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BD Insider, Letter 92: Bitcoin Trust Fund, Alternatives to Bolt and Uber

BD Inisder, Letter 92 covered Bitcoin Trust Fund, alternatives to Bolt and Uber in Nigeria, social media censorship in Africa

This is a blog copy of the 92nd version of our weekly newsletter, BD Insider. Subscribers get to read it first and can take action based it.

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Last week, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey appointed four Africans as members of the Bitcoin trust fund (BTrust) board. Three Nigerians and one South African; all four have previously worked to promote bitcoin development across Africa.

The Nigerians appointed are Abubakar Nur Khalil, Obi Nwosu and Ojoma Ochai, and Carla Kirk-Cohen is the South African. Dorsey said a team selected the four developers from a pool of 7,000 applicants. "They will now work towards defining the operating principles as they think about how to best distribute 500 bitcoin towards development efforts", he said.

This is exciting! We look forward to reporting on the impact of BTrust across the continent.

In this letter, we will cover:

Alternatives to Uber and Bolt in Nigeria
Social media censorship in Africa
What is a minimum viable product

Let's dive in!

Alternatives to ride-hailing companies Bolt and Uber

From an additional 3% booking fee to increasing reports of harassment, there's a need to consider alternatives to the two leading ride-heling companies in Nigeria Bolt and Uber. The duo seems to get away with poor customer services because of the low competition in the sector.

Aside from Bolt and Uber, you can ride with InDriver, Rida, Soole Rides, Hytch, Lagos Ride. Read how these other companies work here.

Social media censorship in Africa

Africa accounts for nearly 53% of all global cases of social media censorship in 2021. Surfshark describes Africa as "a volatile environment for social media" in its Social Media Censorship Tracker report.

The report explained that the vast majority of social media shutdowns in Africa happened during political events such as protests (37%) and elections (21%). Read more of the insights from the report here.

Tech Word for the Week: Minimum Viable Product [MVP]

Minimum Viable Product is the most basic version of the product which a company wants to launch in the market. It could be a car, website, TV, or laptop. By introducing the basic version to the consumers, companies want to gauge the response from prospective customers.

Dara wrote an in-depth explainer on MVP.

Interesting? Yes!

Here are some of the most exciting stories we've written/read in the past week:

eNaira will encourage digital liquidity. How?
How do people learn about new products? Find out!
Meet Africa’s play-to-earn crypto-gaming community. Wow!
Nigeria Startup Bill has been approved by the Presidency. Yay! What's next?
Rising costs of cooking gas will thwart Nigeria’s climate plans. How?
Techpoint Awards longlisted Benjamin Dada as Tech Influencer of the Year.

Job Opportunities.

Find job opportunities that you or your friend might want to apply:

Bumpa is hiring a Fullstack Engineer
Jumia is hiring a Social Media Manager
Bumpa is hiring a Senior Backend Developer
Connected Development is hiring a Finance Manager
Seamfix is hiring a Senior Manager, Business Growth
Connected Development is hiring a Communication Manager
Tiktok is hiring an Insight Intern [Nigeria, South Africa & Kenya]
Seamfix is hiring a Software Engineering Manager - SaaS division

Fundraising

Recent startups fundraise across Africa that you should be aware of:

Nigeria’s Edtech, Edukoya raised $3.5 million pre-seed.
Ventures Platform secured the first close of a $40m pan-African fund
Nigeria’s African Blockchain Lab raised a $6 million strategic funding round
Nigeria’s SendChamp secured $100,000 million angel investments
Kenyan startup Wowzi raised $3.2 million to help creators monetise their social media profilesTip: If you plan to change jobs, check out companies that have just raised. Companies almost always hire after a significant raise.