Connect with us

Tech

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

Published

on

Google, Meta, Twitter, Fincra, Wikimedia, Flow, Tabby, Carry1st, Tesla were some of the names that made the headlines in the tech ecosystem this week.

Fincra announced Friday that the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN has approved it as a provider of payment service solutions (PSSP).

Also, Wikimedia Foundation, the organization overseeing the Wikipedia project, has announced revising the interface of its content encyclopedia.

Let’s get into details.

Like Microsoft, Meta, Twitter, and Amazon, American tech giant, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has announced intent to reduce its workforce by 6% which is estimated at about 12,000 jobs off.

Alphabet CEO, Sundar Pichai, made the announcement in a briefing to employees.

Pichai, who informed employees in an email, revealed that he takes “full responsibility for the decisions that led us here.”

Meta’s Instagram has improved its app, launching ‘quiet mode’ feature that is expected to help users focus and establish limits with friends and followers.

Meta made the announcement on its page seen by Ripples Nigeria on Friday.

Ripples Nigeria understands that the feature is available to the entire public with teenagers as specific targets.

Twitter has officially been cut off prominent app makers like Tweetbot and Twitterific, as it updated its developer terms to ban third-party clients altogether.

Twitterrific, one of the most iconic third-party Twitter clients, confirmed in a blogpost that it had removed the iOS and Mac apps from the App Store on Friday.

Like Tweetbot, Tweetie, and many others, Twitterrific’s demise comes after Twitter intentionally started blocking third-party clients last Friday.

Fincra announced Friday that the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN has approved it as a provider of payment service solutions (PSSP).

The payment infrastructure company announced this in a blogpost seen by Ripples Nigeria on Friday.

Read also:Proptech startup, AtarCloud, secures $1.3m Seed Round. 2 other stories and a trivia

With footprints in Canada, Lagos, and Nairobi, the company claims it provides payments solutions that enable merchants to accept payments securely, make payouts globally and scale their business across borders.

Wikimedia Foundation, the organization overseeing the Wikipedia project, has announced revising the interface of its content encyclopedia.

Wikimedia foundation disclosed the development on its official page on Thursday.

The revision is the first time in over ten years for the platform. Wikipedia, one of the top 10 most popular websites in the world, is a resource utilized by billions of people each month.

Google will be the recent Big-Tech corporation to release a Bluetooth tracker, following in the footsteps of Tile, Apple, and Samsung.

This was reported by Android researcher, Kuba Wojciechowski, who disclosed ‘grogu’ on his official Twitter handle.

Wojciechowski spotted code for a Google first-party Bluetooth tracker codenamed ‘Grogu.’

Twitter has made its premium package (Twitter blue) available to Android users at the same price as iOS.

This development was revealed on the company’s official website on Thursday.

According to the website, Individuals will now have to pay $11 per month to buy the Twitter Blue plan through Android.

Ripples Nigeria understands that the price is greater than the $8 deal for people who subscribe through a web browser, just like it is on iOS.

A South African proptech marketing platform, Flow, has secured $4.5M in pre-Series A funding.

Co-founder and co-CEO, Gil Sperling, confirmed the funding in a statement on Wednesday.

The South African firm claims it seeks to transform the relationships between real estate agents, developers, brokers, and their clientele.

Middle East and North Africa-based buy now, pay later (BNPL) startup, Tabby, has secured $58 million led by Sequoia Capital India and STV.

Co-founder and CEO, Hosam Arab, confirmed the funding in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria on Wednesday.

With the new funding, the Dubai-based startup is valued at $660 million.

Carry1st, an African gaming business, has secured $27 million from Bitkraft Ventures and a16z.

The new funding was contained in a statement from Chief Executive Officer Cordel Robbin-Coker, seen by Ripples Nigeria on Wednesday.

Launched in 2018, Carry1st bills itself as a publisher of social games and interactive content across Africa.

A nine-person jury, on Tuesday, sat to hear a trial involving Tesla CEO, Elon Musk.

The court case is expected to determine whether Musk cheated investors by claiming he had lined up financing to take the electric automaker private in a series of tweets in 2018.

The Tuesday session lasted for five-hour, and will continue on Wednesday. Musk is expected to bring in a testimony that will explain his position.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now