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Those who have been following along with corporate news in recent weeks may already be aware of president Donald Trump’s ongoing initiative to bring massive financial changes to the tech industry. The head of state and 34-time convicted felon previously announced multi-billion dollar deals with fintech giants including OpenAI, SoftBank and more. The collaboration, which has been titled Stargate , has drawn eyes from a number of tech industry heads, including Apple’s Tim Cook . Now, according to recent reports, Cook himself has announced an effort to invest $500 billion back into the United States economy, with specific plans to hire 20,000 new U.S. based employees over the next five years. Though Apple has always been at the forefront of American engineering and design, this announcement has come as quite a shock to some investors, considering Tim Cook’s outspoken stance on upholding DEI initiatives , in stark contrast to Trump’s demands. Clearly, Cook is able to compartmentalize...
Fintech platform Raenest has raised new funding to support African businesses. The company, founded in 2022 by Victor Alade, Sodruldeen Mustapha, and Richard Oyome, offers a range of services, including virtual and physical dollar cards, international transfers, invoicing for global payments, the ability to create USD, GBP, and EUR bank accounts, and currency conversion, among other features listed on its website. Raenest’s original platform was structured as an Employer of Record (EOR), helping foreign companies pay employees on the continent while remaining compliant, TechCrunch reports. The founders recognized a deeper-rooted issue, leading them to update Raenest to assist the continent’s gig economy and businesses directly. “A U.S. company might not care if a payment is delayed by five days, but for someone in Nigeria or Kenya, that’s a big deal — especially when converting to local currency becomes another hurdle,” Alade told TechCrunch. Looking ahead, Raenest intends to secure...
Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. Remember when teachers used to warn us not to let one bad apple spoil the bunch? Now, amplify that idea by millions. Imagine the impact of that spoiled apple hitting some groups harder than others. That’s exactly what Black creators face with the looming TikTok in the United States. Like most things in the United States, when things go south, they disproportionately impact the Black community. And with Black creators having a history of overcoming barrier after barrier to have their content seen and valued, the removal of a major social platform will be catastrophic for some. TikTok: A Stage For The Unseen For Black creators, TikTok has been a platform that provided opportunities for visibility and reach that many creators couldn’t find elsewhere. It’s where viral dances, cultural commentary, and grassroots movements can exist side by side. It’s where creators like Khaby Lame, who broke barriers...
Crowdaa aims to remind the middle-class creator economy that power can be in their hands. The French-American startup, founded by musician and psychologist Vigile Hoareau and American composer and producer Jimmy Thomas, understands the potential of technology to level the playing field for creators. The company aims to empower users to take greater control of their creative freedoms and challenge the status quo often perpetuated on social media platforms like TikTok—which faces a potential ban on January 19 unless sold to a U.S.-based company—and Instagram, as well as on music platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. This includes moving away from traditional revenue models on these platforms, which often benefit the platforms more than the creators, especially regarding compensation. Even Snoop Dogg has voiced concerns about the low payouts from Spotify, despite achieving 1 billion streams. He reportedly received less than $45,000, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. “When you look at...
Google continues to build on its commitment to invest $1 billion in Africa’s digital economy. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Google announced on Oct. 6, 2021, that it would focus on supporting the continent’s tech sector over the next five years to make the internet more accessible. “Today I’m excited to reaffirm our commitment to the continent through an investment of $1 billion over five years to support Africa’s digital transformation to cover a range of initiatives from improved connectivity to investment in startups,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said during a virtual event held in 2021, per TechCrunch. Fast forward to 2024, and the tech giant has already invested over $900 million since the announcement and expects to reach its goal by 2026, according to information shared on its platform. Its most recent investment includes participation in a $90 million funding round for telecom solutions provider Cassava Technologies, one of Google’s partners in building the first subsea...
Content creators are taking over. Entertainment is entering a new era as attention shifts away from traditional cable TV, streaming platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, and Peacock, and even movie theaters. More people are seeking fresh, innovative ways to engage their time and dollars. And the creators are certainly delivering with engaging content that circulates the web and is also attracting countless celebrities and companies who are looking to capitalize in a new territory. Forbes notes the creator economy is currently valued at $250 billion, and that number is projected to nearly double by 2027. Three top Black creators are not just participating in this revolution — they’re leading it. Kai Cenat Kai Cenat currently holds the crown as Twitch’s most-subscribed streamer, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. The New Yorker, who once lived in a shelter, recently concluded his month-long November 2024 “Mafiathon 2.” Users tuned in to his 24/7 Twitch livestream throughout the month,...
It’s a beautiful thing to be creative and paid. Black people drive culture around the globe. I t isn’t a secret. Yet, when it comes to the proper credit and compensation the conversation is strikingly different. In a recent study, MSL Group, a PR firm, revealed that there is a 35% pay gap between white and Black content creators, with the latter group making a significantly lower amount than their white counterparts in the content creation space. Day 2 of the 2024 AFROTECH™ Conference kicked off on Nov. 14 with a discussion between creatives Imani Ellis, founder and CEO of The Creative Collective NYC, known for its annual CultureCon, and Shannae Ingleton Smith, co-creator of influencer agency Kensington Grey, for a discussion called “The Business of Creativity.” As founders, the pair have a firsthand account of life in America as content creators, and they’ve developed platforms that pour into Black creatives. Whether it’s through time and energy, resources, etc., they’re on a...
Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. Often, in the political process, whether at the local, state, or federal level, Black men feel as though they are not considered when it comes to policy. Vice President Kamala Harris changed that when she released her nine-page economic agenda proposal called the Opportunity Agenda for Black Men. This document outlined how she specifically wanted to improve Black men’s lives holistically. Harris plans to take five steps to increase the prosperity of Black men. (1) Provide 1 million forgivable loans of $20,000 for Black men to create businesses; (2) Provide education, mentorship, and apprenticeship programs aimed at getting Black men into higher demand industries, as well as create pathways to bring more Black men into the world of teaching; (3) Support regulations for cryptocurrency, which Black men are materially represented in as holders of these assets; (4) Launch a National Health Equity...
As Americans race toward yet another nail-biter of a presidential election , things like inflation and cost of living continue to rise at a seemingly untenable rate. Many people have been forced to cut back on necessities, pay bills late or even resort to living in cars and tents to try to survive this stifling economic climate. After only a few short years, it seems as though the YOLO economy has officially come to an end. For those not in the loop, the YOLO economy was a period of prosperity borne of the COVID-19 pandemic , which allowed many Americans to spend with reckless abandon for a few short years. Now that the era of YOLO seems to be going the way of the dodo bird, it seems like as good a time as any to examine what the economic system entailed, where the term comes from, and why financial trends have shifted the landscape in the way that they have. Without any further preamble, let’s unpack the history of the YOLO years, and see if we can predict what comes next for those...
Rilwan Lawal is enhancing the lives of gig workers. Growing up in Lagos, Nigeria, since the age of 1, the entrepreneur and founder was accustomed to self-starters. Both his mother and father were entrepreneurs who owned several businesses. “I don’t think I grew up seeing anyone around me waking up and getting ready to go to work,” Lawal, 33, told AFROTECH in an interview. “I feel like everybody around me had their own thing going on. And it was ingrained in me that at some point, I would be doing something on my own.” He added, “My mom is the ultimate entrepreneur. I witnessed her start multiple businesses and saw it come to fruition. That has been very helpful. My dad was also an entrepreneur in the real estate space. So just seeing both sides, and being able to execute on just an idea and bring it to life, really gave me that positive thinking that I could essentially just do anything.” When Lawal was 17, he left his family to pursue higher learning in the United States. He was...
Black men are unemployed at a much higher rate than their counterparts — and it’s creating an economic crisis in the country. According to the Atlanta Black Star, Black communities take a hit totaling $50 billion annually in costs due to this unemployment crisis. “Black people need to take this report and take it to their elected official and say ‘You need to do more because you don’t fully realize how big this problem is,’” said Algernon Austin, who authored the study initially published by the Center for Economic and Policy Research. “I’m hoping that this work serves to inspire people, and, frankly, particularly Black men.” And that’s just the beginning of the problems, according to Austin. Using data going all the way back to 2014, he revealed that Black men between the ages of 25 to 54 would have to get nearly a million jobs (947,000, to be exact) to be on par with their non-Black counterparts and close the economic gap. What’s more, if one million of them got jobs and kept...
Mono, a Nigerian fintech startup, has announced that they’ve raised quite a bit of money to help with their quest to power the African Internet economy. TechCrunch is reporting that the company — founded by Abdul Hassan and Prakhar Singh — closed a $2 million seed investment round. This announcement came just nine months after the company raised $500,000 in pre-seed capital. Investors for this round of funding include Entrée Capital (one of the investors in Kuda’s seed round), Kuda co-founder and CEO Babs Ogundeyi; Gbenga Oyebode, partner at TCVP; and Eric Idiahi, co-founder and partner at Verod Capital. New York but Africa-based VC Lateral Capital also invested after taking part in Mono’s pre-seed. When all this money is combined with their $125,000 YC investment, their total investment moves to $2.625 million. Originally launched in August 2020, Mono is a company that prides itself on providing a streamlined financial data solution to Africa. However, in recent months, the company...
As countries begin to vaccinate their populations, businesses will begin to reopen. With those re-openings, and the jobs that will be restored in their wake, the economy will gradually begin to make up lost ground. As workers are rehired and incomes begin to grow, so too will consumer confidence. And both mass vaccinations and rising consumer confidence will also allow us to begin to venture out again and be social once again, which ill provided ballast to the ailing hospitality, outdoor recreation, travel, and restaurant sectors. Some businesses are better positioned to take advantage of these expected developments than others. If you’re looking to invest in stocks sure to surge when the economy reopens, look no further than these five stocks. Expedia The biggest company in travel-related search and bookings, Expedia’s stock should grow nicely as consumers begin to travel more frequently. The company owns large players in the online booking space like Orbitz, Travelocity, and...
Africa’s future is looking brighter than ever and pretty soon a trillion-dollar valuation could be on the horizon for its economy. For Africa — the world’s youngest and fastest-urbanizing continent — it has the potential to grow even larger than it is today as a report from McKinsey & Company estimates that the continent’s business opportunities could be worth $5.6 trillion by the year 2025. According to the 2016 report, Africa’s consumers and businesses already bring in $4 trillion annually, and is steady growing rapidly. These predicted opportunities could increase across several different industries including agriculture, infrastructure, and the continent’s abundant natural resources. Though these factors remain true, a 2019 Goldman Sachs economic research report shares that these economic drivers of “secular acceleration” have only accounted for roughly 30% of Africa’s GDP growth since 2000, stating that they appear to be “deep and structural,” the World Economic Forum reports....