Africa CEO Voices News - MidWeek 22

• Microsoft and G42 to invest US$1bn data center in Kenya

KENYA – Microsoft and G42, an artificial intelligence (AI) firm, have announced digital investments in Kenya as part of a joint initiative with Kenya’s Ministry of Information, Communications, and Digital Economy.?.?.? MORE

• Santam acquires online marketplace Kandua

SOUTH AFRICA – Insurance firm Santam has wholly acquired Kandua, an online marketplace company for home services to expand Santam’s impact on informal artisans and small businesses through access to training, enabling business growth.?.?.? MORE

• FirstRand Bank secures US$250M from IFC?

SOUTH AFRICA – FirstRand Bank Limited has secured a US$250 million senior loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to support and scale the availability of green building and green home loan finance for South Africans.?.?.?? MORE

• MPost moves headquarters to Rwanda

RWANDA – MPost, a Kenyan tech startup that transforms mobile numbers into virtual addresses, has launched its electronic post office (P.O.) Box system in Rwanda and announced its official entry into the East African country.?.?.?? MORE

• Raxio opens first tier III data centre in Mozambique

MOZAMBIQUE – Pan-African operator Raxio Data Centres has opened a facility in Maputo, Mozambique, the country’s first tier III uptime-certified data center to grow the country’s digital economy and advancing the government’s digital transformation agenda.?.?.?MORE

• Hightech Payment Systems acquires Irish fintech firm CR2

MOROCCO – Morocco-based Hightech Payment Systems (HPS) has acquired Irish fintech firm CR2 to enhance its digital banking and payments capabilities and accelerate its global growth in this space?.?.?.MORE

• Google announces fibre optic route to connect Africa and Australia directly

KENYA – Google has announced a new fibre optic cable connecting Africa to Australia dubbed Umoja in a bid to increase the reach and reliability of digital connectivity in Africa, accelerate economic growth and deepen resilience across the continent.?. .? MORE

• Orion Innovation partners Stanbic Bank Kenya?

KENYA – Orion Innovation, a digital transformation and product development services firm, has signed a deal with Stanbic Bank Kenya to facilitate a core banking upgrade and modernization effort?.?.?. ?MORE

• Altech secures investment to establish service centers

DRC – Persistent, an investment firm, has invested in e-mobility company Altech in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to ?establish its first e-mobility service centers in Goma, enhancing the infrastructure and operating environment for e-mobility .?. .?MORE

• Orca raises pre-seed round to revolutionize fraud prevention in South Africa

SOUTH AFRICA – ?Fintech Orca, a banking and fraud prevention startup, has raised a US$550,000 pre-seed round to build simple yet effective fraud prevention tools and iterate with customers in South Africa.?. .??MORE