MainOne founder and MD Funke Opeke resigns, transitions to advisory role
Funke Opeke has resigned as MainOne’s Managing Director for West Africa weeks after the internet connectivity provider finalised its post-acquisition integration with Equinix. According to three people familiar with the matter, Opeke, who founded MainOne in 2008, will transition into a strategic advisory role for the West African region through March 2026. She will be replaced by Wole Abu, the CEO of Liquid Intelligent Technologies Nigeria, three people familiar with the matter said. Abu previously served as Pan African Towers’ CEO and Vice President of Sales at Airtel Nigeria. Abu will lead the company’s focus on growing its internet service provision and data centre business, one person familiar with the matter said. Equinix plans to launch three major data centre projects and extend its fibre capacity, TechCabal previously reported. The post-acquisition integration, which began in 2022, MainOne, Solutions by Equinix will retain its brand. The company operated two data centres in Lagos that are now fully controlled by Equinix. The leadership change marks a new beginning for MainOne, Nigeria’s most prominent internet connectivity provider with a roll call of major banks and telcos as clients. In April 2022, MainOne was acquired by Equinix, the world’s largest global data centre and colocation provider, in one of the largest exits in Africa’s tech ecosystem. MainOne did not immediately respond to a request for comments. Funke Opeke was appointed MainOne’s MD for West Africa after Equinix’s $320 million acquisition of MainOne in April 2022. She had been the company’s CEO for over a decade and had led its growth since 2010 when it landed the first private submarine cable on the West Coast of Africa. In 2023, Main One began laying a 27-kilometer fibre optic cable to cover the Yaba area of Lagos, known as Nigeria’s Silicon Valley. That led to several startups choosing to have offices in Yaba and midwifed the Nigerian tech ecosystem. MainOne’s fibre investment was instrumental to the growth of startups like Andela, CcHUB, Paga, Hotels.ng and Flutterwave.
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Getting to No
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Good morning! If you need something to reignite your relentless optimism, you should read this article by Kola Aina, a prominent African investor. He argues that despite the historic funding downturn, the African tech ecosystem presents the world with an opportunity not to be taken lightly. Raising a $50 million VC fund for the first time Starlink pauses new subscriptions in Kenya Botswana’s inDrive drivers feel earnings pinch Kobo360 CEO resigns a year after her appointment World Wide Web 3 Opportunities Venture Capital A first-time fund manager raising a $50 million growth-stage fund Image Source: Getty Images Getting people to give you money when you have limited experience is hard—just ask any founder raising an early-stage round how many NOs they got because of their lack of experience. If you flip the script, venture capitalists also face this classic chicken-and-egg dilemma: LPs want experience, but you need LPs to trust you before gaining that experience. Speaking to *James, an entrepreneur and consultant raising a $50 million venture capital fund to address the shortage of growth-stage financing for African startups, I got the sense that solving this dilemma is expensive and difficult. This is mostly because there’s a need to educate high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors about the venture capital and tech landscape in Africa. Even before speaking to LPs, he had to identify a gap that his fund would fill. The gap he saw was in the “missing middle” between early-stage funding and growth-stage funding. While early-stage funding is relatively abundant, with numerous pre-seed and seed rounds, many African companies struggle to secure Series B funding and beyond, he said. James aims to fill this gap by leading and co-investing in deals, writing checks ranging from $2 million to $5 million. Read Muktar’s conversation with James here. Read Moniepoint’s Case Study on Funding Women After losing their mother, Azeezat and her siblings struggled to keep Olaiya Foods afloat. Now, with Moniepoint, they’re transforming Nigeria’s local buka scene. Click here for a deep dive into how Moniepoint is helping her and other women entrepreneurs overcome their funding challenges. Internet Starlink pauses new subscriptions in Nairobi due to network overload Image Source: TechCabal One key goal for every business is to become oversubscribed. That is true for Elon Musk-owned satellite internet service provider Starlink in Kenya. Since its launch in the East African nation in July 2023, it has gained popularity among Kenyans seeking more reliable alternatives to local ISPs like Safaricom. With faster speeds and relatively cheaper subscriptions, Starlink has grown to become Kenya’s tenth-largest ISP with over 8,000 subscribers. This figure is likely to increase. That growing demand has strained its network capacity and it could no longer support additional customers. Starlink was forced to suspend new subscriptions in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, and five neighbouring regions. Customers in those areas have been experiencing service disruptions. “Starlink is working to increase internet capacity in dense urban areas in Africa as fast as possible,” said Elon Musk on X on Monday. Issue USD and Euro accounts with Fincra Whether you run an online marketplace, a remittance fintech, a payroll, a freelance platform or a cross-border payment app, Fincra’s multicurrency account API allows you to instantly create accounts in USD and EUR for customers without the stress of setting up a local account. Get started today. Ride-hailing inDrive drivers in Botswana feeling earnings pinch Image Source: TechCabal Rising fuel costs in Botswana and competition for rides with Bolt are hitting the pockets of drivers of the ride-hailing platform inDrive. Some drivers say their earnings have reduced by as much as half. Drivers also pointed out their frustration with the commission inDrive introduced in February as another contributor to reduced earnings. The ride-hailing app introduced the commission after five years of commission-free operation. On the commission, it says it has yet to receive any formal complaints from drivers although there are channels available to voice such concerns. Additionally, inDrive said like any other business, it had to introduce the commission in order to be sustainable. inDrive also refutes the claim that the app has seen a decline in rides since the launch of Bolt and it says it has actually seen a surge in ride activity. Despite having enjoyed a fair amount of popularity since 2019, over the past year, inDrive has been plagued by complaints from drivers, riders, and public transport operators. The introduction of the commission and its subsequent impact on earnings is just the fuel to the fire. With Bolt now in the foray, it has set the stage for an interesting competition landscape for ride-hailing in Botswana. Introducing Paystack transfers in Kenya Paystack merchants in Kenya can now send single and bulk transfers to any Kenyan bank or MPESA account (including customer wallets, Paybills, and Tills) Learn more → Logistics Kobo360 CEO resigns a year after taking the reins Cikü Mugambi, former Kobo360 CEO On October 29, Cikü Mugambi, CEO of Kobo360, a Nigerian logistics startup informed employees that she was resigning from her position. Her resignation comes one year after assuming the position. Mugambi had joined the seven-year old startup in 2021, from International Finance Corporation (IFC), one of Kobo360 ’s investors. She worked as chief of staff and head of investor relations. In 2023, Obi Ozor, Kobo360 co-founder and ex-CEO exited the startup to pursue a political career and appointed Mugambi his replacement. On the call announcing her exit, Mugambi hinted that the difficulty of raising fresh funding for the startup, which had previously raised about $78 million in debt and equity by 2021, partly influenced her decision, according to sources close to the company. Those sources say her exit is bittersweet because Mugambi is leaving the company in a better business position than when she joined. “The revenue from the Nigerian business is now able to pay for operations and break even.” CRYPTO TRACKER The World Wide Web3 Source: Coin Name Current Value Day Month Bitcoin
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The first-time fund manager raising $50 million to focus on the deep-end: investing in “the missing middle”
*James, a first-time fund manager raising a $50 million fund, shares insights on finding the right investors and how to convince them to sign those cheques. Raising money is no easy feat—just ask any startup founder who has closed a funding round. These conversations can stretch on for months, sometimes years, and finding the right investors often feels like searching for a needle in a haystack. These same challenges also extend to venture capital firms when they are raising capital. While there is no shortage of stories about the difficulties of raising funds as an African startup founder, little has been said about the unique problems of African investors raising their first funds. In this two-part series, an African entrepreneur and consultant who has partnered with an accelerator manager and an experienced tech operator to launch his first fund shares his experience. While he has clear goals—developing a model that will change how African VCs return capital to their investors and investing in “overlooked” early-stage startups that have not raised growth-stage capital—the journey to achieving them has been difficult. (This interview has been edited for clarity) TC: What is the size of the fund you’re targeting? *James: We want to lead and co-invest in deals. We’re targeting a fund size of $50 to $70 million and plan to write checks ranging from $2 million to $5 million on average. This means that even for Series B rounds, we’ll be co-investing alongside other investors. TC: How did you reach that amount? James: We started by considering the number of companies we wanted to support and worked backwards. We assessed our capabilities, network, and overall resources, as well as the type of transformational support we aim to provide. We intend to have a very intentional platform strategy for our fund, offering meaningful assistance rather than spreading ourselves too thin with an overly large portfolio. By estimating the ballpark number of companies we plan to support, we conducted financial modelling and arrived at that fund size. Additionally, we’re leveraging our backgrounds, resources, and sectors of expertise based on our previous experiences. This includes the networks we can provide to the companies we invest in and the direct support we can offer. All these factors informed our ultimate choice of fund size. TC: How much of your own money did you have to put up for your fund? Yewande: 1%-3% of the fund. TC: What made you think of starting a fund? James: I have a background in entrepreneurship and strategy consulting. Although I wasn’t an entrepreneur for a long time, my experiences and some challenges with the African VC industry led me to start a VC fund. First, the VC ecosystem on this continent is quite young—venture capital as an asset class here is probably around ten years old, so it’s still in its infancy. When I looked at the number of VC firms and their focus, I noticed that many are investing in early-stage companies. However, there’s a significant dearth of growth-stage VC investing. It’s always great to hear about companies raising pre-seed and seed rounds, and we celebrate those achievements. But then we don’t hear anything about them for the next four years; they don’t seem to reach Series B funding. This could be because the companies weren’t great or because scaling ownership is hard and things happen. But it can also be due to the lack of growth-stage investors. In talking with friends who work at DFIs (Development Finance Institutions) that are LPs (Limited Partners) in many VCs on this continent, I found that when they looked at the potential returns, many funds weren’t on track to deliver the expected returns to their LPs by the end of their fund cycles, which often conclude around 2024 or 2025. This suggests that the model might be broken. There are a few things that need to change—not only in portfolio construction but also in the level of support provided to companies. That’s why we’re working on a model that we believe is different in how we approach investments. TC: How did you develop your thesis? James: We found alignment not necessarily on specific verticals or sectors, but on overarching themes that transcend individual industries. We focused on the types of companies we wanted to invest in and the attributes or “X-factors” we sought in those companies. One key theme was investing in digital infrastructure—the infrastructure for the new economy. Another was the concept of network effects across sectors, sub-sectors, or verticals. These were crucial overarching themes that could be applied to many areas. We reached this alignment by bouncing ideas off each other based on our experiences, the gaps we observed in funding certain types of companies and the kinds of businesses we wanted to support. From there, we adopted a sector approach, starting by identifying the sectors or sub-sectors we wouldn’t invest in, as well as the specific pockets within sectors we wanted to avoid. To inform these decisions, we drew upon our collective experiences—our “secret sauce.” In terms of sectors, we’re interested in HealthTech, ClimateTech, and certain areas of FinTech—especially companies building infrastructure for the new economy and enabling verticals within FinTech. Sustainable mobility is also a key area of interest for us. Initially, we focused on the growth stage, but we ultimately broadened our scope to include earlier stages—from Series D down to seed and Series A. We believe there’s a “missing middle” between seed and Series A, a gap that’s often overlooked. We find this space particularly interesting and see the potential in enabling companies within it. So, while we began by considering growth-stage investments, we expanded our focus to include early-stage companies. TC: What challenges do first-time funds face when talking to LPs? James: One of the first challenges as an emerging manager is the lack of a track record. If you don’t have a history of investing, potential LPs may ask, “Why you?” It’s crucial to clearly explain to LPs why you are the right
Read MoreStarlink suspends new subscriptions in Nairobi due to network overload
In a surprise move, Starlink has paused new subscriptions in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, and five neighbouring regions, citing high demand straining its network capacity. The five regions are Kiambu, Machakos, Narok, Murang’a, and Nakuru. Starlink said its network capacity could not support additional customers, highlighting the company’s rising popularity in Kenya but raising questions about its capacity to scale in densely populated urban areas. “Nairobi and neighbouring areas are currently at network capacity. This means that too many users are trying to access the Starlink service within Nairobi, and there isn’t enough bandwidth to support additional residential or roaming customers now,” Starlink said. “Starlink is working to restore service in the disrupted areas and a notification will be sent once the residential plan is back.” Starlink beams internet to users using Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, which are about 1,000km from the earth’s surface–increasing information speeds with rates of up to 300Gbps. Starlink did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Since its launch in Kenya in July 2023, the number of Starlink users has grown more than tenfold, driven by promotions on kits and cheaper monthly plans. For instance, in August, the company introduced a $15.15 (KES1,950) monthly kit rental plan for users who can’t afford to buy the hardware, which costs $350 (KES 45,000). Starlink’s expansion, which offers faster speeds and relatively lower prices, has upset local ISPs like Safaricom. On July 15, Safaricom asked the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) to assess the risks of allowing satellite internet providers to operate without an agreement with local companies. Safaricom wants CA to block satellite internet providers with operations in other countries, a move that could lock out Starlink.
Read MoreBreaking: Kobo360 CEO Ciku Mugambi resigns one year after taking the reins
Ciku Mugmabi, CEO of Kobo360, a logistics startup that provides access to trucks for businesses like Dangote, Unilever, and Flour Mills, has resigned after one year. Mugambi, who joined Kobo360 in 2021 from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) as Chief Operating Officer (COO), was named CEO after co-founder Obi Ozor’s exit in August 2023. Mugambi announced her exit on a company-wide call on October 29. At least three people with knowledge of the matter claimed there was some chatter about her impending resignation in the past week. The startup had a bright start, launching in 2017 and raising $6 million in a 2018 seed round led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC). In 2019, it raised $30 million (equity and debt) from investors like TLCom, Y Combinator, and IFC in a Series A round. By 2022, the company struggled to close a Series B round after the pandemic created uncertainty for logistics companies. Cofounder Obi Ozor admitted, “We couldn’t find an investor to anchor the [2021] $50 million equity round we had in mind at the time, and we almost ran out of money, to be honest.” Two people familiar with the company’s finances claimed that under Mugambi’s leadership, the company broke even in its Nigerian business. Yet, its attempts to raise funding hit a wall, those people said. On the call announcing her exit, Mugambi also alluded to the difficulty in raising new funding. The company is expected to announce new leadership shortly. Ciku Mugambi and Kobo360 did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
Read MoreIn Botswana, drivers ask inDrive to raise fares after introducing 10% commission
inDrive operators in Botswana say they’re experiencing lower revenues because of the rising fuel costs and competition for rides after the launch of Bolt in March. More than ten drivers who spoke to TechCabal said the base fares are low and should be increased, continuing a trend across Africa where drivers believe the gig driving model unfairly favors customers. Gig drvers in Botswana are also adjusting to inDrive’s introduction of a 10% commission this year.When inDrive launched in Botswana in 2019, it was a popular choice because of its zero commission. While that was always unlikely to last forever, drivers believe that with a commission now in place, the company must raise fares for passengers. On its part, inDrive argues that charging commissions on driver earnings ensures they can make further investments in Botswana. The company says it has not received any formal complaints from drivers about the commission. “We have made it clear to drivers that monetization is essential for business sustainability,” inDrive told TechCabal. Beyond the commission, the company’s unique selling proposition which allows allows drivers and riders to negotiate prices, is also a pain point for drivers. Drivers claim that if the fee offered by a rider is already low, it’s difficult to negotiate any further. “A ride from the airport to CBD used to cost P100 ($7.5) on the app and I would agree to a counteroffer of maybe P80 ($6) from the rider,” said one inDrive operator who asked not to be named. “But now the same ride is offered for P50 ($3.7) on the app and I end up accepting P60 ($4.5).” One workaround is drivers asking riders to pay more than the quoted fare on the app but inDrive has condemned this practice. “Some customers are understanding when you ask for a bit more because they can see our struggles but others will give you a very low rating,” another driver told TechCabal. In October 2024, inDrive announced that it would launch in Francistown, Botswana’s second city, deepening its presence in the country. However, it will face competition from Estonian ride-hailing giant Bolt, setting the stage for a battle for marketshare that may just see the drivers eke out some wins.
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Next Wave: Scale is perspective
Cet article est aussi disponible en français <!– In partnership with –> First published 03 November, 2024 How big is the pie in Africa? In 2020, the International Finance Corporation and Google produced a report projecting that the digital economy would grow Africa’s GDP by $180 billion or 5.2%. Since then, around $15 billion has been invested into African technology to help bring the $180 billion of economic gains to reality. Those investments exclude investments in things like connectivity infrastructure, etc. If the report’s projections hold up, we should be near the $180 billion mark by now. Unsurprisingly, hundreds of startups have been created to chase this $180 billion internet economy, backed by more than $20 billion in venture capital investments and other forms of financing from the 2010s. The slice of this multi-billion dollar market a startup can carve out and hold on to is part of what we describe as “scale.” The way startups choose to cut their slice gives insight into how they see scale. The two dominant approaches to scale are tech geocentrism and tech-heliocentrism. The Geocentric approach refers to a situation where the company tries to grow market share by cultivating loosely coupled products that revolve around a winning primary offering. McDonalds is an example of a geocentric business; its menu is complementary to burgers and fries. Superapps like WeChat are the tech equivalent. Generally speaking, vertically integrated businesses are good examples of geocentric businesses. The Heliocentric approach is a perspective in which the business seeks to grow market share by throwing together multiple products at a big (and shiny) problem area. The goal is that the products will create a strong enough force to sustain the business as a going concern. Financial services super apps or enterprise product suites like Adobe are examples of heliocentric products. Next Wave continues after this ad. Join us at the Bluechip AI & Data Summit 2024 on December 2nd in Lagos! Explore the future of Africa through AI and data-driven solutions. Connect with industry leaders, attend expert panels, and discover innovations reshaping finance, healthcare, and beyond. Don’t miss this opportunity. JOIN US As the race for Africa’s digital economy becomes hotter and the surrounding macro-environment becomes more challenging, African companies are treating expansion and the search for “scale” as an exercise in building geocentric or heliocentric products. So you see more fundraise press releases hinting at growing the product library and geographic coverage. By choosing geocentricity, they add related product lines directly on top of their core offering. With heliocentricity, they develop almost detached product lines. Two recent examples come to mind: Rafiki, the payments API product announced after NALA’s fundraise, and Moniepoint hinting at expanding into remittances, FX and cross-border payments. When startups adopt a geocentric or heliocentric perspective of product development, it tells us how their view of the market share they can take is changing. Building geocentric products is a way of crowding in adjacent business models that will serve as tributaries and a moat in highly competitive environments. A heliocentric approach indicates the company believes it is better served by having largely independent products that each tackle a separate part of a large industry vertical. A payment fintech that houses an insurance group, a retail investment subsidiary, and a remittance product is a good way to visualise heliocentric businesses. In this instance, the company may be trying to build a business with products that tackle multiple parts of the financial services industry. Perspective changes with time and place Geocentricity or heliocentricity may work well in limited geographies. But this perspective and the localised success also makes it easier to miss the complex and external dependencies that make either approach work locally. And as companies grow they often begin to nurture the ambition to take their locally successful geocentric or heliocentric businesses to other markets. It is often a recipe for mistakes because successful local geocentric or heliocentric businesses miss the fact that perspective changes with time and place. For most of history, the universe was a plane around which the sun, moon, stars and planets revolved. It was what the farmhand and emperor observed. Ptolemy and Aristotle believed and taught this, and it became how many people in recorded history learned to understand the world they lived in and imagine the one they didn’t live in daily. The ancient Greeks imagined the universe as a series of shells with a planet embedded in each layer. Arab astronomers calculated the total radius of the universe (from the centre of the earth to the fixed stars) to be 90 million miles. This was the commonsense scale of the universe until the fresh ideas of an old Polish clergyman and astronomer began to catch on eighteen centuries after a Greek mathematician first presented a model of the universe that placed the sun at the centre with the earth in orbit. Today, we know that the universe is much larger than Nicolaus Copernicus (the Polish polymath clergyman) or Aristarchus of Samos (the Greek mathematician) even thought possible, as revolutionary as their theses were in their time. And we know this thanks to the advances in technology, mathematics, and physics that have broadened our perspective of the universe. We now know that we cannot know how big the universe is today; we can only estimate the size of the observable universe. Next Wave continues after this ad. PalmPay is a leading fintech platform focused on driving economic empowerment across Africa. Trusted by over 35 million Nigerians and 1.1 million businesses. Start enjoying a 99.9% transaction success rate with Palmpay. Sign up here. But What does an essay about technology businesses in Africa have to do with ancient astronomy or the size of the universe? Africa’s leading technology businesses are now quickly growing through geocentric and heliocentric perspectives of what scale means for them. This comes with all the chaos and missteps you can expect from anyone who navigates fluid systems. Ptolemy, the ancient philosopher and mathematician, was mistaken
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – A star’s exit
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Happy new week! Before you dive into today’s edition, please take a minute or two to move TC Daily from your Promotions folder into your Main/Primary folder so you don’t miss any of our important coverage. On mobile, click the button on the top-right corner and select “Move”, and on desktop, just drag and drop this email. Thank you! Techstars Lagos shuts down Egypt gets a ‘B’ rating Piggyvest report says Nigerians are feeling the squeeze World Wide Web 3 Jobs Venture Capital Techstars Lagos shuts down Techstars Lagos with portfolio companies/Image Source: Techstars Lagos Last week, Techstars, one of the world’s most active accelerators shutdown Techstars Lagos. Launched in 2022 in partnership with ARM Labs, Techstars Lagos aimed to support and accelerate the growth of early-stage technology startups in Nigeria. It invested $2.4 million across 24 companies including CDCare, Jump n Pass, and GetEquity, with each startup receiving up to $120,000 in funding. Despite its modest pace of dealmaking, it’s calling a close to its time in Lagos. Depending on who you speak to, there are two theories for why Techstars Lagos is closing. The first is that its partnership with ARM abruptly ended. It is unclear what the terms of the partnership were so this theory is a little shaky. The other theory is that Techstars is tweaking its strategy. “We are focusing on the biggest tech ecosystems and phasing out some accelerator programmes in a few smaller venture markets,” the company said in a February interview. That move may be tied to a need to improve cost discipline. Techstars made a loss in 2023 and laid off 7% of its workforce as part of possible moves to rein in cost. Read Moniepoint’s Case Study on Funding Women After losing their mother, Azeezat and her siblings struggled to keep Olaiya Foods afloat. Now, with Moniepoint, they’re transforming Nigeria’s local buka scene. Click here for a deep dive into how Moniepoint is helping her and other women entrepreneurs overcome their funding challenges. Economy Egypt rated as having a stable investment outlook Egypt president Abd el-Fattah el-Sisi/Image Source: Times of Israel Fitch Ratings, one of the world’s top credit rating agencies, has raised Egypt’s credit status from a ‘B-’ to a ‘B’ rating. According to Fitch, this is a ‘stable’ outlook for Egypt’s economy. The rating, which is usually relied upon by investors to buy bonds and make lending decisions to a country, was due to several state-backed projects which stabilised growth in the country. Inflation in Egypt has also moderated in 2024, offering some relief to the country’s economy. Getting a credit upgrade like Egypt will lower the borrowing cost for any country, yet, it doesn’t automatically mean they’re off the hook. For Egypt, which suffered a debt crisis in 2023 after going on a borrowing spree, the fundamentals—like its high debt-to-GDP ratio, reliance on imports, and its limited foreign cash reserves—still show the underlying issue for the country. Egypt has also been impacted by regional conflicts that have reduced tourism activity and tanked the earnings by at least 25%. In 2024, Egypt has shifted its strategy to power projects and attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) through its partnerships with companies like Siemens and Huawei. Inflation in Egypt has slowed from 35.7% to 26.4% since the start of the year, likely impacting the country’s consumer price index (CPI), which tracks the price changes of consumer goods. The CPI itself declined from 29.8% to 26.4% between January and September 2024. This has freed up disposable income for consumers that spend money on activities that bring back money to the government. The upsides seem high for investors, as Egypt has shown more commitment this year to avoid a default. Issue USD and Euro accounts with Fincra Whether you run an online marketplace, a remittance fintech, a payroll, a freelance platform or a cross-border payment app, Fincra’s multicurrency account API allows you to instantly create accounts in USD and EUR for customers without the stress of setting up a local account. Get started today. Economy Piggyvest report says Nigerians are feeling the squeeze Image Source: Wunmi Eunice/TechCabal In 2023, Piggyvest shared a savings report that surveyed 100 respondents. That survey and the subsequent report aimed to show how Nigerians are spending, managing and saving money. This year, the savings report is more ambitious, surveying 10,000 people and showing us that things have gotten a lot more dire. Data analysts may argue that the sample size could be bigger and may ask questions of the methodology, yet the report throws up some useful insights. The report revealed that only 1 in 100 Nigerians spends ₦1 million ($609) or more in a month. Additionally, the report claimed that nearly 65% of Nigerians earn less than ₦100,000 ($61) a month. With headline inflation squeezing pockets, it’s no surprise that Nigerians aren’t saving as much as 2023. Read the report here. CRYPTO TRACKER The World Wide Web3 Source: Coin Name Current Value Day Month Bitcoin $69,034.51 + 0.56% + 11.42% Ether $2,468.29 + 0.47% + 2.57% Grass $1.66 + 15.97% + 104.97% Solana $167.57 – 0.46% + 14.08% * Data as of 06:00 AM WAT, November 4, 2024. Jobs Platos Health – Product Marketing Manager – Lagos, Nigeria Flutterwave – Backend Engineer, Frontend Engineer, Compliance Officer – Hybrid (Lagos, Nigeria) Jobberman Nigeria – Digital Marketer – Lagos, Nigeria KPMG Nigeria – Strategy Consultant – Abuja, Nigeria Renmoney – Growth Manager, Head of Legal & Compliance, Head of Contact Centre – Lagos, Nigeria Nosmas – Full stack Developer – Lagos, Nigeria Earnipay – Digital Marketing Specialist, Content Marketing Specialist – Hybrid (Lagos, Nigeria) Paystack – Finance and Strategy Specialist – Lagos, Nigeria Norebase – Finance Lead – Remote (Nigeria) Startbutton – Digital Marketing Associate – Hybrid (Lagos, Nigeria) Qore – Product Manager – Lagos, Nigeria Get 60% off Google Workspace for a Year Start on Google Workspace with a 60% discount on your monthly subscription and
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2024 fully funded university scholarship for female Nigerians
The TKM Foundation has announced its 2024 Girls Only University Scholarship, a fully funded opportunity tailored to empower young Nigerian women from financially constrained backgrounds. The scholarship programme provides comprehensive financial support, covering tuition, accommodation, essential academic resources, and living expenses to aid financially disadvantaged young women to pursue higher education without financial hurdles. Here’s a breakdown of key details, from eligibility criteria to application deadlines. Eligibility for the TKM 2024 fully funded university scholarship for female Nigerians For new applicants Financial need: Applicants must be from a low-income background, with supporting documentation. University admission: Only students with JAMB admission letters to a Nigerian federal university are eligible. Exclusivity: Must not be receiving any other academic grants. References: Applicants must submit references from credible sources attesting to their financial need. For renewal applicants (Returning Beneficiaries) Academic standards: Must maintain a GPA of at least 2.0 on a 4.0 scale or 3.0 on a 5.0 scale.you Continued financial need: Renewing applicants must still meet financial need requirements. Recent references: Proof of financial need is important, using latest references. Exclusive scholarship: Beneficiaries cannot hold any other academic grants simultaneously. Application process TKM Foundation’s 2024 fully funded University scholarship for Nigerians application involves three simple steps: Prepare documents You will need to draft a 1000-word essay explaining why you deserve this scholarship. You are encouraged to include any achievements in academics and other areas, along with personal qualities or experiences that make you uniquely deserving of this opportunity. Do not forget to show your background and financial needs. Collect admission letter, proof of financial need(your bank statements, your parent’s or guardians’, or siblings’, references, and academic transcripts (for renewal applications). Fill out online form Visit TKM’s dedicated application portal and complete the form, uploading all necessary documents. Submit application Once all materials are uploaded, submit your application via the portal. Applicants will receive a confirmation email upon submission. Selection process TKM Foundation’s review focuses on financial need and academic merit. After an initial document review, selected candidates may be invited for an interview. Successful applicants will be notified via email, with announcements also made on the foundation’s website and social media channels. Application window for the TKM 2024 fully funded University scholarship for female Nigerians The 2024 fully funded University scholarship for Nigerians 2024 application window runs from November 1st, 2024, to December 31st, 2024. Early application is strongly encouraged to enhance selection chances. Why you may want to apply This scholarship offers more than financial support. It connects beneficiaries to a supportive community committed to their success, with guidance throughout their studies and career opportunities after graduation. Final thoughts TKM Foundation’s fully funded University scholarship for Nigerians, 2024, is a transformative opportunity. For young women eager to overcome financial barriers to education, this scholarship is a gateway to academic and personal growth. To apply or learn more, visit the TKM Foundation Scholarship Application Page.
Read MoreKenya’s KCB Bank completes IT infrastructure migration to tier III data centre
KCB Group, Kenya’s largest bank with a market capitalisation of $963.3 million (KES 124 billion), has completed the migration of its IT infrastructure to iColo, a tier III data centre. The migration from on-premise infrastructure to iColo’s facilities in Karen and Gigiri, Nairobi, began in 2022. Two people familiar with the matter told TechCabal that the migration was motivated by a need to control costs. The bank had been incurring millions of shillings on power, cooling, and uptime for its in-house data centre. It is unclear what cost savings KCB will achieve through this colocation migration since no specific projections or estimates have been provided. KCB declined to comment on this story. Before the move to colocation, KCB ran all its services on-premises. However, some services, such as Exchange, which offers currency exchange, online trading, and international money transfers, are hosted on Microsoft Azure, and plans are in place to move other services to AWS. “This transition involved moving to a professionally managed colocation facility,” one person familiar with the migration process and who asked not to be named so he could speak freely told TechCabal Colocated data centres, like iColo, provide shared spaces within larger facilities where multiple companies lease space. This allows such companies to benefit from shared services and infrastructure. “Colocation offers a more cost-effective solution compared to building and maintaining an independent data centre. Banks can achieve economies of scale by sharing common resources,” a banking executive, who also wished not to be named, told TechCabal. KCB isn’t the only Kenyan bank to choose this model. According to an industry insider, Equity Bank and NCBA have been using colocated facilities over the last few years to manage costs, signalling a growing trend among local banks to favour off-site data centre solutions. Kenyan banks have also began upgrading their core banking applications. In October, Stanbic upgraded its core platform, Temenos, to version R24. KCB uses Temenos for traditional banking and recently updated it to version R21 for its Rwandan operations. However, KCB uses Sopra, a different core system for digital banking services.
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