Author: Elan

Egypt’s rapid rise as one of Africa’s strongest startup ecosystems is offering a new policy blueprint for countries such as Nigeria, where startups remain vibrant but are struggling to attract larger investment. Startup data from 2025 shows Egyptian startups raised about $595 million, representing a 51 percent increase year-on-year, as a combination of government-backed funding, tax incentives and technology infrastructure strengthened investor confidence. Nigeria, by contrast, saw startup funding decline by about 17 percent to $343 milli Egypt’s rapid rise as one of Africa’s strongest startup ecosystems is offering a new policy blueprint for countries such as Nigeria, where startups…

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Zeno, an East African-based electric mobility startup, has raised $25 million in Series A funding to improve the production of Emara e-motorcycles and increase its battery-swap network across Kenya and Uganda.  The round was led by Congruent Ventures, which contributed 82% ($20.5 million), with participation from Active Impact and Lower-carbon Ventures. The remaining $4.5 million was a debt facility from Camber Road and Trifecta Capital. Founded in 2024 by Michael Spencer, Zeno builds the Emara electric motorbike and an app-controlled battery infrastructure swap network to reduce operating costs for East Africa’s bodaboda riders. According to Spencer, the aim of creating…

The Numbers Nobody Wants to Say Out Loud. There is a crisis hiding in plain sight inside every HR department in Nigeria, and it starts with numbers that most recruiters already know but rarely say out loud. A single job posting on Jobberman, HotNigerianJobs, MyJobMag, or LinkedIn from a reputable Nigerian company attracts between 200 and 500 applications. For roles at multinationals, banks, or oil and gas firms, that number can exceed 2,000. A corporate recruiter managing 15 to 25 open positions simultaneously is staring at a mountain of 5,000 to 10,000 CVs per hiring cycle. No human being can…

My college years are a distant memory, but I do recall that my lifestyle left a lot to be desired. Healthy eating was the last thing on my mind as I subsisted on a diet of instant noodles and takeout deliveries, and I was left with a vague sense that I was always either hungry or broke. Fast-forward a couple of decades, and the cost-of-living crisis is in full swing. Whether we live in Madrid, Mumbai, or Manhattan, we would all appreciate some money off our grocery bills, and this is where my Instant Pot has made a real difference.…

Gaborone — A same sex couple, Bonolo Selelo and Tsholofelo Kumile, has approached the High Court on Friday, challenging the constitutionality of the Marriage Act, arguing that it is unconstitutional for the Act to outlaw same-sex marriages. The case has been scheduled for July 14-15, before a full bench of the High Court. However, the proposed same sex marriage also faces stern opposition from Dingwetsi Association of Botswana, the Evangelical Fellowship of Botswana, and the Botswana House of Prayer and Transformation, through joint application also made before court on Friday. The organisations stance is for the sanity of marriage and…

Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been commended for approving the extension of the ban on the export of raw shea nuts, a policy widely seen as a move to boost local processing and strengthen Nigeria’s agro-industrial value chain. An engineer and agribusiness strategist, Alex Omaghomi, who applauded the decision, described it as a significant step towards promoting value addition in the country’s agricultural sector. The export restriction, recently extended for another year from February 26, 2026, to February 25, 2027, aims to encourage domestic processing and reduce the export of raw agricultural commodities. Omaghomi said the policy signals a growing recognition…

Bitcoin—and most other digital assets—promise cheap, fast cross-border payments. But there’s a catch: you need a smartphone and internet access to use them. In much of Africa, where millions of people still use feature phones, that design shuts them out. Kgothatso Ngako, a South African software engineer and former Amazon Web Services (AWS) developer, founded Machankura in 2022 to solve this design flaw. The startup allows people to send and receive Bitcoin using the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) technology, the same short-code system Africans use to check airtime, transfer mobile money, or query their account balance in traditional banking.…

“Plans are nothing; planning is everything.” It is a clever line, often quoted in boardrooms and strategy retreats. But he was also a man who, almost certainly, never had to travel the continent with a Nigerian passport.  We speak the dialect of a “borderless” digital economy, yet we move across our own continent like unwelcome guests. The paradox is stark: Nigeria is projected to be the world’s third most populous nation by 2050, wielding a cultural soft power that dictates global charts. We are Africa’s largest nominal GDP engine and its venture funding magnet. Yet, we live inside aviation islands,…

Linux is famously customizable, and when you hear its perks discussed, you’ll usually see mentions of “flexibility” and “personalization” in the conversation. Despite those strengths, I’ve gotten tired of customizing my Linux PCs. Customization wasted time and left me frustrated Ending the “just right” obsession Linux is unbelievably flexible, and if you’re so inclined, you can tweak *everything* about it. Want the dock 10 pixels wider? You can do that. Dislike how something blurs when it is out of focus? You can fix that too. Regardless of which distro and desktop environment you pick, you’re always going to have something…