This Swedish non-profit has big dreams for tech startups in Kigali
Sweden’s Norrsken Foundation hopes a $20 million investment in its first hub outside Stockholm will birth Rwanda’s first impact unicorn. On Wednesday 8 November 2023, Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame formally opened Norrsken House Kigali. The 4,400-square-metre campus is a $20 million bet by Sweden’s Norrsken Foundation that Kigali will become a nerve centre for African technology companies. “Rwanda is an excellent testbed and a proof-of-concept hub,” said Niklas Adalberth, the 42-year-old founder and chairman of the Norrsken Foundation in his keynote address. If the Kigali hub is successful, Norrsken will set up similar hubs in other countries. The foundation defines success as being the home for billion-dollar impact businesses and a thriving community of companies that could create profitable businesses that are a net positive for the planet. It’s a big win for Rwanda; with a gross domestic product of around $13 billion and growing public debt, the country needs private-sector investment. “The country can be small but the value we create can be very high,” president Kagame told guests at Norrsken Africa Week. Adalberth was only 24 when he co-founded Klarna, the Buy-Now-Pay-Later company that is Europe’s most valuable private company. Adalberth exited the company in 2016 and founded the Norrsken Foundation to support impact businesses. Since then he has progressively sold down his stake in Klarna to less than 1%. Half of the proceeds were committed as an initial investment into the Norrsken Foundation. Since its creation in 2016, Norrsken’s house in Stockholm has become the centre of the city’s impact entrepreneurship space in a country that is considered Europe’s impact hub. By bringing the right mix of investors, entrepreneurs, and talent, the foundation hopes to recreate the same success in Kigali. Built on the former site of École Belge de Kigali, a Belgian school founded in 1965, the Kigali campus is the second such hub the foundation has put up since it acquired one of the grand halls of an old tram station in downtown Stockholm for its first facility. Two weeks ago, the foundation opened its third house, a 3-storey, 10,000-square-metre building in Barcelona, Spain. The Kigali campus which has been operational since January 2022 hosts roughly 1200 members, East Africa director, Pascal Murasira said at Norrsken Africa Week. The event is Norrsken’s first impact entrepreneurship and investment meeting held outside Stockholm. Wooing capital to Kigali Two weeks ago, Norrsken22, an independently managed African growth-stage VC announced it had raised $205 million to invest in growth-stage tech companies in Africa. Last week, Norrsken22 partners were part of fund managers at Norrsken Africa Week. An event the Norrsken Foundation said was organised to bring capital allocators and tech founders together in person. The Norrsken Foundation is a founding partner of Norrsken22. This first Africa event was held in the Norrsken campus in Kigali on the 8th and 9th of November. More than 1,500 entrepreneurs, investors, government officials, and academia from Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and across Africa attended the 2-day networking-focused meeting. The event also brought together the different arms of the Norrsken Foundation, including Norrsken22, the $205 million Africa-focused growth stage fund, and Africa Seed Fund, an early-stage investment outfit. African startups that had been part of the Norrsken Accelerator, a global impact-focused accelerator based in Stockholm were also represented by their founders. Kigali’s big push for private capital Since 2009 Rwanda has aggressively sought to position itself as a diversified investment hub in East Africa. In recent years, the focus moved to tech investments. A $30 million Rwanda Innovation Fund backed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) was launched in 2021 to invest in funds and directly back tech companies in East Africa. Per Statista, Rwandan tech startups raised only $1.9 million in 2022, a year when African startups raised the most ever. It was a decline from 2021’s $6.8 million figure. 2023 has been better. Kasha, a Rwandan startup raised $21 million in Series B funding, and Eden Care, a Rwandan insuretech became the first from the country to be accepted into YCombinator, the famed San Francisco-based accelerator program. Making Kigali a leading finance hub is a key part of president Kagame’s economic reform program. Convincing investors to invest in the country remains challenging. But the country’s new financial centre wants even more. It wants investment funds to be incorporated in the country and has created a special fintech program that boasts Flutterwave, Onafriq (formerly MFS Africa), Chippercash, NALA, and recently, Paystack as members. Just before Norrsken Africa Week, it hosted a breakfast meeting for investors. One early-stage investor who had attended the meeting told TechCabal that her firm was still weighing their options. Another early-stage investor said her VC firm was in the process of setting up a new fund in Rwanda and scouting for office space. They favour Norrsken, which is home to at least 3 other VC firms (Katapault, Angaza Capital, and Renew Capital). Earlier this year, on the sidelines of the Inclusive Fintech Forum, the Africa Business Angels Network (ABAN) and Kigali International Financial Centre signed an MoU to pave the way for the network to set up its catalytic Africa fund in Kigali. Entrepreneurs also suffer from indecision. One e-logistics startup founder who spoke with TechCabal was impressed with Kigali, but still weighing options. A location that facilitated access to capital without being too far from the business operations was ideal. “It’s a chicken and egg problem,” the founder conceded.
Read MoreEden Life is staking its future on an e-commerce marketplace in crucial rejig
Eden Life is launching an e-commerce marketplace for vendors to sell products in categories such as food, medicine, beauty, and cosmetics. Eden Life, the Nigerian home service platform that provides laundry, cleaning, and meal-delivery services, is launching a new marketplace product as part of its broader strategy to expand into the larger retail market. The marketplace will allow vendors and small businesses in categories like beauty and cosmetics, electronics, food, and medicine to sign up to sell on the platform. “Our vision is to 10x the quality of life. Marketplace will enable us to scale our vision to 10x the quality of life across Africa,” said Deji Adeleye, the head of marketing at Eden. In response to the dwindling purchasing power in Nigeria, Eden Life has been forced to rejig its model. The company launched in 2019 as a home management service to “improve people’s lives” by outsourcing their laundry, house cleaning, and meal delivery needs to vetted professionals. But its subscription model and cost have cut it from a larger market. In 2021, Eden Life had a customer base of around 600 people paying an average subscription of ₦42,000 monthly, 40% higher than Nigeria’s minimum wage. Its CEO, Nadayar Enegesi, envisioned the company as a concierge for busy Nigerian professionals. But this focus leaves Eden Life susceptible to subscriber loss as an increasing number of the country’s middle class relocate abroad in one of the worst brain drains since the 1980s. However, Eden Life has been testing new verticals in an expansion move to shore up its customer base. In July, the company launched Homemade by Eden, a quick-service restaurant. Now, it is adding more categories to its e-commerce model, as Nigeria’s e-commerce market is expected to hit $16 billion by 2028, according to a report by RationalStat, a market intelligence firm. Eden Life’s entry into e-commerce means it will compete against market leader Jumia and its rival Konga. “[We want] to be bigger than Jumia,” the company said. The company will charge a commission on the sales made on its marketplace, betting on a wide range of vendors and customers who get onboarded. But Eden Life’s e-commerce efforts will rely heavily on an efficient logistics model. In a flash promotion for its quick-service restaurant in late July, its online platform collapsed after it promised to deliver a variety of meals for just N1,000. On the backend, the company expected no more than 400 orders, which tracks closely with its subscriber numbers, but it received nearly 2,500 orders within 24 hours, which put pressure on fulfillment abilities. The company said it has learned from this experience and will work with more delivery partners to fulfill food and non-food orders on its new e-commerce platform, where order volume could soar to tens of thousands if the service gets off the ground. “We’ve partnered with specific fleets and businesses, and we’re growing our database of riders and delivery services in order to ensure that our customers get their orders by the time they need it,” Olumide Yomi-Omolayo, Eden Life’s Brand Manager, told TechCabal. Additionally, the product infrastructure will allow vendors access to a dashboard to generate discount vouchers for specific customers, get ranked in their various categories, see locations where customers are ordering from and best-selling products, handle requests, and get feedback. Vendors also have access to information on the kind of customers that are buying from them. Customers who want to buy from the marketplace can be assured of safe payments, be able to monitor their orders in real-time and enjoy other services from Eden.
Read MoreEyowo stalls resumption of banking services again
Six months after the CBN revoked its license, Eyowo, one of Nigeria’s oldest digital banks, remains unsure of when it will resume its banking services. Eyowo, the Nigerian fintech startup that had its license suspended by the Central Bank, has stalled a resumption of banking operations, raising existential questions about one of the country’s earliest digital banking players. The CBN’s revocation of the fintech’s MFB license over possible non-compliance left many Eyowo customers unable to withdraw their deposits for six months. [ad] The startup is blaming the delays on “follow-on” processes it needs to conclude, such as changing its name and relisting on NIBSS, the country’s central switch. “These changes are heavily dependent on third-party collaborations and not completely under our time control,” a statement shared by the company on X read. Three weeks after the CBN revoked Eyowo’s MFB license, the company partnered with Providus Bank to enable its tier 2 and tier 3 customers to withdraw their deposits. TechCabal was unable to confirm how many users have been able to withdraw their deposits through this partnership, but the company’s posts on social media continue to receive complaints from customers who say they have been unable to withdraw their money. TechCabal also learned that some Eyowo users resorted to using their deposits to buy airtime on the platform and redeeming it for cash on other platforms like Palmpay. [ad] Eyowo has undergone more operational changes since it lost its license. While fending off shutdown speculations, it let go of 11% of its employees.
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Next Wave: Maybe Africa needs to pause its rush to adopt digital IDs
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 12 November 2023 African governments are pushing for digital IDs without informing people of their privacy implications. Many African countries plan to gradually phase out traditional IDs with digital alternatives. This transition has become commonplace in recent years as governments throughout the continent slowly call for digital identification. Key progress can be seen in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Rwanda. For instance, Kenya is making a second attempt at implementing digital IDs. The KES 10 billion ($66 million according to the current exchange rate) exercise, known as Huduma Namba, was discontinued after the ID system failed to appeal to locals. The second attempt is scheduled to start in a few weeks. While the Kenyan government claims that the digital ID won’t be mandatory, past experiences, especially those related to Huduma Namba, suggest otherwise. However, considering the adoption’s privacy implications, it is important to look into the reasons behind the rush to adopt digital IDs in Africa. It is also unclear to citizens of these countries what digital IDs mean for the people and the government regarding know-your-customer (KYC), financial inclusion, and tax compliance. Digital IDs could be a privacy headache While the idea of digital IDs stored in smartphones may initially seem attractive, digital isn’t always superior, especially when systems rely primarily on digital technology. It comes with opportunities and potential problems, especially if the transition is not carefully designed. Digital IDs could worsen inequalities in Africa. Millions of Africans, especially those in rural communities, lack smartphones. Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to have 689 million smartphone subscriptions by 2028, but in 2022, there were only 415 million subscriptions for a population of 1.18 billion. If digital identification is built into daily activities and processes concerning business and government, people without smartphones would be left behind. Africans must have the right to choose not to use digital IDs, both legally and practically. Partner Content: #PayazaHackathon 2.0: Calling all innovators to the 2023 Payaza hackathon A poorly designed digital identity system could become a privacy issue. One key concern about a digital identity system is the potential for centralised tracking. When a government agent examines your traditional non-digital ID, there is no automatic generation, retention, or sharing of a record of that inspection with the associated agency. However, such tracking is possible with digital IDs. Any electronic identity system allowing this type of tracking should be rejected. Article continues after this ad Join us at the #BluechipDataandAISummit: Building an Effective Data and AI Solution. Shape the future of your business and industry with data-driven intelligence, innovative solutions and sustainable growth. Secure your seat today There is another privacy concern arising from digital IDs verifiers, such as banks and other organisations that use KYC. Even if data isn’t sent back to the issuer of the ID (the African country the holder hails from), each time someone uses their ID, verifiers have the potential to record and compile information about these interactions. For instance, a group of banks could maintain an electronic log of every instance you use your ID. While they may not observe when you present your digital ID to others, they could track each time you share it with them, their corporate affiliates, or anyone with whom they have a data-sharing arrangement. In the process, these entities can gather a lot of personal information about the ID holder. The digitisation of IDs could make this process more automatic than it is now. Computer security challenges are harder to fix in the current world. Experts have said that attacking digital systems is often easier than defending them, as seen with leading tech companies and government agencies falling victim to hackers. While this shouldn’t discourage digitisation, it’s key to consider the consequences of successful cyberattacks, including their severity and who bears the burden. Companies sometimes neglect to protect their digital assets, leading to catastrophic customer outcomes. It would be worse if such attacks targeted digital ID systems, especially when African governments have yet to develop robust and formidable digital infrastructure. Lastly, privacy concerns arise when digital IDs require users to install government-related software on their phones, even if private contractors create these apps. To instil confidence, the source code of these apps should be transparent for public scrutiny, which will ensure they function correctly and securely. However, many private companies (Kenya’s digital ID system may be built by Estonian tech companies) may want to keep their code proprietary, which could lead to users trusting secret government code on their phones, especially if digital IDs are mandatory, which is unacceptable. Robust systems must be implemented Granted, a digital ID could enhance privacy by allowing users to selectively share only the necessary information from their identification, such as confirming their age without disclosing their full date of birth or other details. However, knowing what kind of data will be stored in the IDs is a challenge. In a Kenyan context, digital ID items might include health insurance, pension, employment, passport, birth and marriage certificates, among other documents. If data categories expand, it’s unclear whether privacy measures will be implemented immediately and according to new data sets. Policymakers in African countries considering digital IDs should remember that the documents are important for KYC, fraud reduction and detection, and financial inclusion. Therefore, they should assess the impact of optional or mandatory adoption and consider the ID’s long-term evolution. It is up to them to ensure that strong privacy safeguards are in place since success depends on robust implementation to boost privacy and empower individuals. Article continues after this ad Every Sunday Africa’s technology industry leaders, investors, operators, and regulators turn to Next Wave for insightful
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Fawry denies data breach
In partnership with Share this newsletter: Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Good morning If you’re still getting TC Daily in your Promotions folder, make sure to move us to your Main/Primary folder so you don’t miss anything. If you’re on a desktop, simply drag and drop this email. If you’re on mobile, click on the button at the top-right corner, and select “Move” and then “Primary”. In today’s edition Fawry denies data breach MTN Nigeria blames network glitch for debt cancellation SA says prisoners can use computers in cells A Pin-teresting and Humane AI development The World Wide Web3 Events Cybersecurity Fawry denies data breach Egyptian fintech giant Fawry has denied rumours that its systems were breached. On Friday, the company released a statement noting that a comprehensive review of its systems has shown no security breaches. What rumours? Last Thursday, cybersecurity monitors HackManac and FalconFeeds reported that ransomware group Lockbit had added Fawry to its list of targets. Screenshots provided by both cybersecurity firms also showed that the cybercrime group had given Fawry a November 28 deadline to pay a ransom or risk having its data released to the dark web. Image source: HackManac Lockbit, a cybercrime group active since 2019, is considered the world’s most active ransomware group. From June 2022 to July 2023 alone, the group accounted for 28% of the total ransomware attacks—about 1,046 victims—including Pendragon LLC. More recently, the group attacked international space contractor Boeing. It’s estimated that Lockbit has extorted over $100 million from victims in the US alone. Fawry crashes: After the threats were made public, the myFawry app, later on Thursday, crashed. The company, in its statement, claims that the hack was due to a bank run as customers rushed to withdraw funds and close their accounts. Officials from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) also confirmed that the fintech had suffered no data breaches. Per Fawry’s founder and CEO Ashraf Sabry, “Our systems could have been attacked and we are investigating the matter … but what is certain after reviewing the systems is that no data were hacked or withdrawn.” Zoom out: Following the scare, Fawry’s shares dipped by 4.6% on Thursday. The fintech, yesterday, reinstated its payments app and smart wallets and promised to verify the threats published. Access payments with Moniepoint Moniepoint has made it simple for your business to access payments while providing access to credit and other business tools. Open an account today here. Telecom MTN Nigeria blames network glitch for debt cancellation Image source: Zikoko Memes If any of our Nigerian readers woke up on Saturday morning to find that their BNPL airtime debts on MTN had been cleared, we have news for you: all na scam. What’s up? After several MTN users received confirmation messages that their debts on the network had been cleared, the telecoms announced that the disappearing debts were due to a system glitch. In an official statement, the telecom said that the glitch affected balance enquiries for some subscribers. “As a result, some customers may receive error messages showing that their balances have been cleared. This is not the case and all balances will reflect accurate figures once the problem is resolved. Our engineers are currently working to ensure this. Please accept our apologies. We regret the inconvenience.” No debts have been forgiven and all customers will have to repay. God forgives, but companies don’t: Already, Nigerians had taken to social media to commend the telecoms for its ingenuity, with tweets like this one stating that loan apps and other telecoms should follow suit and forgive all debts. It’s unlikely that this will happen as financial institutions across the country often report huge losses in non-performing loans. In 2022, for example, Kuda Bank lost about ₦2.6 billion ($2.6 million) to non-performing loans. Given this, Nigerians who are looking for forgiveness of any kind may have only the sky to look up to. Join the Paystack private beta Paystack has launched a private beta to offer payment tools to businesses in Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, and Rwanda. Learn more about Paystack’s entry into 3 new markets → Regulation South African prisoners can now use computers in cells Image source: YungNollywood South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal has ruled that prisoners who are registered students have the right to have and use computers in their cells…as long as it’s for study. How did this happen? A prisoner, Mbalenhle Sydney Ntuli, who is serving a 20-year sentence for robbery complained that his right to education was being infringed. Per Ntuli’s reps, he was struggling to complete a data processing course because he could not have computers in his cell where he spends most of his time. The plaintiffs argued that this contravenes Section 29 of South Africa’s Bill of Rights which provides prisoners with the right to future education. The minister of justice and the commissioner of correctional services countered, stating that this could constitute a security threat. Per the agents, computers could be paired with modems and allow the prisoners access to the internet. SCA Judge Unterhalter, however, countered stating that the prisoners’ use of computers can not pose an additional threat. “Prisoners who have smuggled cell phones into prison already have unauthorised access to the outside world. Whatever security risk that poses is already in place,” he said. A unanimous vote: The SCA unanimously voted that preventing the use of computers in cells is unconstitutional. The judges, however, gave conditions for use. The prisoners must be registered students; the computers must be used without modems; the computers are also subject to inspections, and breach of these rules, will lead to withdrawal of the computer. The prisoners must also provide the computers themselves as the prisons are under no obligation to bear the costs of the computers. South Africa’s correctional services also have 12 months to revise all policies depriving prisoners of these rights. Wrap-up: The case brings to mind the age-long argument about the purpose of punishment: retribution or
Read More5th edition of Next Fintech Forum to be held in Abidjan
Now in its fifth year, Abidjan’s Next Fintech Forum (NFF), one of the largest fintech events in Francophone Africa, is organising its event around the theme “Fintech and Commerce: How Fintech will shape commerce in Francophone Africa”, on November 16th and 17th at the Radisson Blu, Abidjan. “We want to make francophone fintech an attractive market for innovators, big techs, and investors, and develop DFIs to improve financial inclusion. Develop an inclusive and multi-stakeholder crucible for reflection,” Alex Sea, founder and director of Next Fintech Forum, told TechCabal. As the startup economy becomes continent-wide, national ecosystems have turned to events to showcase their progress and attract talent and investors to establish themselves as serious participants in Africa’s tech ecosystem. In Morroco, GITEX, the world’s biggest tech show, held its first event in Africa, where the government selected 100 startups from its startup development programme to demonstrate the country’s startup ambitions, while this week Uganda’s government is hosting an investor summit to attract investors as the race for East Africa’s second-biggest tech ecosystem heats up. With the support of the Ivorian government, NFF is following the same playbook by bringing together commercial banks, investors, and startups to discuss industry issues and opportunities and network. This year, the forum is adding a fintech academia summit where African scholars from different countries and areas of expertise can deliberate on fintech solutions and develop curricula adapted to Africa’s job market. The summit will also allow these scholars to catalyse the digital transformation of the financial sector through research, education, and cooperation. According to Sea, “This year, the NFF will give opportunities to players to discover the potential of trade catalysed by financial technologies in francophone Africa through an exhibition of opportunities. The presence of stakeholders in the value chain opens the door to discovering and highlighting national projects and regional ones, by making it possible to meet decision-makers and innovators, which will help traders understand and appropriate the technologies. This will allow them to be more efficient and develop their income, meet fintech founders.” In addition, as Africa’s blockchain industry has been beset by startup closures and setbacks over the past year, the forum will hold its first-ever blockchain hackathon, bringing together enthusiasts of blockchain technology to take on the challenge of coming up with creative solutions that have the potential to be funded and implemented. The forum will also feature around twenty discussions, workshops, panels, and master classes. Abidjan’s growth as a tech hub in the region has grown with healthy competition from Dakar, and the NFF’s contribution to attracting funding for the ecosystem has seen a significant rise since its inception. “Activities on the NFF have enabled geographical growth opportunities for players; assistance agreements between players have been signed, and we have also seen fundraising and investment promises amounting to more than $100 million,” Sea told TechCabal.
Read More$500m Wigwe University ushers Access Bank CEO into the circle of university owners
Herbert Wigwe, co-founder of Access Bank—the country’s biggest bank by assets—is building a $500 million eponymous university in his hometown in Nigeria’s oil-rich Rivers State. Wigwe told Bloomberg this week that Wigwe University will offer undergraduate courses in management, science and engineering, information technology, and creative arts. Wigwe is borrowing from the playbook of wealthy Nigerians like Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president, by venturing into tertiary education. The license for the university was approved by the Nigeria University Commission in June, bringing the total number of universities in Nigeria to 238, of which 79 are state-run and 147 are private. With 1,400 students expected to be enrolled next year, Wigwe is betting that by leveraging technology, the institution will offer the same quality of education as universities in the US and UK—where he plans to recruit 30% of teaching staff. Wigwe told BusinessDay that the university has built a power plant to supply electricity to the university and will use holograms and artificial intelligence to ensure a hybrid system for students. But like other private-run universities, it is expensive for one of the world’s poorest countries. It will cost a student about $12,500 and 3.5 million naira ($4,171) every year to attend Wigwe University. The demand for education in Africa’s most populous country far outweighs the supply, as there are only 238 universities to cater to 100 million young people. This has led to an education problem where 20% of out-of-school children globally are from Nigeria. uLesson—Nigeria’s biggest and most capitalised edtech startup founded by Sim Shagaya—recently matriculated students of its online university Miva Open University. The argument about the scalability of education in Nigeria, considering the country’s infrastructural challenges, is valid. Wigwe, who has decades of experience in the banking sector, also hopes to train the “next set of leaders in banking” and will recruit some of the country’s notable business tycoons, including Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote, to teach at the varsity. Wigw University will be led by Professor Miles Davis, the former president of a private university in the United States, as the Vice-Chancellor, and Professor Nelson Uzoechi-Uzoma Alino, a former professor of accounting at Quinnipiac University, as the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Administration, and Professor Dal Didia, a former professor of economics at Jackson State University, as the deputy vice-chancellor of academics.
Read MoreMultiChoice invests a further $27 million into Showmax relaunch
MultiChoice, the pan-African broadcaster that reported $131m in revenue in 2022, has invested R500 million (~$27 million) in Showmax, its streaming service, ahead of a late-2024 relaunch. This is according to a statement the company released on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on November 9. Showmax 2.0 will launch on a specialised technology platform on the US streaming service, Peacock, according to the company’s filings. “It also incorporates the higher investment in Showmax, primarily related to dual platform costs that will normalise once customers have been migrated from the current platform to the new Peacock platform,” MultiChoice said. The company will pay R247 million (~$13 million) to license the use of that technology for seven years after Showmax 2.0 launch. Peacock, which will host ‘Showmax 2.0’, increases prices for the first time Increased investments into Showmax will reduce trading profit by as much as R1.3 billion (~$70 million) as the company releases half-year results next week, MultiChoice told its shareholders. Other expenses including a 16% increase in local content investment, also contributed to the trading losses. The company’s share price, which is down 43% year-on-year, fell by as much as 5% after the announcement. The company’s half-year results for the period ended September 30, 2023, will be released on November 15. MultiChoice share price has plunged by almost 50% in the last six months Key Takeaways MultiChoice invested a further R500 million (~$27 million) into Showmax revamp. The investment contributed to a projected R1.3 billion (~$70 million) loss in trading profit in the first half of FY2023. Showmax 2.0 is scheduled for launch in the second half of FY2024. In April, Multichoice announced a partnership with US media giant COMCAST, owners of NBCUniversal, and its UK counterpart SKY to create “Showmax 2.0”. Showmax 2.0 would be a new platform powered by Peacock—70% owned by MultiChoice and 30% (stake sold for $30 million) owned by the aforementioned UK and US partners. The first iteration of Showmax was launched in April 2015 and as the platform struggles to keep up with global players like Netflix, it hopes a revamped Showmax might accelerate that process. According to data from research firm Digital TV Research, Netflix is projected to clock seven million subscribers on the continent by 2028 while Showmax will reach just over 2 million. Multichoice relaunching Showmax through a partnership with NBCUniversal and Sky MultiChoice has big ambitions for Showmax 2.0. It states it wants to make Showmax the biggest streaming platform on the continent, forecasting $1 billion in revenue in five years, trading profit breakeven by 2027, as well as a 25% EBITDA margin, and 20% free cash flow margins, both at scale. Additionally, Multichoice has also bumped up its growth expectations of the platform by a multiple of three by 2032 and content production by a multiple of 10 by 2033. This is not the first time that MultiChoice has officially announced the impact of the Showmax 2.0 investment in its operations and shareholders. In its annual results released on 31 March, the company announced that it would withhold dividends to shareholders to make further investments into Showmax.
Read MoreUganda joins East Africa’s push to attract tech investors
Uganda, the landlocked Pearl of Africa, held an investor summit today as it joins the race to be East Africa’s tech destination of choice. The summit was led by the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Monica Musenero; the presence of President Yoweri Museveni, who announced a $150 million fund for science and technology and 10-year tax exemptions for innovative companies, signaled that a tech push is now government’s priority. “We are here to learn from you. Why aren’t you investing in Uganda?” asked David Gonahasa, founder of Tripesa and a champion of Uganda’s push for investment visibility. He posed his question to an impressive lineup of investors: Uwem Uwemakpan of Launch Africa, Tobi Oke of V8 Capital, Nela Duke Ekpenyong of Ingressive, Ryosuke Yamawaki, a Partner at Verod Kepple Capital Africa, and Eric Osiakwan of Chanzo Capital. Yewande Odumosu, fund manager at Hoaq Capital, Ruby Nimkar and Kunmi Demuren of Greentree Capital were also in the audience of some 200-odd people. With over 400 portfolio companies, these investors have only two Ugandan investments between them. While Tobi Oke said Uganda’s lack of visibility is linked to how little investors know about the country, Eric Osiakwan pointed out the need for Uganda’s homegrown investors to show leadership. Dr Musenero, the minister of science and technology, took notes on her tab as the investors spoke. “We want to make Uganda the best investment destination in the region,” the minister said after the investor panel. “My vision is to listen and capture.” Some of that listening and capturing began before this week’s conference. David Gonahasa shared that the idea for an investor summit was born when a Ugandan delegation attended the Marrakech edition of the GITEX conference in May 2023. “Do we have something like GITEX in Uganda? Make it happen,” Gonahasa remembers the minister saying at the time. It’s a good start but still far from what the Ugandan Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovations has in the works. “We may not start perfect, but we’re aiming for what will work best,” the minister told everyone in the crowd. The Ugandan team’s self-awareness is important because debuts like this week’s investor summit are never perfect, an investor who spoke to me on the sidelines said. That investor was making a quick stop from neighboring Rwanda, Uganda’s East African rival and host of Norrsken Africa Week, a gathering of the continent’s ecosystem players. While Uganda will eventually hope to upstage its landlocked neighbor, it can simply copy its blueprint by promising government support and tourist and investor-friendly policy to show that it is serious about a push into technology. If Uganda’s vision ever falters, it only needs to look at Rwanda’s results: Paystack announced its private beta there this week, months after Flutterwave set up its East Africa settlement hub in Kigali. The blueprint for how startups can think about relatively small markets like Rwanda and Uganda is talk for another day. Ultimately, one thing is clear: Uganda’s decision to throw its hat into the ring is the kind of healthy competition the region needs. It’s tempting to say the region needs another Kenya, but what each country brings to the table is unique. Uganda’s standalone offering will continue to be more explicit in the coming months and years.
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Emata’s collateral-free loans is helping smallholder farmers thrive in Uganda
Emata, the agro-financing startup in Uganda, is leveraging farmer cooperatives and whatsapp chatbot in Uganda to disburse collateral free loans to small holder farmers in the country. Emata, a two-year-old agro-financing startup for small-holder farmers in Uganda, launched with one goal in mind: to offer collateral-free loans to small-holder farmers. While the majority of Uganda’s seven million farmers live in rural areas, their outputcontributes 35% of the country’s export earnings. But agencies like the World Bank say that these farmers could be more productive and command better profits. One of the ways to ensure improved outcomes is access to loans. Emata’s founders, Lillian Nassanga, Dave Agaba, and Bram van den Bosch launched a study throughout rural Uganda to understand how farmers work, and realised that there was a huge financial gap for farmers in the region. Africa’s agricultural financing gap is about $240 billion, with Uganda’s estimated between $1.5 billion and $2 billion annually. “We realised that if farmers in Uganda and Africa are given the correct support and financing, they will be able to feed the world. This is not happening because banks are not offering loans to farmers, and that’s when Emata began,” Nassanga said. Emata started by issuingloans to dairy farmers before expanding into coffee and oil seed farmers. The startup relies on data obtained from cooperatives and farmer-based organisations to make loan decisions. “The first thing we do is to ask whether they [the cooperatives] have digital records of the farmers. The records allow us to understand how the farmer has performed over a period of time, how much the farmer has been yielding for the month,” Nassanga told TechCabal. “We combine this data with the farmers’ living expenses and weather data so we can understand what the farmer’s potential will be for the seasons coming.” Once Emata concludes this task, they apportion credit limits to each farmer. The credit limits determine how much loan a farmer can obtain. “No one farmer has the same limit. We reward loyalty over one-hit wonders because we want this smallholder farmer to grow,” she said. How Emata disburses loans Cooperatives are a way of life for smallholder farmers in Uganda. These farmers often lack the resources to access financial services, agricultural inputs, and marketing support on their own. Pooling their resources in these cooperatives—such as Kiruhura Dairy Cooperative, Rushere Dairy Farmers’ Cooperative Society, Kigezi Highland Tea Cooperative, and Nyabyeya Coffee Cooperative—allows the farmers to access better prices for agricultural inputs and higher prices for their crops. Emata leverages this farmer-cooperative relationship to disburse loans easily to the farmers. The farmers apply for loans through a cooperative agent. These agents then apply for loans on behalf of the farmers through Emata’s WhatsApp chatbot. The farmers receive the loans in their mobile money wallets—MoMo wallets are the most popular for these unbanked farmers. According to Nassanga, loan processes take up to 5–10 minutes. “We have a person trained to use our WhatsApp chatbot to request loans on behalf of the farmers. Once they put in information about the farmers, we look through the farmers’ data points and approve or deny the loans. Once the loan is approved, the agents get notified on WhatsApp, and the loans will be disbursed to the farmer.” Emata’s app & WhatsApp lending platform Due to low digital literacy in some rural parts of Uganda, working with cooperatives has been a difficult task for Emata. “Sometimes, there is no digital record of these farmers, so we have to train the staff to input the data into the computer,” she said. Emata does not have a loan cap, but its minimum loan size is about $25. “Our loans are getting bigger by the day even as the farmers grow,” said Maren Hald Bjørgum, chief communications officer. Bjørgum did not disclose Emata’s interest rate but says the agro-financing firm’s interest rates are competitive. According to her, interest rates differ from partner to partner and from value chain to value chain according to the risk.” Loan tenure ranges from two weeks to nine months, and farmers repay at the end of the harvest. Farmers can also get increased loan prizes depending on their previous performance. “We match our loan periods for the start and end of each season; as long the model shows you can repay it, you will get a loan,” Bjørgum disclosed. According to Musoke, Emata has disbursed loans worth $1 million to farmers and hopes to double that in the coming year. The startup recently raised a $2.4 million seed round, a mix of $1.6 million debt and $800,000 equity funding, The startup plans to use the funding to deepen its offerings in Uganda—where it currently has no competitor—and expand into Tanzania. Emata has onboarded 56 partners, 40,000 farmers, per Musoke. “The structures we have developed here are easily transferrable to other markets,” she told TechCabal. Emata is hoping to strike partnerships with farmer based organizations for its next growth phase, according to Musoke. The agro-financing startup is in talks with dairy potato partners in Tanzania and Ethiopia and will enter the countries in the coming days, Musoke shared with TechCabal.
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