News

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that aims to reduce mortgage costs as rising interest rates and inflation make homeownership less affordable. The order, titled “Decreasing Housing Costs for the American People,”

Egyptian prop-tech startup Aqar Exit has secured an investment of EGP10 million ($183,000) from businessman Ayman Mamdouh Abbas, executive chairman of Intro Holding Group, in return for a 10 per cent stake in the company.

Kenyan electric mobility company Spiro has launched its first 100 electric motorcycles in Ghana, introducing its Ekon 450 M1 V3 model and battery-swapping network to the West African market.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has granted Approval-in-Principle (AIP) to JPMorgan to establish JPMorgan Merchant Bank Nigeria Limited, marking a new step in the US financial institution’s plans to expand its presence in the country.

OpenAI is reportedly close to securing another mega round of private funding, rather than plowing ahead with an IPO. The AI lab is working on raising up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation

The Her Startup initiative, a partnership between the KSH Foundation, Tomorrow Foundation and EHA Impact Ventures, will select 10 early-stage women founders and help them build investment-ready tech businesses.

Egyptian fintech company MNT-Halan has begun trading on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) following a strong response to its initial public offering (IPO). Founded in 2018, MNT-Halan was created to digitally bank the unbanked and substitute cash with electronic solutions.

Legal AI startup Legora announced Wednesday that it raised a $550 million Series E round, valuing it at $8.8 billion. The company helps automate and assist with workflow tasks for legal professionals, as the industry moves beyond AI assistants to AI services that help them get work done.

Tesla has started production of its Optimus humanoid robot at its factory in Fremont, California, a manufacturing space once dedicated to making electric vehicles, the company announced Wednesday.

South African ed-tech incubator Injini has launched a new two-year programme that will support 10 early-stage South African edtech startups building solutions that create or support employment pathways for young people.

Ten African startups have been named semifinalists for the Milken-Motsepe Prize in Circular Economy, and will share US$500,000 in unrestricted funding as they compete for the US$1 million grand prize.

Disrupt Africa has partnered with Kenya-based digital product and technology company Touch Inspiration to launch Disrupt Launchpad, an app development accelerator that helps non-technical founders turn their ideas into working applications and bring them to market.