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TechNigeria: A weekly digest of what went down in Nigeria’s tech space

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Leading the tech space this week, are stories of StartupSouth programme, and the new science and technology advisor appointment made by the American President, Joe Biden.

The President appointed John Dabiri, a Nigerian-American aeronautical engineer, to become a member of his council of advisors on science and technology.

While less is covered on local product launch, the week also didn’t feature any major development on equity raiser by a Nigerian startup, as most of the raiser stories centred on foreign counterparts.

Find out:

StartupSouth

In the weeks leading to the event, StartupSouth has invited Nigerian startups to apply for a chance to pitch for share of a US$30,000 pre-seed equity funding pool.

The funding, according to the management, was provided by SSE Angel Network, and is expected to help winning startups scale their ventures.

Looking forward to the event, which will be the sixth edition, plans are under way to host founders and other industry leaders in Enugu State.

Equity raiser 

Without much on the equity table for Nigerian startups during the week, some industry leaders are still understudying the situation to ascertain what could be responsible.

It is of concern that Africa’s gaint recorded a no-grant for the week, leaving Uganda and a few other African countries bank equity from investors.

For instance, Uganda-based gnuGrid increased the size of its seed funding round to US$612,500 during the week.

Product launch

Save for the gadget review, casting a spotlight on a new brand of Motorola phone that gadget lovers can look forward to, the week also recorded negative for product launch as no local startup pushed the headlines in this regard.

Read also: TechNigeria: A weekly digest of what went down in Nigeria’s tech space

For Motorola, the company is reportedly set to roll out a new mobile phone, Moto E40.

While no one is sure on when the new product will be launched, some details on its specs were revealed including battery lifespan, camera and processor speed.

Competition

Rival African products and startups continue to spring up. During the week, eLearn Africa, announced designing learning management systems capable of giving university students access to free online courses.

The edtech startup, which was founded by Ethiopia-born social entrepreneur, Brook Negussie, could be in for a fight with startups like uLesson and a host of others operating in similar fashion.

The development, which comes in partnership with the Association of African Universities (AAU) is an online marketplace for education.

John Dabiri’s appointment 

John Dabiri, a Nigerian-American aeronautical engineer, has been appointed as a member of President Biden’s council of advisors on science and technology.

According to sources in America, the council was revived in 2019 under the administration of President Trump after nearly two years without it.

The appointment will avail John Dabiri an opportunity to provide recommendations to the presidency on policies that encourage innovations in science and technology in the US.

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Thank you for joining us this week. That will be all. Take care and stay here for more updates.

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