Banks and fintechs remain wary of Crypto despite new licences
On Friday, Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued the country’s first crypto licences to Busha and Quidax, two home-grown crypto exchanges. It is the latest turn in Nigeria’s love-hate relationship with cryptocurrency after the SEC and the CBN considered regulating peer-to-peer transactions in early 2024. While the Central Bank lifted a directive restricting banks from “dealing in cryptocurrencies or facilitating payments for cryptocurrency exchanges” in December 2023, it began asking banks to block the accounts of p2p traders by May 2024. On August 23, 2024, a high court in Uyo, Nigeria, denied an application to unfreeze Patrick Okon’s Kuda bank account. The restrictions on his account were directly linked to crypto payments. In April, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) asked a court to block over 1,000 bank accounts over crypto links. In March 2024, Nigeria’s financial regulators blocked prominent fintechs from onboarding new customers for five weeks as a currency crisis worsened. It moved against Binance on claims that the platform allowed for manipulation of the naira and detained two of the company’s executives. While the case against the detained Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan drags on, the CBN compelled fintechs to block any account believed to be trading crypto. The SEC, which issued last week’s crypto licences, also held several meetings in May suggesting that exchanges should block p2p transactions out of patriotism. These policy flip-flops make it likely that banks and fintechs will continue to distance themselves from crypto-related activities. “Crypto is still persona non grata. The CBN has not openly accepted it yet,” one bank executive who asked not to be named told TechCabal. Banks are ignoring the provisional licences the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) issued to Quidax and Busha, said highly placed executives at prominent fintech startups. Omotimi Agama, the SEC’s director-general, insisted to TechCabal that “the CBN has lifted any ban.” While Agama’s position is accurate, banks and financial institutions prefer to play it safe with the Central Bank, always choosing caution. “The devil is in the details,” a top executive at one of the fintechs told TechCabal. “The [guideline] is confusing, and the processes are challenging.” Chike Okonkwo, the founder of Gamic, a blockchain startup, that claims to have been speaking to the SEC since 2019, understands the banks’ position. “If that circular [greenlighting] the banking of crypto firms is binding, why can’t retail traders freely add crypto to the description of their banking transactions?” Busha, one of the new licensees, is more optimistic and anticipates a better relationship between banks and crypto companies. “The issuance of the crypto licences is a critical step in maturing the industry. It means that users can engage with operators with increased confidence, which should generally deepen the market,” a spokesperson for Busha said. The company also claims that it is ready for whatever “tight but effective regulations” are deemed necessary by the CBN. Until then, banks and fintechs will continue sitting on their hands in understandable fear of the CBN’s hammer. “Nigerian banking laws are not customer-friendly,” a highly placed fintech executive told TechCabal, adding that “Financial institutions [retain] the right to freeze any account they have reasonable suspicions about any infraction or illicit activity.” Are crypto trades illegal? Two new licences and the CBN’s December 2023 directive say they’re not. However, one operations manager at a commercial bank states, ” We can only acknowledge the license after receiving instructions from the CBN, our regulator.”
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Zimbabwe backs its currency with $190 million
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Good morning Difficulties within Africa’s economic landscape have raised questions about the feasibility of building successful startups on the continent. Iyin Aboyeji, a Nigerian entrepreneur who co-founded two companies valued at over $1 billion before the age of 30, is now a prominent startup investor. Iyin is one of the featured speakers at Moonshot 2024, joining other innovators and industry leaders working on groundbreaking solutions to Africa’s most pressing challenges. You can listen and learn from Iyin’s journey at Moonshot 2024. Get your tickets here. Inside Mira’s new all-in-one hardware Zimbabwe backs its currency with $190 million Nigeria to fine telcos for poor services Indonesia seeks $3.5 billion trade agreement with Africa The World Wide Web3 Opportunities Startups Inside Mira’s new all-in-one hardware The Mira Register In Zero to One, Peter Thiel argues that founders should test their hypotheses in the real world. Mira, a Nigerian fintech which launched in 2024, aims to change how restaurants handle food orders. With Mira, users would scan a QR code, check out a list of meals, and pay through any medium of choice. Restaurants can also receive these orders on any device. When the product went out into the world, Mira learned that restaurants wanted a familiar system. This informed the launch of Mira Register, an all-in-one device that allows restaurants to track customer orders and manage other internal business processes. Mira claims its unique approach to building products sets it apart from competitors. The startup uses a hybrid approach that allows restaurants to operate the product with minimal internet connection. The startup is benefiting from founder Ted Oladele’s experience building great startups at Flutterwave. As founder, Ted Oladele sees Mira Register as the startup’s opportunity to enter the hospitality industry. The CEO is also optimistic about capturing a 10% market share in Nigeria’s saturated POS sector using Mira Register. Already, it has processed over $500,000 in transactions since launch and serves several well-known SMEs like Asheluxe, Grey Matter, and The Vault. Read all about Mira’s pivot here. Read Moniepoint’s 2024 Informal Economy Report Did you know that 57.7% of the business owners in Nigeria’s informal economy are under 34 years old? Click here to find out more about the demographics of Nigeria’s informal economy. Economy Zimbabwe backs its currency with $190 million The Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) Like most African countries struggling with rising import costs, declining export prices, and high inflation, Zimbabwe has taken steps to shore up foreign currency to help increase demand for its domestic currency, the ZiG. So far, the country has spent $190 million doing this. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe said it was using 50% of the foreign exchange proceeds which it collects from exporters to back its new gold-backed currency. In July, Zimbabwe pumped $50 million into the market to support the ZiG. “If we have forex demand that can’t be met by voluntary liquidations, the central bank must step in. It has the reserves,” Persistence Gwanyanya, a member of the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee said in an interview. In July, Bloomberg reported that Zimbabwe has about $370 million in reserves. The apex bank has said interventions in the interbank market will be “a permanent feature”. Zimbabwe is not the only African country that is aggressively buying foreign currency to support its domestic currencies. South Sudan, Mauritius, Nigeria and Zambia have together spent at least $1 billion since July to defend their currencies. Rising import costs, declining export prices, and high inflation have triggered this more-than-usual intervention by these central banks. Collect payments anytime anywhere with Fincra Are you dealing with the complexities of collecting payments from your customers? Fincra’s payment gateway makes it easy to accept payments via cards, bank transfers, virtual accounts and mobile money. What’s more? You get to save money on fees when you use Fincra. Get started now. Telcos Nigeria to fine telcos for poor services Image source: YungNollywood The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the country’s telecoms watchdog has made it compulsory for telcos to pay a default fine of ₦5 million ($3,100) if they fail to meet the benchmarked Quality of Service (QoS) scores. An additional ₦500,000 ($315) will also be charged for periods of continuous downtime. To calculate QoS, telcos are judged on three metrics. The first two are closely related: they need to ensure that at least 98% of all calls connect successfully, which means keeping failed connections to under 2%. The third metric focuses on their ability to handle customer needs, requiring telcos to meet both voice and data demands by customers. However, this default fine is coming when telcos are having a hard time in Nigeria. Telcos are having to deal with high operating costs due to the ailing naira, high price of diesel, government-imposed taxes, and vandalised infrastructure which cost them ₦14.6 billion ($9.2 million) to fix in 2023. Coincidentally, these vandalisms are the major causes of the downtimes telcos face. These new fines may seem like even more trouble for telcos but there’s good news on the horizon. The Nigerian government is planning to issue a 10-year jail term for vandals who are nabbed in fibre optic vandalism cases. Paystack Virtual Terminal is now live in more countries Paystack Virtual Terminalhelps businesses accept secure, in-person payments with real-time WhatsApp confirmations and ZERO hardware costs. Enjoy multiple in-person payment channels, easy end-of-day reconciliation, and more. Learn more on the Paystack blog → Economy Indonesia seeks $3.5 billion trade agreement with Africa Image source: IAF During the Indonesia-Africa Forum currently taking place in Bali, senior diplomats from the Asian country proposed that Indonesia seek a $3.5 billion trade agreement with African countries. Indonesia is a well-known nickel exporter. With at least 50% of its nickel being exported, it is one of the world’s largest nickel exporters. However, that also constitutes a pain it has been trying to deal with. Nickel is key for making batteries for electric vehicles (EVs). And Indonesia, knowing fully well that
Read MoreLagos embraces blockchain to tackle land fraud
This article was contributed to TechCabal by Seth Onyango via Bird Story agency Lagos is gearing up to revamp its land registry using blockchain, a technology renowned for its ironclad security and transparency, a trend seen across Africa. The digital ledger, which underpins cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, could soon become the backbone of land ownership in Africa’s largest city, ensuring every transaction is tamper-proof and fully traceable. A consortium of local technology firms, partnering with the Lagos State government, is driving the ambitious upgrade, which will roll out in phases over the next 18 months. Central to the upgrade is the tokenisation of real estate properties, which will convert physical assets into digital representations on the blockchain. Innovation Village reported that these “digital twins” will store key information such as ownership details, title deeds, and complete transaction history. The adoption of blockchain technology is expected to address deep-rooted issues in Lagos’s current land registry system, which has long been plagued by corruption, inefficiency, and opacity. With blockchain, the government seeks to provide a secure, transparent platform where land transactions are permanently recorded and cannot be altered. Lagos’s adoption of blockchain could significantly streamline land transactions, reducing the time and costs associated with verifying titles and completing deals. This efficiency is expected to boost the property market, attracting both local and international investors who have been wary of fraud. A secure, transparent system of land ownership could unlock substantial economic potential, particularly in unregistered or disputed properties. This move by Lagos is part of a broader trend across Africa, where countries grappling with similar challenges in land administration are moving to electronic title deed systems. For instance, in Kenya, the Lands Ministry began digitising records in 2018, initially sparking enthusiasm. However, progress has been slower than expected, with only about a third of Nairobi’s property records digitized so far. Despite this, momentum is building, with more counties, including Isiolo, adopting the system. Ghana has also been working on digitising land records to improve transparency. The West African country’s pilot blockchain land registry, initiated in 2017, remains in the experimental phase but reflects a broader trend across the continent toward leveraging technology for better land management. Rwanda stands out, having titled all land parcels between 2011 and 2013, with 86% of titles including women. By 2023, the small East African state completed the digitization of its national cadastre and registry, making it the only African country to achieve this milestone. South Africa has explored blockchain for land registration but faces complex challenges due to historical land ownership issues.
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No such thing as a “merger of equals” because clashing cultures don’t allow it
Cet article est aussi disponible en français <!– In partnership with –> <!–TopBanner Join us for TechCabal Battlefield, Moonshot’s startup competition where you can showcase your startup idea to a global audience and an esteemed panel of judges and stand a chance to win up to 2.5 million naira in funding for your business! Click to register for TC Battlefield First published 01 September, 2024 However, despite how hard companies try to make mergers equal, one company typically has the upper hand – Chris Roush. In a perfect world, mergers of equals are created for mutual trust and fairness to project a unified corporate image. Yet, the world is anything but perfect. Mergers of equals are elusive and often impeded by disparities in corporate culture. Culture is a startup’s approach to decision-making, leadership, adaptability, and willingness to take risks. This can include beliefs about individual success versus teamwork. For instance, some startups prioritise individual high performers, while others favour collaboration and teamwork. Recent (for startups) and past (for corporations) examples, like the merger of HP and Compaq, show how cultural differences can undermine the equitable distribution of benefits, including employment practices and strategic direction. There are three ways of looking at this disparity, anchored on culture. First, a dominant startup’s staff may be less likely to perceive cultural clashes or be more receptive to aspects that align with their cultural values, possibly contributing to abandoning the “merger of equals” concept. Post-merger cultural practices can reveal different interpretations of equality between the merging startups. Additionally, differing cultural conventions can emerge from various aspects of the merging startups. In pursuit of a merger of equals, these differences may be overlooked or dismissed, thus stopping the aim of equality from being achieved. Next Wave continues after this ad. We’re excited to announce our partnership with Wimbart on the second edition of their pioneering pan-African research publication, “Startup Performance Reporting in Africa”. This report is set to launch in the first week of October and aims to shed light on the intricacies of investor relations within the African tech ecosystem. The survey is now open, and we’re calling on all African founders and investors to participate. Over the past decade, Wimbart has worked closely with a wide range of stakeholders in Africa’s tech sector. Their first report identified significant challenges, notably the disconnect between investors and founders, which poses a major threat to African tech ventures This year’s edition aims to explore these issues even further, incorporating new insights from startup founders to better understand and address communication gaps that impact the African tech ecosystem. By participating in this survey, you’ll contribute valuable insights that will shape the future of investor relations and support the growth of African startups The survey is now open and will close on Friday, 6th September 2024 at 23:59 pm UK time. It takes just 6 minutes to complete and is fully confidential. Make your voice heard. Click here to participate. It’s all about culture In addition to negotiating prices and other financial terms, organizations discussing mergers need to negotiate culture. Leaders should start by conducting a cultural assessment to understand how people, practices, and management reflect tightness or looseness in both companies – Harvard Business Review. Mergers of equals are hinged on the perception of fairness; if employees feel that resources are distributed equitably and decision-making processes are just, they’re more likely to commit to the new organisation. In some cases, this can be interpreted as “fairness in resource allocation” and in others as “fairness of processes and procedures.” Despite equality often seen as a cornerstone of fair mergers, it’s not sustainable in the long term. Cultural differences between merging startups can create challenges in maintaining equality and ensuring a successful integration. These differences influence how work is done, priorities are set, and promises are fulfilled. Partner Content: Read: Fintech company, Netapps launches reliable and secure suite of products here. To understand the operationalisation of equality in mergers, it is critical that we consider cultural dynamics. Although mergers and acquisitions are frequently mentioned in the news, few discuss how equality is implemented over time. Ignoring the cultural factors that shape equality’s value and practice is an oversight that is seldom discussed. For these reasons, when two startups merge, they often face challenges because their cultures—values, beliefs, and practices—differ. This “culture clash” can harm the merger’s success. In mergers where both startups are supposed to be equal, conflict sometimes arises if one startup’s management makes most of the decisions. This creates feelings of inequality, leading to a lack of commitment and cooperation from the other side. It’s especially important for top managers to address these culture clashes, as their commitment to the merger directly affects the motivation of their employees. If the cultures of the merging startups remain too different, each might try to hold onto its ways, leading to a clear division between them. In mergers where one culture is more potent, the weaker one might feel threatened and resist change. Over time, shared experiences can help blend the cultures or widen the gap, especially if the differences are noticeable. To keep things equal, top managers must be sensitive to both cultures and work actively to bring them together. And culture clashes aren’t just about different values or norms—they’re really about identity. When creating a new, merged culture, employees from the less dominant startup might feel like they’re being forced to give up their old identity, leading to resistance and other negative feelings. However, if people believe in equality and see it in the newly formed entity, they may be more willing to integrate. Equality can guide decisions during the merger to help everyone understand what is acceptable and how to proceed. Next Wave ends after this ad. Born into a modest family in Ibadan with his father owning a small block industry and his mother working as a petty trader, Adewale Yusuf faced challenges as a young child. After graduating from Loyola College in 2004, Adewale
Read MoreAfrica’s informal sector: Overlooked yet essential for global supply chains
This article was contributed to TechCabal by Ademola Adesina. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the world’s supply chains have faced uncertainties and even shortages of resources such as critical minerals and agricultural commodities. Multiple factors contribute to these circumstances, which are exacerbated by persistent global conflicts, low inventories, demand fluctuations, and rising costs. Reuters recently pointed out that global shortages in particular cause an average loss of $82 million annually to international companies. The African informal sector is perhaps the most vital player in global market supply. Approximately 70% of African economies are informal, encompassing everything from artisanal miners to gig workers and small-scale farmers. These entrepreneurs are often underbanked, unregulated, and lacking access to capital, but their involvement in global markets is key to unlocking current and future supply chain bottlenecks for a wide range of goods. A recent article in The Economist underscored the world’s reliance on small, artisanal miners for critical mineral supply chains. Critics often view the informal economy as a symptom of regulatory and economic failure, associating it with lower wages and lack of social security. However, this perspective overlooks the essential role the informal sector plays in alleviating unemployment, enhancing livelihoods, having local insights unavailable to larger, formalised firms and providing goods and services where formal businesses may not reach. Instead of sidelining these economic activities, we should focus on empowering and formalising them in a way that preserves their resilience and enables their contributions. Sabi is proud to bridge gaps and facilitate meaningful connections that create value across the e-commerce ecosystem. Our work has included enabling a distributor to sell FMCG goods to last-mile retailers, connecting a lithium refinery in Indiana with African minerals suppliers, and lining a Nigerian cocoa aggregator with European chocolate producers. Important work remains, however, in empowering and supporting the informal sector and involving them more deeply in e-commerce activities on the continent. As leaders, entrepreneurs, and global partners look to the future of supplying the world’s demand for African goods and commodities, here are concrete ways to achieve your goals by supporting the informal sector: Responsible engagement: Responsible engagement with the informal sector means creating pathways for formalisation that respect the uniqueness of these businesses while offering them the benefits of formal economic activity such as greater access to finance, protection under the law, and the ability to scale. Technology platforms like Sabi, which I co-founded, are already on this path. We enable informal and semi-formal businesses to access larger markets, improve their operations, and connect with necessary services and resources. Such enablement not only boosts their productivity but also integrates them into the global economy, making supply chains more robust and diverse. Empowerment: Empowering the informal economy can significantly address global supply chain vulnerabilities exposed by recent crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. By formalising small and informal businesses, we can diversify sources of production and distribution, reducing the strain on overburdened supply systems and creating more resilient economic structures. This diversification is essential not just for Africa but for the global economy, mitigating risks of shortages and fostering more stable supply flows. Aligning incentives: Sabi helps informal merchants and artisanal suppliers grow their businesses, but we also help them understand the needs of the global markets. For many large companies, traceability equals transparency and is a requirement to engage suppliers. For others, sustainable practices – such as ethical sourcing, community development, and training for small farmers – are key. Sabi’s partnership work in the Oyo State of Nigeria points to path-breaking work that provides small farmers with the tools and support they need to operate sustainably and profitably. Broadening access to finance: For small and medium-sized entrepreneurs in the informal sector, access to credit and financial services is often the biggest barrier to scaling operations. Extending access to credit through technology and fintech platforms can be a good place to start. Sabi Market offers an API through its fintech platform, Katsu, that can be tailored to individual companies and their needs. Africa’s informal economy is a testament to the continent’s entrepreneurial spirit and capacity for innovation. By embracing and responsibly empowering these informal sectors, we not only drive economic growth in Africa but also contribute to solving some of the world’s most pressing economic challenges. Let us recognise and harness this potential, not as a challenge to be managed, but as an opportunity to be celebrated and elevated. This is not just the path to economic recovery—it is the road to a thriving, inclusive economic future for Africa and beyond. _________ Ademola Adesina is the Co-Founder of Sabi, a company dedicated to transforming the African marketplace through innovation and technology. Sabi blends global reach with local insights to connect African markets with each other the rest of the world.
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Mira’s recipe for differentiation in Nigeria’s POS market is an all-in-one hardware
When Mira, a Nigerian fintech that helps restaurants receive payments, launched its QR code payment system in January 2024, it wanted to change how people make restaurant orders. By allowing anyone to scan a QR code, check out a list of meals, and pay through bank transfer, Apple Pay, or a card, it eliminated the need for repeated interactions with the restaurant’s wait staff. Mira soon learned restaurants wanted something slightly different but familiar: a point-of-sale management system tied to hardware. It led to the launch of the Mira register. Priced at ₦360,000 ($226), Mira register has two displays, a receipt printer, a barcode scanner, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. It tracks customer orders and internal business processes. The device comes with a Budpay or VFD embedded account to receive payments. Food delivery apps like Chowdeck and Glovo are also integrated with the hardware device for order fulfillment. Mira charges a monthly subscription fee ranging from $5 per restaurant location for its basic plan to $500 for larger restaurants in its enterprise plan. It charges $30 for its pro plan and a 1% transaction fee on payments made on Mira Register. “We started with the simplest form (order management system) to get us into the hospitality space,” said Ted Oladele, Mira’s CEO. Mira initially offered restaurants a plan to pay for the device in 12-month installments, but most restaurants preferred to pay full price upfront. These businesses already pay upfront for Orda, Louyverse, Workman, and Omega POS, Mira’s competitors. While those competitor devices need internet access to run smoothly, Mira claims it uses a hybrid approach that allows restaurants to operate the product with minimal internet connection. “There is a reputation deficit for local players. We are trying to enter the market with a different a reputable product,” said Oladele. Feranmi Ajetomobi, co-founder at Ni Fries, claims Mira’s most valuable feature is its dashboard’s detailed inventory tracking data. “The Mira dashboard allows us to track inventory levels and calculate the amount of food we can produce efficiently,” said Feranmi Adejutmobi, CEO of NiFries. Adejutmobi claims the dashboard allows businesses to collect data points that can inform their pricing strategies and overall profitability. Despite its claim to a better product, Mira faces an uphill climb in overcoming the switching costs for businesses who may already use its competitors’ devices. The startup serves a mix of SMEs—restaurants and retail stores—and counts Olaiya Foods, Grey Matter, The Vault, NiFries, OTP Kitchen, and Ashluxe as customers. Mira currently serves about 200 businesses across Nigeria. Mira has processed over $60,000 in transactions since launch, earning most of its revenue from businesses on its enterprise plan. “We are more expensive than the average local competitor. We don’t fight on pricing,” The startup raised $200,000 in a family and friends round and is in the middle of a seed round. While some customers who spoke to TechCabal experienced occasional glitches on the device, they are typical for startups in the early stages of development. Oladele claims the startup constantly seeks customers’ feedback and occasionally gets requests to build custom features. ‘ While Oladele agrees that building custom solutions for users on request might be a slow approach for a venture-backed startup, he thinks it is a necessary step to building a superior product. As Mira expands its service offering and looks for product differentiation, Oladele’s goal is to attract a 10% market share which will make the business profitable. Have you got your early-bird tickets to the Moonshot Conference? Click this link to grab ’em and check out our fast-growing list of speakers coming to the conference!
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – A new Chpter
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Good morning We’re currently running a salary week discount for Moonshot 2024! From now until September 5, you can get Moonshot tickets 20% off with the code MSVIP. Share this with your friends and help them save some cash. Tingo Group, Dozy Mmobuosi will pay over $250 million in SEC suit Chpter raises $1.2million in pre-seed round A $6 billion debt means Nigeria’s fuel scarcity won’t end soon AWS to invest $1.7 billion into South Africa The World Wide Web3 Opportunities Companies Tingo Group, Dozy Mmobuosi will pay over $250 million in SEC suit Tingo Founder, Dozy Mmobuosi For years, Tingo, a self-described agri-fintech, was considered an oddity. Despite what it said in press releases and its claims of hundreds of millions in revenue, no one in Nigeria’s tech ecosystem could tell you the first thing about the company. That’s almost always a red flag. It has a mobile telephone subsidiary, a food business, and also claimed to have a massive business with Nigeria’s small-scale farmers. While most people remained sceptical, being listed on the NASDAQ helped it escape scrutiny. Things mostly stayed that way until the company’s CEO, Dozy Mmobuosi, was linked to a bid to buy an English football team in Sheffield. Things quickly fell apart from there. On Thursday, a New York judge ordered Mmobuosi and his companies to pay over $250 million in a civil suit instituted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC began investigating Tingo in 2023 and alleged that the company inflated its financial performance and was mostly hot air. While the company denied those allegations and even promised to respond, it had no legal representation in the civil action. Here’s what we wrote in June 2023, weeks after Hinderburg research first flagged issues with Tingo’s business: “Tingo also announced that it has engaged White & Case LLP, a leading international law firm, to conduct an independent review and report to its independent directors concerning allegations contained in the report published by Hindenburg on June 6, 2023.” The company did not discuss the allegations on subsequent earnings calls and did not disclose whether the independent review yielded any reports. Read all about Tingo here. Read Moniepoint’s 2024 Informal Economy Report Did you know that 57.7% of the business owners in Nigeria’s informal economy are under 34 years old? Click here to find out more about the demographics of Nigeria’s informal economy. Funding Chpter raises $1.2million in pre-seed round Chpter co-founders, L-R: Mark Kiarie (COO), Kelvin Kuria (CPO), Tesh Mbaabu (CEO) and Mesongo Sibuti (CTO)s We all spend way too much time on social media, and Chpter, the Kenyan social commerce startup that turns any social media platform into a sales channel, thinks that’s just great. Founded in 2022 by Tesh Mbaabu, Mesongo Sibuti, Kuria Kelvin, and Mark Kiarie, Chpter was accepted into Norrsken’s accelerator programme in 2023 and participated in Safaricom’s Spark Accelerator in 2024. While it raised undisclosed amounts of money through both programmes, the startup is now happy to share details about some new funding. Chpter has raised $1.2 million in a pre-seed round led by Pani, a pan-Africa VC firm co-founded by former Cellulant CEO Ken Njoroge. Norrsken, Renew Capital and Techstars also invested. Read all about how the company plans to use the funding here. Collect payments anytime anywhere with Fincra Are you dealing with the complexities of collecting payments from your customers? Fincra’s payment gateway makes it easy to accept payments via cards, bank transfers, virtual accounts and mobile money. What’s more? You get to save money on fees when you use Fincra. Get started now. Cloud computing AWS to invest $1.7 billion into South Africa Image source: REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado/Files On August 30, Amazon Web Services (AWS), one of the largest cloud service providers, hosted a summit in Johannesburg, South Africa to discuss the advancements of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) in the country. AWS powers most of the AI tech development in the country by some of its foremost innovators, like Dataprophet which uses machine learning models to detect faulty goods, or Capitec bank’s robocall-detection product that helps customers spot fraudsters. Thanks to the wide adoption of its Amazon Bedrock solution, the cloud provider is now committed to making a follow-on investment of $1.7 billion by 2029 to increase renewable energy supply to its data centres. Currently, AWS has two of its three data centres located in South Africa. At least one of them consumes about 1,000 megawatts-hour (MWh) of electricity. AI consumes data points that must be stored on servers and these servers need electricity to run. So AWS’s value proposition goes something like this: it will use that investment to generate more electricity to sustain the high demand for storage for these data points. In turn, companies will use AWS Bedrock which allows companies to build on existing Gen AI models, and scale their operations. It’s a win-win deal for both AWS and South Africa as the country continues to push the frontiers for AI development in Africa. Paystack Virtual Terminal is now live in more countries Paystack Virtual Terminalhelps businesses accept secure, in-person payments with real-time WhatsApp confirmations and ZERO hardware costs. Enjoy multiple in-person payment channels, easy end-of-day reconciliation, and more. Learn more on the Paystack blog → Economy A $6 billion debt means Nigeria’s fuel scarcity won’t end soon Image source: Punch Newspapers Nigeria Nigeria’s petrol subsidy, a decades-long government intervention that has defied all efforts at dismantling, was scrapped unceremoniously in May 2023. It was hailed as an important but poorly executed reform, but other problems like FX volatility and a government struggling to raise revenues have made follow-through difficult. The devaluation of the naira, for instance, has increased the cost of importing petrol and has ensured that a 3x increase in fuel price is no longer sufficient. Depending on who you talk to, the current landing price of petrol is ₦1,000 ($0.63)/litre, significantly higher than the ₦610
Read MoreKenyan e-commerce startup Chpter raises $1.2 million in pre-seed round
Chpter was accepted into two accelerator programs before closing this pre-seed deal. Chpter, a Kenyan e-commerce startup launched by co-founders of YC-backed Marketforce, has raised $1.2 million in a pre-seed round and will use the new funding to improve its technology stack. Founded in 2022 by Tesh Mbaabu, Mesongo Sibuti, Kuria Kevin and Mark Kiarie, Chpter helps businesses convert social media from a marketing channel to a sales platform with chat, order, and payment tools. The company charges a monthly subscription and earns a transaction fee for payments processed on its platform. Some of its clients include insurer Britam, shoe store Kicks Kenya, and e-commerce platform Phoneplace. The company operates in Kenya and South Africa. “We are investing in our tech stack to offer an end-to-end product, connecting the APIs from social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Instagram with popular e-commerce and customer relationship management systems like Shopify and Woocommerce,” Tesh Mbaabu, Chpter’s co-founder and CEO told TechCabal. Pani, an Africa-focused investment firm co-founded by Cellulant’s former CEO, Ken Njoroge, led the funding round. Other participants include Plesion Capital, Techstars, Norrsken, Renew Capital, and ViKtoria Ventures, and angel investors, including Nala founder and CEO Benjamin Fernandes and Workpay co-founders Paul Kimani and Jackson Kibigo. The fundraising is a vote of confidence from investors in the young startup. It was founded while its two co-founders were running Marketforce, a YC-backed Kenyan e-commerce platform once valued at over $100 million. Some of Chpter’s investors had previously invested in Marketforce, although Mbaabu declined to share further details. Chpter operates independently of Marketforce. “Chpter was and is not under the MarketForce umbrella. It is going to continue operating independently. However, MF is a shareholder in it,” Mbaabu told TechCabal in May 2024. Chpter’s acceptance into the Norrsken Accelerator in 2023 and the Safaricom Spark Accelerator in May 2024 may have positioned it as a key startup in conversational commerce. Norrsken Accelerator investment remains undisclosed. In May 2024, Safaricom Spark Accelerator invested between $150,000 and $500,000 in Chpter, one person familiar with the matter said. The telco did not participate in the pre-seed round.
Read MoreTingo Group CEO Dozy Mmobuosi must pay over $250m after inflating financial performance
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ordered Dozy Mmobuosi, the CEO of Tingo Group, to pay over $250 million and barred him from serving as a director of any public Company. The SEC opened an investigation into Tingo Group in 2023 and filed charges against the company and its CEO in December. The company, which has often described itself as an agri-fintech and reported millions of dollars in revenue, was listed on the NASDAQ. However, the SEC alleged that the company inflated its financial performance. One of its subsidiaries Tingo Mobile reported cash and cash equivalents of $461.7 million for 2022 in its Nigerian bank accounts, but its actual bank balance was less than $50, the SEC said. “The judgments, entered on the basis of default, enjoin Mmobuosi, Tingo Group, Agri-Fintech Holdings, and Tingo International Holdings from violating the anti-fraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. “ Despite Tingo’s denial of the charges, the company and its CEO did not enter a defense in the civil complaint, said the Financial Times. Judge Jesse M. Furman of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered Mmobuosi and his three US-based entities to pay more than $250mn in fines. Despite its grand claims, Tingo has long been regarded as a curiosity, given how little was known about the company.
Read MoreWhen data reigns supreme: Retailers in Africa can turn loyalty into long-term success with AI
This article was contributed to TechCabal by Stefan Gerber. As the world transitions into the information age, data-driven insights, automation, and data management are becoming increasingly vital for business survival. For retail businesses, whose success depends on maintaining a healthy customer base, data-rich loyalty programs are essential tools for achieving this goal. In May 2024, the market research firm BrandMapp and consultancy Truth published their 2023/24 Loyalty Whitepaper, which revealed that 76% of South Africans now use a loyalty program in some form or another. The study also revealed that 30% of the respondents indicated they were using loyalty programmes more than the previous year, revealing that consumers were becoming more desperate for any discount or deal against the backdrop of rising cost of living. The demand by the consumer class for more financial relief from loyalty programmes is increasing and provides a golden opportunity for businesses that manage these data-heavy systems. As digital technology rapidly evolves, so is how companies—retail or not—manage their data and the systems they use to leverage it. Businesses are now seemingly rushing to integrate artificial intelligence into their operations to streamline business processes without pausing for thought on the current condition of their data management systems. Before one can even think of advancing their systems into the age of intelligence, one must adopt the principle of effective data management. If one were to simply skip this and input garbage data into their AI applications, garbage data is bound to be the product. This justifies the need for businesses that are heavily reliant on data to avoid scrambling to collect it on an ad-hoc basis. To leverage AI to its true potential, businesses need to begin with data warehousing. Without further delay. A data warehouse is a centralised depot that stores data from numerous sources in a single location, making it easily accessible and crucial in supporting business intelligence and analytics. To make this more relatable, imagine a big library with countless books, with each book representing a different type of data, such as sales, customer information, or website engagement. A data warehouse is like a catalogue that collects and organises all these books into one place, enabling the user to find specific information more easily, see relationships between different data points, and gain valuable insights. The work of a data warehouse is complemented by the functioning of a customer data platform (CDP), a software application that collects, unifies, and organises customer data with the primary purpose of providing a single, comprehensive view of each customer, allowing for personalised marketing, sales, and customer service. In simple terms, think of a CDP as a magic scrapbook that collects and combines all the relevant information about each customer from various sources. The data warehouse is the repository for all data, while the CDP uses this data to create a personalised view of each customer. But how does this practically work? As we progress further into the online shopping dynasty, the demand by customers for more personalisation in their online shopping experience is overwhelming. This requires businesses to have systems in place that can operate at scale. Picture a customer who purchases a Nikon camera online. With the help of data warehousing and CDP systems, an online store can catch their customer before checking out and provide various recommendations, in real-time, based on different data sets, such as a camera lens of the same brand of camera they picked, products within the same category as the camera they chose, or other products associated with other customers who demonstrated a similar purchasing behaviour. This experience can easily be replicated with loyalty programmes for customers still shopping at physical stores. Omnichannel experiences are also particularly important, and refer to integrated customer experiences across multiple channels and touchpoints, whether online or offline. The goal of an omnichannel approach is to provide a consistent and cohesive brand experience for customers, regardless of how or where they interact with a business. An example of an omnichannel experience in retail would include the process of a customer browsing for a product online, checking in-store availability, and then picking up their purchase at the physical store. On top of personalisation and omnichannel experiences, data warehousing and CDP systems also help businesses satisfy another desire of today’s digital consumer: instant responses and feedback. If you can use these tools in a manner that leverages AI-based analytics, you can guarantee a rapid transformation that will make your company far more competitive in the South African (and even global) market. This is exactly what makes a retail giant like Shoprite so successful, especially when executed through its various loyalty programmes. With the right data management systems in place, aided by machine learning infrastructure, any business has the potential to build a data kingdom like Shoprite and retain customer loyalty through personalisation and instantaneous feedback. While these systems likely sound costly for the little guy, there is an opportunity to start by targeting low-hanging fruits at a reduced cost while gaining most of the benefit for your business. Working with local experts can help you learn about the easiest ways to get started on your data journey by building systems specifically catering to your needs. Regardless, the goal of leveraging cloud technology, data warehousing, and CDPs is to achieve rapid business transformation, enabling your business to gain a competitive advantage, improve project timelines, secure funding, and strengthen stakeholder relationships. In the age of intelligence, where data is the new currency, businesses that prioritise effective data management and leverage AI-driven insights will be the ones to reap the rewards of loyalty, retention and ultimately, reign supreme in the market. __ Stefan Gerber is the co-Founder of Tregter, a South African data-management agency.
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