Hi, welcome to Tech This Evening, an After-Work Tech Newsletter from Techparley Africa.
Top Story: How a $600,000 Contract Loss Pushed Meriam Bessa to Build Africa’s First AI Influencer and a Startup
In early 2023, Meriam Bessa, co-founder and CEO of Hypeo AI, suffered the kind of blow that can end a career. Her digital agency, L’Atelier Digital, lost its biggest client; a $600,000 annual contract with L’Oréal, because one employee forgot to tell an influencer to post a single Instagram story.
The mistake made nearly half of her 30 staff members laid off. But instead of retreating, Bessa began to rethink influencer marketing from the ground up.
“One of my employees forgot to tell an influencer to post a story,” Bessa said. “She was managing 50 influencers on an Excel sheet, and all communication with the brand and the influencers was done through WhatsApp. That’s why she forgot.”
That moment set the stage for Bessa to birth artificial intelligence ventures rooted in redefining how technology serves Africa’s creative economy and digital future.
Other Tech News Stories You Should Read:
Career Guide: I Currently Earn ₦750k but Got a New ₦500k Job with KPMG, What Should I Do? Read now.
From Plans to Results: Nigeria’s Interior Ministry Marks Mid-Tenure With Mixed Scorecard. Read now.
Beginner’s Guide to Using Free Cloud Storage (Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox). Read now.
On Startup Spotlight:
How Codex Plans to Fix Africa’s Costly Cross-Border Payment Problem with Stablecoins
For decades, moving money across African borders has been one of the continent’s most persistent financial problems. But Codex PBC, a blockchain startup founded by Haonan Li, Victor Y, and Momo Ong, believes it has found the fix.
The blockchain startup backed by Coinbase and Circle is focusing exclusively on one thing: stablecoins. According to the startup, its goal is to make stablecoin transfers seamless, predictable, and regulation-friendly.
“You see differences in price across exchanges, across countries, across compliance checks,” said Oluwaferanmi Ajetomobi, Codex’s Africa expansion lead. “That lack of singleness is what Codex wants to solve.”
According to the team, that “singleness of money” is the critical gap Codex was built to close.
Quadri Adejumo brings you all the details. Read here.
Also Read:
AI in Africa: South Africa’s Fintura Bets on AI to Fix Accounting Gaps in Africa. Yakub Abdulrasheed brings us the details, here.
Quote of the Day:
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is equivalent to magic.” – Arthur C. Clarke.
Thank you for joining me yet again this evening. Stay safe, and see you tomorrow.
Best, Quadri
