Is It Time for Ghana to Think About Adopting "Okada" Transportation?

What’s happened this Week:

• Spotify increases its prices for Premium users in Ghana

• Ghana’s KudiGo gets a new brand name and a new CEO

• and more!

In The News This Week:

Nigeria Planning To Launch New National ID Cards By May 2024

The Federal Government of Nigeria plans to launch three new national identity cards in May, targeting 104 million citizens.

Remedial Health Releases New App with Digital POS and Barcode Scanner For African Neighbourhood Pharmacies

Remedial Health, a health tech startup that develops solutions to make Africa’s pharmaceutical value chain more efficient, has unveiled an updated version of its customer-facing app, designed to function as an operating system for neighbourhood pharmacies and Proprietary Patent Medicine Vendors (PPMVs) across the continent.

Canal+ Makes Formal Offer To Acquire Multichoice For $2.9 Billion

Vivendi SE’s Canal+ has made an all-cash formal offer for MultiChoice Group Ltd., valuing the South African broadcaster’s shares at $2.9 billion.

In the rest of the news:

• Spotify Increases Price Of Premium Service In Ghana

• Ghana’s Approval for the Commercialization Of 14 New GMOs Leads to Controversy

• Ghana Has About 7.4 Million Social Media Users According To DataReportal

• Ghana eSports Federation Officially Launched In Accra

• Zimbabwe Officially Starts Trade of Its New “ZiG” Currency

• Kudigo Unveils Its “VerifiBuy” Rebrand With Irina Oduro as New CEO

• Is Ghana Ready for the Inevitable Effects of Climate Change?

Deep Dive

Is It Time For Ghana To Consider the Legalisation of “Okadas” in Ghana? - There has been debate surrounding the legalization of motorcycle taxis, most popular known as “Okada” in Ghana. The topic has spurned intense discussion and varying opinions.

Why This Matters: Okada transportation has become an indispensable means of transport over the last decade, especially in areas where the road infrastructure is less developed or public transport is insufficient.

Digging Deeper - In 2021, the Government rolled out its “Okada4CODA” project whereby a total of 200 Bajaj Qute cars were to be distributed to Okada riders as part of efforts to reduce motorbike-related accidents in the country.

But - It has since been reported that the Government is working with the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) to introduce a policy designed to regulate the usage of Okada but no updates have been provided as of yet.

Podcast: Building Accessible Products with Derrick Omari, Accessibility Expert

For most software businesses in Ghana, accessibility is an afterthought but in this conversation with Derrick Omari, we learn about why building inclusive products is a good business case and how to approach this mind shift.

Africa Ecosystem Activity

• Early-stage investor Baobab Network acquires marketing company to boost startups support - Disrupt Africa

• 12 African entrepreneurs share $400k grant funding to aid fight against poverty - Disrupt Africa

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Stat of The Day

A research company called DataReportal recently published its global social media stats.

In their report, they published data on Nigeria and its estimated number of social media users. According to the data, Facebook has the highest number of estimated users on the platform with 36.8 million users. Followed by YouTube with 28.5 million and in third place was TikTok with 23.8 million.

View more data insights below: