Kenyan lawmakers have passed a preferential trade deal with the European Union (EU), ending a political flashpoint with neighbouring East African Community (EAC) partners who refused to adopt a joint deal in 2016. The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) will give Kenyan traders duty-free and quota-free access to the $13.9 trillion European market. According to the EU, total trade with Kenya reached $3.5 billion in 2022, representing a 27% jump from 2018. Under the terms of that deal, Kenya will gradually lower duty on imports from the EU within the next 25 years and incentivise European compa ..read more

One month after a little-known company got unrestricted access to the private data of 100 million Nigerians, Nigeria’s Identity Management Commission (NIMC) is under investigation for a data breach. One publication detailed how XpressVerify, the company involved in the breach, obtained and monetised its access to the identification numbers.  “If they [NIMC] are found negligent, there would be penalties. Last year in South Africa, the data protection agency fined the Ministry of Justice over a data breach. Nobody is above the law,” said Dr. Vincent Olatunji, the National Commissioner of th ..read more

Mobility giant Uber and Lagos state have reached an agreement, ending a month-long row after the government’s request to enforce a 2020 deal to share real-time data.  In March, two people on Uber’s side of the argument raised surveillance and privacy concerns following the request. Uber held out on giving the government access even as competitors like Bolt acquiesced.  The government responded by impounding cars belonging to Uber drivers and the state of talks between both parties remained uncertain. “We have reached a truce, we shifted ground, and Uber too has shifted ground,” Olasu ..read more

In partnership with Share this newsletter: Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Happy pre-Friday In Q1 2024, investment in African startups took a nosedive, plunging by approximately 45.6% compared to Q1 2023.  On the flip side, our growing ecosystem witnessed a flurry of expansion and acquisition activities. Dive deeper into the latest happenings with our freshly unveiled quarterly report. Download it now. In today’s edition Kenya washes its hands clean of Anjwarwalla’s arrest Stanbic IBTC to raise $401 million Equity Bank’s $2.1 million heist was an inside job ..read more

Stanbic IBTC Holdings will seek shareholders’ approval to raise ₦550 billion on May 16. According to a regulatory filing submitted on Wednesday, the company has proposed the sale of bonds and a rights issue to raise the needed capital. Stanbic joins industry peers like Access Holdings, GTCO, and Zenith Bank Plc, which have made similar moves to increase their capital requirements after a review by the Central Bank. Stanbic IBTC, the banking subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, is a Tier 2 bank with a capital requirement of ₦200 billion.   It plans to issue debt securities worth ..read more

Similar to the UP and MP exams, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is expected to announce the results soon, likely in the first week of May. Once declared, students can easily check their 2024 CBSE results online through various official channels. Here’s a concise guide to help you through the process: Websites to check CBSE results 2024 The Central Board of Secondary Education provides multiple official websites for students to check their 2024 results. These include: cbse.nic.in cbse.gov.in cbseresults.nic.in It’s recommended to try all three websites as there may be heavy t ..read more

As the Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UPMSP) announces the Class 10 and Class 12 final exam results for 2024, students can check their scores. If you have not checked out the UP scholarship 2024, you should come back to it. Here’s a simple guide on how to check your UP results for 2024: 1. Vist UP results portal to start check To begin, go to the official websites designated for checking UP board exam results: upresults.nic.in or results.upmsp.edu.in. These platforms are reliable sources provided by the Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad. 2. Find the UP Board result 2024 link ..read more

An employee of Equity Bank, Kenya’s biggest lender, colluded with other perpetrators to steal $2.1 million from the bank. TechCabal reported that the money was moved to over 500 bank accounts and mobile money wallets last week.  “It’s an Equity staff transferring money from accounts to several bank accounts and M-Pesa lines. Some have refunded the money, and investigations are ongoing,” a detective with knowledge of the matter told TechCabal. The unnamed employee at the centre of the fraud installed malware in the bank’s core system to avoid detection, said a bank insider who asked not to ..read more

Missing your JAMB exam date or time is a possibility. While sometimes you won’t get a reschedule, there are situations where JAMB exam reschedule might be possibility for you in 2024. Let’s explore ten reasons why you may or may not be eligible for a rescheduled exam: Reasons for a potential granting of JAMB exam 2024 reschedule  1. Technical difficulties If the exam centre experienced technical malfunctions that prevented you from taking the test, JAMB is obligated to reschedule the exam for affected candidates. Also, if some reason you could not write the exam due to a biometrics issue ..read more

An extraordinary general meeting in which First Bank shareholders were to vote on a decision to raise ₦300 billion ($231 million) in fresh capital has now been put on hold after a Federal High Court maintained an earlier decision on Wednesday. In July 2022, the court barred FBN Holdings, the parent company of First Bank, from holding any annual general meeting until the conclusion of a suit filed by a shareholder, Olusegun Onagoruwa, in 2021. On April 17, Onagoruwa’s lawyers asked the court to stop First Bank from holding an extraordinary general meeting initially scheduled for April 30. On We ..read more