👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Bolt and Uber must apply for licences in South Africa
In partnership with Share this newsletter: Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Good morning This is our last call for reviews on TC Daily. Before you take the long weekend off, please take one minute to fill our survey and let us know what you think. We’ll be writing to you all through Eid so you don’t miss a thing. In today’s edition South African ride-hailing services must now apply for licences Meta reduces Lagos office space after global layoffs MTN Uganda unsold share sale sees oversubscription BlackRock’s iShares ETF to exit Nigeria, Kenya Funding tracker The World Wide Web3 Job openings Regulations South African ride-hailing services must now apply for licences In 2022, e-hailing drivers across South Africa embarked on many a strike actions as their vehicles faced impoundment for lack of permits. At the time, over 2,000 vehicles were impounded in just one year. This year, 6,000 drivers were booted from Bolt for misconduct. When issues like these arise, e-hailing services are always quick to distance themselves from their drivers. In Kenya and Nigeria, for example, the companies have called the drivers contractors and not “employees” to escape vicarious liability. These e-hailing apps may no longer have this get-away excuse in South Africa as the country has now amended its land transportation act, and it does come with a fair bit of turbulence for e-hailing operators. The obvious road is clear: e-hailing operators in the country must now apply for licences to operate in South Africa. The amended Act, signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa, simplifies the process for ride-hailing companies to operate legally. Up until now, they had to follow rules and obtain permits meant for different types of transportation: charter permits (typically for large buses) and meter taxi licenses (for traditional taxis). However, a larger roadblock is the requirement for these licences. E-hailing services must ensure that drivers on their platforms have the appropriate licences while on their platform. They must also “disconnect the e-hailing application” once they discover any driver is operating without the necessary permits. If these providers fail to comply, they could face fines of up to R100,000 ($5,428). With this, the government is foisting the responsibility of verification and adherence on e-hailing apps. If drivers on their platforms are caught without permits, the drivers will pay fines and so will the e-hailing providers. The signed and amended Act is not yet public, but the bill to amend is. It remains to be seen when the amendments will be enforced on e-hailing operators. Moniepoint is Africa’s fastest-growing fintech The Financial Times has ranked Moniepoint as Africa’s fastest-growing fintech based on its absolute and compound growth rate. Read more about it here. Layoffs Meta reduces Lagos office space after global layoffs Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram is set to reduce its office space in Lagos after global layoffs affected the workforce of its Nigerian office. As the social media giant reevaluates its tenancy agreement for office space in the 15-story Kings Tower building in Ikoyi, where the asking rent is $800 per sqm and hosts offices of Flutterwave and Microsoft, one would wonder if these are signs of Meta leaving Nigeria. However, the renegotiation of its tenancy agreement to reduce its office space is directly linked to the company’s global layoffs which happened in 2023 and affected at least 35 employees per a report by TechCabal. “It is a remarkable about-face for a company that has consistently invested in Nigeria and has spoken about prioritising the West African nation. In March 2024, Nick Clegg, Meta’s President of Global Affairs visited Nigeria and announced the company would begin offering monetisation to creators in Q3 2024. During his visit, he spoke about the recognition Nigerian creators have garnered globally and their use of Meta’s platforms to build communities. Per Statista data, there are an estimated 43 million Facebook users in Nigeria,” Frank Eleanya wrote for TechCabal. Despite office space reduction plans, Meta does not want anyone to think it is reducing its presence or commitment in Nigeria. “We regularly review our office spaces to ensure they suit the needs of the business, and the office in Nigeria is no different. As we shrink our real estate footprint, we’re transitioning to desk sharing for people who already spend most of their time outside the office,” Meta said in a statement. So far, Meta is the second big tech company that is visibly reducing its operation scale in the country after Microsoft, in May 2024, closed its African Development Centre, and announced layoffs for its entire engineering team in the country. Telecoms MTN Uganda unsold share sale sees oversubscription When MTN Uganda launched on the Uganda stock exchange in 2021, it was a mixed bag. The listing raised the biggest capital—$4.43 billion—in the bourse’s 24 year-history. However, the IPO listing was also the first undersubscribed round in USE’s history, as the telecom failed to sell every portion of its shares allotted to local investors. Ugandan regulation mandated the telecom to sell 20% of its shares to local investors, but the telecom only managed to sell 13% of the shares. In May this year, the telecom sought to fix that. It announced the sale of its remaining shares from the 2021 listing, offering over 1 billion ordinary shares on the Ugandan bourse. MTN gave a 14-day window—May 27 and June 10— for the sale of the shares. Well, the results are out, and it’s all positive for the telecom. An oversubscribed round: While MTN offered 1.6 billion shares for sale, it received applications for 3 billion shares. The announcement of the results also meant that MTN has resumed trading in its stock, which it briefly suspended due to the sale of its shares. Investors in MTN Uganda are in for a good ride, as the telecom, with a subscriber base of about 15 million, has seen continuous revenue growth and high-profit margins, translating to huge dividends If you’re in Uganda and you
Read MoreWorld Bank approves $2.25 billion financial support for Nigeria
The World Bank has voted in favour of a $2.25 billion financial support package for Nigeria that will serve as a much-needed boost to the country’s economic reforms. It comes two weeks after Finance Minister Wale Edun spoke about the need to stay the course after tough reforms like the removal of fuel subsidy and a long-running currency peg accelerated inflation. “Our economy has been in desperate need of reform for decades. It has been unbalanced because it was built on the flawed foundation of over-reliance on revenues from the exploitation of oil,” President Tinubu said on June 12, a public holiday to celebrate democracy. He has pledged to raise revenues and tackle inflation. “The approved operations include $1.5 billion for the Nigeria Reforms for Economic Stabilization to Enable Transformation (RESET), Development Policy Financing Program (DPF) and $750 million for the Nigeria Accelerating Resourcer Mobilitation Reforms (ARMOR),” a statement from the Minister’s office said. Ousmane Diagana, the World Bank Vice President for Western and Central Africa, said “Nigeria’s comprehensive macro-fiscal reforms are placing the country on a new path that can stabilize the economy and lift people out of poverty.” Despite some early reforms, economic analysts have criticised the government’s follow-through. After an initial removal of fuel subsidy, a foreign exchange rate spike and a rise in global oil prices forced the government to begin quietly paying subsidies. And despite a free float of the naira and several interest rate hikes, FX prices have remained unpredictable, swinging wildly in February, gaining ground in March before losing momentum again by the end of April. FX prices have partly contributed to the acceleration of inflation and multiple taxes and excise duties on food products and other goods have not been removed. A presidential task force has recommended the removal of several taxes and expects to see progress by the end of the year. *This is a developing story
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New PM Kisan status check 2024
The PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM Kisan) is a beneficial program for Indian farmers. Here’s a guide on how to conduct a PM Kisan status check 2024. Available PM Kisan status check methods There are two primary methods for a Kisan status check 2024: Using Aadhaar card: This method allows you to check your Kisan status 2024 using your Aadhaar card number. Using mobile number: If you registered your mobile number with PM Kisan, you can retrieve your status using that. Steps for PM Kisan status check 2024 (Aadhaar card): Visit the official PM Kisan website: [pmkisan.gov.in]. On the homepage, locate the “Farmer’s Corner” section. Click the “Status of Self Registered Farmer/ CSC Farmers” option. You’ll be directed to a page requiring your Aadhaar card number or Aadhaar number (both terms are used interchangeably). Enter the relevant details. Complete the image verification (captcha). Click on the “Get Details” button. Your Kisan status 2024, including beneficiary details and installment information, will be displayed on the screen (if registered). Steps for Kisan status check 2024 (Mobile Number): Visit the official PM Kisan website: [pmkisan.gov.in]. On the homepage, locate the “Farmer’s Corner” section. Click on the “Beneficiary Status” option. Enter your registered mobile number. Complete the image verification (captcha). Click on the “Get Details” button. Your Kisan status, including beneficiary details and instalment information, will be displayed on the screen (if registered). Final thoughts Ensure you enter the correct details (Aadhaar card number or registered mobile number) to avoid errors in the PM Kisan status checking process. Also, completing Kisan KYC (know your customer) process is essential for receiving benefits. You can check your KYC status on the PM Kisan website. If you notice any discrepancies or need further information about your PM Kisan status, contact the PM Kisan helpline or your local agricultural department.
Read More“We only planned to increase prices once in 2023,” MultiChoice CEO claims
South African Pay-TV giant MultiChoice Group claimed that despite planning to increase prices just once in 2023, worsening macroeconomic conditions in the Rest of Africa markets including Nigeria, Kenya and Malawi forced its hand. Two price increases in 2023 proved unpopular with its customers. In Nigeria, a tribunal claimed MultiChoice did not give customers adequate notice before increasing prices while in Malawi, the company temporarily shut down its operations after the regulator barred it from increasing prices. Nigerian subscribers decline to 8.1 million as MultiChoice Group records $217m annual loss However, Calvo Mawela, the company CEO, said currency devaluation in those markets forced its hands and made price increases inevitable. Despite raising subscription fees, the revenue contribution of major markets like Ghana and Nigeria declined significantly from 44% to 35%. Despite these struggles, the pay-TV company will not deprioritise cable in favour of other business segments like streaming or fintech. “Pay TV remains the mainstay of our operations, we must safeguard the business,” said Mawela. With $217 million in losses for FY24, MultiChoice will focus on cutting costs for the next year. In the last year, it saved over R1 billion in costs by reducing subsidies on decoders and renegotiating content pricing. “The group will further accelerate its cost-saving programme [with a target of ZAR2.0bn for FY25] and reduce capital outlays, prioritise customer retention, leverage popular sports renewals, develop its local content pipeline further and leverage promising traction in its new platforms and services,” the company said in a statement. It will hope those initiatives will move it towards profitability. “This is not a wishlist,” said Tim Jacobs, the company’s Group CFO on an earnings call. “We have a multi-year cost reduction program. This combined with ongoing retention initiatives will help us maintain profitability in the Rest of Africa.”
Read MoreYC-backed Prospa is unable to process withdrawals for the second time in 5 months
Prospa, the Y Combinator-backed business banking startup, is the subject of complaints and social media callouts after persistent delays in processing customer withdrawals. Four customers said their withdrawals had not been processed since May 2024 amid the company’s claims of service downtime. It is not the first time customers have experienced such delays. In February 2024, the company also claimed a service downtime impacted transaction speeds, with customers needing to wait weeks to access withdrawals. Prospa did not immediately respond to a request for comments. These delays are worrying for business owners who use Propsa to hold deposits and access other services like company registration, virtual storefronts, invoicing, bookkeeping, sub-accounts, and working loans. “Either their [customer care] phone lines were switched off or they responded saying they have NIP server issues,” one person who had ₦800,000 in his Prospa account told TechCabal in March. “I called my friend who works at NIBSS [the country’s payment aggregator] and they said Prospa had no such issues.” The delays were resolved in mid-March, according to affected users, some of whom visiting the company’s Yaba office. Others formed virtual support groups to share updates. In May, customers began experiencing delays again, with some withdrawals taking up to three weeks to process. “At this point, the customer care reps are just engaging complaints because they have to, and not to actually help,” an affected user told TechCabal. Like the last time, many are visiting Prospa’s office to demand a resolution. “When they come round, we get our account managers to attend to them and resolve their complaints,” an employee told TechCabal. An ex-employee rejected comparisons to Brass, a business banking startup that struggled with working capital before it was acquired by new investors. “Prospa has never had capital issues. They only had technical issues,” a former Prospa employee who worked in Credit told TechCabal. “They are partnering with commercial banks so most times, [the engineering team] say issues are from them.” The bank has previously partnered with Wema Bank, and Parkway ready cash. Per its website, it partners with Good News Microfinance Bank.
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SBI account balance check methods 2024
State Bank of India (SBI) account holders in 2024 have multiple options to check their account balance. This article outlines the various methods available for SBI balance check number 2024. Mobile number registration to enable SBI account balance check For most methods, your mobile number must be registered with SBI to receive SMS alerts and use USSD services. You can verify or register your mobile number at your nearest SBI branch or ATM. USSD service SBI account balance check This method uses USSD and doesn’t require internet access. Here’s how to use the SBI balance check number via USSD: Dial *595# from your registered mobile number. You’ll receive a menu with various options. Select “Balance Enquiry” (the option might vary depending on the displayed menu). Enter your MPIN (Mobile Banking PIN) and submit. Upon successful verification, your current SBI account balance will be displayed on the screen. SMS method for SBI account balance check SMS Banking allows you to check your balance through text messages. Here’s how to use the SBI balance check number via SMS: Move to compose a new SMS on your registered mobile number. In the message body, type “BAL” (case-sensitive). Send the SMS to 09223766666. You’ll receive an SMS reply with your current SBI account balance. Missed call service for SBI account balance check This method involves giving a missed call to a specific number. Here’s how to use the SBI balance check number via missed call: Dial 09223766666 from your registered mobile number. The call will automatically disconnect after one ring. You’ll receive an SMS reply with your current SBI account balance. SBI YONO app and internet banking SBI YONO App and Internet banking offer a comprehensive platform for managing your SBI account, including balance inquiries. Download the YONO App from official app stores or access internet banking through [online.sbi.co.in]. Login using your credentials and navigate to the “Account Summary” section to view your current balance. Final thoughts There are no limitations on the number of inquiries you can make through USSD, SMS, or missed call services. Also, always ensure you correctly enter your MPIN or other credentials to avoid security risks. Attempts more than four times with wrong details may have your account flagged or blocked temporarily. And you may have to visit a branch to lift the ban.
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Exclusive: Meta will reduce office space in Lagos after layoffs affected Nigerian team
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, will reduce its office space in Lagos after global layoffs in mid-2023 affected its Nigerian team. At least 35 people were affected by those layoffs, three people with knowledge of the matter said. The company’s engineering team, which had 24 employees according to a 2022 report, was laid off. “Engineers continue to serve the region from a number of our global engineering hubs outside of Nigeria,” a company spokesperson told TechCabal via email, declining to specify how many Nigerian employees were affected by 2023 layoffs that reduced global headcount by 20,000. The reduction in team size has prompted the social media giant to begin renegotiating its tenancy agreement for its office space in the 15-story Kings Tower building in Ikoyi, Lagos. A key part of that renegotiation will be to reduce its office space. Per one publication, Kings Tower has an asking price of $800/sqm/per annum. “We regularly review our office spaces to ensure they suit the needs of the business, and the office in Nigeria is no different,” Meta said in a statement. “As we shrink our real estate footprint, we’re transitioning to desk sharing for people who already spend most of their time outside the office.” Microsoft, Meta and Flutterwave maintain offices in the 15-story Kings Tower While Meta rejects any characterisation of the decision as scaling back, it is a remarkable about-face for a company that has consistently invested in Nigeria and has spoken about prioritising the West African nation. In March 2024, Nick Clegg, Meta’s President of Global Affairs visited Nigeria and announced the company would begin offering monetisation to creators in Q3 2024. During his visit, he spoke about the recognition Nigerian creators have garnered globally and their use of Meta’s platforms to build communities. Per Statista data, there are an estimated 43 million Facebook users in Nigeria. Yet, it is difficult to measure if these numbers have translated into meaningful revenue growth. The company reports Africa revenue as part of its “Rest of World” cohort. Meta is not the only big tech company to make operational changes in Nigeria. Microsoft closed the African Development Centre and cut at least 100 engineering jobs in May 2024. While the company insists it remains operational in Nigeria, it picked Kenya for a multi-billion dollar investment in data centers.
Read MoreSouth Africa’s Standard Bank to fund $5 billion Uganda-Tanzania oil pipeline despite environmental concerns
South Africa’s Standard Bank, the largest African lender by assets, will fund the controversial Uganda-Tanzania oil pipeline, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Work on the 1,445km pipeline to connect Uganda’s oil fields on the shores of Lake Albert to the Tanzanian port of Tanga has faced funding hitches as environmentalists lobby to stop the project, arguing that it will displace thousands of people and destroy animals’ habitat. French oil major TotalEnergies owns a majority stake in the project while Uganda, Tanzania, and China National Offshore Oil Corporation hold minority shares. “We have done our governance process internally, the environmental and social due diligence, which took a long time,” Bloomberg quoted Nonkululeko Nyembezi, Standard Bank chair. Potential lenders and insurance firms have opted out of the project, citing environmental concerns raised by activists that have delayed the East African nation’s oil export dream for four years. Chinese lenders who warmed up to the project after Western banks recoiled have held back their commitment, questioning its economic viability. In 2022, the European Parliament passed a resolution opposing the project, complicating TotalEnergies’ efforts to raise capital among European lenders. Early this year, over 20 insurers declined to insure the project after pressure from activists. SA Meacock, SiriusPoint, Enstart Group, Blenheim, and Riverstone International ruled out being part of the project. Nyembezi told Bloomberg that the bank will decide in the coming months. “We have all the lenders. There is a complete commitment on the part of the sponsors of the oil projects to get it done,” Nyembezi said. Landlocked Uganda discovered oil 17 years ago but its commercial production has faced delays due to the lack of an export pipeline through the neighbouring countries to the Indian Ocean. Uganda and Tanzania are targeting to complete the project by December 2025.
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African innovation thriving despite scarce representation at London Tech Week
At the London Tech Week this year, attendees were dressed in smart-casual clothes, hundreds of them moving from booth to booth in the exhibition area and hundreds more settled in at panels, showcases, and fireside chats going on on six different stages spread throughout the large dome of the Olympia Events centre in London, UK. Delegations from different countries had booths in the exhibition area—Japan, Switzerland, Nepal, Palestine, Pakistan, and many others. The area held 268 booths of various businesses, but only one of these booths belonged to an African country. The South African Pavilion came to the conference with a packet of 11 startups huddled in its booth. Although many African founders and operators in tech could be seen moving with the crowd, the London Tech Week’s agenda did not have a strong focus on the continent; there was just one event focused on discussing African innovation—“Africa: The Next Frontier for the Global Emerging Tech Sector”. One would think innovation in the continent is far from exciting. And they would be wrong. The aforementioned panel was moderated by Justina Oha, partnership consultant at Big Cabal Media; with participation from Yewande Odumosu, managing partner, HoaQ Ventures Fund, an angel investment fund; Tomi Davies, CEO of TVC Labs, a VC providing strategic and operational support to early-stage African tech-enabled ventures; and Deepankar Rustagi, founder and CEO of OmniRetail, a unified consumer goods distribution startup. The panel discussed the reasons behind unrelenting innovation in Africa, despite the current harsh business climate. Rustagi, whose OmniRetail was listed by the Financial Times as a fastest-growing company for 2024, said that building for the African market presents opportunities to build for global markets. “In the process of solving one problem, there are various different problems you’ll have to build. When an American startup is building solutions, they follow the trend of a sequoia tree—one single laser focus on the problem—but when a Nigerian is solving a problem, he has to follow the trend of a banyan tree; if you want to solve the problem in Africa, you have to actually build various different startups. And if you, in those scenarios, can build a solution, that’s a very robust, scalable solution that can work anywhere in the world.” Odumosu believes that innovation continues to happen in Africa because there is an ongoing interaction, through cross-border payments, talent export, and business expansions of startups, between Africans living locally and those living elsewhere in the world. “In the past, you hardly saw a Nigerian company expanding into India or China,” she said. “Now you have LemFi doing that. Also, with a lot of migration happening, we’re also exporting talent. A lot of Africans are now building hubs and businesses locally and in their home countries.” With generative artificial intelligence (AI) expected to add $4.4 trillion to the global economy annually, according to this McKinsey report, there was an impossible-to-miss enthusiasm about the subject at the London Tech Week; there were 25 panels and fireside chats dedicated to discussing various aspects of the emergence of and innovation around AI. A presentation delivered before the panel by Olanrewaju Odunowo, head at TechCabal Insights, a data and insights company, revealed a list of African startups across 11 countries deploying AI to solve various problems. Davies admitted that AI is taking off “aggressively” on the continent and believes that the continent is ready to exploit the technology to solve problems. “AI is being used in diagnostics and telemedicine,” he said. “If you look at agriculture, we’re starting to see AI used in crop maintenance and weather prediction. Now we’re starting to see [electrical] power aggregators who have the capability to use AI to distribute within regions and within locales.” Davies addressed the current funding downturn—“It’s a blip.” He said that future economic growth will come from Africa, given its teeming youth population. “We’re now waking up and starting to properly educate Africans so that they have the capability to deploy and develop technology,” he said.
Read MoreBlackRock’s $400 million iShares ETF to exit Nigeria, Kenya
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, will close iShares Frontier, a $400 million ETF that invests in frontier and select emerging markets equities, including Nigeria and Kenya. The exit marks the continued flight of foreign investors from local bourses, blamed on a tough macroeconomic environment that has seen firms downsize, and the weakening of local currencies like the naira. “The Board of Directors of the Company approved a proposal to liquidate the fund. In light of persistent liquidity challenges in certain frontier markets, including among other things, delays or limits on repatriation of local currency, the board determined that it is in the best interest of the fund and its shareholder for the fund to liquidate,” iShares said in a statement. The fund will enter an extended liquidation period and expects the last day of trading to be March 31, 2025. During the period, iShares will sell its assets in all markets and hold the proceeds in cash and cash equivalents. “Currency conversions, including conversion of Nigeria’s currency, the naira, will impact the timing of the fund’s liquidation. As a result, the fund will enter into an extended liquidation period,” iShare said. “After market close no earlier than August 12, 2024, but on a date as soon as practicable, the fund will cease trading and the creation and redemption of creation units.” African equities have lost their allure to foreign investors, dampened by low returns compared to other asset classes and currency scarcity in key markets like Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya. BlackRock’s iShares has already liquidated its holdings in companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). The fund had a $5.2 million investment in Kenya, including Safaricom ($2.8 million), Equity Group ($1.5 million) and KCB Group ($885,000). The fund has been providing exposure to equities in select African bourses, such as Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, and Nigeria. Other markets are Bahrain, Bangladesh, Colombia, Estonia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.
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