- June 23 2023
Flutterwave wants to make Kigali its settlement hub in East Africa
Kigali wants to establish itself as a leading technology centre for African companies. Flutterwave, like several of Africa’s biggest fintechs, is turning to the ambitious East African country to give their operations a surer footing. Flutterwave has been operating in Rwanda since 2020. But now the company wants to deepen its roots in the landlocked East African country by making it a settlement hub for payment operations in the region. In April 2023, several media outlets quoted Oluwabankole Falade, Fluterwave’s chief regulatory and government relations officer as saying that Flutterwave was committed to opening a Kenya office and making it the company’s regional hub. But the fintech has struggled to get a payment provider licence in Kenya amidst a spate of lawsuits and allegations of money laundering. Flutterwave has refuted the allegations and while some of the lawsuits have been withdrawn, other existing lawsuits which continue to make their way through Kenya’s legal system. Kigali scores a win with Flutterwave In March, Flutterwave announced that it had acquired Electronic Money Issuer (EMI) and Remittance licences in Rwanda. Both licences allow Flutterwave to hold money in wallets (like mobile money providers) and also process cross-border transactions. Flutterwave’s history with Rwanda dates back to 2019 when the company acquired a payment service provider licence in 2019. It was the first African country where Flutterwave got a payments provider licence after Nigeria. “Rwanda is big for us because it is one of the only markets where we have every licence you can think of,” the Flutterwave chief executive enthused. “We’ve got plans to have a financial operations centre set up in Rwanda, where all our settlement across the region goes from here. Everyone has supported us to make that happen. So it makes sense to put something in this market and scale it from here,” Agboola told TechCabal. “It’s not about the size of the market, it’s about market readiness. They’re ready here,” he added. While Agboola admits that “Rwanda is a small market,” he acknowledges that the East African country has ambitions of being a premier destination for foreign investment funds management into Africa. African fintechs are turning to Kigali ChipperCash which announced its entry into Rwanda is one of the fintechs attracted by the landlocked country’s fintech support system. Like Flutterwave, other African fintech companies are turning to Kigali as they expand across Africa. Unlike Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, Rwanda has neither the population nor the economic prowess to make acquiring licences in Rwanda a priority. A GDP of $11 billion caters to 13 million Rwandans. Namibia with a comparable GDP has only 2.5 million people. Namibia has an extensive South Atlantic coastline, a strong mining industry and two ports. Rwanda relies on imports through Dar es Salaam and Mombasa. But a series of strong regulatory reforms and an ambitious push to become an international financial centre catering especially to financial technology firms has won the appeal of fintech firms in Africa. “In the last 3 years, Rwanda’s government approved 19 laws designed to ease business and make the country an attractive destination for firms that want firm legal and governance frameworks for their African operations,” said Jean-Marie Kananura, acting chief investment officer for KIFC. KIFC’s parent body, Rwanda Finance Limited, is headed by Tidjane Thiam, former chief executive officer of Swiss bank Credit Suisse. MFS Africa, NALA and ChipperCash (which launched operations in Rwanda this week) are among some of the fintech companies that have recently created Rwandan operations. At the just-concluded Inclusive Fintech Forum in Kigali, which had in attendance, the presidents of Rwanda and Zambia, MFS Africa founder and CEO, Dare Okoudjou asked both presidents to create bilateral agreements that would allow fintech licence “passporting”. This would at least in theory mean that a fintech licenced in Zambia could use the same licence in Rwanda because their regulatory regimes have been harmonised. Kigali has found support for its ambition in the middle east and Southeast Asia. It is deepening its relationship with the Qatar Financial Centre, Britain’s Jersey Finance, and Singapore’s Monetary Authority (the body in charge of Singapore’s International Finance Centre). At the forum this week, it signed an MOU with the Africa Business Angel Network (ABAN). The MOU TechCabal learned, means the angel investment network will be able to structure its special purpose investment vehicles (SPVs) in Rwanda. Kigali’s International Financial Centre is only 3 years old (it was launched in early 2020). But it has moved at a rapid pace to reform or create new laws and build partnerships and people are taking notice. In the latest Global Financial Centre Index published by Z/Yen, a City of London commercial think tank, Kigali ranks above Kuwait City in the middle east, Nairobi and Lagos only behind Mauritius, Cape Town and Johannesburg.
Read More- June 23 2023
Flutterwave and Microsoft enter 5-year strategic partnership
Flutterwave’s technological partnership with Microsoft will power the fintech’s payment beyond Africa. Flutterwave has entered into a five-year technological agreement with technology giant, Microsoft. The partnership will see the fintech company build a new generation of payment services on Microsoft Azure, powering payments infrastructure across the African continent and beyond. This partnership, according to a statement forwarded to TechCabal, will enable the African payment firm to service multinational firms. Some of them include facilitating payments of Uber, Netflix, and Microsoft, solidifying Azure’s role in facilitating a seamless, reliable, and secure payment experience. Flutterwave looks to onboard its products such as Flutterwave for Business, Send by Flutterwave, Flutterwave Store, and Flutterwave for Fintech Platform, onto Microsoft’s Azure Cloud Platform. The goal is to offer payment services to-and-from Africa. On the part of both sides, this is a welcome development. Microsoft Corporation General Manager, Mike Gaal notes that the partnership is motivated by the support Microsoft Azure provides for Flutterwave’s core operations. “Our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Working with Flutterwave will take us a step closer to achieving our mission In Africa,” Gaal said. CEO of Flutterwave, Olugbenga Agboola acknowledges Microsoft’s support in their success story. “As we manage high-volume payment processing, particularly during peak periods, the robustness, reliability, and scalability of Microsoft Azure becomes critical. As such, deepening our collaboration with Microsoft is the most logical step forward for us,” Agboola said. Flutterwave’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Gurbhej Dhillon is hopeful the partnership can scale their platform. “Their platform (Microsoft) provides us with significant developer leverage, which we can harness in service of our clients. Looking to the future, we are excited about the possibilities of scaling with Azure OpenAI Service, which will enable us to serve even more merchants worldwide,” Dhillon said.
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- June 23 2023
TechCabal Daily – Another Pricey load-shedding loss
In partnership with Share this newsletter: Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية TGIF The rich are beating themselves…or at least they want to. Billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have expressed interest in fighting one another. Elon Musk, on Wedneday, tweeted that he would be “up for a cage fight” with Zuckerberg, and the Meta CEO shot back by posting a screenshot of Musk’s tweet with the caption “send me location.” Now the world waits with bated breath to watch what will possibly be the shortest match in history. In today’s edition Mr Price blames load-shedding for $54 million loss Safaricom forms partnership to tackle M-Pesa fraud Student expulsion in Nigeria sparks digital rights debate Funding Tracker The World Wide Web3 Event: The Moonshot Conference Job openings Retail Mr Price blames load-shedding for $54 million revenue loss According to its latest financial results released on Thursday, South African retail giant Mr Price lost R1 billion ($54 million) in revenue. The company cites load-shedding as the major cause of the loss as a result of over 318,000 of trading hours lost in the past financial year. Image source: Zikoko Memes It’s all load-shedding’s fault: Additionally, the company stated that the indirect impacts of load-shedding such as changing customer shopping behaviour and lower levels of consumer confidence, as well as the need to mark down unsold stock, further exacerbated the company’s poor performance. To counter the impact of load shedding on its operations going forward, Mr Price stated that it has accelerated its energy continuity roll-out plans and invested R220 million in backup solutions, including inverters and batteries, which will cover all its stores by the end of June. Zoom out: Mr Price joins other publicly traded companies including MultiChoice, Vodacom, Telkom, and MTN, who have blamed their suboptimal performances on load-shedding. You’ll be in good company Moniepoint has made it simple for your business to access payments while providing access to credit and other business tools. Open an account today on moniepoint.com/ng. Cybersecurity Safaricom forms partnership to tackle M-Pesa fraud Image source: GIPHY The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and Safaricom have joined forces to investigate M-Pesa fraud conducted through the telco’s mobile network. Today, over 30 million people use M-Pesa in Kenya. M-Pesa has been huge for Kenya’s economy and, unfortunately, for scammers too. Numerous fraud allegations: Safaricom has faced multiple M-Pesa fraud allegations, including SIM swap fraud, where fraudsters replace and take over a customer’s line, and a fraud network that exploits the Fuliza service—a Safaricom M-Pesa overdraft feature—to illicitly steal money. Measures taken: Although Safaricom introduced measures to curb sim fraud, the telecom and security agencies acknowledge the importance of adopting a new approach. A key aspect will be fostering information sharing. Both parties will join forces to raise awareness and educate the public about digital crime. Through diverse platforms, including social media, they are dedicated to informing the public on identifying and avoiding potential traps. The telco, relevant authorities, and millions of M-Pesa users share the hope that this partnership will yield tangible results and benefits for all parties involved. Digital rights Student expulsion in Nigeria sparks digital rights debate At the University of Abuja in Nigeria, a student sent a WhatsApp message that invoked an expulsion and a debate on digital rights. Cyprian Igwe, a student union executive and sociology major, sent a message to the Student Union’s WhatsApp group stating his displeasure at the university’s decision to increase tuition fees by 50% on April 29, 2023. That message got him expelled. Image source: GIPHY Why did he get expelled? Cyprian was accused of circulating an “inciteful press release”, in a suspension letter signed by Alkasim Umar, the university’s deputy registrar. Part of the letter states, “Your actions are capable of jeopardising the peaceful smooth conduct of academic activities in the university and a breach of the university matriculation oath. By the powers conferred on the vice chancellor, as contained in the University of Abuja Act, he on behalf of the senate, has directed your immediate rustication from the university. Accordingly, you are banned from all university campuses pending the determination of the case.” A stroke of luck: Fortune smiled upon Cyprian in May 2023 when his tweet gained traction among journalists and activists. The subsequent media frenzy exerted enough pressure on the university, compelling them to backtrack on their decision and re-admit Cyprian as a student. Similar cases: Aderemi Ojo, the former President of the University of Ibadan student Union was expelled after a 2017 protest. Similarly, in 2010, four student union leaders at the University of Nigeria faced expulsion for protesting against a tuition fee increase. Zoom out: Observers, including journalists and lawyers, argue that the university’s actions violated Cyprian’s digital rights, encompassing freedom of expression and privacy. The perplexing aspect remains how the University authorities discovered Cyprian’s message within a private WhatsApp group. TC Insights Funding Tracker Image source: TechCabal Insights This week, South African solar energy company Yellow raised $14 million in Series B funding, in a round led by Convergence Partners. Other participating investors include the Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund and Platform Investment Partners. Here are the other deals this week: Nigerian electronics B2B marketplace Eze received $3.7 million in seed funding. The round was led by Right Side Capital Management, and other participating investors included C2 Ventures, Boro Capital, EVPI Investments, and several angel investors. Egypt’s fintech company Agel raised an undisclosed amount in pre-seed funding led by Plus Venture Capital (+VC), Seedstars International Ventures, and Flat6labs. Other participating investors included SEEDRA Ventures, Banque Misr Acceleration Program, and angel investors. That’s it for this week! Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn for more funding announcements. You can also visit DealFlow, our real-time funding tracker. Download the Citizen Election Report The Citizen Election Report is now out! This is a go-to guide for navigating Nigeria’s political scene. It offers valuable insights into Nigeria’s political history, analysis of political parties and key events, elections, governance, and how young people can shape
Read More- June 22 2023
Telkom Kenya’s network outage blamed on tower blackout by American company
Multiple entities have owned Telkom Kenya over the years. Currently, the government runs the carrier, but poorly. Will it ever catch a break? Telkom Kenya is the country’s third-largest operator behind Safaricom and Airtel Kenya. Its operations have been marred by interruptions and customer complaints over the last couple of days. It has a little over 3 million mobile subscribers as of December 2022. Safaricom leads with about 65 million subscribers, followed by Airtel Kenya at under 18 million. Over the last few days, the telco has been unable to say which areas and services have been affected explicitly. Tower shutdown In 2018, Telkom Kenya and the American Tower Corporation (ATC) announced a deal that would see ATC acquire up to 723 towers from Telkom Kenya. The transaction was expected to improve Telkom Kenya’s network quality and reliability and expand ATC’s presence in Kenya. The deal was completed by the end of 2018. According to people familiar with the matter, Telkom had anticipated that it would cut operational costs by selling its towers and leasing them from whichever company owned them. According to a report published by Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), Telkom Kenya owes the ATC KES 200 million ($1.4 million). These charges haven’t been remitted to the tower company, which has reportedly switched off half the masts leased to Telkom. The tower blackout is what has been causing interruptions within the Telkom network. TechCabal wanted to substantiate these claims, but a statement, signed by the telco’s CEO Mugo Kibati, reads, “Service provision has been impacted in some parts of the country resulting in service degradation. We apologise for the inconvenience caused to our esteemed customers. Telkom is actively engaging all stakeholders to restore the impacted services. Telkom Kenya and its stakeholders are in the midst of reviewing the short to long-term strategic imperatives that will improve and guarantee services to our esteemed customers.” How did Telkom get here after years of promises and network improvements? Why do customers report the same network concerns that were promised to be addressed years ago? Could the latest network blackouts be related to possible tower shutdowns? A brief ownership history of Telkom Kenya In 2022, the Kenyan government acquired a majority stake in Telkom Kenya. The deal was seen as a way for the government to boost Telkom Kenya’s performance and competitiveness in the telecoms market. This was not the intended goal, following conflicting reports that were revealed later. Telkom Kenya has been and continues to struggle to compete with market leader Safaricom. The government hoped that by acquiring the carrier, it would be able to turn it around. The deal was reportedly worth KES 6.09 billion ($43 million). Telkom Kenya, formerly known as Orange Kenya, was one of the three mobile operators in Kenya when it seriously sought to enter the telco space in 2007 after France Telecom acquired more than half of the company’s shares and named it Orange Kenya. Going back a few years, Telkom (basically Kenya’s first operator) is the predecessor to Safaricom. Safaricom was opened as its subsidiary in 1997 before it was purchased by Vodafone in 2000. Nevertheless, Telkom (then known as Orange Kenya) was acquired by Helios Investment Partners in 2016 and rebranded back to Telkom Kenya in 2017. It was also the second telco in Kenya to roll out 4G services in 2018 after Safaricom. After revamping it from Orange Money, Telkom operates a mobile money product called T-Kash. Both T-Kash and Airtel Kenya’s Airtel Money have been unable to match Safaricom’s M-PESA, which continues to lead Kenya’s mobile money space. According to the Communications Authority of Kenya’s sector statistics, M-PESA leads the pack at 96.8% in subscriptions, followed by Airtel Money at 3.1%. T-Kash closes the chart at 0.1%. Multiple publications have mentioned the controversial acquisition of Telkom Kenya, which did not receive approval from the company’s board, according to reports. The board members did not authorize the deal, which gave the government full ownership of Telkom. This development raises questions about the acquisition’s legitimacy and whether the government should bail it out of its financial constraints. It would also be interesting to see how Telkom will untangle itself from its current mess.
Read More- June 22 2023
Tuma raises the largest round for a Congolese fintech startup
Tuma, a Congolese fintech startup, has raised the largest investment round in fintech for the Congolese tech ecosystem ever. Tuma, a fintech startup in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has raised $500,000 in funding—the largest investment round for a Congolese fintech ever. The round saw participation from Visa, Visible Hands, and the Social Justice Fund. The two-year-old startup says that the funding will allow it to expand into other markets and improve its product offerings. Last year, according to Partech, the Congolese startup ecosystem raised $38 million (98% went to crypto firm Jambo) in funding after raising $1 million in 2022, making it the 11th most funded African country. Much of this funding has gone into the fintech industry, as the country’s financial system remains incapable of solving its problems. The country’s bank penetration rate hovers around 6%, and only 25% of the population has an account with a financial institution. Founded by Elijah Lubala and Mpilo Makae, Tuma is trying to bring financial inclusion to Congo by providing a digital solution that allows merchants to receive card payments on their phones. Almost half of the country has a mobile phone. Using software POS technology, the startup can transform any phone into a POS by allowing customers to tap their cards on the back of the phone. Tuma has partnered with other financial institutions like UBA Bank Group, Credit Bank Kenya, InTouch, Appiawave, Cellulant, and Seerbit to make this possible. Tuma’s funding comes after the DRC government introduced a startup act last year. The startup bill was signed into law on September 8, 2022, by President Felix Tshisekedi and was designed to attract investment and support the tech innovators and entrepreneurs contributing to the country’s digital transformation. “This act and other steps by the DRC government will help put the country back on the map of credible African tech ecosystems with a visible legal framework, making it easier for investors to come in,” Hannah Subayi, co-founder of DRC Impact Angels, told TechCabal last year. With Tuma’s funding, it seems like Subayi was right.
Read More- June 22 2023
One year after expanding to Nigeria, Crypto platform Pillow is exiting the country
Crypto startup Pillow which enabled users in Nigeria and Ghana to save and invest crypto assets ceases operations, cites regulatory climate as the reason. The Singapore-based crypto startup Pillow recently announced its decision to discontinue its services, a year after expanding its services to Nigeria and Ghana. The startup offered features such as saving, spending, and investing in cryptocurrency, attributed its closure to the “current regulatory climate and its impact on associated financial infrastructure.” Pillow disclosed this via in-app message to its user base, reportedly over 75,000 individuals across 60 different countries, asking them to withdraw their funds promptly. To facilitate the process, the company has set a deadline of July 31st, 2023, for users to withdraw their holdings. While the app will be removed from the Play Store by that date, the platform plans to suspend bank withdrawals on July 7th, with crypto withdrawals to follow on July 31st. The company’s founders, Arindam Roy, Rajath KM, and Kartik Mishra, have not publicly announced the news, but the closure marks the end of Pillow’s mission to provide a means for individuals in emerging markets to combat inflation. The startup had raised approximately $21 million from 15 investors to support this goal. Pillow’s decision is arguably a surprising turn of even as a few months ago, the startup was advertising job vacancies. However, this highlights the pressure faced by crypto startups in navigating regulatory environments, across the world.
Read More- June 22 2023
Mr Price records R1 billion loss in revenue, blames loadshedding
According to its latest financial results, Mr. Price has lost R1 billion in revenue as a result of loadshedding. South African retail giant Mr. Price cites loadshedding as the major cause of the company’s loss of R1 billion in revenue, as a result of over 318,000 lost trading hours in the past financial year. Additionally, the company stated that the indirect impacts of loadshedding such as changing customer shopping behavior and lower levels of consumer confidence, as well as the need to mark down unsold stock, further exacerbated the company’s poor performance in the second half of the year. While revenue for the year through March rose by 17%, Mr. Price reported a 7% drop in net income and its full-year dividend of 7.596 rand per share. “The potential higher stages of loadshedding throughout winter threaten to extend this disruptive retail cycle. Loadshedding has become a permanent and tiresome obstacle to businesses in South Africa and the cost of doing business has materially increased, stifling economic growth,” the company statement read. To counter the impact of loadshedding on its operations going forward, Mr. Price stated that it has accelerated its energy continuity roll-out plans and invested R220 million in back-up solutions including inverters and batteries, which will cover all its stores by the end of June. Mr. Price joins other publicly traded companies including Multichoice, Vodacom, Telkom, and MTN, who have blamed their suboptimal performances on loadshedding.
Read More- June 22 2023
UniAbuja student’s expulsion sparks a debate on digital rights
The expulsion of a University of Abuja student for protesting a hike in fees is sparking a conversation on digital rights A luta continua; vitória é certa. That’s a famous rallying cry for Nigerian University students, who have a long and rich history of pushing back against real and perceived injustices from university authorities and the government. For years, student union leaders at universities invoked the spirit of Aluta to compel people to pay attention to burning issues. In the same spirit, Cyprian Igwe, a student union executive and Sociology major at the University of Abuja, sent a message to the Student Union’s Whatsapp group. His message: his displeasure at the University’s decision to increase tuition fees by 50% on April 29, 2023. The price hike moved tuition fees from ₦47,300 ($58) to ₦89,000 ($109). His protest was valid, given that Nigeria’s government-owned universities have long remained affordable and within reach of many low and middle-income families. The price hike would change all that. What followed Cyprian’s call for Aluta on Whatsapp was a letter signed by Alkasim Umar, the University’s deputy registrar. Cyprian was accused of circulating an “inciteful press release.” Part of the suspension letter stated, “Your actions are capable of jeopardising the peaceful smooth conduct of academic activities in the university and a breach of the university matriculation oath. By the powers conferred on the Vice Chancellor as contained in the University of Abuja Act, he on behalf of the senate has directed your immediate rustication from the university. Accordingly, you are banned from all university campuses pending the determination of the case.” Cyprian’s situation is common. Nigerian universities frequently rusticate student union leaders involved in protests. Aderemi Ojo, a former President of the University of Ibadan student Union was expelled following a 2017 protest. In 2010, four student union leaders at the University of Nigeria were also expelled after they protested a hike in tuition fees. While Aderemi Ojo is in court asking to be reinstated, Cyprian got lucky when his tweet caught the attention of journalists and activists in May 2023; the resulting media attention forced the University to reinstate Cyprian. Journalists, lawyers and other observers say the University’s actions breached Cyrpian’s digital rights. As an extension of human rights, digital rights are closely linked to freedom of expression and privacy. How the University authorities found Cyprian’s message within a private Whatsapp group remains unclear. Cyprian’s case has sparked a conversation on digital rights in Africa. The past decade has seen an increase in African organizations championing digital rights—affordable and quality Internet connectivity, privacy, freedom of opinion, expression and association. Yet, African governments continue clinging down on their citizens’ digital rights and abusing personal data. In June 2021, the Nigerian government banned Twitter after the platform removed a controversial tweet by then-President Muhammadu Buhari. The ban was later lifted a year before the 2023 general elections. “Digital rights are human rights” Angela Uwandu, the head of Avocats Sans Frontieres, an International Human Rights group in Nigeria, told TechCabal, “With the rise in social media usage, freedom of expression online has to be protected and particularly, journalists and activists who are hounded under obnoxious laws. These rights have been guaranteed at both international and regional levels.” Fortunately, the internet has made it easier to gain access to people with authority and draw attention to digital abuse breaches, much like Cyprian did with his tweet. According to Kehinde Adegboyega, the founder and team lead at Human Rights Journalists Network told TechCabal, “In the past, before you could speak to the public at that magnitude, you needed to write a letter to the editor and it was considered before it went into the media. But now with just your Twitter page, you have more power to hold government accountable—it is more power to the citizens.” But this ability to hold government and institutions accountable also comes with the risk of being easily identified. Governments monitor social media usage and often unfairly arrest and prosecute critics. For Adegboyega, it is impossible to travel out of Nigeria without being subjected to background checks at the airport. “If you are a digital campaigner and someone highly placed is angry about what you post online, traveling through Nigeria’s Murtala Mohammed International Airport II could land you in the net of the state’s secret police, popularly known as the Department of State Security (Services),” he said. But Nigeria is not the only place where digital rights violations occur. This year, Senegal experienced an internet shutdown following violent protests that began after an opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, was sentenced to two years in prison after a prolonged legal dispute since 2021. A senior researcher with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Jonathan Rozen noted that the internet shutdown is a major infringement on human rights and that of the press. “Journalists are not able to work without the internet in a lot of ways. They use it for research, to use secure communication platforms to speak to their sources, they use it to publish. From top to bottom, blocking the internet and major online platforms is an attack on freedom of the press and journalists safety,” Rozen told TechCabal. Rozen, who has extensive experience in dealing with issues of this kind, revealed that some of the regulations of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) allow for “warrantless access to people’s call data,” and can be used by members of the police force to lure journalists, activists and non-state actors alike. He explained this on a call where he mentioned the issue of Azeezat Adedigba, an assistant editor at HumAngle, who had her phone line hacked. More still needs to be done The current state of digital rights is disturbing and calls for action. As this article argues, stakeholders such as civil society organisations, funders, private companies and government institutions need to work together to ensure better judicial and regulatory oversight to protect free speech online and personal data.
Read More- June 22 2023
ARTSPLIT is betting it can get you to collect, co-own, care about African art
ARTSPLIT, the art investment platform, is making alternative investment assets such as artworks and music more inclusive and accessible for everyday people and at the same time, helping artists to make money from their works. Art pieces are expensive, but what if, with only a token, you could own a slice of one of these masterful creations? That’s the sales pitch of ARTSPLIT, an alternative investment platform founded by Onyinye Anyaegbu, Nonso Okpala, Niyi Adenubi and Ayobami Jikiemi. ARTSPLIT’s technology lets users co-own rare and valuable African artworks with as little as $3. “For us, the question was, ‘What if an artist could actually just sell a portion of their work without selling the full work’? They don’t lose the work entirely, and they still have access to it physically. But then other people can co-own with them and they get financial compensation without losing their work,” Anyaegbu, co-founder and executive director, told TechCabal over a Google Meet call. How ARTSPLIT works ARTSPLIT solves two basic problems: lowering the cost barrier to investing in art and access to liquidity for the collector or artist. With the app, users buy “Splits,” which are digital fractions of prominent African artworks. “If an artwork costs around $230,000 for instance, we break that down into 100,000 Splits and then it takes the entry point to $2.30.” Any Artsplit user can own a Split by bidding during an auction; several people can also co-own a Split. Through a ‘Lease Auction,’ users can win physical custody of these split artworks for a set period of two years. There is also an ‘Open Market’ which allows art collectors to buy inexpensive artworks and introduce young artists to a wider audience. After an auction is completed, the income goes to the artist and ARTSPLIT gets an agreed commission. Anyaegbu disclosed that over 70 artworks have been auctioned or sold on the open market. Artworks are a tricky asset to own because prices are volatile. Non-fungible tokens (NFT), which became popular in 2021, threw prices and valuations in a funk. According to Forbes, investing in art could provide lower returns than investing in stocks. That’s because it’s thought of as a passion investment. As this article explains, art tends to work best as a long-term investment because it takes a longer time to sell a valuable piece of art. ARTSPLIT’s business model—splitting ownership of artworks—isn’t new, existing platforms like Masterworks allow users to invest in multi-million dollar works of art by artists like Basquiat, Picasso, and Banksy. The difference is that ARTSPLIT focuses on African art and artists. The idea of art investing is still nascent in Africa because of the long-term nature of the investment. Considering the high level of poverty on the continent, Africans are often on the lookout for quick money investment options. ARTSPLIT says it has over 50,000 users on its app, but not everyone will consider co-ownership of artworks as a viable proposition. Not just artworks, but music too With Afrobeats on a global rise, ARTSPLIT also offers fans the opportunity to fund their favourite artistes for a chance to earn part of their royalties. In January, the company launched MusicSplit, a product that allows fans to buy shares of songs of the Afrobeats artists, starting with the Nigerian singer KingPerrry. Anyaegbu explained that MusicSplit was designed to help independent artists gain access to funds from their works. “So what we’ve done with MusicSplit is using our “Splits” framework and leveraging music as an asset in itself, where the return on the assets is not just in the valuation of the work of the assets in the trade market but also in the streaming income that comes in on a monthly basis,” she said. When asked about the partnership with KingPerrry, Anyaegbu said that users—which she fondly calls investors—bought 30% of his projects. This means for every streaming income he makes on that project, one-third of it goes to the investors. The idea of funding songs or artists in exchange for returns isn’t new in Africa. However, this can best for work for popular artists who can boast of a large following that will translate into streaming numbers. For lesser-known artists, this might be difficult. Edwin Madu, a musician and now label owner, once told TechCabal that the royalties from streaming are not the money-making game many people believe them to be. What’s next for ARTSPLIT? While ARTSPLIT is still in its early days, there are promising signs of growth. Last year, the company raised $5 million which barely made the news. According to Anyaegbu, this was due to the nature of the investment because ARTSPLIT is registered as a private limited company. Since the previous raise, the company has raised about $7 million in funding. Slush with funds, the company has now expanded beyond Nigeria to Ghana and South Africa. Anyaegbu told TechCabal that the next big thing for ARTSPLIT is to focus on scaling its technology and making strategic investments within the art space to drive its growth. “We want ARTSPLIT to be space for African art when you are thinking about investment grade works. We really want to build a thriving economy for arts,” she concluded.
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- June 22 2023
How to check NIN number easily 2023
The National Identification Number (NIN) is an essential identification system in Nigeria. It serves as a unique identifier for citizens and residents. As a result of the recent merge of Nigeria’s network providers’ USSD prompts, many phone users are in dilemma of if other USSD codes are still in use. However, as it is, the code to check your NIN number remains unchanged. Therefore, in this article, we’ll re-familiarise you with how to check your NIN number with USSD. 1. Dial the USSD code to check your NIN Locate the dialer or phone app on your mobile device. Using the phone’s dialer, enter the USSD code provided by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) – *346# and press the call or send button. Wait for a few seconds for the process to initiate. 2. Receive NIN information After dialling the USSD code, you will receive a menu on your phone’s screen. The menu will contain various options related to NIN services. Look for the option that allows you to check your NIN number. Typically, it will be labelled “Retrieve NIN” or similar. Select the option by entering the corresponding number or by following the instructions provided on your screen. 3. Record your NIN Once you have selected the appropriate options, your NIN number will be displayed on your phone’s screen. Take note of the NIN number and ensure you record it accurately. The NIN serves as an important identification tool, so it’s crucial to keep it secure and easily accessible when needed for various official transactions or processes. On how to check National Identification Number (NIN), please note that this service costs ₦20. You won’t be able to proceed to check your NIN if you don’t have up to that on your phone. Final thoughts on how to check National Identification Number (NIN) Checking your NIN number on your phone in Nigeria is a convenient way to access the unique identification code. Simply acquaint yourself with the steps above and you’re good to go. That’s it on how to check National Identification Number (NIN).
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