- September 11 2023
TechCabal Daily-No more TikTok Live in Kenya?
In partnership with Share this newsletter: Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Good morning! The sizzling tension of a boardroom brawl where MTN is fighting for greater control over IHS Tower, the company that runs its network sites, continues. MTN Nigeria has said that it will pass its tower operations from IHS Towers to a competitor, ATC Nigeria, by the year 2025. This could seriously affect IHS Tower’s revenue. Read our report about it. In today’s edition TikTok Live may be banned in Kenya Flutterwave expands to India Digital IDs are coming to Ethiopia The World Wide Web3 Event: The Moonshot Conference Job opportunities Social media TikTok Live may be banned in Kenya Image source: Zikoko memes Kenya is trying to kill TikTok Live. Remember that meeting where Kenyan President Ruto sat down with TikTok? Well, the Kenyan Film Classification Board (KFCB) also attended, and they urged TikTok to disable the live feature to stop the growing trend of content creators making explicit sexual content on TikTok Lives at night. ICYMI: Kenya’s House of Assembly received a petition from a concerned citizen calling for a TikTok ban due to the trend of explicit sexual content on the platform. But President Ruto believes an outright ban is not the solution, considering many Kenyans are building careers through content creation. Instead, he engaged in a dialogue with TikTok to enhance content moderation on the platform. So, the burning question is, will TikTok ban live broadcasts in the East African country? The company has yet to comment on whether they will take this suggestion seriously. The only outcome confirmed from the meeting is TikTok’s commitment to launch a hub in Kenya and hire content moderators to review posts on the app. Additionally, the KFCB recommended that TikTok should also take action against those who post explicit content by shutting down their accounts and preventing them from creating new ones through the blacklisting of their phone’s IMEI number. Zoom out: Beyond Kenya’s borders, petitions to ban TikTok have also surfaced in Uganda and Egypt for similar reasons—citing concerns about immorality and threats to the nation. TikTok has already faced bans in Senegal and Somalia. However, both citizens and experts smell a rat; they think that the respective governments are banning the platform to suppress public criticism of the government. Get a working card from Moniepoint With the Moniepoint personal banking app, you get reliable payments every time and a card that always works. Enjoy seamless payments powered by the infrastructure that 1.5 million businesses trust. Download the app. Fintech Flutterwave expands into India Image source: TechCabal Flutterwave is teaming up with India’s IndusInd Bank to launch its Send App remittance product right into the heart of India. But why IndusInd Bank, you ask? Well, this bank boasts an impressive 35 million customers. This strategic alliance is all about connecting Flutterwave which already has a firm footing in 30 African countries to the economic powerhouse that is India. Zoom: This news is about to catapult Flutterwave’s IPO plans into high gear. The company has been on a roll, securing a payment services license in Egypt in June and obtaining name approval for its remittance business in August. It’s now edging closer to acquiring a money remittance license from the Central Bank of Kenya. And let’s not forget the recent game-changing integration with the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Financial Gateway (IFG), enabling Africans to settle their airline fees in their local currencies. Ignite your startup growth Join the ranks of Ghana’s Oze, Senegal’s Kwely, and Tanzania’s Kilimo Fresh by becoming the next MEST Africa Challenge winner and secure $50,000 in equity investment for your tech startup. Apply by 9th October 2023. Apply today! Cybersecurity Digital IDs are coming to Ethiopia Image source: Zikoko Ethiopia has partnered with Madras Security Printers Private Limited to produce new digital IDs, known as Fayda, for its 120 million people. With a bid worth $300,000, they are all set to manufacture 1 million digital IDs. ICYMI: The government initiated Fayda ID enrollment last year, and since then, over 1.4 million Ethiopians have registered. Fayda IDs will incorporate biometric information, ensuring secure access to various public services and streamlined identity verification when opening new bank accounts. Notably, the National Bank of Ethiopia, the nation’s central bank, will use Fayda as the primary ID for banking operations. Zoom out: This ID system will rely on unique personal identifiers (UPI), using iris and facial biometrics along with fingerprint identification. It marks a significant leap forward, especially when compared to the previous administration’s Huduma Namba attempt in 2018. Moreover, other African nations are also transitioning to digital identification systems, with Kenya all set to launch a digital identity solution for its citizens this month. The digital future is upon us! Beyond Limits Fellowship For Founders Calling on all African startup founders! Elevate your entrepreneurship journey with the Beyond Limits Fellowship For Founders! Gain insider insights from tech moguls such as Dr. Juliet Ehimuan, Iyin Aboyeji, Biola Alabi, and more. Thrive with robust mentorship, collaborative connections, and a golden opportunity to share in a ₦10 million grant! Don’t just step, leap beyond limits! Apply now! Fellowship.beyondlimitsafrica.com Crypto Tracker The World Wide Web3 Source: Coin Name Current Value Day Month Bitcoin $25,771 – 0.18% – 12.27% Ether $1,611 – 0.86% – 12.72% BNB $211 – 0.45% – 12.01% Cardano $0.25 – 0.08% – 16.50% * Data as of 05:56 AM WAT, September 11, 2023. Elevate your business with One Liquidity’s seamless integration. Choose from 10+ services to craft a custom solution. Join Obiex, Wewire, and others in providing trading, liquidity & compliance services. Start now with zero upfront fees. One integration. One solution. One Liquidity. Events The Moonshot Conference If you’re an international fan eager to be part of this incredible event, the time has come for you to secure your seat and get an exclusive discount. Be part of the gathering of the most audacious players in Africa’s tech ecosystem and get your
Read More- September 9 2023
Kenyan digital lender LipaLater is crowdfunding $1.2 million
Despite decreasing VC interest in growth-stage startups, 5-year-old Kenyan BNPL firm LipaLater says it is not crowdfunding $1.2 million for the money. Kenyan BNPL company LipaLater is crowdfunding $1.2 million at a $30,000,000 valuation months after acquiring Kenyan online marketplace SKY.Garden, which was going to shut down due to a failed funding round. The startup is accepting investments as low as $100 on the crowdfunding platform Republic. So far, it has raised $27,228 from 29 investors. However, the company says it is not crowdfunding out of necessity. Eric Muli, the founder and CEO of LipaLater, told TechCabal, “[To date, we have raised $25 million in a mix of debt and equity, and] we recently raised a significant amount of debt investment; we have adequate funding. This public crowdfund is to raise equity investments to improve our debt-to-equity ratio.” Companies in the banking sector typically have a high debt-to-equity ratio, but they try to make sure that their ratio does not significantly exceed those of others in their industry, as then they look risky to investors. Declining to comment on the new investment the company has received, Muli acknowledged that VC interest in growth and late-stage companies has been dipping since last year. The company itself acquired e-commerce platform, Sky.Garden when it was on the verge of closure due to a failed funding round. But Muli, who claims that LipaLater is profitable, insists that the startup’s investors are very optimistic about its trajectory. “A lot of investors have been burned by their investments in companies with inflated valuations, and consequently, they are coming down hard on other startups. However, we have priced our fundraisers very conservatively from the start, so that has not been a problem for us,” he said on a call with TechCabal. He declined to disclose the valuation at which the company previously raised from investors like Founders Factory, Platform Capital, Lateral Frontiers, Cauris Finance, GreenHouse Capital, Musha Ventures, SOSV, and others. Muli also said that the company is taking the crowd-funding route because it promises to be an easy way to achieve the goal. “Some friends have raised on the Republic successfully, and that is why we opted for it,” he explained. An East African Cleantech company, Mpower, which had previously raised $1 million in a seed round, is also crowdfunding on Republic. Months ago, MarketForce, a Kenyan e-commerce platform, announced that it was raising $1 million via crowdfunding platform WeFunder. Recently, AltSchool Africa, an edtech startup, announced that it was accepting investments as low as $500 from the public in exchange for equity in the edtech. As VC deals continue to shrink, we may see more startups explore alternative fundraising paths such as crowdfunding.
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- September 9 2023
Nigeria’s tech trio soars: NGX-listed Chams, eTranzact, and CWG stocks up by 169%
The share prices of Chams, eTranzact and CWG, Nigerian tech companies quoted on the NGX, are up over 169% this year. If you invested ₦1 million into Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) in January, your stake would be worth ₦5 million today. The share prices of three publicly-listed Nigerian tech companies — Chams, eTranzact and CWG — are up over 169% this year. While all three firms have seen minimal movements in their share prices over the previous five years, an uptick between April and July this year has caused their market value to double. Payments company eTranzact is up over 171.4%; Chams Holdings is trading at 350% higher than any time in the last few years before April; And Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) share price has jumped 169% since the start of the year. The growth coincides with a broader trading activity on the Nigerian Stock Exchange that has pushed the market to reach a new all-time high over the previous three months. Since the start of the year, share prices of Nigeria’s most valuable public equities have grown significantly, surpassing records from 2008. However, the stock market rally doesn’t reflect some economic realities in the country, as inflation has soared to 24%, while currency devaluation has negatively impacted companies in multiple industries. The performance of Chams, eTranzact and CWG suggests growing interest in tech equities on the Nigerian bourse. Overall, the technology and communications industry sector rose 41% year-on-year compared to Q2 2022, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows. Analysts speculate that the surge in tech stocks aligns with the general market trends. “It is a case of a rising tide lifting all boats,” Onome Ohwovoriole, an analyst with Money Africa, told TechCabal. The three firms represent an older cohort of Nigerian technology services dating back nearly 40 years. They are among the handful of technology companies trading on the bourse while younger startups chase higher valuations in the private market or posture they will list their equities abroad. eTranzact, a two-decade-old company that offers payment processing services to individuals, merchants, small businesses and large corporates, saw its 2022 revenue rise 157% to ₦1.17 billion. Chams, a 40-year-old firm recently transformed into a HoldCo, provides identity management and payment services to government entities and private companies in Nigeria. It reported an annual income of ₦5.2 billion for 2022 and net losses of ₦375 million. CWG, which operates fintech and cloud services, has seen its share price peak this year as company insiders increased their holdings. The company’s flagship products are technology infrastructure services and cloud software services. Despite the strong performances since April, analysts warn of market uncertainty and volatility. Ohwovoriole told TechCabal it is challenging to predict the market’s direction in the near term. Mayowa Badejo, a partner at 213 Capital Ltd, an investment and risk advisory firm, stressed that all three stocks represent high-risk-high return scenarios. “While their revenues have grown over the years, their earnings have nosedived greatly due to debt servicing. They also don’t pay dividends historically,” Badejo explained to TechCabal. The price-to-earnings valuation of Chams and CWG, a key performance metric monitored by investment researchers, shows that both companies are undervalued and cheap to buy, he believes. “eTranzact has good earnings and lower debt. It is profitable and undervalued compared to its fair value but expensive based on price to earnings. The only risk is that it appears to be overvalued now,” Badejo concluded. Have you got your tickets to TechCabal’s Moonshot Conference? Click here to do so now!
Read More- September 9 2023
Your AI doctor will see you now
AI technology may improve efficiency in healthcare operations and help with faster diagnoses. However, a data challenge remains. An estimated 371,000 people die yearly from misdiagnoses, and 424,000 are permanently disabled. Data suggests that CT scans are misread close to 30% of the time, while X-rays are misread 3–5% of the time. AI can help reduce these numbers drastically and save more lives. Obi Igbokwe, CEO of WellNewMe, a healthcare and HMO company, explains that AI could play a role in imaging. “An AI can read large amounts of those images [X-rays and MRI scans] itself and churn out recommendations to the clinician that is looking at that picture,” Igbokwe tells TechCabal. As technology continues to reshape various industries, AI stands out as a powerful tool in healthcare, offering promising solutions to address long-standing healthcare challenges and improve patient outcomes. WellNewMe offers preventative healthcare to empower individuals to take proactive steps towards healthier lives. By incorporating AI into their systems, WellNewMe can gather comprehensive health profiles of users which include medical history, lifestyle choices, and genetic predispositions. Analysing this data would enable the startup to generate personalised recommendations—which may include dietary plans, exercise routines, and wellness strategies—for the user. Similarly, Charles Kamotho, CEO of Nairobi-based Daktari Africa recognises that AI can add value in recognising disease patterns from pre-existing data and thus come up with predictive models of best care. This is applicable in diagnostics, e.g. X-rays, as well as in therapeutics, to establish the best medicines for particular conditions. Kamotho explains how this comes into practical use in Africa, considering that it’s still in its early stages on the continent. He tells TechCabal that “wearables are increasingly collecting plenty of data which will contribute to improved AI use”, and despite their novelty, Daktari Africa has “shown the impact of telemedicine in managing hypertension even in rural communities”. While Daktari Africa and WellNewMe’s AI use depends on data gathering, it raises privacy concerns. “While companies we work with can view aggregated reports of their employees on the platform, they cannot view each individual’s reports, because it’s always private data. We’ve implemented security and privacy measures on [our] platform,” WellNewMe’s Igbokwe told TechCabal. Kamotho says that Daktari operates in “compliance with the HIPAA and with the Kenyan Data Protection Act”, and that their guiding principle in how data is handled is that “all data ultimately belongs to the patient”. Igbokwe says that WellNewMe have advisors that also advise them on [General Data Protection Regulation] GDPR as well as the HIPAA of the US “Because we are trying to make sure that our solution itself will benefit other climes as well,” he says. However, Victor Famubode, an AI expert, says poor quality of data poses a challenge in the use of AI in healthcare. “Most of the data in the healthcare sector is largely unstructured, which makes it a bit difficult to use. Health data can be highly fragmented, and it requires extra effort and tools to ensure these data can be transformed into high-quality datasets for validation on models,” Famubode says. Famubode says that gathering such data could help with making predictions about certain diseases. “Because the ability to store such historical data could assist with making predictions about disease outbreaks. For example, gathering high-quality data can support startups to thoroughly identify drug targets to test towards addressing specific diseases.” While the quality of data might be an issue, another challenge for the use of AI in healthcare in Africa is the biases of medical data, says Ola Brown, a healthcare entrepreneur. AI bias occurs because human beings choose the data that algorithms use, and also decide how the results of those algorithms will be applied. Most of the current data on which AI algorithms are trained are obtained from Western countries and there is little or no input from Africa. One way to tackle this problem is to gather more data locally and use them to train more AI models. Igbokwe confirms that WellNewMe is looking inwards into rural Nigeria by building health kiosks equipped with trained locals to help gather data and onboard more people. But Famubode believes that introducing an adequate governance framework will help AI aggregate the health data of Africans such as genetic data, thereby reducing data bias. According to Famubode, the use of AI could improve efficiency in healthcare operations in the short term and help with faster diagnosis of diseases thereby improving the overall quality of life in the long term. In Africa, AI has the potential to transform healthcare for the better. Daktari Africa, which claims to be the first telemedicine platform in Kenya and the region, promises to be “a step ahead to ensure quality”. And Lagos-based WellNewMe is setting their eyes on a continental expansion, with promises of significantly improving their existing solutions before the year ends.
Read More- September 8 2023
Flutterwave partners with IndusInd Bank to expand its remittance product into India
Flutterwave, Africa’s most valued startup, has expanded into India to offer its remittance product after partnering with IndusInd, the 6th largest bank in India by assets. Flutterwave is expanding its remittance product, Send App, into India after partnering with IndusInd, an Indian bank with approximately 35 million customers. The partnership will allow Flutterwave, which is present in 30 African countries, to send money from the 5th largest economy in the world to the African continent. “The Indian expansion for Flutterwave will be the first African company to do this at scale where remittances from India to Africa become seamless and quick,” Olugbenga Agboola, the co-founder and CEO of Flutterwave, told Bloomberg. Agboola is currently in India with Nigeria’s tech minister, Bosun Tijani, and President Bola Tinubu ahead of the upcoming G20 summit. He added that the fintech will look for more partners to increase its presence in India. The fintech’s expansion into India comes weeks after Agboola announced that the startup would forge ahead with its IPO plans. Since June, the startup has onboarded several new international partners and widened its market base in anticipation of its IPO and this new partnership could serve as a boost to the Lagos-based startup’s plan to go public. In June, Flutterwave acquired a payment services license in Egypt and made Kigali its settlement hub in East Africa. In July, the fintech announced an integration with the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Financial Gateway (IFG) to enable Africans to pay their airline fees in their local currencies. Despite a Kenyan court freezing its accounts in June, the fintech secured name approval for its remittance business in August and is a few steps closer to acquiring a money remittance license from the Central Bank of Kenya.
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- September 8 2023
MultiChoice-backed solar startup Wetility raises $48 million to expand solar energy product
Wetility, a South African startup which offers solar energy solutions for households and businesses, has raised R903 million (~$48 million) in debt and equity. South African solar energy startup Wetility has raised R903 million (~$48 million) in a funding round comprising debt and equity. According to CEO Vincent Maposa, the funds will be used to accelerate expansion plans and grow its customer base. The current fundraising comprises R180 million in convertible debt as well as total debt, including a R600 million commercial debt package with landers including Sanlam and “large commercial and development banks”, according to reporting by TechCentral. MultiChoice led the startup’s first venture debt funding via its MultiChoice Accelerator Program which is part of the MultiChoice Innovation Fund in January 2022. The companies also currently have a marketing relationship which has seen Wetility leveraging SuperSport viewership to promote its product. Founded in 2019, Wetility’s flagship product is an all-encompassing digital solar energy management system that allows users to remotely manage power usage. Marketed as the “360 Wetility Experience”, the system comprises rooftop PV installation or solar panels. The solar panels power the system’s core comprising of a hybrid inverter, lithium-ion batteries and switchgear. PACE, as it is marketed, controls the energy flow to clients’ homes or businesses, managing load shedding and switching schedules. The information is then available on a dashboard referred to as “We-X” where users can remotely monitor the system and make subscription payments. “Our recent fundraising is a pivotal moment for Wetility. It’s a testament to the trust and confidence our customers, investors and commercial partners have in our vision. This capital infusion provides us with the means to accelerate our growth and make a substantial impact in the South Africa and power fintech space,” Johanna Hortz, chief of staff at Wetility, told TechCabal via email. Responding to a question from TechCabal on why the company raised the majority of the funding in debt, Hortz stated the capital-intensive nature of the sector and the significance of making hybrid solar affordable through subscriptions was a motivating factor. “To support these initiatives, having a strong balance sheet and maintaining good levels of gearing is essential,” she added. “While debt-to-equity ratios are important, they must be carefully managed to ensure financial stability while pursuing ambitious growth strategies in a capital-intensive sector like ours.” Wetility states that it aims to grow from a $1.5 million (~R29 million) business to a $142 million (~R2.7 billion) business by 2026. With the end to Eskom’s problems nowhere in sight and with new capital injection, it seems like the company might be on track to reach that milestone as South Africans seek alternatives to the faltering national grid. Have you got your tickets to TechCabal’s Moonshot Conference? Click here to do so now!
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- September 8 2023
A team of tech enthusiasts are betting on entrepreneurs from Northern Nigeria
THESCATHGROUP, a team of tech enthusiasts in Kaduna are providing tech entrepreneurs from Northern Nigeria with funding and advisory services to bring their ideas to life. Oluwajimi Akitunde is no stranger to growing a business. Fresh out of Ahmadu Bello University, he started to work on building a logistics business before he stopped due to a knowledge gap that affected their ability to scale. Six years later, he co-founded THESCATHGROUP(TSC) in Kaduna where he lives, a hybrid VC that is providing early-stage funding & advisory for tech entrepreneurs from northern Nigeria. While the tech community in Northern Nigeria has seen some growth since 2016, there are a lot of unique challenges that entrepreneurs from the region face in trying to scale, including a lack of infrastructure and investor bias. Unlike the tech scene in states like Lagos, which is now the face of the country’s thriving ecosystem, startups in northern Nigerian states are still struggling to convince investors that they exist. “Many investors are based in Lagos and are more likely to invest in startups based in the southern part of the country,” Surayyah Ahmad, an early-stage investor at TechTankLabs wrote. “This bias has made it difficult for startups in the North to secure funding, even if they have promising ideas and strong teams.” According to Akitunde, they have had cases where they reached out to investors or partners and as soon as they realised that TSC operates from Kaduna, they became hesitant. “Thriving tech hubs like Lagos that they’re enthusiastic about now, only exist because a group of people took the bet on them and we need to extend this to other places,” Akitunde shared. When asked why investors are hesitant to invest in the North, Akitunde shared that he believes it’s primarily an interest issue and investors are rarely interested in much that’s happening outside Lagos. He is however confident that the region has immense potential which is being overlooked. “Northern Nigeria holds two-thirds of the country’s population so there’s a lot of potential for talent and also as the target market. It does have its challenges but the only way to overcome them is to build through,” Akitude said to TechCabal over a call. TSC so far has provided ten founders in Northern Nigeria with some capital to kickstart operations. However, it is looking to raise funding to support even more and write larger cheque sizes of at least $50K to $100K for the average 7.5% they expect in return. Their portfolio businesses span across mobility, agritech, and fintech, and most of them are kicking off nicely. Akitunde shared that although their firm receives a lot of applications, funds are limited so they are only able to write cheques for a few. Image credit: TSC Beyond funding, the firm provides consultations and community for entrepreneurs, two things that are critical for early founders. Community is one of the reasons the northern ecosystem has grown to this level, but it does need a lot more. In 2016, Daser David and Hyginus Horson founded nHub in Jos, northern Nigeria’s first tech and innovation hub. Sanusi Ismail founded CoLab a year later. These two hubs provided thousands of young people in the north with the knowledge and community required to take their interests in technology seriously. More than 10,000 tech talents have gone through nHub and members of CoLab have gone ahead to develop into world-class talent working at global companies and building their own pan-African startups. While there are a number of investors in Northern Nigeria, they prefer to invest in traditional businesses as investing in early-stage tech startups is not as popular and consequently does not inspire enough trust. This is part of the work that TSC does. They have a hub in partnership with Afrilabs where they host monthly community events for people in and outside the ecosystem to meet, learn and network. “This has been useful in bringing people together to learn about the work that is being done and collaborate,” Akitunde shared. Have you got your tickets to TechCabal’s Moonshot Conference? Click here to do so now!
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- September 8 2023
What we know about Alex Okosi, Google’s managing director for Africa
Alex Okosi has been named Google’s Managing Director for Africa. The media and tech executive is now tasked with driving innovation and expanding digital accessibility for Google across the continent. On Tuesday, Nigerian born, Alex Okosi, was appointed as Google’s Managing Director for Africa, Google said in a statement. Okosi is set to lead Google in driving innovation and expanding digital accessibility across Africa. He will be responsible for spearheading Google’s operation in Africa including programs to help businesses and economies on the continent to grow. Okosi graduated magna cum laude with a dual major in Business Administration and Economics from St. Michael’s College in Vermont in 1988. Prior to joining Google, Okosi was managing director, Emerging Markets (EMEA), at YouTube where he led the successful roll-out of the YouTube Shorts feature and the YouTube Kids app in the EMEA markets. Okosi joined the Trade Marketing team at ViacomCBS in 1998. He would go on to lead the network’s entertainment business for Africa. In his role as executive vice president and managing director of ViacomCBS Africa, he led the BET International brand and ViacomCBS’s global events business. Okosi is credited with launching MTV’s first TV channel in Africa, MTV Base in 2005, and additional channel brands tailored for the African market including Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, NickToons and BET. Okosi created key campaigns on the continent including the MTV Africa Music Awards, MTV Shuga, MTV Base Meets, Nickelodeon Genius, Comedy Central Africa International Festival, NickFest, BET Experience Africa and the BET Awards Best International categories. With media and entertainment experience amassed across 3 continents over a 21-year span, the 47-year old has a broad background in Business Development, Corporate Strategy, Advertising Sales, Distribution, Digital Media, and General Management. Okosi was recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2013. He was an All Africa Business Leader Award Finalist in 2018 and an honorary Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN) in 2019. Okosi has also been featured as a thought-leader in key global media outlets including BBC, CNN and Forbes Last year, Okosi was selected for UK Powerlist—a list that celebrates the top 100 of the UK’s most influential people of African, African Caribbean and African American heritage across a range of industries for their incredible impact. Okosi was in the company of Apple’s Ije Nwokorie, Anne-Marie Imafidon; CEO & Co-Founder, STEMettes, Nneka Abulokwe; founder and CEO, MicroMax consulting amongst other influential people of African descent on the list. In his new role at Google, Okosi is set to continue his track record of success in Africa’s growing tech industry. In a recent LinkedIn post, Okosi expressed his dedication to tapping into the continent’s youthful talent and tech potential to drive a digital transformation. Have you got your tickets to TechCabal’s Moonshot Conference? Click here to do so now!
Read More- September 8 2023
MTN Nigeria picks American Towers to take over from IHS Towers amid boardroom fight
Amid a boardroom fight over its controlling power in IHS Towers, MTN Nigeria has said ATC Nigeria will take over its tower operations from IHS by 2025. MTN Nigeria has said its tower operations will be run by the Nigerian subsidiary of the American Towers Corp. (ATC) from 2025. ATC will be taking over from IHS Towers—whose lease to run MTN’s 2,500 network sites—will expire in 2024 and 2025. According to its filing on the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) on Thursday, the company called for a tender for the tower contract. MTN said ATC was “selected as the preferred tower company for those sites based on its superior bid submission” after a review of the bids received for the tower contract. This development comes amid a boardroom fight between IHS Towers and MTN Group over MTN’s request for more control of the tower company. MTN Group holds 26% of IHS Towers but only controls 20% of the voting share. In 2022, MTN completed a deal with IHS to take over more than 5,700 of its tower sites in South Africa, per Bloomberg. MTN had said that it could not sell its non-voting shares and wanted its stake in the company to be reflected in its voting power. IHS said in response that the proposals were not in the company’s best interests. Wendels, the second-largest shareholder in IHS Towers after MTN, backed MTN’s bid. Other shareholders remained on the sidelines of IHS’s bout with MTN, Wendel, and Blackwells. This new agreement could seriously affect IHS Tower’s revenue. Nigeria is its biggest market by revenue and sales, much of which was from MTN. ATC is one of its biggest African competitors, alongside Eaton Towers and Helios Towers Africa. TechCabal reported that IHS Towers recorded a 9.4% decline compared to the first quarter of 2023. IHS says the decline in revenue, which put it $46 million below the last quarter’s revenue was due to the naira’s devaluation. MTN Nigeria also reported a foreign exchange loss in its 2023 second-quarter report, which dragged profits down by 64% for the period.
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- September 8 2023
Showmax battles Netflix and Amazon Prime Video for African viewers
This article was contributed to TechCabal by Conrad Onyango via bird story agency. The battle for streaming in Africa is turning into a three-horse race as key players ramp up investment in local content, tap top talent and enhance viewer experiences. Market data from Digital TV Research puts Netflix in the lead with a projected 7.4 million subscribers, followed by MultiChoice-owned Showmax with 4.4 million subscribers and Amazon Prime Video with 3.14 million viewers. By 2029, the research firm projects, Africa will add 10 million new subscribers. That will push Video on demand subscriptions to 18 million, highlighting the growing popularity of streaming services on the continent. “The subscription video on demand (SVOD) sector in anglophone Africa is evolving into a battle between Netflix and local player Showmax,” said Digital TV Research Principal Analyst, Simon Murray. While Netflix is nearly doubling its subscriber base, Showmax will be more than tripling from a low-base, indicating a faster growth, driven by rich local content and sports rights, as well as the introduction of NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures and HBO content. By the end of 2021, Netflix had an Africa subscriber base of 2.6 million. The streaming giant is seen adding 3.4 million from the end of 2023 while Showmax, which had 861,000 subscribers at the end of 2021, will add nearly 3 million more to its 2023 figures. However, the potential African market remains huge. “Despite this fast growth, SVOD penetration will remain low, with only 7.7% of TV households paying for at least one subscription by 2029,” according to Digital TV Research. Showmax’s parent company, MultiChoice Group, recently launched DStv stream, a revamped version of the DStv App that enhances the personal viewing experience for its huge subscriber base – particularly, sports fanatics. Among the new features is the ability of subscribers to change soundtracks for live sports commentary to local languages, based on the location of the viewer. Sports fans also have dedicated league and tournament pages. “From the initial launch of the first decoder to pioneering digital satellite TV and now with DStv Stream, what drives innovation for us, is providing our customers with the content they love, in the way that’s best for them,” said MultiChoice Kenya Head of Marketing, Ronald Baraka. After cutting down its monthly subscription plan fees for some countries in Africa, Netflix has also embarked on aggressive local content development to attract more subscribers. In financial year 2023, MultiChoice announced its local content accounted for 50% of general entertainment spend, surpassing its target and highlighting its aggressive local content drive. The group’s local content library boasts of over 76,000 hours, with an annual production rise of 9%. In July, it debuted ‘Supa Team 4’, the first original African animation series for kids to appear on the streaming platform. Netflix’s ‘made in Africa’ offering includes movies, dramas, animations, TV show , documentaries and originals, featuring actors mostly from Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa and exclusively targeting African audiences. Amazon Prime Video also has its eyes on boosting its library of local originals and acquisitions, after the streaming platform hired former MultiChoice Executive, Gideon Khobane. Khobane who has previously served as SuperSport International Chief Executive Officer and M-Net Director, was appointed Director of Prime Video Africa in July to oversee growth of the originals, acquisitions and product division. Currently, Amazon Prime Video is particularly active in South Africa and Nigeria. It recently premiered two local comedy and drama originals – Last One Laughing, with versions for Nigeria and South Africa, and Gangs Of Lagos. Local acquisitions include Brotherhood and King Of Thieves. Have you got your tickets to TechCabal’s Moonshot Conference? Click here to do so now!
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