Only 1 in 100 Nigerians spends ₦1 million ($609) monthly, Piggyvest 2024 report shows
New data from savings company Piggyvest confirms that Nigerians’ purchasing power has significantly reduced in the past year. Nigerians are financially worse off than a year ago across several metrics like income, savings, spending, and emergency funds, as new data from Piggyvest highlights the impact of inflation on Nigerian pockets. Piggyvest’s report, which surveyed over 10,000 Nigerians, comes as Nigeria’s headline inflation slowed to 32.15% in August 2024, but well above 2023’s peak of 25.08%, largely due to economic reforms under President Tinubu. This inflationary environment has left sixty-five percent of Nigerians with no income or less than ₦100,000 ($61) monthly—a figure that rises to 86% for those earning below ₦250,000 ($151) monthly. The number of Nigerians with multiple income sources also dropped by 10% compared to Piggyvest’s 2023 report. “It’s like peanuts these days, earning ₦100,000. I find myself stocking money to get things for myself that I comfortably would if I did so a year ago or two years ago,” a salary earner in Enugu, an Eastern Nigerian city, told Piggyvest. Given how little the average Nigerian makes monthly, it’s unsurprising that 68% spend less than ₦100,000 each month, highlighting limited disposable income. When monthly expenditure rises to ₦500,000 ($303), only 3% spend above that. While spending on food has decreased from last year, it remains the largest expense for most Nigerians. Transport costs have now surpassed utilities and bills, ranking second after the removal of fuel subsidies. The number of Nigerians that save money has fallen from 64% in 2023 to 57%, with 10% of those saving money occasionally. “I used to save, but the increase in school fees, electricity tariffs, and even the cost of fuel has made it very difficult to continue,” a civil servant told Piggyvest. Emigration, the third most common saving goal on Piggyvest in 2023, has dropped to eighth place this year as two currency devaluations have led the naira to lose nearly 70% of its value against the dollar, significantly increasing travel and relocation costs. The number of Nigerians with emergency savings fell by 5%, with over two-thirds reporting they have no savings for unplanned expenses without incurring debt. Just 15% of Nigerians increased their savings over the past year, while 19% who had emergency savings no longer do. “We encourage all who engage with the data and insights from the Piggyvest Savings Report 2024 to make qualitative assessments of the shifts in consumer behaviour and attitudes around spending, saving, entrepreneurship and investing and respond accordingly,” Piggyvest said in a statement. You can read the report here.
Read MoreNigerian fintechs ramp up compliance hiring months after customer onboarding ban
Kuda Bank, Moniepoint, OPay, and Palmpay have responded to the central bank’s April ban by expanding their compliance and fraud monitoring teams, poaching talent from commercial banks and other fintechs. Since May, Moniepoint has expanded its transaction monitoring team, hiring five people. Two of those hires were long-time OPay employees with at least three years experience at the fintech, while another joined from Flutterwave. The fintech also added at least six fraud and compliance team members in 2024 and a team lead, bringing a decade of experience in Nigeria’s banking industry. Since the ban, Kuda has hired three compliance analysts, a Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement Scheme compliance manager, and two fraud team members. OPay added four members to its legal team this year, while Palmpay hired six compliance staff, including a senior manager with over a decade of experience at Union Bank. This is a shift from an industry-wide stance that once saw compliance as hindering growth. Before the ban, fintech’s risk analysis skewed towards minimal compliance staffing and relaxed customer KYC requirements for account opening, but a December 2023 central bank guideline and the April ban have changed that stance. Regulators, worried about the speed at which fintech accounts could be opened, banned the fintechs from opening new accounts and gave the fintechs a list of conditions that included restricting peer-to-peer crypto transactions and mandating KYC for all tiered accounts. People familiar with the matter told TechCabal that the increased focus on compliance was part of the conditions for lifting the ban and aligns with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) tougher stance on fintechs. The fintechs were asked to improve transaction monitoring, introduce proper customer management solutions, and tighten Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements. “Compliance has always been a major part of our financial inclusion efforts, and as such, we knew that coming into a new year in 2024 and off the back of a new government, there was always going to be improved regulatory scrutiny,” a person familiar with the hiring patterns of the fintechs told TechCabal. As Nigerian fintechs became ubiquitous and influential, they faced criticism for lax KYC measures and a perception that they help bad actors get away with fraud. “Customers can easily open Tier 3 accounts on fintech platforms in seconds. [The NSA] were worried that fintechs are rapid [in opening accounts] and told us to stop onboarding,” Tosin Eniolorunda, Moniepoint’s CEO, said in May. The hires should help ease regulatory tensions and mitigate fraud in Nigeria’s fintech industry as compliance teams help ensure that current and future products and services meet regulatory standards. “The central bank wants the fintechs to be more compliant, and they need more hands to make that happen. Transaction monitoring is a 24-hour job, so you need to hire many people and managers to take ownership,” one person familiar with the talks told TechCabal. A need to please investors has also played a part in the compliance staff demand, as investors want their portfolio companies to be in regulatory-safe waters. Although fintechs are ramping up their compliance teams, only time will tell if these efforts are enough to curb fraud in Nigeria’s fintech industry.
Read MoreYC-backed Bamboo expands to Canada with remittance product
Bamboo, the Y Combinator-backed investment app that allows Africans to buy and trade local and international stocks, is expanding to Canada after securing the country’s Money Service Business (MSB) licence. The company will also launch its remittance payment service, Coins by Bamboo. The product will enable diaspora money transfers to Africa, to reduce high cross-border fees through fee-free transfers and competitive exchange rates. “With many Africans now away from the continent, many want to invest back home, but complexity, high commissions and fees discourage it. A way to start is by addressing these pain points, which is why we are offering Coins” Richmond Bassey, Bamboo’s co-founder and CEO said. Bamboo’s expansion to Canada was from a business standpoint. In 2022, Nigeria was the fourth-largest immigration source country to Canada, with 22,085 Nigerians welcomed into the country. ”Based on insights, one of the countries our users have emigrated to the most is Canada with the UK on top of the list. This means more use for the app in Canada before we go into the UK and other markets,” Bassey said. Founded in 2019 by Richmond Bassey and COO Yanmo Omorogbe, Bamboo has seen some success since launching in Nigeria in 2020. In 2022, the company raised $15 million in a round led by American venture capital firms Greycroft and Tiger Global. Bamboo claims it has 500,000 users. With its remittance play, Bamboo is entering a competitive remittance market with well-established players like Grey Finance, Lemonade, Kyshi, and Nala. “The remittance market is huge, I don’t think one player can solve the problem. The difference is in the goal and what the company is trying to achieve”, Bassey added. While these companies primarily generate revenue from transaction fees and commissions which often include varying exchange rates for currency conversions, Coins by Bamboo will offer fee-free transfers and competitive exchange rates to customers. “This is just the first stage for us to solve a problem that will be useful in serving the diaspora. It is a means to an end, we are building a set of products that will support Africans everywhere. When we look at the cost and opportunities for offering Coins by Bamboo transaction-free, we are satisfied with offering the service that way,” Bassey told TechCabal. Bamboo also partnered with charitable organisations like the Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF) and Chess2Slums, allowing users to make direct contributions via the Coins by Bamboo app. After its expansion into Ghana in 2022, the company added Nigerian stocks to its platform in May 2024. In June 2024, Bamboo commenced operations in South Africa, enabling users to invest in U.S. stocks directly from their smartphones. This expansion follows the acquisition of a financial services provider licence from the South African Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA).
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Glo’s new glow
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Happy last day of October! TechCabal did some important reporting this month. We had a major showing in banking as we reported issues with core banking software migrations across Nigerian tier-1 banks. We delved into details on how much tier-1 banks spend on building their core banking software, the struggles they face in migrating software, and the effect on customers. We also covered how Sterling bank, which custom-built its core banking software, is now pitching the technology to other banks and fintechs. South Africa’s 2024 M&A streak also continued after Lesaka Technologies acquired Adumo. The good people of Kenya again made it clear that they do not want anything to do with the man Adani, or his group company, as “Adani must go” chants were heard during court trials for the contentious JKIA lease deal. The Adani Energy partnership, which was previously given a go-ahead, has also stalled. What will November bring? Globacom appoints Ahmad Farroukh as new CEO Wasoko-MaxAB appoints technical advisor Access Bank gets first approval for NBK acquisition World Wide Web 3 Events Telco Globacom appoints industry veteran Ahmad Farroukh as new CEO Image Source: Zikoko Memes What do you do when your boat hits a rough patch? You call on a trusted captain to help navigate the storm. Nigeria’s third-largest telecom, Globacom, is currently weathering a storm and looking for great hands to steady its ship. The telco suffered a hack that locked its staff out of all communications channels. It also saw a 69% decline in its active customers. Yet, the telco is making a concerted effort to drive a turnaround. Last week, Globacom appointed Ahmad Farroukh as its new CEO. Farroukh, who has over two decades of experience as a telco expert, has been called to steady Glo’s rocky boat. Farroukh’s telecom journey began in 1995 as CEO of Investcom Group in Lebanon. He later took on top roles at MTN Group, serving as CEO of MTN Nigeria from 2006 to 2010 and later as CEO of MTN South Africa in 2014. He also held leadership positions as CEO of Mobily in Saudi Arabia and most recently, at Smile Communications Nigeria. Farroukh holds a Master’s in Business Administration and Accounting from the Lebanese American University and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) from New York, USA. While Globacom is yet to make Farroukh’s appointment official, people familiar with the matter say the telco has notified the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), The company has also appointed a new board and has gotten approval from the regulator. 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. Ecommerce Wasoko-MaxAB picks technical advisor as it achieves half-unicorn status Image Source: Google Two months after finalising their landmark merger, Kenyan e-commerce firm Wasoko and Egyptian counterpart MaxAB have tapped an auto executive Mo Elshenawy to advise the combined entity’s technical teams. Elshenawy is currently President and CTO of American self-driving car company Cruise. His expertise is expected to grow Wasoko and MaxAB’s new business units and position them to optimise AI-driven credit scoring and payments technology. Like other digital lenders, offering credit needs sophisticated algorithms that evaluate customer profiles before issuing loans. These algorithms, powered by artificial intelligence, will be key for the business’s future growth, the company told TechCabal in August. The valuation of the merged entity has crossed $500 million, based on a financial report from VNV Global, one of its investors—suggesting a promising path to profitability. Although this valuation is still below Wasoko’s peak valuation of $650 million post-Series C funding in 2022, it shows the dip that saw Wasoko’s value drop to $260 million by 2023 as its core retail products business slowed. In October 2024, MaxAB’s co-founder and COO, Mohamed Ben Halim, left the company to pursue new unnamed opportunities, marking yet another change in leadership for the combined entity. 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 Access Bank receives approval for National Bank of Kenya acquisition Image Source: Zikoko Memes Access Bank, Nigeria’s biggest bank by assets, continues to make inroads into the East African market through acquisitions. The bank has gotten the first approval from Kenya’s Competition Authority (CA) to acquire tier-2 commercial bank, National Bank of Kenya (NBK). The deal, thought to be worth $100 million, will pull through after another approval from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). But there is a catch: Access Bank must retain 80% of NBK’s workforce after the acquisition. Given Access Bank’s 316 employees in Kenya and NBK’s 1,384, this means that the former bank’s employee headcount is expected to reach at least 1,423. With a sharp increase in personnel costs, Access will spend more in operating expenses. Beyond personnel costs, the acquisition could also place strategic pressure on Access Bank as it works to align NBK’s operations and corporate culture with its own. Maintaining a larger workforce may challenge its operational efficiency and pose a financial strain on Access Bank, which may need to optimise costs in other areas to offset this new expense. While Access Bank is not new to expansions or having a large workforce, there is an undeniable backing that its new ventures get from the parent bank. It’s a long-haul game for Access Bank as it is acquiring NBK—a bank that is evidently larger than its Kenyan subsidiary but also more distressed. NBK has struggled to shore up its capital base to CBK’s requirements in the past. It is also
Read MoreNigerian insurtech ETAP expands into Ghana with Hollard partnership
ETAP, a Nigerian insurtech startup that raised a $1.5 million pre-seed in 2022, has expanded into Ghana, after securing an operational license from the country’s National Insurance Commission (NIC). ETAP is expanding into Ghana through a joint partnership with Ghana’s leading insurance firm, Hollard Insurance Ghana. The partnership will allow Hollard Insurance to underwrite the insurance while ETAP will provide the tech platform and run the operations. “We have partnered with Hollard because of their deep understanding of the market,” Ibraheem Babalola, ETAP CEO, told TechCabal. Launched in 2022, ETAP claims it allows users to buy car insurance in 90 seconds and file claims in three minutes. The company offers instant claim processing, customizable coverage options, and a rewards system that incentivises safe driving behavior. The insurtech also allows drivers to pay for insurance according to their needs, per trip, daily, monthly, or yearly. The business which is currently present in 12 Nigerian states expects the Ghanaian market to contribute significantly to its revenue streams. ETAP claims it has processed nearly ₦20 billion assured across its comprehensive and third-party insurance policies. While Nigeria presents a larger market, Babalola believes Ghana offers more business potential due to its higher insurance penetration rate. One in three cars is insured in Ghana, while only one of five registered vehicles is insured in Nigeria. “Nigeria has one of the highest risk environments in the world. It is less stressful to do business in Ghana. Ghana is less chaotic,” he said. The company will compete with Octamile & Redpear in Ghana and other traditional insurance companies. The Motor Vehicle Insurance market in Ghana is projected to reach a market volume of $0.66 billion in 2029. The business also plans to launch in Cote d’Ivoire to make inroads into the Francophone region.
Read MoreGlobacom will name former MTN Nigeria chief Ahmad Farroukh as CEO
Globacom will appoint Ahmad Farroukh, a former CEO of MTN Nigeria, as its new chief executive, three people with direct knowledge of the matter told TechCabal. It’s a major leadership shift for Nigeria’s third-largest mobile network operator and will mark the first time it will come under new leadership. Mike Adenuga has led Globacom since its launch on August 29, 2003. While Globacom has not yet made an official announcement, it has notified the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), two people familiar with the matter said. The company has also appointed a new board and has gotten approval from the regulator. Globacom did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comments. Farroukh’s extensive telecom career began in 1995 as CEO of Investcom Group in Lebanon, later acquired by MTN Group. By 1999, he was managing director of MTN Ghana and regional director for West Africa under Investcom, an MTN subsidiary. He then served as CEO of MTN Nigeria from 2006 to 2010 and was appointed CEO of MTN South Africa in 2014. In 2015, he became CEO of Mobily, Saudi Arabia’s second-largest telecom operator, where he served until 2017. He then joined Smile Communications Nigeria Limited as Group CEO until his Globacom appointment. Farroukh holds a Master’s in Business Administration and Accounting from the Lebanese American University and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) from New York, USA. As CEO of Globacom, Farroukh faces a significant challenge after the network lost 41 million subscribers due to an industry-wide audit by the NCC. This reduction has left Globacom with 19.1 million subscribers, giving it only a 12.39% share of Nigeria’s telecom market. Farroukh’s announcement is expected in a matter of days.
Read MoreAccess Bank gets approval to acquire National Bank of Kenya in deal thought to be worth $100 million
The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) has approved Access Bank’s acquisition of the National Bank of Kenya (NBK) from KCB Group, provided it retains 80% of the staff for one year. The deal will now need the approval of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). “The transaction has been approved on condition that Access Bank Plc retains, for a period of one (1) year following completion of the transaction, at least of 80% of the target’s current workforce and all Access Bank (Kenya) Plc employees, its local subsidiary,” CAK said in a statement sent to TechCabal. Regulatory filings show that NBK has 1,384 employees while Access Bank Kenya has 316. While the value of the transaction has not been disclosed, KCB Group announced in March 2024 that it agreed to sell National Bank for 1.25x of the bank’s book value. Given NBK’s book value of $79.77 million in 2023, the deal could be priced around $100 million. The deal is expected to be finalised in November. Access Bank currently has 23 branches in 12 counties in Kenya. NBK, which provides retail, corporate, and Islamic banking services in 77 branches in 28 counties, will increase Access’s footprint in East Africa’s largest economy. The bank’s current operations in Kenya are classified as tier 3, ranked 37 out of the 39 licensed commercial banks, while NBK is a tier 2 lender. CAK estimates that the merged entity will have a combined market share of 1.9% once the acquisition is complete. “The combined market size is unlikely to raise competition concerns since it is low. Additionally, the merged entity will face competition from the other banks in the market,” CAK said. “The merged entity will face competition from the other banks in the market. Based on the foregoing, the proposed transaction is unlikely to lead toa substantial lessening or prevention of competition in the market.” Access Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
Read MoreAccess Bank gets approval to acquire National Bank of Kenya in deal thought to be worth $100 million
The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) has approved Access Bank’s acquisition of the National Bank of Kenya (NBK) from KCB Group, provided it retains 80% of the staff for one year. The deal will now need the approval of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). “The transaction has been approved on condition that Access Bank Plc retains, for a period of one (1) year following completion of the transaction, at least of 80% of the target’s current workforce and all Access Bank (Kenya) Plc employees, its local subsidiary,” CAK said in a statement sent to TechCabal. Regulatory filings show that NBK has 1,384 employees while Access Bank Kenya has 316. While the value of the transaction has not been disclosed, KCB Group announced in March 2024 that it agreed to sell National Bank for 1.25x of the bank’s book value. Given NBK’s book value of $79.77 million in 2023, the deal could be priced around $100 million. The deal is expected to be finalised in November. Access Bank currently has 23 branches in 12 counties in Kenya. NBK, which provides retail, corporate, and Islamic banking services in 77 branches in 28 counties, will increase Access’s footprint in East Africa’s largest economy. The bank’s current operations in Kenya are classified as tier 3, ranked 37 out of the 39 licensed commercial banks, while NBK is a tier 2 lender. CAK estimates that the merged entity will have a combined market share of 1.9% once the acquisition is complete. “The combined market size is unlikely to raise competition concerns since it is low. Additionally, the merged entity will face competition from the other banks in the market,” CAK said. “The merged entity will face competition from the other banks in the market. Based on the foregoing, the proposed transaction is unlikely to lead toa substantial lessening or prevention of competition in the market.” Access Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
Read MoreWasoko, MaxAB taps auto executive as technical advisor as valuation soars past $500 million
After their August 2024 merger, Wasoko and MaxAB told TechCabal that they had launched new business units beyond e-commerce and the development of AI systems powering pricing, product selection, and route optimisation. Wasoko and MaxAB, an e-commerce firm valued at over $500 million after their landmark merger in August 2024, have appointed Mo Elshenawy as an independent board director and technical advisor. Elshenawy was the president and chief technology officer (CTO) of autonomous vehicle company Cruise. In his new role, he will drive the development and scaling of Wasoko and MaxAB’s technology infrastructure and help the entity advance its artificial intelligence (AI) tools to improve business capabilities. “As an Egyptian-American, I feel deeply connected to this mission and the platform’s potential—not only to drive transformative impact within Africa but also to establish a powerful presence on the global stage,” said Elshenawy. In August 2024, Wasoko and MaxAB told TechCabal that the combined business will pave the way for a super app offering digital top-ups, e-payments, and credit financing to create a multi-service digital platform for their users. Wasoko and MaxAB raised over $230 million before the merger. MaxAB closed a $40 million pre-Series B round, while Wasoko raised $125 million in Series B, which valued Wasoko at $625 million. However, Wasoko’s valuation dropped to $260 million in 2023 as its sales to small informal retailers declined. After the August merger, which was first announced in December 2023, the entity is now valued at over $500 million, based on a financial report from VNV Global, one of its investors. VNV has a 2.4% stake in the combined entity and values its holding at $12.6 million, based on a revenue multiple of 2.6, benchmarked against similar companies.
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Africa’s latest unicorn
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Happy mid-week! Tech giants used to be BFFs, but now it’s every AI for itself! First, it was Meta announcing it would build its own search engine to reduce dependency on Google and Microsoft. Now, OpenAI is planning to build its own AI chip. Whatever happened to playing nice and sharing toys? Moniepoint is Africa’s latest unicorn Access Bank to sell dollar-denominated securities Globacom sees 62% decline in active customers World Wide Web 3 Opportunities Funding Moniepoint reaches $1 billion valuation with new fund raise Image Source: Wunmi Eunice/TechCabal Africa has just minted its latest unicorn. For a continent that has witnessed reduced VC investment, yesterday’s announcement by Moniepoint, Nigeria’s leading fintech, was a breath of fresh air. The fintech company announced that it had raised $110 million in Series C funding, giving it a $1 billion valuation and making it the continent’s eighth unicorn. The valuation comes at a high praise as Moniepoint almost tripled its previous valuation of $400 million when it last raised $55 million. Moniepoint which already has a strong presence in Nigeria will use the new funding to expand across the continent. People familiar with the fintech’s plan say it will expand across the continent through strategic acquisition. The startup is expected to begin those acquisitions in Kenya, with talks underway. Moniepoint raise comes at a time when funding is particularly hard to come by on the continent. African start-ups attracted a total of $1.4 billion in the first three quarters of the year, down 38% on the same period last year, according to the funding tracker Africa: the Big Deal. The new fundraise is also a win for previous investors who might have exited in the new funding round. 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 Access Bank to sell dollar-denominated securities Image Source: Google Access Bank, Nigeria’s largest tier-1 bank by asset base, will issue dollar-denominated bonds in the domestic market to fund its expansion and meet regulatory capital requirements set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Access Bank’s Managing Director, Roosevelt Ogbonna, stated that these securities will be issued in two tranches, with one batch directed toward development finance institutions (DFIs) and the other available on the open market. The bank is likely to finalise the DFI-targeted tranche by mid-2025. This move is notable for a few reasons. Firstly, it positions Access Bank to tap into the growing local appetite for dollar assets as Nigerians and firms increasingly seek refuge from naira devaluation. When the country’s central bank issued the directive for banks’ recapitalisation in March, it gave lenders only three options: rights issues and offers for subscription, mergers and acquisitions, or downgrading their licences. Access Bank completed its rights issues and offered ordinary shares to existing shareholders on August 23. The lender planned to raise ₦351 billion ($213 million). Needing at least a further ₦149 billion ($90.4 million) to meet CBN’s ₦500 billion ($303.4 million) target for banks with international operations, the lender will likely look again into acquisitions—an art it has mastered after entering Tanzania this year. With plans to expand operations into Hong Kong by October and the United States by 2025 or 2026, Access Bank is doubling down on its goal of becoming one of Africa’s largest lenders, extending its reach across 24 countries. For investors, the bank’s dollar-denominated securities offer a promising hedge against the naira depreciation. 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. Telco Globacom sees 62% decline in active customers Image Source: TechCabal In September 2024, Nigeria’s telecom company Globacom saw a huge drop in its subscriber numbers. Over 41 million lines were removed, bringing its active users down from 62.1 million in March to 19.1 million. This was part of a major cleanup by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which targeted lines that hadn’t generated any revenue in the past 90 days. Due to this cleanup, active subscriptions across Nigeria fell from 217 million in March to 154 million in September. Globacom was the hardest hit among telecom providers, with its market share falling sharply from 27% to 12.39%. The main reason for this loss was Globacom’s misclassification of nearly 40 million inactive lines as active, inflating its numbers and violating NCC’s reporting rules. On the other hand, MTN and Airtel were less affected. MTN held its top position with a 50.50% market share, while Airtel’s share rose to 34.76%. NCC rules require an active line to generate revenue through activities like calls, SMS, or data use within 90 days. They also require SIMs to be verified with a National Identification Number (NIN). The cleanup delayed the release of industry data by six months. In response to NCC’s increased scrutiny, Globacom is expected to appoint a board of directors and a CEO soon, marking a new phase focused on transparency and accountability. 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 → CRYPTO TRACKER The World Wide Web3 Source: Coin Name Current Value Day Month Bitcoin $72,365.58 + 2.12% + 12.29% Ether $2,642.12 + 0.99% + 0.40% AI Companions $0.1132 + 6.70% + 27.20% Solana $180.46 – 0.12% + 15.37% * Data as of 06:30 AM WAT, October 30, 2024. Opportunities Nearly 200 startups, including those from Nigeria, are vying for top honours in the world’s largest pitch competition,
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