Africa Tech Bytes #2
Episode 2: April
Hey there, my name is Jesse. I am a techie-fanatic!
This is my 2nd issue of Africa Tech Bytes, which is a monthly newsletter that brings you all the interesting stuff happening in the African tech space: in bits and bytes. (Here’s a link to last months February article for your enjoyment :) )
Why Africa Tech Bytes?
As you can guess, I consume quite a huge amount of content — videos (TikTok), articles, newspapers, memes — on technology but also in entrepreneurship and finance. Yes, you read right, I’m from the last generation that still reads newspapers and magazines :)
And because I am not a sponge, that takes takes takes, I have decided to put together some of the cool content I think would be of interest to others like me. I will also seek to answer the SO WHAT about the news I am sharing from my perspective.
Hope you enjoy! And please feel free to leave a comment below.
What do Eliud Kipchoge and NFTs have in common?
The buzz around everything blockchain, crypto currency doesn’t seem to be ending. We have seen a new entrant into this world in the name of NFT (Non-fungible Tokens). Before we get into the relationship between the Kenyan World Marathon holder and this new buzzword, let me explain a bit about the latter.
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unit of data stored on a digital ledger called a blockchain, that certifies a digital asset to be unique and therefore not interchangeable. Non-fungible more or less means that it cannot be interchanged for another. For example, money (your ordinary dollars or Kenya shillings) can be interchanged. The 5 dollars I have is the same as the 5 dollars you have and can be exchanged for goods at any store that accepts the currency. However something that is non-fungible could be something like the Mona-lisa painting, whereby there is only one original one globally, kept in a museum in Paris.
NFTs can represent digital files such as art, audio, videos and other forms of creative work.
Back to Kipchoge, there was news that he had made a tonne of money on the NFT market. He is considered to be the greatest marathoner of all time for being the first human in history to run a below 2 hour marathon as part of the INEOS 1:59 challenge in Vienna (2019).
The world champion launched a library of INEOS memorabilia images as NFTs. These were basically digital representations of the greatest moments in his career, signed by Eliud himself.
A number of other celebrities have jumped in on the NFT craze as well, such as Eminem, Jack Dorsey, Mark Cuban, etc. The record for the most expensive NFT stands at US $ 69.3 Million. Yes!! It is million and Yes!! It is in US dollars. Whether non-fungible tokens are a craze or a representation of real value for a unique item, only time will tell.
Airbnb catches the eye of the regulator in Kenya
Across governments globally, there has been a growing tendency to regulate the gig economy and big tech. The reason for this has been the growing size of the market and realization that a big section of the actors involve have operated under the radar of governments. Airbnb is one such ‘gig economy’ based company that has grown in leaps and bounds on the continent, disrupting the hospitality industry one house at a time.
Kenyan, Tanzanian and Namibian governments are amongst the leading countries that have called for regulation and taxing of the short-term rental service. Kenya’s tourism sector, through the TRA (Tourism Regulatory Authority), said it would start working with Airbnb to facilitate registration of properties on the platform and start remitting taxes by July.
According to the TRA, Airbnb and other operators of various homestays, are required to pay a one-time application fee of Sh 1,000 and an annual license fee of Sh 26,000. Furthermore, they will be required to fill an application form, original deposit slip for application and license fees; and documentary evidence showing proof of ownership/ lease. The operators will also require to have home insurance. Other taxes payable are such as the Digital Services Tax (DST). This is a tax that was introduced by the Kenyan government last year (2020) to cash in on the digital economy.
What does this mean for you and me? The cost to the consumer, the ordinary traveler seeking out space at an Airbnb shall dig deeper into their pockets to enjoy a nice weekend out. Given the Covid crisis (which has not been too friendly to the hospitality sector in general), this is will also hurt the operators/ hosts as it adds both to the capital costs and operational costs to run an Airbnb rental service. However it is understood that there is need to regulate in order to enhance mechanisms to protect the consumer as well as equitably pay taxes as other players in the sector (hospitality) do pay their fair share to Caesar.
Twitter Opens Shop in Ghana
“Twitter is now present on the continent. Thank you Ghana and @NAkufoAddo. #TwitterGhana”. This was a tweet from non other than Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter. This also comes to no surprise that Ghana hosts the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area. In a statement by Twitter, it was highlighted that this was a major reason for their decision to set up presence in Ghana as opposed to other African countries. This underpins an effort use the country as a gateway to reach the rest of Africa.
The news came almost 18 months after Jack Dorsey visited Africa for the first time in November 2019. He was able to visit Ghana, Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa, engaging several industry leaders and stakeholders.
The decision to select Ghana may have a ripple effect and encourage other multinationals and big tech players to establish presence in the Country. Ghana is generally viewed as being politically stable, democratic, has an open internet and has a friendly investment climate.
Andela Expands Beyond Africa
First of all, who are they? Andela is a global talent network that helps companies build remote engineering team. The company does this through cultivating IT talent in Africa and providing that resource pool to global technology companies. Andela software engineers participate in a coding boot
camp after which they work remotely from their tech campuses across Africa. Andela serves more than two hundred (200) customers, including GitHub, ViacomCBS, Pluralsight, Seismic, Cloudflare, Coursera and InVision
Prior to the pandemic, this was not wholly the case. When the Covid 19 crisis began, there were false signs that the global talent network was downsizing as it was closing its physical African offices. This however was a pivot, the company was going to operate a fully remote workforce with only one global office that hosts its sales team in New York, USA. This was also around the same time the company was shifting gears to a more diverse and higher skilled workforce dubbed Andela 2.0.
Back to the present, the company has now announced a global expansion of its software engineering talent. Over the past few months, it has seen a huge increase of applicants from outside of Africa. This is considered a huge deal because prior to this, its talent was predominantly from Africa, given that is where it physically trained its engineering teams. However with a fully remote business model, it is able to look beyond one physical region.
For those worrying that this may reduce the number of hires from the Africa continent, it was noted there was 500% increase in the number of applicants from there. The company has been able to attract this high number of applicants because it can now work with teams beyond the traditional Nigerian and Kenyan markets (which it was previously physically present).
The future of work is global, and this is evident from Andela’s ‘money moves’. It is more important now, more than ever to embrace this shift by looking beyond our borders not only for markets but also talent. Africa has a lot to offer, Andela is living proof that we have a highly competitive talent pool that can compete with engineers from global hubs as silicon valley.
A Kenyan Ed-tech Company takes Quality and Affordable Education Across Africa
Kidato is an ed-tech startup that brings education to students from the comfort of their houses, using an online platform .It was founded by Kenyan serial entrepreneur, Sam Gichuru. He is known for founding Nailab in Kenya, an incubator and accelerator for Kenyan tech startups.
The Kenyan based education technology startup has completed a US 1.4 Million seed round that will go into financing the company’s growth across Africa. This effort has been backed by Silicon Valley based accelerator, Y Combinator.
The online learning platform from Kidato was originally designed to provide a way for teachers to continue to teach children when Covid-19 hit. The classes have a student-teacher ratio of 5:1 and teach the same rigorous international curriculum as other private schools, but at a fraction of the price. Kidato also teaches after-school interests such as robotics, chess, art, coding and debate, thus providing a well rounded solution for its students.
The funding is testament to the sentiment by investors that ed-tech innovation does have a place in society. This also affirms the notion that traditionally in Africa, education faces several challenges: Overcrowded public schools, expensive private school tuition, long tiring commutes and poorly motivated tutors. By solving this challenges, Kidato may see a future beyond the Covid 19 pandemic and offer great education to students and value for parents alike.
Clubhouse in the Middle-East
Founded in 2020, Clubhouse has taken the world by storm with its reputation as the next great place for people to meet, talk, and share ideas. Clubhouse is an app that allows people to host and join audio conversations with other users. Think of it as Zoom, but with the option of joining in on conversations you like from around the world, but without video and recording features. The application however is currently only available on iPhones.
Clubhouse has surprisingly found a home in authoritarian countries, allowing users to speak openly on otherwise taboo or frowned upon topics. Virtual lounges of all types are springing up, spurring debate on varied subject matter. Some of the countries that this seems to have taken by storm are: Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE (United Arab Emirates), Lebanon … all predominantly Middle Eastern countries. Clubhouse for example, has been downloaded 1.1 million times in the Middle East since it became available there in January. This is according to Sensor Tower, a mobile app analytics company. This accounts for nearly 7% of global downloads.
According to a publication on the Economist, in Lebanon there are rooms about how to limit the role of religion in politics. Women in Kuwait discuss sexual harassment. Citizens in other Gulf states take up taboo topics such as queer and transgender rights. Certainly all topics that if conversations were had in the open in those countries, somebody would have either landed in jail or publicly shamed.
It is for this reason that, in such countries where social pressure and official censorship muffles non-conforming ideologies, Clubhouse provides a unique space to air out your views and engage in dialogue.
Other Great Bytes
Apple launches new iPads, AirTags and more devices, accessories
Apple held its first big event of the year 2021 in April. The company unveiled a range of products, including new iPads, Apple TV, AirTags, and more. Read here for more info.
Flying Taxis?
Yes! I said flying taxis, like those that you’d see in the 90s cartoon, the Jetsons. Growing confidence in flying taxis is being given a boost by investors. Find out more.
That’s it for the month of April! If you enjoyed the bits and bytes, please leave a comment below. If you didn’t enjoy it, also leave a comment :)
