👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Hackers attack Kenyan government
Lire en français Read this email in French. 25 MAY, 2023 IN PARTNERSHIP WITH Happy salary day Is becoming a technical writer easier than becoming CEO or president? Here’s what a content creator has to say in this one-minute edition of Entering Tech. In today’s edition Chinese hackers attack Kenyan government Nigeria suspends licences of 179 banks South Africa to limit energy consumption Nigeria’s ICT minister moves to change Startup Act The World Wide Web3 Event: The Moonshot Conference Opportunities CHINESE HACKERS ATTACK KENYAN GOVERNMENT A recent investigation by Reuters reveals that Chinese hackers specifically targeted Kenyan ministries, state institutions, and the State House from 2019 to last year. A debt owed: Their objective was to gain unauthorised access and assess the substantial debt owed to Beijing, which amounts to billions of dollars. Kenya’s debt to China stood at $6.31 billion in March, the lowest since March 2019 when it was $6.01 billion, following a peak of $7.06 billion in June 2021. According to Reuters, the defence contractor, pointing to identical tools and techniques used in other hacking campaigns, identified a Chinese state-linked hacking team known as “BackdoorDiplomacy” as having carried out the attack on Kenya’s intelligence agency. The security breach started with a “spearphishing” attack after a State employee downloaded an infected document unknowingly in 2019 and went on up to last year, Reuters said, quoting three cybersecurity experts familiar with the attacks. Several ministries targeted: Documents provided by the analyst reveal Chinese cyber spies subjected the office of Kenya’s president, its defence, information, health, land and interior ministries, its counter-terrorism centre and other institutions to persistent and prolonged hacking activity. Per Reuters, “A review of internet logs delineating the Chinese digital espionage activity showed that a server controlled by the Chinese hackers also accessed a shared Kenyan government webmail service more recently from December 2022 until February this year.” So far, neither Chinese officials nor the Kenyan government have responded to the allegations. MONIEPOINT RANKED 2ND FASTEST-GROWING AFRICAN COMPANY Moniepoint is Africa’s second-fastest growing company, as shown in FTs latest report. We also processed 1 billion transactions worth $43 billion in Q1 alone. Read all about it here. This is partner content. CBN REVOKES LICENSE OF 179 MICROFINANCE BANKS On Tuesday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), revoked the licences of 179 microfinance banks (MFBs), four primary mortgage banks, and three finance companies in Nigeria. This information was disclosed in the official gazette of the Federal Government, published on the CBN website. The revocation was done in two tranches with the first list suspending licences of 47 MFBs, and the second affecting 132 more MFBs. Why? Per the gazette, the financial institutions’ licences were revoked because they “ ceased to carry on, in Nigeria, the type of business for which their licences were issued for a continuous period of 6 months; failed to fulfil or comply with the conditions subject to which their licences were granted; failed to comply with the obligations imposed upon them by the Central Bank of Nigeria by the provisions of Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020, Act No. 5.” The licences were revoked by the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele by the authority granted to the CBN by Section 12 of BOFIA 2020, Act No. 5. The affected institutions include fintech Eyowo, Premium Microfinance Bank, Royal Microfinance Bank and others. Customers affected too: The effect of revocation means these institutions can no longer carry out services independently, or the behalf of their customers. Eyowo, yesterday, issued a notice stating that customers would not be able to withdraw or send money until the issue was resolved. The fintech, however, assured customers that their monies were safe. MORE FROM TECHCABAL Entering Tech #31: How AI can help in job hunting Jumia’s Q1 2023 report shows path to profitabliity. SOUTH AFRICA TO LIMIT ENERGY CONSUMPTION In a move to enhance energy efficiency and manage the load-shedding crisis, South Africa is set to ban the sale of high-energy-consuming lighting technology, and this could include fluorescent bulbs and lights. A two-year journey: In April 2021, the country’s Trade, Industry & Competition Department published regulations set to improve the safety, performance and energy efficiency of lightbulbs. The regulations, which were initially published for public comments, set a high bar for minimum luminous efficacy—90 lumens per watt. The final regulations were supposed to be published by September 2022, but the department missed the deadline and instead published it yesterday, May 24, 2023. Side-bar: Luminous efficiency is a measure of how much light a lamp can produce for the power it consumes. Incandescent and fluorescent lights produce less than 79 lumens per watt while LEDs produce roughly 130. Trade, Industry & Competition minister Ebrahim Patel highlighted the aim of these specifications: to eliminate inefficient and environmentally damaging lighting products. The first phase of implementation, commencing 12 months after publication, will require regular electric lamps to have a minimum luminous efficacy of 90 lumens per watt (lm/W), a target currently attainable only by light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The second phase, beginning three years after publication, will further increase the minimum efficiency to 105lm/W. A few exceptions: The regulations make exceptions for specific applications outside general household lighting, such as studio lighting, theatre lighting, and medical use. For South Africa, this marks a significant step towards energy efficiency and underscores the country’s commitment to sustainable and eco-friendly practices in its lighting sector. FUNDRAISING, EXPANSION AND EXIT Today, May 25, at 1:00 pm WAT, Endeavor Entrepreneur and CEO of Daystar Power, Jasper Graf von Hardenberg, will share valuable insights for entrepreneurs in the Journey To Scale webinar. Alexis Akwagyiram, managing editor at Semafor Africa, will moderate this webinar. Register here. This is partner content. NIGERIA’S ICT MINISTER MOVES TO CHANGE STARTUP ACT Nigerian minister of communications and digital economy, Isa Ali Pantami As Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari prepares to bow out of office in barely five days,the country’s minister of communications and digital economy, Isa Pantami, is trying to institute a new board to
Read MoreHow Lagos traffic is hindering food delivery businesses
For a Mega City like Lagos, waiting for a food delivery is a test of your patience, time, and an invitation to anger. “I would say that it has been traumatic and has been a huge test of my patience. Food delivery is terrible. That’s if you ask me,” Femi Adetuberu, a finance expert insists and frequent user of such services. In summing up his experience, Adetuberu admits that it has not been easy for him, especially when he is famished and expecting instant food delivery. He strongly believes there is a disconnect between the restaurant and the delivery personnel. “You meet a delivery person who feels they are doing you a favour or they expect to be compensated for doing their job,” he said. Uzor Gift, a creative designer resident in Lagos has lost trust in expecting his food to be delivered on time. “I order when I need it the most. Imagine waiting two hours for something that should have come in 35 minutes. And you’re hungry,” he exclaimed. Gift eventually moved on from ordering all through last year and only resumed this year, still unsure of improved service delivery. Data by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that Lagos residents spent N830 billion ($2 billion) eating out in 2019, representing 34% of total food expenditure. Similarly, Jumia Food in its 2020 Nigeria Food Index Report has highlighted Lagos and Nairobi as the leading cities in volume of food orders. However, for many customers and food vendors, the usual pain point has always hovered around prompt delivery and turnaround time. Lagos traffic situation In 2021, a Lagos-based research institute, Danne Institute for Research (DIR), revealed that the state was losing about ₦4 trillion annually as a result of its notorious traffic congestion problem. The report, titled, ‘Connectivity and Productivity Report’, said the economic cost resulted into 14.12 million wasted hours as people commuted to work every day. The Lagos state commissioner for transportation, Frederic Oladeinde, in another briefing, disclosed that an average of 5,766 vehicles got into Lagos, while 5,831 moved out of the state on a daily basis. The founder and executive director of the DIR, Professor Franca Ovadje, explained that long commutes between where Lagosians live and work, among other factors, is a major cause of unending traffic jams. Ovadje said, “We found that the cost to individuals of traffic congestion is N133,978.68 per annum for those who own their vehicles, and N79,039.40 each year for those who use public transport. The total loss to Lagos is estimated at 14.12 million hours per day, or N3,834,340,158,870 per annum.” She lamented that the growth of the city was a cause for reduced productivity due to the state’s poor road network. The state’s commissioner for information and strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, however denied this. Omotoso, during a stakeholder engagement in January 2022, argued that it was unfair to say that individuals or tourists lost significant man-hours while plying the state roads. He said, “Let me say this loud and clear. I will not join the ranks of those who describe Lagos traffic as a nuisance, quoting all manner of figures. I saw one saying that an average Lagos tourist loses some incredible man-hours on the road. I felt it was unfair to the government or people that have been employed to manage traffic in Lagos. “So I contacted some experts and they told me that the figure could not have been right even though it was from a reputable organisation. Some of the facts that they sent to me really showed that the situation is not as bad as people are making us believe.” Cost issues, lack of communication Deborah Johnson, who owns and operates a confectionary business, admits that timing is a huge gap to be filled. She notes that cost and regulation have, in a way, hampered the speed of delivery. “My experience with them generally is bad communication, especially in Lagos. In Lagos, it is terrible and unnecessarily expensive. I get Lagos is expensive itself plus traffic, but bikes can literally enter anywhere so deliveries shouldn’t be so slow. And the prices are ridiculous,” Johnson stated. She recounts a certain experience where she hired a delivery service to drop small chops for a customer and the rider was harassed by the police. She explained that she was agitated about the incident as she wanted to deliver good service to the customer and poor communication could have fixed that issue. In a nutshell, Johnson admits that she has not been very satisfied. “I was trying to deliver a cupcake recently and the price was half the price of cupcakes. How does a box of 12 cupcakes cost ₦12,000 and you are paying ₦6,000 for delivery? It is weird, crazy and insane. I find it unrealistic. Do they get there on time, a few do, many don’t. Do they communicate 0.1% do, the remaining don’t,” she responded. Navigating the traffic situation Founder and CEO of Glovo, Oscar Pierre, admits that fast delivery is something that is wanted by everyone. “In Tokyo, New York, Barcelona, or Lagos, you will find customers that want to get food and products delivered very fast and at a cheap price,” Pierre said. However, he notes that there are teething problems in sub-Saharan Africa, which border on underdeveloped infrastructure—road, electricity, and traffic. “None of that stops us from building this value proposition of convenience. In Lagos, a very large majority of orders close to 80-90% are delivered below 45 minutes. That is quite convenient even though we can do better. If you go to Barcelona, you see the service works even better. The thing is that the bicycles and motorbikes skip the traffic.” Dealing with regulation In 2020, the Lagos state government rolled out a new law that prohibited commercial motorcycles, including bike-hailing startups, from operating in some specified local areas of the state. Several bike-hailing startups were affected and made to reconsider their business models. Pierre responds that he has always
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This SA legaltech startup wants to make legal services easily accessible
In a country with one of the highest crime rate in the world, access to legal services is vital for victims. However, access to legal services in South Africa is still pretty much a privilege reserved for those with legal aid coverage or disposable income to afford the hourly lawyer rates. To address this problem, legal tech startup Legal Standpoint has developed a mobile app which avails legal information, as well as attorneys, at a fee much lower than the traditional legal coverage. Founded by Keitumetse Pule, a graduate of law from Wits University, Legal Standpoint in a journey to democratise legal access not only in South Africa, but eventually beyond. TechCabal caught up with Pule to share more about the legal tech startup. TechCabal: Please tell us more about Legal Standpoint and the problem you are addressing through the startup? Keitumetse Pule: Legal Standpoint is a legal tech startup that’s working to democratise access to legal education and services. In essence, everything we do is geared towards making legal resources more widely available and readily accessible to everyone in the country, and eventually, in Africa and on a global platform at some point. It’s really about saying that the law is the one thing that applies to all of us and making it as easy as possible for people to be able to talk to a lawyer and just get good legal help when they find themselves in tricky situations. TC: How much traction would you say the offering has garnered since launch? KP: At the moment, we have onboarded over 1,500 users on the app. The app is available for download on all major app stores including the Huawei App Gallery, Google Play Store and Apple App Store. In terms of lawyers, we have about 14 verified on the platform. The number of lawyers that have signed up is higher than that, but we have very stringent verification processes on the app, so you’ll only appear in the directory if we verify you on our side because we always want to ensure that users are talking to verified vetted lawyers at all stages. We’ve also gotten quite a lot of visibility since we started, which has been great in terms of increasing brand awareness and getting people to know about the app. In March, we were invited to pitch at Harvard Business School and that was quite a great milestone for us. We’ve also been recognised as one of the top five democracy affirming startups in Africa earlier this year. So all in all, I think traction is going well. Pitching at Harvard Business School. (Image source: Provided) TC: What challenges have you faced in scaling Legal Standpoint and how did you traverse through those challenges? KP: The first one is that the legal industry is not the most receptive to legal technologies, so just getting through to lawyers and getting them to see and adopt technology and see the advantage that it could have for them, and how it could aid them in doing the work has been a bit of an uphill battle. Across the board, I think the legal industry is one of the slowest adapting and responding to technology. The other challenge has been funding, which I think a lot of entrepreneurs, you know, deal with when they are starting out. But we’ve tried to make the most with what we have. Like when we launched for example, we didn’t have a massive budget for marketing. We had to rely on our own personal social media platforms and that has really helped. For example, when we launched the app, I put out a tweet which I did not think would garner any traction. But amazingly, it did and garnered over 300,000 impressions. So I would say those two challenges, adoption and funding, have been at the forefront and that’s how we have been trying to work our way around them. TC: Do you think legaltech solutions like Legal Standpoint can impactfully disrupt the way legal services are accessed in South Africa? KP: Absolutely! I think the beauty about the time in which we entered the space is that legaltech was still in its infancy in Africa. So there’s still so much unexplored territory and if you’re wanting to start out, this is probably the perfect time. We also know that COVID-19 really accelerated technology and the way in which we interact with each other. Technology is going to be a core part of how we interact with each other, with the environment, and literally, with everything. So I think that’s another great opportunity if you want to be in the legal tech space. And now we’re seeing AI taking over and that’s a direction that we want to take a Legal Standpoint. as well, So, there’s really great opportunities if you’re wanting to solve the problem of access to justice and leverage technology to do that. Image source (Provided) TC: How do you think legaltech solutions like Legal Standpoint can help foster inclusivity with regards to legal services in South Africa? KP: I think they can go very far. One of the main reasons Legal Standpoint was created is because we saw that there is a huge access to justice problem in the country and there’s a lot of factors that can be attributed to that. But the two that we found, and which we’re focused on specifically, are lack of access due to jargon loaded legal texts.That’s where people don’t really understand where the law stands. They don’t understand what the law says, because it’s just so overwhelming and complex. That’s discouraging when you’re wanting to get a hold of legal resources. The other fact which is probably the biggest issue is that legal services tend to be priced quite exorbitantly so they are out of reach for a substantial number of South Africans. With the economy getting tougher, just getting legal services is quite expensive. Legal Standpoint then sought to come
Read MoreJumia’s Q1 2023 report shows path to profitabliity
Coming on the heels of its financial woes last year, eCommerce giant Jumia has reported a 5% growth in its gross profit and a 54% reduction in operating losses in the first quarter of 2023. After failing to achieve its goal to be profitable by 2022 despite its cost-reduction moves, Jumia—the “Amazon of Africa”—appears to be stemming the tide. In its Q1 2023 financial results [pdf], the eCommerce giant says it recorded a significant reduction in operating losses as it hopes to hit profitability. According to the report, Jumia’s operating loss in the first quarter of 2023 was $30.9 million, representing a 54% decline year-over-year, its lowest quarterly level in over 4 years. Similarly, the company’s revenue fell by 3% year-over-year to $46.3 million. However, its gross profit hit $28.6 million in the first quarter of 2023, a 5% jump year-over-year. TechCabal earlier reported how Jumia’s staggering liquidity position—due to its declining stocks—has left the company with difficult fundraising options to reduce costs. With a new CEO, Francis Dufay, the company hopes to rewrite its story from a giant business losing runway amid losses to a thriving and profitable one with optimised internal operations. “We’re in a tough macroeconomic environment. We’re also deeply reviewing our strategy. We also need to make radical changes to ensure we get to profitability and make better use of our cash,” Dufay said in an interview with Rest of World in March. In the Q1 2023 report, he restated his commitment to taking Jumia to profitability, saying the company is “focused on both cost efficiency and usage growth.” According to Jumia’s Q1 2023 numbers, its quarterly active consumers and orders declined by 22% and 26%, year-over-year respectively. Similarly, gross merchandise value (GMV) and total payment value (TPV) fell by 22% and 31.3%, respectively. The GMV is the total value of items sold on an e-commerce website within a period, while the TVP is the value of payments that are completed through the payments platform and excludes the transactions processed through the company’s gateway products. While quarterly active consumers dropped from 3.1 million in Q1 2022 to 2.4 million in Q1 2023, orders also fell from 9.3 million to 6.9 million in the period under review. GMW dropped from 252.7 million to 198.2 million, just as the total payment value fell from 70.7 million to 48.6 million. According to the report, JumiaPay’s TPV fell to $48.6 million in the first quarter of 2023, representing a 31% decline year-over-year, with the JumiaPay app TPV accounting for almost 60%. The company attributed this decline to its decision to move away from highly promotional services on the app that drives limited consumer lifetime value. Similarly, transactions on JumiaPay dropped by 38% year-over-year to 2.0 million. 29% of orders placed on the Jumia platform in the first quarter of 2023 were completed using JumiaPay, compared to 34% in the first quarter of 2022. The report says the decline in penetration is largely due to the reduction of JumiaPay app services in terms of transactions.
Read MoreTECNO, Infinix and itel remain unbeaten in Africa’s market share
While smartphone purchases have dropped, Transsion Holding, which owns TECNO, Infinix and itel, continues to record notable growth in Africa and other emerging markets. However, how does the competition fare? People are not buying phones as much as they used to, primarily because the devices have become expensive lately. This development is due to several reasons, such as strained supply chains, harsh dollar exchange rates, and overall inflation. It can also be argued that modern smartphones have become so much better that users do not see the need to replace them after a year or two, meaning they hold onto them for much longer. Where, in the past, users would purchase a new device due to their current phone developing an issue like faulty software, poor battery life, or failing hardware, modern phones are more durable, eliminating the need for frequent replacement. Research firm Canalysis has released some data showing the market share of different phone brands worldwide. The numbers paint an interesting picture of the African market, where it remains obvious that people love purchasing affordable phones. Not many brands are known to have nailed the budget segment other than Chinese manufacturers, particularly Transsion Holdings. Transsion is known for its affordable devices manufactured by offshoots such as TECNO, Infinix, itel, Oraimo (accessories), and Syinix (TVs). Specifically, Transsion topped Africa’s smartphone market share for Q1 at 48%. While it slumped in annual growth rate by 13%, it still showcases its strong presence in the continent. Samsung then followed Transsion at 30%. Positions three, four, and five were occupied by three Chinese brands: Xiaomi at 6%, OPPO at 4%, and realme at 3%. Like Transsion, all the brands recorded a drop in annual growth, save for realme, which jumped by 11 points. In countries such as Morocco and Algeria, Samsung took the lead in market share at 11% for both. Transsion picked the second position in Morocco at 19%, followed by Xiaomi, OPPO and realme. Only Xiaomi showed a positive annual jump at 16%. realme picked the second position in Algeria at 31%, followed by Xiaomi at 18%. The first and second runners-up recorded positive annual growth at a massive +412% for realme, and +40% for Morocco. Transsion and Apple closed the top five chart at 13% and 1%, respectively. It should also be noted that this is the first time Apple has featured in these rankings, considering it hardly sells its devices in Africa, save for many markets. Apple devices are also known for their high price and are a reserve for very few people who can afford them. “We continue to record increased popularity of smartphones under these different segments with the entry-level segment, especially from a youthful customer base, in these three countries. We are very proud of such a performance that reflects on our resolve to meet dynamic needs of our customers even in difficult times, with innovative solutions and budget-friendly devices,” notes realme Kenya PR & Marketing Manager Mildred Agoya. Transsion, the star of these statistics, has since launched the Camon 20 series of devices. For instance, the TECNO Camon 20 Premium costs $400 or more. Therefore, it can be argued that these devices are no longer affordable, although it makes sense why TECNO is doing this. For a long time, it has been known as the ‘cheap’ brand. To this end, it wants to dissociate itself from such assumptions and is actually doing the work to prove that. For example, TECNO has a $1000 phone, the Phantom V Fold. It is a quality device that bends like the Samsung Fold line of smartphones. It also has plans to launch a flipping device, which will be named the Phantom V Flip. The point here is that Transsion, especially TECNO, may soon transition to a premium brand similar to Samsung. Will the market accommodate its ambitions? Probably, but that will only remain to be seen. The likes of Samsung, for instance, have experienced what an expensive handset can do to market share. The current A series by the South Korean phone maker, including the Galaxy A54, are prohibitively expensive. This is the same mistake the manufacturer made with the now-discontinued J-series back in the day, but the market may self-correct in the coming days.
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🚀Entering Tech #31: How AI can help in job hunting
Here’s how AI can help you find your new role. 24 || May || 2023 View in Browser Brought to you by Issue #31 Using AI for job hunting Share this newsletter Greetings ET people If you’ve ever been on the job market searching for a new role, then you’re all too familiar with how frustrating and time-consuming the process is. Perhaps you’ve even thought to yourself, I wish there was a way to make this process easier. Well, we’ve got some good news for you. We’ve gathered recommendations for a wide range of AI tools that can help ease your job-hunting process, from building your resume to finding open roles and even applying to them for you! Isn’t that great (and also a little creepy)? If you’re currently job hunting, today’s edition will be a welcome one for you. And good luck, may the odds of a dollar salary be in your favour by Pamela Tetteh and Timi Odueso. Tech trivia We’re back to trivia this week! What are the best-selling mobile phones of all time? An AI refresher course We’ve talked about artificial intelligence (AI) on #EnteringTech, and how you’ve been using AI for the past decade without even knowing it. From asking Siri if you’ll ever find love, to trying to use Google Maps to navigate the messy streets of Lagos and Nairobi, the case for AI has been silently growing. In Edition #28, we talked about five careers in AI you can consider. In today’s, we’ll talk about how you can use AI to find and apply for jobs. Join Gurudemy’s Free Training Gurudemy is currently running a 3-week free training programme for you to acquire skills. Courses available are data analysis, digital marketing, product design, graphics design and frontend development. Start building your future in tech! How AI can help in job-hunting Job hunting is a tiresome process—it’s a full-time role in its own right. But with the launch of several AI tools in the past two years, it can become almost as easy as adding a Microsoft internship on your LinkedIn profile—even though you only passed by the building on your way to get coffee. Over 65% of recruiters are already using AI to find talent. Here’s how you can match their energy: 1. Job Searching In this newsletter alone, we’ve listed seven sites where you can find tech jobs for Africans. Within these sites, there are hundreds of job postings—that’s a lot to scroll through. The good news is that there are AI tools that will help you save your scrolling for TikTok, and find you only the best fits. Pyjama Jobs, by Kickresume, where all you have to do is upload your resume onto the platform. The platform will then compare your experience with all the job offers it has, and spit out only relevant jobs that match you perfectly—like pyjamas, or nicknames. Free Phone + Internet access Try out Pyjama Jobs here. CareerFlow is next, and its job is basically to judge your experience and tell you where you belong—like a 15-year-old high schooler or the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter. It’s an all-in-one platform that you can add to your Google Chrome browser to help you search for anyone hiring for your particular skills in any country, and also keep track of all your job applications. Free Phone + Internet access Try out CareerFlow here. Sonara is the final AI tool we’ll recommend because it’s gotten good reviews. With Sonara, all you have to do is fill out a questionnaire and upload your CV, and the platform will do the search and even apply for jobs for you. Free Phone + Internet access Try out Sonara here. 2. Resume/CV Building If your CV still has your high/secondary school information, your date of birth or your picture, you’re wasting valuable space. You should read Edition #11 to learn how to write a stellar CV, but just in case you don’t want to do all the work yourself, AI is here to help. As we’ve said, recruiters have been using AI for a while to sort through the thousands of job applications they get. Many use Application Tracking Systems (ATS) that filter out resumes or CVs that don’t have specific keywords. Here’s how you can use AI to beat AI: Pyjama Jobs, listed above, also has a free Resume builder tool that will help you craft resumes for specific jobs in minutes Skillroads is next, with its free CV builder which requires you to fill a questionnaire. After a couple of minutes, the platform will pop up a CV for you. The only con here is that you’ll have to read through the CV and make sure all the Is are dotted and the Ts crossed. Free (for the first resume) Phone + Internet access Try out Skillsroad here. The final one we’ll recommend is Resumaker which can examine your job history, education, and talents in order to produce a customised CV that best showcases your credentials. Free Phone + Internet access Try out Resumaker here. 3. Cover Letters Cover letters are the worst. They’re the Dwayne Johnson of every job application—they add very little value to the plot even though they say a lot and are nice to look at. Given that recruiters, on average, look at cover letters for about six seconds, it’s critical that the cover letter you submit highlights the skills and value you’ll bring to that job role. Here are the AI tools that can help. ChatGPT is not only useful for completing last-minute assignments, it can also help you write a cover letter. All you have to do is enter a detailed prompt. Include the job description in the prompt, as well as your experience and ChatGPT will drop a great cover letter you can share with prospective employers. Free Phone + Internet access Try out ChatGPT here. Google’s Bard: Bard is only a few weeks off the grill, but many people already prefer ChatGPT
Read MoreAfrica’s fintech revolution is poised for rapid growth, but challenges remain
Financial inclusion is still a challenge on the continent. Yet Africa’s fintech is poised to be the fastest growing in the world this decade, but more needs to be done to achieve this acclaim. Africa’s ascent as the global frontrunner in the fintech industry is undeniable. Per a recent report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and QED investors, the continent’s fintech ecosystem is poised to be one of the fastest growing by 2030. According to the report, Asia-Pacific regions will be the largest fintech market by 2030, while Latin America and Africa will be the fastest-growing regions in that market. Fintech revenue is projected to grow by 13x on the continent. However, as this remarkable growth takes shape, it becomes crucial to critically examine the potential costs and implications that accompany this transformative journey. Africa has the leading population of unbanked and underbanked people globally. According to World Bank, 57% of Africans are unbanked. With cash still being king in Africa, Rishi Varma, coauthor of the BCG Global Fintech report, believes fintech could be a vehicle to solve the access issue and promote financial inclusion. While financial inclusion might be a top priority for the fintech landscape, Eghosa Omoigui, an early-stage VC investor, believes that African fintech startups must build products that truly meet the needs of Africans. “The projected growth of Africa’s fintech won’t happen without the adoption of fintech products, and there can be no adoption without building products that have empathy and understanding. One is tied to the hip of the other,” he explained. Varma believes that for the anticipated growth to happen, African fintech would need to “leapfrog” incumbent fintech with the adoption of new technologies. “We expect some degree of leapfrogging in technology, particularly when it comes to cashless payments,” he shared. For Omoigui, he is convinced that for the projected growth of Africa’s fintech to occur, the space needs a decent match of high conviction and high-integrity founders and investors that are willing to bet the long game. Fintech expansion will aid more digital infrastructure in Africa Varma believes that to accomplish large digital infrastructure growth in Africa’s fintech, local incumbent financial institutions and telcom providers need to continue to leverage their influence. He believes this partnership between fintech and financial institutions will advocate for greater innovation and entrepreneurship that will help accelerate, expand, and strengthen local African economies and improve quality of life. Omoigui said that the projected growth provides a new pathway for African fintech to dominate digital infrastructure in Africa. According to him, the lack of optionality for regular banks will help new fintech companies to build trusted brands. Benoit Delestre, chairman at Africa-focused VC firm, Saviu Ventures, echoes the same sentiment, he believes that in the coming days, fintech in Africa will cater for the large population of people that the banks are currently not serving. “The traditional banks only reach 5-10% of the population, fintechs are needed to cater for the remaining 90%,” he said on a call with TechCabal. Regulations While regulation might be might a drawback in achieving Africa’s projected fintech growth, Varma believes that African countries need to create an environment that fosters innovation and encourages investment flows. “There needs to be a clear call to action for country regulators to create an environment that fosters innovation, promotes financial inclusion and encourages fund/investment flows. This could attract institutional investors (incl. venture capitalist firms) that are willing to invest and back local entrepreneurs to launch financial products and solutions (payments, remittance and lending) for local consumers and businesses.“ The ‘big four’ are not reducing steam, but new leaders are emerging in Africa’s tech ecosystem Varma expects the ‘big four’ to take a cue from leading emerging markets like India, Brazil, and Mexico which have developed regulatory policies to support the fintech ecosystem growth in their countries. “We expect major African economies of South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Kenya to take inspiration from leading emerging market economies like India, Brazil, Mexico that have been quite advanced in developing regulatory policies that promote development of public digital financial infrastructure that have created easy, secure access and lowered the cost of transactions,” he shared with TechCabal. “This has directly contributed to building consumer trust and supported the growth of fintech companies,” he said. “As fintechs gain scale they have the potential to be one catalyst for the creation of at-scale digital and data infrastructure in Africa.” Investment opportunities for projected growth Ashim Egunjobi, a VC investor, is of the view that the expected growth of fintech in Africa will happen in a profitable way and that indigenous investors will be major frontiers. “You know, the early stage fintech sector has very much benefited from capital deployed by global fund managers but what you see now is the rise of emerging fund managers that are, in fact, local. They are savvy with regards to understanding the drivers of scale, they are understanding the regulatory environment and the time investment and effort investment required with regards to those regulatory and players,” she said. Egunjobi’s view is that new investment opportunities exist for both local and international investors in the B2B and B2B2C fintech models while also noting that new emerging technologies like AI and machine learning are a driving wave for fintechs. “The inclusion of these types of innovative technologies in fintech solutions are really going to help, you know, have unique selling propositions, but also really have real customer value propositions,” she told TechCabal. “‘How do we use these data points from AI to inform the regulators? ‘How do we use these data points to inform fintech founders with regards to, proactively being able to assess risk to understand customer behaviour to understand the product better?’” “Also, you know, being able to say, ‘how do we make certain things more efficient?’, How do we embed, artificial intelligence into some of our products —not just in the way we build them, but even in the customer experience? And really making the
Read MoreExclusive: Pantami moves to change Nigeria’s Startup Act days before Buhari’s exit
In a last-minute maneuver, Nigeria’s minister of communications and digital economy Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami is trying to change the already passed Nigeria Startup Act, just days before President Buhari’s tenure ends. Five days before President Muhammadu Buhari hands over power to a new administration, Nigeria’s minister of communications and digital economy Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami is trying to institute a new board to drive the Nigerian Startup Act (NSA). TechCabal exclusively learnt that despite questions about its legality, the minister is keen on this move. In a memo seen by TechCabal, Prof Pantami asked President Buhari to not only absorb the 27-member Nigerian Startup Implementation Committee into the Nigeria Startup Act council meetings but also give these members a four year tenure — something that council members on the NSA council don’t have. A source close to the matter told TechCabal, “The 27-member Startup Implementation Committee was set up to come up with a framework for implementation of the startup act. Their role is an adhoc committee. They are a think-tank on how the act will be implemented. They are not to be confused with the members of the Nigeria Startup Act council.” The source explained that the minister also wanted the chairman of the committee to sit in the council, thereby creating a new role that wasn’t in the startup act when it was signed into law. The long road to Nigeria’s Startup Bill The Nigeria Startup Bill (NSB), was signed into law by Buhari on October 19, 2022. One of the major objectives of the bill is to bridge the engagement gap between startups and regulators and ensure that impediments to Nigeria’s tech ecosystem are removed. Section 3 of the Act already states that the National Council for Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship – interpreted as “the Council” would drive the regulations regarding startups. Section 4 states the membership of the council, conferring the president as the Chairperson while Section 5 explains that other members of the council who are not ex-officio members, will only hold office — a term of two years and may be eligible for re-appointment for another term of two years and no more. The disconnect The memo, which was revealed during a council meeting, stated, “Having established some of the challenges that the Secretariat identified in the course of the implementation of the Act, the Secretariat wishes to seek the kind indulgence of this distinguished Council to ratify the following approvals obtained from Mr. President, pursuant to Section 44 of the NSA. “Development of the NSA Implementation framework; Constitution and formation of the 27-member Nigeria Startup Act Implementation Committee (NSAIC); Four year tenure for the members of the NSA Implementation Committee; Quarterly evaluation of the NSAIC members by the Chair of the Committee; Attendance of the NSAIC Chair to the National Council for Digital innovation and Entrepreneurship; Development of the Start-up Engagement and Support Portal; Formation of the Consultative Forum.” However, the source said for the implementation committee to be a part of the already established council by law they need approval from the council and not necessarily the Senate. The source also said that allowing the chairman of the implementation committee to attend council meetings is unclear because there is already a chairperson set by law already in section 4 of the NSA act. “In what capacity would the Chairperson of the implementation committee attend NSA council meetings?,” the source asked. The source explained that the Minister wants to tinker with the council by subtly seeking the President’s approval to put the committee inside the council. A possible amendment before May 29th? The source explained that this ratification can only be accepted by the council. He explained that the only way Pantami’s plans can work is if a quorum is formed in the council. For a quorum to work, a minimum of eight people must be present alongside the chairman and two members of the private sector. The source said since the members of the council were not all there yesterday, the meeting couldn’t hold. “The meeting should have started by 4:30pm. By 6:30pm when some members left, the meeting hadn’t started but they were still waiting for the minister to come. This means they still wanted to have the meeting,” the source explained. A startup lawyer, Oyindolapo Olusesi doesn’t believe Pantami would be able to change the already signed law in five days. “To ‘change’ a law, which is technically “to amend”, you need the legislative arm to carry out its constitutional duty of law making and revise some of the provisions of the existing law. When the amendments are passed by the law makers, and assented by the President, only then can the amendment become a law. “In this instance, it is rather impracticable for there to be any amendments in a few days, even if the process were expedited. I mean, anything can happen in our political clime, but that, itself, would be a stretch,” Olusesi explained. The source stressed that a council agent should be monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the NSA act.
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Oh, the irony: SA records surge in sales of electric vehicles despite power crisis
According to a report by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA), electric vehicle sales in the country in Q1 2023 have already surpassed more than half of last year’s total sales. Since the start of the year, 232 units of electric vehicles have been sold, compared to the 502 sold in the entirety of 2022. Overall, new energy vehicle (NEV) sales, including plug-in hybrids, traditional hybrids, and fully electric cars, saw a surge of 18.8% in Q1 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. Fully electric vehicles had the highest proportional increase in sales when comparing Q1 2023 to the same period last year, in which 112 fully electric cars were sold in the country, compared to 232 units sold in Q1 2023. Furthermore, more electric cars were sold in Q1 2023 than in the entirety of 2021, 2020, 2019, or 2018. Overall, 4,764 NEVs were sold in South Africa in 2022, compared to 896, 324, and 407 in 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively. Electric car sales in South Africa are on the rise. (Image source: NAAMSA/MyBroadband) The surge in electric vehicle sales in South Africa is ironic for two reasons. Firstly, the country is currently going through a 15-year power crisis exacerbated by issues faced by Eskom, South Africa’s power utility provider. Secondly, electric vehicles are exorbitantly expensive in South Africa. According to MyBroadband, after considering exchange rates and additional taxes, the price of an imported pickup truck in South Africa was around 89% higher than the retail price in the US. “This is exacerbated by the effects of the value-added tax [VAT]; the ad valorem excise duty based on a sliding scale up to 30%, and the import tariff; limited product availability; and awareness issues emanating from range anxiety, security of electricity supply and a limited understanding of the technology,” said NAAMSA in a statement. In order to keep the electric vehicle adoption trajectory on the same path, NAAMSA believes that the government should be intentional with incentivising a switch to NEVs in the domestic market, expanding charging infrastructure, and supporting a shift to NEV production. “South Africa has already missed the upcoming round of EV model investment, for which the decision date is three years before start of production, and realistically will only be considered for the next round of investment around 2030,” said NAAMSA president Neale Hill. Government, on the other hand, states that it is trying its best to foster a manufacturing-focused approach to EV adoption instead of just importing them. “We don’t want to risk South Africa becoming the last place where internal combustion engines [ICEs] are produced while other markets are busy with EVs,” said Malebo Mabitje-Thompson, acting director-general for the department of trade, industry, and competition.
Read MoreKenya’s high tax regime could make a $40 smartphone an impossibility
Telcos such as Safaricom say it is impossible to assemble a $40 smartphone due to high taxes. To this end, the telco wants the tax concerns addressed; else, the project will see a unit cost twice as much. Kenya is set to assemble local and affordable smartphones for its people in less than two months. However, the project, drummed up by the nation’s ICT cabinet secretary Eliud Owalo since the start of the year, has been faulted by carrier Safaricom, which says it will be impossible for the devices to cost the suggested price of $40. According to the telco, President Ruto’s government is lobbying to increase excise duty, VAT, and import duty in a new bill. However, they have failed to recognise that these taxes will result in a cost per unit that is more than double the suggested selling price. READ MORE: Kenya’s government proposes new bill to tax content creators The project is part of the Digital Superhighway plan with two primary goals. Firstly, it aims to expand the country’s fibre network coverage by laying 100,000 kilometres (62,000 miles) of fibre optic cable. This significant infrastructure expansion will enable the creation of 25,000 public Wi-Fi hotspots and establish Digital Village Smart Hubs in all 1,450 wards across Kenya. Secondly, the project aims to improve e-government services by automating more than 5,000 government services within six months, targeting completion by mid-2023. This digitisation process includes automating business processes, digitising manual records, enhancing data sharing between agencies, and implementing a unique identifier for accessing digital services. These services can only benefit Kenyans if they have access to smartphones. However, smartphones are still expensive, so the local assembly plan was suggested. The project sought telcos’ services, including Safaricom, Airtel Kenya, and Jamii Telecoms, among others, to help in local assembly. However, only Safaricom has confirmed the existence of an assembly line. According to the operator, the facility can produce up to 1.4 million devices in one year and can help it overcome dollar exchange rate constraints since it imports up to 4 million devices yearly for its customers. Safaricom has since told the finance and planning committee to adjust the rates suggested in the proposed Finance Bill, 2023, else smartphones will not cost $40. During the bill’s public hearings, Karanja Gichiri, who serves as Safaricom’s head of venture, expressed the need to tackle import, excise, and VAT concerns to align with the president’s vision of a $50 phone. Gichiri emphasised the potential savings of KES 4,000 ($29) and a reduction in cost from KES 11,500 ($84) to KES 7,500 ($55). He proposed scaling down the taxes to KES 3,000, resulting in a final price range of KES 6,500 ($47) to KES 7,000 ($51) for locally assembled smartphones. Job Kabochi, representing audit firm PwC, said there was a 13.5% reduction in imports during the fourth quarter of 2022, attributed to shortages and inflation. Kabochi proposed amendments to the VAT Act and the Excise Duty Act as a solution. The proposal suggested the addition of new clauses in the Second Schedule of both acts to incorporate the supply of locally assembled and manufactured mobile phones under the VAT Act and introduce provisions for disassembled or unassembled kits meant for local assembly or manufacturing of mobile phones within the Excise Duty Act. It is not clear how the government will navigate the said concerns to achieve the goal of a $40 smartphone.
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