Exclusive: OPay denies opening accounts for customers without their consent
OPay has denied claims on social media that the fintech opened accounts for people without their consent. The fintech startup OPay has denied claims that it opened accounts for customers without their consent following an internal investigation into the matter, which began on Tuesday. The fintech began its inquiry after customers on social media said their phone numbers were linked to OPay accounts that they didn’t open. The Nigerian Consumer Protection Commission said it began investigating the matter this week. Nigeria’s Data Protection Commission told TechCabal that OPay has been served an investigation notice. “Some 24 hours ago, we got information that there were active accounts/wallets on our OPay app, which the owners alleged had been created without their knowledge and consent,” said Adekunle Adeyemi, the company’s Head of Marketing. “Based on our investigation, we discovered that these accounts were indeed opened by the owners at different points, but generally between 2019/2020.” The allegations around the accounts began on the social media platform X. “I just checked now, and I have an Opay account, same with every member of my family,” wrote one X user. “None of us has ever opened an Opay account. How’s this even legal?” The tweet went viral, and more people claimed that although they had never opened OPay accounts, they also found that their phone numbers were linked to existing OPay wallets. Five people told TechCabal that they also realised this week that they have OPay accounts. “At least four of the complaints received via social media have been checked, and all four of them have been contacted to resolve the concerns raised,” OPay said in its statement to TechCabal. “It is also important to note that OPay has never created nor does it operate any account on behalf of any individual.” One working theory is that customers may have opened these accounts in 2019 and 2020 to use OPay’s verticals at the time, such as ORide, OFood or OKash–OPay’s wallets powered all of those verticals and have since been shut down. But at least two users insist they never used any of OPay’s services. “We would like to encourage any individual with similar concerns to contact us via any of our official channels,” said OPay. Despite OPay’s denial, there are still questions “The core is whether users were comprehensively informed and aware that their phone numbers could be used to set up a bank account,” said Ridwan Oloyede, a data privacy expert. “Transparent communication is pivotal, and it is vital to scrutinise the initial communication and onboarding processes to know if users were adequately informed about such practices.” OPay insists that its wallets can only be opened through the CBN-established registration process, which requires the input of an OTP authentication from the user’s phone to proceed. Data protection laws in Nigeria mandate organisations to clearly articulate their lawful basis for processing user data. “We’ve served them notice of investigation already, and it will be good to know their position,” said a legal enforcement lead for NDPC. “We already have complaints backed by evidence so it’s for them [OPay] to disprove the evidence if they have credible evidence.” *This is a developing story Meet the OPay Mafia Have you got your tickets to TechCabal’s Moonshot Conference? Click here to do so now!
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After years of fighting the industry, SANTACO is entering ride-hailing
South Africa’s largest public transport association has entered the country’s ride-hailing market. It aims to challenge the dominance of Uber, Bolt, inDrive and others. After years of squabbling with the likes of Uber and Bolt, the South African Taxi Council (SANTACO) has reached a partnership agreement with three South African ride-hailing services. Through the agreement with Teksi Ride, Shuma and Yo!Taxi, members of SANTACO, who operate metered taxis and minibuses, will be able to offer ride-hailing services. Drivers on other platforms can sign up for the service after registering with SANTACO and drivers are also free to sign up for all the services concurrently. South Africa’s ride-hailing market is currently dominated by international players including Uber, Bold and inDrive. (Image source: Statista) A spokesperson for the association said they engaged the three platforms after conducting extensive due diligence to identify a partner for their ride-hailing play. Each platform has its established geographical strength, ensuring that SANTACO members everywhere can find rides. For example, Shuma’s stronghold is Durban while Yo!Taxi is mainly available in Johannesburg and Pretoria. “We identified that technology is part of every aspect of our lives and public transportation is no different, “ Sibongeseni Shange, SANTACO’s meter taxi deputy chairperson, told TechCabal. “With that in mind and the issue which currently plague ride-hailing in the country, we decided to enter that market.” inDrive in talks with regulators as Botswana taxi association calls for its ban One of the ride-hailing companies SANTACO has partnered with is Teksi Ride, founded in 2020 by Prince Pirikisi. SANTACO-registered drivers can sign up on Teksi Ride and find passengers. Teksi charges passengers R8.50 per kilometer and will take a 20% commission from drivers. Teksi will also also vet drivers and passengers to ensure safety. Given the amount of scrutiny Uber and Bolt have faced over lax safety measures, this is an important selling proposition. The company will also offer a panic button within vehicles as well as a 24-hour call center as safety incentives. “The safety measures that current players in the market have in place are so easy to bypass,” said Pirikisi “Additionally, these drivers are not answerable to any organisation which makes investigating criminal cases complex,” Pirikisi told TechCabal. SANTACO also cites the fact that drivers, passengers and law enforcement officials can easily reach out to the association in case of complaints and investigation as an important sell point of its ride-hailing service. Competing on innovation and convenience Per South African transport law, ride-hailing companies must at least have public transport operator licenses. The companies then lease these licences to drivers who use their platform–at least that’s how it should work in theory. In practice, most drivers on ride-hailing platforms don’t have these licences. SANTACO has argued for years that without these licences, drivers on ride-hailing platforms are operating illegally. There have been demonstrations that have sometimes turned violent, with protests earlier this year leading to the death of two Uber drivers in Johannesburg. SANTACO’s entry into ride-hailing will mean the association can focus on healthy competition. Shange claims that a significant number of drivers on other platforms have signed up on the SANTACO-backed ride-hailing platforms despite the fact that they’re still in the test phase. Another selling point from SANTACO is that by virtue of being members of the associations, despite being independent contractors, they would get membership amenities like car insurance and healthcare which incumbents do not offer. An interesting battle ahead Despite having been celebrated for their convenience and affordable pricing when they arrived in South Africa in the mid-2010s, international ride-hailing platforms have faced scrutiny in the country lately. They have been accused of operating illegally and driving metered taxis out of business; drivers have also argued that the commission they pay eats into most of their profits. South Africa’s Uber and Bolt Drivers go on a city-wide strike in Cape Town Yet SANTACO too is not without blemish. It has been accused of operating like a mafia by using its position as a representative of the country’s major public transport operators to bully competitors. As it enters the ride-hailing market and into direct competition with platforms it once wanted banned, it will be interesting to see how the ride-hailing competitive landscape evolves in South Africa. Have you got your tickets to TechCabal’s Moonshot Conference? Click here to do so now!
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Stears pivots into B2B market
Stears, a Nigerian data and intelligence company, is pivoting from its consumer-focused data solutions into an organisation-focused intelligence company with new offerings. Since its launch in 2017, Stears, a Nigerian data company, has evolved into an influential publication focused on data and information on Nigeria and its economy. With its analysis and unique offerings like a COVID-19 case monitoring platform and Nigeria’s first real-time election database, Stears represented a definitive source of information for Nigerians. But the company is now shifting its focus from consumers to organisations with its new B2B approach. According to Yvette Dimiri, the director at Stears, this change was driven by user feedback. “From the insights and data solutions being requested by our professional users, there seems to be a good fit there,” Dimiri said. “When we thought about, how do we produce these new insights and data solutions in a way that is good for the business? Of course, we’re still a business, it became very clear that we need to shift our model.” Backed by cumulative funding worth $4 million, the company will now offer organisations new intelligence solutions, including market sizing estimates, predictive forecasts, consumer indices, and comprehensive macroeconomic datasets. It hopes that with these new solutions, it will continue to attract global organisations operating or investing in the African continent. Stears says its customers include the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), European Investment Bank, Infracredit, PZ Cussons, and Piggyvest. Funmi Ogunlesi, head of government affairs at Citibank Nigeria, said that Stears is her “secret weapon and go-to source of reliable data.” Nigerian media company, Stears raises $600,000 seed round funding Stears currently runs a subscription service for individuals and these subscriptions will continue to have access to Stears until their subscription expires. “We do believe that a number of our users who are professionals working in professional contexts and have always been champions of Stears will continue to champion the brand within those organisations,” Dimiri said. The company will also continue to publish articles, which have been the core of its intelligence solutions, and there will be no changes to the editorial team. Dimiri told TechCabal that this was possible because Stears had only hired analysts in the past two and a half years. Stears is backed by Luminate, a philanthropic organisation, that aims to fight misinformation in Africa. When asked if the company’s investors were on board with the pivot from providing individuals with information, Dimiri told TechCabal its investors were aligned with the pivot because Stears will continue to provide some free data solutions like the election database to the public. Stears will also continue to expand its presence on the continent with a primary focus on East and West Africa, according to Dimiri. She also told TechCabal that the pivot was not influenced by the company’s subscription model which she said the company was “really happy” with. Nigerian data and intelligence company Stears raises $3.3 million to solve Africa’s data dearth Have you got your tickets to TechCabal’s Moonshot Conference? Click here to do so now!
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Was South Africa hacked…again?
In partnership with Share this newsletter: Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Good morning Before Africa’s most audacious thinkers and builders share insights and celebrate innovation on the continent at the Moonshot Conference on October 11–12, we’re holding an ice-breaker—a Moonshot Welcome Mixer. To kickstart the Moonshot Conference 2023, TechCabal will bring together 200 founders, business leaders, executives, decision-makers, and government policymakers in Africa’s dynamic tech scene to mingle and network for the Moonshot Welcome Mixer on Tuesday, October 10, 2023. If you’d like to network and hang out with big tech leaders in Africa, register for the mixer here. In today’s edition Was South Africa’s security agency hacked? Kenya goes hard on crypto Kenya to launch nuclear plants by 2034 Meta’s plans for ad-free platforms The World Wide Web3 Opportunities Cybersecurity South Africa’s SSA suspected of being hacked by MI6 and CIA Image source: MyBroadband South Africa may be keeping a significant security breach under wraps. A breach? Yes. Per a report from Sunday World, the South Africa State Security Agency (SSA) believes it was the target of a coordinated cyber attack by foreign intelligence agencies such as the CIA and MI6 in August this year, a week before the BRICS Summit. As a result of the breach, a high-ranking official, Joe Mbhambhu, was reportedly forced to resign, despite not being directly responsible for the agency’s cyber unit. SSA director general Thembi Majola reportedly blamed him for the hacking. Additionally, internal sources suggest that the breach may have had inside assistance, potentially implicating individuals within the agency. The incident is reportedly considered a matter of “treason and espionage” by some officials. Impact on national security: The hackers allegedly gained access to internal email messages and a strategic management group on the communication platform, Telegram. While sources in the report suspect the CIA and MI6, no entity or group has claimed responsibility for the hacking. One source reportedly stated that the incident was concealed because it was embarrassing. Joe Mbhambhu declined to comment on the matter, while Thembi Majola stated that she was unaware of any hacking incident within the agency. Sources, including senior officials at the Agency, however insist that the hack happened. Get a working card from Moniepoint With the Moniepoint personal banking app, you get reliable payments every time and a card that always works. Enjoy seamless payments powered by the infrastructure that 1.5 million businesses trust. Download the app. Regulation Kenya to develop stricter measures for crypto Image source: TechCabal Kenya is developing a “comprehensive oversight framework and policies on virtual assets and virtual assets service providers” in the country. A parliamentary committee has advised the country to develop a framework for virtual assets in the country. The development comes after the country suspended operations of Sam Altman’s crypto firm—Worldcoin. ICYMI: Earlier this year, Worldcoin scanned the irises of Kenyan residents in exchange for 25 World tokens ($41). However, this exchange of biometric data raised privacy concerns in the country. Experts believed that sensitive data collected from the scanned iris might land in the wrong hands. This led to a shutdown of Worldcoin’s operation in the country and an eventual raid on the company’s warehouse where data collection equipment was seized. Worldcoin’s episode has increased the Kenya government’s scrutiny of crypto asset providers in the country. Per Techcrunch, the parliamentary committee called on the country’s ICT regulator to disable Worldcoin’s presence in the country, including its physical locations and “blacklisting the IP addresses of related websites.” Zoom out: Kenya’s steep regulations on crypto assets providers come as no surprise as Cryptocurrencies are yet to be regulated in the country. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) warned against the use of virtual tokens in 2015, citing that they are highly volatile. Energy Kenya to launch nuclear plants by 2034 An image of South Africas nuclear power plant. Image source: The South African Kenya is gun-blazing with nuclear ambitions. The East African country is gearing up plans to launch its own nuclear plants by 2034. According to the acting CEO of the Nuclear Power and Energy Agency (NuPEA) Justus Wabuyabo, the country will start the construction of its first nuclear power plant in 2027, and will commission it in a 6-10 years window—2034. The plant will have a capacity of 1,000 megawatts (MW). Kenya’s plan to launch a nuclear plant is part of the country’s effort to diversify its energy generation. The plant will help boost Kenya’s power supply and reduce the reliance on thermal plants. According to Wabuyabo, the nuclear plans will be situated at either Kilifi or Kwale counties. Kenya’s goal to build a nuclear power plant stems from the anticipated rise in electricity demand as it aims to be a middle-income country by 2030. However, for Kenya to achieve its nuclear ambitions, it will need to upgrade its electricity transmission network to power the nuclear power plants. Zoom out: South Africa is currently the only country on the continent with a commercial nuclear plant which accounts for 7% of its energy generation. Kenya will join the league when it commissions its own plant in 2034. With its latest development, the East African country is catching up with the rest of the world in the wave of alternative energy sources and the fulfillment of zero carbon goals. Accept payments fast with the Paystack Virtual Terminal Paystack Virtual Terminal helps businesses accept blazing fast in-person payments at scale, with ZERO hardware costs. Enjoy instant transfer confirmations via WhatsApp, multiple in-person payment channels, and more. Learn more. Global News Meta to charge $10 per month for ad-free plan in Europe Image source: Zikoko Memes Meta is trying to adapt to evolving regulatory requirements in the European Union (EU). The parent company of Facebook may roll out an ad-free plan in the coming months, dubbed “subscription no ads” (SNA) for its social media giants, Facebook and Instagram in the EU. The plan would give EU users the choice between paying approximately €10 ($10) per month for ad-free
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Starlink is offering users in Nigeria a 20% discount as it looks to expand reach
Starlink now costs 20% less for Nigerians as the company partners with Jumia to expand its reach. How far will a discount go in helping them acquire more users. Starlink, the satellite internet service owned by Elon Musk’s Space X, is slashing its price in Nigeria and expanding its distribution channels to acquire more users. The company is offering a 20% discount on its kit from ₦378,000 ($378) to ₦299,000 ($299). It has also partnered with Jumia, Nigeria’s most popular e-commerce platform. Per Wall Street Journal, while Starlink set sales targets of $12 billion in 2022, it only brought in $1.4 billion. Starlink, which expanded into Africa in 2023 with big plans to provide fast-speed internet to remote locations has faced more roadblocks than expected. The service which has a 100Mbps download speed is about ten times higher than the average download speed for mobile internet in sub-Saharan Africa where broadband penetration is still low, making it a great solution for the African market. Despite its potential for the continent, Starlink’s adoption across Africa has been faced with a number of challenges like affordability and regulatory concerns. In its first stop, Nigeria, the company has failed to capture a significant part of the market owing to its affordability problem with the kit costing significantly more than the average Nigerian can afford. About 70% of Nigerians suffer from poor internet speed, with the average quality of internet speed falling to 10.9% in 2023. However, the cost of Starlink rules it out as a solution for the majority of the population, even with a 20% discount, as the monthly salary of the average Nigerian is still below ₦124,000 ($124). Affordability isn’t its only barrier to its adoption as Starlink has also struggled with more regulatory roadblocks than expected in Africa. While it is not yet officially present in countries like South Africa as the government has banned the import, sale and usage of the service, thousands of South Africans have found ways to bypass regulatory hurdles and still access it. Similarly, Zimbabwe and Botswana have warned against the service, stating that the service is yet to complete the requisite licensing despite planning to launch in the country in Q3 2023. In August, the Senegalese government arrested five people for selling Starlink terminals without the required licence or authorisation. Some African countries like Rwanda on the other hand, have deployed the service to facilitate learning. In July, the country’s ICT Minister, Paula Ingabire, announced the launch of Starlink in 50 schools to provide students with access to more learning opportunities on the internet. This number is expected to increase to 500 by the end of 2024. The company has announced a partnership with e-commerce giant Jumia for the sales and distribution deal of the kits in Africa. Jumia is a strategic partner for Starlink as it is one of the most popular e-commerce platforms in the country with over 3.1 million active quarterly users. Jumia will exclusively distribute Starlink in Africa and its Chief Commercial Officer(CCO), Hisham El Gabry, believes that they have the needed experience in navigating the African retail and merchandise landscape. “The plan is to start selling through our sites and agents in Nigeria this month, and then Kenya,” he shared with Bloomberg. At the moment, the only countries in Africa where it is licensed to operate are Nigeria, Mauritius, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, and Kenya. It is set to be rolled out in more countries before the end of the year. Have you got your tickets to TechCabal’s Moonshot Conference? Click here to do so now!
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Stitch announces $25 million Series A extension to expand enterprise payments product
Stitch has announced a $25 million raise to scale its enterprise payment solutions product. South African payments solutions provider Stitch has announced a $25 million Series A extension round. Ribbit Capital led the funding round with involvement from both new and previous investors, including PayPal Ventures, The Raba Partnership, CRE Venture Capital, and 9 Yards Capital. Stitch launched in February 2021 and has since raised $52 million. The startup enables enterprises to accept, manage and disburse funds through its suite of products. “We’ve seen substantial growth since we emerged from stealth just over two years ago, and we look forward to finding more ways to anticipate and address the needs of the large, global enterprises we serve as the payments landscape continues to evolve,” said Kiaan Pillay, Stitch CEO. According to Pillay, Stitch is on track to process $2 billion in total payment value (TPV) this year and 50 million in payment volume. Stitch started life as one of the firms that bet that Open Banking would unlock better and more personalised banking services. A previous TechCabal article described Stitch as a startup that “offers data and payments solutions that reduce the effort required for businesses to connect to their users’ financial accounts and enable bank-to-bank payments without leaving the existing app interface.” The bet at the time was that this would enable fintech use cases like KYC and onboarding, personal and business financial management, lending, wallet top-ups, and e-commerce checkouts. That bet did not pan out as expected. “There was not a huge amount of traction. I think other markets, especially Western markets have good use over there. But I think it [was] just a bit too early in some of the markets we were targeting,” Pillay conceded. “We started off serving [customers] across this method called pay-by-bank. But in doing so we ended up having almost three distinct areas that we started to work with clients on [and] realised more areas we could offer solutions on,” he added. As the firm explored new product lines it hit a sweet spot with providing full payment solutions for enterprise-sized businesses in South Africa. So instead of trying to be everything to everyone, the fintech pared back its focus. “At the beginning of this year, we reined in our focus. And we sort of went from being a single method and being paid by the bank to being a full-on enterprise PSP (payment service provider). [The result was that] we ended up serving a lot of enterprises.” Stitch hopes to restart plans to expand across Africa. The South African company has maintained a small Nigerian operation but held back on aggressively selling in the West African nation in favour of doubling down in South Africa. A renewed expansion push will see it test the waters with enterprises in Kenya, Ghana, Egypt and Nigeria. Stitch also plans to offer its suite of end-to-end payment solutions to US and UK-domiciled companies. The startup also recently launched WigWag, a separate subsidiary specifically serving SMEs. According to the company, unlike rival payment service providers, Stitch’s go-to-market is built on working closely with enterprise customers to help them fully leverage its API suite to build out payment workflows. “We only focus on a few enterprises,” said Pillay. PayOS, its flagship product enables enterprise customers to accept payments via pay by bank, debit and credit card, recurring debits, cash and manual bank transfer. One such customer is dLocal, the Uruguayan cross-border payment processor that connects global merchants to emerging markets. MTN, the South African telco giant which has recently been boosting its fintech appeal after a deal with Mastercard valued its fintech business at more than $5 billion is also a customer of Stitch. “We really go deep with them on the kind of payment solutions we can offer them and obviously along the way, we find that some of the solutions are applicable to other businesses too.” Stitch has always gone where its clients’ needs have taken it. But it still had to deal with growing competition. “We still want to continue to go deep with all of our existing clients, I think we’ve barely scratched the surface in ways that we can work with them. We’re really excited that we do significant amounts of volume and scale to the existing customers, but it really is only a sliver of their total volume.” Pillay concluded. Have you got your tickets to TechCabal’s Moonshot Conference? Click here to do so now!
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Exclusive: Paystack expands further into offline payments as Nigeria’s POS volume surges
Paystack, the Nigeria-based fintech company, is launching virtual terminals, a new product that allows merchants to accept payments with bank transfers for multi-person businesses. The company is positioning itself for faster growth of its “pay with bank transfer” feature, which is witnessing rapid adoption as everyday customers use it as their primary mode of payment during checkout at offline businesses, such as supermarkets or restaurants. Paystack’s virtual terminal is a digital-only alternative to physical point-of-sale (POS) devices that have seen wide adoption in the country over the last few years. These physical POS devices are limited in circulation and cause transaction delays in high-volume situations such as restaurant checkout, where several customers might require payment confirmation simultaneously. Similar delays have plagued direct bank transfer alternatives as sales representatives at various businesses require verbal confirmation from their managers that a payment was successful — an inefficient process in a high turnover environment. Paystack, which operates in four African countries, believes its new virtual terminals can cut the wait time for payment confirmation and ensure a seamless customer checkout experience. The feature supports QR code payments, foreign bank cards and Apple Pay. Business owners can also assign virtual accounts to sales agents who can monitor and verify transactions without contacting their manager or having access to the business’ bank accounts. “Bank transfers are fast becoming the go-to payment method for a growing number of consumers in Nigeria,” says Shola Akinlade, Paystack CEO. “With Virtual Terminal, we’re making it effortless for businesses to accept in-person bank transfers quickly, while providing a dignified customer experience.” Virtual terminal is part of Paystack’s broader strategy to expand beyond web-only payment collection. The company launched in 2015 with a modern payments gateway that was cheaper and faster than existing business solutions developed by market leader Interswitch. Since then, the Nigerian payments market has flourished, with dozens of fintech providing digital fund collection and settlement services. By the end of 2022, electronic payments in Nigeria topped 5.1 billion transactions worth ₦387.1 trillion, a jump from the 154 million transactions valued at ₦38.2 trillion recorded in 2016, a year after Paystack launched. Paystack has also tried to capture a larger market share. Since 2020, it has developed a few products, including a digital storefront for social commerce, to win over more small businesses looking to sell online. But over the last three years, offline payments — a catch-all term loosely referring to agency banking and POS-based payments — have become a key segment driving the growth of electronic payments in Nigeria, Paystack’s primary market. Newer fintechs, such as GTCO’s Squad, OPay, PalmPay and Moniepoint, have cornered the offline market using a network of in-person payment agents and POS devices to offer cash transaction services to individual customers and business owners nationwide. In 2022, POS transactions represented around a fifth of electronic payments volume in Nigeria although industry insiders believe the figure is higher since several companies do not share their transaction data with NIBSS, which operates the national real-time payments infrastructure. Paystack, which is owned by U.S. fintech Stripe, made its re-entry into the offline payments market late last year with the launch of the Paystack Terminal, a point-of-sale device. Now, the fintech is doubling down on this market with virtual terminals and bank transfers. The company first introduced the bank transfer payment method in 2017, which supported seven financial institutions. In 2021, bank transfers represented around 12% of transactions on Paystack, the company told TechCabal. A year later, this figure has more than doubled to 28%. And since the start of 2023, the bank transfer method is surging, accounting for 34% of Paystack payments in Nigeria. The company has since doubled down on this market with new infrastructure and the new Paystack-Titan virtual accounts, a partnership between Paystack and Nigerian financial service Titan Trust Bank which cut the latency of bank transfers to less than 8 seconds. Customers are increasingly adopting the bank transfer method because of its convenience and control, Mohini Ufeli, a Paystack spokesperson, told TechCabal. In a low-trust environment where buyers and sellers want payment confirmation before completing a sale, both parties can conveniently track the status of a transaction. And unlike POS devices where sales agents pace several customers to collect payments, virtual terminals designate a Paystack-Titan bank account to which shoppers can conveniently send funds. The product is launching following a challenging start to the year for the Nigerian payments industry after an ill-timed central bank currency redesign effort triggered the scarcity of the physical naira ahead of general elections. The cash scarcity exposed several weaknesses in existing offline payment solutions which unraveled as the economy declined in the first quarter of 2023. Although Paystack declined to comment on its overall offline payments strategy, the fintech believes its faster bank transfer channel could help it win over more in-person businesses in Nigeria with instant payments confirmation.
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Five key attributes of innovative startups
Noel K. Tshiani is the founder of the Congo Business Network, an organisation committed to building the rising startup ecosystem in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As a fervent advocate for innovation, he actively drives transformation across a diverse spectrum of sectors including fintech, edtech, medtech, agritech, insurtech, and regtech, both in Kinshasa and abroad. Startups are the engines of innovation. They are the ones constantly pushing the boundaries of what is possible, creating new products and services that make our lives better. They are the launching pads where new ideas are tested, refined, and brought to market, ready to grow into the industry giants of tomorrow. But in a sea of startups, only a few manage to navigate the turbulent waters of the business world and emerge as beacons of innovation. So what are the key attributes that make a startup innovative? 1. Unrelenting curiosity Innovative startups are perpetually curious. They are always on the lookout for new insights, approaches, and solutions. This insatiable curiosity drives them to explore uncharted territories, ask challenging questions, and seek answers that can potentially disrupt the status quo. 2. Customer-centricity At the core of groundbreaking innovation is an unyielding focus on the customer. Innovative startups listen to their customers, understand their pain points, and are dedicated to providing solutions that meet their needs. They engage in continuous dialogue with their customer base, improving their products based on feedback, and ensuring that the end product is not just useful but delightful. 3. Agile and adaptable The ability to pivot swiftly in response to market feedback is a hallmark of innovative startups. They have a culture of innovation and experimentation, and they are always looking for new ways to do things. This nimbleness ensures they stay relevant and continue to meet the evolving needs of their market. 4. Collaborative ecosystem Innovation does not occur in isolation. Pioneering startups often foster a collaborative culture internally and extend this collaborative spirit to external partnerships. They collaborate with other companies, universities, and government agencies to share resources and expertise, and to speed up the innovation process. 5. Investment in talent and technology Innovative startups are avid investors in both talent and technology. They attract and nurture a diverse pool of talent, fostering a culture of continuous learning and growth. Concurrently, they harness the power of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and blockchain to bolster their innovative efforts. Innovation is the key to success in the startup world, and those who do it well inspire others. They are the vanguards, challenging conventions and propelling us into a future brimming with unexplored possibilities. As we look to the future, let us cultivate these attributes in our entrepreneurial ventures and play our part in shaping a more innovative tomorrow. Have you got your tickets to TechCabal’s Moonshot Conference? Click here to do so now!
Read MoreWhatsApp hacks are back, and they’re sneakier than before
It took Wuraola Onyeku about three weeks to realise that her partner was logged in to her WhatsApp account on his desktop. The first time she opened her WhatsApp after a night out with her friends to find herself in the middle of a conversation she couldn’t remember typing, she blamed the alcohol. The second time it happened, she blamed her poor memory on fatigue as she didn’t drink any alcohol. “I was always getting responses to messages I couldn’t remember sending, and at a point, I strongly believed I had a health condition that made me forget things easily,” she shared. Two years ago, WhatsApp made the news as thousands of accounts were compromised in a worldwide hack incident facilitated by WhatsApp calls. In recent months, WhatsApp hacks have resurfaced as hackers are discovering more insidious ways to infiltrate the app’s security. Tons of people have complained about their accounts being hacked and the Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC) has put out an advisory for users to be more careful with the platform as it has become the “main” target for hackers. There are several new methods that hackers are deploying to gain access to accounts. Some of the most popular methods include malware embedded in spam messages and links, as well as a call-forwarding hack. The victims can range from close friends and family to random people they find in WhatsApp groups. According to Adesola, a cybersecurity expert, the call-forwarding method involves calling victims and tricking them into calling certain man-machine interface (MMI) codes, which instruct your devices to perform specific actions. “They essentially want to forward calls from the victim’s number to their own number, so when they try to re-register the WhatsApp account using their target’s phone number, they choose the option of a phone call to verify the phone number instead of choosing the OTP option,” he shared. Other methods are more straightforward, like in the case of Onyeku. In April 2023, WhatsApp rolled out a new feature that allows users to operate one account on four devices. This feature means that malicious people can use your phone to scan a code on their laptops and will be logged into your account. Unlike other methods where the main owners are logged out, this allows you to use the account simultaneously. According to Onyeku, she didn’t think about the possibility of someone else sending it because it didn’t feel like a hack as she was still logged in to her account, and she lived alone. “I would have never suspected that someone else was using my account with me, much less my partner if he hadn’t confessed to it,” she shared. One evening, Ganiu Oloruntade, a reporter living in Lagos received a call from a strange number asking if he belonged to a particular WhatsApp group which he confirmed. They further asked him to call out a certain number, which he refused to do. Seconds after he ended the call, he realised that he couldn’t access his WhatsApp account. In the two hours it took for him to recover his account, he kept receiving calls from friends informing him that he was distributing a broadcast message and requesting money. “It was easier to recover it because I had the 2-factor authentication set up, but they already sent messages to all the groups I was a part of and received money from some people. I think they pick numbers from WhatsApp groups and call you to get your voice and send you a code,” he said. Meta has been committed to expanding WhatsApp from an intimate messaging platform to a wider messaging app with “communities” and “channels” features, which puts more users at risk as it exposes phone numbers to a larger group. While the 2-FA can protect users from some hacks, there are more advanced ones that it fails to guard against. According to Adesola, there have been a lot of vulnerabilities on the platform in the past years and some still exist. “When discovered, WhatsApp patches the vulnerability and sends a prompt to users to update their WhatsApp so that the changes they have made to curb the vulnerability can be effected,” he shared.
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Nigeria wants more tech bros
In partnership with Share this newsletter: Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Good morning Twitter—or X—is getting sued over its name. A marketing agency called X Social Media has filed a lawsuit against the company for trademark and service mark infringement. According to The Verge, the company says it has lost revenue due to market confusion since Twitter’s rebrand to X. The big picture here is that X Social Media is not alone: just about everyone in the market is confused about X—the advertisers, the users, the builders, and more importantly, ex-Chief Twit Musk himself. In today’s edition Event: Save on tickets for the Moonshot Conference Nigeria to equip 3 million people with tech skills Uganda shuts down six unlicensed stations Jumia to sell Starlink across Africa Kenya’s new plan to manage e-waste The World Wide Web3 Job openings Save 25% off tickets for The Moonshot Conference Wondering what’s in store for Nigeria’s digital future? You can find out at the Moonshot Conference! From October 11 – 12, join some of Africa’s most audacious thinkers and builders as they network, collaborate, share insights and celebrate innovation on the continent. Listen to Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s minister of communications, innovation and digital economy, as he shares his agenda for Nigeria’s tech ecosystem with Juliet Ehimuan, Oswald Guobadia, and Tomiwa Aladekomo. Take advantage of the Independence Day flash sales and save 25% off all Moonshot Tickets for the next 3 days! Buy your tickets here. Economy Nigeria to equip 3 million people with tech skills Image Source: YungNollywood Nigeria is getting new sets of tech bros. The country’s minister of communications, innovation, and digital economy, Bosun Tijani, has announced plans to equip 3 million early-to-mid-career Nigerians with tech skills by 2027 as part of the ministry’s strategic blueprint. A strategic blueprint? Bosun Tijani, on his Twitter page, shared a link to the draft of the blueprint dubbed “A Strategic Plan for the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy”. The strategic blueprint articulates the ministry’s vision to help diversify and deepen its economy through the use of digital technology and innovation. The blueprint contains a five-pillar agenda: knowledge, policy, infrastructure, innovation, entrepreneurship & capital, and trade. According to the blueprint, half of the trained professionals will be retained within the local talent pool, while the remaining half will be exported as global talents through remote opportunities. Zoom out: Beyond equipping Nigerians with tech skills, its strategic blueprint represents a positive development as the country looks to close its digital literacy gap and position itself across the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technological domains. Get a working card from Moniepoint With the Moniepoint personal banking app, you get reliable payments every time and a card that always works. Enjoy seamless payments powered by the infrastructure that 1.5 million businesses trust. Download the app. Policy Uganda shuts down six unlicensed radio stations Image source: YungNollywood Uganda has taken a stern stance on unauthorised broadcasting. Yesterday, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) shut down six radio stations that were allegedly broadcasting without licences, a clear infringement of the law. Under the Uganda Communications Act 2013, it is categorically illegal for any entity to transmit content without obtaining a broadcasting license duly authorised by the UCC. The affected radio stations: The six radio stations facing this clampdown are Divine Partners, Hot FM, Millenium Community Radio, Salt & Light Christian City Church, Mgahinga Investments, and Welsto Company Limited. Consequences of such violations: Offenders may face a substantial fine, possibly up to twenty-five currency points. In Uganda, the value of one currency point is determined by the finance ministry and serves as a basis for calculating fines. In this context, the penalty could be assessed based on the current value of a currency point, and the total fine would be 25 times that value. Alternatively, those found guilty may be subject to imprisonment for a maximum of one year, or both penalties combined. Internet Jumia to sell Starlink across Africa Image source: Starlink You can now order Starlink on Jumia. According to Jumia’s chief commercial officer Hisham El Gabry, the e-commerce giant has partnered with SpaceX to sell the satellite broadband services Starlink across Africa. The partnership will help sell Starlink terminals in areas that lack formal addresses and city mapping. The sales of Starlink on Jumia will begin with Nigeria in the coming weeks, according to El Gabry. Users in Nigeria will be able to order Starlink satellite terminals and other kits on Jumia’s site and get them delivered to their doorsteps through Jumia agents. Jumia will extend the sales of Starlink’s product to the other African countries in which it operates. Side bar: Starlink launched in Africa earlier this year, with Nigeria being the first to receive its service. Since its launch, it has expanded to 11 African countries and is set to expand to 8 more according to its availability map. The product has faced several regulatory pushbacks on its adoption on the continent, with some countries like Senegal and Zimbabwe tagging its sale as illegal. Zoom out: Africa has the lowest internet penetration in the world. Jumia’s partnership with Starlink represents a way forward for the continent in deepening its internet access. Get pregnancy care with Preggify Pregnant, ambitious, and busy? Preggify’s got you covered with 24/7 access to pregnancy information and maternal healthcare support for you, your spouse and caregiver(s), all at the convenience of your fingertips. Experience it now at Preggify.com. Cleantech Kenya’s ICT Authority to manage e-waste in the country Stanley Kamanguya CEO of ICTA Kenya is turning trash into treasure. Through a partnership with the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) and Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), the ICT Authority (ICTA) is spearheading an e-waste management initiative to promote sustainability and job creation in Kenya. This initiative is a step to address the issue of electronic waste (e-waste) in the country. Public institutions can now deposit their discarded electronic devices at the National Refurbishment, Assembly, and e-waste management facility in Nairobi’s
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