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Companies
Meta’s termination of 3,600 employees affected African offices
Meta is back at it again with another round of layoffs—3,600 employees worldwide just got the corporate breakup text.
This time, the axe swung across Africa, Asia, and parts of Europe, but somehow, Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands dodged the chopping block. For those affected, the bad news arrives between February 11 and 18, 2025—just in time to ruin any post-Valentine’s Day optimism.
Meta insists this is all part of a routine performance review. Translation? If you weren’t making the algorithm gods happy, you’re out. On the bright side, ex-employees aren’t walking away empty-handed. They’ll get 16 weeks of base pay, extra cash for years of service, healthcare coverage, career support, and even immigration assistance—because nothing says “new beginnings” like getting laid off and relocating.
Meanwhile, Meta is going all-in on AI, because robots don’t ask for raises. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has dubbed 2024 the “year of efficiency,” which is corporate-speak for “let’s cut costs and automate everything.” The company is pumping up to $65 billion into AI infrastructure, data centres, and specialised chips, following the tech industry’s golden rule: when in doubt, throw money at AI.
So, while Meta sees these layoffs as necessary spring cleaning, thousands of former employees across Nigeria, Africa, and beyond are left wondering what’s next. Maybe the AI overlords will be hiring soon?
Afincran Connect: A Fintech Mixer by Fincra 
Fincra is hosting an exclusive fintech mixer on 12th February 2025 in Nairobi, bringing together industry leaders for networking, conversations, and connections.
Nairobi | 
18:00 – 21:00 EAT
Limited spots—RSVP now.
Cryptocurrency
Swypt launches cKES, Kenya’s first currency-backed stablecoin
Three things are becoming certain in 2025: death, taxes, and one African country launching a digital currency.
Kenya will follow in that stead after Swypt, a DeFi exchange platform, launched the country’s first stablecoin, cKES (Celo Kenyan Shilling—because it was built on the Celo blockchain). Swypt joins a growing list of Web3 startups, including Valora, Pretium, Fonbnk, Hurupay, Payd, and Clixpesa, that have integrated the stablecoin.
The cKES stablecoin is the brainchild of a community initiative within the Celo ecosystem, supported by the Celo Africa DAO and Mento Labs. Mento operates a decentralised stablecoin platform designed to build stable digital assets on the Celo blockchain. The organisation aims to create stablecoins for different markets, with cKES joining other stable assets like cUSD (Celo Dollar), cEUR (Celo Euro), cREAL (Celo Real), eXOF (CFA Franc), and PUSO (Philippines’ stablecoin)—all built on the Celo protocol.
The choice of Celo as its foundation is strategic; as a layer-1 network, Celo is among the cheapest protocols for deploying decentralised applications (dApps). Since its launch in 2017, it has reached 268 transactions per second (TPS) per 100 blocks—the 17th highest globally—and processed over 20 million transactions by 2023, making it one of the builder-friendly networks for payments dApps.
Backed 1:1 by the Kenyan Shilling, cKES launched in May 2024 but has struggled to gain traction, despite its potential in remittance and cross-border payments. However, its debut on more on-chain platforms like Swypt increases its chances of adoption. With more platforms stepping in, they could pool resources to scale distribution and invest in marketing efforts to drive wider adoption.
The stablecoin’s slow integration into Kenya’s crypto ecosystem comes at a time when the government is working to regulate and tax digital assets. While cKES is not government-backed or officially recognised by regulators, its success—or failure—could shape Kenya’s stance on private-sector-led stablecoin initiatives.
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Telecoms
MTN Nigeria, SWIFT, increase internet prices by 50%
Nigerians woke up to the shock that the country’s largest telecoms operator, MTN Nigeria, has increased its internet prices by 50% three weeks after the tariff hike.
In January, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the communications regulator, approved the hike following months of lobbying by telecoms which have been feeling the crunch of the naira devaluation, price inflation, and tough business environment.
The 50% hike means that Nigerians will either have to increase their monthly data budgets or downgrade to lower internet plans. While this change was expected after the NCC approval, it still took people by surprise as MTN Nigeria issued no formal statement or notice that it would raise its prices. SWIFT Networks, another internet service provider (ISP), also increased internet prices by 50%.
While MTN Nigeria has raised its internet prices, other telecoms Airtel and Globacom have not followed suit. Airtel has mentioned it will increase prices gradually to lessen the impact on Nigerians, while Globacom is likely to raise prices later this month. Their delay in raising prices, whether planned or not, puts them in a favourable position. Nigerians may consider flocking to these telecoms, buying data from them at lower prices—before they go up—ushering more active users, increasing revenue per user, and giving Airtel and Globacom an unexpected, momentous advantage.
For instance, ₦20,000 ($13.31) gets you 75GB of data on MTN, but the same amount buys 138GB on Globacom presently.
While Airtel and Globacom seem to have a temporary advantage in the market, it depends on how long they can hold out and avoid raising prices. It also depends on whether this lucky situation will attract more active customers for them. Otherwise, they too, will likely increase prices quicker than we can recite the alphabet.
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Expansions
Chowdeck’s Ghana gambit
The most empirical answer to the age-old question: Nigerian Jollof or Ghana Jollof may come from an unlikely place—a food delivery app.
Chowdeck, Nigeria’s leading delivery app, wants to expand to Ghana—its first foray outside the country. Before you whip the usual “conquer Nigeria first” refrain, it’s worth noting they operate in several key Nigerian cities: Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan, Asaba, Benin City, Abeokuta, Ilorin, and Port Harcourt, with recent expansions into Owerri, Enugu, and Kaduna.
However, Lagos remains their stronghold, driving 70% of orders. This isn’t surprising. Lagos has more boxes for restaurant aggregator platform success than the other states do: a high density of tech-savvy individuals, relatively high per capita income, a diverse restaurant scene catering to various tastes and budgets, and a bustling lifestyle that often leaves little time for cooking. Chowdeck needs cities with similar characteristics to replicate this success, and there are one or two in several African countries.
The question, then, isn’t why expand, but why Ghana? Beyond the shared love of Jollof, Ghana is a different country. Different food cultures, business environments, and infrastructures may take a lot of money and time to get used to.
Nonetheless, the country, it seems, is ripe for the picking…or at least, has been picked. Uber Eats, Bolt Food, Glovo, and Jumia Food have all ventured into urban cities like Accra, Tema, and Kumasi. Some, like Glovo and Jumia Food, have since retreated. Reports suggest high taxes, low wages, and inflation present ongoing challenges. However, established players like Uber Eats and Bolt Food remain so there is a market worth considering.
Hopefully, Ghana will put aside all its beef with Nigeria, or at least sell it in the millions on its app so Chowdeck can replicate its success—the app delivered goods with N30 billion in 2024—on the app.
CRYPTO TRACKER
The World Wide Web3
Source:
|
Coin Name |
Current Value |
Day |
Month |
|---|---|---|---|
 Bitcoin |
$95,871 |
– 2.50% |
+ 1.81% |
| Ether |
$2,606 |
– 3.66% |
– 19.07% |
 XRP |
$2.41 |
– 3.47% |
– 3.76% |
| Solana |
$195.81 |
– 4.04% |
+ 6.24% |
* Data as of 06:40 AM WAT, February 12, 2025.
Events
- The ATCG Abuja 2025 Convening, themed “From Potential to Practice—Accelerating AfCFTA Implementation for African Tech and Creative Sectors” will be held from February 24-25, 2025. A centrepiece of the programme will be a ministerial roundtable featuring Nigeria’s Ministers of Communication, Innovation & Digital Economy, and Trade & Industry. During this two-day event, anticipate game-changing insights, powerful partnerships, and high-energy discussions that challenge boundaries and unlock new opportunities across the continent. If you work in the technology and creative sectors in Africa and wish to create new business opportunities by leveraging pan-African digital trade, then this event is for you. Don’t just witness Africa’s digital transformation—be a part of it! Register here.
- The Africa Tech Summit in Nairobi, Kenya taking place 12th & 13th Feb 2025 will once again provide unrivaled insight, networking and business opportunities for African and international investors and tech leaders who want to drive growth across the Continent. The event connects 2000+ industry leaders, 1000+ companies, and 160+ speakers via four tracks plus workshops, expo and multiple fantastic networking opportunities. Tickets are on sale now.
- Join Africa’s creative innovators, entrepreneurs & leaders at The Omniverse Africa Summit, at Landmark Event Centre, between 25 – 28 Feb 2025. Explore transformative tech, business & sustainable growth. Register now.
- GITEX AFRICA 3rd edition is NOW OPEN for registration. Africa’s largest tech and start-up event will be held from 14-16 April 2025 in Marrakech, Morocco. Attend to see the leading brands in tech, and the most innovative startups, and network with tech leaders, investors, speakers and government delegations from across Africa and across the globe. Register here.
Written by: Ngozi Chukwu, Frank Eleanya, Faith Omoniyi & Emmanuel Nwosu
Edited by: Timi Odueso & Olumuyiwa Olowogboyega
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I am the CEO of 9JAGISTLAND.My name is Adedeji Timothy and my co-owner is Oyekola Damilare.This blog is born out of our passion to educating to people in all aspect of internet life.We are enthusiastic about writing posts and articles online.
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