Kenya’s ‘Little’ Ride-Hailing App to Launch in Ghana, TikTok Launches $70m for EU Creators, and NASA Launches Six-month Martian Mission

Africa

Kenya’s DPO Group to be acquired for $288m

Dubai’s Network International is poised to complete a $288 million acquisition of Kenya’s DPO Group, it has been revealed. The digital payments processing firm with operations across the Middle East and Africa will finance the takeover with proceeds from equity placing of approximately 10% of the firm’s issued share capital as well as shares issued to DPO’s founders among other sources. “We are excited by the proposed acquisition of DPO, the leading high-growth online commerce platform operating at scale across Africa,” said Simon Haslam, CEO of Network International, adding, “DPO will further consolidate our presence in Africa, strengthen our position across the entire payments value chain and accelerate our growth.” DPO Group is a leading online payments platform with operations across 19 African countries.

Kenya’s Little to launch ride-hailing service in Ghana

Kenya’s ride-hailing firm, Little, is preparing for a major launch in Ghana, it has been reported. cRaft Silicon, the company behind the Little app, has been planning its West African expansion since 2018. “West Africa is a large market, and if Little has to be a key player in Africa, we need to be present there in addition to East Africa. Hence the march towards West Africa,” Little CEO and Craft Silicon Founder, Kamal Budhabhatti said. Launched in partnership with Kenya’s Safaricom, Little started operations in 2016. The company is already hiring local staff to help it proceed with the launch due to international travel restrictions.

Europe

TikTok to pay EU creators $70m

TikTok has launched a $70 million fund to support European creators, the BBC has reported. The move is meant to keep hold of users while attracting new talent to the embattled video-sharing app. TikTok said the fund was to encourage ambitious creators and help them make a living out of their content. “The UK has a long history of creativity and that’s why TikTok has really thrived here,” UK managing director of TikTok Rich Waterworth said. Eligible users would have to be at least 18 years and have a certain number of followers. TikTok launched a similar $200 million fund in the US as the app fights for its life with a ban looming on the horizon. Meanwhile, the app has blasted copycat apps like Facebook’s Instagram Reel.

Turkey votes to regulate social media

Turkey’s parliament has passed a law that allows the state to control social media companies, it has been reported. The law says any social media firm with over a million users in Turkey would have to set up a local office. This would make it easy for local authorities to implement content removal policies as and when they were needed. The move has raised concerns over possible human rights abuses as it threatens the freedom of expression. “The internet law significantly increases the reach of the government to police and censor content online, exacerbating risks to those who are already ruthlessly targeted by the authorities simply for expressing dissenting opinions,” human rights group’s Andrew Gardner said. Internet users are kicking out against the new law, with hashtag #SansurYasasinaDurDe (Say Stop to the Censorship Law) trending in Turkey.

The Americas

NASA launches a six-month mission to Mars

NASA has launched a Mars rover on a six-month mission to Mars in search of new life, Wired has reported. The rover, dubbed Perseverance, believed to be the size of a car, was launched into space via a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from the Kennedy Space Center. Perseverance is the third mission sent to Mars this summer after China and the UAE made similar launches. The rover will look for signs of ancient life in Martian soil. Perseverance carries a microphone to capture the sounds of its new planet, and there is also a zoomable camera and a lightweight helicopter aboard the craft.

Big Tech grilled by Congress over harmful power

Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook were grilled by US lawmakers over claims they abuse their dominant positions to push competitors out of the market. Lawmakers are looking for ways to introduce tougher regulations as anti-competitive behaviours are reported against the world’s largest tech firms. While many critics called for big tech firms to be broken up, other lawmakers on the Republican side were worried about conservative voices being marginalised. Congressman David Cicilline said a series of investigations had revealed that big tech “wielded their power in destructive, harmful ways in order to expand”.

Asia

Huawei is world’s biggest smartphone vendor

Chinese phone maker, Huawei, has become the largest smartphone vendor in the world, beating Samsung to the top spot. The report by BBC said Huawei sold a reported 55.8 million units in the last quarter, beating Samsung’s 53.7 million. The rise has been remarkable given that the lack of Google apps in newer devices made them difficult to sell in the west. Meanwhile, analysts argue that China opening up earlier than most countries is the key factor driving sales. More than 70% of sales were made in China while overseas shipment fell by 27% over the period.

Japan lawmakers call for curbs on TikTok

Japanese lawmakers are calling on government to out curbs on the use of Chinese video-sharing app, TikTok. Members of the governing Liberal Democratic Party are worried data of Japanese users could end up in the hands of Chinese government officials. Former economy minister, Akira Amari, hopes to table a proposal to government by September, it has been confirmed. The call mirrors the troubles TikTok is going through in other markets especially India and the United States. TikTok has said it has never handed over data to Beijing and would never do so.