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

Meta, Norsad, Fawry, Google, ChatGPT, Microsoft, Opera Mini, CheckMe, Daystar, LumiShare were some of the names that made the headlines in the tech ecosystem this week.

Opera Mini, the data-saving browser that already boasts over 100 million users across Africa, became the number one downloaded app during the week in Nigeria thanks to the tremendous success of Opera’s “Shake and Win” campaign on the continent.

Also, West African provider of hybrid solar power solutions, Daystar Power, has, during the week, announced Shell as its new owner after an acquisition deal.

Let’s get into details.

Meta, a Mark Zuckerberg company, has agreed to pay $725 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of allowing millions of its users’ personal information to be harvested for political reasons.

Facebook had in 2016 supplied its data to Cambridge Analytica, a firm that supported Donald Trump’s victorious presidential campaign.

What you should know: Meta Platforms, which is the holding company for Facebook and Instagram, was in court late Thursday to receive the judgment.

Norsad Capital and TLG Capital have announced a partnership to launch $400m to support medium-sized companies across sub-Saharan Africa.

This was contained in a statement from Norsad chief executive, Kenny Nwosu, on Friday.

What you should know: Norsad, according to TLG co-founder and partner Zain Latif, is a reputable organization in the African investing community.

Fintech and banking services company, Fawry has announced a partnership deal with teaching and distance learning technology startup, Classera.

Mr. Hossam Ezz, Fawry’s Chief Commercial Officer, confirmed the partnership in a media release on Friday.

What you should know: Fawry will provide all technology solutions and integrated digital payment services to Classera customers.

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States Export-Import Bank (U.S. EXIM) to enhance trade between Africa and the United States of America.

Afreximbank President and Chairman, Prof. Benedict Oramah, disclosed this in a media release on Thursday.

What you should know: The MoU was signed by Professor Oramah and Reta Jo Lewis, Esq., President, and Chair of U.S. EXIM, in Washington, DC.

Read also:Women-led startups to benefit from Seedstars’ EWEA program. 2 other stories and a trivia

A real-time intelligence provider, intella, has announced a partnership deal with Huawei to enhance its Arabic Speech-To-Text technology.

Huawei is a global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices.

What you should know: Michael Shafik, Director of Solutions and Strategic Partnerships at Huawei Northern Africa, disclosed this in a press release on Thursday.

France’s privacy watchdog, National Commission for Technology and Freedoms (CNIL), has fined US tech giant, Microsoft, 60 million euros ($64 million) for foisting advertising cookies on users.

The regulatory body stated this on Thursday noting that Microsoft’s search engine Bing had not set up a system allowing users to refuse cookies as simply as accepting them.

What you should know: investigations have revealed that “when users visited this site, cookies were deposited on their terminal without their consent, while these cookies were used, among others, for advertising purposes.”

Opera Mini, the data-saving browser that already boasts over 100 million users across Africa, became the number one downloaded app over the weekend in Nigeria thanks to the tremendous success of Opera’s “Shake and Win” campaign on the continent.

Dedicated to football’s greatest celebration, the World Cup, “Shake and Win” offered Opera fans the chance to win over $300,000 in prizes. Users needed only to shake their phone to potentially win airtime from popular providers, cash prizes, or brand-new phones.

What you should know: Africans responded enthusiastically to the excitement of this year’s unforgettable tournament: Over 13 million people participated across the continent, shaking their phones over 1,000,000 times a day. More than 200,000 prizes have been won, with many grateful users taking to social media to comment on how much fun they’ve had with “Shake and Win.”

An Egyptian healthtech platform, CheckMe, has acquired a majority stake in DoctorOnline.

Dr. Nesma El Talawy, CEO of CheckMe, disclosed the acquisition in a media release on Wednesday.

What you should know: DoctorOnline is a doctor appointment booking app founded by Dr. Mahmoud Abdelhakim and Essam Maged.

West African provider of hybrid solar power solutions, Daystar Power, has announced Shell as its new owner after an acquisition deal.

Jasper Graf von Hardenberg, CEO and co-founder of Daystar Power made this known in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria on Wednesday.

What you should know: Daystar Power, founded in 2017, is one of the off-grid power service providers on the continent.

A blockchain-based digital asset management ecosystem, LumiShare, has raised $2.2M in funding.

Ben Sharon, Co-Founder, and CEO of LumiShare, disclosed the funding on Wednesday in a media statement.

What you should know: The funding was led by Sheikh Mohamed Bin Ahmed Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan from the Abu Dhabi royal family.

Also, we look looked at Billionaire obsession with New Media, spotlighting 5 tycoons who own a social networking platform

Find excerpt below:

The world, more than ever before, is closer and more connected. Thanks to the dramatic rise of digital technology and web infrastructure that continues to provide anchor for social media to thrive.

Today, via social media, a glorified digital platform, people can create and share information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks.

While technology, on one hand, is playing a major role in this development, one cannot but acknowledge the contribution of financial investments (running into millions) to see various social media platforms flourish.

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