The Africa B2B Tech Report

Issue No. 84. Africa-Middle East B2B & SME tech news & insights for 26 August 2024.

Charles Laughlin

Aug 26, 2024

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The Africa B2B Tech News Digest

B2B Tech News & Insights for 26th August 2024

Why Do SMBs Churn Away from Telcos?

According to new data from the SME SaaS platform vcita, there are three main reasons why small business customers leave one telco for another. The top three reasons cited were that they found a better price, were unsatisfied with the service they received, or found a more relevant package.

The survey also reveals the three telco services SMEs most likely to churn away from. In order, these are network security/antivirus, Internet/cloud, and mobile phone plans.

The news isn’t all bad. A majority (64%) of SMEs said they are likely to purchase business and productivity tools from their telco provider.

Learn more from vcita.

Google Trends Reveal South Africans Keen to Upskill in AI

Findings from Google Trends suggest South Africans are keen to learn more about AI and have expressed bullish views on AI.

According to a report in IOL, citing data from Google’s global “Our Life with AI” study, “60% of South Africans were enthusiastic about artificial intelligence, and 76% of them agreed that it would probably improve society as a whole.”

Further, IOL reports that search trends in South Africa paint a picture of a society eager to upskill on AI with searches for “how to use AI” up by more than 70% and searches for “what is AI” increasing by 20%.

Read more

Nobuk Africa Brings Chamas into the Digital Age

In Kenya, informal investment networks called chamas are instrumental in helping Kenyans do everything from acquiring homes to starting small businesses. Yet until now chamas have had to rely on old-school methods for payments and record-keeping.

A new Kenyan company, Nobuk Africa, is trying to modernize the management of chamas and similar collectives by automating payment collection and reconciliation and organizing their financial records into shareable reports.

Nobuk, founded in 2022 by Elvis Bando and Jani Landman, was recently selected for the 8th cohort of the Google for Startups Africa Accelerator program. In total 10 startups were chosen for the Google program. The companies represent Nigeria, South Africa, Rwanda, as well as Kenya.

Here is a helpful piece that explains chamas and their history.

Recommended Reading

The following is a curation of content from around Africa and the world related to big tech, digital marketing, small business, startup life, venture funding, M&A, and more. Please vote with your clicks to tell us what we should curate for you in future editions.

Nigeria Opens First AI Development Center in Abuja

Why Is the UAE So Attractive to Big AI Firms?

Google Trends Reveal South Africans Keen to Upskill in AI

South Africa Takes Measures Toward Forming AI Policy

Fireblocks, Yellow Card Partner for African X-border Crypto Transactions

Pakistan Lostics-Fintech Startup PostEx Raises $7.3M, Expands in MENA

Saudi VC KBW Ventures Invests in Egyptian Climate-Tech NoorNation

Mastercard, Scale Team Up in Africa

Bolt Cracks Down on Fake Ride Requests in Africa

AliExpress Enters Ethiopia

Dashpay, Layup Technologies Expand Partnership

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