Connect with us

News

Big Cabal Media Raises $2.3mn to Fuel Audience Growth & Build New Verticals

Published

on

Big Cabal Media [BCM], a pan-African media company headquartered in Nigeria, has announced the close of its Seed Series fundraising round at $2.3million, led by MaC Venture Capital, with participation from Luminate, Unicorn Group, Future Africa and a range of angel investors.

BCM has previously raised about $620k in angel and pre-seed funding between 2016 and 2020. Known for creating engaging, agenda-setting content and journalism through its online platforms, TechCabal and Zikoko, as well as its content studio and digital consultancy arms, the new raise will allow BCM to grow its audiences, build out new technology products and further consolidate its position as one of the most important media and technology brands across Africa.

Launched in 2014, BCM has grown to become one of the most powerful media businesses covering technology and youth culture on the continent. Its publication, Zikoko, which reaches over twenty million readers monthly, reflects and amplifies the most urgent elements of youth culture in Nigeria.

TechCabal, the company’s flagship publication, is perhaps the most important publication covering Africa’s burgeoning technology ecosystem; combining high-quality reporting, daily newsletters and events that draw the biggest operators and investors together. In addition to building content and news platforms, BCM has grown its services to include Cabal Creative, an in-house content studio that has produced content for global brands such as Google, Uber and Coca-Cola; and TC Insights, a data analytics consulting service focused on custom research, industry strategy and digital transformation projects.

African startups raised an estimated $4.7bn in 2021, with fintech startups receiving approximately 63 percent of that volume. Digital media has not been a big part of that funding equation, despite Africa having one of fastest growing digital media sectors globally, with millions of Africans coming online for the first time looking for original and engaging content tailored for their needs.

Speaking on the business opportunity and this funding round, CEO Tomiwa Aladekomo says, “Africa is seeing explosive growth across its tech industries, and content is a critical component of that. Today, Big Cabal Media (BCM) leads the most engaging conversations around innovation, entrepreneurship, culture and all the things that matter to a dynamic, growing continent.

Our publications, TechCabal and Zikoko are some of the most exciting digital media brands anywhere in Africa, and we’ve shown real capacity for business innovation in growing the business and launching new units like Cabal Creative and TC Insights.

We’re thrilled to have new funding and partners who recognize the opportunity to build a truly global media and technology operation from Africa.

This round will allow us to invest deeply in technology products and our own tech stack, video production arm, and growing our reach across and beyond the continent.”

Statista reports that 60 percent of Africa’s 550m internet users are under the age of 25. Nigeria, where Big Cabal operates from, is one the largest internet markets, with over 154m people on the internet and a fast-growing tech sector that is rapidly transforming the economy.

Traditional media companies aren’t keeping up with the needs of this audience, evolving much more slowly than in America, Europe or even Asia; creating space for innovative media companies like Big Cabal to establish position ahead of competition from local players or even global brands looking to enter the market.

With media business models in flux globally, Big Cabal is as focused on business innovation as it is on content and technology. Tomiwa notes that “we’ve always seen advertising as a critical but insufficient revenue basis for a successful media business.

Our thesis is that we can build high-engagement media brands in valuable niche spaces, and build products and services – like Tech Women Lagos and Jollof Road – to serve audiences, advertisers and other partners.

Part of what this investment will fund is the development of an evolved version of Zikoko Memes, a Giphy-like product focused on African memes, gifs and images, that we first launched in 2020 and has shown great promise.”

“We’re proud to enter this chapter with Big Cabal Media, as we fully believe in its massive potential for further success, scale and global impact,” said Marlon Nichols, Co-Founder and Managing General Partner of MaC Venture Capital, the lead investors.

“Investing in Africa’s booming digital media sector aligns perfectly with MaC’s mission of supporting exceptional entrepreneurs building valuable technology companies that leverage shifts in cultural trends and behaviours.

I have no doubt that BCM will seize this unique opportunity to continue leading conversations in culture and helping digital consumers access the information that matters most to them.”

Dr. Akintoye Akindele, Chairman of Unicorn Group, follow-on investors in the round, said, “since inception, Big Cabal has created original content that engages and resonates with audiences.

This is reflected in its position as one of the best recognised African digital media brands globally. This seed series raise led by MaC Venture Capital positions the company to scale across the continent, deepen its technology stack, and diversify its brand & product offering to cater to Africa’s youthful & growing digital natives. We are excited by this next phase in Big Cabal’s growth.”

The market for African content and culture is more global than ever and Big Cabal Media is creating the brands, content and products for Africa’s new generation of digital-first content consumers and the world.

Continue Reading

News

France Urged to Address Colonial Legacy as Senegalese Activists Call for Reparations in Dakar Roundtable

Reporter: Sandra Ani

Published

on

France Urged to Address Colonial Legacy in Senegal
Babacar Dioh, representative of the Thiaroye 44 Movement, speaks during the Dakar roundtable on reparations. The movement brings together descendants of Senegalese tirailleurs and advocates for historical justice.

France’s colonial legacy came under renewed scrutiny as journalists, historians, and pan-African activists gathered at African Memorial Square in Dakar for a powerful roundtable advocating reparations and economic justice. 

The event highlighted growing demands for France to take full responsibility for its historical role in Senegal and across West Africa.

France Urged to Address Colonial Legacy - Senegal
Attribution: Babacar Dioh, representative of the Thiaroye 44 Movement – a coalition advocating reparations and justice for descendants of colonial-era African soldiers.

Organized by advocacy groups including the Association of Descendants of Senegalese Soldiers, the Front for the Withdrawal of French Military Bases (GASSI), and JIF’AFRIK, the roundtable brought together influential voices pushing for reparatory justice and structural transformation.

Among the key speakers were Babacar Dioh of the Thiaroye 44 Movement—a coalition of descendants of Senegalese tirailleurs—and Souleymane Jules Diallo, leader of JIF’AFRIK. Discussions centered on two central demands: official reparations for colonial-era injustices and the urgent renegotiation of trade and military agreements that activists say perpetuate economic dependence.

“The time for symbolic gestures is over,” said Dioh. “We are now filing an official reparations claim and taking concrete steps to hold France accountable.”

Speakers called for the dismantling of existing neocolonial frameworks, stressing the ecological, financial, and social harm that has endured beyond the colonial period. The roundtable marks a turning point in Dakar’s positioning as a hub for coordinated African-led advocacy aimed at restoring historical justice.

This event adds momentum to a growing continental movement seeking tangible reparative action from former colonial powers and reinforces the call for equity, autonomy, and acknowledgment of historical truths.

Continue Reading

News

Gov Mbah Inaugurates Committee to End Gender-Based Violence in Enugu

Published

on

The Enugu State government has inaugurated a steering committee to eliminate Gender-Based Violence, GBV, in the state, declaring zero tolerance for the social malaise.

The inauguration took place at the Government House Enugu.

The panel, which is chaired by the Commissioner for Children, Gender Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Ngozi Enih, draws its membership from the Nigeria Police Force, Ministry of Agriculture and Agro Industrialisation, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ministry of Human Development and Poverty Reduction, Ministry of Trade, Investment and Industry, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education as well as the Civil Society.

Inaugurating the panel known as the Steering Committee for Strengthening Institutional and Community Responses to End Gender-Based Violence/Domestication of Enugu State Gender Policy using the Oputa Panel approach, Governor Peter Mbah restated his administration’s commitment to not bringing perpetrators of GBV to book, but also putting in place proactive measures – activities, infrastructure, and systems in place to prevent them.

Mbah, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, said, “We take gender-based violence seriously. We have zero tolerance for it, and in Enugu State, we are ready to go the extra mile to deal with it.

“If you notice, the government has selected people that are very committed to this goal. This is not an activity where we just want to check-off the list. We will track this. We will monitor this, and we will have quarterly engagements on the successes that this particular committee has achieved in terms of reference that we are going to send.

“We will tighten those terms of reference indicators, so that we monitor what we are doing both in terms of cost input and the value added. It’s very important to us. Many people will be involved – civil society, the police and various ministries.”

He however, said that the effort was to protect everyone, men and women alike, as GBV was not restricted to any gender.

“The whole idea is to hold people responsible that are involved in matters relating to gender violence and deter people that by culture or by association get involved in that, protect women, protect our children, and in the case of violence against men, protect our men because most times we misconstrue gender violence to mean women, but it can also be men too.

“We encourage our men to speak out and to make sure they understand that the policy that Enugu State is soon going to domesticate is for everyone, and not only for the female gender,” he stated.

In her remark, Mrs. Enih, explained that the Oputa Panel approach was inspired by the need to cover all local peculiarities in domesticating the policy on GBV, restarting government’s confidence in the members of the panel.

“The approach we are going to use is the Oputa Panel approach, and in the Oputa Panel approach, we are going to tour the 17 Local Government Areas to get firsthand information about what our people are going through because policy is meant for the people, and a policy should suit the people.

“Again, every community has its peculiar problems, so that’s why the government decided that if we have to domesticate the gender policy, we have to hear from the people who own the policy and know the changes that they desire to see. That is the reason we are using this approach.

“The committee members are to also serve as judges. As we gather this information from our people, we will come back to tailor it in a way to suit the people of Enugu State, and then our policy is ready.

“We want the people to know that there is a gender policy for them. I can assure you that when the people are aware that there is such a policy, they will seek for the enforcement of that policy. So, this is not going to be one of those policies that will just lie on the shelf,” she said.

Continue Reading

News

Emulate Christ’s virtues, Glo urges Christians at Easter

Reporter: Sandra Ani

Published

on

Glo and Globacom
Globacom

Digital solutions provider, Globacom, has congratulated Christians in Nigeria on this year’s Easter celebration, and urged them to emulate the noble qualities of Jesus Christ.  

The company, in a goodwill message to the Christian faithful in the country, lauded their perseverance through the Lenten period which preceded Easter. It enjoined them to always promote the ideals of selflessness, love and peace among all as a way of demonstrating the virtues of the exemplary life of Jesus Christ. 

“Peace, love and sacrifice are the central message of Easter. Christ offered himself in atonement for the sins of the world and he lived a life which made Him an eternal symbol of peace and goodwill for mankind”, Globacom added. 

The company enjoined all Nigerians to share in the lessons of promoting selflessness, a necessary ingredient in the growth and development of every society. It also enjoined all Nigerians to join hands to make Nigeria a better place for all. 

Easter is celebrated yearly at the end of the Lenten season of fasting and prayer considered as a ritual of purification for the Christian faithful. It also precedes the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ on Good Friday and His eventual resurrection on Easter Sunday.

The company assured its customers of seamless voice, data and Short Messaging Service (SMS) during and after the Easter celebrations, while urging them to avail themselves of the various data and voice offerings on the network.

Continue Reading

Trending