10 things you need to know in tech across Africa this week, January 27 - 31, 2020

Netflix is now billing Nigerian users in local currency

Netflix is switching from the dollar to bill Nigerian users in Naira.

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Before now, the streaming platform charged users across Africa in dollar terms.

“The new price for your plan will now be NGN 4,400..,” the company said in a statement to its customers over the weekend.

It seems there are plans to finally launch local operations in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation.

Paxful is building a formidable Crypto school in Africa

Paxful has announced plans to build a third school in its 100-school initiative to bring quality education centers to emerging countries throughout Africa.

The third school, which will come fully equipped with a state-of-the-art water well system, will be built in Machakos County, Kenya for children ages 3-6 years old and will kick off with a $30,000 donation from Paxful.

#BuiltWithBitcoin was created first and foremost with the primary goal of promoting philanthropy and charity within the cryptocurrency industry.

Juliet Anammah out, Massimilliano Spalazzi now heads Jumia Nigeria

Massimilliano Spalazzi has been appointed to replace Juliet Anammah as CEO of Jumia Nigeria.

With the new corporate adjustment, the company has reaffirmed its commitment to e-commerce as the best engine to drive the adoption of digital payment.

The street of Addis Ababa welcomes Nigeria’s successful firm, Paga

Ethiopia tech environment has welcomed one of Africa’s successful mobile payments platforms, Paga, with the acquisition of Apposit LLC.

Adam Abate, Apposit co-founder & CEO, will now head Paga in Ethiopia.

2020 Africa Tech Summit in Rwanda

Next week, the 3rd Africa Tech Summit in Kigali Rwanda. The summit will serve as an avenue for fintechs, corporates, investors, startups, and international delegation to connect and network.

A new Submarine cable lands in East Africa

After two networks across Sub-Saharan Africa suffered network woes last week, a new submarine cable linking the coast of East Africa landed in La Siesta Beach in Djibouti. According to reports, the yet-to-be installed cable will link Djibouti, Mogadishu, Mombasa, and Bosaso.

The Submarine Cable deal was facilitated between Djibouti Telecom, Telecom Kenya, SubCom, and Somtel.

Vodafone dumps Facebooks Libra project

Vodafone has dumped Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency project, casting doubt on the social media giant's crypto asset.

Mastercard, Visa, Mercado Pago, eBay, Strip, and Booking Holdings have all left Facebook alone with the idea. They raised concerns about Facebook's past privacy record and how the project may disrupt the global financial system.

Zenith Bank holds SME Digital Workshop

Zenith Bank Plc will host SMEs this week in partnership with Facebook

Zenith Bank SME Digital Workshop will provide free training on how SMEs can use digital platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp to grow their businesses.

The two-day event is scheduled to hold on Wednesday, January 29th and Thursday, January 30th, 2020.

Hacker behind Africas richest womans ordeal

Portuguese hacker Rui Pinto said he is behind Angola corruption leaks involving Isabel Dos Santos’s fortune.

According to a report by AFP, the tycoon daughter of former Angolan president Jose Eduardo dos Santos now faces a slew of corruption allegations stretching across Angola's state oil and diamond industries and banks -- all of which she has denied.

Repair ship to fix Submarine cables break enroute location

A glitch in submarine cables that disrupted networks last week is about to be fixed. The glitch affected MTN Nigeria networks and some other networks across Sub-Saharan Africa on WACS and SAT3.

According to a report by Business Insider SA, the ship has left Cape Town and is en route to fix SA's slow internet.

Onboard is the Leon Thevenin is a crew of 53, including senior representatives from the WACS and SAT3 consortiums, led by Chief of Mission, Didier Mainguy, said Openserve.

It will take the team about 48 hours to fix it after arrival.