Africa

Silicon Valley begins to invest in African health startups

The Ghana-based startup, mPharma had previously raised $5 million in seed funding led by Silicon Valley’s Social Capital. But on November 23, 2017, the startup announced its pharmacy retail supply venture attracted a bevy of major international investors for its recent Series A funding. They received about 6.6 million dollars from Silicon Valley startups like Social Capital and local VCs like Golden Palm Investments and 4DX Ventures.

MPharma is starting to disrupt the prescription drug business in Africa. Plus, it has started setting its sights on bigger targets beyond the continent. MPharma manages prescription drug inventory for pharmacies and their suppliers in four African countries.

Someone else is now in charge of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe just got its new president. Emmerson Mnangagwa was sworn in as the country’s new leader on Friday, following Robert Mugabe’s dramatic resignation this week after nearly four decades of rule. Mnangagwa was vice president under Mugabe and has vowed to serve as the interim president until elections are held next year. Known as “The Crocodile” for his political cunning and longevity, the 75-year-old Mnangagwa fled the country after Mugabe fired him earlier this month, a dismissal that triggered the political turmoil and apparent military involvement that led to Mugabe stepping down. Mr. Mnangagwa fled the country but returned to a hero’s welcome and on Friday, struck a conciliatory tone.

Cameroon

Digitalization of Small businesses; Theme of PmExchange 2017

Very few startups and small businesses have gone digital. The internet usage had become a necessity. Nowadays, the use of digital has become an imperative for companies that want to continue to develop and above all to be competitive. In that light, a community of small-sized businesses organized the pm exchange conference. In its fourth edition, the need for businesses to go digital in today’s global environment was brought to awareness.

Huawei technology takes Cameroon to Smart City award recognition

Proudly, at the World Smart City awards held at the Smart City Expo World Congress 2017 (SCEWC), Cameroon was recognised with a nomination for the Innovation Idea Award for its solar energy project. Such achievement will propel the business sphere to higher heights. Cameroon was not the only Huawei partnered customer in contention at the awards. The ultimate goals of a Smart City are to enable good governance, promote industry development and deliver benefits for the people.

202 Cameroonian migrants go back home from Libya

Migration for greener pastures is very common in the African continent. Due to the high rate of unemployment, and the high level of poverty, many youths flee to other countries with hopes to upgrade their lives. Unfortunately getting a good life might not be the outcome of some as they encounter harsher conditions. In that light, the migrants of Cameroonian origin (including 9 pregnant women) residing in Libya were voluntarily repatriated to Cameroon within the framework of an IMO initiative.

Each one of the repatriated migrants has received FCFA 65,000 from the government to restart their lives and avoid going back.

World

Walmart is quietly testing a fleet of self-driving vehicles that mop floors

The device looks like any other floor cleaner but with two exceptions – it scrubs at night and does not need a human to operate it. Walmart has quietly begun testing an advanced, autonomous floor scrubber during overnight shifts – a move that could free workers from hours of drudgery, but that has already raised alarm among some employees. As the largest private-sector employer in the US, Walmart is watched carefully for any shifts it makes to its workplace. The device is the creation of San Diego-based Brain Corp., a firm that raised $114 million in a Series C funding in July.

Uber bribed hackers to cover-up massive data breach

In a company blog post on Tuesday, CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi revealed yet another skeleton in Uber’s closet – a massive breach of its users’ personal data that the company intentionally hid from the public ear for over a year. This also included a $100.000 bribe to the hackers involved in exchange for keeping their mouths shut. The hack included names and license numbers of more than 600.000 drivers as well as names, emails and phone numbers of 57 million users.

According to Uber’s CEO, he only recently learned of the October 2016 attack but has made swift moves to oust 2 executives involved in the cover-up.

Trump defends Roy Moore’s sexual abuse claim

President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended Republican, Roy Moore. The Alabama-based Republican Senate candidate was accused of sexual abuse. However, he denied having anything to do with it. According to Trump’s tweet, “He denies it. Look, he denies it. He says it didn’t happen.”

Trump’s comments mark a break between him and other prominent Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has called on Moore to drop out of the race. The campaign arm for Senate Republicans and the Republican National Committee have also severed ties with Moore.

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