Breaking: Kobo360 CEO Ciku Mugambi resigns one year after taking the reins
Ciku Mugmabi, CEO of Kobo360, a logistics startup that provides access to trucks for businesses like Dangote, Unilever, and Flour Mills, has resigned after one year. Mugambi, who joined Kobo360 in 2021 from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) as Chief Operating Officer (COO), was named CEO after co-founder Obi Ozor’s exit in August 2023. Mugambi announced her exit on a company-wide call on October 29. At least three people with knowledge of the matter claimed there was some chatter about her impending resignation in the past week. The startup had a bright start, launching in 2017 and raising $6 million in a 2018 seed round led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC). In 2019, it raised $30 million (equity and debt) from investors like TLCom, Y Combinator, and IFC in a Series A round. By 2022, the company struggled to close a Series B round after the pandemic created uncertainty for logistics companies. Cofounder Obi Ozor admitted, “We couldn’t find an investor to anchor the [2021] $50 million equity round we had in mind at the time, and we almost ran out of money, to be honest.” Two people familiar with the company’s finances claimed that under Mugambi’s leadership, the company broke even in its Nigerian business. Yet, its attempts to raise funding hit a wall, those people said. On the call announcing her exit, Mugambi also alluded to the difficulty in raising new funding. The company is expected to announce new leadership shortly. Ciku Mugambi and Kobo360 did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
Read MoreIn Botswana, drivers ask inDrive to raise fares after introducing 10% commission
inDrive operators in Botswana say they’re experiencing lower revenues because of the rising fuel costs and competition for rides after the launch of Bolt in March. More than ten drivers who spoke to TechCabal said the base fares are low and should be increased, continuing a trend across Africa where drivers believe the gig driving model unfairly favors customers. Gig drvers in Botswana are also adjusting to inDrive’s introduction of a 10% commission this year.When inDrive launched in Botswana in 2019, it was a popular choice because of its zero commission. While that was always unlikely to last forever, drivers believe that with a commission now in place, the company must raise fares for passengers. On its part, inDrive argues that charging commissions on driver earnings ensures they can make further investments in Botswana. The company says it has not received any formal complaints from drivers about the commission. “We have made it clear to drivers that monetization is essential for business sustainability,” inDrive told TechCabal. Beyond the commission, the company’s unique selling proposition which allows allows drivers and riders to negotiate prices, is also a pain point for drivers. Drivers claim that if the fee offered by a rider is already low, it’s difficult to negotiate any further. “A ride from the airport to CBD used to cost P100 ($7.5) on the app and I would agree to a counteroffer of maybe P80 ($6) from the rider,” said one inDrive operator who asked not to be named. “But now the same ride is offered for P50 ($3.7) on the app and I end up accepting P60 ($4.5).” One workaround is drivers asking riders to pay more than the quoted fare on the app but inDrive has condemned this practice. “Some customers are understanding when you ask for a bit more because they can see our struggles but others will give you a very low rating,” another driver told TechCabal. In October 2024, inDrive announced that it would launch in Francistown, Botswana’s second city, deepening its presence in the country. However, it will face competition from Estonian ride-hailing giant Bolt, setting the stage for a battle for marketshare that may just see the drivers eke out some wins.
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Next Wave: Scale is perspective
Cet article est aussi disponible en français <!– In partnership with –> First published 03 November, 2024 How big is the pie in Africa? In 2020, the International Finance Corporation and Google produced a report projecting that the digital economy would grow Africa’s GDP by $180 billion or 5.2%. Since then, around $15 billion has been invested into African technology to help bring the $180 billion of economic gains to reality. Those investments exclude investments in things like connectivity infrastructure, etc. If the report’s projections hold up, we should be near the $180 billion mark by now. Unsurprisingly, hundreds of startups have been created to chase this $180 billion internet economy, backed by more than $20 billion in venture capital investments and other forms of financing from the 2010s. The slice of this multi-billion dollar market a startup can carve out and hold on to is part of what we describe as “scale.” The way startups choose to cut their slice gives insight into how they see scale. The two dominant approaches to scale are tech geocentrism and tech-heliocentrism. The Geocentric approach refers to a situation where the company tries to grow market share by cultivating loosely coupled products that revolve around a winning primary offering. McDonalds is an example of a geocentric business; its menu is complementary to burgers and fries. Superapps like WeChat are the tech equivalent. Generally speaking, vertically integrated businesses are good examples of geocentric businesses. The Heliocentric approach is a perspective in which the business seeks to grow market share by throwing together multiple products at a big (and shiny) problem area. The goal is that the products will create a strong enough force to sustain the business as a going concern. Financial services super apps or enterprise product suites like Adobe are examples of heliocentric products. Next Wave continues after this ad. Join us at the Bluechip AI & Data Summit 2024 on December 2nd in Lagos! Explore the future of Africa through AI and data-driven solutions. Connect with industry leaders, attend expert panels, and discover innovations reshaping finance, healthcare, and beyond. Don’t miss this opportunity. JOIN US As the race for Africa’s digital economy becomes hotter and the surrounding macro-environment becomes more challenging, African companies are treating expansion and the search for “scale” as an exercise in building geocentric or heliocentric products. So you see more fundraise press releases hinting at growing the product library and geographic coverage. By choosing geocentricity, they add related product lines directly on top of their core offering. With heliocentricity, they develop almost detached product lines. Two recent examples come to mind: Rafiki, the payments API product announced after NALA’s fundraise, and Moniepoint hinting at expanding into remittances, FX and cross-border payments. When startups adopt a geocentric or heliocentric perspective of product development, it tells us how their view of the market share they can take is changing. Building geocentric products is a way of crowding in adjacent business models that will serve as tributaries and a moat in highly competitive environments. A heliocentric approach indicates the company believes it is better served by having largely independent products that each tackle a separate part of a large industry vertical. A payment fintech that houses an insurance group, a retail investment subsidiary, and a remittance product is a good way to visualise heliocentric businesses. In this instance, the company may be trying to build a business with products that tackle multiple parts of the financial services industry. Perspective changes with time and place Geocentricity or heliocentricity may work well in limited geographies. But this perspective and the localised success also makes it easier to miss the complex and external dependencies that make either approach work locally. And as companies grow they often begin to nurture the ambition to take their locally successful geocentric or heliocentric businesses to other markets. It is often a recipe for mistakes because successful local geocentric or heliocentric businesses miss the fact that perspective changes with time and place. For most of history, the universe was a plane around which the sun, moon, stars and planets revolved. It was what the farmhand and emperor observed. Ptolemy and Aristotle believed and taught this, and it became how many people in recorded history learned to understand the world they lived in and imagine the one they didn’t live in daily. The ancient Greeks imagined the universe as a series of shells with a planet embedded in each layer. Arab astronomers calculated the total radius of the universe (from the centre of the earth to the fixed stars) to be 90 million miles. This was the commonsense scale of the universe until the fresh ideas of an old Polish clergyman and astronomer began to catch on eighteen centuries after a Greek mathematician first presented a model of the universe that placed the sun at the centre with the earth in orbit. Today, we know that the universe is much larger than Nicolaus Copernicus (the Polish polymath clergyman) or Aristarchus of Samos (the Greek mathematician) even thought possible, as revolutionary as their theses were in their time. And we know this thanks to the advances in technology, mathematics, and physics that have broadened our perspective of the universe. We now know that we cannot know how big the universe is today; we can only estimate the size of the observable universe. Next Wave continues after this ad. PalmPay is a leading fintech platform focused on driving economic empowerment across Africa. Trusted by over 35 million Nigerians and 1.1 million businesses. Start enjoying a 99.9% transaction success rate with Palmpay. Sign up here. But What does an essay about technology businesses in Africa have to do with ancient astronomy or the size of the universe? Africa’s leading technology businesses are now quickly growing through geocentric and heliocentric perspectives of what scale means for them. This comes with all the chaos and missteps you can expect from anyone who navigates fluid systems. Ptolemy, the ancient philosopher and mathematician, was mistaken
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – A star’s exit
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Happy new week! Before you dive into today’s edition, please take a minute or two to move TC Daily from your Promotions folder into your Main/Primary folder so you don’t miss any of our important coverage. On mobile, click the button on the top-right corner and select “Move”, and on desktop, just drag and drop this email. Thank you! Techstars Lagos shuts down Egypt gets a ‘B’ rating Piggyvest report says Nigerians are feeling the squeeze World Wide Web 3 Jobs Venture Capital Techstars Lagos shuts down Techstars Lagos with portfolio companies/Image Source: Techstars Lagos Last week, Techstars, one of the world’s most active accelerators shutdown Techstars Lagos. Launched in 2022 in partnership with ARM Labs, Techstars Lagos aimed to support and accelerate the growth of early-stage technology startups in Nigeria. It invested $2.4 million across 24 companies including CDCare, Jump n Pass, and GetEquity, with each startup receiving up to $120,000 in funding. Despite its modest pace of dealmaking, it’s calling a close to its time in Lagos. Depending on who you speak to, there are two theories for why Techstars Lagos is closing. The first is that its partnership with ARM abruptly ended. It is unclear what the terms of the partnership were so this theory is a little shaky. The other theory is that Techstars is tweaking its strategy. “We are focusing on the biggest tech ecosystems and phasing out some accelerator programmes in a few smaller venture markets,” the company said in a February interview. That move may be tied to a need to improve cost discipline. Techstars made a loss in 2023 and laid off 7% of its workforce as part of possible moves to rein in cost. Read Moniepoint’s Case Study on Funding Women After losing their mother, Azeezat and her siblings struggled to keep Olaiya Foods afloat. Now, with Moniepoint, they’re transforming Nigeria’s local buka scene. Click here for a deep dive into how Moniepoint is helping her and other women entrepreneurs overcome their funding challenges. Economy Egypt rated as having a stable investment outlook Egypt president Abd el-Fattah el-Sisi/Image Source: Times of Israel Fitch Ratings, one of the world’s top credit rating agencies, has raised Egypt’s credit status from a ‘B-’ to a ‘B’ rating. According to Fitch, this is a ‘stable’ outlook for Egypt’s economy. The rating, which is usually relied upon by investors to buy bonds and make lending decisions to a country, was due to several state-backed projects which stabilised growth in the country. Inflation in Egypt has also moderated in 2024, offering some relief to the country’s economy. Getting a credit upgrade like Egypt will lower the borrowing cost for any country, yet, it doesn’t automatically mean they’re off the hook. For Egypt, which suffered a debt crisis in 2023 after going on a borrowing spree, the fundamentals—like its high debt-to-GDP ratio, reliance on imports, and its limited foreign cash reserves—still show the underlying issue for the country. Egypt has also been impacted by regional conflicts that have reduced tourism activity and tanked the earnings by at least 25%. In 2024, Egypt has shifted its strategy to power projects and attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) through its partnerships with companies like Siemens and Huawei. Inflation in Egypt has slowed from 35.7% to 26.4% since the start of the year, likely impacting the country’s consumer price index (CPI), which tracks the price changes of consumer goods. The CPI itself declined from 29.8% to 26.4% between January and September 2024. This has freed up disposable income for consumers that spend money on activities that bring back money to the government. The upsides seem high for investors, as Egypt has shown more commitment this year to avoid a default. Issue USD and Euro accounts with Fincra Whether you run an online marketplace, a remittance fintech, a payroll, a freelance platform or a cross-border payment app, Fincra’s multicurrency account API allows you to instantly create accounts in USD and EUR for customers without the stress of setting up a local account. Get started today. Economy Piggyvest report says Nigerians are feeling the squeeze Image Source: Wunmi Eunice/TechCabal In 2023, Piggyvest shared a savings report that surveyed 100 respondents. That survey and the subsequent report aimed to show how Nigerians are spending, managing and saving money. This year, the savings report is more ambitious, surveying 10,000 people and showing us that things have gotten a lot more dire. Data analysts may argue that the sample size could be bigger and may ask questions of the methodology, yet the report throws up some useful insights. The report revealed that only 1 in 100 Nigerians spends ₦1 million ($609) or more in a month. Additionally, the report claimed that nearly 65% of Nigerians earn less than ₦100,000 ($61) a month. With headline inflation squeezing pockets, it’s no surprise that Nigerians aren’t saving as much as 2023. Read the report here. CRYPTO TRACKER The World Wide Web3 Source: Coin Name Current Value Day Month Bitcoin $69,034.51 + 0.56% + 11.42% Ether $2,468.29 + 0.47% + 2.57% Grass $1.66 + 15.97% + 104.97% Solana $167.57 – 0.46% + 14.08% * Data as of 06:00 AM WAT, November 4, 2024. Jobs Platos Health – Product Marketing Manager – Lagos, Nigeria Flutterwave – Backend Engineer, Frontend Engineer, Compliance Officer – Hybrid (Lagos, Nigeria) Jobberman Nigeria – Digital Marketer – Lagos, Nigeria KPMG Nigeria – Strategy Consultant – Abuja, Nigeria Renmoney – Growth Manager, Head of Legal & Compliance, Head of Contact Centre – Lagos, Nigeria Nosmas – Full stack Developer – Lagos, Nigeria Earnipay – Digital Marketing Specialist, Content Marketing Specialist – Hybrid (Lagos, Nigeria) Paystack – Finance and Strategy Specialist – Lagos, Nigeria Norebase – Finance Lead – Remote (Nigeria) Startbutton – Digital Marketing Associate – Hybrid (Lagos, Nigeria) Qore – Product Manager – Lagos, Nigeria Get 60% off Google Workspace for a Year Start on Google Workspace with a 60% discount on your monthly subscription and
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2024 fully funded university scholarship for female Nigerians
The TKM Foundation has announced its 2024 Girls Only University Scholarship, a fully funded opportunity tailored to empower young Nigerian women from financially constrained backgrounds. The scholarship programme provides comprehensive financial support, covering tuition, accommodation, essential academic resources, and living expenses to aid financially disadvantaged young women to pursue higher education without financial hurdles. Here’s a breakdown of key details, from eligibility criteria to application deadlines. Eligibility for the TKM 2024 fully funded university scholarship for female Nigerians For new applicants Financial need: Applicants must be from a low-income background, with supporting documentation. University admission: Only students with JAMB admission letters to a Nigerian federal university are eligible. Exclusivity: Must not be receiving any other academic grants. References: Applicants must submit references from credible sources attesting to their financial need. For renewal applicants (Returning Beneficiaries) Academic standards: Must maintain a GPA of at least 2.0 on a 4.0 scale or 3.0 on a 5.0 scale.you Continued financial need: Renewing applicants must still meet financial need requirements. Recent references: Proof of financial need is important, using latest references. Exclusive scholarship: Beneficiaries cannot hold any other academic grants simultaneously. Application process TKM Foundation’s 2024 fully funded University scholarship for Nigerians application involves three simple steps: Prepare documents You will need to draft a 1000-word essay explaining why you deserve this scholarship. You are encouraged to include any achievements in academics and other areas, along with personal qualities or experiences that make you uniquely deserving of this opportunity. Do not forget to show your background and financial needs. Collect admission letter, proof of financial need(your bank statements, your parent’s or guardians’, or siblings’, references, and academic transcripts (for renewal applications). Fill out online form Visit TKM’s dedicated application portal and complete the form, uploading all necessary documents. Submit application Once all materials are uploaded, submit your application via the portal. Applicants will receive a confirmation email upon submission. Selection process TKM Foundation’s review focuses on financial need and academic merit. After an initial document review, selected candidates may be invited for an interview. Successful applicants will be notified via email, with announcements also made on the foundation’s website and social media channels. Application window for the TKM 2024 fully funded University scholarship for female Nigerians The 2024 fully funded University scholarship for Nigerians 2024 application window runs from November 1st, 2024, to December 31st, 2024. Early application is strongly encouraged to enhance selection chances. Why you may want to apply This scholarship offers more than financial support. It connects beneficiaries to a supportive community committed to their success, with guidance throughout their studies and career opportunities after graduation. Final thoughts TKM Foundation’s fully funded University scholarship for Nigerians, 2024, is a transformative opportunity. For young women eager to overcome financial barriers to education, this scholarship is a gateway to academic and personal growth. To apply or learn more, visit the TKM Foundation Scholarship Application Page.
Read MoreKenya’s KCB Bank completes IT infrastructure migration to tier III data centre
KCB Group, Kenya’s largest bank with a market capitalisation of $963.3 million (KES 124 billion), has completed the migration of its IT infrastructure to iColo, a tier III data centre. The migration from on-premise infrastructure to iColo’s facilities in Karen and Gigiri, Nairobi, began in 2022. Two people familiar with the matter told TechCabal that the migration was motivated by a need to control costs. The bank had been incurring millions of shillings on power, cooling, and uptime for its in-house data centre. It is unclear what cost savings KCB will achieve through this colocation migration since no specific projections or estimates have been provided. KCB declined to comment on this story. Before the move to colocation, KCB ran all its services on-premises. However, some services, such as Exchange, which offers currency exchange, online trading, and international money transfers, are hosted on Microsoft Azure, and plans are in place to move other services to AWS. “This transition involved moving to a professionally managed colocation facility,” one person familiar with the migration process and who asked not to be named so he could speak freely told TechCabal Colocated data centres, like iColo, provide shared spaces within larger facilities where multiple companies lease space. This allows such companies to benefit from shared services and infrastructure. “Colocation offers a more cost-effective solution compared to building and maintaining an independent data centre. Banks can achieve economies of scale by sharing common resources,” a banking executive, who also wished not to be named, told TechCabal. KCB isn’t the only Kenyan bank to choose this model. According to an industry insider, Equity Bank and NCBA have been using colocated facilities over the last few years to manage costs, signalling a growing trend among local banks to favour off-site data centre solutions. Kenyan banks have also began upgrading their core banking applications. In October, Stanbic upgraded its core platform, Temenos, to version R24. KCB uses Temenos for traditional banking and recently updated it to version R21 for its Rwandan operations. However, KCB uses Sopra, a different core system for digital banking services.
Read MoreTechstars Lagos shuts down after two years and 24 investments
Two years after launching its accelerator program in Nigeria, ARM Labs Lagos Techstars, also known as Techstars Lagos has shut down. It will also discontinue the third cohort program, which began in March 2024. Techstars’ global Chief Brand and Communications Officer, Matthew Grossman, confirmed the shutdown in an email. “Techstars’ partnership with ARM Labs has ended, and we will not proceed with a third ARM Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator Program. The first two cohorts featured outstanding companies and founders, supported by a dedicated group of mentors,” Grossman said. The 24 founders and their companies funded by ARM Labs Lagos Techstars will remain Techstars portfolio companies and continue to have access to and support from the global Techstars network. “We remain optimistic about collaborating with the local startup community to maintain our presence in this vibrant innovation hub,” Grossman said. Techstars, a global venture capital accelerator with over 4,500 portfolio companies, partnered with Nigerian-based ARM Labs to bring its three-month program to Lagos for the first time in December 2022. The program, ARM Labs Lagos Techstars, ran two cohorts, bringing 24 startups under Techstars’ portfolio. Each startup received up to $120,000 in funding. By 2024, Techstars had invested about $2.4 million in startups, including Surge Africa, Rana, PressOne Africa, Jump n Pass, GetEquity, Beauty Hut Africa, Oystr Finance, Keza Africa, Keble, and Flick, among others. “I will continue to operate in the African venture ecosystem,” wrote Managing Director Oyin Solebo in a farewell letter dated September 20, 2024. Program Manager Oluwadunmi Fanibe moved on in August to join Google as a Mentor.
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FIRS job application 2024 now officially open – Apply here now
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has officially launched its job application portal for 2024 as earlier announced. With a vision of empowering Nigeria’s workforce and boosting its tax administration, FIRS is actively seeking candidates for Tax Officer positions, Officer I and Officer II, across several Nigerian states. Below, we outline all essential details including the eligibility criteria, application locations, and the steps for successfully applying. Available Positions and Locations Position titles: Officer I and Officer II in Tax Administration. Locations: Applications are open for roles in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Ekiti, Lagos, and Oyo states. Candidates should select their preferred location during the application process. Eligibility criteria for FIRS job application 2024 Age Limit: Candidates must be aged 27 or younger by 31st December 2024. NYSC Completion: Candidates must have completed the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme no later than 31st December 2021. Required qualifications for the FIRS job application 2024 To be eligible for the FIRS 2024 recruitment, applicants need to meet educational requirements and possess specific academic qualifications: A Bachelor’s Degree or Higher National Diploma (HND) in First Class or Second Class Upper Division. Accepted fields include, but are not limited to, Accounting, Actuarial Science, Business Information Systems, Computer Science, Economics, Engineering, Law, Management, Mathematics, and Visual Arts. Additional qualifications such as relevant master’s degrees and professional affiliations (e.g., ICAN, ACCA, ANAN, COREN, NSE) are considered advantageous. Application Process The FIRS job application 2024 process is straightforward, ensuring accessibility for all interested candidates: Application portal: Candidates should visit the FIRS official recruitment portal at firs.gov.ng/careers to submit their applications. The portal is active from 12:00 am on 2nd November 2024. Step-by-Step Guide: Register on the FIRS portal, complete the application form, and upload relevant documents as required. Candidates must choose only one location from the specified states for their application. Important considerations Fraud prevention: FIRS urges candidates to avoid unofficial recruitment channels and cautions against fraudulent platforms. Applications are only accepted on the official FIRS website. Inclusivity: FIRS encourages women, minorities, and persons with disabilities to apply, aiming for a diverse and inclusive workforce. Placement flexibility: While candidates can apply for a specified location, FIRS may place successful candidates in any of its operational locations across Nigeria. What to expect after application FIRS will shortlist candidates who meet the specified requirements. Shortlisted individuals may undergo further assessments, including aptitude tests, interviews, and medical exams. This rigorous selection process ensures that only qualified and capable individuals join the FIRS team. Final thoughts on FIRS job application 2024 The FIRS job application 2024 presents an exciting opportunity for young Nigerian professionals. With roles across diverse locations and a streamlined application process, FIRS aims to attract a broad talent pool committed to enhancing Nigeria’s tax administration system.
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Compliance hires are hot commodity
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Welcome to November! On Thursday, a scientist demonstrated how to teach a computer to “smell” by replicating the scent of an orchid. Now, Meta is developing a robot hand that can “feel” touch. Unlike most devices, this robot hand can sense and measure tiny shifts in pressure from any direction on its fingertip, capturing how it deforms when pressed, tapped, or moved across surfaces. This advanced sense of touch could help scientists create more realistic and responsive robots. It’s increasingly looking like light years of robo-technology happening in 2024 already. In other news, OpenAI launched ChatGPT search, a feature that provides users with “timely answers” by searching for information online. Nigerian fintechs ramp up compliance hiring CBN wants banks to seek approval before changing CBA Kenya’s largest bank KCB completes moving customer data offline Zenith Bank joins the trillion-naira club Funding Tracker World Wide Web 3 Jobs Banking Compliance officers are the new gold in Nigeria Image Source: Google After the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) paused new account openings in April, Kuda Bank, Moniepoint, OPay, and Palmpay have been on a hiring spree, poaching fraud monitoring and compliance analysts from banks and rivals to beef up their compliance and fraud teams. Moniepoint has expanded its transaction monitoring team by five and hired at least a dozen compliance employees since May. They also poached two seasoned pros from OPay and another from Flutterwave. OPay also grew its legal team, and Palmpay welcomed six compliance staff, including a senior manager with over a decade at Union Bank. Kuda has onboarded three compliance analysts and a manager from the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement Scheme (NIBSS). These hirings mark a shift from the industry’s previous stance, where compliance was often seen as a pesky hurdle to rapid growth. Before the ban, fintechs chased swift customer acquisition, sometimes at the expense of stringent Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols. But with the CBN’s crackdown, which came with a stern warning about KYC measures, the fintechs have hired at least thirty compliance staff between them to increase how they monitor transactions and manage customers. “The central bank wants fintechs to be more compliant, and they need more hands to make that happen,” someone familiar with the hiring patterns of the fintechs told TechCabal. It’s not just about appeasing regulators; investors are also keen on ensuring their crown jewels are not wading into murky regulatory waters. Will this compliance overdrive be enough to reduce fraud and appease regulators? Only time—and perhaps a few more hires—will tell. For now, compliance officers are the new must-have employees in Nigeria’s fintech industry. Read Moniepoint’s Case Study on Funding Women After losing their mother, Azeezat and her siblings struggled to keep Olaiya Foods afloat. Now, with Moniepoint, they’re transforming Nigeria’s local buka scene. Click here for a deep dive into how Moniepoint is helping her and other women entrepreneurs overcome their funding challenges. Banking CBN wants banks to seek approval before changing core banking application CBN chief Olayemi Cardoso/Image Source: Premium Times Nigeria If you are a bank customer in Nigeria, the last couple of months have been tough. Bank apps have struggled with service disruption and other channels inaccessible. Several banks coincidentally decided to change their core banking software around the same time. While these technological changes are necessary, they are badly timed for millions of customers. Depending on who you ask, switching a core banking software is hard and could negatively impact customers—as we have seen since the second half of 2024. Yet, there is a need to regulate the process to protect customers who have to grapple with downtimes and service disruptions. Unsurprisingly, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has now stepped in. Two people familiar with the matter told TechCabal that the CBN has directed commercial banks to get regulatory approval before changing their core banking software. The CBN has a responsibility to protect customers as the regulator, leaving many to wonder why it took so long before it intervened. Some have also questioned why the regulator didn’t fine the banks involved. Given how the last few months have been, the directive is a much-needed succour for customers. Interesting days ahead. Issue USD and Euro accounts with Fincra Whether you run an online marketplace, a remittance fintech, a payroll, a freelance platform or a cross-border payment app, Fincra’s multicurrency account API allows you to instantly create accounts in USD and EUR for customers without the stress of setting up a local account. Get started today. Banking Kenya’s KCB completes customer data transfer to an off-site facility Image Source: Bloomberg Kenya’s largest bank, KCB Group, has officially completed its data migration to iColo, a local data centre. This strategic move, which took two years to finalise, aims to reduce operational costs by shifting its data, including account and transaction details, from its on-premise infrastructure to iColo’s facilities in Karen and Gigiri, Nairobi. While KCB didn’t share specific cost savings projections, industry experts believe that colocation offers a more cost-effective solution compared to building and maintaining an independent data centre. By sharing common resources, banks can achieve economies of scale. KCB isn’t alone in this trend. Other Kenyan banks, such as Equity Bank and NCBA, have also adopted colocation strategies to manage costs. Additionally, Kenyan banks are actively upgrading their core banking applications to enhance efficiency and customer experience. Stanbic Bank recently upgraded its Temenos platform, while KCB has updated its Temenos system for its Rwandan operations and uses Sopra for its digital banking services. Introducing Paystack Transfers in Kenya Paystack merchants in Kenya can now send single and bulk transfers to any Kenyan bank or MPESA account (including customer wallets, Paybills, and Tills) Learn more → Banking Zenith Bank joins the trillion-naira club Image Source: Google Zenith Bank reported a record-breaking pre-tax profit of ₦1 trillion ($609 million) for the first nine months of 2024, marking a 98.57% increase from the ₦505 billion ($307 million) the bank reported
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