Blog Grid Two Column

April 18 2023

👨🏿‍🚀 TechCabal Daily – Drivers v ride-hailing companies

Lire en français Read this email in French. 18 APRIL, 2023 IN PARTNERSHIP WITH Good morning It’s been two weeks since the launch of The Super Mario Bros movie and the movie has already grossed $700 million against its $100 million budget. It’s dominating box offices across the globe and is already the most successful film of 2023. Who’s investing in telling African stories via animation? In today’s edition Fluidcoins to remit to investors Nigerian ride-hailing drivers threaten strike SA to spend $44 million on digital skills training Activision Blizzard is okay for acquisition The World Wide Web3 Event: The Annual Film Mischief Opportunities FLUIDCOINS TO REMIT TO INVESTORS Fluidcoins is going to let the money flow to its investors. This week, TechCabal—yes, us—confirmed that investors in the recently-acquired crypto company were offered some portion of their initial investment. Downstream memory lane: In February, Barbados- and Seychelles-registered company Blockfinex acquired a 100% stake in Fluidcoins for an undisclosed amount. At the time, it was unclear whether Fluidcoins—which had raised $180,000 from investors in 2021—had informed its investors about the sale. Now, sources close to the case confirmed that new conversations were held with Fluidcoins and Bitfinex after the sale. It is unclear what the details of those conversations were, but we now know that they involved talks where investors were offered some returns, as opposed to walking away with nothing. We can also confirm that at least one investor accepted the offer. Zoom out: In case you’re wondering, yes, investing in startups is sorta like gambling. The only difference is that investors get to spend years or even decades anticipating a win . While it may seem dire, Fluidcoins’ news is the better alternative for many investors who are now pushing for more founders to keep investors better informed. WORK WITH MONIEPOINT At Moniepoint, we’re creating the best workplace for global talent using the 4M framework- Meaning, Membership, Mastery and Money. This isn’t an ad designed to convince you to join us, but it has all the reasons why you should. Watch it here. This is partner content. NIGERIAN RIDE-HAILING DRIVERS THREATEN STRIKE Bolt and Uber drivers in Nigeria are taking a strong stance against ride-hailing companies. What’s up? The Amalgamated Union of App-based Transport Workers of Nigeria (AUATWON)—the union for ride-hailing drivers—is threatening to protest against a plot that will see the union’s licence revoked. The first ride-hailing union: In December 2022, Nigeria approved the very first African app-based trade union for drivers. With the approval of the Federal Ministry of Labour, AUATWON can negotiate the terms and conditions of drivers working for app-based ride-hailing companies like Uber and Bolt. This means that these companies can no longer make decisions without consulting the drivers via the Union. Across Africa, drivers of ride-hailing apps have held several strikes and protests after Bolt and Uber implemented harsh changes like increased commission fees and higher penalties. Big tech isn’t happy: The ride-hailing companies aren’t too happy about their inability to drive unilateral decisions. Per AUATWON, these companies are lobbying the Nigerian Ministry of Labour to get the union’s licence revoked. Both Uber and Bolt are proffering the same argument they’ve brought in courts across the world: that their drivers are not employees, but contractors and as such, have no right to protest, unionise, or strike. A long road ahead: This line of reasoning has failed Uber in the UK where a court, in 2021, ruled that its drivers are in fact employees and not contractors. In the US though, an appeal court recently ruled that ride-hailing drivers are contractors. In South Africa and Kenya, Uber is also facing more lawsuits from drivers who clamour against the independent contractor status these ride-hailing companies have ascribed to them. SOUTH AFRICA TO SPEND $44 MILLION ON DIGITAL SKILLS TRAINING South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has announced that the country will spend R800 million ($44 million) on digital skills training for unemployed youth in the country. My Broadband reports that the training package will be provided through the National Skills Fund. A $10 billion pledge: According to the president, this is one of several investments the country’s digital economy has seen in the past five years. Just recently, companies coughed up an R81 billion ($4.4 billion) pledge at the South Africa Investment Conference (SAIC) to boost the country’s tech and digital projects. SAIC has been a money magnet since its inception, pulling in a total of R200 billion ($10.9 billion) for ICT alone! It’s like a digital gold rush, with commitments flowing into the data, telecoms, mining, manufacturing, energy, property, logistics, and even food and beverage sectors. The president wants to enable South Africans to use their skills to take advantage of employment and economic opportunities in the country’s growing digital economy. SA APPROVES $69-BILLION ACQUISITION OF ACTIVISION BLIZZARD South Africa is about to see its biggest tech deal ever. South Africa’s competition regulator, the Competition Commission, has approved Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of videogame player Activision Blizzard. Activision’s biggest franchise is Call of Duty, a shooter for PCs and gaming consoles, including Microsoft’s own Xbox and the rival PlayStation from Sony. However, since Microsoft first announced the acquisition last January, it has struggled to convince regulators to approve the transaction. No competition: In South Africa, there was a concern that Microsoft might push out the competition, including Sony and Nintendo, by restricting the game to its own console. But the Competition Commission has determined that the proposed merger is unlikely to result in that, as the merging parties have promised to keep supplying Call of Duty games to other consoles. Although South Africa is its biggest gaming market, it seems unlikely that a decision by South Africa to block the transaction can derail it. This is a small victory for Microsoft, which faces scrutiny from other regulators like the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, which has launched a detailed probe into the deal. THE WORLD WIDE WEB3 Bitcoin $29,552 – 1.34% Ether $2,086 –

April 18 2023

👨🏿‍🚀 TechCabal Daily – Drivers v ride-hailing companies

April 17 2023

City of Cape Town to fight off load shedding via $65 million solar PV and solar battery project

The City of Cape Town has announced that it is pursuing the Paardevlei Ground-mounted Solar Photovoltaic and Battery Energy Storage System project. The R1.2 billion (~65 million) project promises to shield the city from one full stage of load shedding. Located just outside Somerset West, on a site of 400 hectares owned by the city, the project will produce 60 megawatts worth of renewable energy and will be implemented with technical assistance from the C40 Cities Finance Facility. “More than 60 cities around the world applied [for the assistance], and Cape Town was the only city that was successfully awarded assistance for two projects,” said Cape Town Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis. The assistance will come in the form of expertise required for specialist studies regarding environmental impacts, the engineering design of the project, as well as the means to finance the project. Of the R1.2 billion required for the project, the city will be allocating R447-million from its R2.3-billion budget to end load shedding over three years. Other possible funding options which will be assessed include private-public partnerships or having an Independent Power Producer develop the project and then have the city enter into a power-purchase agreement for the electricity. “This project is another critical step in our journey away from Eskom reliance and towards a load shedding-free Cape Town,” concluded Hill-Lewis. Other initiatives the City of Cape Town has taken recently to fight load shedding include a new tender to buy 500MW of electricity from independent producers, incentivising households and businesses to feed power back to the grid from their rooftop solar installations, and a R1 billion budget allocation for the maintenance and operation of the Steenbras pumped storage hydropower plant.

April 17 2023

Fluidcoins investors will get some of their money back weeks after sale

In February, TechCabal reported that the Nigeria-focused crypto startup, Fluidcoins was sold to Bitfinex after it failed to raise funding. At the time of the sale, there were conflicting reports about whether the startup’s investors knew about the sale. At the time, one anonymous investor told us that the decision to sell Fluidcoins was made by the founder without external input. Joe Kinvi, another investor representing the investment collective, Hoaq, disputed that version of events. That uncertainty led to questions about whether investors got any money from the sale. Per confidential documents seen by TechCabal, Fluidcoins raised $50,000 from two syndicates and $70,000 from 10 angel investors. At the time of the sale, it was unclear whether investors would get any money back. TechCabal can now exclusively report that weeks after the sale, all investors got back to the negotiation table and were offered some portion of their initial investment. This publication can confirm that at least one investor accepted the offer to walk away from the deal with some portion of their initial investment. One source close to the situation said that new conversations were held with Fluidcoins and Bitfinex after the sale. It is unclear what the details of those conversations were, but we now know that they involved talks where investors were offered some returns as opposed to walking away with nothing. Fluidcoins raised $180,000 in the last 18 months of its life, and the terms of its sale to Bitfinex were not made public. It is a positive end to a situation that seemed likely to spiral out of control according to initial reports. While investors understand the risks of investing in startups and know that sometimes they can lose entire investments, there are now more conversations about the duty of founders to keep investors informed and act above board. In March, some unnamed investors in Kloud commerce began legal action against the company’s founder following allegations of misappropriation of funds in October 2022. Additionally, the sale of Fluidcoins may represent a marginally better outcome for investors than other options. Last week, Lazerpay, another crypto startup operating in Nigeria, also announced its impending closure. With no acquisition offers on the table, Lazerpay’s investors will likely walk away with nothing, once again highlighting some of the less glamorous parts of startup investing.

April 17 2023

UK insurtech startup YuLife expands to South Africa

YuLife, a UK-based insurtech startup, launched its operations in South Africa today. YuLife’s product offerings include a wellbeing app which harnesses the latest trends in behavioural science and game mechanics to encourage employees to make proactive lifestyle changes, while prioritising prevention by de-risking individuals through healthy activities. The YuLife app enables employees to complete everyday wellness activities, such as walking, meditation, and cycling, in order to earn YuCoin, YuLife’s virtual wellbeing currency. Members can then use their YuCoin to buy vouchers for groceries, data, fuel, clothing and more from leading brands, or to improve the world through donating meals, planting trees, or cleaning the ocean. By incentivising healthy living, YuLife claims to provide employers with a way to simultaneously boost retention rates, improve employees’ standard of living, and safeguard their loved ones’ financial future. “There has been a big shift toward health and wellbeing in the workplace, with more and more companies adding new initiatives and resources to their employee benefits packages. YuLife is launching in South Africa to offer companies an easy way to provide extra protection – we’re looking forward to providing South African businesses and employees tangible value on an everyday basis in an accessible, engaging, and deliverable manner,” said Jaco Oosthuizen, YuLife co-founder and managing director of YuLife South Africa. YuLife recently expanded to the US and claims to have seen more than 5x growth in premiums year-on-year. In July 2022, the insurtech startup raised a $120M Series C led by Dai-ichi Life with participation from T. Rowe Price, bringing the company’s total funding to $206M. According to recent data, the gross written premium of the South Africa life insurance market was R598.4 billion (~$40.5 billion) in 2021 and is expected to achieve a CAGR of more than 5% from 2021 to 2026. “South Africa has the second highest insurance penetration globally, making it a perfect market for YuLife to expand into and showcase its innovative approach to insurance,” concluded Oosthuizen.

April 17 2023

Edtech platform, 10Alytics, grants tech scholarships to 300 women

10Alytics, an edtech platform helping people learn premium tech skills and lowering the entry barrier into tech for Africans, has granted tech scholarships to over 300 women from across the globe. The scholarship is in commemoration of the 2023 International Womens Day celebrations. In a statement shared with TechCabal, 10Alytics aims to encourage more women into the tech and data space with this initiative. “Our programs are beginner-friendly, dedicated to taking individuals from zero to professional, and include no-code, low-code, and code-related programs,” the statement read. According to 10Alytics, 850 applicants from across the globe participated in the call for applications, which wrapped up at the close of March 2023, with 320 selected as beneficiaries. The selected women will receive partial funding (up to 50%) to study any of its courses, which include data analytics, business analysis, data engineering, full-stack data science, financial analytics, power platform engineering, and HR analytics. Co-founder of 10Alytics, Efemana Ikpro, maintains that the company is dedicated to increasing the number of women in the global data and tech space. He disclosed that the company plans to hold its fourth Data Hackathon in the year’s second quarter. In addition, he emphasised that the scholarship recipients would have access to 10Alytics’ comprehensive suite of value-added services at a discounted fee, which would equip them with the skills and knowledge needed to excel as versatile and competent technology professionals. One of the beneficiaries, Adejumoke Akinnuwesi, expressed her excitement about making the final selection. “Thank you, 10Alytics, for giving me this platform,” she said. Read also: Africa’s edtech startups remain bullish despite funding decline

April 17 2023

SA’s Competition Commission greenlights Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision

South Africa’s Competition Commission has given the greenlight for Microsoft to acquire video game platform Activision Blizzard, in what will be the company’s biggest-ever acquisition at almost $70 billion. The primary competition concern in the transaction was that post-merger, Microsoft would restrict the distribution of Call of Duty to the Microsoft console, Xbox, or make Call of Duty available on terms that exclude or undermine the ability of other console manufacturers to compete. However, the Commission found that the proposed transaction is unlikely to result in significant foreclosure concerns as the parties, being Microsoft and Activision, do not have the ability and incentive to exclude competing game distributors, particularly Sony (Playstation) and Nintendo (Switch). Furthermore, the merging parties have signed undertakings to continue supplying Call of Duty games to other console manufacturers. “The Commission found that the proposed transaction is unlikely to result in a substantial prevention or lessening of competition in any relevant markets. The Commission further found that the proposed transaction does not raise any substantial public interest concerns,” the statement from the Commission concluded. In 2022, Activision, publishers of Call of Duty, partnered with South African gaming startup Carry1st to launch the first Africa-located servers for the game. As it attempts to close the deal which was initially announced in January 2022, Microsoft has to acquire approval from competition regulators around the world, and South Africa, Africa’s biggest gaming market, represents a significant win for the blockbuster deal.

April 17 2023

👨🏿‍🚀TechCabal Daily – South Africa’s $250 million investment

Lire en français Read this email in French. 17 APRIL, 2023 IN PARTNERSHIP WITH Good morning Creators can now get paid on Twitter. Using the Subscribers feature, creators can monetise their tweets by putting certain content behind paywalls. It’s like Super Follows, except, you know, with a Musk-y twist. To qualify, you must have at least 10,000 active followers, but the good news is that Twitter won’t take a share of your earnings for the first year. Unfortunately, the service is not available in Africa. Yet. In today’s edition Cassava to invest $250 million in SA SA and AstraZeneca’s new partnership US’ TikTok ban kicks off TC Insights: From founders to funders The World Wide Web3 Job openings CASSAVA TO INVEST $250 MILLION IN SA South Africa’s economy is getting a huge boost. Cassava Technologies has pledged a total of R4.5 billion ($250 million) in investment in South Africa through its business units—Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Africa Data Centres, and Distributed Power Africa. The announcement was made during the fifth South Africa Investment Conference (SAIC) on April 13th, in support of SA President Cyril Ramaphosa’s initiative to drive investment into the country. Cassava plants everything: Through the investment, Cassava, which has operations in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, USA, and Latin America, will continue to bring internationally recognised services and products to South Africa through the group’s renewable energy, cloud & cyber security, data centres and broadband connectivity business units. “South Africa accounts for the largest proportion of Africa’s industrial GDP with a sophisticated and growing ICT sector. The country’s unique combination of highly developed first-world economic infrastructure and a stable macroeconomic environment affords businesses like ours a conducive investment environment in which we can partner with government to drive economic development and create jobs,” stated Hardy Pemhiwa, president and group CEO of Cassava Technologies. Zoom out: According to the company, the investments will contribute towards positioning South Africa as an attractive investment destination and enable greater inclusion of all South Africans, consistent with Cassava’s vision of a digitally connected future that leaves no African behind. WORK WITH MONIEPOINT At Moniepoint, we’re creating the best workplace for global talent using the 4M framework- Meaning, Membership, Mastery and Money. This isn’t an ad designed to convince you to join us, but it has all the reasons why you should. Watch it here. This is partner content. ASTRAZENECA AND SA’S NEW PARTNERSHIP Global pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has announced that it is partnering with South African healthtech firm MedSol AI Solutions to help promote the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the detection of breast cancer. The initiative will be done through a state-of-the-art Wi-Fi ultrasound probe that can detect cancer in seconds. When? The Melusi Breast AI rapid detection app will be rolled out in rural clinics to help in the early detection of the disease. It is supported by a dedicated referral system so that women with positive detection of breast cancer can be offered a quicker turnaround time for therapeutic intervention. The partnership is part of AstraZeneca’s Africa Health Innovation Hub, an initiative mandated to use the latest science and technology to improve access to healthcare for patients on the continent. SA’s booming healthtech scene: This year, South Africa has been getting a significant amount of attention from healthtech firms. Last week, Nasdaq-listed healthtech firm Olink announced a partnership with Cape Town-based protein processing facility D-CYPHR to research numerous diseases including diabetes and tuberculosis. In February, another Nasdaq-listed global healthtech firm Dexcom launched its flagship continuous glucose monitoring system, the Dexcom G7, in South Africa. Akili Labs, an SA molecular diagnostics and secure genomic data storage solutions company, and BGI Genomics, one of the world’s leading genomics companies, also signed a technology transfer agreement that will provide the southern region of Africa with clinical-grade sequencing solutions. US’ TIKTOK BAN KICKS OFF The Western state of Montana has kicked off US’ TikTok ban. Last week, it became the first US state to have its lawmakers agree to ban the download of TikTok on all mobile devices. The legislation, passed by 54 v 49 lawmakers, makes it illegal for app stores to offer TikTok. It does not, however, forbid those who already have TikTok from using it. According to the lawmakers, the app encourages young people to try dangerous things like throwing things at cars or putting out fires with their bodies. There’s still hope? The legislation isn’t law yet as it still has to be signed by Montana governor, Greg Gianforte. If signed, app stores have until January to start enforcing it. This also means all Montana inhabitants have until January to download TikTok. ‍ TikTok has hinted that it will take legal action against Montana if the bill passes. TikTok v The World: Across the world, countries and governments are banning TikTok, citing privacy issues. The US, for example, is worried that the China-headquartered company might be forced to share user data with the Chinese government. Already, France, Canada, the European Union, and the US have prohibited government employees from using TikTok on all government-owned devices. TC INSIGHTS: FOUNDERS V FUNDERS In recent years, Africa’s booming startup ecosystem has seen a shift in its funding landscape. A new trend is emerging where successful founders are funding the next generation of startups. A 2022 survey by the African Business Angels Network (ABAN) and Briter Bridges found that most angel investors in Africa invest up to $250,000, with over 72% offering follow-on investments to the portfolio startups they back. As many early-stage startups struggle to secure funding from traditional sources, the rise of founder-funders is changing this dynamic. Founders of well-funded startups like Flutterwave, Paystack, and Andela were among the most active early-stage investors over the last year, participating in bigger-stage funding rounds across the continent. In March 2023, Moniepoint Inc, a Nigerian-based business banking startup, led the seed investment round of the Rwanda-based neobank PayDay. They are joined by a growing number of local angel investors who were former founders

April 17 2023

👨🏿‍🚀TechCabal Daily – South Africa’s $250 million investment

April 17 2023

Next Wave: Is Francophone Africa taking the stage?

From InstaDeep to Wave, Chari to Yassir, La francophonie is looking up! Read the newsletter in your browser. <!– In partnership with –> 16 April 2023 Next Wave: Is Francophone Africa taking the stage? Cet article est aussi disponible en français <!– Guest post heading –> We’re beginning a series of essays reviewing conversations from our eponymous TV show, The Next Wave. Did I hear you murmur that you did not know we had Next Wave on air? Well, now you know! If you go ahead and watch the episodes from the last season and you have questions or comments, I will be happy to chat briefly and find a way to work your thoughts into the coming essays (after an early intermission next week). Deal? Previous episodes of The Next Wave are available on YouTube. New episodes air on Wednesdays at 4:30 PM WAT on DStv Channel 410. Hopefully, we’ll add more viewing options in the coming months. If you’ve been a regular reader of Next Wave for at least four months, you will have noticed the appearance of a blue “Lire en Français” (Translation: Read in French) button early this year. I’ve changed it to “C’est article aussi disponsible en français” (Translation: This article is also available in French). There’s a backstory to it that is also a good primer for today’s essay. In the last few months of 2022, some Next Wave essays found their way into the emails of readers in several French-speaking countries in Africa. It was definitely not the first time TechCabal or even Next Wave articles were being read by an audience in French-speaking Africa, but this time was different. Some readers were having none of it. “Je ne sais ni lire ni parler anglais. Il faut me renvoyer les messages en français pour me permettre de comprendre. Merci,” one reader wrote. It translates to “I can neither read nor speak English. You have to send me the messages in French to allow me to understand. Thank you.” So I did a bit of Googling and customised a code snippet that creates a Google-translated web version of these Sunday emails. Not perfect, but the problem was solved! I share this story to illustrate how a media business like TechCabal cannot afford—even if we wanted—to ignore the rise and growing importance of technology businesses and startups in French-speaking African countries. The undeniable fact is that technology is being increasingly used by people across all social strata even in parts of Africa that are all too easily unseen. In 2021, Wave, a fintech founded in Senegal became the first $1billion+ company in Senegal, and the first to emerge outside of the Big Four—Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt and Kenya. Three of the Big Four have the English language as one of the languages used in official documents in business, generally. So when Wave raised a $200 million war chest, it was guaranteed to get attention. If any African company raises $200 million, it’s huge news. But investors, including the IFC, putting $200 million into a company in Senegal has arguably done, for francophone Africa, something akin to what Stripe’s acquisition of Paystack in 2020 did for Nigeria. It put a spotlight on the mostly unheard progress of technology in the region. People sat up and took notice. Recent startup investment inflows into Francophone African countries. French speaking African countries have pulled in a few heavy hitters recently. | –Chart: Ayomide Agbaje — TechCabal Insights “Tech startups in the region were mostly surviving,” Moulaye Taboure, co-founder and chief executive of ANKA, an e-commerce company told Tomiwa, on the Next Wave show. “Because they could not count on going to France to get funding, they were focused on being profitable,” Taboure added. Funding to French-speaking Africa has increased steadily since then, with corporate and regular VC investors paying more attention to these companies. As more companies have been funded, more have been born, putting more spotlight hours on French-speaking Africa. Partner Content: Young African Catalysts Exits Pilot, Set to Democratise Access to Venture Ecosystem But other forces have been at play. Rashmi Pillai, head of public policy at Wave, points to “an enabling policy environment for innovation” and nuanced appreciation of the market potential of francophone Africa as factors that support an upsurge of investments in francophone startups in Africa. Wave itself was able to force open the almost monopolised payments market in Senegal by reducing charges to 1%. The company followed this up by quickly expanding its footprint into other countries, making the market size question moot. Startups closing deals in Francophone Africa are on the rise, with Wave setting the highest fundraising record. | Infographic: Ayomide Agbaje — TechCabal Insights Rebecca Enochong, a Cameroonian tech entrepreneur and chief executive of AppsTech, an enterprise software business, has this to say about the market size: “A lot of these francophone countries share a common currency and a common central bank, which means that it is easier for them from a regulatory and forex exchange standpoint to scale across the region.” Business researcher and consultant, Abderrahmane Chaoui, conducted a months-long study on the digital innovation space in francophone Africa. He says the drivers of innovation and the readiness of francophone markets to accept tech-enabled products or services vary widely even between neighbouring countries. Writing for Founder Factory Africa, a corporate-backed startup accelerator, Chaoui notes, “Ecosystems around the world are fundamentally shaped by these different aspects. To consider Africa as a whole, or to imagine subsets based on the spoken language or the geographies they are in, does not make much empiric sense from an ecosystem analysis point of view.” I love that Chaoui’s research takes a broader look at francophone countries because it allows me to point towards Tunisia’s InstaDeep, Morocco’s Chari and Algeria’s Yassir, as examples of firms whose offering has caught the attention of stakeholders in Africa’s technology space. The more interesting point is that all three firms operate in different spaces in different countries. Capturing the francophone