Covid-19 and African tech startups roundup [02/06/2020]

South Africa’s National Treasury has revised down expected job losses, due to the impact of Covid-19 — from three to seven million, to between 690 000 to 1.8 million.

This, as Picup, a SA crowdsource delivery and tech company, has been assisting with the delivery of food parcels across South Africa under various Covid-19 schemes

With the coronavirus (Covid-19) headlining news all over the world, Ventureburn has launched a regular daily roundup on the virus and how it is affecting Africa’s tech startup sector.

Crowdsource delivery startup Picup has been assisting with the delivery of food parcels across South Africa

Those with any news releases relating to Covid-19 and Africa’s tech startup sector can send these to editor@memeburn.com.

Here then is the latest on the coronavirus and African tech startups:

Job losses revised down: South Africa’s National Treasury has revised down expected job losses and now estimates that 690 000 to 1.8 million South Africans will lose their jobs due to the impact of Covid-19, Fin24 reported in an article yesterday. In April it expected between three million and seven million jobs to be lost. The severity of job losses in the new estimates depends on how quick the country recovers.

MTN to assist SMEs: The MTN SA Foundation has redesigned its annual staff volunteerism programme to help mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on impoverished communities. It will also leverage MTN’s resources to impart much-needed skills, and IT expertise, to help keep SMEs afloat. Dubbed the “2020 Y’ello Care programme”, the initiative will also focus on providing virtual support to SMEs that are being crippled by the restrictions on trade resulting from the lockdown.

Startup helps deliver food parcels: Picup, a SA crowdsource delivery and tech company, has been assisting with the delivery of food parcels across South Africa under various Covid-19 schemes. The startup, founded in 2015, has developed a cloud-based transport management platform for Africa. Picup CEO and co-founder Antonio Bruni (pictured above) says its parcel tracking functions are proving invaluable in ensuring a smooth delivery process. The company’s crowdsourced delivery network is currently delivering over 500 food parcels per day in Cape Town. Bruni said the startup has received investments from several individual angel investors and from strategic partners. Picup also has offices in Ghana.

Read more: Covid-19 and African tech startups roundup [01/06/2020]

Featured image: Picup CEO Antonio Bruni (Facebook)