Many may not realize it, but there are still countries in Africa that live in darkness without access to electricity. According to The Economist , the continent is home to almost a fifth of the world’s population, but only accounts for less than 4 percent of global electricity use, and urban communities are faced with the most challenges. In an effort to solve this issue, Face 2 Face Africa reports that Dutch goalkeeper Andre Onana is bringing light to the native people of Mengueme in the small town of Ossoessam, Cameroon — a place his mother once called home. Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana has funded an electric grid to provide electricity for his mother's hometown in Mengueme, Cameroon 👏 pic.twitter.com/8BzlHVLZF3 — B/R Football (@brfootball) August 10, 2020 Onana — through his gesture — funded an electric grid that has been able to provide citizens of Ossoessam with the vital energy resource they need, according to Bleacher Report’s Twitter. Actu Cameroun reports Onana has made it a...

Canza Finance’s co-founders are leaning into Web3 to financially empower the African continent. Pascal Ntsama IV and Oyedeji Oluwoye are looking to create “the world’s largest non-institutional-based financial system” through the creation of Canza Finance, the company website mentions. They both share distinct journeys on how they arrived to the company’s inception. For Chief Technology Officer Oluwoye — born in Nigeria, Africa, and raised in Sydney, Australia, before moving to the United States at 14 — he began taking various CompTIA Certifications, early-career data analytics certification, during his senior year of high school. After graduation, he headed to the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science. While in college, he was able to secure a position with Adtran, a networking and telecommunications company based in the U.S., as a co-op engineer. He then transitioned to work at AT&T as a senior specialist-network...

Technology just helped save Jayline Barbosa Brandão and her family’s lives. According to PEOPLE, nine-year-old Jayline Barbosa Brandão quickly sprang into action after realizing that her parents were in need of immediate help due to exposure to carbon monoxide. “I heard my dad screaming and saw my mom passed out,” she told WFXT during an interview. Brandão was quick with her actions and grabbed her father’s phone to call for help, but soon realized that the iPhone was locked. Without breaking a sweat, she held the phone up to her father’s face, thanks to Apple’s Face ID feature, and was then able to call 9-1-1. “She was so smart,” said her mother, Marcelina Brandão. “If it wasn’t [for] her to call right away, I don’t know what would have happened.” At the time of the incident, the family home was without power for three days after a recent storm in Brockton, MA, which led them to use a generator for electricity. Originally, the generator was outside near a back door, where it ran...

Universal Music Group has struck an expanded deal with African music streaming service Boomplay to extend licensing of UMG’s global music catalog to upwards of 47 countries across Africa, Music Business Worldwide reports. These new markets include key territories in countries such as South Africa, Ethiopia, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Senegal. News of the expanded deal arrives just after rival Spotify recently expanded across Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. According to a press release, the outlined agreement details an “ongoing commitment to support and grow Africa’s domestic music ecosystems, while also creating new opportunities for Pan-African talent to reach new audiences domestically, regionally and around the world.” Under the new agreement, UMG’s African labels — including Def Jam Africa, Motown Gospel Africa, AI Records, and Afroforce1 — will all be supported. Additionally, the deal will also distribute artists and labels via Electromode and Ingrooves Music...

It’s hard for Black entrepreneurs to launch startups, but these six companies are killing the game. Their amazing products are getting rave reviews from customers and impressive investments from industry leaders. 1. LISNR Founded by Rodney Williams, Chris Ostoich, and Josh Glick, LISNR is on a mission to completely disrupt the digital payments industry. According to their website, LISNR’s “proprietary ultrasonic data-over-sound technology enables modern checkout experiences globally across the customer journey for merchants, financial service providers and mobility enterprises.” If their recent investment from Visa is any indication, they are well on their way to achieving their goal. Learn more about Rodney Williams and LISNR here . 2. Calendly Calendly is a scheduling app that helps people organize their time better. Founded by Tope Awotona in 2013 and headquartered in Atlanta, Calendly helps its users increase their revenue and provide exceptional customer service by streamlining...

Netflix announced Tuesday that it will air its first animated original series from Africa. Titled Mama K’s Team 4 , the series will revolve around four teen girls, who reside in a neo-futuristic Lusaka, Zambia, that are recruited by a retired secret agent to save the world. Mama K’s Team 4 is produced by the Cape Town-based Triggerfish Animation Studios and CAKE, a London-based kids’ entertainment specialist. We originally reported on the project , pre-Netflix, back in 2018. The series was created by Malenga Mulendema, a Zambian writer who was one of eight winners in the Triggerfish Story Lab Initiative in 2015. Designed by Cameroonian artist Malcolm Wope, Mama K’s Team 4 draws visual inspiration from the retro-R&B and hip-hop girl groups of the ’90s. “In creating a superhero show set in Lusaka, I hope to introduce the world to four strong African girls who save the day in their own fun and crazy way,” said Malenga. “Most importantly, I want to illustrate that anyone from anywhere...