Author: Elan
In October 2020, Stripe agreed to buy Paystack, a Lagos startup that helped businesses take payments online, for $200 million, the largest acquisition of a Nigerian startup. At the time, Paystack had 60,000 customers. Stripe said the deal would fund new products and help pull Africa’s scattered payments market together and that Paystack would keep running on its own. Shola Akinlade, its chief executive, promised more countries, more payment channels and more services. Six years after the acquisition, he has fulfilled that promise. In 2020, Paystack made money by taking a cut each time a business collected payment online, a…
Rockstar Games has released the launch trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6, its final trailer before the game arrives on November 19 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.The company shared the video on October 15 and says it features the debut of “Flower in a Hurricane,” a new track from GTA 6 score composers Justice featuring Tame Impala, SZA, and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. The song will appear on the official GTA 6 soundtrack album.The music choice breaks with the previous GTA 6 trailers. The first trailer used Tom Petty’s “Love Is a Long Road,” and the…
global locomotive In its regional economic outlook, the IMF forecasts GDP growth of 4.5% in 2026 and 2027 for sub-Saharan Africa, despite the war in the Middle East. That average masks wide disparities. By Alix Lavoué Oil-producing countries are among those faring well, with their 2026 GDP growth forecasts revised upward from 4% to 4.1%. Pictured here is the Simandou mine in Guinea. © Luc Gnago/REUTERS Published on October 16, 2026 at 15:00 pm (GMT +1) The energy shock from the Gulf war has not derailed African growth. In the update to its Regional Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund…
After several years at McKinsey in South Africa and Nigeria, American-born Brooks Washington set out to build something of his own. His first venture was a beer bottle factory in Ethiopia. It was followed by a pan-African data centre business, an equipment financing company and, most recently, a hospital.How we made it in Africa editor-in-chief Jaco Maritz speaks to the founder of Roha Group about his entrepreneurial journey and why he believes you might as well go big.Topics discussed include:Launching a beer bottle factory in EthiopiaThe case for data centres in AfricaStarting small versus starting bigHow he manages to be…
Artificial intelligence is coming to African schools – African Business Artificial intelligence is coming to African schools – African Business
In brief Swarmchasers used hidden text and a mailbox to exchange messages with some AI agents while they were still running; one described its job as checking public Amap map data. The fleet made more than 2,600 attempts to retrieve Amap data, and some agents tried anti-bot workarounds or used exposed API credentials. The activity traced to Tencent Cloud, but a person close to Tencent said the project tested third-party models rather than Hunyuan. Researchers investigating AI agents hijacking Alibaba’s mapping service, Amap, managed to talk directly to some while the software was still running.To do so, they added text…
The Lagos State Council of the Amalgamated Union of App-based Transporters of Nigeria (AUATON) has called off its drivers’ strike after four days off the road. In a statement sent to Technext and signed by State Chairman, Comrade Jaiyesimi Azeez, the union said the industrial action has been a success, and the cessation of the strike is necessary after an assessment of the situation. “Following our assessment of the situation, I hereby announce that the ongoing industrial action and shutdown are officially called off, effective immediately. Drivers may resume their normal activities, while remaining attentive to further official union communications,”…
Phone Link has lived on my Windows PCs for years because it justifies the space it takes up. It puts notifications, calls, messages, and recent photos within easy reach, and Microsoft has made Phone Link considerably more capable lately. Even so, I wanted a more direct way to control my Galaxy S24 Ultra with the keyboard and mouse already on my desk. scrcpy gave me that directness, and the recent 5.0 update makes an already nimble utility easier on the PC running it. Getting scrcpy running is slightly peculiar Five minutes in Developer options buys you a much simpler workflow…
Darey Art Alade, co-founder of Livespot. Courtesy of Livespot. Darey Art Alade and Livespot offer a case study in how creative talent connects with production capability, commercial relationships and the practical demands of running an entertainment business. An entertainment project reaches audiences through performers, screens and stages. Behind that visible output sits another layer of work: assembling teams, securing equipment, managing budgets, negotiating contracts and delivering a finished production. For businesses working in entertainment, the challenge extends beyond producing one successful event or programme. It involves building the people, processes and relationships needed to deliver again. Darey Art Alade’s work…
Amethis has acquired a majority stake in ATI Industries through its Amethis Europe Expansion fund, which aims to support European small and medium-sized enterprises in their international expansion, including in Africa. The fund invested alongside Bpifrance’s France Investissement Energie Environnement 2 (FIEE2) vehicle and the management team, which is reinvesting significantly in the transaction.The transaction marks a new stage in ATI’s development, with the exit of the Arlane fund, which helped double the company’s size in recent years.Based in Gien, France, with around 60 employees, ATI specialises in the design, assembly, installation and maintenance of complex thermal solutions. It addresses…