Africa’s smartphone market shrunk by 18% in 2022 compared to the previous year, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC). The slump was driven by a reduction in consumer spending due to inflation, and economic uncertainties, but it was not unique to Africa as smartphone shipment dipped across major markets last year.
The wave (big tech cut offs) in Latam was also powerful, with startups and technology companies making significant job cuts. Unico, The Brazilian unicorn, dedicated to identity authentication, laid off 10.5% of its staff, about 110 employees. Betterfly. The Chilean company, which offers companies a life insurance policy for workers who grow with their healthy habits, cut 30% of its regional workforce. Other Latam Startups as Tul (Colombia), PagSeguro (Brazil) and others experimented job cuts around 10%.
Qotto, a solar kits provider with operations in Burkina Faso and Benin, has raised $8 million in a Series A equity-debt round led by the IBL group, a billion-dollar conglomerate headquartered in Mauritius with business interests in a number of sectors including energy, financial services, logistics, distribution and engineering.
The U.S. Senate has passed a bill that could potentially ban TikTok in the U.S. if its Chinese owner, ByteDance, does not sell its holdings within a year. The bill now goes to the President Biden, who has said he will sign it. Court challenges are likely to follow.