Nigeria’s headline inflation accelerates to 33.69%, placing an imminent rate hike on the table
Consumer prices jumped consecutively in April, increasing the likelihood that the central bank will raise interest rates at a monetary policy meeting next week. Headline inflation in Nigeria quickened to 33.69% in April, closely matching Meristem analysts’ forecasts of 34.43%. Those estimates were based on increased demand for food products and biting fuel scarcity which is expected to raise transportation costs, significantly impacting this month’s results. Food inflation also rose sharply to 40.53%, as shoppers continued to seek cheaper alternatives to expensive staples like rice, bread and yam. Increased electricity tariffs and ongoing naira depreciation further fueled inflationary pressures. “The Central Bank needs to maintain a hawkish monetary policy stance, and on the fiscal policy side, the government needs to focus on supply chain, particularly the agricultural supply chain,” said Benjamin Boachie, Chief Economist at SecondSTAX, a Ghanaian fintech that provides access to stock markets for institutional investors, via an emailed response. He proposed deploying tools like “tax relief to targeted subsidies, to alleviate the worst effects of the current inflation for the most vulnerable.” Olayemi Cardoso, the Central Bank governor has pledged a return to orthodox monetary policies. The CBN introduced a raft of policies to ensure naira stability and guarantee investors confidence. The bank also aggressively raised interest rates in February and March 2024. However, those efforts have shown limited success, with some gains made in February 2024 with the currency being gradually eroded. Blaming the inflationary surge on President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms, labor unions are demanding a 20-fold increase in the minimum wage, from ₦30,000 to ₦615,000 per month, to address the rising cost of living.
Read MoreGlobal crypto exchange Kucoin suspends p2p naira trading
Three weeks after Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) met blockchain industry players and asked that they stop peer-to-peer trading, the global crypto exchange Kucoin has suspended all naira-based peer-to-peer trading. “As part of ongoing efforts to enhance our services, Kucoin will temporarily suspend all p2p Naira services and Fast Buy service via Naira card,” the company said in a notification to users. While the global crypto exchange Binance faces federal government charges, Kucoin has largely remained under the radar and it will hope to maintain the status quo with its decision to halt p2p trading. For weeks, the office of Nigeria’s Security Adviser has increased scrutiny of p2p crypto trading, mandating fintechs and banks to close bank accounts linked to trading and report said accounts to the authorities. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has also blocked thousands of accounts for trading crypto. On May 7, Emomotimi Agama, the SEC DG blamed the slide of the naira on cryptocurrency traders. “What is very critical and which has brought about this meeting is the concerns regarding crypto P2P traders and their effect on the exchange rate,” he said at that event. While the naira became the best-performing currency in April, it has since reversed all those gains. On May 14, the USD exchanged for ₦1520, a stunning drop and a reminder of the volatility that led to a ban on Binance in February 2024. This week, several currency traders in major cities told TechCabal that the EFCC had resumed arrests of street traders, in enforcement of the February ban. Despite these extreme measures, there’s no respite in sight for the naira and it remains to be seen if authorities will follow through with a plan to ban p2p trading and what form that ban may take.
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Zimbabwe might bring back mobile money agents
In partnership with Share this newsletter: Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Good morning We’re going to be all up in your ears about our upcoming podcast. So take a few minutes to fill out our survey and tell us what you’d like to hear from us. What kind of podcasts do you like? Let us know here. In today’s edition Zimbabwe proposes mobile money agents’ return Nigerian ride-hailing drivers score a win Bamboo debuts Nigerian stocks Inside Credit Direct’s lending ambitions The World Wide Web3 Opportunities Economy Zimbabwe proposes mobile money agents’ return to push ZiG Zimbabwe wants mobile money agents to operate again in order to boost the use of ZiG, its country’s new gold-backed currency. Why is this news? In July 2020, Zimbabwe suspended operations for mobile money agents. The government believed the agents fueled black market currency trading practices that destabilised the previous Zimbabwean dollar. Launched in April with hopes of reviving the economy, the ZiG is the country’s sixth attempt to fight hyperinflation. Initially valued at a promising 13.53 ZiG per US dollar, it slumped to a record low of 13.67 ZiG just a month later and efforts are being made to revive the currency. A new proposed solution: Zimbabwe’s Treasury proposes to re-allow mobile money agents from Econet Wireless, NetOne, and Telecel to operate in the coming weeks. By allowing mobile money agents to operate again, the government hopes to boost the ZiG, ultimately reducing reliance on the unofficial currency market. “The agents will act as a bureaux de change and help the public access small amounts of foreign currency for everyday use. This means if you have an Econet line and if you register for Ecocash, you can convert from ZiG to US dollars or from US dollars to ZiG at the official exchange rate. That is the first part to allow inter-changeability without having to go to the streets,” Kuda Mnangagwa, the deputy finance minister, told lawmakers in parliament last week. Measures that have been taken since the launch of ZiG: The National Prosecuting Authority reports over 100 street money traders arrested nationwide, primarily in Harare, for alleged involvement in selling against the official rate, acts that have contributed to the currency crisis. Last week, the Zimbabwean government announced a 200,000 ZiG ($14,782) fine for individuals and businesses caught not using the official exchange rate for the new ZiG currency in their transactions. In April, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe released a statement expecting that all the online payment platforms convert customer balances to the country’s new currency, the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) before April 12. All in all, the country is doing all it can to make sure that ZiG moves the right way. Read Moniepoint’s case study on family-owned businesses Family-owned businesses are everywhere, shaping our world in ways you might not expect. We’ve found some insights into how they work, and we’d love to share them with you. Dive in right away here. Mobility Nigerian ride-hailing drivers score a win In January 2024, ride-hailing drivers across the country started the year on a sour note marked by the death of one of their own. Adebayo Padmore, a driver with LagRide, collapsed on the morning of January 8, 2024, as he prepared for what many drivers have described as a maddening routine. Padmore was one of the many LagRide drivers who have complained about the platform’s unrealistic financing models. In fact, Nigeria’s union for ride-hailing drivers AUATON tagged the repayment method a “killer model”. Padmore’s death sparked conversations about the need for health insurance for ride-hailing drivers across the country. Now, months later, 12 ride-hailing apps have agreed to the drivers’ terms. Per TechCabal, the companies, including Rida, Bosscab, and Nairaxi, are rolling out health insurance—a first for the industry and a major victory after years of driver advocacy. The exact plans are being finalised, but initial coverage includes drivers only (family might come later). The health insurance plan will cover routine medical checks, surgery, cancer treatments, ante-natal, and drugs. “The HMO will be operational in the next 90 days after we create awareness in our state councils. We will start collecting check-off dues on the platforms that sign onto the agreement,” said Damola Adeniran, president of the App-Based Transporters of Nigeria (AUATON). The big boys are missing: Unsurprisingly, Bolt, inDrive, Uber and LagRide are not part of the agreement. While LagRide initially had health insurance coverage for its divers, these benefits were paused indefinitely shortly before Padmore’s death. Bolt, on the other hand, only offers drivers health insurance as an incentive to drivers contingent on them meeting certain targets. Moving forward, the union has plans to solidify its membership identification process. It also says it will continue lobbying for lower commissions, pension plans, and a voice in company decisions. 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. Companies Bamboo debuts Nigerian stocks on its platform Bamboo, a Nigerian investment brokerage firm that allows users to invest in U.S. stocks, has launched Nigerian stocks on its platform. What does this mean? This means users will have access to local assets and can now invest in local businesses on Bamboo. Bamboo used to just offer stocks from the U.S. Now, you can buy and sell stocks on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX) right from the Bamboo App. This includes companies like Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), MTN, and Dangote Cement. Furthermore, Bamboo plans to add new listings to the app whenever a company goes public ensuring users have access to a constantly evolving capital market. “We are thrilled to finally launch Nigerian stocks on the Bamboo platform. Among our investors, local stocks are by far the most in-demand asset class. We are incredibly proud to play
Read MoreCredit Direct, the digital lender with ₦4bn in 2023 profits wants a bigger piece of the pie
Digital lending is notorious for teaching expensive lessons. While every lender will talk up their proprietary algorithms and foolproof loan decision systems, many loan books will show that few have hacked profitable lending. Yet, Credit Direct, a digital lender whose name may not draw a flicker of recognition from most people, reported ₦4bn ($2.6 million) in profits for 2023. It will likely exceed that number in 2024 after recording ₦2.9 billion pre-tax profit for Q1. The company’s return on equity–a metric that shows how well a company squeezes profits from the assets on its balance sheet–is 45.5%. GTCO, one of Nigeria’s most efficient financial institutions, has a return on equity of 44.82%. It did not arrive here without some lessons; in 2016, the company had a loan loss provision of ₦4.6 billion after attempting to expand its customer base. Inefficient loan decision systems and the steep cost of refining those decisions may have driven those losses. But those dark days are firmly in its rearview. With experience as one of the oldest non-bank lenders, it is making another push to grab a larger size of the lending pie. “I think Credit Direct is Nigeria’s most successful fintech. We’re easily the most profitable,” says Chukwuma Nwanze, the company’s CEO. For all its success and longevity—the business is 17 years old—it’s not as popular as say, Fair Money or Palm Credit despite being a subsidiary of the FCMB Group. Other traditional banks talk up their subsidiaries—GTCO has touted Squad’s profitability, and Access Group will talk about Hydrogen to anyone who cares to listen–but FCMB Group has been happy to let its uber-profitable subsidiary move in silence. Yet, there’s a group of customers to whom Credit Direct is a household name: civil servants. Credit Direct is one of the most popular digital lenders among paramilitary officers: members of The Nigerian Police Force, The Nigeria Customs Service, Civil Defence, the Nigerian Correctional Service and the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA). It has given loans to 1.5 million civil servants across 25 cities and states. “For federal government employees, the average loan size is around ₦450,000 monthly. For state government employees, it differs. In Kogi state, it’s around ₦120,000 while it’s ₦300,000 in Lagos.” “Across our entire portfolio, the average loan size is around ₦250,000. For businesses, it’s ₦4.5 million. These government workers, with their famed job security, are dream customers. Thanks to a partnership with the state and federal government, their loan repayments are deducted as soon as they receive their salaries, significantly lowering the chance of defaults. The customer segment is not without risk. State governments often fall behind on salary payments, making it difficult for employees to repay loans. In August 2022, the Nigerian BudgIT, an organisation that promotes transparency in government, showed that 12 state governments were owing salaries. Lenders in the sector need to have their wits about them. Once you figure out how to balance out the risks, lending to civil servants may help build a stable business. But it will leave you with a perception problem and a lack of visibility among another significant market segment: private sector workers. “We have almost 30% of market share when it comes to lending to guys in the public sector so we are characterised as a civil service business. That is the narrative we need to switch.” Part of that switch drove a digital transformation initiative that has reduced its reliance on loan agents that trawl government offices offering loans and ensuring prompt repayment. It has cut down its number of agents from 1,500 to 400 at a time LAPO Microfinance Bank, one of its fiercest competitors, continues to leverage agent distribution. But Nwanze, who became CEO in 2023, believes digital channels are the key to expansion and scale. “25% of our sales last year were through USSD. It accounted for over 20 billion in terms of loans originated in 2023.” Despite a prompt on its website to download a mobile app from the Apple Store and Google Play store, nothing happens when they click the prompt. The company shared that it does not have a customer-facing app. It’s doing brisk business regardless and claims to disburse around ₦500 million daily and says all its loan decisions–made by assessing several data points to determine willingness and ability to repay—are digital. “We are not in the business of giving all those very quick five thousand, twenty thousand loans at 28% per month.” Instead, it has defined pricing for customer segments depending on the risk. It claims its loans are priced at around 3.5% to 4.5% per month. “We are very efficient around pricing. we look for those key points that will make that customer always come. If you work in the private sector and based on your credit history and whatever variables we do, we can then adjust our pricing but we never take it up to an unreasonable level.” We attempted to take a Credit Direct Nano loan—a personal loan capped at ₦50,000–at the time of this article but didn’t receive a decision in the ten hours it took to publish this article. That timeline may not win it a lot of fans in the private sector it is expanding into. It may offer better rates than competitors, but will also need to account for speed. Nwanze acknowledges as much. “Many people consider speed and convenience over price. Will they get the money now?” Ultimately, Credit Direct is unfazed by competitors in the new space it is looking to grab market share in. With a belief that customers don’t have any real loyalty to a single financial institution, it will be banking on 17 years of data, its expensive lessons and impressive growth over the past year to change its perception. Will the second push for a larger make be the charm? Only time will tell.
Read MoreNigerian B2B e-commerce startup OmniRetail Tops FT Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies list
Nigeria’s OmniRetail, a B2B e-commerce startup, is the fastest-growing company in Africa, according to the Financial Times ranking of the fastest-growing companies in Africa. This year’s list is the third edition, and ranks companies according to cumulative annual growth revenues, is dominated by South African and Nigerian firms. OmniRetail, a startup founded in 2019, grew its revenues by 772.39% in 2022, to $139.8 million. Mauritian Kyosk Digital, a B2B platform that connects retailers to FMCG manufacturers, was ranked second at 647.37% CAGR followed by South African employment services firm Resourgenix Pty Ltd at 542.65%. The two companies had revenues of $155 million and $33 million respectively. Moniepoint, one of Nigeria’s biggest payment startups, and commodities brokerage Afex Commodities Exchange closed out the top five with revenues of $149 million and $415 million respectively. Of the 125 companies that made it to this year’s list, 42 were South African, 25 were Nigeria, while Kenya and Morocco had 12 companies each. This year’s list continues the dominance of B2B startups on the continent. While 2023’s list was topped by Afex and Moniepoint, both fintechs, e-commerce firms had the most slots– highlighting the growing popularity of models disrupting retail distribution on the continent. In this year’s edition, the FT said that the ranking recorded a wider spread of companies. The previous lists were dominated by countries that attract the highest startup funding–South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya.
Read MoreNigerian drivers secure health benefits from 12 ride-hailing companies
Twelve ride-hailing companies will begin offering health insurance to drivers in the first major win for driver welfare years after drivers started pushing for better working conditions and benefits. Rida, Indrive, Bosscab, SimpliRide, and indigenous Nigerian mobility providers like Nairaxi have agreed to offer drivers health insurance, according to one person familiar with the discussions. “We are still finalising the technical details,” the same person said, asking not to be named as he was not authorised to speak on the matter. “The initial offering covers drivers only, but family coverage is a future consideration.” Benefits like health insurance are a touchy subject in the ride-hailing industry because they’re tied to whether drivers should be classified as employees or independent contractors. Major ride-hailing companies argue that since drivers are independent contractors, they should cater to their health insurance. Uber, Bolt, and LagRide, three leading ride-hailing companies are not part of the agreement. Bolt offers drivers health insurance as an incentive to drivers contingent on them meeting certain targets. LagRide pulled its health insurance benefits shortly before the death of a driver Adedayo Padmore in January 2024. The death of Padmore increased the calls for health insurance for drivers. The health insurance plan will cover routine medical checks, surgery, cancer treatments, ante-natal, and drugs. “The HMO will be operational in the next 90 days after we create awareness in our state councils. We will start collecting check-off dues on the platforms that sign onto the agreement,” said Damola Adeniran, president of the App-Based Transporters of Nigeria (AUATON). The union is also working on membership which will help identify members. The union will continue to press for major ride-hailing companies to lower their commission, and pension benefits and for a seat at the decision-making table.
Read MorePaystack’s payments push pays off as bank transfer volume doubles in 2023
Cash may still be king on Nigerian streets, but bank transfers have become the favorite for online transactions. Bank transfers accounted for over half of all transactions processed by Paystack, the Stripe-owned Nigerian fintech, in 2023, doubling the figure from the previous year. Data from Paystack showed that bank transfers represented 58% of transactions in Nigeria in 2023, up from 28% reported in 2022. Card payments accounted for 36% of Paystack transactions in 2023, while internet banking and other payment options represented 4% and 2% respectively. Paystack introduced pay with bank transfer in 2017, supporting seven financial institutions and the payment method has surged in popularity in recent years. The company’s broader strategy to expand beyond web-only payment collection has likely contributed to the surge in the adoption of bank transfers. In October 2023, it launched virtual terminals that allow merchants to accept payments with bank transfers for multi-person businesses. It also introduced Paystack-Titan virtual accounts—off the back of a partnership with Titan Trust Bank—which the fintech claims cut the latency of bank transfers to less than 8 seconds. “Bank transfers are fast becoming the go-to payment method for a growing number of consumers in Nigeria,” Shola Akinlade, Paystack CEO told TechCabal in October 2023. In a low-trust environment where buyers and sellers want payment confirmation before completing a sale, bank transfers have become the preferred method of payment. The growth in the bank transfer payment channel shows that Paystack’s broader focus on non-card alternatives is paying off. In November 2023, the fintech launched a direct debit product that allows Nigerian businesses to charge customers’ bank accounts directly. The largest single transaction on Paystack in 2023 was via direct debit: ₦261 million. In the past year, Paystack has been looking to develop fintech products on top of consumers’ bank accounts. This approach cuts out debit cards, which have long played the role of middleman between merchants and consumer payments. However, card transactions, with its pool of fintech participants, carry additional costs to merchants and users, causing the final transaction amount to rise slightly above the original price of the service.
Read MoreWhat’s the more sustainable path to Africa’s AI participation?
During the closing ceremony of the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy Workshop in April, Nigeria’s minister of technology, Bosun Tijani, announced that the project has received $3.5 million in funding from interested partners. This AI strategy project has been one of the principal agendas of the minister since his appointment in 2023. Tijani, who has been vocal about his plans to shape the direction of AI in the country, believes that AI is at the helm of the digital conversation now, and Nigeria needs to be a part of that, or risk being left behind. He’s not wrong. AI has seen robust investment across the world with AI-related startups raising about $50 billion globally in 2023 alone. Investors and tech companies are putting unprecedented amounts of money into the sector as they have recognised the huge financial returns, as well as the access and innovation that AI is unlocking. Africa alone could see its economy expand by $1.5 trillion if it can capture 10% of the growing AI investment, according to a report. Currently, Africa holds less than 1% of the AI market, and the majority of AI-related projects are surface-level, with investors being unsure if the continent has what it takes to build deeply-rooted AI solutions that can move the needle enough. According to Olu Oyinsan, managing partner of Oui Capital, Nigeria is in the stage of using AI rather than building AI startups like the rest of the world. “There are the fundamental models which are capable of taking large amounts of data, and there are AI models that include just using AI as a part of its tech stack—which is where we’re at,” he said. Oui Capital has five startups in their portfolio that deploy AI, including Duplo, Ndovu, and Maad; and Oyinsan believes that is the more sustainable model of AI introduction on the continent. What chance does Africa have in the AI race? According to Oyinsan, the jury is still out on whether or not Africa can catch up to the rest of the world on the foundational level of AI. The major reason being that the continent doesn’t seem to have the resources—like technical talent—required to build AI startups. “Because tech talent is now more borderless than it used to be, most of the brilliant AI engineers in Africa are not working for African companies,” he said. “They’re developing foundational models for companies outside Africa, which is more lucrative for them, and that is the real problem we have to tackle before we can have an actual African AI movement.” Between 2022 and 2023, African AI-focused startups in general received a total of $641 million in investments from VCs. In Asia, this figure was as high as $3 billion, with a single startup, Moonshot AI, securing $1 billion in a funding round. “I wouldn’t say that as investors, we’re looking for AI startups in Africa, but we recognize that startups that can successfully use AI into their existing stack will probably outdo their competitors,” he said. “We’re already behind on the AI arms race, but we’re not behind on the application level. Companies here can use already developed models to plug and play into a tech stack or further develop and customize it for what they need it to do.” Ayobamigbe Teriba, a partner at another VC, HoaQ, is more optimistic. He believes that beyond solutions that use AI, building successful AI startups in Africa is achievable and crucial. According to him, innovators on the continent have to find a way to build out these fundamentals that ensure representation and inclusion in the “next innovation paradigm”. “Building foundational data models in Africa using African data is extremely important,” he said. “We may lose out on major corporate development activities (acquisitions) from foreign corporations in the future if we cannot build AI products that reflect the Nigerian/African reality.” Teriba believes that heavy investment has to be made into ensuring that African companies can accomplish this, and he is optimistic that, for a country like Nigeria, this won’t take too long. “The AI groundwork, such as building Large Language Models (LLMs) is underway, catalysed—interestingly—by the public sector [ministry of communications, innovation and digital economy]. I believe that there will be increased capital flows into this vertical, taking a cue from investor enthusiasm in the public markets,” he said. In 2023, Africa’s pioneering AI startup, InstaDeep, was acquired by a German biotech company BioNTech in a deal worth $684 million. InstaDeep was one of the only AI-focused startups from the continent that scaled to a global level, and Ayo is convinced that the continent could see more of this if the initial investment is made to cultivate them. According to InstaDeep’s cofounder, Karim Beguir, one of the major reasons why they founded the startup was to show that Africa had the potential to build AI and deep tech solutions. “The large players like Open AI and Microsoft are not necessarily going to be the ones to solve the problems of Africa,” he said. One of the biggest challenges that InstaDeep has had to navigate is finding and retaining talent and while the solution for them was to offer stock options alongside mouth-watering financial benefits, this is not realistic for other AI companies on the continent amidst stiff competition from AI giants in other parts of the world. In Nairobi, the Artificial Intelligence Centre for Excellence (AICE) led by John Kamara is working to find a way around this by training AI engineers for the continent. Kevin Simmons, a venture capitalist at LoftyInc Capital, shared that more organisations and startups like AICE are building in the fundamental AI space, but aren’t visible due to the sheer time it takes for these larger models to be built and tested. “It’s too early to conclude whether or not African countries are left behind in the AI race,” he said.
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – It’s raining taxes
In partnership with Share this newsletter: Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Good morning What do you look out for in a good podcast? Ease of access, hot topics, or the host’s soothing voice? We’re working on a podcast and we need your input so we create something worthwhile. Please take a minute to share your podcast preferences with us here. In today’s edition Nigeria wants to waive taxes for SMEs Kenya proposes significant tax on digital marketplaces Tanzania goes after unlicensed loan apps Paga shifts gears to consumer app The World Wide Web3 Opportunities Economy Nigeria wants to waive taxes for SMEs Critics have tagged the President-Tinubu-led administration as tax masters. Since it took office, the Tinubu-led government has introduced a slew of levies, with its latest being a 0.5% cybersecurity levy for all transactions. It appears the government might be having a rethink about its tax reforms. A proposed tax waiver: In its newly proposed tax reform, businesses that earn less than ₦25 million ($17,000) a year will be exempt from paying taxes. These businesses make up the bulk of Nigeria’s informal economy, contributing 57.7% of Nigeria’s 2022 GDP. Businesses in the informal economy also contribute largely to employment across the country where unemployment rates is on a steady increase. The government claims it is lending a helping hand to these businesses to cushion the effect of inflation which stands at 33%. These businesses will be exempt from paying withholding tax, company income tax, and payroll taxes. Why it matters: Nigeria has the largest informal economy in sub-Saharan Africa. While taxes are the government’s way of making money, the informal sector, which contributes a large portion of the Nigerian economy, suffers from 33% inflation, which has made it more difficult for businesses to make a living. High inflation eats into their customers’ purchasing power, making it harder to sell products and services By exempting these struggling businesses from taxes, the government is hoping to give them some breathing room. This could allow them to stay afloat, keep people employed, and maybe even contribute more to the economy in the long run. It’s a gamble, but one that could pay off for both businesses and the country. The proposed tax reforms may not be implemented until 2026. Currently, the reforms are undergoing private-sector consultations, after which they will be submitted for review to the National Assembly. Read Moniepoint’s case study on family-owned businesses Family-owned businesses are everywhere, shaping our world in ways you might not expect. We’ve found some insights into how they work, and we’d love to share them with you. Dive in right away here. Regulation Kenya proposes a significant tax on digital marketplaces One year ago, almost exactly to this date, we wrote a TC Daily edition titled “Kenya’s content creator tax”. That edition broke down Kenya’s proposed 15% withholding tax for content creators. The Finance Act of 2023 which initially proposed the 15% withholding tax faced criticism, and the Act was amended, before being passed. The final version charges online content creators a much lower withholding tax rate of 1.5%. Now, Kenya wants that tax to extend to all online platforms created by non-residents. According to the Kenyan Wall Street, amendments have been proposed to the 2023 Act, and these amendments include new provisions that would increase taxes on online platforms and marketplaces operating in Kenya. The proposed amendments will make S.3 of Kenya’s Income Tax Act specifically list which digital marketplaces will be subject to Kenyan tax laws. Listed marketplaces include ride-hailing services, food-delivery services, rental, professional, freelance and task-based services. The proposed “Significant Economic Presence Tax” won’t just apply to established ride-hailing companies, it will also target startups whose founders aren’t Kenyan residents. This tax can be as high as 20% of their annual gross turnover. The tax is a significant—no pun intended—increase from the 1.5% digital services tax that’s presently in place for these digital platforms. Kenyans are on a rocky road: Imported cars could also see a 2.5% annual tax on their values if the amendment passes. What’s critical about the bill, though, is that it provides Kenya’s tax watchdog, the Kenya Revenue Agency (KRA) with powers to fine businesses who don’t integrate the tax monitoring system eTIMS into their services. The proposed act doubles the payable fines from the KES1 million initially announced by the KRA when eTIMS launched last year. The KRA’s insistence on eTIMS isn’t too farfetched seeing as the agency generated KES 2.166 trillion ($32.2 billion) using the service in 2023. 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. Regulation Tanzania’s apex bank goes after unlicensed loan apps 2022 was the year a few apex banks across Africa set their sights on unlicensed digital lenders. In Kenya, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) released new regulations that cut the number of digital lenders in the country from 480 lenders to just 51 by 2024. Nigeria’s consumer protection watchdog, around the same time, also released similar guidelines that required the country’s teeming digital lenders to be licensed or face heavy fines. So far, Nigeria has 225 fully-approved lenders, 41 with conditional approvals, and 88 more on a watchlist. Now, Tanzania is joining the fray. The East African country’s central bank is banning unlicensed digital lenders, targeting over 100 shady apps offering quick cash. Why the crackdown? These countries have concerns about predatory practices like sky-high interest rates and public shaming of borrowers who fall behind. These lenders, using the borrowers’ contact lists, typically send messages like: “This person is owing us money, and you’re one of his guarantors. Tell him to pay or else we’ll embarrass both of you”. In extreme cases, the messages are more explicit and contain the threat of
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Profitable Paga doubles down on mobile app
When Tayo Oviosu founded Paga in early 2009, he believed mobile phones could bring financial services to all Africans. It meant creating a mobile app, but it was still early days in Nigeria’s financial services industry, and KYC and identification frameworks were almost nonexistent. It forced a change of plans. Instead of an app, Paga launched PoS systems that are now extremely popular and is a prominent player in the financial services space. “At the end of March 2024, we had processed 335 million transactions since inception, worth over ₦14 trillion ($32 billion), and we did 80 percent of that in the last five years. This last quarter was our best quarter ever,” Oviosu said. “Last year, we grew gross profits north of 200% year-on-year. Our Nigerian business was profitable for the third year.” Oviosu declined to share actual profitability figures. 15 years and trillions of naira processed transactions later, Paga is refocusing on a mobile app it first launched in 2020. The Paga app, which the company says has 4.5 million users (it did not disclose the number of active users), allows users to create mobile accounts, pay bills, buy airtime, and send money. The focus on a consumer fintech app comes as digital payments is experiencing explosive growth. In 2023, an ill-considered currency redesign saw fintech startups process record volumes. While a rising tide lifts all boats, it also creates competition and everyone wants in on the fintech action. Nigeria’s biggest banks have floated standalone fintech products and well-funded startups Moniepoint and OPay have grabbed a large share of the consumer market. “This is not a winner-take-all market. There are different segments of the market that everyone is focused on.” Oviosu believes Opay is his most direct competitor, but clarifies that both companies have differing approaches to the market. “Our primary target is a slightly higher audience than Opay’s, not to say we don’t have an overlapping audience.” Beyond market segmentation, Paga’s focus is delivering a superior customer experience. “You won’t see a video saying people lost their money in Paga. If there is any issue, we’ll resolve your problems.” Diversification is important for Fintech startups Paga offers three services: agency banking; a wallet-as-a-service that allows developers to leverage the fintech’s wallet infrastructure, and the Paga mobile app. With 50,000 agents, Paga’s agent banking business is likely sizeable, but intense competition in the agency banking space and the distribution of PoS which are heavily subsidised puts pressure on operating margins. “Before businesses make enough to recover the payments on the devices, people will start dropping off. There is no loyalty there.” Oviosu believes saturation in the space will kill off margins and predicts a turn to tap-to-pay as the preferred means of payment in the future. While the jury is still out on what the future will bring, the present problem in the financial services space is the rising incidents of fraud. Between April and June 2023, Nigerian financial institutions lost ₦5.5 billion to fraudulent loan accounts, per data from a FITC report. These incidents are causing perceptible friction between traditional banks and neobanks. Fidelity Bank—which lost ₦2 billion ($2.5 million) to fraud—restricted transfers to OPay, Kuda, Moniepoint, and Palmpay in October 2023. Several financial services experts often claim the KYC processes of neobanks are lax and are easily exploited by bad actors. In December 2023, the regulator weighed in, standardising KYC processes for neobanks and requiring identification for all accounts. “We made that decision with the CBN to counter fraud. We wrote a whitepaper to the industry: the banks, and mobile money providers, which led to discussions that ultimately shaped the recently revised CBN regulation.” The discussions with regulators continue to be ongoing, with a recent directive prohibiting neobanks from onboarding new customers as authorities crack down on crypto trading. As Paga turns to the future, it plans to launch in another African country and prefers not to be drawn into conversations about an exit. When we press, Oviosu only shares that he prefers a strategic acquisition over an IPO. “I think the pressures of running a public company are such that for most people, it’s hard to do that, and still stick to the long game.” “I want to build a multibillion-dollar business that is valuable to somebody else to take and continue that vision.”
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