TechCabal Daily – Netflix’s Nigerian Money Hoist

In partnership with Share this newsletter: Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Happy pre-Friday Looks like the binge-watching days of “Netflix and chill” in Nigeria are getting more expensive.  The streaming giant has increased subscription fees for the second time this year. Nigerian subscribers are facing another price jump, with tariffs rising by 20% to 40%. From the pocket-friendly mobile plan now at ₦2,200 ($1.38) to the premium package at a hefty ₦7,000 ($4.40), it’s clear that Netflix is taking Nigerians on a Money Heist.  With rising inflation and food costs, this price hike is the last thing many Nigerians need. In today’s edition Facebook deletes 63,000 accounts belonging to alleged fraudulent Nigerians Risevest in talks to acquire Kenya’s Hisa ChopNowNow eyes grocery delivery comeback Neta Auto zooms into Kenya The World Wide Web3 Events Social media Facebook deletes 63,000 accounts belonging to alleged fraudulent Nigerians Facebook has removed 63,000 Instagram accounts allegedly connected to sextortion activities. The company said these accounts belonged to internet fraudsters who blackmailed victims to get money. Meta goes hard: In April, the social media company said it would not tolerate sextortion and introduced new measures to its app, like asking users for double confirmation to send or open messages that contain obscene photos, and banning accounts that shared these images. Stricter approval measures were even given to those under the age of 18 as teens in the United States have previously been targeted in these scams. While conducting an audit, Facebook discovered a smaller coordinated network of 7,200 accounts linked to suspicious activities, including using fake photos, providing tips for “conducting scams”, or seeming like bots or fake accounts.  Facebook’s move is not without reason as the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned that sextortion is one of the growing cybercrime threats. In these cases, offenders would pressure minors to send explicit images or videos. They then threaten to release the compromising material unless the victim produces more. Two blackmailers from Nigeria pleaded guilty in April to sextortion allegations that led to the death of 17-year-old Jordan DeMay. Following another ugly situation that painted a bleak image for the country, director of Nigeria’s National Cybercrime Centre (NCCC), Uche Ifeanyi Henry, said his officers are hounding these criminals. According to him, many of them are “moving to neighbouring countries because of their activity” against cybercrime. Read Moniepoint’s 2024 Informal Economy Report Did you know that only 2.8% of informal businesses are started out of passion? Click here to find out the motivation of businesses in Nigeria’s informal economy. M&As Risevest in talks to acquire Kenya’s Hisa Acquisitions are often used as an expansion strategy. As businesses like Canal+ and Access Holding have mastered the ropes, RiseVest, a Nigerian fintech startup that lets users access global investments and Nigerian stocks, is following in the footsteps of the great.  In 2023, Risevest acquired digital trading startup, Chaka. The fintech is now in talks to acquire Hisa, a Kenyan startup that allows users access to US stocks. Why does the acquisition make sense? Hisa is one of the most popular digital trading startups in Kenya’s nascent digital trading space. The startup is licensed by the Capital Markets Authority of Kenya (CMA) and the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). If successful RiseVest will gain Hisa’s market share in Kenya without the need to register a new entity and obtain new licenses.  The acquisition talks are still in the early stages, according to people close to the matter. Erik Suma, founder and CEO of Hisa will step down from his position. Collect payments anytime anywhere with Fincra Are you dealing with the complexities of collecting payments from your customers? Fincra’s payment gateway makes it easy to accept payments via cards, bank transfers, virtual accounts and mobile money. What’s more? You get to save money on fees when you use Fincra. Get started now. Startups Shuttered food delivery company, ChopNowNow eyes grocery delivery comeback Olamide Olaleye, founder of now-shuttered food delivery service, ChopNowNow, recently opened up about the challenges that led to his company’s closure in February 2024. How it started: ChopNowNow started in 2018 as a retail restaurant outlet that catered to Nigerians living in the affluent parts of Lagos. Then one day, Olaleye had an idea to expand into the food delivery market, offering last-mile delivery to customers at no charge. This was a great idea at first, as the company quickly grew in the three years that followed. Its logistics infrastructure went from three bikes to thirty, and customer orders kept pouring in. A free fall: But in a low-trust market like Nigeria, even perks like free delivery don’t ensure customer loyalty. In e-commerce, companies have tried to crack it with payment-on-delivery, but like free delivery, it is unsustainable. As competitors entered the space with similar offerings, customers swiftly switched allegiances, leaving ChopNowNow struggling to maintain market share. Its average order value reduced to ₦1,000 ($0.63) and the razor-thin margin dealt heavy blows to ChopNowNow’s bottom-line numbers. Add the rising inflation, this also meant that consumers had to tone down their spending, making ordering food online a luxury. In an honest admission, Olaleye said, “thin margins worsened by intense competition” were reasons for the decline. Running a food delivery service targeting the mass market is a difficult beast to tame globally, and Nigeria is no exception. Even well-funded companies like Bolt Food and Jumia Food have exited the sector.  Olaleye has learnt his lesson as he is now raising funds to rebrand his business as ShopNowNow, a grocery delivery business targeting only high-value orders above ₦25,000 ($15.78).  Shop, Party, and Play with Bumpa and Paystack Join us at the Bumpa Pop-up this Saturday, July 27th for a day of fun, food, and amazing deals Get a free ticket here → Mobility Neta Auto zooms into Kenya Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker NETA Auto is revving up its African ambitions with plans to open an assembly plant in Kenya. The company has already planted its flag in