This week in technology by Digital Africa
As part of our continued commitment to acting as advocates for all things technology, we are starting a roundup of the tech news that caught our attention this past week.
This made us sit up
Elon is now worth $100 billion. There are two schools of thought – the short sellers who think that Tesla is way overvalued. And then there are those who think that Mr Musk is just an alien raising money to fund the voyage back to his home planet.
But seriously, Mr Musk’s meteoric rise is both an inspiration and a headache for all of us. Few people have the guts to take the risks that he has taken. However, Tesla’s sky high valuation is raising fears of another tech bubble – and that is not good news for anybody, not even Elon.
Maybe that’s why he tweeted this way back in May
This got us thinking
Google will now treat a coursera course as the equivalent of a four year degree.
The campaign for education reform has been going on for a while now – but this may be the shot heard around the world. Tech companies have always been willing to hire tech talent irrespective of paper qualifications, but Google’s bold statement is different, because Google ACTUALLY worked on the content that they want you to master.
Maybe this is the moment several faculties and departments in Universities died. Funeral to be announced later.
Interesting light on the horizon
Decentralised Finance Apps are suddenly the new rage in the crypto world. At the very foundation of the concept is finance without trust. Secure contracts managed on the blockchain. Is crypto finally realising the latent potential of the technology? Is the blockchain the solution to low trust industries in Africa? What ideas will be built on crypto in the next 10 years?
Chicken and Egg question we have been pondering
Nigeria Bureau of Statistics data show that over 20 million young people in Nigeria are unemployed. Actual numbers including the functionally unemployed may be closer to 35 million.
We note however that some companies perennially complain of inability to find suitable employees. We at Digital Africa have often wondered if the companies are not offering jobs, or the potential employees lack the value creating skills that companies and entrepreneurs need.
What do you think?
This newsletter was made possible with the help of our friends at Studio Seigneur. They are a full stack software shop. Come to them with your idea and let them convert it into an app for you – web, mobile or chatbot.
Check them out at www.seigneur.tech or get in touch with developer@seigneur.tech
