October 25, 2021

Flutterwave Enables New Europe-Africa Payment Corridors via Stellar

Stellar ecosystem expands with more efficient cross-border payment and remittance flows from Europe to Africa

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Today, the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) announced that Flutterwave, a global payments technology company, has launched two new remittance corridors between Europe and Africa on the Stellar network. Working with TEMPO, Flutterwave is leveraging the Stellar network and Stellar USDC to simplify remittances in Africa.

Opening these new corridors will greatly benefit businesses focused on building more efficient, cost-effective remittance services, contributing to a stronger, more inclusive Pan-African digital payments infrastructure. Flutterwave plans to extend Stellar-based capabilities to additional African countries as it continues to grow the number of currencies it supports.

“It is more expensive to send money to sub-Saharan Africa than to any other region in the world,” said Olugbenga Agboola, CEO at Flutterwave. “Our new payment corridors on Stellar will allow us to continue expanding the Flutterwave network to bring all-important, cost-effective money transfer services to African business owners.”

Connecting Stellar-based businesses like Flutterwave and TEMPO — which also has a significant, complementary user base in Africa — creates an efficient and affordable Pan-African payments infrastructure, supporting the Stellar Development Foundation’s mission to create equitable access to the global financial system. With these payment rails in place, Stellar continues to establish itself as a mature, viable digital alternative to traditionally lengthy and expensive methods for sending remittances.

According to TEMPO CEO, Suren Ayriyan, “We’re excited to partner with Flutterwave to extend our service ecosystem into Africa using Stellar rails. Customers across Europe will be able to send funds faster and at a lower cost to support their families and conduct business in Africa, landing funds right into their local bank account. We hope to continue working with Stellar anchors to exponentially increase our currency corridors and offerings, providing cheap, secure and fast global money transfers to all TEMPO customers, both existing and new.”

“This partnership marks a further step in our efforts to harness the power of technology to make financial services more inclusive and affordable for underbanked individuals worldwide,” said Denelle Dixon, CEO and Executive Director of the Stellar Development Foundation. “Flutterwave is doing important work in a region that has been historically underserved, and SDF is committed to helping them create a tangible impact on financial access and inclusion across the African continent and beyond.”

About Flutterwave
Flutterwave is a global payments technology company that helps businesses all over the world expand their operations in Africa and other emerging markets through a platform that enables cross-border transactions via one API. Flutterwave has processed over 140M transactions worth over USD $9B to date and serves more than 290,000 businesses including customers like Uber, Flywire, Booking.com, and Facebook. The Company’s key advantage is international payment processing in 150 currencies and multiple payment modes, including local and international cards, mobile wallets, bank transfers, and Barter by Flutterwave. Flutterwave has an infrastructure reach in over 33 African countries, including Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa. For more information on Flutterwave’s journey, please visit www.flutterwave.com.

About Stellar
Stellar is a decentralized, fast, scalable, and uniquely sustainable network for financial products and services. It is both a cross-currency transaction system and a platform for digital asset issuance, designed to connect the world’s financial infrastructure. Financial institutions worldwide issue assets and settle payments on the Stellar network, which has grown to over 5 million accounts.

About the Stellar Development Foundation
The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) is a non-profit organization that supports the development and growth of Stellar, an open-source network that connects the world’s financial infrastructure. Founded in 2014, the Foundation helps maintain Stellar’s codebase, supports the technical and business communities building on the network, and serves as a voice to regulators and institutions. The Foundation seeks to create equitable access to the global financial system, using the Stellar network to unlock the world’s economic potential through blockchain technology.

About TEMPO Payments
TEMPO Payments is a payment institution and the principal EU anchor for Stellar blockchain payments. As a cross-border transactions and settlements operator, TEMPO provides payment services for businesses worldwide and stands for the complete transparency of all operations, the immutability of records, high transaction speeds and highly competitive commission rates. The company’s mission is to build a unique payment ecosystem, allowing entrepreneurs to take their business to the next level of growth, by adopting disruptive fintech solutions and helping individuals to fully benefit from the next-gen financial services. For more information, visit https://payments.tempo.eu.com/whitelabel.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1668284/Flutterwave_X_Stellar.jpg
Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1096150/Stellar_Development_Foundation.jpg

October 25, 2021

Unique Network Raises $11.3 Million For Next-Generation NFT Infrastructure

The first NFT chain for Polkadot and Kusama offers greater flexibility for anyone who wants to build their own gallery or video game

LONDON, Oct. 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Unique Network, a next generation NFT chain for Polkadot and Kusama, announced today that it has raised $11.3 million in the second round of its pre-sale, bringing its total raised to $16M. The investment round was led by Web3 investment pioneers Outlier Ventures, who were joined by some of the most well-known NFT investors, including The LAO, Flamingo, Nalu Capital and over 200 other investors, including a number of follow-on investments from the previous round his funding round, especially with the quality and quantity of investors involved, has positioned Unique Network well for the upcoming launch of Quartz, its NFT chain for Kusama.

“Unique Network are trailblazing a new path for NFTs within Polkadot and Kusama’s ecosystem and we are incredibly excited to back them in their pursuit to increase the design space of NFTs.” – Chris Cable, FlamingoDAO

“Despite all the current buzz around NFTs, there is still a massive barrier to entry,” said Unique Network co-founder and CEO Alexander Mitrovich. “Gas fees, the need to purchase cryptocurrencies, storage, and even the fact that NFTs have limited features for artists to express their vision, all hold the industry back. Unique Network and our Kusama chain, Quartz, are built to solve the economic and storage problems with Ethereum-based NFTs and create new levels of interaction and malleability that will take NFTs to the next level.”

Unique Network will participate in the upcoming parachain auctions for Kusama, during which they aim to secure a parachain slot for Quartz, their new canary network for Kusama. Beginning on Wednesday October 27th, interested parties can participate in the crowdloan to help Quartz win the auction.

Quartz will be the first NFT infrastructure on Kusama, and is designed to enable the most powerful and advanced NFT functionality on the Kusama network. Quartz parachain on Kusama will allow anyone to build NFT marketplaces and experiences with interoperability between different blockchains, like Ethereum and EVM Based Chains and other notable NFT blockchains.

In the five months since its first investment round, Unique Network has announced various partnerships including with the UN-led DigitalArt4Climate Campaign with GloCha, RMRK, Art Curators Grid, Forever Has Fallen, and more. With the impending launch of Quartz, Unique Network will be able to help even more projects and artists develop their NFT marketplaces and experiences.

For more information, please visit Unique Network, and join us on Twitter and Telegram.

About Unique Network

Unique Network is a framework for the next generation of NFTs. The first NFT chain for Kusama and Polkadot, it offers developers independence from network-wide transaction fees and upgrades. The Unique Network team built Substrapunks, the first NFTs on Polkadot, won Hackusama in 2020, and created Substrate’s pallet for NFTs. Unique Network launched in July 2021.

For media inquiry, please contact: jo@serotonin.co

October 25, 2021

The people of Africa give the thumbs up to PowerChina

What did the Chinese engineering and construction firm do to earn such praise?

BEIJING, Oct. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — A news report from CRI Online:

The ceremony for the completion of Masindi barracks hospital, constructed and donated to Uganda by PowerChina, was held on April 16, 2021. In addition, two other projects, DiiCunyii Hospital and Amaji Elementary School, are under construction and expected to be completed and delivered this year.

This is just a snapshot of PowerChina fulfilling its corporate social responsibilities in Africa.

In March 2020, with the onset of the rainy season, many rivers in western Kenya overflowed. PowerChina’s Nzoia Flood Control and Irrigation Project Department moved quickly to evacuate people, raise and reinforce the dam, and troubleshoot dangerous situations by using droneswhich protected the lives and property of the local people.

In August of the same year, a Japanese freighter ran aground in Mauritius and then began to leak oil, severely contaminating the surrounding area and pushing the African island country into an environmental emergency. A team of volunteers from Sinohydro’s local subsidiary urgently set off to the heavily polluted area and undertook a 3-day clean-up. Local residents gave a thumbs-up and said “Chinese people are very good.”

On July 23, 2021, the Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station in Zambia, constructed by PowerChina, was connected to the grid and put into use. During the four years of implementation, the project had created more than 10,000 local jobs. By building power stations, the people of China and Zambia have made progress together and improved cultural exchanges, pulling the employees from both countries closer and establishing a deep friendship with each other.

PowerChina’s East and South Africa regional department covers Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Angola, as well as several other countries. With its endeavors in Africa, PowerChina has joined hands with local people to practice the value of common development.

October 25, 2021

Government-Backed Cooperation | GAC MOTOR as Public Transport Vehicles in Nigeria

GUANGZHOU, China, Oct. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — After a successful recent meeting between Guangdong Governor and Lagos state Governer Mr. Babajid Sanwo-Olu, multiple forms of cooperation have been agreed. On October 11, 750 GAC MOTOR GS3s and 250 GA4s were shipped from Qingdao, China to Lagos, Nigeria, to be used by the Lagos State Government as vehicles for the public travel project “LAGOS RIDE”.

The signing ceremony between the Lagos state government and GAC MOTOR

Nigeria-Guangdong | A Strong Partnership
In recent years, the Nigerian government has increased its support for the automobile industry and is full of confidence in the development of Chinese brands in Nigeria. GAC MOTOR seized this opportunity and joined forces with CIG Motors, a local auto dealer, to introduce bestselling models including the GS3, GS4, GS8, GN8 and GA4 into Nigeria, attracting extensive attention in the local market. The implementation of this project is another major achievement for GAC MOTOR as the company works with overseas dealers to promote the steady development of the African market.

In order to improve local traffic and raise the living standards of residents, the Lagos state government officially launched “LAGOS RIDE”. The public transport project will provide ride-hailing services for locals. GAC MOTOR’s GS3 SUV and GA4 sedan, won the appreciation of the government with their excellent quality, comfort, appearance and performance. These two models were selected as the final models to be used in the project.

Babajid Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos State, and his party paid a special visit to Guangdong in November 2019, proposing to strengthen economic and trade cooperation between Nigerian and Guangdong enterprises. Before this project, GAC MOTOR had successfully promoted several major projects locally in Nigeria, including the construction of a GAC MOTOR car assembly plant, and the selection of GAC MOTOR vehicles as the official cars of Chinese diplomats in the region. With the strength of its brand and products, GAC MOTOR has won the recognition and trust of the government, and has become a form of “business card” for intelligent Chinese manufacturing in Nigeria. The brand embodies the spirit of Chinese craftsmanship; Nigeria is just one place this concept is shown to the world.

As the world moves into a new era of global automobile manufacturing, GAC MOTOR Nigeria looks forward to deeply cultivating this valuable region and working together to provide prosperity to the local economy and a better mobile life to Nigerian people.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1668360/GAC_MOTOR_LAGOS_RIDE.jpg

October 25, 2021

Australian Scientists Boost Climate Change Adaptability in Frogs

For the first time in a laboratory, Australian scientists have produced tadpoles more tolerant of climate change. A team from the University of Western Australia has cross-bred frogs from wetter regions with other species from drier areas to make them more resilient.

Researchers in Australia want to give nature a helping hand. They have warned that climate change “poses an enormous threat to many of the world’s frogs.”

Genetic traits that allow a type of amphibian called a crawling frog to survive in regions with lower rainfall, researchers say, could be passed on through breeding. They’ve mixed frogs from drier parts of south-western Australia with others from wetter areas.

Sperm and eggs from four different crawling frog populations that occur in areas with various levels of rainfall were used in the experiment.

The effort produced tadpoles that were better adapted to climate change and had “increased tolerance to dry conditions.” The world-first laboratory trial has been reported in the journal, Communications Biology.

Jodi Rowley is a lead scientist at the Australian Museum’s citizen science project and an expert in amphibians. She believes that frogs need help to meet the challenges of global warming.

“It does seem a little bit like we are acting God, in some ways, but at this point it is some of the only ways that we are going to be able to have these amazing frogs in the future. The times of just leaving things alone to be protected in these areas [are] not going to work anymore. You know, climate change is moving faster than the frogs are able to adapt themselves. So, we are going to have to do [things], like potentially move animals from one place to the other. Or in this case, give them a little genetic advantage to allow them to be able to persist in this new world that they are going to be living in,” Rowley said.

The University of Western Australia team said that more trials would be needed before these crossbreeding techniques could be applied in the wild to reduce the risk of species extinctions.

Rainfall in south-western Australia has declined in the past 40 years, and it’s a trend that is expected to continue.

The project to boost the climate resilience of crawling frogs was part of research by the Australian government’s conservation initiative, Threatened Species Recovery Hub.

It has examined ways to help at-risk species adapt to climate change.

Source: Voice of America

October 25, 2021

Experts Optimistic Coral Reefs Will Survive

“Coral reefs are amazing and beautiful, and we must conserve them,” Sam Purkis, chair of the department of marine geosciences at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, told VOA.

Although coral reefs only cover 0.1% of the ocean floor, they are a lifeline for the planet. With the most biodiverse marine ecosystem on earth, they contain 25% of all marine life, including more than 4,000 fish species.

Besides food, “corals provide economic, ecological and even cultural value,” where local communities living near the reefs bond over fishing activities, explained Robert Richmond, director of the Kewalo Marine Laboratory at the University of Hawaii.

“Corals also hold potential drugs from the sea, the vast majority of which we haven’t discovered yet,” Nancy Knowlton, scientist emeritus at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, said during an interview with VOA.

However, coral experts have sounded the alarm that the reefs could disappear, threatened by a number of factors, including pollution, overfishing and especially climate change.

The latest study on the status of coral reefs, released earlier this month by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, blamed climate change for killing 14% of coral reefs in just one decade.

“Large-scale bleaching events caused by elevated sea surface temperatures are the greatest disturbance to the world’s coral reefs,” the report said.

Despite the gloomy picture, coral reef experts say there is hope, despite significant coral losses worldwide.

“We still have corals that are healthy, but it requires a massive global effort to protect them,” said Elizabeth Mcleod, leader of The Nature Conservancy’s global reef work in Arlington, Virginia.

Richmond is also optimistic.

“Although coral reefs are severely threatened, they are not doomed,” he said. If we take “aggressive action against climate change, then we will have coral reefs as a legacy for the future.”

“We’re not going to be able to restore them back to pristine condition like they were 50 years ago,” added Jennifer Koss, director of the coral reef conservation program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “But through restoration, and by curtailing climate change, coral ecosystems have a chance to flourish again.”

The experts agree that curbing carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming is key.

“We need to significantly lower our emissions, so there is actually hope for coral reefs,” Madhavi Colton, executive director of the Coral Reef Alliance, in Oakland, California, told VOA.

The most striking impact of warmer ocean temperatures is bleaching, when corals turn eerily white.

“We’re seeing this drastic decline in coral cover,” said Purkis. “Unless conditions improve, many corals will die from bleaching because the organisms are weakened and usually catch a disease.”

Eliminating other stressors may help the reefs better withstand bleaching.

“If we combat stressors like overfishing and improve water quality, the reefs can better tolerate global changes and are more likely to survive and reproduce,” Colton said.

Discovering heat resistant corals may also be a game-changer.

“In the Red Sea, you find corals that have adapted and are resilient and responsive to the heat. So, these ‘super reefs’ have solved the problem, and we should figure out how they’ve done that and use them for restoration efforts,” said Stephen Palumbi, a marine biology professor at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station.

Local involvement can make a difference in protecting coral reefs.

In America Samoa, the local population is working on watershed projects that help preserve coral reefs, Koss said. Rain gardens were installed on land to hold back sediment that can smother the corals.

Various methods are being used in Indonesia to safeguard the reefs.

“The locals are watching for illegal fishing, and some communities are partnering with ecotourism groups to raise awareness about the importance of the reefs,” Mcleod said.

A reef restoration program has been particularly successful in the Pacific island nation of Palau.

Citizen scientists are using readily available materials like rebar and cable ties to make frames for heat-resistant coral nurseries, Palumbi said.

“We’ve been teaching community college students through peer mentoring and on Zoom how to do these experiments and get the results on Instagram. The young people are taking steps to secure their own future.”

Source: Voice of America