Wins, Losses and Tech during COVID-19

COVID-19 and Black Communities  

• Unhealthy, Black and Broke in Coronavirus UK: Our founder, Bayo Adelaja, shares the experience of black people living in the UK during COVID-19. Now is the time for black communities to voice their concerns, highlight the inequalities and affect the direction of the discussions in the rooms where power is wielded. 
  
• Africa Is Not Waiting to Be Saved From the Coronavirus: Across Africa there are two stories happening, one of police brutality and enforcement of strict rules, the other of communities coming together to pool their resources. If reporting doesn’t improve, the creativity and agency of swaths of humanity will be lost to history. 
  

 Tech in COVID-19 Times: 

• African Startup Funding In COVID-19 Times: Compared to the first quarter previous year, venture capital (VC) activity has actually been quite robust.However, there’s some evidence that things may be starting to slow down, especially as the global pandemic continues to trigger a wide-spread economic downturn. Find out what's happening on the VC scene in Africa now. 
  
• Our AfriTechXYZ mentor Aaron Fu is celebrating this month as he and his team has achieved something great for our continent: Venture for Africa launches a fellowship to link global talent with startups in Africa and applications are now open.
  
• Nigeria’s Helium Health raises $10M Series A for Africa expansion: The Lagos based healthtech venture is in the black, has batted away acquisition offers, and just raised a $10 million Series A round, CEO Adegoke Olubusi told TechCrunch.
  
• Big Data for COVID-19: Smart Africa have devised a COVID-19 Pandemic Response Plan. In a time where governments want to track citizens to reduce the spread of the virus, Smart Africa offer their data protection and privacy recommendations.  
  
• IDF Capital has reported that its tech portfolio has proven to be very resilient during the current tough times. Ventureburn share the latest on Covid-19 and African tech startups.
  

 A few things to keep you busy: 

• Voluntarism is the access point Black people need: Voluntarism is one of the most effective ways to engage in society because it helps individuals, gain skills, build stronger networks, gain new experiences and access new opportunities. Our founder, Bayo Adelaja reports. 
  
• Sign up now for your free copy of Briter's "Gender and Demographics in Africa's Green and Digital Transformation" report, which claims to be the - or one of the - most comprehensive studies looking at the composition of co-founding teams and C-level executives across Africa's digital and green companies.
  
• More from our friends at Briter, over the past 18 months, they have been providing market insights across emerging markets, with a particular focus on startups/SMEs, finance, and technology in Africa. Committed to providing knowledge-as-a-service, they have decided to make their Deals Tracker available on their website. Sign up now and see what deals are being made. 
  
• Quick Read: Africa’s high unemployment rate is one of the leading barriers to growth prosperity on the continent yet young entrepreneurs can help Africa to create jobs it needs. Young entrepreneurs are demonstrating that the youth population need not be a burden on African’s economic growth. Read the whole story.
  
• Long Read: Africa's exploding plastic nightmare: The Intercept report on the plastic crisis in Africa and the corruption of the corporations that keep the plastic business booming across the continent. Read the whole story.