FBN Holdings’ extraordinary general meeting placed on hold following court order
An extraordinary general meeting in which First Bank shareholders were to vote on a decision to raise ₦300 billion ($231 million) in fresh capital has now been put on hold after a Federal High Court maintained an earlier decision on Wednesday. In July 2022, the court barred FBN Holdings, the parent company of First Bank, from holding any annual general meeting until the conclusion of a suit filed by a shareholder, Olusegun Onagoruwa, in 2021. On April 17, Onagoruwa’s lawyers asked the court to stop First Bank from holding an extraordinary general meeting initially scheduled for April 30. On Wednesday, Justice Akintayo Aluko ruled that the 2022 ruling is maintained. FBN Holdings now faces a race against time to raise fresh capital, which requires shareholders’ approval at an extraordinary general meeting before the Central Bank’s deadline of April 2026. This is important considering the nature of legal matters in Nigeria where court cases sometimes take up to twenty years. Nigeria’s biggest banks must raise $2.6 billion in 24 months after the Central Bank shared new minimum capital requirements. The regulator will not allow banks to use accumulated earnings or debt to meet the new capital requirements. Hours after the April 30 meeting was canceled, Adesola Adeduntan, First Bank’s CEO, announced his resignation to “pursue other interests” eight months before his tenure expires. He led the lender for a record nine years. First Bank names Olusegun Alebiosu acting CEO after Adeduntan’s surprise exit *This is a developing story
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Kenya to regulate crypto trading
In partnership with Share this newsletter: Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Good morning If you’re interested in business, politics, culture, and technology, Big Cabal Media has something new for you. Subscribe now to The Big Daily newsletter for the most important news out of Nigeria, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. In today’s edition Investors at Thepeer request financial audit Kenya to regulate crypto trading Detained Binance executive remanded in custody till May 17 Mt. Gox to reimburse $10 billion with of bitcoin Microsoft and Coca-Cola forge $1.1 billion AI deal The World Wide Web3 Opportunities Fintech Thepeer founders face scrutiny as they plan to return $350,000 to investors Thepeer, an API startup focused on connecting business wallets, shut down in April 2024. While the company announced plans to return $350,000 of the funds raised to investors, questions regarding its financial management have emerged. For starters, two investors suspect discrepancies in Thepeer’s finances after a November investor report showed a lower-than-expected bank balance of $450,000. The investors requested an audit in March 2024, and asked for more details on its cap table before the company shut down. Sidebar: A cap table is a document that details ownership in a company. It lists all the securities or shares in a company including stock, convertible notes, warrants, and equity grants. Adding to the complexity are claims by the co-founders—Michael Okoh and Chike Ononye—that some investors failed to fulfil capital calls during a June 2022 fundraising round of $2.1 million, leading to a $750,000 shortfall. Despite a low reported burn rate of about $17,000 and limited operations, questions linger about how the remaining funds were used compared to estimated expenses. Hide and seek with the books: Both co-founders are allegedly stonewalling. According to an anonymous investor, they haven’t responded to requests for an audit or shared financial documents, hoping the issue will fade away if they ignore it. However, an audit of the company’s bank statements is expected to provide answers. Read Moniepoint’s case study on family-owned businesses Family-owned businesses are everywhere, shaping our world in ways you might not expect. We’ve found some insights into how they work, and we’d love to share them with you. Dive in right away here. Regulation Kenya to regulate cryptocurrency trading Amidst Nigeria demanding Kenya to extradite Nadeem Anjarwalla, a Binance executive who managed to evade detention after being accused of tax evasion, Kenya, one of the largest cryptocurrency markets in Africa, has moved to regulate the operations of cryptocurrencies in the country. This follows Kenya’s new Finance Act which levies a 3% tax on the revenue generated by citizens trading digital assets. Why? The government seeks to reduce scams, fraudulent investments and money laundering with cryptocurrencies. This is to be achieved with the establishment of a multiagency technical working group. The technical working group has the mandate to develop a regulatory and monitoring framework for the usage of cryptocurrencies also referred to as Virtual Assets (VAs) and those providing crypto assets and other virtual or digital assets services otherwise called Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs). The risks of cryptocurrencies: In September 2023, Kenya’s Financial Reporting Centre (FRC) conducted a risk assessment on Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers. The FRC report identified the potential use of VAs and VASPs for money laundering, financing terrorism, fraud, scams and data theft. Based on these identified risks, the FRC recommended establishing regulations for VAs and VASPs. A 2022 report by the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) also urged Kenya to establish regulations for Virtual Assets (VAs) and Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) revealed that at least KES2.5 billion ($18.6 million) was irregularly pumped into the economy in 2023 through M-Pesa withdrawals in payments to Kenyans who had their irises scanned by the operatives of cryptocurrency Worldcoin before its activities in the country were hurriedly suspended by the government. Like many countries, Kenya finds itself in a new frontier with cryptocurrency. The country is on the right path as the lack of a regulatory framework to monitor its operations exposes consumers to potential fraud and scams. Currently in Nigeria, Binance the leading cryptocurrency exchange platform and its executives face charges in Nigeria for tax evasion, currency speculation, and money laundering of an alleged $35.4 million. More updates on that after this short ad break. Enjoy hassle-free transactions with Fincra Collect payments without stress from your customers via bank transfer, cards, virtual accounts & mobile money. What’s more? You get to save money on fees when you use Fincra. Start now. Crypto Detained Binance executive remanded in custody till May 17 Yesterday, the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Abuja adjourned the bail hearing of Tigran Gambaryan, a detained executive of cryptocurrency exchange Binance to May 17, 2024. The Judge, Justice Emeka Nwite fixed the new date to rule after hearing arguments on whether the Binance agent should remain in custody at the correctional centre from Gambaryan’s legal team and the Nigerian government’s lawyers. Gambaryan has been remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre for over 40 days by the trial judge after he pled not guilty following his arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on money laundering charges. He denies any wrongdoing and his lawyers argued for his release, stating the prosecution’s evidence is weak. The accusations: The Nigerian government, through the EFCC, accuses Binance, Tigran Gambaryan, the regional manager for Africa at Binance and his colleague named Nadeem Anjarwalla, the head of financial crime compliance at Binance (who fled from detention) of hiding the source of $35.4 million in alleged illegal activities. This case falls under Nigeria’s Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act. Recently, Anjarwalla, who fled to Kenya, was arrested in the country after the Nigerian government requested his extradition. Arguments in Court: Gambaryan’s lawyer, Mark Mordi, criticised the EFCC for lacking credible evidence to support its claims. He called the allegation that Gambaryan planned
Read MoreInvestors request audit of The Peer’s finances as it prepares to refund leftover capital
At least two investors in The Peer, the API startup backed by companies like Flutterwave and Stitch, have asked for an audit of the company’s accounts as it prepares to return leftover capital to investors. Following the business’s dissolution, investors are expected to receive about twenty cents on the dollar, people familiar with the conversations told TechCabal. However, the refund may take longer than expected as two investors have requested an audit of The Peer’s finances and asked for more details on its cap table. The request for an audit—prompted by a November investor report showing a bank balance of $450,000—was initiated in March, weeks before the company shut down. “The funds left in the company’s account were about a million dollars short, based on estimated company spends and time frame,” one email sent to co-founders—Michael Okoh and Chike Ononye—in March 2024 read. The co-founders have not responded to the audit request and have not shared the cap table said one investor who asked not to be named. “They are avoiding it, thinking that if they do not talk about it, the matter will die,” an investor told TechCabal. The discrepancy in the company’s balance and what some investors expected is connected to a claim by the cofounders, Chike Ononye and Michael Okoh, that some investors did not honor capital calls in their June 2022 fund raise. Chike Ononye, The Peer’s cofounder, did not respond to multiple requests for comments. Despite announcing a $2.1 million raise, the founders told one investor they did not receive $750,000. Another investor repeated this claim. None of the people who spoke to TechCabal for this story knew the investor who reneged on the funding commitment. At least two investors were unaware of the $750,000 shortfall in that funding round, people with direct knowledge of the matter claimed. An audit of the company’s bank statements is expected to provide answers. There are also some questions about how the company used its funds, as it reported burn rates of about $17,000 monthly. “The Peer was capital efficient during its operations,” one investor said. However, at least two other investors have questions. “They had only about 10 employees; the server costs ought to have been low as they did not process a lot of transactions due to low adoption, so it was hard to understand why only so little money was left,” one person with knowledge of the company’s operations told TechCabal. The Peer’s shutdown didn’t surprise investors By December 2023, the tone of investor updates suggested the founding team was lost and jaded, one investor shared. Despite having a reputation as excellent coders, The Peer’s cofounders, who set out to connect wallets through its APIs, had difficulty fashioning a workable business model. The startup was introducing a new way to make payments in a market but struggled to convince businesses to integrate its payment solution. It integrated 82 businesses in its lifetime, and only 25% were active. The startup’s solution, which promised interoperability between wallets, could only scale if it had enough businesses on its platform but a failure to acquire enough businesses meant that product-market-fit was elusive.
Read MoreExciting announcement: Introducing The Big Daily newsletter
Are you ready for The Big Daily? Big Cabal Media wants to help you get smarter as it’s already doing with TechCabal’s tech coverage and Zikoko’s youth culture coverage. Living in Nigeria has already taught you to be street-smart and industry-smart, but it’s time to get news-smart too. If you’ve binge-read Zikoko’s entertaining stories or grown in your understanding of the African tech ecosystem thanks to TechCabal, there’s a 99.99999% chance that The Big Daily newsletter is about to be your next fave. What’s The Big Daily Newsletter about? Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed by how much information you have to consume to stay in the know? Do you ever wonder how much of the news you consume daily actually matters to you and the people you care about? In a world inundated with news from thousands of sources, finding the news you care about can be a huge task. You don’t want to wade through thousands of stories each to find what’s important—or miss it entirely! That’s where The Big Daily comes in. The Big Daily is not just another newsletter; it is your one true source of expertly curated news from around Nigeria, delivered to your inbox. At The Big Daily, we cut through the fluff to deliver sharp and concise insights to you every morning in the most interesting way, making sure you begin your day on a smart note. We go beyond the surface of the news, helping you understand the essence of each story: why it matters, its backstory, and painting a picture of how it affects you. From breaking headlines to sharp explainers of the issues shaping Nigeria, The Big Daily covers a wide range of topics to satisfy your curiosity and broaden your horizon. Why Subscribe to The Big Daily? It’s free. It’s brief. It’s complete. The information in it is ALL the news you need for the day. Ready to start your day on a smart note? Click here to sign up to The Big Daily and join thousands of others who are looking to stay informed, inspired, and empowered. Spread the Word. Help us spread the word about The Big Daily by sharing this announcement with your friends, family, and colleagues. Together, we will build a community of informed Nigerian citizens who are ready to tackle the challenges of our time and shape a brighter future for all.
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Binance executive arrested in Kenya
In partnership with Share this newsletter: Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Good morning TechCabal Insights has partnered with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to release a report on the Nigerian startup scene. The report covers the state of the Nigerian startup ecosystem by taking a bird’s eye view of the macroeconomic and regulatory events that continue to shape it. It provides a robust SWOT analysis of the tech landscape, the factors that can catalyse the growth of Nigerian startups, and sectors where innovation can drive this growth, among other vital information. Get the actionable insights you need to navigate the Nigerian startup scene. Download your FREE report here. In today’s edition Binance executive arrested in Kenya Thepeer to return $350,000 to investors after shutdown TLCom closes $154 million fund SA licenses more crypto companies Bolt to onboard 1,000 electric bikes in Kenya The World Wide Web3 Opportunities Crypto Binance executive arrested in Kenya While Africa has seen its fair share of sluggish extradition processes, with cases languishing for years in legal limbo, the unfolding saga of Nadeem Anjarwalla, a Binance executive who escaped custody in Nigeria and fled to Kenya using a smuggled passport, has taken a surprisingly swift turn. A short-lived escape: One week after Nigeria asked Kenya to arrest and extradite Anjarwalla, the Kenyan police, in collaboration with Nigerian authorities and Interpol, have reportedly arrested Anjarwalla with plans to expedite his extradition back to Nigeria within the week. Anjarwalla’s story began in February when Nigerian authorities detained him and another Binance executive, Tigran Gambaryan, on suspicion of tax evasion. Nigerian authorities seized their travel documents, which marked the beginning of a tumultuous series of events that would ultimately see Anjarwalla escaping the country to Kenya on March 25, leaving Gambaryan behind to face money laundering charges. Zoom out: Binance and its executives face charges in Nigeria for tax evasion, currency speculation, and money laundering of an alleged $35.4 million. One executive, Gambaryan, pleaded not guilty and applied for bail but it was denied due to Anjarwalla’s escape. Gambaryan’s bail hearing was reportedly rescheduled for yesterday, April 22, but it is unclear at this point what the verdict is. *This is a developing story. Read Moniepoint’s case study on family-owned businesses Family-owned businesses are everywhere, shaping our world in ways you might not expect. We’ve found some insights into how they work, and we’d love to share them with you. Dive in right away here. Shutdowns Thepeer to return $350,000 to investors after shutting down The Nigerian startup scene has seen its fair share of success stories in recent years. Fintech companies like Flutterwave and Paystack have become household names and facilitated digital payments across the continent. But the journey for startups can be challenging and newer ventures grapple with the harsh realities of the market. This year alone, two promising startups have closed shop. In January, Cova, a wealthtech platform aiming to be the one-stop shop for asset management, shut down due to challenges in gaining traction. Cova, however, chose to return some capital to its investors, even in defeat. In April 2024, Thepeer, an API startup focused on connecting business wallets, followed suit. Now, the startup is expected to return about $350,000 of the $2.3 million it raised to investors after it promised them 20% of their funds back (around $460,000.) Challenges faced: Although Thepeer had runway for another 20 months, it shuttered operations due to its inability to secure product-market fit. According to a source with knowledge of the company’s finances, despite processing over $500,000 in transactions during the first three quarters of 2023, the company generated less than $1,000 in revenue. Sources also claim that before Thepeer shut down, it explored alternative products like fraud prevention but wasn’t convinced enough to pivot with investor funds. Acquisition talks with other startups also didn’t materialise. Enjoy hassle-free transactions with Fincra Collect payments without stress from your customers via bank transfer, cards, virtual accounts & mobile money. What’s more? You get to save money on fees when you use Fincra. Start now. Funding TLcom Capital raises $154 million for TIDE Africa II In 2023, African startups raised $3.2 billion, the lowest figure since the $2.1 billion in 2020. Despite the recent slowdown in global venture capital funding, there’s good news for African startups looking for funding as TLcom Capital, a Nairobi-based venture capital (VC) firm has successfully closed its TIDE Africa II fund at $154 million. This new fund is a significant increase compared to TLcom’s first Africa-focused fund, which closed at $71 million in 2020. The larger size reflects growing confidence in the African tech ecosystem as local VC firms like TLcom are stepping up to fill the gap. Who are the investors? Leading institutions like the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Visa Foundation are backing TIDE Africa II. TLcom will invest in 20-25 startups, primarily focusing on seed or Series A funding rounds, ranging from $1 million to $3 million. TLcom Capital also plans to fund female-founded tech startups. TLcom was an early investor—$2 million—in FirstCheck Africa, a female-focused pre-seed fund launched in January 2021. What to look out for: The fund will enable TLcom to expand its reach to Egypt and South Africa, partnering with local founders who are tackling Africa’s biggest challenges with innovative solutions. Investments have already been made in promising companies like LittleFish, a software company enabling payment and banking products for retail-focused SMBs, and Cairo-based logistics company ILLA. Accept fast in-person payments, at scale Spin up a sales force with dozens – even hundreds – of Virtual Terminal accounts in seconds, without the headache of managing physical hardware. Learn more → Crypto More crypto businesses licensed in South Africa Yesterday, South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) approved 16 extra operating licences for crypto businesses. This, in addition to the 59 operating licences approved in March 2024, brings the total number of licenced crypto companies to 75. Altcoin Trader, Luno and VALR (pty) LTD were some of
Read MoreAfrica’s digital future: Why transparent data is key to financial inclusion
This article was contributed to TechCabal by Sabine Mensah. While on a speaking tour in 2022 to share findings from a report I co-authored, a central bank official from West Africa shared a key observation. The report aimed to document the relationship between financial inclusion and the infrastructure provided by inclusive, instant payment systems, based on data available publicly. But as the central bank official shared, the research was inaccurate, because the publicly available data their country provided was wrong. Within a month, the central bank had updated its website and issued a press release with official statistics. This experience illustrates the importance of accurate data to inform advocacy and motivate greater transparency in public sector efforts. We need more of that transparency as we work to expand financial inclusion through the catalyst of making digital payments more available and accessible to Africans. Robust data is key for growing a market Much of the world is starting to focus on the incredible power of Instant Payment Systems (IPS) as a foundational enabler of financial inclusion. IPS are public or public-private sector payment platforms capable of processing retail payments from any financial provider in real-time and 24/7. The 32 IPS in Africa processed nearly 32 billion transactions worth about $1.2 trillion in 2022, as reported in the AfricaNenda State of Inclusive Instant Payment Systems in Africa Report, 2023. The volume and value of payments made by IPS to date represent massive progress from ten years ago. Yet there is so much more to do. While impressive, these statistics underestimate the true picture since the data for 10 out of the 32 live IPS on the continent are not publicly available. Furthermore, despite the growth in payment system availability, nearly half of the population across Africa does not live in a country with instant payment system capabilities. In those environments, making direct digital payments is inaccessible to all but the most affluent consumers and merchants, and expensive for everyone. Lower-income customers, and those living in areas with limited connectivity, have no other option but to use cash, which is easily lost or stolen and requires physical proximity to transact with. Cash also leaves no paper trail, and therefore does not allow users to build a financial track record that lenders can use to underwrite credit. What does this have to do with payment ecosystem data? Data is a great motivator. It enables central bankers and payment ecosystem participants to benchmark their payment system status with their peers, share learnings, communicate urgency, and show progress. There is precedent for data driving consensus and elevating the importance of an issue. Before the launch of the Global Findex Database in 2011, for example, there was no comprehensive source of global, demand-side data on how adults around the world access and use financial services. Today, the Global Findex is the benchmark by which the UN measures progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 8.10.2 on financial inclusion and informs national financial inclusion strategies for many countries globally. In the ten years since its first edition, financial access has grown by more than 70%, partly motivated by the ability to see where progress is happening and where it lags. We need similarly comprehensive, trusted, and detailed insights into digital payments availability and usage in Africa—in this case, informed by both supply-side and demand-side data. AfricaNenda set out in 2021 to begin creating those insights to share them openly as a public good. Our annual State of Inclusive Instant Payment Systems in Africa (SIIPS Report) is the product of that effort. As we begin research for SIIPS 2024, our third edition, we have a clearer insight into the data gaps we still need to fill, given our set goals. They are, first, to document the landscape of instant payment systems across the continent; and second, to establish a standard definition of inclusivity in payment systems that we could use to map the existing payment systems along an inclusivity spectrum. This effort requires both qualitative and quantitative data. We have faced challenges attaining both. Regarding qualitative data, creating a comprehensive landscape of instant payment systems requires details about the 32 live IPS across the continent, including their scheme rules, ownership structures and governance, as well as product details related to channels and supported payment types. These facts have been surprisingly difficult to access consistently. Despite the proliferation of IPS across the continent, there is a lack of public access to this basic information. Regarding quantitative data, we have been collecting transaction data related to the volume and value of transactions running through IPS. The challenge here is the availability of one of both availability and standardisation since not all IPS operators and central banks share this data and those who do use different data collection methods to report it. Furthermore, very few differentiate between on-us transactions that are processed and cleared by a single institution (this is usually for transactions between customers of the same institution) vs. off-us/switched transactions between customers of different institutions or using different payment mechanisms. For SIIPS 2023, only Bank of Ghana and NatSwitch Malawi provided disaggregated on-us and off-us/switched transactions. In the realm of inclusivity, transaction data also is not gender disaggregated, making it difficult to assess whether these systems are reaching traditionally underserved groups. Payment inclusivity in Africa starts with ecosystem transparency Between the launch of AfricaNenda’s first research notes and the inaugural SIIPS report in 2022, we have evolved our research methods to try to fill some of the data gaps revealed by our interaction with the central banker referenced above. Our early research relied exclusively on secondary (desktop) research using publicly available data and information. We have since evolved to a mixed method approach that adds key informant Interviews and detailed case studies on select IPS, as well as quantitative consumer surveys and one-on-one interviews that incorporate the end-user perspective for select markets. For the SIIPS 2023 report, we added the step of sending an official letter of request for transaction data
Read MoreBreaking: South Africa grants crypto licences to Luno, VALR and 73 other companies
In March, South Africa’s financial conduct regulator approved 59 operating licences for crypto businesses but did not share the names of beneficiaries of the country’s first-ever crypto licences. On Monday afternoon, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) approved 16 extra licences, bringing the number of licenced crypto companies to 75 from. The FSCA received 374 applications. Luno and VALR, two global crypto exchanges, are the most recognisable names on the list. Luno’s license allows the company to provide crypto advisory and intermediary services while VALR’s license allows the company to provide advisory, intermediary and investment management services. Binance, one of the biggest global crypto exchanges, did not make the list. The move signals South Africa’s continuing acceptance of the crypto regulatory environment. And with the regulator expected to approve even more licences, it will position South Africa as one of the continent’s crypto-forward countries. “Any entity that did not apply for a license and continues activities will be investigated and there will be consequences for such actions,” said Felicity Mabaso, the divisional executive for licensing at the FSCA. The licensed entities will be subject to ongoing supervision after licensing, while investigations into people conducting crypto-related financial services without authorisation will begin. The licences were granted to crypto companies with diverse business models, including advisory services, exchanges, payment gateways, crypto-to-crypto and crypto-to-fiat conversion, crypto asset arbitrage, tokenisation, provision of index-based products, and wallet services. *This is a developing story
Read MoreExclusive: The Peer will return $350,000 to investors after shutting down
When The Peer, a Nigeria-based API startup, shut down in April, the business still had up to twenty months of runway. The shutdown, which its founders blamed on an inability to find product-market fit, means investors will get some of their money back. According to one investor familiar with their finances, the startup is expected to return about $350,000 of the $2.3 million it raised to investors. The company’s burn rate was less than $20,000 monthly, the same person said. The Peer’s decision to shut down early— a counterintuitive idea in a world where startups are encouraged to hang in there—may sometimes lead to better outcomes. At least fifteen high-profile African startups closed their doors in 2023 as macroeconomic conditions worsened and VC funding declined. Those shutdowns often meant investors’ funds went to zero. Before shutting down, the startup experimented with other products and business lines, such as fraud prevention, but it was not convinced that any pivot should be made with investor money, one person with direct knowledge of the matter said. Some of The Peer’s investors include Chipper Cash, Flutterwave, Sunu Ventures, Byld Ventures, Timon Capital, Raba Partnership, Musha Ventures, RaliCap, Uncovered Fund, and angel investors like Ezra Olubi and Prosper Otemuyiwa. TLcom Capital closes $154 million fund for early-stage African startups Founded in 2021 by Chike Ononye and Michael Okoh to connect business wallets, The Peer raised $220,000 in a pre-seed round and an additional $2.1 million in a June 2022 seed round that valued the company at $5 million. Investors were told they would receive 20% of their funds back (around $460,000), but one person said The Peer’s seed round was less than the $2.1 million announced, implying a lower refund. The Peer’s cofounders did not respond to multiple requests for comments. Although the product held promise—an investor in its seed round likened it to Flutterwave—it failed to find scale and generate meaningful revenue. The Peer generated less than $1,000 in revenue after processing more than $500,000 in the first three quarters of 2023, according to someone familiar with the startup’s finances. The Peer’s APIs allowed customers to move money between wallets. For example, a Foodcourt (food delivery business) customer could move money from their wallet to fund a Paga (fintech) wallet or make payments online with funds from their Foodcourt wallet with The Peer’s payment gateway. To deliver the product, The Peer had to convince several businesses to integrate its payment product. An industry veteran who asked not to be named told TechCabal that those conversations and subsequent integrations could take months. African markets aren’t ready for wallet-to-wallet transactions at scale, said one person familiar with The Peer’s business. That person also cited challenges with compliance and an absence of consistent support from the startup’s fintech partners. Meanwhile, the businesses they hoped to sell to often had many options, including more established payment companies like Paystack and Flutterwave. In a blog post, The Peer’s co-founders said they “could not align the startup’s product with the market’s needs.” “The overall acceptance of wallets as a viable payment option didn’t grow as rapidly as we had hoped,” they wrote. Before the startup shut down, it held talks with several startups for a possible acquisition, but an acquisition never materialised. “I think their product came too early for the market,” an industry expert said.
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Next Wave: Is there a way to tame Apple’s anti-competitive behaviour?
Cet article est aussi disponible en français <!– In partnership with –> <!–TopBanner Join us for TechCabal Battlefield, Moonshot’s startup competition where you can showcase your startup idea to a global audience and an esteemed panel of judges and stand a chance to win up to 2.5 million naira in funding for your business! Click to register for TC Battlefield First published 21 April, 2024 Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro | Pixbay Apple, the American iPhone and MacBook maker, is excellent at market analysis, planning, and identifying an optimal course of action before launching its products or services. It continuously monitors product use and market trends and adapts its strategy based on these insights. It may sometimes delay launching a popular feature in rival products just to ensure it works perfectly before going to market. This tactic has single-handedly made it a top digital products maker as its customers genuinely love its products and services. However, Apple’s approach isn’t without criticism. The company’s locked ecosystem and, to some extent, anti-competitive behaviour, frustrates its users. Some people argue that Apple prioritises vision over customer and expert input, particularly regarding how it structures and sells products and services. This “disregard” is the reason the company is currently in trouble with regulators in the European Union (EU) and US. Next Wave continues after this ad. We have amazing news! TechCabal’s WhatsApp channel is live! Get the latest insights from our newsroom on WhatsApp! What’s more? You get to interact with our reporters and get exclusive peeks at the reporting process. Click here to get started Locking in customers and anti-competitive practices Apple devices are known for their user-friendly interface, but this comes at a cost. Users have minimal control over how their iPhones or iPads run, and features like hardware compatibility or using alternative app stores are restricted. (This is no longer the case in the EU region, where Apple has been directed to allow customers to sideload apps from other sources.) Apple’s tight control extends to its App Store, which has been the sole platform for installing apps. Developers have been made to adhere to strict guidelines; Apple also takes a 30% cut on all App Store-related transactions such as in-app purchases, significantly eating into developer earnings. Apple has also been accused of favouring its own apps and delaying approvals for its rivals’. Partner Content: Read: TECNO launches the powerful CAMON 30 Pro 5G phone as part of its CAMON 30 series here. This control fosters a “closed ecosystem” where users are heavily incentivised to use Apple products. For example, seamless integration between devices, effortless data transfer, and the exclusivity of iMessage all make switching to non-Apple products a challenge. Apple has further been criticised for making repairs outside its authorised centres difficult and expensive, potentially forcing upgrades for minor issues. These practices raise concerns about user freedom. Next Wave continues after this ad. GITEX Africa returns a second time on May 29–31, 2024 to Marrakech, Morocco, discussing ways to accelerate the continent’s digital health revolution. GITEX is the continent’s largest all-inclusive tech event renowned for uniting the brightest minds in the technology industry Grab your tickets here Are regulators doing enough? The debate about these issues is complex. Apple says that its tight control ensures a high-quality user experience and protects user privacy. However, this may stifle innovation, in the sense that Apple’s 30% App Store commission cuts deeply into developer earnings, which may discourage other developers from publishing their apps for Apple products. Besides, this “tax” limits investment in existing apps and introduces barriers to app developers struggling to turn a profit. Regulators have been on the lookout for abuses: the EU last month hit the tech giant with a nearly $2 billion fine for antitrust violations (antitrust law requires technology corporations identified as “gatekeepers” to make sure their products are open and interoperable. It forbids these companies from favouring their services over those of others). The EU regulators accuse Apple of abusing its power over music streaming services and preventing app developers from promoting cheaper alternatives from outside the App Store. Next Wave continues after this ad. On April 26th, H.M Hannatu Musa Musawa, the Minister for Art, Culture & the Creative Economy, alongside distinguished experts, will speak at the DICE Ecosystem Mixer 2.0, with a focus on Africa’s creative economy. Register here for a chance to attend. Antitrust cases are complex and hard to prove. At the same time, tech companies like Apple, which could hit a $4 trillion market cap, have significant resources to fight legal challenges. Even if Apple loses its current case with the EU, the penalties may not be enough to fundamentally overhaul its business model. And rulings may only address specific practices, leaving room for Apple to find workarounds. Perhaps, the responsibility to regulate Apple should not fall upon the EU alone because while the EU benefits from clear regulations explicitly outlining its rules, the same cannot be said for other regions such as the US, where officials are addressing antitrust issues associated with tech companies through the court system. Essentially, while the EU has specific rules for certain situations, the US does not have a single law that bans antitrust behaviour. Rather, whenever an antitrust case comes up, it must be argued through the court system, on a case-by-case basis, which can be cumbersome. Next Wave continues after this ad. TechCabal Insights are excited to announce the launch of a new website! They are now making it easy for you to read your favourite data stories and download your favourite reports. Check out our new website Developers deserve fairness Regulators must compel Apple to end forced in-app purchases. This will allow developers to offer alternative payment channels for more choice, and potentially at lower prices. Apple could still earn revenue with a commission on these transactions. Developers have complained that Apple’s app review process is unnecessarily stringent. Apple should set up fair and clear app review guidelines, as this will ensure that developers understand why apps are rejected
Read MoreFirst Bank names Olusegun Alebiosu acting CEO after Adeduntan’s surprise exit
FBN Holdings, the parent company of Nigeria’s oldest bank, has appointed Olusegun Alebiosu as acting chief executive officer of First Bank of Nigeria after the surprise resignation of CEO, Adesola Adeduntan. Until this appointment, Olusegun Alebiosu was the bank’s executive director, chief risk officer, and executive compliance officer, according to a filing to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX). The appointment takes effect immediately and is subject to the Central Bank’s approval. Adeduntan retired from the bank last week “to pursue other interests” after leading the lender for a record nine years. His sudden resignation came eight months before the expiration of a third term in December 2024. A defining moment of Adeduntan’s tenure was his controversial dismissal in 2021 by the then-board, followed by his reinstatement by the Central Bank. “The Board of Directors expressed gratitude to Adeduntan for his exemplary leadership in the last nine years during which he superintended the transformation and growth of the Bank and wish him well in his future endeavors,” the lender said. Alebiosu, who joined First Bank in 2016, takes charge of the 130-year-old financial institution as it seeks to raise fresh capital in line with new capitalisation requirements from the regulator. Last Friday, the bank canceled the extraordinary general meeting to seek shareholders’ approval to raise ₦300 billion. He has over three decades of banking experience and previously held top positions at Coronation Merchant Bank, African Development Bank Group, and United Bank for Africa. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management and two master’s degrees in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos and Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science. FBN Holdings grew its profits by 127% in 2023, according to its unaudited financial statements. In January, it appointed billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola, as the new chairman of its board of directors.
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