Author: Elan
Power tool batteries aren’t cheap. A single Ryobi ONE+ 4Ah pack runs around $60–$80, and if you’re building out a full Ryobi ONE+ collection, those costs stack up fast. Most people assume heavy use is what kills batteries early. It isn’t. After years of expanding my own cordless tool setup, I started noticing certain packs fading well before others — and the pattern had nothing to do with how hard I was running them. It came down to three habits that nobody explains when you buy your first cordless drill. None of them are complicated, and fixing them costs nothing.…
By Mainza Katongo Zambia boasts roughly $4.5 billion in foreign reserves, a figure often cited by policymakers as evidence of growing economic stability [1]. Yet for many ordinary citizens, the idea of “economic freedom” still feels distant — something discussed in speeches and policy debates in Lusaka, but rarely experienced in everyday life. A nation, however, is only as strong as the well-being of its people. While Zambia has taken steps to decentralize development through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) — increasing allocations to K40 million per constituency [2] — the promise of local empowerment means little if citizens cannot…
Why most African startups fail before product-market fit | TheCable error: Content is protected from copying.
Microsoft invests hundreds of millions of dollars in Africa AI push – African Business Microsoft invests hundreds of millions of dollars in Africa AI push – African Business
Ghana’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the country’s capital markets regulator, has admitted 11 crypto companies into a regulatory sandbox as it begins rolling out a new law that formally legalises and regulates the virtual asset industry. On Tuesday, the SEC announced that Africoin, Blu Penguin, Goldbod, Hanypay, Hyro Exchange GH Ltd, HSB Global, Koinkoin, Whitebits, Vaulta, Xchain, and Bsystem Ltd will test their products and services in a 12‑month pilot programme under regulatory oversight. “The sandbox aims to support responsible innovation while strengthening investor protection, market integrity, and compliance with anti‑money laundering and counter‑terrorism financing standards,” the SEC said…
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has emerged as the world’s most valuable private company, reaching a staggering $1.25 trillion valuation. This follows its merger with xAI, the billionaire’s artificial intelligence venture. The deal makes SpaceX the most valuable private company in history, overtaking OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, whose valuation has also surged to $840 billion after securing the largest investment ever made in a private company, a $110 billion backing from Nvidia, SoftBank, and Amazon. The findings come from data analysis by BestBrokers, a financial research and analytics platform that tracks global startup valuations. The firm analysed the latest data from…
Spending a lot of time in Prime Video’s huge library of documentaries can get a bit … weird. There’s a lot in there, from super-specific explorations of Houdini to exposés on the royal family to everything you ever wanted to know about the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. Maybe I’ll get to some of those in a future roundup, but for this weekend (March 12 to 15), I’ve got two documentary features and a series for you. The first is a surprisingly emotional Mars exploration crowd-pleaser, the second is a fascinating deep dive into the making of a sci-fi horror classic, and…
** For the best experience, download the free Africa Private Equity News app Android | iOS **French development finance institution Proparco has committed $15 million to the African Transition Acceleration Fund (ATAF), a new pan-African fund focused on financing climate infrastructure at an early stage of development. The fund is managed by African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), a pan-African infrastructure investment manager, and has reached a first close as part of a targeted $200 million fundraising.The fund will invest equity or quasi-equity in about 14 infrastructure development companies or platforms, with ticket sizes of $10–$30 million. These investments are intended…
** For the best experience, download the free Africa Private Equity News app Android | iOS **Mirova has announced a $15 million senior secured facility for iSAT Africa Mauritius, a rural connectivity platform, to support the deployment of fully solar-powered mobile towers in Liberia and Zambia. The 10-year facility will finance the rollout of scalable network-as-a-service and energy-as-a-service solutions as part of iSAT’s broader 1,000-tower expansion strategy across sub-Saharan Africa. The towers, financed by the Mirova Gigaton Fund, will be entirely off-grid, powered by solar energy and battery storage. John Kimotho, investment director at Mirova Kenya, said, “This investment reflects…
Yemisi Iranloye Our new book, How we made it in Africa II: Real stories of entrepreneurs turning opportunity into profit, is available here. Interview with Yemisi IranloyeFOUNDER and CEO, PSALTRY INTERNATIONAL Lives in: Nigeria Cassava is a root crop that resembles a large sweet potato. Nigeria produces and consumes more of it than any other country. Most often, it is processed into garri or fufu, which are eaten as thick, dough-like accompaniments used to scoop up traditional soups and stews. However, cassava also has major industrial applications. The roots can be processed into starch, ethanol, glucose syrup and flour. Among its many uses,…