The Egyptian mobility startup Swvl, in a new round just before the corona pandemic, raised over $20 million, according to MENAbytes. However, the company hasn’t formally announced this yet.
The round was also shown in the recent financials of the Swedish VC, Vostok New Ventures, who last year co-led Swvl’s $42 million Series B-5.
In the Q1 report of 2020, Vostoke shows that in February around $7 million were invested in Swvl and while it doesn’t show the exact amount raised in the round the estimate ranges around $24 to $28 million.
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Swvl was established in 2017 in Cairo and is now headquartered in Dubai, offering its services in 5 cities in 3 countries including Kenya and Pakistan. The firm, like its rivals, had been badly impacted by the corona pandemic, as its services in Pakistan are suspended and operations have been scaled back in Egypt and Kenya as well.
Earlier this week, Careem stated that it was culling its Careem Bus and was for..
Category: Investment
Facebook Might be Breaking Other Apps on Your iPhone
Popular applications on iOS have been experiencing crashes due to an issue on Facebook’s end. Apps including Spotify, TikTok, Pinterest, Tinder, and others experienced problems launching on iOS on Wednesday due to Facebook’s software development kit (SDK).
Facebook’s SDK tool is used as a log-in feature by many applications and an apparent problem with the tool caused a mass outage. Many developers reported problems with the SDK tool on GitHub and while some weren’t able to sign-in to their accounts, most were experiencing crashes instead.
A Facebook spokesperson said in a statement:
Earlier today, a new release of Facebook included a change that triggered crashes for some users in some apps using the Facebook iOS SDK. We identified the issue quickly and resolved it. We apologize for any inconvenience.
A source with inside knowledge on the matter explained that the issue was caused by Facebook disabling a server configuration update. He added that Facebook had reverted the server-s..
World Bank to Help Pakistan Develop A New Non-Formal Education Model
World Bank has decided to help Pakistan in formulating a non-formal education model aiming to impart basic literacy, labor market, and life skills to the uneducated and illiterate children, youth, and young adults in Punjab and Sindh.
This model will be based on similar initiatives for out-of-school children that are supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), USAID, and UNICEF. These agencies will assist the World Bank in implementing the proposed model. The project is also in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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Govt Cancels All Board Exams & Announces New Marking System
In Pakistan, primary schools do not admit children aged 8 or more and they find it difficult to enter the formal primary education process.
Under this non-formal education model, out-of-school children at primary school age – 8 to 10 years – and secondary school age – 10 to 16 years – will be admitted to Accelerated Learning Programs (ALPs). The ALPs will include..
Govt Cancels All Board Exams & Announces New Marking System
The federal government has announced to cancel all examinations of secondary and higher secondary classes, due to the fear of coronavirus.
Federal Minister for Education, Shafqat Mehmood, announced this in a joint press conference with the federal cabinet in the presence of Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday.
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Mehmood said that for the government, the health and safety of students and honorable teachers is the priority. It cannot take any decision which puts their lives in danger.
It was, therefore, decided to cancel examinations for 9th, matric, first-year, and second-year students for the educational year 2019-20. All students will be promoted to the next classes based on average marking system keeping their past performances in view.
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Punjab to Relax Lockdown Restrictions on May 9
He further announced that educational institutions across the country will remain closed till July 15. As per..
Prime Minister Imran Khan Announces to Open Small Businesses
Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced to open small businesses and markets all across the country from Saturday.
The decision was made during Thursday’s National Coordination Committee (NCC) meeting in Islamabad, attended by all four chief ministers and concerned federal ministers and authorities.
Following the meeting, the federal cabinet held a press conference, briefing the committee decisions.
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Punjab to Relax Lockdown Restrictions on May 9
The committee deliberated upon the recommendations of the Command and Operation Authority chaired by the Planning Minister Asad Umar. It discussed SOPs related reopening of businesses and transport.
The federal government has decided to relax lockdown restrictions. However, it will be a phased process and only small businesses will be allowed to operate across the country given the implementation of safety guidelines.
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Foreign Services Official Faces the Axe Following Sexual Harassment Charges
An officer in the Foreign Services of Pakistan has been dismissed by the federal government on charges pertaining to sexual harassment as well as abuse of authority.
A notification was issued in this regard which said, “Waqar Ahmad, a BS-18 officer, was charged with gross misconduct, conduct unbecoming of an officer and gentleman, conduct prejudicial to good order and service discipline, sexual harassment of local-based cleaner/messenger, abuse of authority, creating a hostile environment and unlawful termination of a local based employee while posted as First Secretary in the Embassy of Pakistan, Kyiv.”
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The complete notification can be seen below:
It further says, “Having found Mr Waqar Ahmad (BS-18, FSP) guilty of above charges, Foreign Secretary has imposed a major penalty of removal from service in terms of Rule 4 (1) (b) (iii) of the Government Servants (Efficiency & Discipline) Rules, 1973, with immediate eff..