- May 11 2023
What African founders think about the recent funding downturn
Funding for African startups has waned in recent months, with 2023 being one of the slowest years since the pandemic for deals both in volume and amount. Founders tell TechCabal what they think about the downturn. The heady days when the African (read as Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, and South Africa) tech ecosystem announced funding deals every week now seem like a distant past. Today, African startups are faced with a new reality where investor appetite has dropped. Some founders told TechCabal that in response to this, there has been a shift towards forgoing venture capital and instead focusing on attaining profitability. They also shared that other steps such as adjusting valuations, pivoting, and bootstrapping have been resourceful ways of navigating what has been a difficult period to raise capital. According to data from The Big Deal, African startups have raised $536 million in 2023. For context, African startups had raised over $950 million by April last year, representing a 68% decline in 2023. Adjusting valuations Considering the waning investor appetite, it is now highly recommended that founders approach investors with lower valuations for their startups. Bashir Aminu, the founder of Coinprofile, a YC-backed crypto startup, shares this opinion. “Companies might want to think about adjusting their valuations to better match the current downturn.” Aminu says this could help startups connect with investors and get funding more easily. “A more down-to-earth valuation can show investors that a company is being realistic and willing to adapt,” he added. Axel Peyriere, an angel investor and the founder of AUTO24.Africa, an Abidjan-based startup, told TechCabal that he has noticed “more humility in founders’ mindsets”. He shared that startups in the big African markets are reducing their valuations. Peter Oriaifo, a partner at Oui Capital, a venture capital firm, agrees with Aminu. He told TechCabal that startups “need to compromise on valuations”. Aminu, however, added a note of caution for startup founders: “Of course, we still need to be careful not to give away too much control of a company in the process,” he said. Peyriere added that the current funding climate will allow the ecosystem to mature faster and become more trustworthy. “Founders will [have to] rely more on clear metrics, economics, and KPIs. It’s not by how much you raise but by what you do with the money that you raise.” He added, “this will bring back trust and transparency with investors in general.” Can acquisitions and pivots save companies? Aminu said that the funding downturn might make things a bit tougher for companies trying to raise funds. He added that “startups might need to focus on making money and using their resources wisely, which could lead to stronger businesses in the long run. But it could also slow down growth and innovation for a bit. Plus, we might see more companies joining forces.” Romain Poirot-Lellig, the founder of Kwik, a Lagos-based logistics startup, told TechCabal that the effect of the funding downturn on startups could see an increase in acquisitions. “So what we can expect is that startups that [have managed to scale up reasonably] are going to play a leading role in their verticals. They’re going to take about 20 of the startups that have not been able to scale up but may present some interest in terms of technology, market share, and staff,” he said. Acquisitions and pivots have been a significant theme this year. Fluidcoins, Instadeep, Qualified, and AutoTager are some of the acquisitions that have happened this year. Some startups are also pivoting their business model. Treepz, a mobility startup with a pan-African presence, recently pivoted its business model to a car-sharing marketplace from a ride-hailing company that allowed users to rent buses, SUVs, and trucks. Johnny Enagwolor, a co-founder of Treepz, told TechCabal that his company pivoted to focus on the best margins of profit. “Eventually, we took a hard look at the business to find out what model was giving us the best margins and could scale better. Then we decided to take a full pivot toward car-sharing,” he said. Samuel Eze, the founder of OurPass, a fintech that recently pivoted from a one-click checkout to business banking, gave the same reasons for his company’s pivot. He told TechCabal that “when we decided to start scaling the product, it was already post-COVID, and the dynamics of the market had changed. [A one-click checkout solution] didn’t matter to businesses anymore.” He added that the company already has a path to profitability with its new offering. A focus on due diligence Peyriere told TechCabal that he hoped the funding downturn could help shine a brighter light on corporate governance practices for startups. In agreement, Yunus Ibrahim, an analyst at Future Africa, a venture capital firm, told TechCabal that for investors, the downturn meant an uptick in the intensity of due diligence processes and valuation deliberations. “We are seeing more VCs conduct extensive due diligence to mitigate investment risks and increase the likelihood of portfolio companies returning the fund. Also, VCs are taking a more meticulous approach to valuations by negotiating better terms with founders and paying closer attention to unit economics and fundamentals,” Ibrahim said. Yunus anticipates that in the long run, VC firms will likely reduce the number of companies they back while increasing ticket prices. Based on their convictions, some VCs may even prioritise specific sectors, he says. Eghosa Omoigui, general partner at EchoVC, a VC firm, described a situation where VC firms now intentionally drag out the investment process by sending money in tranches and paying closer attention to the startups. He added that some VCs are also divesting themselves of some portfolio companies as they seek to keep tabs on the promising ones. “All of this points to a trying market putting founders and investors to the test. But the interesting thing is this could also be the best time for VCs to invest. There are great deals on the table at better terms, and founders are swifter to take advice,” he said.
Read More- May 11 2023
Safaricom Ethiopia gets mobile money licence 7 months after Ethiopia entry
Ethiopia’s mobile money market is heating up as Safaricom Ethiopia secures a mobile money licence from the National Bank of Ethiopia. Safaricom looks to replicate its Kenyan success as Telebirr is finally facing the competition it dreaded. In early October 2022, TechCabal reported that Kenya’s leading telco Safaricom officially launched its Ethiopian service following a ten-city pilot and a phased launch across the country. Now it has received permission (officially termed “payment instrument issuer licence”) from the central government to roll out M-Pesa in Ethiopia. At the elaborate ceremony to celebrate the launch of Safaricom Ethiopia last year, Ethiopia’s minister of finance, Ahmed Shide, announced that his government had awarded Safaricom permission to roll out M-Pesa, its widely successful mobile money product, in Ethiopia. The announcement followed President Ruto’s speech where he expressed confidence that Ethiopia would grant Safaricom’s mobile money licence request in a deal that was reportedly finalised by President Ruto and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Addis Ababa. But it took little over eight months for the actual licence to be issued. “The issuance of the mobile money licence reflects the NBE’s on-going objective of fostering innovation and financial inclusion in the Ethiopian market,” part of the statement from the National Bank of Ethiopia, Ethiopia’s central bank read. Ethiopia gets serious about opening up Prior to this licensing, talks about awarding mobile money licences were slow-walked by Ethiopia’s bureaucracy which sought to protect the government–majority-owned Ethio-Telecom and its then-recently launched mobile money service, Telebirr. Eventually in April 2022, Ethiopia’s central bank announced a draft bill which, upon being made law, permitted foreign–owned telecom operators like Safaricom to launch mobile money services. In December 2020, the Ethiopian government invited telecom companies to bid for two licences to compete against Ethio Telecom. Only two consortia placed bids. One from South Africa’s MTN Group in partnership with China’s Silk Road Fund. And the second was from the Global Partnership for Ethiopia Consortium, led by Kenya’s Safaricom and including Vodafone, Vodacom, CDC Group (now British International Investments and Japan’s Sumimoto. The Safaricom-led consortium won after the government rejected the MTN Group’s bid. MTN refused to participate in a second tender following this loss to Safaricom. Until Safaricom’s entry, state-owned Ethio Telecom operated as a monopoly with 54 million subscribers in Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country with an estimated population of 118 million people. Now Safaricom’s near monopoly M-Pesa gets to compete with the Telebirr service from government–backed Ethio-Telecom. It is worth noting, however, that the Ethiopian government is looking to sell 45% of Ethio-Telecom.
Read More
- May 11 2023
How to check 2023 JAMB admission status online
One of the most important things for JAMB candidates is to check their admission status after writing the UTME (Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination) and Post-UTME exams. Here are the steps to follow to check your JAMB admission status. Step 1: Visit the JAMB website The first step to check your UTME admission status is to visit their website at https://www.jamb.gov.ng/Efacility. Once you have accessed your portal, navigate to the top of the page. Step 2: Select your examination year At the top, you’ll be able to select the year of the examination you took. Ensure that you select the correct year, which is the year you wrote your UTME. Then click “Check Admission Status”. Step 3: Enter your JAMB registration number to check JAMB admission status After clicking on the “Check Admission Status” option, you will be required to enter your UTME registration number. Ensure that you enter your registration number correctly to avoid any errors. Step 4: Click on “Check Admission Status” to check JAMB admission status After entering your JAMB registration number and selecting your examination year, click on the “Check Admission Status” button. This will display your UTME admission status. Step 5: Accept or reject admission offer If you have been offered admission, you will see a message that says “Congratulations! You have been offered admission.” You will also be provided with details of the institution you have been admitted to and the course you have been admitted to study. At this point, you have the option to either accept or reject the admission offer. If you choose to accept the offer, you will be required to proceed to the institution to complete the admission process. If you have not been offered admission, you will see a message that says “Sorry, no admission is given yet.” This means that you have not been offered admission yet, and you should keep checking the website for updates. Step 6: Check admission status with JAMB CAPS In addition to checking your UTME admission status, it is also important to check the JAMB Central Admission Processing System (CAPS) portal. This portal provides more detailed information about your admission status, such as whether you have been recommended for admission, whether you have been admitted, or whether your admission is still in progress. To check your JAMB CAPS, visit the JAMB website and click on the “CAPS” option under the “Admissions” tab. Please ensure your Chrome browser is on desktop view before trying to access CAPS. In fact, if possible, have it on desktop mode from the onset. Enter your JAMB registration number, select your examination year, and click on “Access my CAPS.” This will display your JAMB CAPS dashboard. Here, you can view your admission status, accept or reject admission offers, and view details of the institution and course you have been admitted to study. Last thoughts on how to check JAMB admission status Checking your UTME admission status is a crucial step in the admission process. By following the steps outlined above, you can easily check this status and take the necessary steps to accept or reject the admission offer. Remember to keep checking the website and JAMB CAPS portal for updates, as admission statuses can change at any time. Meanwhile, are you having issues with checking your JAMB results? These steps can help. Good luck with your admission process!
Read More- May 11 2023
Nigeria’s cash crunch winners show that distribution is a moat
A policy driven cash crunch produced winners in OPay and Palmpay. What lessons can other neobanks learn from the Chinese-backed duo? Despite the controversial nature of Nigeria’s recent currency redesign, it produced a few fintech winners like the Chinese-backed startups, OPay and Palmpay. OPay, for instance, now claims to have 30 million registered users. Moniepoint—formerly TeamApt—also saw its transactions rise. It claimed to have processed about $43 billion in transactions in the first three months of the year. Similarly, Kuda bank recorded an increase in its volume of transactions during this period, according to the company’s VP, Product Innovation & Strategy, Nosakhare Oyegun. “March was an outstanding month for us in terms of payments across cashless channels. We’ve seen significant growth that we can easily attribute to the cash scarcity, with observed consumer behaviour confirming a shift to cashless payments,” Oyegun said in an email response to TechCabal, although he declined to share transaction or user numbers. Kuda saw growth during the cash crunch, but so did Nigerian banks. The difference is that OPay and Palmpay are now at the last mile. The previously underserved or unbanked now use these platforms and trust them and all it comes down to the distribution that allowed this happen. Distribution is everything For Ibrahim Toyeeb Ibitade, CEO of Leatherback, a cross-border payments platform, both OPay and Palmpay have been intentional about building solutions that don’t rely on internet connectivity or online platforms like NIBSS Instant Payments (NIP). “What they [OPay and Palmpay] have been able to do is letting customers create banking portals with their mobile numbers and leveraging offline-based solutions that allow ease in carrying out transactions,” he told TechCabal over a call. Ayoola Kosoko, a fintech expert, also attributed Opay and Palmpay’s win to their solid agent networks— which he likened to brick-and-mortar buildings of traditional banks—who were physically present to aid financial services for their customers. “The agents were already in existence, it was just more like increased banking transactions for them, as it were,” he said. “Some of the other neobanks don’t even have an agent network, no physical presence.” Opportunity meets preparedness “There would never be a better time for you to be ready,” Kosoko says as he attributes OPay and Palmpay’s win to their preparedness before the cash crunch began. “OPay was able to optimise its infrastructure to accommodate as much traffic.” He believes that other neobanks’ infrastructure had not really been put to the test until people started turning to them as alternatives. He adds that the neobanks should be able to handle the punches thrown at them during tough periods of increased demand. “They [neobanks] need to ensure that their infrastructure and platforms are optimised enough to take as many hits as possible when it comes to an increased volume of transactions. So they don’t have a situation where transactions are failing, transactions are hanging, reversals are happening for some people and not happening for others,” he said. Charles Odogwu, a digital payment expert, shares a similar view, citing that OPpay and Palmpay’s payment solutions being excellent and transactions carried out on these platforms were “almost instant”. He added that other neobanks should “try not to be a traditional bank in the digital space”. What does this mean for financial inclusion in Nigeria? Per KPMG’s financial inclusion report [pdf], more than one in three Nigerian adults are financially excluded – with no access to useful, relevant, and affordable formal financial services such as payment, savings, and credit. According to a World Bank report, Nigeria is among the seven countries in the world with half of the world’s unbanked. For Odogwu, the cash crunch has had a positive impact on financial inclusion in Nigeria. “Before the cash crunch, a lot of vendors and merchants don’t want to hear anything about transfers, it’s either POS or cash. The number of transfers now is even more than POS transactions, because the vendors trust the transfers. And a lot of these transfers come from OPay and Palmpay,” he said. Ibitade, however, argues that there is still a long way to go in achieving financial inclusion in Nigeria, albeit it comes with a good side. “This situation means a lot of opportunities for other startups to come up with unique solutions that can make payments easier for everyone. Reorientating people and building trust are most important. The question is, “How do people know that their money won’t be stolen from that solution you’ve created?” he quipped. Post-cash crunch, who are Nigerians trusting with their transactions? Now that cash is back in circulation, who are Nigerians turning to for transactions? Misturat Arike, a trader in the Ikorodu area of Lagos, says she has become accustomed to receiving payments from customers via her OPay account—which she primarily uses for her business. But like the other traders who spoke to TechCabal, she expressed concerns about the digital bank’s lack of physical branches. “While it [OPay] is good for us traders because it is fast, my problem is that we don’t know where to go if any issue arises. I heard they have an office in Ikeja but I don’t even know where the place is, unlike regular banks that have branches everywhere,” she said. Alabi Balogun, who manages a grocery shop in Surulere, echoes the same sentiment, adding that he now uses his OPay and traditional bank accounts at the same time. “Trust is the main thing here. As someone who was once duped by a fake digital platform, I have been struggling to trust them again,” he told TechCabal.
Read More
- May 11 2023
TechCabal Daily – Fintechs fight fraud
Lire en français Read this email in French. 11 MAY, 2023 IN PARTNERSHIP WITH Happy pre-Friday Chief Twit Elon Musk is bringing voice and video chat to Twitter. Yesterday, the CEO announced that the platform will, in coming months, allow people to connect over voice and video in the DMs. Soon, users won’t have to worry about getting ratioed over several days when they can simply get ratioed live and move on. In today’s edition Fintechs fight chargebacks with decline fees Airtel Uganda launches API MTN wants to sell its West African assets NBC can no longer fine stations The World Wide Web3 Report: The State of Tech in Africa Opportunities FINTECHS FIGHT FRAUD In April, Nigerian fintechs like Payday and Eversend disabled their virtual dollar cards. The reason? Well, service provider Mastercard isn’t too happy with the increase in chargebacks in Nigeria. This comes about 10 months after several other fintechs, including Flutterwave’s Barter, also shut down their virtual USD cards. At the time, the problem was with Union54, a Zambian startup with an API that lets other fintechs issue virtual cards. In March 2023, Union54 revealed to TechCrunch that it had shut down its API because it had detected over $1.2 billion worth of attempted chargeback fraud. Side bar: Chargeback is where customers contact banks for refunds for items they claim they didn’t buy, transactions that failed, or transactions they didn’t make. Several bad agents use chargebacks to defraud financial companies. Customers will pay: In the past, many African fintechs have borne the cost of chargebacks instead of charging the users, like many in other regions. Since Mastercard’s latest hassle, though, some fintechs are now instituting decline fees to reduce chargeback fraud. Chipper Cash, for example, recently introduced a ₦500 ($1.09) fee for transactions declined due to insufficient funds while Bitmob will charge $0.5. Not everyone is happy: Since Chipper’s announcement, several users have taken to social media to express their displeasure with the new decline fees being adopted by fintechs, with many stating that all the new policy will deter is adoption of fintech apps and not fraud. MONIEPOINT RANKED 2ND FASTEST-GROWING AFRICAN COMPANY Moniepoint is Africa’s second-fastest growing company, as shown in FTs latest report. We also processed 1 billion transactions worth $43 billion in Q1 alone. Read all about it here. This is partner content. AIRTEL LAUNCHES ITS API IN UGANDA Airtel wants to cash in on the growing cashless economy in Uganda. According to Techweez, Airtel Uganda officially launched its Open Application Programming Interface (API) for its payment products in Uganda, yesterday. In March last year, Monitor reported that the value of the internet and mobile banking rose by 82.8% and 146.1%, respectively, while mobile money rose by 46.5% to UGX145.6 trillion ($31.9 billion) Side bar: An API—application programming interface—is an intermediary between two software applications that allows them to talk to each other. Merchants will be able to use Airtel Money as a payment or remittance option on apps that have integrated the API. Airtel is not the only one: There are other telcos that are also in the API business. This includes MTN, which has previously launched an API marketplace called Chenosis. It offers a range of APIs for telecommunications, e-health, e-government, Internet of Things, fintech, e-commerce, identity and authentication, payments and collections, and locations. Well, if you are a developer or business interested in Airtel’s API, you can access it here. MTN IN TALKS TO SELL WEST AFRICAN ASSETS Telecom MTN might be reducing its portfolio size. According to TechCentral, the company is in talks to sell some of its West African assets to Axian Group, a pan-African investor in telecoms. Both companies are reportedly negotiating on MTN’s assets in Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea-Conakry. The deal is yet to be finalised and sources close to the case report that it’s still too early to conclude if it will go through. Zoom out: It’s not certain what MTN is planning in each of these countries. In 2021, though, it ignited an exit from Afghanistan: in a bid to simplify its structure, it exited Afghanistan by selling off its assets there for $35 million. ATTEND THE AFRICA SOFT POWER SUMMIT The Africa Soft Power Summit—the premier convening for Africa’s creative and tech industries, as well as women’s leadership, hosted in Africa but focused on growth for the whole world—is returning to Kigali, Rwanda from May 23–27! Learn more. This is partner content. NBC LOSES RIGHT TO FINE STATIONS The Nigerian Broadcast Commission (NBC) is in a bit of a pickle. Yesterday, a Nigerian Federal High Court ruled that the NBC doesn’t actually have the power to punish broadcast stations with sanctions. For years, the NBC has been slapping hefty fines on broadcast stations left and right, based on the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, a set of subsidiary laws. On March 1, 2019, they imposed a ₦500,000 ($1,086) fine on 45 broadcast stations, (across TV and radio). According to the NBC, they violated the broadcasting codes during the 2019 general election. However, the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda took the NBC to court, demanding that the fine be invalidated. They argued that the fine was a violation of natural justice. Was it truly a violation? In a dramatic twist, Justice James Omotosho, the judge, denounced the actions of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) as a display of oppressive and excessive power. He went even further, asserting that the NBC Code, which grants the commission the authority to impose sanctions, directly conflicted with Section 6 of the Constitution. As the judge emphasised, this section vests judicial power solely in the court of law. Not stopping there, Omotosho made it clear that the NBC, being neither the police nor a judicial body, had no business launching investigations and doling out criminal penalties to the accused. So what happens now? We can’t speak for the NBC, but the judge has declared that none of the 45 sanctioned media houses need to pay a dime of the
Read More- May 10 2023
SA’s fintech ecosystem has potential. What role can an association play?
An interview with Darren Franks, interim CEO of the Fintech Association of South Africa. Over the course of the last few months, a couple of interesting developments have been happening in the South Africa fintech ecosystem. Payshap was launched, purporting to revolutionise real time payments in South Africa. The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) also decided to recognise crypto assets as financial instruments, paving the way for their regulation. Other developments in the sector include the reserve bank ordering banks to be more friendly to crypto asset service providers as well as mobile network providers like MTN, doubling down on their fintech value propositions. Amidst all this activity, TechCabal caught up with Darren Franks, interim CEO of the recently formed Fintech Association of South Africa, to get a more in depth idea on not only the mandate of the association but also the fintech landscape in South Africa. TechCabal: Please share more about the Fintech Association of South Africa and its mandate Darren Franks: The association serves to engage with the regulators and other associations within the South Africa fintech ecosystem. These include the payments Association, the Banking Association, the Reserve Bank, FSCA, and have a conversation about the state of fintech in South Africa. We are a non-profit organisation and officially opened calls for membership about five weeks ago and so far, the response has been very positive. We have onboarded a couple of fintech startups, as well as banks. TC: What was the reason for setting up the association? DF: I think there’s a couple. One is that fintech is quite a broad category. You have payments, lending, cryptocurrency, and others, and the consensus was that there wasn’t a representation or a central voice for all of these entities together. I mean we had the banking association, which obviously represents the banks in South Africa, the payments association, which again, represents the payment players, and there was really this void of representation which we felt had to be filled. When we spoke to the reserve bank, one of the biggest challenges that they stated was that they get lobbied and get asked questions all the time from fintechs either domestically or those coming into South Africa, and they simply didn’t have the people power to get back to everyone and answer these questions. So, from a lobbying and advocacy perspective, that’s the value that the association will be adding, creating one unified voice of the sector. TC: Relative to the continent’s major hubs, fintech in South Africa has been falling behind over the years, especially with regard to attracting venture capital. What role will the association play in remedying this situation? DF: Unfortunately in recent months, the downturn has been due to global macroeconomic conditions which no one in the ecosystem has control over. But what we can certainly do as an association and what we’ve been working hard on, is promoting South Africa’s fintech scene internationally. This can be through helping startups secure investors and scaling beyond SA’s borders. I was in London last week, meeting with a number of different associations and stakeholders within the fintech ecosystem, and talking about what’s happening in South Africa. Even despite the downturn, we are still seeing some South African startups like Lulalend raising some pretty significant rounds so that’s a welcome development. All in all, our role is to ensure that viable businesses who demonstrate a clear path to profitability are able to secure decent funding rounds which will put some wind in their sails. TC: In terms of what’s happening in the fintech scene in South Africa at the moment, what are the standout developments to look out for? DF: I think that there is a lot that’s happening behind the scenes with things like open banking, real-time payments, and regulations around crypto. Over the next few months, I think we’ll see quite a bit of consolidation in the market through M&A activity. Also, I think we will see a lot of activity around challenger banks like neobanks like TymeBank and Discovery who have done exceptionally well. With the traditional banks or the incumbent bank, we’re also seeing a big move there towards digitising their processes banks, not just from a technology perspective, but really, from a mindset perspective. We are finding that a number of the key banks here in South Africa are developing API platforms to effectively offer banking as a service which is a welcome development. TC: What would you say are the main challenges facing fintech in South Africa at the moment? DF: I think for those pushing boundaries when it comes to either alternative payment methods, or it comes to different sorts of KYC or AML requirements, regulation is a bit of a challenge. This does not necessarily prove that regulators are throttling innovation because, in whatever market you are, if you’re trying to disrupt, the regulator has to ensure that you are not doing so at the expense of the consumer. I think the second area that is a bit of a challenge would be talent. Now, there’s a lot of extremely talented people in South Africa but what we’ve seen over the last few years is that big tech companies setting up shop here tend sucking up a lot of the talent, which means that there’s a lot of inflation when it comes to salaries in South Africa and that’s sometimes very difficult for local fintechs. The other challenge, which I think is starting to become perhaps slightly less so, is around that sort of integration where fintechs can work with banks without both parties seeing each other as competitors. The reason I’m saying we are starting to see less of this is because I think the adoption and the integration of banks within fintechs is really starting to become more positive, which is a good thing for the whole sector. Thirdly, perhaps this is more of an opportunity than a challenge, is the rise of mobile network operators like
Read More
- May 10 2023
Entering Tech #29: How to leverage tech communities
Here’s how communities can help you enter tech. 10 || May || 2023 View in Browser Brought to you by Issue #29 How to leveragetech communities Share this newsletter Greetings ET people As cliche as it sounds, that saying “if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together” holds a lot of truth, especially in today’s world. As humans, we were not built for isolation. We thrive in community and grow well when we have support to lean on. In today’s edition, we discuss tech communities, their benefits, and what the good ones can offer you. In the coming weeks, we’ll go more in-depth into tech communities and hopefully provide you with more insight to choose the right community for you. The journey to a flourishing tech career can be long and arduous. Don’t go it alone! As always, please share this newsletter with your friends and network. by Pamela Tetteh and Timi Odueso. Tech trivia Some trivia before we begin. Answers are at the bottom of this newsletter. What percentage of people finish online courses? What are communities? Let’s be honest, finding the motivation to enter tech can be difficult. Since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, there has been an increase in the creation of tech courses and resources to help people get into the field. Now more than ever, there are numerous opportunities and assets, but as an aspiring techie, how do you find these resources, and the knowledge to properly use them? Our answer is communities. Since 2020, I’ve taken several courses: A Facebook Certified Community Manager course, a Digital Journalism Course on Reuters, a non-profit Funding Essentials course on Acumen and many more. The only reason I was able to complete them was because I had the support of community. In the Facebook course, I had my then-manager walk me through it. I also took the digital journalism course with all my coworkers at TechCabal. And with the Product Management for Small Newsrooms course I took in September last year, I had a community of like-minded people who also took the course. Communities are easy to understand. They’re a group of like-minded people who are working towards the same or similar goals as you are. Communities will often include veterans who have walked a path you’re now considering, newbies who are looking for guidance, and even the occasional ITKs who do too much. How communities work So how will communities help you in your tech journey? Well, one of the most frequently asked questions we get on Ask A Techie is how people can find the motivation to start tech careers. Becoming a data analyst, a backend engineer, or a designer is no easy or short feat. It takes months of dedication and learning, and years of hard work and perseverance. Oftentimes, it can get lonely and monotonous, especially if you have other priorities. Tech communities are where you’ll get the support, motivation—and even the spitefulness —you need to continue because let’s be honest, what’s a more powerful motivation for Africans than the possibility of parading one’s success before the enemy? Here’s what you’ll get when you join a tech community: Access to industry knowledge: Tech communities often have experts who have done it before. These folks are often ready to share their tips and tricks with everyone. For example, ConTech Africa—a no-code tech community—had an event a few weeks ago where Daniel Abayomi, a designer at Meta, shared with upcoming designers how he went from zero to many many zeros. Network: No, we’re not talking about the MTN or Airtel kind. We’re talking about the chance to have access to professionals who have this industry knowledge. Joining DataFestAfrica will allow you to speak with people like Olanrewaju Oyinbooke and David Abu who both work on data for Microsoft. Communities can also extend beyond the Slack channels to events like this Àsà Coterie event where designers got together to party. Career development opportunities: This is probably the most important one because opportunities abound in tech communities. ConTech Africa, for example, has a Slack channel dedicated to job opportunities for its members. Within these tech communities, people also share other opportunities like scholarships, ebooks, grants, and even offers like CV revamps! Accountability: Finally, there’s the chance to find other people who are also learning. Joining a tech community will keep you accountable because there are others like you to learn and grow with. It’s probably one of the only instances—other than buying crocs—where peer pressure works for good. Starting next week, we’ll highlight the different African tech communities we’ve found and share their details and benefits. Don’t worry, we’re not selling you anything except the opportunity to find a village that will grow your tech career for free. The Entering Tech Shorts This edition of Entering starts with a question on if product marketers do the same thing door-to-door salesmen do. Martha Kingsmike, a product marketer at PiggyVest, tells all in one minute! Watch the 1-minute YouTube Short here! Ask a techie Q. As a law student who has a niche in finance but now wants to break into the tech space, is it really possible to combine the both? I hear a lot of techies say that finance and tech can’t really be intertwined, this isn’t about the fintech space. This is a bit difficult, because the combination of finance and tech is fintech, whatever way you look at it. Whether it’s building new solutions like Interswitch did, or digitising existing traditional solutions as with online banking and ATMs. For you, we’d suggest considering a career in compliance which is basically where you ensure that finance solutions are compliant with whatever laws that regulate the space. A great person to look to here would be Moe Odele and the Vazi Legal team. Although Moe isn’t into finance exclusively, she’s built a successful and exemplary career on helping tech companies achieve and maintain compliance by
Read More
- May 10 2023
Print 2023 JAMB admission letter using phone or PC
After successfully completing the JAMB exam and passing your preferred institution’s post-UTME screening, you’ll most likely be offered provisional admission. As such, students are required to print their admission letter. The admission letter serves as proof of admission and is needed for registration and clearance at your new institution. In this article, we will provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to print your JAMB admission letter in 2023. Meanwhile, if you want to learn how to print your JAMB original result slip, check here. Step 1: Visit the JAMB portal The first step to print your JAMB admission letter is to visit the JAMB portal at https://efacility.jamb.gov.ng/ and log in. You can log in by entering your JAMB registration number and password in the appropriate fields and click on “Login”. Step 2: Locate the menu bar on your JAMB profile home page Once on the homepage, locate the “Print Admission Letter” tab on the menu bar and click on it. This will redirect you to the admission letter printing page and you’ll see a Transaction ID generated for this service. Wait till this page fully loads. Step 3: Review the details before paying to print your JAMB admission letter Now, review the details displayed on the “Confirmation Page”. Also, take note of the Transaction ID written in bold red text. This notation is because the Transaction ID is useful for all future references concerning the transaction like failures or errors. A copy of this transaction ID will be sent to your email address too. Step 4: Make payment The next step to print your JAMB admission letter in 2023 is to click on the “Continue” button. If you would like to pay with your debit card, it’ll be an instant payment. In fact, it is the fastest. If you wish to use other payment channels like ATM, Bank payment or Quickteller, please note the transaction ID, you’ll need it as payment reference. But if you’ll be paying with your debit card, the Interswitch Payment page will require you to enter your card details and click on the Pay button. The cost of this service is between ₦1,000-₦2,000. Step 5: Confirm your transaction success Your payment status will be visible in the “My Payment Section”. And immediately your payment is successful, you will receive an SMS and email with your specific Transaction Identification and payment status. Then hit “Continue”. Step 6: Print your JAMB admission letter Once you complete your payment, you’ll need to enter the following into the appropriate fields: a. Exam year b. JAMB Registration Number. After entering the above correctly, punch the enter button and you’ll see a new tab with the letter pop on your screen. Click on the “Print” or the download icon and wait for the page to load then print if you have a printer. Ensure to save a soft copy on your computer or mobile device. This will serve as a backup in case you misplace the hard copy. Final thoughts on how to print your JAMB admission letter 2023 Printing your 2023 JAMB admission letter is a straightforward process. All you need is access to the internet, your JAMB registration number, and a means of payment. Please note it is important to print your admission letter as soon as possible to avoid any delays in your registration and clearance at your institution.
Read More- May 10 2023
Financial institutions in Africa say cybercrime is a bigger risk than political instability
For the second year in row executives of financial institutions in Africa have put cybersecurity concerns ahead of every risk factor in the financial services sector. 74% of the participants in the 2023 African Financial Industry Barometer survey say cybersecurity regulation needs improvement. According to the 2023 Africa Financial Industry Barometer, developed in partnership with the Africa Financial Industry Summit and Deloitte, 97% of surveyed executives at top financial institutions in Africa consider cybercrime a significant threat. Macroeconomic conditions (97%), political and social instability and security risks were also identified as the most prevalent threats facing financial institutions in Africa. Political or social instability and security risks are a close second perhaps signally some unease over the spate of military coups (5 in 2022 and 6 in 2021) and or internecine conflict in some regions. Across the continent, cybersecurity incidents result in losses estimated at between $3.5 billion and $4 billion every year. 97% of surveyed leaders of financial institutions in Africa rank cybercrime and regulatory constraints on cybersecurity as the leading threat to the financial services industry alongside worsening economic conditions. According to the report, the increase in the volume and sophistication of attacks explains why financial institutions consider cybersecurity a top concern. Four days ago, David Sennaike, a Nigerian cybersecurity professional published an article on social networking site, LinkedIn, claiming to have found a post Breached.co, offering leaked data containing customer data, login details of employees and API access of 43 Nigerian banks. Breached.co, is a dark web forum founded in 2022 after European Police shut down RaidForums, its predecessor. Sennaike says he tested the sample data and was able to verify its authenticity and view bank customers’ data including bank verification numbers (BVNs) and other customer information. Bidding for the dataset on the dark web forum started at $50,000 and was at $250,000 on the 7th of February this year, per a screenshot from Sennaike’s LinkedIn article. According to Sennaike, fintechs were also implicated in the leaked data. Several banks and fintechs in Nigeria have suffered cyber attacks or fraud incidents between 2022 and 2023, including MTN, which sued several banks in the country after losing $53 million from its mobile money service. TechCabal previously reported several alleged attacks on Flutterwave (the company denies this) which led to the company suing several recipients of the funds and freezing the bank accounts of 295 others, TechCabal reported. The worrying spate of cyber attacks and fraud has led to the creation of several groups to fight against fraud by sharing data, including Project Radar of which Flutterwave is a member alongside other fintechs and eKYC firms. The Africa Financial Industry Barometer report also shows the trend towards more data sharing. African financial institutions are becoming more willing to share incident risk data (approximately 50%), fraud data (42%) and data to enable interoperability of digital payments (50%). On average only 24% of financial institutions surveyed say they share data (on risk incidents, fraud, money laundering or cyber incidents). 36% say they plan to establish partnerships that will enable them to share data in the short to medium term. Only 15% of surveyed financial industry leaders consider how cybersecurity is regulated in Africa to be effective. 74% say there needs to be improvement and 11% of leaders do not know how cyber and information security is regulated or believe regulation is non–existent. Declining economic fortunes is also a major headache for financial institutions in Africa ranking side by side with cybersecurity concerns. The World Bank says economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa dropped to 3.6% in 2022 from 4.1% in 2021 and is expected to dip to 3.1% in 2023. Alongside sluggish growth globally, persistent inflation, and tough financial conditions with record debt will contribute to this decline in growth. However, despite concerns about the impact of poor economic outlook, banks, insurance firms and other financial institutions remain optimistic about their business prospects. Only 15% of respondents predict that unfavourable macroeconomic conditions will persist over the next three years in Africa.
Read More- May 10 2023
Nigerians want virtual dollar cards, but chargebacks make it complicated for fintechs
There’s a huge demand for virtual cards in Nigeria, and many fintechs are ready to supply. Fintechs are finding out the hard way that providing virtual cards also means dealing with expensive chargebacks. Ask anyone and they’ll tell you: international payments in Nigeria–and much of Africa–are a pain. A self-inflicted FX crisis in Nigeria has seen the Central Bank place monthly limits on international payments. Every Naira card user can only pay $20 per month. But people need to pay for way more than that, creating a business case for fintechs to offer virtual cards that let you make international payments with no limits. The appeal of virtual cards is that they make FX payments easy and also help people sidestep the bank charges that come with domiciliary accounts. For fintech startups, it’s a no-brainer. Virtual cards are a low-hanging fruit and a decent way of acquiring customers. Most of the work it takes to issue a virtual card is done by partnering with issuers like Visa. But virtual cards are difficult businesses. Every now and then, we get a glimpse into some of the more difficult parts of offering what seems to be a simple service. Because many Nigerian fintechs are reliant on foreign card issuers, they’re at their mercy. So service downtimes and shutdowns are common, and you’re likely to hear a lot about chargebacks. Chargebacks are a big problem for fintechs Chargebacks happen when customers request the return of their monies after transactions have been completed, usually because they were unable to access the service or product they paid for. But fraudulent players often attempt to get their cash back even after obtaining the service, creating problems for fintechs in the process. In March, the CEO of Union54, a fintech startup whose APIs allow other companies to issue physical and virtual dollar debit cards, gave an uncharacteristically frank interview to TechCrunch. The publication quotes him as saying, “We noticed a lot of fraud being attempted on our platform, which we detected and stopped. What people were trying to do was effectively use funds that they didn’t have…they were trying to use the cards for over $1.2 billion of attempted fraud.” Union54 eventually paused its card-issuing business, leaving many other fintechs that depended on them for card issuing in the lurch. In the last week of April, most Nigerian virtual card issuers deactivated their services. The root cause again was traced to Mastercard’s displeasure with the increasing frequency of chargebacks in Nigeria. (Mastercard requires merchants to maintain a chargeback rate of less than 1.5% of transactions). “Nigeria is a high-risk market for virtual card providers. It’s so bad that global providers like Mastercard have to constantly shut us down. Many users of virtual cards here have specialised in cashback fraud, lying to fintechs and requesting their money after successfully obtaining a service online. Others exploit the time gap between card payments and the actual debit to withdraw their money and escape payment. It’s just a big mess for us,” says an anonymous staff of an African-focused fintech with virtual card operations in Nigeria. Damilola Robert, a growth marketing manager at Bitnob, another African fintech that provides virtual dollar card services shared that vendors affected by chargeback fraud and failed transaction attempts kept reporting to the likes of Mastercard until something had to be done about it; including the recent 7-day switch-off that left thousands of Nigerian dollar card users in the lurch. Fintechs are taking a stand For the affected fintechs, chargebacks mean more operational expenses because the issuer charges a fee even for declined transactions. Fintechs initially put up with these costs over the years as they strived to gain market share. But in an environment where capital efficiency has become a watchword, those costs are being passed on to customers. Chipper Cash’s recently introduced a ₦500 ($1.09) fee for transactions declined due to insufficient funds. “We have unfortunately had to introduce the decline fee on our Chipper Card product, as a result of the high card network and third-party provider charges for these types of transactions,” Tefiro Serunjogi, Chipper Cash’s Head of Consumer Products, said in an email response to TechCabal Several other fintechs are taking steps to limit fraud cases and costs arising from transactions. Robert told TechCabal that startups, including Bitnob, will charge customers about $0.5 for such declined transactions, while fintechs still looking to attract customers are taking a milder approach: creating reminders for customers to top up and deactivating cards after a maximum of three failed transactions. “Many virtual card providers have also cut down the possible number of virtual cards each customer can obtain on their platform. They realised that giving a fraudulent customer five cards was tantamount to strengthening him to commit fraud in multiple volumes,” Robert added. Such moves by fintechs also underscore a determination to spend responsibly, stay EBITDA positive and remain compliant with their third-party providers, says Christian Bwakira, the CEO of Global Technology Partners, an MFS-Africa subsidiary that provides fintechs with the infrastructure to issue virtual cards. Can collaboration save the day? The common issue with chargeback fraud is that perpetrators are able to replicate their tricks and milk multiple startups connected to a common provider. This was the exact trend in Union54’s shutdown. To avoid this, fintech startups can leverage the power of collaboration by designing systems that restrict fraudsters from jumping across platforms, especially as they often do so with a unique ID. This solution may bear some semblance to Project Radar, the move by 13 African fintechs—including Flutterwave—to collaborate in an attempt to check repetitive fraud. However, data privacy concerns remain associated with these kinds of solutions. But when push comes to shove, and a handful of fraudsters are consistently shutting down an essential service for a whole country, then maybe a concession—or at least some considerations—have to be made.
Read More