DOB Equity shakeup: Co-CEOs step down in leadership overhaul
Reporting by Adonijah Ndege Saskia Van Der Mast and Hayo Afman, the co-CEOs of the Dutch family fund DOB Equity, have stepped down, throwing open the leadership of one of the largest private equity funds in East Africa. Der Mast and Afman led the fund for 19 and 9 years. Coen Boevé, the fund’s chief finance officer, will take over the day-to-day running of the firm while DOB Equity begins the search for a replacement for the two. “During their tenure, Saskia and Hayo have been instrumental in driving the growth and success of DOB Equity and shaping the landscape of impact investment in East Africa,” the fund said on Monday. Under Saskia and Hayo, the family-owned fund doubled its Kenyan portfolio with investments in local startups and acquiring mid-sized agribusiness, retail, energy, and education companies. It has invested in Twiga Foods, M-Kopa, and low-cost private school Bridge International Academies. Others include Kenya-based health tech Ilara Health, which recently secured $4.2 million in a funding round led by DOB Equity, and tilapia producer Victory Farms, which raised $35 million last year. “They have grown the portfolio from the first investment in 2007 to over 30 impactful companies to date, winning multiple awards, amongst others, for best Impact Investment Firm by the East Africa Venture Capital and Private Equity Association,” DOB Equity said. Recently, the firm has featured in several high-profile fundraising for mid-sized firms and local startups as a funding winter hit the ecosystems on the back of mass exits of other investors for greater gains on investments in advanced economies.
Read MoreVodacom to cut jobs in South Africa at all levels
Vodacom, South Africa’s largest mobile network operator by subscriber base, will cut 80 jobs to reduce costs, according to reporting by Bloomberg. The job cuts will impact all levels of the telco’s operations. Vodacom currently employs 5,400 people. The company’s stock price is down by 2% following the news of the retrenchment. “We routinely ensure that our business operations are fit for purpose as we transition from a telco to a leading technology company,” said a spokesman for Vodacom. “Additionally, Vodacom South Africa continues to proactively implement various cost reduction measures to ensure sustainable operations and maintain financial resilience.” Per Vodacom’s latest financial report released in September 2023, the company’s revenue and operating income increased by 35% and 32%, respectively. However, the company’s profit margin and cash in hand were also down 20% and 57%, respectively, with the company citing investment into alternative power sources because of load-shedding as a contributing factor. Vodacom’s next financial results are set to be released in May for the financial year ended March 31, 2024. With the news of the retrenchments, Vodacom continues to face a flurry of issues in recent times. The company is currently involved in a protracted legal battle with a former employee about remuneration for the invention of the “Please Call Me” service. According to a court ruling, the ex-employee is eligible for a percentage of revenue from the service which might go as high as R63 billion. This would be equal to about 10% of Vodacom’s market capitalisation.
Read MoreNigeria’s 8 subsea cables spur new investment in hyperscale data centres
Investors are committing more funds to building larger data centres across the country in view of the increased data storage demand that will follow the existence of eight subsea fibre optic cables in Nigeria. Ayotunde Coker, CEO of Open Data Access Centre (OADC), told TechCabal that the increasing number of submarine cables means that a lot of big data will be captured and require massive storage capacity. This is responsible for the renewed deployment of capital into hyperscale mega data centres in the country. The companies currently building hyperscale data centres in Nigeria include Kasi, Rack Centre, and OADC. Kasi Cloud Limited began construction of its hyperscale or Tier IV data centre, modelled after the Silicon Valley technology parks, in 2022. The facility, worth $250 million, will be located in Lekki, Lagos, and is expected to go live in 2024. Rack Centre, a Tier III data centre company, started building a 12-megawatt IT data centre at Ikeja, Lagos in 2023. The data centre is situated on a 20,000 square metre green field site and sits at over 30 metres above sea level. Construction of OADC’s hyperscale data centre began in 2022. The company is building a data centre with a capacity of 24 megawatts of power. “You will see that from the end of this year, the facilities with hyperscale spec will become available, almost like every quarter into the year after. It is like the tipping point is happening,” Coker said. Before now, most investors have built Tier III data centres, the second-highest certification in the Uptime Institute’s system of classifying data centre performance into four tiers. Tier III data centres such as MainOne Data Centre and Rack Centre offer additional reliability over Tier II in the form of N+1 redundancy and multiple power and cooling distribution paths. Hyperscale data centres have much larger capacities and infrastructure. These facilities are massive business-critical facilities designed to efficiently support robust, scalable applications and are often associated with big data-producing companies such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, IBM, and Microsoft. Hyperscale data centres usually exceed 5,000 servers and 10,000 square metre. South Africa built the first hyperscale data centre in sub-Saharan Africa seven years ago. In Nigeria, companies like Google, Microsoft, and Facebook stored some of their data with data centres like MainOne, but the majority of their data storage needs have come from outside the country. A MainOne spokesperson told TechCabal that it had been providing storage for companies like Google and Microsoft. There is also an increase in the construction of other tiers of data centres. In March, Airtel broke ground on Nxtra, a data centre with a total capacity of 180 megawatts distributed across 13 major data centres and over 48 Edge data centres. Medallion also recently expanded its data centre facility to add a three-floor building with 1 megawatt of IT capacity and 232 racks. So far, the eight subsea cables that have landed in Nigeria include MainOne cable with a capacity of 10tbits; ntel’s SAT-3 with 800gbits; Globacom’s GLO-2 12Tbits); Africa Coast to Europe Cable System with a capacity of 5.5tbps; WACS (14.5tbits);, Equiano (144tbits); the Nigeria Cameroon Submarine Cable System (NCSCS) with capacity of 12.8tbps; and 2Africa (180tbits).
Read MoreTechStars-backed GetEquity is raising $1 million to add stocks and bonds offerings
When GetEquity launched in 2021, months after Stripe’s $200 million acquisition of Paystack, it entered a market where retail investors dreamed of big returns from angel investing. GetEquity helped these hopeful investors find and fund startups. However, a pullback in venture funding on the continent and worsening macroeconomic conditions means retail investors are unlikely to invest in risky asset classes. As once well-funded startups struggle and shutter, it is becoming clear to retail investors how difficult venture investing is. GetEquity, whose primary offering has been a platform for retail investors to buy equity in startups, will now offer investors the opportunity to buy relatively safer asset classes like stocks, fixed-income funds and bonds. The startup says it is raising $1 million to make it happen. The startup’s cofounders, Jude Dike, Chigozirim Ugochukwu and Temitope Ekundayo are making this change after a clear-eyed look at the data on how customers have been investing. “Only 20% of investment portfolios are in high-risk investments like venture capital. 50% of these portfolios are low-risk investments, and the rest are in medium-risk investment vehicles,” said Jude Dike, the startup’s CEO. Specifically, only 12% of GetEquity’s 14,000 registered users actively invested in equity deals, Dike shared, pointing out the need to raise investment activity if the startup is to reach its revenue goals. The company claims it generated $320,000 in revenue in 2022 and planned to reach profitability by 2023. It didn’t hit that target despite facilitating 31 funding rounds and three exits. Uber leads $100 million round in African fintech startup Moove Avoiding the well-beaten path “We are ignoring the popular VC advice that you need to conquer your niche first before expanding and realigning the platform to operate the way traditional investment companies for high net-worth Investors do.” It will compete with wealth management platforms like Risevest, which recently acquired Chaka, Cowrywise, and Piggyvest. However, unlike these companies, GetEquity will not manage funds. Instead, it will pool users’ funds to meet minimum thresholds set by fund managers. “If you want to speak to invest in an ARM dollar fund, for instance, you need at least $100,000 as an individual. But if GetEquity was providing that access to you at $100, this means we are compiling at least $100 from 1000 People to meet that threshold. It’s a win-win situation for everybody.” [ad] In Nigeria, the startup’s home country, this method of fund aggregation elicited concerns and a viral WeeTracker article that questioned if the company had the requisite licence. “Nothing the company does is tied to crowdfunding,” Dike said, although the platform pools funds from retail investors to invest in startups. “The article got us face-to-face with one of our current largest investors.” This investor, according to Dike, “had been trying to also talk with the SEC about regulations for such a platform as they thought it was the new frontier.” [ad] “In Europe, there is just one license for it all, but in Africa, you have 54 distinct countries, where there’s not even a regulatory framework yet, in about 52 of those 54.” The company currently lists all its offerings through Regulation S offerings of the US Securities and Exchange Commission and says it expects to do a lot of handholding with the regulators as it threads this new path.
Read MoreUber leads $100 million round in African fintech startup Moove
Moove, a car-financing startup that allows anyone interested in ride-hailing to get a brand new car and pay in installments over four years, has raised $100 million in a Series B round reportedly led by Uber, according to reporting from TechCrunch. In February, Bloomberg reported that Uber was considering an equity investment in the company. The new funding round brings Moove’s total fund to about $460 million—$250 million in equity and $210 million in debt. Mubadala Investment Company, a sovereign wealth fund that also invested in Moove’s Series A round, also participated in the Series B round. Other investors in the round include The Latest Ventures, AfricInvest, Palm Drive Capital, Triatlum Advisors, and Future Africa. Moove, which operates in six countries, will use the new funding to expand to 16 more markets by the end of 2025. Per TechCrunch, the move signals a push by Uber—which has partnered with several others, including SWVL and Kobo—to secure a reliable stream of drivers for its ride-hailing platform. Moove’s CEO, Ladi Delano, views the move as a validation of Moove’s business model. The mobility fintech leader, which offers vehicle financing to ride-hailing and delivery app drivers, has secured a staggering $460 million across equity and debt, bringing its valuation to $750 million. In February, the company raised $10 million to expand its presence in India after it launched in three cities in the country. In 2023, Moove partnered with Uber to deploy about 25,000 electric vehicles on its ride-sharing platform in India. Launched in 2020 by Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi, Moove tackles low credit access in mobility markets by offering revenue-based car financing to ride-hailing drivers. Customers buy new vehicles with a share of their weekly earnings, and the startup boasts $90 million in annual recurring revenue. Per TechCrunch, Moove is also considering inking a deal with Bolt to expand its ride-hailing options in its key emerging markets.
Read MoreQuick Fire with Koffi Kelvin
Koffi Kelvin is a QA Engineer at GitHub and an Andela technologist. He is passionate about learning and recently graduated from an 11-month leadership course. Koffi is an Andela community champion, supporting and mentoring other community members across the globe, as well as organizing region-wide events for Andela. Outside of tech, Koffi is interested in music, art, and African culture. Explain your job to a five-year-old. Imagine you built the world’s most incredible treehouse ever! It has slides, secret tunnels, and a throne made from your softest teddy bear. But before you invite all your friends over, wouldn’t you want to ensure it’s perfect? That’s where a QA engineer comes in, like the ultimate fort inspector with a magnifying glass! We’re the ones who crawl through the tunnels, bounce on the pillows, and push all the buttons (carefully, of course!) to see if anything is wonky or doesn’t work quite right. We might find a slide that topples over too easily or a tunnel too small for even the tiniest teddy bear. We’ll then tell the treehouse builders (the programmers) about these funny mishaps so they can fix them and make the treehouse even more epic! Can you share a memorable experience where your attention to detail in QA uncovered a critical issue in a project? Off the top of my head, I discovered a critical OS issue when I was at Hewlett-Packard. I was analyzing data, and it revealed a bug; I would upload a particular file to an RGB keyboard app, which then caused the entire operating system to crash. This was precarious because, of course, apps require operating systems to run. We were building the operating system alongside the required apps; one needed the other to perform efficiently. It was a close shave! Your background also showcases a transition from hands-on QA engineering to customer support. What sparked this shift in focus, and what excites you most about the support role? QA is a very customer-centric role where, in some instances, during user acceptance testing (UAT), one works with the actual application users to address any issues they might have with the product, making customer support a function within QA. Hence, the transition was as seamless as running from walking. What skills would you say have been critical to your career growth and trajectory? Curiosity and tenacity. I remain curious and interested in all functions within and around my work. I’m constantly researching, reading, and learning. This exposes me to as many recent and emerging technologies as possible, which helps keep me sharp and up-to-date. I tend to seek out content from some notable thought leaders within QA like James Bach, who is christened “ The father of Agile testing” through his blog https://www.satisfice.com/blog, and a few others like Lisa Crispin and Janet Gregory ( https://agiletestingfellow.com/): Crispin and Gregory are the founders of the Ministry of Testing, a global community for testers, and co-authors of the book “Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Agile Teams.” I gravitate towards the daunting and challenging tasks many people avoid, which has ensured I’ve learned the most within the team. I welcome a challenge, as it makes me learn the most or fail spectacularly. And when you fail, you learn; you never make the same mistake twice. You’ve been a digital business mentor for two years now. What would you say is the most rewarding thing about mentoring? At this point in my career, I would love to give back to the Andela community as much as possible because I realize how privileged I have been in my career journey. This is why I am drawn to mentoring and supporting other technologists. The Andela community is a network of global technologists, and I regularly speak to people worldwide. The most rewarding part is helping others be successful in specific fields using tools that improve the quality, efficiency, and even the quantity of their output. I guide new members through the Andela talent community landscape, offering support and advice on everything from how to navigate the job engagement process, to questions about tax and – of course – technology and skills guidance. What would you say are your proudest achievements? Leading my team through the COVID-19 pandemic, as they became entirely distributed, was immense. It was a traumatic experience, and I gained a lot of bumps and bruises along the way, but we made it through successfully. To help guide the team, I created a daily routine of morning and afternoon standups to ensure we were all on the same page and that we all had a forum to communicate openly with each other. I would also give team members the chance to peer review each other’s work, which led to a drastic improvement in the quality of work that would be sent to me for final review. In our hyper-connected world, what’s your strategy for maintaining a healthy digital detox? For starters, having a life beyond my laptop is extremely helpful. In my spare time, I race go-carts and am very interested in motorsports. I also belong to a second community of people not really in the tech space: my church! What are some of your hobbies or passions that fuel your creativity and energy outside of work? I always make time for physical activity, regularly playing at the local rugby club and swimming. Recently, I’ve embraced farming, starting with building two beehives, planting some fruit trees (mango and apple), and growing hot chilies. I love being outdoors as much as possible. Finally, what lessons have you learned from your experiences in QA that have had the most significant impact on your professional growth and development? Developing my teamwork and collaboration skills during our day-to-day QA operations has impacted my leadership. Most recently, I took an 11-month leadership development program led by renowned scholars including Dr Phidel Baraza (Ph.D.) and Professor Emmanuel Bellon, where I was recognized as one of the course’s top performers. When I first began
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Egypt’s billion-dollar bailout
In partnership with Share this newsletter: Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Good morning Later this year, you may get the chance to win $5 million. Mr Beast is at it again, and this time, he’s creating a game show that will have over 1,000 contestants competing for a grand prize of $5 million. There’s not a lot of info about the show just yet though. And if you think you don’t stand a chance, its worth noting that a similar event by Mr Beast in January 2024 saw a Nigerian and a Ghanaian win $25,000 each for simply tweeting. If they can do it, you can too, and we’ll bring you more info on how as soon as we have it. In today’s edition Egypt gets $8.1 billion bailout Kuda gets fintech licences in Canada and Tanzania Zone gets $8.5 million in funding Apple might integrate Google’s Gemini into its ecosystem The World Wide Web3: The Meme Token making millions Opportunities Economy Egypt receives $8.1 billion bailout from EU Like many other African countries, Egypt is presently suffering from one of its worst economic crises in a decade. Inflation currently stands above 35%, the country has devalued its currency thrice in three years to keep up with the pace of its weakening pound. The country was also on the brink of defaulting on a $165 million foreign debt before the United Arab Emirates swung in with a $35 billion cash injection. Now, more international communities are lending a helping hand to the embattled country. A big bailout: The European Union promised Egypt a $8.1 billion bailout fund to help salvage its ailing economy. The new capital injection—a mix of grants and loans—is the latest support the North African country has gotten from the international community to help support its economy. The EU aid package to Egypt consists of €5 billion loan, €1.8 billion investment in renewable energy and food security projects, €600 million worth of grants, and €200 million allocation for ‘migration management—as Egypt is a major route for migrants travelling to Europe. The EU favours priority areas including economic stability, investments and trade, migration, and security in its fund disbursement to the northern African country. Egypt, which has become a new alternative for natural gas exports to Europe, will continue its journey in navigating a way of its dwindling economy. The country is in agreement with the World Bank, the UK, and Japan for more capital injection. Experience fast and reliable personal banking with Moniepoint Give it a shot like she did . Click here to experience fast and reliable personal banking with Moniepoint. Fintech Kuda Bank secures payment licences in Tanzania and Canada Since its launch in August 2019, Kuda, a Nigerian digital bank, has processed ₦55.8 trillion ($35.4 billion) in transactions, serving over five million customers. In August 2021, the neobank also closed a $55 million Series B round at a $500 million valuation. In 2022, Kuda made its first foray into the cross-border payment space, by securing a payment licence in the United Kingdom and rolled out a subscription-based remittance offering, which according to sources was reportedly discontinued. Even more licences: In another attempt, the Target Global-backed fintech has secured payment licences in both Canada and Tanzania, allowing it to offer remittance and multi-currency wallet services. Kuda’s current focus seems to be on catering to the financial needs of Africans living abroad, particularly in countries with large African populations like the UK and Canada. The company is now only present in two African countries—Nigeria and Tanzania. In January 2023, Kuda also acquired a digital banking licence to operate in Pakistan. What this means: Kuda will go head-to-head with other startups like LemFi and Nala, targeting the African diaspora with financial services. With a rising number of Nigerians migrating to countries like Canada—22,085 in 2022 alone—the demand for remittance services is high. This trend is mirrored across Africa, with remittance inflows reaching an estimated $100.1 billion in 2022. Funding Nigerian fintech startup Zone secures $8.5 million Founded in 2008, Appzone started by building custom software solutions specifically tailored for banks. In 2012, it became a pioneer in facilitating branchless banking for Diamond Bank, a revolutionary concept at the time. This success continued with internet and mobile banking services for Providus Bank and an instant card issuance system for Guaranty Trust Bank. But Appzone’s vision extended beyond traditional solutions. It decided, in 2022, to carve out a new subsidiary—Zone—a blockchain-enabled payment infrastructure company dedicated to building a future-proof payment network, and made its original banking-as-a-service business into a separate standalone company, Qore. First funding milestone: After it spun off from its parent company, Zone has secured its first VC funding of $8.5 million. Its funding comes amidst a challenging fundraising environment for African startups, where funding in 2023 dropped by 36% compared to $5 billion in 2022. Investors like Flourish Ventures and TLcom led the seed round. With this funding, Zone plans to expand its network domestically, improve its technology—particularly instant settlements—and develop new use cases for its blockchain network beyond ATMs. Zone claims over 15 of Africa’s largest banks and fintech companies use its network to process payments including Access Bank Plc and United Bank of Africa. Zoom out: The company will spend part of the fresh funding to conduct a comprehensive pilot program to test its cross-border capabilities, as it plans to launch a remittance product in 2025. No hidden fees or charges with Fincra Collect payments via Bank Transfer, Cards, Virtual Account & Mobile Money with Fincra’s secure payment gateway. What’s more? You get to save money for your business when you use Fincra. Start now. AI Apple in talks to integrate Google Gemini AI to iPhones Apple is looking outward for AI solutions. Since the inception of ChatGPT and generative AI, the race for domination in AI and AI-enabled systems has been a rush. Tech startups have looked for smart ways to incorporate AI into their existing systems, while established tech
Read MoreBinance crackdown based on analysis of P2P trading in February
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s suspicion of manipulation of forex prices on Binance was confirmed by internal analyses of peer-to-peer trading on the exchange, TechCabal has learned. An analysis of trades between February 19 to February 21 identified a cluster of Nigerian retail traders making large buy orders for USDT they didn’t eventually buy. Authorities believe these traders manipulated prices to benefit from the resulting arbitrage opportunity. The analyses conducted by research teams are still ongoing, according to a person close to the matter. An internal report of the aforementioned three-day analysis linked what it said was an artificial demand for USDT with the naira’s quick drop from $1/₦1,500 to $1/₦1,950. The Central Bank did not respond to TechCabal’s request for comments. Hamma Bello, an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, told a court on Monday that a special investigative team surveilled the Binance platform. “The team uncovered users who have been using the platform for price discovery, confirmation, and market manipulation, which has caused tremendous distortions in the market, resulting in the Naira losing its value against other currencies,” Bello said in an affidavit. It’s similar to a claim in the internal presentation seen by TechCabal. “The marketplace shows only people willing to buy USDT and an almost non-existent selling side. A $132 million worth of ads for buying USDT with less than $800,000 to match on the other side for 2/22/2024 is an example of this.” Binance did not immediately respond to TechCabal’s request for comments. The report claimed that more than 40% of the buy offers came from the same accounts. While some traders repeatedly were looking to buy as much as $1.9 million, others posted much smaller trades as low as $500 on a rolling basis. On March 12, the Financial Times reported that the federal government asked Binance for information on its top 100 users in the country and all transaction history for the past six months. This may be a bid to identify the traders listed in the internal report seen by TechCabal. Today, a court in Nigeria ruled that Binance must hand over the data. On Thursday, Binance released a statement signaling it would cooperate with the government. It claimed that since 2020, it has responded to over 626 information requests that have assisted the government’s investigations into financial crimes such as scams, fraud, and money laundering. Since Nigeria floated the naira in 2023, price discovery for the US dollar has increasingly happened through P2P trading on crypto exchanges like Binance and Bureau de Change operators. The apex bank shared amendments to its policy on BDC operators and revoked licences for over 4,000 operators as FX volatility worsened in February. Regulators believed that Binance, one of the most popular crypto exchanges in the country, played an outsized role in price discovery and attendant volatility. Olayemi Cardoso, the CBN governor, said “expediting genuine price discovery” would solve the problem. It prompted an investigation into Binance. The Binance website is no longer available to Nigerians, and the platform has also delisted its NGN/USDT trade option. Aside from Binance, other crypto platforms like Onboard Wallet also disabled the USDT/NGN pair on their platforms. The two Binance executives, Nadeem Anjarwalla, a UK citizen, and Tigran Gambaryan, a former US Internal Revenue Service special agent, who came to Nigeria when the government threatened to block access to the company’s website are still in the custody of the authorities. According to the Financial Times, the court order that permitted a 2-week detainment of both executives expired on Tuesday, but they have not been released.
Read MoreNigerian neobank Kuda eyes global reach with new licenses
Kuda Microfinance Bank, the Target Global-backed neobank, has secured payment licences in Tanzania and Canada as part of an expansion drive across Africa and the global market. One of those licences will allow it to offer remittance and multi-currency wallet services to Africans living in Canada. The second, a Tanzanian Payment Service Provider (PSSP) licence will offer similar services to Kuda’s Tanzanian customers. The new licences will put Kuda in direct competition with startups like LemFi and Nala, which style themselves as global neobanks for Africans in the diaspora. This is not Kuda’s first crack at the remittance market. In 2022, it secured a payment licence in the United Kingdom and rolled out a subscription remittance offering with a flat fee of £3 and a transfer limit of £10,000. One person with knowledge of the company’s business told TechCabal that the product has now been discontinued, theorising that the market was not ready for a subscription-based remittance offering. It makes it likely that when the neobank rolls out its offerings in Canada and Tanzania, it will not go the way of subscriptions. The remittance market has become more attractive to investors as more Nigerians and Africans seek greener pastures abroad. In 2022, Nigeria was Canada’s fourth largest immigration source country, welcoming 22,085 Nigerian immigrants, making 5.06% of Canada’s total number of permanent residents. At the same time, over 100,000 Canadians of Nigerian descent call Canada home. In 2022, remittance inflows into Africa totaled an estimated $100.1 billion, accounting for 3.4% of Africa’s GDP. By focusing on markets like Canada and the UK where the number of Nigerian migrants continues to grow, Kuda has an opportunity to grow its foreign exchange revenue at a time when the FX rates are decimating the profits of startups.
Read MoreOurPass will acquire MFB licence to offer more banking services to customers
OurPass, the e-commerce one-click checkout company that pivoted to business banking in June 2022, will acquire a microfinance banking (MFB) licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria in the coming weeks, allowing the startup to offer a broader range of financial services instead of relying on third-party partnerships. “It is one thing to be a financial services provider, and it is another thing to be a banking service provider. OurPass will start providing those banking services in weeks,” said Samuel Eze, the company’s CEO. The company secured approval in principle (AIP) for a new MFB—OurPass MFB—in January 2024. It also undertook a recapitalisation and assumed the liabilities and assets of Fasildapo MFB, an existing microfinance banking entity, and submitted its new name to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). OurPass provides free business bank accounts, loans, and tools, including free invoice generators and team management tools, to help them manage their businesses. An MFB licence will mean the startup has to ramp up its loan offering, which is currently restricted to invoice financing. The company said it would monitor those loans closely, acknowledging the difficulty of lending in the Nigerian market. And while it’s still early days, the company has already set its sights on becoming profitable quickly. “When we ventured into business banking in June/July 2022, we entered the field with zero funds. But before the end of the year, all things being equal, we should become profitable,” Eze shared.
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