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Editor’s Note
Week 18, 2023
Read time: 5 minutes
A lot of interesting things happened across the continent this week. In this edition, we bring you the most interesting news from Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa.
Enjoy!
Pamela Tetteh Editor, TechCabal.
Editor’s Picks
SA firm to pay $3.4 billion for crypto fraud
A federal US court in Texas has ordered the CEO of a South African firm to pay $3.4 billion for bitcoin fraud. This is now the biggest fraud case involving Bitcoin.
Kenya approves spyware for phones
Kenya wants to curb the sale and distribution of fake phones and its solution is a spyware software on every mobile device in its territory.
Nigerian telcos reject NITDA bill
Last week, we reported the most recent fallout between Uber, Bolt and the Nigerian ride-hailing union, AUATWON. This week, we interviewed drivers of Bolt and Uber, and they spoke about their understanding of the situation.
Phone calls get more expensive for Nigerians
Phone calls & data bundles are going to get more expensive for Nigerians as the government is imposing a 5% excise duty on the telecom industry.
Nigeria approves blockchain technology
This week, the Nigerian Ministry for Communication and Digital Economy announced the approval and launch of a national blockchain policy, as a part of its 10-year digital economy plan.
Kenya gets state-backed QR codes for payments
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has announced the Kenya Quick Response Code Standard 2023, also shortened as KE-QR Code Standard 2023.
Lending in Nigeria
Are you curious about the dynamics of borrowing between family and friends, and how technology can play a role in solving the problem?
Then this report by Sycamore, in partnership with TechCabal Insights, is for you.
It provides comprehensive analyses of the informal market and how technology can be leveraged to improve the family lending sector in Nigeria.
Download here.
Meta loses again in Kenya
Meta’s former content moderator, Sama, has once again failed to shake off the over 180 content moderators that it has been trying to lay off for months now. The court has granted the foreign petitioners the right to stay until the matter is resolved.
A fire incident at Zenith Bank
Zenith Bank, Nigeria’s biggest bank by market capitalization, experienced total infrastructure downtime after a fire at the company’s primary data center.
Nomba raises $30 million
Payment service provider, Nomba, which started out as an AI chatbot, has raised #30 million at a $150 million valuation.
South Africa’s bRAND new currency
For the first time since 2012, the South African Reserve Bank—the country’s apex bank—has unveiled new designs for rand notes and coins.
Who brought the money this week?
Nomba, a pan-African payment service provider, secured $30 million in Pre-Series B funding. The oversubscribed equity funding round was led by San Francisco-based Base10 Partners, with participation from Helios Digital Ventures, Shopify, Partech, and Khosla Ventures.
Fedi, a Nigerian bitcoin-focused company, raised $17 million in a series A funding round led by Ego Death Capital. Other participating investors include Block, Kingsway, Trammell Venture Partners, and Timechain.
Tunisian e-commerce company Drest.tn received $336,000 in an undisclosed funding round from 216 Capital Ventures.
Nigerian Insight7, an AI company, secured undisclosed funding from Forum Ventures
What else to read this weekend?
Palmpay’s ruthless debt collection methods
Next Wave: What will “Smart cities” mean for Africa?
Exclusive: Nigerian VC firms are considering collaborating to check unethical founders
Five AI careers to consider
Written by: Ngozi Chukwu
Edited by: Pamela Tetteh