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Spotify Is Now Available In 80+ Additional Countries
Spotify, the world’s largest audio streaming platform, has recently become available in more than 80 additional countries across Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean.
Thanks to the expansion, Spotify will now be able to potentially attract as much as 1 billion new listeners, who can enjoy its growing catalog of songs and podcasts in 36 extra languages. “These moves represent Spotify’s broadest market expansion to date,” stated the Swedish company.
Currently, Spotify users from all newly supported countries have full access to the streaming platform’s global music catalog, but its podcast catalog is not yet available in certain locations. To make its services more attractive to local audiences, Spotify is determined to work with local creators and partners to expands its music offering by including regional artists.
Spotify has been with us since 2008. The service now enjoys 345 million monthly active users (155 million of which are premium paying subscribers). “For the first time ever, we have the technology to connect the world through audio,” said Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek at an investor event known as #StreamOn.
During the event, Ek talked about Spotify’s desire to become a full-fledged audio streaming platform offering all kinds of audio content. The service is already home to around 2 million podcasts, and its audiobook library is growing at a similarly impressive pace. Spotify has also announced dozens of new original series, such as sports shows and celebrity talk shows.
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In addition to the market expansion, the company has also announced Spotify HiFi which will be available later this year. Spotify HiFi changes the way people listen to music as it delivers all tracks in CD-quality, lossless format, giving users much more depth and clarity.
Newly supported countries:
Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Curaçao, Djibouti, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Liberia, Macau, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia, Mongolia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
News
Lebanon Ministers Meet Visa Over National Digital Payment Platform
Finance and technology ministers say a comparative study and roadmap will follow before any decision on adopting a model.
Lebanon’s finance and technology ministers met representatives from Visa last week to discuss a proposed unified national digital payment platform for government services, according to a readout from the Ministry of Finance.
The meeting brought together Finance Minister Yassin Jaber, Minister of State for Technology and Artificial Intelligence Kamal Shehadeh, a Visa delegation, and experts from both ministries. Discussion focused on whether Lebanon could establish a single platform through which citizens and institutions would pay taxes, fees, fines and other official transactions electronically, using mobile phones and other digital channels.
The Visa delegation presented examples from countries that have adopted unified government payment platforms, including the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Estonia and Jordan. According to the readout, the examples were presented as having increased collection rates and expanded financial inclusion.
Talks covered settlement mechanisms, direct transfer to the treasury account, financial reconciliation, risk management, cybersecurity, fees, and an operational model that would involve the private sector. The parties agreed to continue technical and institutional consultations, prepare a comparative study, and develop an implementation roadmap before any decision on adopting a model for Lebanon.
Jaber said the Ministry of Finance had already enabled citizens to pay using credit cards and e-wallets through transfer companies, but described the proposed platform as a further step. He framed the development of electronic payment and collection systems as a priority within the ministry’s modernization plan.
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Shehadeh outlined the citizen-facing concept as a single mobile application through which users could settle obligations to ministries, government institutions and other bodies.
“The idea, in short, is that any citizen downloads an application on their mobile phone, through which they can pay all service obligations for all ministries, government institutions, or those owned by the Lebanese state, and others as well, as the platform is not limited only to state institutions,” he said.
Shehadeh added that the platform would not displace banks and money transfer companies that currently provide collection services to the state, calling it complementary to their work.
