Moroccan electric mobility startup GoSwap has secured its first seed funding round from Azur Innovation Fund. GoSwap is building a battery-as-a-service (BaaS) model designed to address two of the biggest barriers to electric vehicle (EV) adoption, high upfront costs and range anxiety. If you have a startup you want featured on TechArena, let us know through this contact form here. GoSwap makes it possible for users to buy a battery-free electric scooter and access power through GoSwap’s network of smart swapping stations. Riders can exchange depleted batteries for fully charged ones in under 10 seconds. This eliminates charging delays and downtime. The startup…
Author: John Nyabuto
M-Pesa has introduced a new Tap-to-Pay feature in Tanzania, allowing users to make contactless payments directly from their smartphones at Visa-enabled terminals worldwide. The rollout was delivered in partnership with Paymentology, Vodacom Tanzania Plc, M-Pesa Africa and Visa. The feature is now available through the M-Pesa SuperApp on Android devices. “At Paymentology, we believe innovations like Tap-to-Pay accelerate financial inclusion by making everyday transactions simpler and safer for everyone,” said Anna Porra, Chief Revenue Officer at Paymentology. With the new functionality, users can pay by simply tapping their smartphones at contactless point-of-sale terminals. This eliminates the need for a physical…
TikTok has convened government officials, regulators, online safety organisations and industry leaders in Nairobi for the third annual Sub-Saharan Africa Safer Internet Summit. The two-day summit was held under the theme “#SaferTogether: Innovation and Safety,” brought together policymakers, creators and technology stakeholders to discuss evolving online safety challenges across the region. Speaking during the summit, Tokunbo Ibrahim, Head of Government Relations and Public Policy for Sub-Saharan Africa at TikTok, said the gathering aims to foster collaboration among stakeholders working to improve the digital ecosystem. “Our mission is to share learnings, tackle common challenges, and collaboratively advance actionable solutions that protect…
Telenor has picked Red Hat’s cloud-native and AI platforms to power a sovereign AI Factory in Norway. This is aimed at delivering secure, in-region AI infrastructure for enterprise and public sector customers. The Telenor AI Factory is built on Red Hat OpenShift AI and powered by NVIDIA GPUs. It is designed to support large-scale AI model training, inference, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and agentic AI workloads. The platform enables organisations to process sensitive data within national borders, addressing growing European requirements around data residency and digital sovereignty. Telenor’s infrastructure spans two Norwegian sites and runs on renewable energy. It also supports…
The Central African Republic (CAR) has officially launched Dûnîa, a fully digital platform that modernizes the Ministry of Economy, Planning and International Cooperation (MEPCI). The launch was presided over by President Faustin Archange Touadera under the framework of the country’s National Development Plan 2024–2028 (NDP). Developed in partnership with local technology company EDEN TiiiT, led by Cédric PIDJOU, Dûnîa digitizes all ministry operations, including HR, budget management, project tracking, and document workflows. The platform uses a modular open-source microservices architecture, with encrypted data structures, API interoperability, and a claimed system availability of 99.8%. According to Minister Richard Filakota, Dûnîa is…
Onafriq has partnered with The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) to pilot the continent’s first wallet-based outbound payments from Nigeria to Ghana – fully in Naira and instant, without relying on hard currency conversion, in partnership with Banks and Mobile Money Operators. The pilot service, approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), enables cross-border intra-Africa payments for individuals, merchants, and traders. In particular, the service will benefit SMEs, the real engine of intra-African trade; all now have access to a faster, cheaper way to reach customers and suppliers across the border. By reducing barriers to cross-border trade, the…
Foldable phones are the trend that some believe are the future of the industry. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 in this case is the most polished and well-rounded foldable phone around at the moment while Xiaomi’s new book-like foldable; Mix Fold 2 is hot on the Z Fold 4’s heels and Huawei is determined to stay on the cutting edge with the Mate Xs 2. Many often say that Samsung’s biggest competitor in the smartphone market and space is the iPhone but I tend to think that’s a lethargic narrative. Hear me out; you rarely find smartphone users jumping…
Twitter has today launched Twitter Shops, a beta feature that allows sellers to display more of their products in virtual storefronts on their profiles. Twitter began exploring Twitter shopping back in 2015 when they rolled out features like the “Buy Now” button, product pages, and product collections. They later launched the Shop Module where businesses can showcase their products at the top of their profiles. Twitter Shops is more of a refined version of the Shop Module as it now allows sellers to curate a collection of up to 50 products to showcase on their Twitter profile and instead of…
It’s March and definitely yet another Pixel feature drop date for Pixel users. The feature drop was rolled out on Monday (07/03/2022) to owners of devices between the Pixel 3a, Pixel 4, Pixel 4 XL, Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a 5G, Pixel 5, and Pixel 5a. Unfortunately, Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro users will have to wait a little longer until later March, a rather abrasive experience for someone with the latest Google flagship model. So what is it that Pixel 6 users have to wait for that other Pixel users are enjoying today?, here’s a breakdown of what’s new…
Smart projectors are becoming increasingly popular lately despite many people loving to consume their content on TV screens. Why? you may ask. Smart projectors are easily portable and allow you to stream content straight from your phone to a much bigger display than your average TV screen. They also have voice control and app integration for a seamless operation. Samsung TVs are getting more portable this year as they added an ultraportable smart TV projector dubbed the Freestyle to its lineup at the CES 2022. Weighing less than 2 pounds, the Freestyle rests on a 180-degree cradle stand which means…