Exclusive: MoMo PSB CEO, chief commercial officer resign in surprising exit
Eli Hini, CEO of MTN’s MoMo Payment Service Bank (PSB), and Elsa Muzzolini, Chief Commercial Officer, have left the company in a surprising leadership change at the fintech. Muzzolini joined M-PESA Ethiopia, Safaricom’s mobile money business as CEO on July 15. Muzzolini informed employees of her resignation in a note on July 12. She also updated the new role on her LinkedIn profile. It is unclear if Hini, who left in June 2024, has taken another role. Hini and Muzzolini joined MoMo PSB in 2022 and led its growth strategies in Nigeria. Their exit comes at a time when MTN Nigeria ramps up investment in its fintech unit to grow its share of wallets and app adoption following losses in its core business, telecoms. Usoro Anthony Usoro, executive director of strategy and stakeholder management at MoMo PSB, has been named the substantive CEO. His appointment is subject to CBN approval, one person with direct knowledge of the matter said. MTN did not respond to a request for comments. MoMo grew mobile money wallets by 55.8% to 5.5 million in H1 2024 from 3.1 million in H1 2023. Fintech revenue grew by 11% driven by increased wallet and MoMo app adoption. Compared with Airtel mobile money scheduled to go public in 2025, its mobile money customers grew 14.9% to 39.5 million On Monday, August 5, 2024, MTN Nigeria paid ₦6.95 billion to buy off Acxani Capital Limited, the minority shareholder of MoMo PSB. MTN Nigeria took control of the fintech unit to strengthen MoMo PSB’s operations and position it for growth, according to a regulatory filing. The deal also allows MTN Nigeria to deploy more funding into the fintech unit. MoMo received an additional ₦9.4 billion in investment from MTN Nigeria as part of the deal.
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JAMB 2024 latest news for candidates
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has recently released crucial updates relevant to all 2024 candidates. This article outlines the essential points from the JAMB 2024 latest news. JAMB latest 2024 news on minimum age requirement For the 2024/2025 academic session, only candidates who are at least sixteen years old will be considered eligible for admission. This means you may go ahead to write Post UTME exams or screenings if you are currently 15 years of age. However, you will only be able to accept the admission (if granted) if you are 16 years old by the time the institution admits you. This follows the directive from the Honourable Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, SAN, OON. The enforcement of this policy aims to curb the submission of false affidavits and doctored age adjustments. JAMB latest 2024 news on stoppage of illegal admissions JAMB has announced the end of the condonement of illegal admissions. Institutions must disclose all candidates admitted illegally before 2017 within the next month. Any admissions not reported within this period will not be recognised or condoned. Addressing daily part-time programmes JAMB has identified and condemned the practice of certain polytechnics and universities advertising unauthorised Daily Part-Time (DPT) and Top Up (TU) programmes. These programmes are not approved by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) or the National Universities Commission (NUC). Candidates are advised to avoid such programmes as they are not recognised and will not be regularised. Disclosure of candidates admitted outside CAPS Institutions must disclose all candidates admitted outside the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) from 2017 to date. Any admissions outside CAPS and not disclosed within the given time frame will not be tolerated. CAPS remains the only authorised platform for admissions, ensuring transparency and fairness. Key takeways The JAMB 2024 latest news emphasises the enforcement of strict age requirements, the cessation of illegal admissions, and the importance of adhering to CAPS for all admissions. Candidates must ensure they meet the age requirement and verify that their admissions are processed through CAPS. Avoid enrolment in unauthorised programmes that are not recognised by the appropriate educational bodies. The JAMB 2024 latest news bulletin contains vital updates for all current and prospective candidates. Candidates are encouraged to stay informed and comply with all outlined directives.
Read MoreSendsprint expands to the US with Nobel Financial Inc. acquisition
Sendsprint, a cross-border payments startup operating in the UK, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria, has acquired Nobel Financial Inc., a US-based remittance company, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will enable Sendsprint to offer money transfers and gift-sending from customers in 16 US states. “The US presents a massive opportunity for us as a company and we are excited to bring our unique blend of people-focused technology solutions and nuanced understanding of Africans in the US market to make this expansion into the US a remarkable success,” Damisi Busari, CEO and founder of Sendsprint said. As part of the acquisition, Nobel Financial Inc.’s Chief Compliance Officer, Scott McClain, will join the Sendsprint team as Chief Compliance Officer. Launched in 2022, Sendsprint operates in the competitive remittance market with established players like Western Union and MoneyGram and new entrants like LemFi and Leatherback. The company charges a $5 flat fee across all transactions. The company claims it partners with over 3,000 retailers across Africa—including big names like Shoprite, Dapper Monkey, Jumia, and Cake City—to allow users to send gift cards to recipients in Africa. Founded in 2014, Nobel Financial Inc. offers international remittance services from the USA to over 32 countries across Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. The company also allows users to send in-kind gifts such as bags of rice and other gifts to recipients in Africa. The acquisition comes at a time when remittance flows to Africa continues to grow. In 2022, remittances to the continent reached $100 billion, outpacing both Official Development Assistance (ODA) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The increase in remittances from the US to Africa is fueled by rising migration and improved financial wellbeing among Africans in the diaspora.
Read MoreFounders Factory Africa rebrands to 54 Collective, a sector-agnostic VC firm
After four years of accelerating startups, Founders Factory Africa is rebranding as 54 Collective, a VC firm with a $40 million fund to invest in early-stage African ventures across various sectors. “Today, we are a VC firm with a $40m fund. Alongside that, we have $107 million that is backing our venture success platform. In total, if you add the $107 million and the $40 million fund, we are almost on the north of $150 million that we are managing in supporting startups and also making investments,” Bongani Sithole, CEO of 54 Collective, told TechCabal. Venture Capital inflows to African startups declined 31% in 2023 to $4.5 billion as foreign investors raced to the exits after the end of the zero-interest rate period. The number of deals through equity or debt decreased to 545 from a record 781 in 2022, according to a report by the London-based African Private Capital Association. Many investors have argued that local VCs with deep knowledge of the continent need to step up and fill the gap. 54 Collective joins a growing list of local investors like Partech that are stepping in to keep capital flowing to startups in Africa. While building Founders Factory Africa, Sithole realised why many tech companies fail after raising money from investors. They often take too long to set up a board; when some do, they see the board as a reporting structure rather than tapping into the advisory capabilities of the members. “We have seen too many examples that we are not going to mention. It has always been the case that they hire and spend so much money too quickly, and the obsession about products and customers takes a back seat,” Sithole said. 54 Collective takes a board seat in the early-stage companies that it invests in to help mitigate business risks and allow startups to focus on what matters. It believes startups should be “obsessed” with building the product and growing the customer base; 54 Collective also helps its portfolio companies hire talents. Founded by Roo Rogers and Alina Truhina, 54 Collective’s path to becoming a venture capital firm was defined by a mammoth $114 million capital raised from Mastercard Foundation and Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures in 2023. Although the company had said it would use the funding to expand its model to serve founders across the African tech ecosystem, becoming a full-fledged venture capital gives it more room to expand its scope and attract more investors. As an accelerator, its revenue model was limited. Becoming a venture capital firm allows the company to expand its revenue model. 54 Collective invests up to $250,000, depending on the business’s stage. It also provides non-dilutive capital of up to $150,000. Non-dilutive capital allows startups to retain full ownership of their company. In the case of 54 Collective, it is a loan charged at 5%. “In the next five years starting from last year, we want to invest in 105 venture-bankable startups. Per year, we are doing 21 businesses. By the end of this year, we will be at 42 startups. We are currently at 29 startups,” Sithole said.
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Meta, Mobius, and more.
In partnership with Share this newsletter: Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Good morning Early bird ticket sales to Moonshot 2024 end tomorrow. This year, we’re bringing together even more stakeholders in Africa’s tech ecosystem across 9 content tracks including governmental regulation/policy and emerging tech. Join 85 speakers and 4,000 guests in Lagos, Nigeria, from October 9–10, 2024. Get your early-bird tickets here! In today’s edition Kuda recorded $22 million in revenue in 2022 Jumia records reduced losses Meta to pay Kenyan content creators Mobius enters liquidation The World Wide Web3 Events Fintech Kuda recorded $22 million in revenue in 2022 Kuda, the Nigerian neobank, has grown in leaps and bounds. The neobank almost tripled its revenue in 2022, recording $22 million up from $7.7million in the year before. The neobank utilised targeted advertising to get well-paying customers to its doorsteps. In 2022, it recorded 4.9 million users. That number has since grown to become 7 million. Its digital banking platform allows customers to make payments, access loans, and manage their wealth. It recorded $100 million in deposits in 2022, more than double the $41 million it recorded in 2021. Its business banking services also recorded an uptick, with customer deposits jumping from $102,000 to nearly $15 million. The business claims it offered its businesses payroll management services to over 100,000 businesses in the year in review. While the bank launched in 2019 has rapidly gained traction, the journey to profitability for digital banks is often a marathon, not a sprint. Look at Revolut and Starling, the European neobank titans, who only recently turned a profit despite launching years ago. Even Nubank, the Brazilian unicorn, took eight years to become profitable. Of course, Brazil is not Nigeria, but the point stands: building a sustainable neobank is hard. Although its 2022 losses outpace the previous year, Kuda Bank’s CFO, Frederic Bidet, insists that the company has enough cash—$33 million—to break even. Read Moniepoint’s 2024 Informal Economy Report 89% of businesses in the informal economy pay levies and market fees. The informal economy is typically described as untaxed, but is that true? Click here to find out more. E-commerce: Jumia records reduced losses Jumia CEO Francis Dufay is cutting more costs. In its earnings call yesterday, the CEO said that Jumia will now employ an asset-light model to fulfil deliveries. The company plans to establish new warehouses in Egypt and Ivory Coast which will be rented and not owned. In its latest financial results, the company reduced its losses to about $20.2 million, compared to $38 million in the previous quarter. It also reported revenue of $36.5 million for the second quarter of the year. JumiaPay, the company’s primary receiver of transactions on its e-commerce platform also brought in positives. Transactions on the platform reached $1.9 million. This growth was driven by increased adoption of JumiaPay for deliveries and the success of cashback promotions introduced in the second quarter. Jumia maintains a cash reserve of $45.1 million and total liquid assets of $92.8 million, 67% of which are dominated in USD to reduce the company’s vulnerability to currency fluctuations. The e-commerce company also recorded 2 million quarterly active users thanks in part to its search engine optimization (SEO) and customer relationship management (CRM) strategies. Despite yesterday’s announcement of cost-cutting measures and improved financial performance, Jumia’s stock price took a significant dive, closing at $4.89 (from $10.59 on Monday). We’d give it some time though. The company’s Q1 earnings call, where it reported a 71% cut in costs, led to a sharp 150% YTD jump in share pricing, a high that peaked at $14.56 in July 2024. Collect payments anytime anywhere with Fincra Are you dealing with the complexities of collecting payments from your customers? Fincra’s payment gateway makes it easy to accept payments via cards, bank transfers, virtual accounts and mobile money. What’s more? You get to save money on fees when you use Fincra. Get started now. Creator Economy Meta to pay Kenyan content creators Meta has introduced two new monetisation options for Kenyan content creators: in-stream ads and ads on Facebook Reels. Creators will earn a share of the ad revenue when ads appear on their content, similar to how revenue ad sharing on X (formerly Twitter) works. Kenya has an estimated 17.8 million Facebook users, with popular content creators like Elsa Majimbo. However, many Kenyan creators still favour YouTube for content sharing due to its monetisation feature—more than 21.5 million creators create content on YouTube. Facebook’s competing monetisation feature will allow eligible creators to earn money from sharing short-form video content. In-stream ads can appear before, during, or after on-demand videos, while ads on Facebook Reels integrate into original short-form content. To qualify, creators must comply with Meta’s partner monetisation policies and content monetisation policies. The policies discourage creators from buying followers or using “engagement farming” tactics to artificially boost their metrics and qualify for ad revenue sharing. Additionally, creators must produce content in formats that are eligible for advertising, such as videos and reels that meet Meta’s quality standards and community guidelines. Creators must also be up to 18 years old, and have a minimum of 5,000 followers to monetise in-stream ads. Meta’s monetisation move is a broader strategy to compete with platforms like TikTok and YouTube. By offering monetisation options, Meta hopes to attract and retain African content creators on its platforms. Startups Mobius enters liquidation Mobius Motors, a Kenyan automaker, has entered voluntary liquidation 14 months after announcing plans to build manufacturing units in Tanzania and Uganda. Mobius entered the Kenyan car manufacturing market in 2013 selling cheap SUVs. But the problem is that Kenyans don’t buy new cars—even if they are produced locally. This is even true for how Africans generally buy cars. For example, of Kenya’s 130,000 annual car imports, only about 9,500 are brand new—even fewer Kenyans buy these new cars every year. In Nigeria, only about 15% of cars imported are new cars. Buying a foreign second-hand car is cheaper,
Read MoreAdani Energy gets approval for a $900 million power transmission line in Kenya
Kenya has approved a $907 million proposal from Adani Energy Solutions, the power distribution arm of India’s Adani Group, to build transmission lines and substations in Eastern and Western parts of the country. Adani Energy Solutions, which operates more than 21,000km of power distribution lines, will build 371km of lines and five substations under a Public Private Partnership (PPP). The deal comes as details of another agreement with Adani Airport Holdings to renovate and operate Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) sparked public anger. “The project development or feasibility study report was completed, submitted, and approved in May 2024, for the project to progress to contract negotiations,” Treasury said in its draft Budget Policy Statement (BPS). The Adani power transmission project is part of efforts to revamp Kenya’s ageing distribution lines to reduce leakages and frequent outages. Kenya has turned to PPPs for infrastructure projects as mounting debt cut the government’s spending on new roads, power lines, railways and airports. However, questions over the opacity of the process and the inflated costs of some of the projects have persisted. For instance, after President William Ruto denied knowledge of the $1.85 JKIA concession, the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) confirmed it in an ad on local dailies. The JKIA deal, which Kenya has not withdrawn despite public outcry, will give the Adani Group’s hospitality arm a 30-year concession of the country’s main airport. Adani Group founder Gautam Adani, one of Asia’s richest men, has been keen to expand his infrastructure empire into new markets as damaging corporate fraud allegations cool off. In 2023, Hindenburg Research claimed that the company engaged in market manipulation and “brazen” fraud. The allegations, which the company denied, caused Adani’s listed stocks to collapse after a $140 billion sell-off. The stocks have since recovered. On Monday, the company said it raised $1 billion in an equity sale with bids from US investors, the first since the scandal.
Read MoreBreaking: Unity bank requested ₦700 billion support for CBN for Providus merger
To ensure the stability of Nigeria’s financial system, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has provided a facility to support the merger between Providus and Unity Bank, a bank that recorded losses of ₦38.8 billion during the first half of 2023. While the CBN has not disclosed how much it provided in support, a source close to the situation told TechCabal that the amount was ₦700 billion. According to a letter from Unity Bank’s managing director to the CBN seen by TechCabal, on July 22, the bank requested “merger approval and financial” support. In that letter, it asked for a loan “priced at an interest rate of MPR minus 11%, subject to a minimum of 6%. Beginning in the sixth year, the new financial entity will recommence repayment in 15 equal installments until maturity.” A spokesperson for Unity Bank declined to comment. “The merger is contingent upon the financial support from the CBN,” said Hakama Sidi, the acting director corporate communications of the CBN. “ The fund will be instrumental in addressing Unity Bank’s total obligations to the Central Bank and other stakeholders. It is unequivocal to state that the CBN’s action is in accordance with the provisions of Section 42 (2) of the CBN Act, 2007.” Hakama emphasized that the arrangement was crucial for the financial health and operational stability of the post-merger organisation. Unlike its profitable peers in the financial industry like Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), and Stanbic IBTC, Unity Bank has consistently reported poor results, further exacerbated by high foreign currency exposure. CEO of Unity Bank Plc, Mrs. Tomi Somefun, blamed the bank’s poor financial position on the operating environment, which impacted the bank’s growth. “What we have is a market-driven impact which is adjustable envisaged from the positive economic outcomes of the government policies in the near term,” Somefun said in a statement the bank shared with TechCabal in September 2023. Unity Bank has been in a worrisome situation since analysts from KPMG queried its full-year report ended December 31, 2022. The lender’s total liabilities exceeded its total assets by ₦274.9 billion in 2022, and KPMG wrote a note regarding this situation in its books, highlighting it as a “growing concern.” Questions have been raised on the bank’s financial health even after it managed to record ₦1.04 billion profit in the first quarter of 2023. In that same quarter, its total liabilities continued to surpass its total assets in Q1 2023. Till date, the bank is yet to release its 2023 full year reports for full transparency. In September 2023, Somefun hinted at the bank plans to complete a recapitalization exercise long before CBN manadated banks to shore up their positions. The bank said it was focusing on retail growth before its merger. *This is a developing story *This story has been edited to show that Unity bank requested a loan facility from the Central Bank
Read MoreNigeria’s Central Bank approves merger for Unity and Providus Bank
Nigeria’s Central Bank has granted approval for a proposed merger between Unity Bank Plc and Providus Bank, confirming a report on Tuesday morning by a top Nigerian publication. Unity Bank, which reported N38 billion in losses for the first half of 2023, has been the subject of speculation after the Central Bank revoked Heritage Bank’s licence. In June 2023, TechCabal reported that the auditing firm KPMG had questioned Unity Bank’s ability to stay afloat. “As at same date, the bank’s total liabilities exceeded its total assets by ₦274.9billion and the bank did not meet the required minimum Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 10% and the minimum capital requirement of ₦25.00 billion for a national bank as required by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),” KPMG said in a note. Those struggles mean the CBN will provide “financial accommodation for a merger between Unity Bank and Providus.” “The merger is contingent upon the financial support from the CBN. The fund will be instrumental in addressing Unity Bank’s total obligation to the Central Bank and other stakeholders,” the CBN said in a statement. The regulator also insisted that no Nigerian bank “currently faces a precarious situation comparable to that of Heritage Bank which was recently liquidated.”
Read MoreKenya lowers interest rate to 12.75% as inflation cools
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has lowered the benchmark interest rate after inflation slowed in July. The CBK elected to lower rates by 25 basis points to 12.75%, pointing to an end of the tightening cycle. This is the first time the interest rates have dropped since April 2020; they held steady at 7% for two years, until April 2022. From then on, they sharply increased, peaking at 13% in April 2024. “Inflation is expected to remain below the midpoint of the target range in the near term, supported by a stable exchange rate, lower food prices with expected harvests, and stable fuel prices,” CBK said after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Tuesday. The central bank’s decision comes as inflation eases in the East African country. Kenya’s inflation slowed to 4.3% in July from 4.6% in June, staying below the government’s target of 5%. Food inflation held steady at 5.6% in both months. In December 2023 and February 2024, the CBK raised interest rates to address high inflation and strengthen the Kenyan shilling. The Kenyan shilling has been stable over the last six months. Kenya’s economy grew by 5% in the first quarter of 2024, per an earlier report released by the CBK. Strong agriculture and services boosted growth while manufacturing and construction slowed. “Exports were 11.8 percent higher in the first half of 2024 compared to a similar period in 2023,” the CBK added. The Kenyan economy is expected to grow 5.4% in 2024, driven by services, agriculture, and exports. However, global risks, including trade and geopolitical tensions amongst the world’s leading economies like the US and Russia, could affect this.
Read MoreThe Pan-African Trade Manifesto
This article was contributed to TechCabal by Ray Youssef. Africa is the wealthiest continent in the world but has the poorest people. Asia, the second poorest continent, has more than three times the per capita GDP of Africa. The problem is that Africa suffers from a system of economic apartheid that distributes most of the resources and wealth to countries outside the continent. This massive injustice will continue until the system changes or is replaced by something else. We need a ‘Pan-African trade Manifesto’ so the people of Africa have a clear path towards prosperity for those who generate the continent’s wealth. The seven problems with African trade Most sources estimate intra-trade between African nations to be less than 13%. The number is much lower if you include only African-owned businesses. For comparison, European intra-trade is 69%, Asia is 60%, the U.S. 45%, and South America is 30%. African banks are almost useless for cross-border payments. Effectively, every African person with a bank account has the same degree of access to the financial system as anyone without a bank account. In Africa, it hardly makes a difference if you are banked or unbanked. The cost of banking in Africa is higher than anywhere else. For example, sending money within Africa using a remittance service like Western Union costs more than sending money to Africa from the West. Even African innovations don’t work cross-border. The mobile wallet M-PESA does not cross borders because the seven countries that use it operate on separate networks. Cryptocurrency platforms are being banned from Pan-African trade. The global powers are positioning themselves to control crypto just like they do with fiat currencies. Africa is the most overregulated business environment in the world. The system has been designed to restrict trade, stifle competition, and force entrepreneurs to operate in regions less hostile to innovation. African Leaders are coerced into following economic policies that aren’t in the best interests of the people they are supposed to serve. The leaders who don’t fall into line pay the price. The effects When African nations trade with non-African nations instead of with each other, the wealth created in the continent drains away and keeps Africa poor. The U.S. would not be a superpower if its citizens couldn’t send money from New York to New Jersey, but that’s effectively what happens in Africa. You can’t send money over the border, systems rarely talk to each other, and even when they do, the costs of doing business are astronomical. Africans have pioneered innovative products like m-Pesa, yet we are supposed to believe they can’t figure out cross-border payments. The overregulation of markets that makes Pan-African trade almost impossible is supposedly necessary to increase safety. Still, the regulation’s effect is to force entrepreneurs to operate in a hostile, restrictive and expensive business environment. The result of all this dysfunction is hamstrung leadership across the continent. Every national leader who tried to implement Pan-African trade was hampered by an international financial system that treated Africans and the rest of the Global South with disdain. Unless that system changes and allows African workers and businesses to compete on a level playing field, African people will continue to be starved of the opportunities that most of the world takes for granted. A future with Pan-African trade When African nations declared independence from political apartheid, they did so without breaking away from economic apartheid. The Colonialists never left Africa – all they did was make the chains that held us down invisible. Our leaders never talk about it; even the African Union does nothing about it. Either they are ignorant, or the West has forced them into silence. I think the latter is true, but there is a way out of this mess. The solution to this problem of subjugation is for us to help ourselves because we can’t rely on anyone else. We don’t have to fall to our knees in front of these people any more. We can determine our futures and enjoy the prosperity we deserve. It starts by answering a straightforward question: What would happen if we enabled Pan-African trade? If we enable Pan-African trade, the first effect will be a ten-fold increase in sales and revenue for every non-local African business because they will gain 53 new nations as customers – a market of 1.4 billion people. The flow-on effects include new jobs and a reduction in unemployment, which means local businesses will have to scale up to meet the demands of the newly employed. More employment increases marriage and birth rates, increasing Africa’s world-leading population growth. Seventy per cent of the world’s population growth will come from Africa over the next 30 years. The massive increase in internal trade will make Africa the world’s biggest consumer market, and that’s good for African entrepreneurship. Cities like Dubai will dot the African landscape in as little as a decade. The brain drain that Africa experienced over the past 80 years will reverse, and talent will flood in as the African diaspora returns home. Enabling Pan-African trade – The Manifesto We must enable Pan-African trade, but how do we do it? What are the risks? The biggest risk to the continent right now is to do nothing. Despite decades of speeches and one-sided trade agreements, nothing much has changed in Africa since the end of the colonial era. The only way to move forward is to enable pan-African trade, and the process has to be systematic and continent-wide. Education The African youth must educate themselves about money. They must know where it comes from, how it works, and what makes it stop working as it should—as a means of exchange. When the streets become laser-focused on this issue, Pan-Africanism won’t be ignored. That’s when the Gen Z leaders will rise to drive the narrative and defend our manifesto with confidence and ferocity. Education includes re-learning all of our history. Our history is all about money and how the central bankers have corrupted it behind
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