Covid-19 and African tech startups roundup [09/06/2020]

The Covid-19 pandemic is set to plunge the world into the worst recession since the Second World War, the World Bank announced yesterday.

This, as SA food delivery startup UCook has raised more than R1-million to fund food supplies to communities in need, the startup announced in a YouTube video.

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.

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

The World Bank forecasts that the global economy will shrink by 5.2% in 2020

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

Global economy to plunge: The Covid-19 pandemic is set to plunge the world into the worst recession since the Second World War, the World Bank said in a statement yesterday. The World Bank forecasts that the global economy will shrink by 5.2% this year. Economic activity is expected to fall by 2.8% in 2020 in Sub-Saharan African and 4.2% in North Africa and the Middle East.

Startup raises over R1m for food: SA food delivery startup UCook has raised more than R1-million to fund food supplies to communities in need, the startup announced in a YouTube video on Friday (5 June). The startup launched the fund in April in partnership with FoodForward South Africa, the Philippi Economic Development Initiative (PEDI) and Ladles of Love. UCook CEO David Torr said R500 000 was raised from public donations, with the balance donated by UCook. The funds had already gone towards distributing meals to feed the needy in Cape Town.

Users grow by 300% at fintech: Nigerian digital payments fintech Paga, which has about 15 million users currently, has seen a significant uptake in the number of users due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the tech company’s director of business development Jay Alabraba told Nigerian newspaper Punch in an article on Sunday (7 June). Alabraba says on a quarter-to-quarter basis, the startup has seen an “about 300% increase” of new customers. In the article Alabraba talks more about how small businesses should take advantage of the move to digital payments. In January the company acquired US-based software development firm Apposit (see this story).

Read more: Covid-19 and African tech startups roundup [08/06/2020]

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