Kenyan courts are using Skype to deliver judgements

Nigerian tech leaders are scrambling to manufacture ventilators [View this email in your browser]( TOGETHER WITH FLUTTERWAVE 02 - 04 - 2020 Hi there and welcome to your daily dose of tech and innovation news across Africa. If this mail was forwarded to you, please take a moment to [subscribe](. Also, join our growing community on [Telegram](. Binance, the world's biggest trading platform whose vision is to increase the freedom of money globally, now accepts Naira! Visit [www.binance.com]( to start trading. The war against the coronavirus is complicated by the shortage of medical equipment, including ventilators. A ventilator handles the body’s breathing process when a disease causes the lungs to fail. Covid-19 is one of such diseases. Over 193,000 people have recovered from the disease and the World Health Organisation says many don’t even need hospital treatment to recover. However, over 742,000 cases remain active. Some cases could get really severe and cause difficulty in breathing. Ventilators help offset this problem and give the body a chance to fight off the virus. But the equipment is in short supply as hospitals are overwhelmed with rising cases of Covid-19. [TechCabal’s Kay Ugwuede writes]( that in Nigeria, there are less than 100 ventilators. Meanwhile, confirmed cases of the virus is rising fast as more people are being tested. A number of tech leaders in Nigeria are working hard to manufacture more ventilators before active cases peak. [In this article]( Kay explores the work of Tomi Davis, Lifebank's Temie Giwa-Tubosun and other groups who are trying to tackle the shortage before cases truly escalate. [On March 31, we released our Nigerian Women in Tech Report](. The report, powered by the UK-Nigeria Tech Hub, examines the distribution and level of involvement of women in Nigeria’s technology and STEM fields. It features 21 women entrepreneurs and C-suite executives as well as 7 female developers. It celebrates successes, looks at the gaps that exist in women participation, show challenges and highlights recommendations for improvement. [Download the report for free](. All reports from TechCabal [are available for download here](. Rwandan ecommerce startup, Kasha, has [raised $1 million]( for its expansion plans. The new funding came from Finnfund, a Finnish development finance fund. Founded in 2016, [Kasha]( specialises in selling female health and beauty products. The startup serves over 55,000 customers in Rwanda and Kenya. With its new funds, Kasha wants to expand to new markets while growing its reach in its existing markets. In Nigeria, Bolt and Uber have [suspended their ride-hailing services]( following the lockdown of major cities in the country. The two companies are mostly focused on two states: Lagos and Abuja. However, on Sunday, the Federal government announced the lockdown of both states and a third, Ogun state, to control the spread of the coronavirus. The number of confirmed cases stands at 174 rising from 3 in early March. The lockdown went into effect on Monday night and will last for 14 days. In the meantime, Bolt has pivoted to delivery services. The ride company recently created a new service called Bolt Business Delivery service. Logistics services are among the few businesses exempted from the mandatory lockdown. Vital Capital, an Africa-focused private equity firm, has announced a [$10 million coronavirus relief fund]( for African businesses. Vital Capital will invest roughly $1 million in ten companies that are providing impactful services. This won’t be equity financing though; rather the fund will issue loans with favourable terms and up to four years duration. [Kenyan courts are using Skype and emails]( to deliver case judgement. On March 30, the presiding Judge of the Mombasa High Court passed 23 judgements using Skype. The country’s Court of Appeal will do the same for over 20 judgements on Friday. But the courts’ use of Skype and not Zoom is interesting; especially since Zoom is more convenient for meetings with a large audience. Also, some courts and important offices are using regular Gmail accounts, not customised emails, to share court documents. Although this is not entirely insecure, it is a weird and inefficient practice for a government body dealing with important documents. As Coronavirus cases continue to grow in Africa, Zikoko, our Sister publication under Big Cabal Media, has put together a microsite — [coronafacts.africa]( — that provides accurate information and free downloadable resources for the general public to help understand and keep up with the Coronavirus pandemic. Visit [( to check it out. Chibueze Ukaegbu is the founder of LearnFactory, a tech hub located in the South East region of Nigeria. LearnFactory is a technology training company with a focus to decentralise technology skills and extend its reach to people in different locations. Ukaegbu has led the company since 2014 and has partnered with a state government to teach over 35,000 young people how to code. Chibueze Ukaegbu is the focus of this week’s [My Life In Tech](. Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has finally announced[concrete plans to regulate crowdfunding platforms]( The government body has talked about this for years but never made any strong move in this direction. Last weekend it published an exposure draft proposing regulations for crowdfunding operators. The new planned regulation imposes a ₦100 million ($255,461) capital requirement on operators. That alone is a challenge since many startups in this business have rarely raised up to that amount. [In this article]( I explore the proposal and what it means for crowdfunding operators. Other things we're reading: + [Shaping Africa’s urban areas]( to withstand future pandemics + [Tips on staying productive]( while working from home due to COVID-19 + Why this is the best time for [physical tech talent startups to prove]( their value proposition That's it for today! See you tomorrow. - Abubakar Share TC Daily with everyone! [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( Copyright © 2020 Big Cabal Media, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up on TechCabal.com Our mailing address is: Big Cabal Media 18, Nnobi Street, Animashaun, Surulere, LagosSurulere 100001 Nigeria [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](.