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January 24 2024

TechCabal Daily – Netflix is going Raw

In partnership with Share this newsletter: Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Happy salary week It’s now been over 36 hours since the M-Pesa Paybill blackout that has stalled millions of Kenyans from paying their bills. This time, it doesn’t seem like Safaricom will be able to claim the blackouts were scheduled maintenance breaks as it did in a three-hour outage two weeks ago. It remains to be seen what Kenya’s telecom watchdog will say this time. Meanwhile, users have taken to X (Twitter) to look for alternatives which include Safaricom’s competitor, PesaLink, which says it’s working on a rival product. Dig in. In today’s edition Nigerian startups are pursuing crypto licences Twiga and Incentro make new year resolutions Netflix acquires exclusive righs to WWE Egypt is getting its first IOD service Samsung developing blood pressure monitor won’t break skin The World Wide Web3 Events Crypto Nigerian startups pursue SEC licences after CBN lifts crypto ban A month after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) lifted its two-year ban on crypto-related bank accounts, three major players—Quidax, Yellow Card and Luno—are reportedly pursuing licences from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to insider sources, discussions with the SEC began as early as October 2023. While Luno confirmed the ongoing talks, Quidax and Yellow Card are remaining tight-lipped for now. The moves hint at a broader trend within the industry. In December, CBN eased restrictions on banks transacting with crypto firms, replacing the ban with guidelines requiring banks to obtain Bank Verification Numbers( BVN) of crypto businesses. Additionally, crypto companies must obtain a license from the SEC, which issued rules on digital asset offerings and collections in May 2022. Are Nigerians using crypto? A big question has always been if the Nigerian crypto companies chasing after these regulations have an interested market base. A contested 2022 report from KuCoin would have us believe that 35% of Nigerians own crypto assets, but the methodology of that report suggests that the data pool was too narrow. An answer may lie in one of Chainanalysis’ reports which states that Nigeria accounted for the majority of the $117 billion in crypto transactions made between July 2022 and July 2023. The same report also shows that Nigeria’s crypto transaction volume surged by 9%, year-over-year by mid-2023, landing the country in third place behind Saudi Arabia and Vietnam. Regardless of the answer, Nigeria’s crypto industry is still young, and its recent stance shows that it may be making moves to bolster the space. 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. E-commerce Twiga and Incentro settle $261,000 debt dispute In December, Kenyan e-commerce platform Twiga Foods and Incentro Africa ended the year with a court order that gave both companies till March 2024 to settle their dispute. And now, it looks like they have. Twiga and Incentro, a Google Cloud reseller, have reached an agreement after months of dispute over $261,000 in unpaid invoices for Google Cloud services. Insiders claim both parties have agreed to ask Google to cancel the original contract. ICYMI: In 2021, Twiga agreed to pay $83,000 monthly for three years of cloud services from Incentro. In return for this long-term commitment, Google offered Twiga $200,000 in incentives and perks via Incentro. However, with the Kenyan shilling depreciating by 32% against the dollar, the recurring bill became too costly for Twiga. The dispute emerged when Twiga shifted focus from growth to profitability, resulting in payment delays. Subsequently, Incentro took legal action to enforce the payment. Twiga was forced to raise a $35 million convertible bond as a result. Following the departure of co-founder Peter Njonjo, CFO Zuber Momoniat played a key role in resolving the dispute. Momoniat reportedly states that Incentro has agreed to retract the lawsuit and renegotiate the original contract terms with Google in light of the “current global economic climate”. While Incentro has not yet withdrawn the lawsuit, it has sent a letter committing to doing so once the negotiation with Google is settled. Secure payment gateway for your business Fincra payment gateway enables you to easily collect Naira payments as a business; you can collect payments in minutes through cards, bank transfers and PayAttitude. Create a free account and start collecting NGN payments with Fincra. Streaming Netflix acquires exclusive rights to WWE Netflix is getting in the ring. Starting January 2025, Netflix will be the exclusive home of WWE’s Monday night wrestling show, Raw, which is watched by over 15 million fans worldwide. The acquisition puts Netflix even further ahead in a global streaming war it’s already winning. The $5 billion deal will span 10 years, and will see Netflix stream all WWE shows and specials including SmackDown, NXT, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Royal Rumble. The streamer will also make WWE documentaries, original series, and forthcoming projects available on demand for viewers outside the US. A change of play rings? Is Netflix moving away from traditional content? This isn’t Netflix’s first stab at a livestream project, per Deadline, the company reportedly put in a bid for Formula 1 rights before the auto racing circuit renewed with ESPN in 2022. While the company hopes the deal will bring in millions of loyal WWE viewers and strengthen its nascent fledgling advertising-supported plan, the deal also potentially increases watch time and platform usage as live events create a sense of urgency and real-time engagement when compared to on-demand content. It remains to be seen if the pivot in content strategy becomes successful. Meanwhile, the Netflix deal served a blow to Comcast—which owns a 30% stake in MultiChoice Showmax. Upon expiration of its contract with Netflix, Comcast which previously paid about $265 million a year for the rights to Raw, acquired the rights to Smackdown, which it considered as the next-best package, for about $287 million a year. This also mildly translates to a loss to MultiChoice who resorted to a last-minute

January 23 2024

Kenya’s PesaLink to launch merchant payment services in M-PESA’s turf

M-PESA is down in Kenya and users are airing their displeasure online. They’re now looking for an alternative that can rival Safaricom’s product. PesaLink, a Kenyan platform that enables real-time fund transfers between bank accounts, is launching a merchant payments option. PesaLink made this announcement on X and follows an M-PESA service outage that has posed challenges for customers in making payments for goods and services through the paybill service. “Most PesaLink Payments are business-related: bulk transactions, invoices, rent and more. Watch this space for merchant payments… some news coming soon!” PesaLink said on X, in response to customers who have been requesting for the feature for a long time. One PesaLink customer said that they were calling for PesaLink to exist as a separate entity not associated with its current partners, Kenyan banks. “Pesalink needs to have an app and its own ecosystem that integrates with payment services and allow us to withdraw through local agents,” the customer, Kiruti Itimu said. Another fintech users, Saruni Maina, added, “Actually, PesaLink needs to have a merchant payment option to rival Lipa na M-PESA.” Lipa na M-PESA, a cashless payment service that enables customers to make payments for goods and services, is supported by several products, with two being the most common. One of them is the M-PESA Till, which allows business owners to collect payments on the till and use the funds collected for other transactions directly from it. The other is the M-PESA paybill service, a cash collection service enabling businesses to regularly collect money from customers through M-PESA. PesaLink, launched in 2017 by the Integrated Payment Service, a for-profit arm of the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA), has been successful due to its operational management by an independent agency (KBA). This approach has helped alleviate cases of conflict of interest amongst local banks. The platform facilitates affordable and faster real-time transactions, separating itself from alternatives like real-time gross settlement (RTGS) or cheques. Customers can also send up to KES 1 million ($6,135) to another bank account for KES 150 ($0.92), surpassing M-PESA’s current cap at KES 500,000 ($3,067).

January 23 2024

How to opt in and out of MTN DND alongside other networks

Managing your messaging preferences is a feature that almost all major network providers in Nigeria allow you to enjoy. It is known as the do-not-disturb (DND) feature. You can block unwanted promotional or update messages from MTN and other shortcodes. But there may be times when you need such messages from specific shortcodes. For example, any MTN user looking to register for the 2024 Next Afrobeats Star music reality TV show may need to deactivate the DND feature to receive their registration code. Beyond MTN, other different networks have ways to customise your messaging experience too. Here’s a comprehensive guide on knowing your DND status and opting in and out of the Do Not Disturb (DND) for major networks in Nigeria: MTN DND – checking status, opting in and out See the following steps to help you navigate anything relating to MTN DND. Checking your MTN DND status Wondering whether your MTN Do Not Disturb settings are active or not? Simply send STATUS to 2442. You’ll receive a response indicating whether your DND is active or inactive. This quick check keeps you informed about the status of your preferences, allowing you to adjust them according to your communication needs. Opting out of MTN DND If you’ve found yourself missing important messages or promotional updates and suspect MTN’s Do Not Disturb (DND) feature might be the culprit, you may want to opt-out. Opting out is a straightforward process. Simply text ALLOW to 2442, and within a short time, you’ll be reconnected to the stream of messages you might have been missing. This ensures you don’t miss out on any essential information or exciting promotions. Opting in for MTN DND On the flip side, if you prefer a more streamlined messaging experience, opting for MTN’s Do Not Disturb is equally simple. By sending the code STOP to 2442, you customize your messaging preferences to filter out specific categories of promotional messages. This allows you to enjoy communication without being inundated with unwanted promotional content. Note on MTN DND Please note that, like every other network, the MTN DND does not prevent MTN from sending you messages. Airtel DND Here’s all you need to know about Airtel DND: Opting out Text ALLOW to 2442. This will lift any restrictions on incoming messages. Opting in Text OUT to 2442 to block promotional messages and START to 2442 to receive all messages. Checking status Text STATUS to 2442 to confirm your current DND status. Glo DND Here’s all you need to know about Glo DND: Opting out Text CANCEL to 2442 to allow all promotional messages. Opting in Text ACTIVATE to 2442 to start receiving promotional messages. Checking status Text STATUS to 2442 to know if your DND is active or inactive. 9mobile DND Here’s all you need to know about Airtel DND: Opting out Text START to 2442 to resume receiving promotional messages. Opting in Text STOP to 2442 to block promotional messages. Checking status Text STATUS to 2442 to inquire about your DND status. Final thoughts on MTN DND and the likes Managing DND across networks puts you in control of your messaging experience. Whether you’re with MTN, Airtel, Glo, or 9mobile, these simple codes allow you to tailor your preferences and stay informed. Customise your communication landscape and enjoy messages that match your preferences seamlessly.

January 23 2024

Exclusive: Twiga, Incentro agree to renegotiate terms of contentious $261k debt

Incentro, the Google Cloud services reseller that sued Twiga Foods to collect more than $261,000 in unpaid invoices, has resolved its dispute with the e-commerce startup, TechCabal has learned. In December 2023, a Kenyan court gave both companies until March 13, 2024, to resolve the debt dispute after an earlier November deadline was missed. Three company sources said both parties have now agreed to ask Google to cancel the original contract after Twiga’s new management team and Incentro Africa completed negotiations following the departure of Peter Njonjo, Twiga co-founder and CEO. Incentro has agreed to withdraw the lawsuit and renegotiate the original contract terms with Google “in light of the current global economic climate,” said Zuber Momoniat, Twiga’s CFO. Dennis de Weerd, Incentro’s CEO, confirmed that Momoniat was “instrumental in resolving the dispute and rekindling our partnership.” Inside Twiga and Incentro’s debt dispute While Incentro has not yet withdrawn the lawsuit, it has sent a letter committing to doing so once the negotiation with Google is settled. Twiga’s contract with Incentro was a complex 4-party transaction that involved Google Cloud, Digicloud, a Google distributor, Incentro, the local Kenyan cloud service reseller and Twiga Foods. Incentro agreed to provide cloud services worth $3 million to Twiga Food for three years beginning in mid-2021. In return for a long-term commitment, Google would offer Twiga Foods incentives and perks worth more than $200,000 through Incentro. To deliver this, Incentro signed a similar agreement with Digicloud, Google’s distributor, for $3 million worth of Google Cloud services over three years. African companies that use Google Cloud sometimes opt for long-term contracts involving a reseller who manages their cloud account with Google to avoid direct billing on a credit or debit card. The reseller is responsible for delivering extra perks and incentives on behalf of Google Cloud. According to Incentro’s September 2023 court filing, Twiga fell behind on monthly payments as the e-commerce firm adjusted its priorities from growth to profitability. Twiga and Incentro are now asking Google through Digicloud to redo the contract terms. De Weerd said this was what his company had been trying to get Twiga to agree to before the lawsuit. African companies are still “small” customers Africa only has a handful of big spenders, and cloud providers prioritise these few big spenders with $100 million in annual revenue, an Amazon Web Services employee told TechCabal. Startups are a distant second. However, African startup executives whose companies rely on global providers are struggling with the increasing amounts they have to shell out for cloud services. In many cases, weakening local currencies are responsible for the increases even when cloud providers keep their prices unchanged. “I will take having to pay local cloud cost with the same level of security with +92% uptime over 99.9% uptime and rising dollar cost that could ultimately wreck my business,” Edmund Olotu, CEO and founder of Bloc, a business banking fintech, said on X. Twiga’s case underscores a familiar problem facing African companies who try to save costs by entering long-term contracts with global cloud or SaaS providers. Global service providers are often inflexible if these companies run into difficulty and need custom support, a Kenyan cloud expert told TechCabal.

January 23 2024

Following rising unemployment, Botswana youth are teaching English online to Asian students

As unemployment rates continue to soar, unemployed Batswana youth are turning to online English tutoring to earn a living. During the lockdowns of early 2021, *Katlego, a 24-year-old economics graduate from the University of Botswana, came across YouTube videos of influencers showing a seemingly easy way to make money from online tutoring. At first, she assumed it was just another online scam like many others which were prominent during that time. But, after the lockdowns were lifted, Katlego researched more about online tutoring, and in 2022 she decided to get into teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) herself, eventually getting her certificate in October of that year. Katlego has been teaching English online to Asian students for a year now as that is the target market of the tutoring platforms she uses. According to recent data, almost 400 million Chinese citizens are in the process of learning English, creating a huge market for online ESL tutoring services. Reasons for learning English include better career prospects in China as more Western companies move into the country as well as learning the language in order to migrate to the West. Katlego’s typical prep for a lesson includes hours of going over her lesson plans, ensuring that her laptop and headsets are working correctly, and saying a small prayer that her internet and electricity would stay on for the duration of the one-hour lesson. Should anything go wrong, she will lose the $5 she charges per lesson. According to her, she can make as much as P4,500 (~$330) a month on the job. She is one of a growing number of young Batswana who have turned to online tutoring to earn a living as the unemployment rate continues to rise in the country. “It’s a great and easy way to earn a living because all you need is an internet connection,” she tells TechCabal. “It’s better than sitting at home and waiting for a nine-to-five job, which is scarce.” Data from the World Bank shows that Botswana’s youth unemployment rate currently stands at over 44%, as of 2023. Platforms like Preply, Native Camp, TutorOcean and Cambly, among many others, allow people from countries with English as an official language to tutor students via the platforms. What makes the service attractive to young people in Botswana is the low barrier to entry, with most platforms only requiring English proficiency and an internet connection to onboard tutors. Once onboarded to the platform, tutors conduct one-hour one-on-one lessons with students for rates of between $3 and $7. A tutor’s rate is determined by their experience as well as ratings from students on the platform, and payments are done via PayPal. Sarah Moitse runs a Facebook page, “ESL Teaching with Sarah”, and it has over 1,500 followers. She tells TechCabal that the interest from young people has been astounding. Some of the services her page offers include step-by-step tutorials in setting up tutor profiles, making lesson plans and advisory on attracting students. She offers all the services for free. It’s not just unemployed youth who are trying to get into tutoring. Some are doing it as a side hustle as “most jobs here don’t pay enough”, adds Moitse. So rewarding is tutoring that some of the young people end up quitting their day jobs to tutor full-time. Twenty-year-old economics graduate *Kefilwe tells TechCabal she only started online tutoring in October 2023 and makes as much as P2,000 (~$146) a month from the seven students she has. “Only four of my students consistently attend classes so you see that there is potential to make more,” she said. “It is just about taking it seriously and being patient.” Moitse tells TechCabal that, for beginners, the going rate on most platforms is $3 per hour. As a tutor gradually gains experience and gets good ratings, they can get rates as high as $7 an hour. The number of students a tutor can have is only limited by how many they can accommodate. Challenges in online tutoring in Botswana For some tutors who spoke to TechCabal, although offering online tutoring is a straightforward exercise, there are some annoyances. One of these is racism by some of the tutored students. According to 22-year-old *Kagiso, she had a racist encounter in one of her first classes. “On the platforms, we have our cameras on and sometimes students say racist things, but you just take it on the chest and focus on your work,” she told TechCabal. Another challenge for tutors is internet access. Botswana has one of most expensive data prices on the continent, and most homes do not have broadband internet. To get through that huddle, some tutors have struck deals with internet cafés to use their computers to do work. *Maatla, a tutor who conducts his classes at an internet cafe, says the arrangement is convenient because the cafe owners understand his line of work and give him a secluded spot to work. “It’s a win-win situation because the café gets a regular customer and I get a nice work environment,” he tells TechCabal. Although he currently has only four students and does tutoring part-time, Maatla says he plans to have as many as 30 students and do it full-time as soon as he makes enough to afford internet at home. For Moitse, one of her main challenges is misinformed people who think ESL tutoring is a quick money-making scheme, thanks to ESL tutoring influencers on social media who give that impression. She adds that when they fail to make what they thought they would, some of the tutors end up giving up altogether and call the tutoring a scam. Some pages of the influencers seen by TechCabal show tutors earning as much as $4,000. “Tutoring is like any other job so you have to work hard to earn a lot of money eventually,” Moitse says. The future of online tutoring With youth unemployment not showing any sign of slowing down in Botswana, alternate ways to earn income like

January 23 2024

Exclusive: Two crypto startups submit licence application to Nigerian SEC

One month after Nigeria’s Central Bank lifted a ban on crypto, startups are now pushing for SEC licence Two crypto startups have applied for licences from Nigeria’s Security Exchange Commission (SEC) after the central bank lifted its 2-year ban on crypto-related bank accounts, a highly-placed source at the exchange told TechCabal, signaling a push by crypto startups to take advantage of a recent u-turn by regulators. In December, the CBN lifted stringent regulations that had banned banks from transacting with crypto companies. In its place, the apex bank shared guidelines mandating banks to obtain the bank verification number (BVN) of all directors and owners of crypto businesses that use their services. The rules also say cryptocurrency companies must secure a license from the country’s capital markets regulator, the SEC. Earlier in May 2022, the SEC issued rules on offering and collecting digital assets. The SEC did not directly respond to TechCabal’s inquiries about which startups had already applied for the licences. One of the crypto companies thought to have applied is Yellow Card. “We have not made any public moves yet but it is in the process,” said one person with knowledge of the company’s business. However, Yellow Card did not immediately respond to TechCabal’s questions at the time of this report. Luno, the London-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange with operations in Nigeria, told TechCabal that it is yet to apply for the license. Last week, Yellow Card announced a partnership with American crypto exchange platform Coinbase that will allow Nigerians and people in 19 other African countries to use Coinbase’s wallet, purchase stablecoin (USDC), make remittances, save, and do everyday commerce on the platform. Quidax, another popular crypto exchange in the country, announced free bank account deposits and withdrawals to customers days after the CBN announcement. While the ban’s lifting eases business for crypto startups, experts doubt it will magically transform the market, which has found ways around the CBN ban to buy, sell, save, and trade crypto. “Nigerians are very price-sensitive. Some of the platforms sell for about 20% more than relatively risky platforms,” a web3 PR consultant who asked not to be named, told TechCabal. “Beyond the exorbitant price, these crypto startups operate with a near-saviour complex and think that it is just enough for Nigerians to have access to the blockchain. If these platforms do not significantly become easier to use, people will continue using what they have been using to transact in crypto.” Even though it came a year after the SEC published regulations to safeguard digital assets, the CBN may have removed the stigma associated with digital currencies, popularly linked to scams. A founder of a now-defunct crypto company told TechCabal, “It is probably the best thing, if not the only positive aspect, about the CBN’s guidelines.”

January 23 2024

Safaricom silent on details as M-PESA outage continues in Kenya

Many users have taken to social media to fault Safaricom for not alerting them of an impending M-PESA service interruption. M-PESA, the mobile money product owned by Kenya’s leading telco Safaricom, has been experiencing an outage, primarily affecting its paybill services and bank-to-M-PESA transfers. Amid frustrations from users who are voicing their concerns online, Safaricom has yet to state explicitly what is causing the disruption. The telco has only posted a brief message on its social media pages acknowledging the technical issue. “We are experiencing a recurring service intermittently affecting some paybill payments. The issue is under resolution by our technical team, we shall inform you once normal services resume,” Safaricom said on X. Customer Notice pic.twitter.com/ynAwIvx7S8 — Safaricom PLC (@SafaricomPLC) January 23, 2024 Paybill services are very popular in Kenya as they allow M-PESA users, among other mobile money service customers, to pay for goods and services or transfer money from one platform to another. Local banks have also notified their customers that they cannot transact via M-PESA channels, although some of these lenders have acknowledged that some services are back online. One bank texted customers, “We are experiencing intermittency on M-PESA services… we will advise once this is fully restored by our partners.” Poor communication from Safaricom The primary issue with these interruptions is that Safaricom does little to warn its customers of an impending outage. This has always been the norm when customers are alerted to an outage in advance. However, lately, this communication channel has deteriorated, compelling customers to demand answers from Safaricom on social media. What is becoming of @Safaricom_Care‘s MPESA nowadays? @PeterNdegwa_ seems to be very incompetent. MPESA is failing so many times these days. Currently MPESA down https://t.co/P7dtan9MwS — CPA Ng’ang’a Wa Mwangi (@Mshomolozi) January 22, 2024 A few days ago, when the same interruption occurred, it took the telco a couple of hours to inform customers what was going on with the services. Safaricom then disabled the reply option on its post on X, meaning customers could not voice their feedback. This paints a picture of a company that is not ready to engage its customers, yet most Kenyans use its products, including M-PESA. Rivals are unable to pose the needed competition Launched in 2007, M-PESA, which contributes 40% of Safaricom’s revenue, has managed to maintain its market lead for many years thanks to its early entry into the market, product innovation, and the resources of its parent company. Rivals such as Airtel Money and Telkom Kenya’s T-Kash have been struggling to gain market share and customers. In mid-2023, M-PESA led the market with a 96.5% market share, followed by Airtel Money and T-Kash at 3.4% and 0.1%, respectively. The three products serve up to 38.1 million Kenyans as of September 2023. The Central Bank of Kenya, among other government agencies, has been attempting to make other mobile money products attractive to Kenyans. Two years ago, paybill and Buy Goods services were made interoperable. However, the development has yet to pick up as locals still prefer using the more expensive M-PESA. “Pesalink needs to have an app and its own ecosystem that integrates with payment services and allows us to withdraw through local agents. Airtel needs to drop a lot of money over the next half-decade promoting Airtel Money, maybe a customer acquisition campaign,” Kiruti Itimu, an M-PESA customer suggested amidst the outage. Airtel Kenya, which rarely shares its financials publicly, has been unable to make Airtel Money an appealing proposition. Telkom Kenya, which is experiencing financial constraints of its own due to the $27 million debt it owes the American Tower Corporation (ATC), has also failed to popularise T-Kash amongst its customers. The general argument is that M-PESA is too big to beat—although this argument was debunked following a study by Analysys Mason. The last attempt to change things could happen if Airtel Money and T-Kash customers can access M-PESA agency network because out of the 338,209 registered agents, the majority of them serve M-PESA customers.

January 23 2024

TechCabal Daily – Zilla’s interesting pivot

In partnership with Share this newsletter: Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Happy salary week If you’re looking for something nice to spend your salary on, the $3,500 Apple Vision Pro should be off your list—and not just because it’s above your pay grade . Pre-orders for the Vision Pro are sold out. The company has sold over 200,000 of its niche MR headsets already, and some analysts predict it could sell over 500,000 pieces before the year runs out. If this teaches you anything other than how FOMO works, it should tell you that some of your friends are lying about not having any money. In today’s edition SafeBoda to return to Kenya Zilla pivots to cross-border payments Interswitch and OPay partner up Zambia moves to upgrade its towers Musk says Tesla isn’t coming to SA The World Wide Web3 Events Mobility SafeBoda to relaunch in Kenya Image Source: SafeBoda SafeBoda is coming back to Kenyan roads. Per BenjaminDada, the ride-hailing startup is set to make a return to Kenya on February 4 after a three-year hiatus. SafeBoda paused its operations in the country due to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some experts also attribute SafeBoda’s exit to increasing competition from established startups like Boltboda, uberBODA and Juuboda. SafeBoda has yet to present a reason for its return, however, it’s in for some feisty challenge. The startup now has to win over its previous riders who have now joined its competitors. Before shuttering its operation in Kenya, SafeBoda reportedly had over 4,000 riders. It is unclear if SafeBoda has gotten regulatory approval to resume operations from Kenya’s transport regulator, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA). Zoom out: Following its departure from Kenya in 2020, the ride-hailing startup also left Nigeria in 2022. It, however, doubled down on its Ugandan market introducing new services like electric bikes, trip insurance, and SafeCar, its car-hailing service. It remains to be seen if Safeboda has the same play in mind for its Kenyan renaissance. 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. Fintech Zilla’s interesting BNPL lessons Globally, buy-now-pay-later is a huge phenomenon. Klarna, one of the leading startups offering BNPL services, is valued at $6.7 billion and in 2022, the value of all items customers used Klarna to pay for was $83.7 billion. Yep, let that sink in. In Nigeria, while we’ve seen fintechs offer BNPL, we’ve not seen a lot of data that helps us understand how customers use the service. In the last three years, startups like CDCare, Carbon Zero and Zilla have been leading the charge to convince Nigerians to pay for items installmentally instead of putting down huge upfront payments. It feels like a no-brainer that people would love this service. Yet, our exclusive reporting today on Zilla, a BNPL service launched in 2021, suggests that there may be cultural problems slowing down the adoption of BNPL by customers. At least, that’s what the company thinks. And that’s why the company is pausing its BNPL offering. “One of our biggest challenges has been that a lot of people don’t understand how credit works and think it is about owing people,” one employee told TechCabal. However, some merchants who allow their customers pay with Zilla have an altogether different theory. One vendor, for instance, believes repayment periods of two to four months don’t work for a lot of customers. When people buy expensive items, they want to stretch the payment for up to a year. It may very well change the way we think about offering credit and asset financing. Go deeper. Secure payment gateway for your business Fincra payment gateway enables you to easily collect Naira payments as a business; you can collect payments in minutes through cards, bank transfers and PayAttitude. Create a free account and start collecting NGN payments with Fincra. Fintech Interswitch buddies up with OPay Nigerian fintech heavyweights Interswitch and OPay have partnered for the launch of a new payment gateway. What payment gateway? Stylised as “Interswitch Payment Gateway (IPG)”, the feature will allow OPay users to make online payments. This simplifies online payments for millions of OPay users, who were previously limited to cards, bank transfers, or QR codes. The new collaboration will allow users to make purchases online and get debited through their OPay wallets. Why does this matter? The new feature, which presents a more seamless way to make online payments, opens up an avenue for increased online purchases. Currently, over 200,000 businesses transact on the Interswitch platform daily, and a synergy withOPay’s 30 million registered users and 100,000+ merchants will boost Interswitch’s numbers. OPay’s registered users and merchants also provide additional revenue streams for Interswitch whose estimated annual revenue is about $313.6 million per year. The move also signals a potential market expansion for Interswitch, which is dominant in traditional card payment processing and merchant acquisition in Nigeria. Zoom out: This is not the first synergy between fintech giants in Africa. In 2006, Kenyan Mobile payment platform, M-Pesa paired up with Equity Bank’s extensive branch network to allow for seamless transaction of funds between users. Both players saw significant growth and solidified their dominance in the Kenyan financial landscape. Introducing Transfers to bank accounts in Ghana Paystack merchants in Ghana can now send single and bulk transfers to Ghanaian bank accounts from the Paystack Dashboard and via API. Learn more → Internet Zambia upgrades communication towers to 3G and 4G Zambia’s communication towers are receiving a 3G and 4G makeover. The Southern African country has commenced the upgrade of 87 communication towers in its northern region—Muchinga province—from 2G to 3G and 4G networks. Per Felix Mutati, minister of science and technology, internet access improved by 5% in 2022, reaching 58% by 2023. This upgrade will bring better and faster mobile internet and social media access for many residents who don’t have internet access. access.

January 22 2024

BNPL Blues: Zilla hits pause as consumer understanding hampers growth

Zilla, the Buy-Now-Pay-Later company founded in 2019, has paused its BNPL services and is now focusing on a cross-border payment product, Zillawire, after struggling to convince customers to use the service, two people with knowledge of the matter told TechCabal. “One of our biggest challenges has been that a lot of people don’t understand how credit works and think it is about owing people,” one employee who asked not to be named told TechCabal. “Most customers would rather wait until they have the complete amount of money to pay than get one now and pay in installments,” the person added. The company confirmed the decision to pause its BNPL offering to TechCabal and said it “had a couple of things to figure out.” The company claimed that “resuming the service is in the works” without sharing any specific timelines. Zilla was launched in 2021 by Tolu Abiodun and has about 100 merchants that provide various products and services that customers can pay for in two to four installments. Despite sluggish adoption, two categories that performed fairly well were electronics and beauty products from high-end stores, as these are typically too expensive for the average consumer to pay for at once, said one person close to the business. But even these high-performing categories provided a problem: customers wanted more than the maximum four months Zilla provided to finalise payments. “The economy is tough, and people need more time,” said Joshua, who runs a gadget store registered with Zilla. “Customers who want to buy now and pay later for phones or laptops prefer to use other services like CDCare, as they give you a chance to pay for as long as a year.” Victoria, a vendor who sells wigs and other beauty products, has had about five customers use Zilla in the two years since she joined the BNPL service. Two of those five customers eventually asked Zilla for a payment extension as they found completing payments after four months challenging. Pivoting to cross-border payments? Zilla’s new product, Zillawire, processes foreign transactions with suppliers on behalf of merchants. According to information on their website, merchants are required to upload their invoices as well as the account information of the supplier for this service. On the reason for building a cross-border payment product, the employee shared that the company noticed that a lot of their merchants were having some issues with their international payments for their products and wanted to do something about that. According to her, Zillawire, which launched in August 2023, performed better than expected and so the company is focusing on that now.

January 22 2024

Why Yemisi Isidi is championing mentorship for early-stage founders

Yemisi Isidi moved back to Nigeria from the UK in 2017, and after seeing how difficult it was for businesses, especially women-owned ones, to scale, she decided to do something about it. At first, she started helping small business owners utilise social media to grow their businesses until that seemed inadequate, and then she moved into providing micro-loans through a company she started, Triift Africa. After a while, even that became inadequate as she discovered that beyond finances, entrepreneurs required a lot of structure and good management to thrive, and so she decided to step up to that. Yemisi, who graduated from Aston University in Birmingham with a degree in Accounting and Business Management started to provide advisory services to business owners. In the last two years, Yemisi Isidi has been involved in the disbursement of over $10 million to early founders and business owners. She has also been invested in providing technical advisory to enterprise programs, as well as mentorship and access through various accelerators and incubation programs like the She Leads Africa program and The Future Female Business School which was set up by the UK-Nigeria Tech Hub to support young female tech founders. Some alumni of these programs include Medsaf, Shuttlers, and Auto Girl. For Centre Stage, TechCabal had a chat with Yemisi on the role of mentorships in building sustainable businesses. How would you describe yourself outside of the work that you do? Yemisi Isidi: I am a very driven and passionate person. I care deeply about seeing things grow, whether it’s a business, idea, or community and this shapes whatever it is that I do. I like to see people live better lives and a lot of times I am grateful that I get to contribute to that through my work. At an event some weeks ago, you mentioned that you didn’t agree with the narrative of female founders being over-mentored. Please can you speak about that some more? YI: The popular saying is that female startup founders are over-mentored and underfunded. I agree with the underfunded path and I’ve seen a lot more effort in that regard with programmes intentionally focused on putting money in the hands of female founders, whether startup founders or SME business owners. But when we say female founders are over-mentored, then I don’t agree. Mentorship covers a lot of things, including operational advice. If you have an investor who gives you money, but isn’t holding you accountable and doesn’t understand your industry enough to give you professional advice or access to a valuable network, then there’s a very high chance of you failing, despite the money and this is applicable to both male and female founders. Startups that were part of local incubation or accelerator programmes are more likely to succeed, and it’s not just about money but also access to a network and accountability structure that supports their growth. We’ve seen startups that were on the brink of folding but were resuscitated by their local investors. Not just with money, but also with them being able to rally and provide management with the support that they need to pull them through the process. Underfunded and over-mentored just sounds like “Give me the money and leave me alone to do the work.” But there are bigger questions that need to be answered to build a sustainable business, questions like if they know how to do the work and if they’re always going to be motivated when doing the work. There needs to be additional support beyond funding that makes it easier for people to build profitable and sustainable businesses, and this is a gap that mentorship covers. So yes, women are underfunded, but there is still room for mentorship. What are some of the benefits of mentorship to early-stage founders that people don’t pay attention to? YI: There are so many benefits, but I will share two. First, it gives you access to a network community, which makes it easier to get external funding, especially when you’re part of a recognised mentoring programme. But most importantly, it makes it easier to bootstrap to generate internal funding. Perhaps the mistake here is when we think about funding, we’re thinking of another person who is not a customer giving you money, but there’s funding that is your business being profitable and having healthy cash flow, and I’ve seen how these mentorings and training make it possible for businesses to achieve this more quickly. Another investor spoke to us about startups not necessarily requiring a huge investment to start operations in the early days. What do you think about that? YI: Businesses do need money for operations, licences, research, etc, depending on what they’re building. Finding investors early makes it possible to focus on building the business rather than trying to look for other streams of income to sustain it, so money is essential in making growth happen faster. However, it is not always straightforward. I think that a lot of money stifles innovation and problem-solving, especially when there is no accountability. Corporate Governance is already a big issue in our ecosystem. Too much money where there is no solid foundation, assured integrity or product market fit can be a problem. Even when you have a clear path to success, we have a very unpredictable market so it’s important to think about how to build sustainably from the beginning. What are some of your most important wins in the past years? YI: Over the past two years alone, have been involved in enabling access to over $10 million in funding for early-stage startups and businesses across six African countries. I’ve also worked with about 700 entrepreneurs across Africa to build investment-ready and profitable businesses and aided them in accessing available funding opportunities. In 2017, I organised the Illorin Digital Summit which had over 1000 people in attendance from different states across the North Central and Western parts of Nigeria. That work has now evolved to become Cirkle Labs which is an