINTMENTS

Sidi Ould Tah elected to succeed Akinwumi Adesina as new AfDB President

Dr. Sidi Ould Tah

Sidi Ould Tah of Mauritania has been elected the next President of the African Development Bank Group following a vote by the Bank’s Board of Governors at the 2025 Annual Meetings in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The announcement was made by Nialé Kaba, Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of Planning and Development and Chair of the Board of Governors.

Tah, who will assume office on September 1, 2025, secured the required majority from both regional and non-regional member countries. His election comes at a time when the Bank is working to accelerate progress on Africa’s development priorities, including Agenda 2063 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Bringing over 35 years of experience in African and international finance, Tah most recently served as President of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA). During his decade at BADEA, he led a major transformation—quadrupling the bank’s balance sheet, earning a AAA rating, and establishing the institution as a top-rated African development financier.

Tah has also served as Mauritania’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance and held senior roles in multilateral organizations, with expertise in financial reform, crisis response, and resource mobilization. His leadership is expected to steer the Bank through complex economic, climate, and geopolitical challenges..……continue reading

✈️ DRONE TECHNOLOGY

SORA Technology Secures Fresh Funding to Scale Drone and AI Solutions for Global Health in Africa

SORA technology team

SORA Technology Co. Ltd., a Japan-based frontier technology startup, has announced the successful first close of its late seed funding round, further cementing its position at the intersection of health innovation and climate resilience. The round attracted investments from notable institutional backers such as Nissay Capital’s Sustainability Challenge Fund, SMBC Venture Capital, DRONE FUND, Central Japan Seed Fund, and Rheos Capital Works. With this latest raise, SORA’s total funding now stands at approximately ¥670 million (about $4.8 million), inclusive of debt financing.

Founded with the mission to combat infectious diseases and climate-induced health threats using advanced technologies, SORA Technology is rapidly emerging as a key player in building resilient healthcare infrastructure in underserved regions. The startup currently operates in six African countries—Ghana, Sierra Leone, Benin, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, and Kenya—partnering with governments and global institutions to deploy drone-assisted malaria control and AI-based disease forecasting systems.........…continue reading

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💰FUNDING

Francophone Africa Ushers in a New Era of Innovation with $69 Million DeepTech Fund

Francophone Africa is poised for a major leap in technological development with the launch of a $69 million DeepTech Innovation Fund, a bold initiative aimed at accelerating innovation in science and technology across the region. Spearheaded by the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) in partnership with the African Guarantee Fund (AGF), the fund represents a transformative shift in how the region approaches research-driven entrepreneurship and high-impact technologies.

The DeepTech Innovation Fund, valued at CFA 40 billion, is designed to support more than 1,000 technology-driven enterprises across OAPI’s 17 member states. This includes countries such as Cameroon, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, and Mali, where early-stage startups and researchers often face barriers in accessing funding for scalable tech solutions. The fund focuses on DeepTech sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, biotechnology, clean energy, advanced materials, and quantum technologies—fields that hold the potential to radically transform industries and livelihoods.

According to officials from OAPI, the fund will not only provide capital but also technical support and intellectual property guidance to ensure that homegrown innovations are protected, commercialized, and globally competitive. This positions the initiative as more than just a financial mechanism; it’s a strategic vehicle to stimulate a robust innovation ecosystem in Francophone Africa....…continue reading

⚖️ GOVERNMENT

Elon Musk Exits Trump Administration After Controversial Efficiency Drive

Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur and CEO of Tesla, has stepped down from his temporary role in the Trump administration, marking the end of a turbulent chapter in his brief foray into public service. Musk served as a special government employee tasked with leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an ambitious initiative aimed at slashing federal spending and bureaucracy. His departure, while expected due to his 130-day legal term limit, was hastened by growing tensions with senior White House officials and his public criticism of the administration’s flagship tax and spending bill.

Musk took to his social platform X to announce his exit, thanking President Donald Trump for the opportunity. “The DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government,” he wrote. However, the abrupt nature of his departure—reportedly without a formal conversation with Trump—points to frayed relationships at the highest levels of government...…continue reading

📱SOCIAL MEDIA

Meta AI now has 1 billion monthly active users

Meta AI now has one billion monthly active users across its apps, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, as first reported by CNBC. The new milestone doubles the 500 million monthly active users Meta AI had back in September 2024.

The “focus for this year is deepening the experience and making Meta AI the leading personal AI with an emphasis on personalization, voice conversations and entertainment,” Zuckerberg said....…continue reading