WAEC debuts e-learning facility for SSCE Students.

May 5, 2020

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has launched an e-learning facility for candidates of the Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE).

According to WAEC, the principal aim of this development is to give the students an opportunity to better equip themselves with the appropriate knowledge for excellent performance in future examinations.

Sidmach Technologies, Nigeria’s foremost indigenous software institute, developed the e-learning platform for the examination body.

Analysis of the overall performance of students on previous exams are carried out so as to identify the common weak points of students in examinations; this process aims at proffering solutions for all bodies concerned with Senior Secondary School Examinations.

“On this platform, you will be provided with the resources you need to understand the standards required for success in various examinations in the Senior Secondary School category. The resources for all WAEC approved subjects will be made available on the learning portal,” said WAEC.

The examination body encourages all students preparing for the 2020 Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination to take advantage of this opportunity and make use of all available resources on the e-learning platform, especially during this lockdown period.

The WAEC e-learning platform also features past questions on all WAEC approved subjects, guides, and WAEC’s Chief Examiner’s report for the past ten years.

Mumm Secures $1 million in new Funding round to expand its Services Better

O. Christopher

April 29, 2020

Mumm secures $1million in new funding round to expand its services better

Mumm, an Egyptian food startup, has cleaned out a good amount of funding in another round of fundraising to grow the company better.

Founded in 2015, the aim of the service has always been to deliver fresh, homemade food to those that choose to use its services. They have also expanded to ensure that they can deliver these kinds of meals to businesses too – either as a way to cater to their events or provide daily feeding to the members of staff.

At the time of launch, the startup was an online marketplace for those looking for options in homemade food category. Today, they have grown so much to become the choice virtual cafeteria for a lot of businesses and corporations in the country.

That is why they were able to go into another round of funding and come out with as much as $1 million this time around.

It is said that the current funding will help the company to maintain its growth during this pandemic and after. Seeing as much more people are at home but might not have access to what they need to make their meals, it makes sense to engage Mumm to deliver food to them.

Bundle Launches Payments Startups for Cash and Cryptos with $450,000 Funding

O. Christopher

April 27, 2020

Bundle launches payments startups for cash and cryptos with $450,00 funding

The fintech industry in Nigeria might look saturated to some, but the bright minds know what to look out for and launch. That is the story of Bundle, a new payments app for cash and cryptos which just launched in Nigeria.

This service has also received a startup cash of $450,000 from Binance to get things running from the onset.

The app will make it easy for users to receive and make payments to their peers. The nice thing about the service is how it allows the receipt and sending of these payments in the form of either cash or crypto. Thus, those that are holding cryptocurrency don’t have to always be liquid before they can make necessary payments.

Likewise, their recipients now have a platform where the crypto can either be held or converted to Naira for their needs.

The startup is the brainchild of Yeye Bademosi, who is no newbie to this scene.

Before now, he has been the founding partner of an early stage VC firm (Microtraction) and was also one of the directors at Binance Labs for a while. This means that he has all the experience in what he is doing, and in more than one area too.

While the startup is leveraging the infrastructure of Binance to start strong, it is believed that they will operate independently of this global crypto exchange platform. Any which way it goes, this is another win for the Nigerian startup scene.

WhatsApp to soon Increase Conference Calling to 8 Users

O. Christopher

April 26, 2020

WhatsApp to soon increase conference calling to 8 users

We have a different video conferencing apps that allows a lot of people at once, but the WhatsApp service has always been limited to four participants at once. On the back of that came a rumor that the service will add the slots for four more users in the future.

Now, the social media giant has confirmed this too.

This new addition has already made its way to the beta versions of the app and will soon be rolled out to users worldwide. They have also confirmed that the calls will stay encrypted from end to end, which ensures no one from the Facebook family or outside can listen to what is being said on them.

In contrast, Messenger Rooms does not have this kind of end to end encryption. Where it gets better, though, is that up to 50 users can connect to be a part of the call at the same time. No matter how you look at that, it is impressive – not just as safe.

Facebook extends its COVID-19 Information Centre to even more Countries

O. Christopher

April 26, 2020

Facebook extends its COVID-19 information Centre to even more countries — PARIS, FRANCE - APRIL 06: In this photo illustration, the logo of the Messenger and Facebook applications are displayed on the screen of an Apple iPhone on April 06, 2018 in Paris. In the midst of turmoil following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook faces a host of questions regarding its privacy and confidentiality practices. Messenger, the messaging application launched by Facebook, is in the center of attention. Indeed, Facebook allows itself to analyze the links and images that users send to Messenger and even to read the messages exchanged if they are posted, in order to make sure that the contents comply with the conditions of use. This increased monitoring of Facebook within its messaging application was confirmed by Mark Zuckerberg a few days ago.(Photo Illustration by Chesnot/Getty Images)

Facebook has been contributing in its own way to curb the spread of the coronavirus, and that has seen the social media giant launch a series of information hubs in different countries.

The aim of this information hub is to cut out the fake news and leverage the reach of the platform to bring reliable news about the virus and updates to people. It has also been brought to regions like Nigeria in the past, but we will be getting the same feature in more African countries right now.

The news hub will feature in the main Facebook feed, but at the top so that it is what the users of the platform see first. It has also been structured in such a way that allows for the organizers to work with the local health bodies, law enforcement agents and other concerned individuals to make the project a success.

Right now, the service has extended to all of Botswana, Burundi, Gambia, Malawi and more.

Stears Secures extra $600,000 Funding from Undisclosed Nigerian Investors

O. Christopher

April 25, 2020

Stears secures extra $600,000 funding from undisclosed Nigerian investors

Stears Business was launched in the year 2017 as a data-focused startup, and they have grown in leaps and bounds since. To grow their services better, the parent company behind this business (Stears) has gone into another round of funding which saw them come out with up to $600,000.

Note that this was raised from Nigerian investors who do not want their names out there as of the time of this writing. On the part of Stears, this is money that will be used for team growing, better data collection and building out of its media and information products too.

The idea that the company was built on is one that shows that getting information and data about Nigeria is not as easy as we have in other countries of the world. Thus, it is not easy for decision maker and investors to come into the country and make solid investments since they do not know what they would be basing that on.

All this will change with Stears that is now ready to provide its bank of data to those who need it while also undertaking research for companies that want such.

Spotify will now allow Artists to Fundraise Directly on its Platform

O. Christopher

April 24, 2020

Spotify will now allow artists to fundraise directly on its platform

Spotify is one of the biggest music streaming platforms out there, and they are about to get bigger.

In the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, they have teased a new feature that will allow artists to fundraise for themselves right from the platform.

This can be in a bid to ensure their crew keeps getting paid in times like this when there are no shows or tours to go on. At the same time, the initiative allows the artists to raise funds for relief organizations of their choice. This could be one that has already been listed on the Spotify platform or an independent one altogether.

No matter which one the artist chooses, they get to raise funds via any of Cashapp, PayPal and GoFundMe. There are chances that Spotify will add more names soon, but those payment platforms are great to start with too.

To get started, artists can now go to their dashboards and click on a new ‘Get Started’ banner at the top of the page. There, they choose what kind of fundraising they want and follow the prompts to complete the process.

Apple Moves to Fix iOS bug that allows Remote Hack of iOS 13 Devices

O. Christopher

April 23, 2020

Apple moves to fix iOS bug that allows remote hack of iOS 13 devices

Every day we hear of some mobile OS security flaw, and the latest one to plague Apple devices is as serious as they come.

This is a zero-click vulnerability too, which means that you don’t even need to do anything before you lose access to your units. The bug that makes this hack possible is in the Mail app which just receives the said mail and grants the hacker root access into the phone. From there, they can take control of the email apps and even phone at large.

Knowing how security conscious Apple is, they have since sent out an update to address the issue. Note that this is an issue on the iOS 13, so you have to be updated to the latest version before you can get this new update too.

Apple was reached for comments and they admitted to knowing about the issue. The update to this problem has been included in a beta rollout – so not all users have it yet. As soon as it comes your way, ensure you download and install it to be on the safer side of things.

Applications for Leadtech Incubation program extended to 20TH May 2020

passyjango

April 23, 2020

Leadtech Incubation program powered by AWIEF and Mohammed IV Polytechnic University

Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) has extended the deadline for applications into the Leadtech Incubation program to 20TH May 2020.

The LeadTech Incubation is open to female digital startup leaders who are 18 years of age or older and residing in any African country.

In light of the ongoing developments and challenges around COVID-19, the Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) has extended the deadline for applications for the LeadTech Incubation Program to 20th May 2020. LeadTech is run in partnership with Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Morocco.

AWIEF founder and CEO, Irene Ochem says “We fully appreciate the uncertainty, disruptions to business and need for flexibility during these difficult times, and hope that this will relieve some pressure for those who would like to submit an application. This global pandemic serves to highlight the importance of innovations in health, education, agriculture, finance and environment in Africa, and LeadTech Incubation offers a unique opportunity for women tech and digital startups to test, develop and grow their innovative solutions in a time calling for creative and collaborative solutions to global problems”.

Selected participants will gain access to:

Tailored training and capacity-building
A 3-week residency at UM6P in Morocco
Space and infrastructure (Living Labs, Digital Lab, Data Center, Prototyping Labs)
World-class mentors and experts to work with you
5-months virtual incubation
Venture showcase at AWIEF2020 (2 – 3 December, Johannesburg, South Africa)
Funding opportunities

Eligibility Criteria

LeadTech Incubation is open to female digital startup leaders who are 18 years of age or older and residing in any African country. You have an innovative, scalable offer that integrates digital technologies into the process. You are passionate, committed, and have the capacity to engage fully in the program.

For more details and to apply, please follow this link: https://leafunder.um6p.ma/leadtech

Mastercard Offers Free Online STEM Lessons to Children, Teachers and Parents

passyjango

April 23, 2020

Mastercard extended access to its signature STEM curriculum, Girls4Tech™, through a suite of new online, creative educational resources. The program has been designed to help parents and teachers engage and inspire kids, ages 8-12.

Through the newly launched website Girls4Tech Connect, as well as through activities made in collaboration with our education partner Scholastic, teachers and parents can download lessons to help students learn about STEM topics, from the comfort of their homes or anywhere around the world.

These activities are built on global science and math standards – and incorporate Mastercard’s deep expertise in payments technology and innovation – to enable children to discover a range of STEM careers, such as Fraud Detective, Data Scientist and Software Engineer.

Now in its sixth year, Girls4Tech has engaged more than 800,000 students across the globe through inquiry-based activities and real-world challenges, all with the goal of inspiring more girls to pursue STEM careers and reduce the gender gap in these fields.

“We know that these are challenging times for parents and teachers on many fronts and hope that these learning resources are a fun way to engage and inspire kids about STEM while at home,”

says Ifeoma Dozie, Director, Marketing and Communications, Mastercard Sub-Saharan Africa.

“The easy access to the website enhances what we’ve done in so many workshops. We look forward to building on both efforts when it’s once again safe to gather in person.”

Beginning this week, new activities will be posted on a weekly basis at the Girls4Tech website, Facebook page and Twitter (https://bit.ly/3buJQby) handle. Lessons are currently available in English, with additional Spanish and Chinese language content to follow in the coming weeks.

While all lessons are designed for students to work independently, materials are also available for teachers to guide online sessions.

Impact Highlights from the First Six Years

To date, Girls4Tech has reached more than 800,000 girls in 27 countries and on 6 continents.
The program has engaged more than 4,400 employee mentors worldwide.
Mastercard has partnered with Scholastic, Be Better China, Major League Baseball, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), R&A and YCAB in Indonesia to further scale the program and offer STEM skills in unique ways to girls ages 8-16.
As technology skills evolve, a new curriculum was launched in 2019 to give students deeper exposure to the growing fields of cybersecurity and AI – Girls4Tech Cybersecurity & AI.
Girls4Tech programs also extend to girls ages 13-16 with Girls4Tech 2.0, as well as a 20-week coding program, Girls4Tech & Code for girls 8-10.

To learn more about Girls4Tech and access the online lessons, please visit www.Girls4Tech.com.

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