Mozambique gets its first 5G network, courtesy of Vodacom
Vodacom has launched Mozambique’s first 5G network. The mobile network operator plans to deploy 5G services at selected sites in Maputo, Matola; the central area of Nampula; downtown Nacala, Munhava, Maquinino and Chipanga neighbourhoods; Beira; and Tete. “5G Technology will significantly improve the quality of the telecommunications service provided in the country, particularly in the materialisation of the Internet of things (IoT), [as] well as ‘smart everything’ (smart cities, smart agriculture, smart ports, etc.), as it is the technology that better supports these cases,” said Mateus Magala, Mozambique’s Minister of Transport and Communications. Vodacom, which operates in seven other African countries, added that it was excited to bring quality network connectivity to communities across Africa, bringing individuals and businesses closer to the global digital economy. The telco’s CEO, Nuno Quelhas stated that 5G would help improve the quality of life and promote the growth of the youthful population. “5G would help to expand financial inclusion in Mozambique, as the aim is to cover 75% of the adult Mozambican population by 2025 and make payments through M-Pesa available anywhere in the country,” he added. According to data from Omdia, Vodacom Mozambique is the country’s biggest mobile operator with over 11.3 million customers in the first quarter of 2023. It has achieved a 75% coverage rate on its 2G network and 80% coverage on its 4G network.
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Unlocking new frontiers of innovation in African fintech
Image source: Skabash Innovation in the African fintech sector has been largely centered around payment solutions, with payment-focused startups accounting for 54.5% of all fintech startups on the continent, as of 2022, according to a report by Disrupt Africa. In 2022, African fintech startups raised a record-breaking $1.5 billion in funding, with payment solutions receiving the largest share of investment. However, it is essential to innovate to solve problems in other sub-sectors that need attention and growth opportunities. A report by the World Bank also highlights the need for fintech solutions beyond payments to provide access to credit and other financial products to the 66% of sub-Saharan Africans who do not have access to formal financial services. During the latest edition of TechCabal Live, “Beyond Payments: What’s the next big thing in African Fintech?”, a panel of industry experts explored the potential for growth and innovation in other verticals beyond payments solutions. The panelists discussed the state of fintech in Africa and the role it plays in promoting financial inclusion across the continent. They also highlighted the challenges that innovators face in developing new fintech solutions, such as regulatory barriers and the need for a robust infrastructure. On exploring untapped opportunities within the fintech sector in Africa, Daniel Adereti, COO at Pezesha said, “One of the biggest challenges is accessing credit.” “The opportunity for innovation is in finding ways to create an ecosystem where credit can be accessed easily and securely,” he said. Also, the importance of collaboration between fintech companies and traditional financial institutions to deepen financial inclusion cannot be overemphasised. As Ibukun Akinnawo, International Expansion Lead at Smile Identity said, “Collaboration is key in driving growth in the payments and other sub-sectors with shared databases and the use of AI to strengthen fraud detection systems.” As the African fintech industry continues to grow and evolve, it is important to recognize importance of building fintech solutions that are tailored to local needs and behaviors. Sub sectors like embedded finance for instance, enables the shift from time-consuming bank transfers to the use of financial services or tools by a non-financial provider. “Embedded finance is interesting, new and productive, for reasons that make capital have impact on emerging markets. I believe this,” said Wesley Billett, co-founder and co-CEO at Happy Pay. By leveraging innovative technologies and alternative distribution channels, fintech companies can help to democratize access to financial services and promote financial inclusion across the continent. Conclusively, there is potential for growth and innovation in other fintech verticals such as credit analytics, wealth management, and new payment solutions. With the right regulatory framework, access to capital, and support from governments and investors, the African fintech industry has the potential to become a global leader in innovation and entrepreneurship.
Read MoreFollowing greylisting wakeup call, SA seeks to revamp its financial services regulations
On February 24, the international financial crime watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), announced that South Africa has been added to its “grey list”. This list consists of countries placed under scrutiny to implement standards to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing. To get back into the FATF’s good books, South Africa is set to adopt a raft of legislative changes over the next three to five years to modernise the regulatory framework for financial institutions and align with international standards. According to Astrid Ludin, deputy commissioner at the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, the country’s national treasury is also finalising a Conduct of Financial Institutions Bill which seeks to streamline the licensing of financial institutions and improve disclosure requirements to provide greater visibility into their business practices. . Additionally, the Financial Markets Act is also being reviewed and changes are expected to be submitted to parliament by the end of the year. Some of the expected changes include enhanced controls over short selling and securities financing transactions, and additional disclosure requirements of pre- and post- trading data to improve market surveillance. According to Ludin, the FSCA will spend the next three years improving the digitisation of its systems to enable it to streamline its reporting requirements, remove redundancies, and facilitate the sharing of information with other regulators such as the prudential authority and the Financial Intelligence Centre. Why was South Africa greylisted? According to the country’s national treasury, South Africa performed poorly in its 2019 mutual evaluation by the FATF, as a result of many institutions being crippled by state capture under former president Jacob Zuma’s administration. The country was subsequently put under a one-year observation period in October 2021 to give it time to address the 67 recommended actions by the FATF following the evaluation. In January 2023, an assessment of South Africa’s progress found that the country had managed to reduce the 67 recommended actions to 8 strategic deficiencies. The FATF then took the decision to greylist South Africa until the deficiencies are addressed. “In summary, the greylisting of a country means that its government has adopted an action plan to address deficiencies identified during its mutual evaluation after an observation period, and to implement such action plan within a defined time period, and with FATF monitoring such implementation,” said the National Treasury in a statement. Following the greylisting, the South African government is working to address the deficiencies pointed out by the FATF by the end of January 2025, to comply with the FATF’s standards.
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Rain launches voice services to challenge MTN, Vodacom dominance
South Africa’s data-only mobile network operator Rain is expanding its product suite.It will now offer voice services on its network, signaling its entrance into a market dominated by the de-facto duopoly of MTN and Vodacom. “This has now positioned Rain to enter the market as a full mobile network operator, thus becoming the fourth telco after Vodacom, MTN and Telkom, with a network that offers national coverage in voice, SMS and data,” Rain said in a statement. Running on 4G technology, Rain’s offering will offer high-definition voice calls, data and SMS throughout the country. “After acquiring spectrum in the 2022 auction, Rain is overlaying its existing 4G network with a new layer that provides for more comprehensive reach,” the statement continued. With both a national 4G mobile network and a 5G network, Rain said it is now combining “home and phone” into one plan, branded rainOne. “Now customers can connect all their devices with one monthly bill.” “Customers with rainOne will be able to seamlessly port their existing number and use Rain Mobile as their primary SIM, with national 4G mobile coverage,” the company further added. “The convergence of a home and mobile voice and data offerings in one affordable plan is an innovation we are confident will appeal to South Africans. We recognise that our customers have family members, so with rainOne we are catering not only for their need to access the internet from home, but also outside on their mobile devices,” said Rain CEO Brandon Leigh in the statement. The network operator’s “rainOne” offering allows consumers to bundle home internet ,voice and data services in one package “Now customers have another option for mobile services from a provider that has already established a strong reputation in the home internet market. The expansion of Rain’s network, both in terms of 5G coverage and spectrum acquisition, indicates that we are serious about being a major player in the mobile market as well,” he added. After failing in their bid to merge with Telkom, it appears that Rain have decided to penetrate the mobile voice market through their own efforts. With their success in 5G, Rain has the track record to show that they can bring the fight to the incumbents.
Read MoreHackers have their eyes set on exploiting vulnerabilities in SA government services
According to research by global cybersecurity firm Trellix, hackers are shifting their attention from the private sector and setting their sights on exploiting vulnerabilities on the South African government’s systems. In their intelligence briefing on the state of cybersecurity in South Africa, Trellix states that the global threat actors exploit covert infiltration, user-carried USB devices and vulnerabilities in intermediary financial systems, in order to breach security. Data from the briefing shows that government systems attract more than a third of all online attacks, with the education sector a distant second. Financial services, utilities, wholesale, media, consumer products, and the general services sector all come after. “What we do know is that although it may be growing at a very slow pace, the South African economy is quickly adopting more advanced technology across commerce, service delivery and communication. This transition leaves gaps of exposure for various groups to test weaknesses left open, as old systems make way for more modern ones,” said Carlo Bolzonello, country manager for Trellix South Africa. According to Mordor Intelligence, the South Africa cybersecurity market is expected to grow at a cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.01% over the forecast period (2022-2027). The robust digitalisation in verticals like banking and financial services, government sector, and oil and gas industries has consequently triggered the risk of cyber-attacks. As a result of these risks, the adoption of various cybersecurity services that are needed to safeguard smart grid devices, digitalised businesses, and IoT-based smart cities are on an upward trajectory in the country.
Read MoreThe Economist’s The World Ahead 2023 unveiled with an eye on West Africa
On April 27th, The Economist unveiled its annual publication, The World Ahead 2023, at the Ecobank Pan African Centre (EPAC) in Lagos, Nigeria. The publication is now distributed in 90 countries and translated into 20 languages. This year’s edition is unique as it includes a section on West Africa, with Ghana and Nigeria receiving coverage. The event was attended by industry leaders and representatives, including the Deputy Governor, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, who stood in for the Lagos State Governor. The Economist’s deputy editor, Tom Standage, attended the event virtually. Speaking about what the year holds for the continent, he said that although 2022 was a challenging year for the continent, 2023 could present opportunities. He also noted that Rwanda, Ivory Coast, and Senegal are among the fastest-growing economies. He added that many European countries may turn to Africa as an alternative to Russian oil and gas suppliers, given the Russia-Ukraine war and the fact that the continent holds 13% of oil and gas. The publication aims to highlight both the potential and areas for improvement in Africa. Tayo Oviosu, founder of fintech startup Paga said in the publication that he believes there is significant untapped potential for mobile-based fintech services to create jobs, enhance financial inclusion, and boost economic growth in Africa. Echoing Oviosu’s thoughts, Standage noted that existing fintech firms have established payment networks, digital wallets, and money transfer systems, providing a foundation for new offerings such as lending, insurance, and small business services. Giving the Governor’s address, Dr. Hamzat stated that one could not overemphasise the importance of The Economist’s publication. He humorously recalled purchasing a lot during his postgraduate studies abroad and acknowledged its insightful analysis of events. “This publication attempts to address through its insightful analysis of events mainly to allow us to navigate these murky waters, and turn challenges into opportunities,” he said. He noted that the publication can assist policymakers and business owners in developing more practical plans and strategies in 2023 and beyond. During a panel discussion, Deepankar Rustagi, CEO of Omnibiz; Peter Anagbe – Head of Alternative fuel Projects at Dangote; George Thorpe, managing director of Magprotein Limited; and Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng, CEO of Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) Ghana, explored ways to utilize sustainable development communities and trade to unlock growth potential in Nigeria and the wider region. The event concluded with a speech from Oyin Damola Lami Adeyemi, Executive Chairman of Still Earth Holdings, a gold sponsor of the event. She highlighted Still Earth’s work in the oil and gas industry, funding entrepreneurs, and contributing to education and community development, including supporting foundations for cultural exchange and creative research. Other sponsors of the event by The Economist included Dangote, Omnibiz, Ghana’s Minerals Income Investment Fund, Ecobank, MTN, LG, Sky Sat, TechCabal, and more. The Economist has made the publication, The World Ahead, available for download here.
Read MoreAccess Bank gets greenlight to acquire majority stake in Finibanco Angola
Access Bank has announced that it has received regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Angola to proceed with the purchase of a majority stake in Finibanco Angola. Access had already received approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria to move ahead with the acquisition and will now wait for greenlight on the transaction from Angolan authorities, which it expects to get in the “coming days.” Additionally, Access also signed agreements with minority shareholders in Finibanco Angola to buy their stake after which the bank intends to hold an 80% stake in the business. “We are pleased to be well-positioned to join the select league of banks providing high-value financial services to high-growth businesses and the rising consumer sector in Angola. The bank brings a lot of value-add and expertise that will act a [sic] catalyst to foster greater innovation and promote the deepening of the financial sector in Angola, while complementing our strategic growth objectives in the broader SADC region,” said Herbert Wigwe, group CEO of Access Holdings. In 2021, Access Bank also acquired a majority stake in BancABC of Botswana, offsetting the most active day in the history of the country’s bourse, the Botswana Stock Exchange. Access Bank’s entry into the Angolan banking market could be well timed as, according to statistics, net profits of the country’s banking sector increased by 295% in 2021 to 592.402 billion kwanzas (€1.3 billion).
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Fingo’s fintech fix
Lire en français Read this email in French. 5 MAY, 2023 IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TGIF Slack is not living up to its name. Yesterday, it announced Slack GPT, AI integrations that will help users automate several things. For example, it could attend meetings for you and summarise them in notes. #DefundMeetings. In today’s edition Nigeria approves blockchain technology Fingo launches app for youth Treepz pivots to car-sharing Funding tracker The World Wide Web3 Event: The State of Tech in Africa Opportunities NIGERIA APPROVES BLOCKCHAIN POLICY Isa Pantami, minister of communication and digital economy, and Kashifu Inuwa, director general of NITDA Web3 isn’t dying…at least not in Nigeria. This week, the Nigerian Ministry for Communication and Digital Economy announced the approval and launch of a national blockchain policy. The policy was launched as part of its 10-year digital economy plan slated for 2020–2030. The ministry reportedly consulted 56 blockchain institutions and figures to create a plan that will see Nigeria use blockchain technology across its economic, agriculture, health, and security sectors. What it means for Nigeria: Nigeria already employs blockchain in its financial sector, notably for its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the e-naira. Earlier this week, its Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also announced that it was considering legalising tokenised coins backed by equity, debt or property. While its relationship with crypto is still dicey, with crypto trading banned since 2021, it is still finding interesting use cases for blockchain. Last year, its ICT bulldog, NITDA, partnered with a blockchain company to launch a blockchain scholarship programme aimed at training 30,000 Nigerians. The country is also in talks with global cryptocurrency firm Binance to set up a digital economy via the Nigerian Export Processing Zone Authority (NEZPA). WORK WITH MONIEPOINT At Moniepoint, we’re creating the best workplace for global talent using the 4M framework- Meaning, Membership, Mastery and Money. This isn’t an ad designed to convince you to join us, but it has all the reasons why you should. Watch it here. This is partner content. FINGO APP LAUNCHES IN KENYA TO FOSTER FINANCIAL INCLUSION Ecobank Kenya has unveiled the Fingo app which seeks to increase the financial inclusion of youth in Kenya and across Africa. The app, developed through a collaboration between the lender and Kenyan fintech Fingo Africa, seeks to tap the unbanked youth across 33 countries in Africa where Ecobank operates. More deets Through the app, youth will be able to open a bank account via their mobile phone in less than four minutes, send money to other Fingo and M-Pesa users for free, and pay bills via Paybills and Till numbers at subsidised rates. The app will also have a savings feature wherein a user can set savings goals and set recurring transfers to the goals to create a frictionless savings habit. In future iterations, users will be able to generate a virtual card to use for online transactions. Zoom out: The launch was graced by President Ruto whose administration introduced the “Hustlers Fund” which offers instant loans to Kenyan citizens upon request, aiming to provide cheaper access to credit, and to combat embedded credit. TREEPZ PIVOTS TO CAR-SHARING More mobility startups are taking new turns on the drive to success. This time, it’s pan-African startup Treepz. Yesterday, it announced that it’s becoming a car-sharing marketplace that allows car owners to put their vehicles up for rent. According to the startup, this pivot is a more affordable and sustainable option for mobility in Africa. Old roads make bad trips: Launched in 2019, Treepz is active across three countries—Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda—where its business models included an Uber-like service for minivans, an intercity travel solution, and a corporate mobility solution for businesses. Per the company, it is discontinuing previous offers and focusing on becoming “Africa’s premier car-sharing marketplace”. The company has reportedly spent the past five months building out its new offerings and now claims to have a variety of vehicles including sedans, SUVs, vans, and buses. The business model involves renters or “guests” choosing their desired cars based on location and duration while the vetted car owners or “hosts” set their preferred prices and availability. TC INSIGHTS: FUNDING TRACKER This week, Nomba, a pan-African payment service provider, secured $30 million in Pre-Series B funding. The oversubscribed equity funding round was led by San Francisco-based Base10 Partners, with participation from Helios Digital Ventures, Shopify, Partech, and Khosla Ventures. Here are the other deals this week: Fedi, a Nigerian bitcoin-focused company, raised $17 million in a series A funding round led by Ego Death Capital. Other participating investors include Block, Kingsway, Trammell Venture Partners, and Timechain. Tunisian e-commerce company Drest.tn received $336,000 in an undisclosed funding round from 216 Capital Ventures. Nigerian Insight7, an AI company, secured undisclosed funding from Forum Ventures. That’s it for this week! Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn for more funding announcements. You can also visit DealFlow, our real-time funding tracker. THE WORLD WIDE WEB3 Bitcoin $29,206 + 0.32% Ether $1,898 + 0.01% BNB $325 – 0.32% Cardano $0.39 – 0.86% Name of the coin Price of the coin 24-hour percentage change Source: CoinMarketCap * Data as of 07:30 AM WAT, May 5, 2023. TC LIVE: THE STATE OF TECH IN AFRICA Join us this morning at 11 AM (WAT) on a special edition of TechCabal Live. We’ll be launching “The State of Tech In Africa report (Q1)”. This report is our flagship report that analyses quarterly data on acquisitions, expansions, product launches, and funding in Africa’s tech ecosystem. This edition looks at Q1 2023, in retrospect and contains interesting patterns and trends to look out for this year. At the event, we would discuss actionable insights and findings from the report with you and share our perspectives on the outlook of Africa’s tech landscape. Click here to save a spot. IN OTHER NEWS FROM TECHCABAL Nomba: From an AI Chatbot to a $150 million valued company. TopUp Mama is now Caantin. OPPORTUNITIES The SaaS Accelerator Program: Africa 2023 has opened applications for its accelerator programme to enable
Read MoreNomba: from an AI chatbot to a $150 million valued company
It’s not every day you hear that what started as an AI chatbot in 2017 has grown to a VC-backed company with a $150 million valuation. But that is the story of Nomba, a Nigerian fintech that started as Kudi.AI, a chatbot that helped people process online payments. This week, Nomba announced that it raised a $30 million pre-Series B round. Nomba raises $30 million pre-Series B From a chatbot to a company Adeyinka Adewale, the co-founder and CEO of Nomba, told TechCabal that Nomba started as an AI chatbot because a large part of the market wasn’t tech-savvy. “Not everyone was tech savvy enough to download and onboard apps to make payments online,” Adewale stated. So he teamed up with his co-founder Pelumi Aboluwarin, to deploy a simple solution to help the layman navigate the world of digital payments. “We launched in the first week of 2017, and at the time, because a lot of big tech companies were launching natural language processing engines, it was a good time to build an assistant to walk the everyday person through online payments,” he said. According to Adewale, by July 2017, the company had decided to build a platform where merchants could use human interaction to process transactions, instead of artificial intelligence. He explained that after graduating from the Y-Combinator Winter 2017 batch in March, the next hurdle was to scale and solve their two main problems. “Our first problem was that our customers needed a form of human assistance to help them perform transactions in case anything went wrong. Another problem we had at the time was that card payment was not the cheapest way to perform transactions online,” he shared. In solving these problems, Nomba launched an agency banking solution in 2018. Cash flow is the lifeblood of any business Nomba currently has three offerings for small, medium, and large businesses. Adewale told TechCabal that Nomba decided to segment its customers based on their cash flow because, “if you don’t segment your products across those verticals, you will end up building something that will work for someone but might not necessarily work well for the other person.” He added that Nomba is using its customer data to build tailored solutions that will help businesses grow. He said, “because we are in that phase of helping businesses accept revenue (transactions from customer’s payments), we can then help businesses make sense of that data so they can build a better business.” In a statement shared with TechCabal, Nomba stated that it will use its latest funding to build custom solutions for different businesses. “Restaurants will be able to access menus, manage inventory, receive payments, and perform other business functions all from the same hardware,” an excerpt from the statement reads. When asked how Nomba differentiates itself from other companies in the same line of business like Orda and Vendease, Adewale told TechCabal that “it’s all about partnerships”. “It’s about what products we can partner on because you can’t do everything. There are already partnerships in the pipeline,” he added. Exclusive: Nigerian VC firms are considering collaborating to check unethical founders Raising in a global downturn The global tech industry is currently going through a funding downturn as global interest rates continue to rise. African startups are finding it difficult to raise money and funding in the region declined by 57% in the first quarter of 2023. Adewale acknowledged the current funding downturn but shared that Nomba was able to navigate the current downturn by maintaining relationships with its investors before the fundraising process. “The way it worked for us was that we built relationships with investors, told them what we were building, and checked in constantly with them. I have been speaking to some of the investors in the round for a long time, not necessarily fundraising, just catching up and telling them where the business is at, even when we don’t need money,” he said. According to Adewale, maintaining these relationships helped shorten the whole fundraising process, which took less than six months. “Immediately we found our lead investor, it was a fast process because our existing investors were excited to follow on their investments.” He also told TechCabal that Nomba selected its new investors based on their experiences: “Base10 has invested in a couple of platforms like Nubank in Brazil. They also have a business banking product that we have so much respect for. We also have Shopify, which has essentially built merchant solutions for the life of the business, so there’s a lot of expertise and learning for us there. Helios has invested in telecoms and banking in Nigeria, so they are seasoned investors that understand the space.” What does business banking mean for Nomba? According to Adewale, “there’s nothing called business banking as a vanilla product.” (A vanilla product is the most basic and simple version of a product). He explained that business banking for Nomba means creating solutions for businesses depending on the demand from these businesses. “What we do is pick the segments that we care about and see what the core payment and banking functions are that these businesses care about, and then we build out those features. It doesn’t mean that our products would be a fit for everybody, just for the verticals that we came out with,” Adewale told TechCabal. According to Adewale, Nomba’s business model is based on the fees it charges for each transaction. “Our revenue model is tied to fees on transactions. We are not a lender, so our revenue model is based on transactions processed on our platform,” he said. A valuation of $150 million According to YCombinator data, Nomba is currently valued at $150 million. While YCombinator does not include how they arrived at this figure, this valuation makes Nomba one of the most valuable tech startups in Nigeria. Adewale refused to focus on the valuation, saying that the figure was not a public figure and not important to Nomba. However, he did attribute Nomba’s valuation
Read MoreInternet Society Foundation is supporting digital transformation in Senegal with $250,000 grants
The Internet Society Foundation (ISOC) has announced a skill development grant to support digital transformation in Senegal. The grant is tagged the “Strengthening Communities, Improving Lives and Livelihoods (SCILLS)” program. It aims to expand economic growth and increase educational opportunities by supporting individuals and communities to use the Internet more knowledgeably and skillfully. SCILLS will allow eligible organisations in Senegal to receive up to $250,000 in grants for projects lasting up to two years. Organisations applying for grants must submit applications through Fluxx, the online grant management system. If a project and organisation meet the eligibility requirements, they will be invited to submit a full application. Application for the program opened on May 1, 2023, and closes by end of May. Accepted organisations will be notified in August 2023. ISOC is capitalising on Senegal’s booming Internet Usage Senegal has witnessed a boom in the number of people using the Internet. Per the International Telecommunication Union’s Data Hub, the country witnessed an 11% increase in internet usage over a 1-year period- 2021- 2022. The Internet Society Foundation is seeking projects in Senegal that aim to capitalise on this expanding access by securing educational opportunities and/or supporting economic inclusion for underserved and unserved communities. This includes leveraging the Internet to increase access to high-quality primary and secondary education and improve learning outcomes; improving virtual teaching and distance learning methodologies and skills; building financial opportunities; increasing economic independence; and creating sustainable income sources.
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