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

Nigerian tech players continue to prove to the world the smartness in their vision to take on the world, winning pitches and featuring in global hackathons.

During the week, Nigeria’s ScholarX featured as a winner of the GSMA £250,000 grant, an initiative dedicated to promote mobile internet adoption and digital inclusion.

Also, in a bid to empower founders within the Southwest region, Nigerian innovation centre, PREMIER Hub launched the third edition of the I-startup Southwest 3.0 and the first edition of the Lagos startup challenge.

Below is a digest for the week, highlighting the major tech build up.

The ScholarX big feature

GSMA, during the week announced the inclusion of Nigerian digital learning provider, ScholarX, in its shortlist.
This development is expected to see the edtech startup feature alongside other winners of the GSMA Innovation Fund for Mobile Internet Adoption and Digital Inclusion.
The fund, which was launched in April 2020, seeks to create opportunities for innovative startups and SMEs.

Opportunity window

The growing trend of opportunities for Nigerian tech players has been encouraging with increasing launch of various incubation programmes and schemes.
During the week, Nigerian innovation centre, PREMIER Hub, launched the third edition of the I-startup Southwest 3.0 and the first edition of the Lagos startup challenge.
The new incubation programs are backed by the National Social Investment Programme under the Office of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, looking to engage selected startups with physical & virtual activities including training and mentorship by experienced facilitators and founders from different industries.

DeFi integration by Xend

Nigerian fintech startup Xend Finance has joined a list of tech companies to adapt decentralised finance (DeFi) tools as it looks to optimise operations and provide better yields.
The startup will allow users create their own credit unions and cooperatives, eliminating traditional middle men, while earning up to 15 per cent annual percentage yield on their savings.
The development is encouraging for a startup which in 2019 took part in the Google Launchpad Africa accelerator and the Binance Incubation Programme, learning industry expertise to enhance its operations.

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Service to empower SMEs

Seeking to provide access to various products and services for small businesses and SMEs in the region, Lagos-based digital bank startup Sparkle launched a new service.
The development will see the Sparkle team providing necessary tools for SMEs to grow digitally.
According to Uzoma Dozie, founder and CEO of Sparkle, the launch of the new feature is integral to supporting SMEs in the region.

Microsoft to invest in Africa

Microsoft 4Afrika initiative has announced partnering with Wentors, a women’s mentorship organisation, to launch a programme to train and provide mentorship to 1000 women in the technology industry.
The initiative looks to empower 1000 women in tech, providing them with on-hand mentorship and training from industry experts.
The development comes as the company looks to address the 30% gap in global female researches along with the stark and prevalent gender imbalance in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM) fields of research in sub-Saharan Africa.

Remarks
These stories, and many others, made headlines during the week. Join us next week for another edition of TechNigeria.

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