Nigeria’s eNaira: High on blockchain, low on adoption
Nigeria’s master plan to make its eNaira mainstream has not recorded much success. From the unbanked to the banked, Nigerians are not adopting the country’s blockchain money. “I’ll pay you with eNaira” was my colleague’s way of teasing me about repaying a loan. If he were to pay into my eNaira wallet, I’d have virtually no way of spending the money. Most merchants in Nigeria don’t accept the country’s digital currency, and not many tech-savvy folks are convinced that this blockchain-based money has what it takes for mainstream adoption. Despite the investments of the central bank of Nigeria, Nigerians do not care much about the eNaira, Africa’s first central bank digital currency (CBDC). Mr Tobi Aremotobi, a Lagos-based digital finance expert, refers to the venture as “an exercise in futility”. Launched in October 2021, the eNaira became the world’s second public CBDC, after the Bahamas’ Sand Dollar project. Two months away from a second anniversary, the digital currency is still struggling with adoption. A recent IMF report showed that the average number of eNaira transactions is about 14,000 per week—only 1.5% of the number of wallets. This suggests that 98.5% of wallets, for any given week, have not been used even once. These numbers reflect a “disappointingly low adoption”. A use case, please? Many Nigerians have stressed that the eNaira lacks a use case compelling enough for them. According to the CBN’s master plan, the low transfer fees should drive eNaira adoption among Nigerians, especially among the youth demography who have demonstrated market potential for startups offering digital-first financial services. However, as it turns out, low-cost transfers take less priority than the form in which the money gets moved. Money can be either cash or digital. And when it’s digital, it can be either centralised fiat or decentralised cryptocurrency. The eNaira—like all CBDCs—doesn’t fit into either category. It introduces a new class of digital money that most Nigerians are only just discovering, right as they are being urged to adopt. The corollary effect, therefore, is hesitation. “I still can’t wrap my head around why we need another digital means of keeping money that takes away some banking perks,“ Aremotobi said. “If the eNaira remains a means to transfer value or pay my bills online, it is welcome to queue behind the one thousand options I already have.” Aremotobi’s point highlights a conversation crypto evangelists are familiar with: a monetary asset must have compelling use cases beyond being a value store. Perhaps, the CBN’s response to this line of thought would be in its three-point motivation for the eNaira. Through the digital currency, the apex bank wants to increase financial inclusion, reduce informality, and tap into Nigeria’s expanding remittance markets. The remittance play remains in the works, but the CBN has doubled down on its eNaira-powered financial inclusion agenda. That, however, is yet to demonstrate reasonable traction. ENaira versus mobile money According to the IMF report on the eNaira, “Nigeria has a large informal economy….Once the eNaira becomes more widespread and embedded into the economy, it may bring greater transparency to informal payments.” This position highlights the ambitions of the eNaira to simultaneously penetrate the informal market as it strives to power financial inclusion nationwide. Essentially, the eNaira wants to operate with established mobile money frameworks. To do this, the CBN can take either of two routes: leverage established mobile money networks to onboard CBDC users, or go all out to construct a retail access network. The former model will prevent the apex bank from providing retail banking services, and will require users to route their monies through their mobile money accounts to their eNaira wallets—a model that will come at an extra service cost. The bright side to this model, according to the IMF, is that it de-risks users’ mobile money balances—as the cash typically leaves the accounts of the financial institutions powering the mobile money services. This strategy, despite being the eNaira’s best shot at bagging some financial inclusion laurels, shows a lack of understanding of Nigeria’s mobile money market. Unlike Kenya’s MPESA or Senegal’s Wave, mobile money in Nigeria is not primarily used to hold balances. The country’s leading players—Paga and Opay—are extensively adopted for cash-in cash-out transactions. Payments and transfers come second, and are mostly completed by cash-full customers. Even the option to convert from cash to CBDC wallets is likely to face hesitation as such behaviour is not in line with prevalent consumer trends. So far, the CBN’s drive to put eNaira on the streets has churned out initiatives like USSD-powered eNaira operations and account tiers for the unbanked. As an added incentive to proselytise the digital currency adoption, thousands of CBN’s staff receive stipends into their eNaira wallets. The apex bank also claims that it has encouraged major supermarkets to adopt payments in eNaira, but big names like Shoprite, Spar, and Addide are yet to demonstrate nationwide adoption. From a financial inclusion lens, these moves by the CBN seem laudable, but the struggling adoption suggests that there’s something still amiss in the strategy mix. Nosa Oyegun, who leads the product team at Kuda, describes the eNaira’s mission to capture informal markets as an uphill struggle. “Given how it [the eNaira] was rolled out, it’s tall order now. it’ll be hard because of how it stumbled out the blocks. [The rollout] should have been USSD-driven if that was the goal. From a product perspective, Oyegun believes the eNaira has all the elements needed to be dominant. ”The government is behind the eNaira, there’s hardly any bigger moat than any competitor could ever have,” he said. Is trust the missing piece? The CBN and its eNaira have a trust deficit they must overcome. Actions such as the ban on crypto, closure of crypto-linked bank accounts, forex manipulations, and more recently, the naira redesign, have left a negative impression of the apex bank and its policies on most Nigerians. Tech and blockchain enthusiasts who were affected by the crypto crackdown scoff at the idea of a CBN-controlled
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Latest ways to check SASSA status 2023
After you apply for the SRD grant, the next thing you want to keep up with is your payment status. You can check your Sassa status in a variety of ways and get your R350 social grant payment. The most prominent ways include using WhatsApp or the SASSA online portal on your phone or PC to check the status of your SASSA SRD grant. If you are looking for how to apply for the SASSA SRD grant, then read this. 1. Starting the status verification You must first go to the SASSA website to complete this step. Visit the official SASSA website at https://www.sassa-status.co.za or https://srd.sassa.gov.za/sc19/status by launching your favourite web browser. Locate the gateway for checking status tagged “Check Status”. Follow the instructions below when you’re on the portal: Provide the necessary details, including your phone number and ID number. Please be certain the data you enter is accurate. Click the “Check Now” or “Submit” button once you have verified the information you have entered and are certain it is accurate. See your SASSA status. The site will show your SRD SASSA status after you have submitted your information. The status of your application, the due date, and any further instructions could all be included in this. 2. Verify your SASSA status via WhatsApp There is an option to check your SRD grant status in case you are unable to use the SASSA website gateway for some reason. And this is through the mobile messaging service – WhatsApp. Simply send the word “Sassa” by SMS to the Sassa WhatsApp service’s 082 046 8553 number. When prompted, simply enter “Status” as your response. If you have a reference number, answer “Yes” to the following question, which should come next. Following that, enter your cell phone number, which you also gave in your grant application, and provide the reference number. Final thoughts on verifying your SASSA status In order to track the status of your application and ensure that you get the necessary financial aid, it is essential to check your SRD SASSA status often. You may quickly check your SRD SASSA status online or via WhatsApp by following the instructions provided in this article.
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New updates to SASSA payment collections 2023
There are some developments in SASSA payments that you may not yet know about. This comprehensive update highlights the recent changes and enhancements to the SASSA payment and how you can navigate them. Post office branches (SAPO/Post Bank) no longer disburse SASSA payments It is no longer possible to use the Bank Mobile Money Transfer (cash send option), this method was stopped due to potential security concerns. You now get your SASSA payments via a bank account. SASSA payment via bank account In addition to being the most convenient way to get your grant money, having it deposited directly into your bank account ensures you never have to wait in queue at the post office again. Per the terms of the award, the monthly payments will be made directly into the recipient’s bank account. Also, development implies that the person whose name appears on the bank account or mobile phone number used to collect the Covid-19 R350 grant funds must be the same person whose application was approved. When you run a SASSA status check, any incorrect information will be highlighted. Log in to the site and make the necessary changes to your bank account information if you believe it is wrong. SASSA payment collection greenlight You won’t be able to get your hands on the grant money until you get an SMS message confirming your payment approval. Now you should know the SRD Grant payment dates for this month after you have checked the SASSA payment status: SASSA payment dates for July 2023: Older Person’s Grants – Started Tuesday 4th July 2023 Disability Grants – Started Wednesday 5th July 2023 All Other SASSA Grants (inc Children’s Grant) – Started Thursday 6th July 2023 SASSA card and final thoughts As part of the above updates, SASSA also made it known that the SASSA Postbank Gold Cards that had previously expired would now be valid until the end of 2023. If you have a SASSA card, you can use it at stores like Pick n Pay to pay for groceries or get cash. With it, cash can be withdrawn from ATMs and retail locations using the MasterCard SASSA card issued to all recipients of SASSA subsidies.
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TechCabal Daily – The naira payout
In partnership with Share this newsletter: Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Happy pre-Friday We’re taking suggestions on how to make our Entering Tech Shorts better. Who should we feature next? What topics should we cover? Please leave us a review and let us know what you think. In today’s edition CBN approves naira payout for diaspora remittances Egypt set to launch NExSat-1 satellite Nigeria and Google to delist loan apps Apple updates its App Store prices in Nigeria, Egypt and Tanzania The World Wide Web3 Event: The Moonshot Conference Opportunities Economy CBN approves naira payout for diaspora remittances Image source: Zikoko Memes Nigerians will soon be able to send money to beneficiaries abroad in naira. Yesterday, the country’s apex bank announced that it had approved the payment of naira to beneficiaries of diaspora remittances. What it means: This means that banks and International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) can now pay their recipients in naira, ending a three-year ban. Part of the CBN’s circular said, “The Central Bank of Nigeria hereby announces Naira as a payout option for receipts of proceeds of International Money Transfers.” In December 2020, the CBN banned banks and IMTOs from paying recipients in Naira. The policy also stated that only banks could transfer funds onward to recipients. In theory, the CBN policy ended the business model of many digital remittance companies that allowed Nigerians abroad to send money directly to the Naira accounts of recipients. This recent policy removal is another step towards loosening the strict control the CBN has exercised over FX rates in the last five years. It’s also great for customers who can now choose between receiving their funds in foreign currency, e-naira and the Naira. Customers who choose to receive their funds in Naira will be paid using the Investors & Exporters Window rate on the day of the transaction. Secure payments with Monnify Monnify has simplified how businesses accept payments to enable growth. We are trusted by Piggyvest, Buypower, Wakanow, Fairmoney, Cowrywise, and over 10,000 Nigerian businesses. Get your Monnify account today here. Space Egypt set to launch NExSat-1 satellite Image source: YungNollywood Egypt is leading the way in Africa’s space exploration. The Egyptian Space Agency (EgSA) has announced plans to launch the NExSat-1 satellite before the end of this year from China, after successfully completing all satellite launch-related tests in Germany. The satellite is part of the Egyptian government’s strategic initiatives to develop satellite technology. About NExSat-1: NExSat-1 is a 65kg remote sensing earth observation microsatellite that was built by the Egyptian National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (NARSS) in collaboration with Berlin Space Technologies (BST). The satellite is said to be 45% locally engineered, and according to EgSA CEO, Sherif Sedky, NExSat-1 has a six-month lifespan and will be used for urban planning. There’s more: EgSA’s planned launch of NExSat-1 will follow the launch of MisrSat-2, another remote sensing satellite In October, also from China. Both satellites were originally scheduled to be launched last year. Zoom out: These consecutive missions represent significant achievements for the EgSA, showcasing its commitment to advancing its presence in space exploration and satellite-based initiatives, strengthening its position in the field. Consumer tech Nigeria and Google to delist invasive loan apps Image source: GIPHY Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) is taking some serious action to protect customers from loan application bullies. Per Techpoint, they’re even teaming up with Google to permanently wipe out these troublesome apps from their app store. Why are they doing this? Well, it’s all because of the relentless harassment and defamation that Nigerians have been enduring at the hands of these digital lenders. Some of these loan apps have stooped to unimaginable lows by gaining access to borrowers’ private and intimate pictures. Some even send messages to the borrower’s friends, threatening to expose these personal images unless the loan is repaid. The FCCPC is stepping up to the plate to ensure that Nigerians can breathe easy and borrow without fear. How so? Earlier in the year, the FCCPC mandated loan apps to register with it and approved about 173 apps to operate in the country. In April 2023, the Joint Task Force (JTF) and the FCCPC collaborated to develop the Limited Interim Regulatory/Registration Framework and Guidelines for Digital Lending 2022. This collaboration aims to establish clear rules and guidelines to govern the industry, protect users, and hold loan apps to higher standards. Even the tech giant, Google, has jumped on board to combat loan app harassment. They announced months ago that loan apps would not be allowed on their app store without regulatory approval. It’s a strong stance that can ensure only compliant apps make their way onto the platform. As of May 31, loan apps on the Play Store reportedly lost their ability to access users’ contacts or photos, an added layer of protection for users. However, despite these efforts, the FCCPC has uncovered a troubling fact: many of the loan apps causing distress to users are not found on Google. It’s a sobering realisation that highlights the need for users to be vigilant and exercise caution. The FCCPC advises users to steer clear of apps downloaded using apk files or those that operate on platforms like WhatsApp, as these are often the ones employing such invasive measures. Zooming out: Loan app harassment is a growing epidemic affecting other nations as well. Take Kenya, for instance, where the government is also cracking down on non-traditional loan providers who misuse user data. They have introduced new regulations that require loan companies to re-register as legal entities. So far, only 32 loan apps have received approval, indicating the scale of the challenge. 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Read MoreExclusive: CBN approves Naira payout for diaspora remittance
Nigeria’s Central Bank has now approved Naira payouts for diaspora remittance, ending a ban that had been in place since December 2020 In a circular dated July 10, 2023, Nigeria’s Central Bank approved the payment of the Naira to beneficiaries of diaspora remittance. The circular means that banks and International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) can now pay their recipients in Naira, ending a three-year ban. Part of the CBN’s circular said, “The Central Bank of Nigeria hereby announces Naira as a payout option for receipts of proceeds of International Money Transfers.” In December 2020, the CBN banned banks and IMTOs from paying recipients in Naira. The policy also stated that only banks could transfer funds onward to recipients. In theory, the CBN policy ended the business model of many digital remittance companies that allowed Nigerians abroad to send money directly to the Naira accounts of recipients. Months after the “Naira payment ban,” the CBN introduced the Naira for Dollar Scheme in March 2021. These policies were part of Godwin Emefiele’s attempts to encourage diaspora remittances to move through formal channels and boost FX liquidity. The bank hoped to squeeze unlicensed IMTOs out of business by insisting on paying recipients foreign currency. But given the popularity of digital remittance apps, which allow customers to receive money in Naira, it is doubtful that these policies succeeded. This recent policy removal is another step towards loosening the strict control the CBN has exercised over FX rates in the last five years. It’s also great for customers who can now choose between receiving their funds in foreign currency, eNaira and the Naira. Customers who choose to receive their funds in Naira will be paid using the Investors & Exporters Window rate on the day of the transaction. The CBN’s circular also updated the list of registered IMTOs in Nigeria. In February 2021, the CBN listed 47 approved IMTOs, but this week’s circular expanded the list to 62 companies. Some newly approved IMTOs include Comet Trading, CSL Pay Limited, Direkt Wire UK Limited, Fiem Group LLC DBA Ping Express, Lycamoney financial services limited, and SimbaPay Limited.
Read MoreMaandamano: Kenyans are using Twitter to protest a cost of living crisis
Kenyans are using the hashtag Maandamano on Twitter to protest the high cost of living. Offline, the protests have caused disruptions in public transport and businesses. For most Kenyans, Wednesday, July 12, was the mother of all protests, also referred to as Maandamano, over the towering cost of living crisis. The protests hope to stop the Kenya Kwanza government’s planned tax increase. Many groups, including the opposition coalition, Azimio La Umoja, public service vehicles (PSVs), and taxi association of Kenya, braced themselves for nationwide demonstrations today. The Star reported that the cost of living in Kenya went up by 13.4% in March 2023 alone. The most affected essential services are housing, transport, and electricity. There are polarised views on the #Maandamano. Supporters of the protests believe they are a genuine cry for the government to think about the “common mwananchi” struggling to make ends meet in the current economy. Kenya’s opposition leader, Raila Odinga, has been vocal about issues such as the high cost of living, false promises by the Kenyan government, unreasonable taxation, and little effort to fight corruption that has crippled the country. Most of his followers agree with him. Other Twitter users have dismissed the protests as a strategy by the opposition to stall any efforts by the Kenya Kwanza government to transform the country for the better. #Maandamano’s days have become synonymous with violence and destruction of property across the country as law enforcement officers take on the protestors. People have also raised concerns over the disruptions resulting from the protests. For instance, public transport stopped, which was a major challenge for people going to work. Most businesses were also closed due to fear of vandalism. What are Kenyans saying about the protests? Twitter has become a popular space where Kenyans share their encounters with the #Maandamano. One video shared widely on the platform is that of Matatu operators playing a game at the Nanyuki main stage where normal operations stopped. Heavy police vigilance nationwide did not prevent protestors from turning up for the habitual #Maandamano. Some places, such as Kangemi, Machakos, Mlolongo, and Nakuru, have been turned into a battlefield between stone-wielding protestors and armed police officers. This is Nakuru, the capital city of Rift Valley and president William Ruto’s bedroom #Maandamano #Maandamanowednesday pic.twitter.com/DalmYjWM5D — Karen Wanjiku HSC (@WanjikuHSC) July 12, 2023 As heavy as the issue is, other Twitter users have found an opportunity to joke about the #Maandamano. The users see the protests as a mid-week holiday or an early weekend break from their busy work life. Nairobi CBD is very quiet this morning. It is indeed a National Holiday#Maandamano#Tumechoka#Maandamanowednesday pic.twitter.com/NwzaI0ascr — Lord Tristan (@tristan_dmartel) July 12, 2023 Other users have expressed disappointment with the low police turn-up in their respective areas. One user even tagged the National Police Service account and requested them to send units to Oyugis, where protestors were bored. Leo oyugis polisi hawajakuja.Protesters wameboeka ajab Send units! @NPSOfficial_KE — Jakonyango (@Ja_Konyango) July 12, 2023 Are the protests making sense? Why are Kenyans angry? Kenyans are angry and frustrated by their government. The cost of fuel, food, and other crucial goods has exponentially increased in the last few years. Elected legislators have failed to address their grievances. As a result, many Kenyans have decided to express their frustrations on the streets. Opinions from public figures? Many public figures have also given their take on the #Maandamano. A video of the popular businessman Jimi Wanjigi has been shared supporting the protests to reduce the cost of living. Jimmy Wanjigi is in full support of Maandamano. It’s can’t get any sweeter #Maandamano #Maandamanowednesday pic.twitter.com/sSMbusZciN — Karen Wanjiku HSC (@WanjikuHSC) July 12, 2023 Kileleshwa MCA, Rober Alai, has also shared a series of tweets to support the #Maandamano and urged his followers to turn up for the protests. However, public figures affiliated with the Kenya Kwanza government have downplayed the protests, encouraged people to continue their daily hustle, and shun the demonstrations. Nairobi CBD bustling with beehive of activities as Kenyans continue with their daily hustle to fix the economy. Kisumu & Migori is the only place that demos are ongoing. I pray for Luo Nation that God shall receive salvation from shackles of Odingaism that has a signature of… pic.twitter.com/wSa9XUTnhx — Senator Kiprotich Arap Cherargei (@scherargei) July 12, 2023 Twitter has become a hub for Kenyans to express their opinions on various developments in the country. One should wonder if it is replacing traditional media, as locals use the platform to air their grievances widely.
Read MoreA bizarre security breach has scuttled crowdfunding efforts for Zimbabwe’s ChatGPT alternative
This story began as a feature article on a crowdfunding drive by AfricAI, the AI startup that developed chatbots, ZivAI and DanAI. Instead, it became an investigation into hacking, fraud, and industrial espionage allegations. While AI is a global hot topic, Zimbabwe has been locked out of a big part of the conversation. Sanctions from the United States and the European Union mean that ChatGPT, one of the most popular AI tools, is banned in Zimbabwe. But gaps like this create opportunities for entrepreneurs to develop alternatives. The two popular alternatives for Zimbabweans are ZivAI and DanAI–both created by a company called AfricAI. The chatbots have won the company media coverage, but in a bizarre turn of events, AfricaAI is now facing allegations of fraud. The allegations are connected to a crowdfunding drive in which the company raised over $24,000 of its $50,000 target in three weeks. Per the crowdfunding MOU, donors are “entitled to receive a proportional portion of 10% of the Company based on their contribution amount, upon Series [A] raise.” AfricAI suffers breach But on Friday, July 7th, AfricaAI shared in a press release that its fundraising page had been breached. Part of the statement read, “We regret to inform you of a recent security breach that occurred on our funding page. On July 7, 2023, an unauthorised individual gained access to our Superbase-hosted backer database. We have taken immediate action to address the situation and strengthen our security measures to prevent any such incidents in the future.” The company also claimed that a certain Michael Dera was behind the “hack”, claiming that he “exploited a vulnerability that allowed unauthorised access to our backer database.” Regardless, AfricaAI claimed that the funds donated were not lost. Dera disputes AfricAI’s characterisation of events and instead said that he only highlighted the company’s security deficiencies. “If you opened the page, you noticed that apart from sending blank transactions, they were also sending people’s personal details, including emails and phone numbers, without any sort of security. I also noticed that because everything was exposed like that, I could also do a post request to their website as well,” Dera told TechCabal on a call. Dera inflated the website’s figures to millions of dollars to show the vulnerabilities, sharing the process on social media. He said AfricAI was not truthful about the funds they had raised and the number of backers. “Hacker” accuses AfricAI of dishonesty Dera says his motivation was the company’s dishonesty about the funds they had raised and the number of backers. He shared a payload of the transactions he captured with TechCabal and insinuated that some donations were fake. Dera bases his claims on the manual nature in which most donations were added to the funding platform. AfricAI’s founder, Kuda Musasiwa, agreed that the transactions were added manually but only because some donors had sent funds via bank account transactions instead of the funding page. He also claims that those bank transactions were also recorded on Stripe. Musasiwa shared the transactions on his Stripe dashboard with TechCabal, which matched the payment IDs on the payload shared by Dera which TechCabal had asked to corroborate. Musasiwa’s rebuttal opens the possibility that Dera’s original claims may be false. While Dera still sticks to his judgment until he sees Musasiwa’s Stripe dashboard, he claims he will apologise if he’s proven wrong. “If I am proven to be lying, I will come out and apologise. I have nothing against being wrong.” If Dera accepts that his claims are wrong, the reputational damage to AfricAI would already have been done. How will AfricAI move forward? According to Musasiwa, the actions and accusations by Dera have caused indelible damage to AfricAI’s reputation and its ability to more funds. He blames Dera’s actions on jealousy and “industrial espionage” as Dera works for a competing software development firm. “Since the incident last week, we have seen a major slowdown in funding from even our most active backers. I would be the first to admit that we could have done better regarding security on the funding page but that does not give [Dera] the right to do what he did. He could have just reached out to us to correct the vulnerabilities but he chose to destroy our reputation instead,” he said. Moving ahead, ZivAI intends to beef up its security on all platforms, including the funding page, and also pursue legal action against Dera, a challenging route for a fledgling startup still raising funds to do the most basic functionalities like paying for equipment and paying employees. On the threats of legal action against himself, Dera stated that apart from social media “threats” from Musasiwa and his spouse, some of which he shared with TechCabal, he has not had any communications from Musasiwa’s legal team. “As far as I’m concerned, if I hacked their data, they’re supposed to report the incident to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office because that’s where their company is registered. GDRP requires that incidents like this be reported to them within 72 hours. Otherwise, there’ll be a financial penalty for that. The fact they have not done so speaks volumes.” When TechCabal asked Musasiwa what challenges they faced in the crowdfunding process in an earlier interview, he confidently said none, before adding that getting investors to believe in the project’s validity was the only challenge. Never would he have thought that an incident like this could derail their fundraising efforts. “Part of building tech products is learning from your mistakes literally every day. This has been a very unfortunate and costly incident but we continue on our mission to try build our platforms for the benefit of our users,” he concluded.
Read MoreOmnisient CEO speaks on being recognised as ‘tech pioneer’ by World Economic Forum
South African fintech startup Omnisient is one of seven African startups to be recognised as a tech pioneer by the World Economic Forum. South African data analytics fintech Omnisient has been recognised as a “tech pioneer” by the World Economic Forum. Launched in 2000, the Technology Pioneer community is composed of early-stage companies from around the world that are involved in the design, development, and deployment of new technologies and innovations and are poised to have a significant impact on business and society. Omnisient has developed a privacy-preserving process for banks to access new sources of consumer data for determining credit worthiness of individuals with no credit history. The startup claims that the process protects consumer privacy and removes the risks and challenges commonly associated with sharing consumer information. TechCabal caught up with Omnisient CEO Jon Jacobson to learn more about their business model and how they plan to leverage the recognition by the WEF to scale their business. Please tell us about Omnisient and the problem you are trying to solve. Jon Jacobson: The problem is that when you get privacy laws, what actually happens is it’s really good for people and for the consumer but it actually has an indirect impact on businesses trying to get access to data. We have to remember that data is the new oil and it is fundamental to most processes from customer acquisition, lead generation, etc. So Omnisient basically helps businesses utilise data by also abiding with the requisite privacy laws. It is a privacy-preserving data collaboration platform that allows businesses to collaborate on data insights on consumer behaviour and preferences. It so happens that by solving problems with privacy in mind, you can really solve some big problems. What challenges have you faced in trying to solve this problem in your core markets? JJ: The challenges are typical when building a new tech startup business from scratch. I’m a software engineer and I have been a programmer for most of my life so I’m cognisant of some of the problems a tech startup faces. The first one was getting funding to build our solution. Before getting seed funding from Investec, Nedbank, and a third investor, it was very tough. Another challenge, I would say, is getting customers to accept and use our platform. When you bring a new technology into the market, especially as a B2B business, it takes education for people to understand it which requires a substantial amount invested in marketing efforts. I think we addressed that challenge quite successfully because eight South African banks now use our platform. Our other customers include large retailers and insurance companies. Omnisient raised $1.2 million in November 2022. How has this funding helped to further the business’ mandate? JJ: It has been fundamental because when you service large organisations like banks, telcos, chain retailers, etc, you have to have good people on board, and good people don’t come cheap. So with the funding, we’ve built our team, all the tech and everything else. The funding has also helped us a lot with regard to research and development as we build out our product and also helped us to build very strong sales, marketing and business development teams. At this stage, we are doing $2 million in annual revenue runrate (ARR) in dollars and that kind of puts us in the Series A range and that’s actually what we’re going to be doing soon, going into the market to raise our Series A. Omniscient was recently recognised by the WEF as a “tech pioneer”. Please tell us how that came about. JJ: I would say that came about because of the continual effort that we put into our work. You might be doing something for two years and then you get recognised at the end of the two years, but you’ve already been doing it for a while. I think the difference is with us, some of the things we’ve been working on, have really come to fruition in the last year especially the managing credit risk side of the business. In March, we were awarded a significant award by the African Banking Summit in Nairobi for the most innovative financial inclusion technology. I think that put us on the map. One of the major things that the WEF focuses on is solving the financial, the financial inclusion problem. In South Africa, we’ve shown that we can identify 8 million of those people and make them credit worthy which is 16% of the population. I think just that work put us in the scope of the recognition by the WEF. What’s next for Omnisient? We’ve been on a journey to expand our business and to grow into new markets and this recognition by the WEF obviously helps. I’m actually at the airport on my way to China where I’ve got some super exciting meetings set up. So the recognition gives us access to very valuable networks and that’s vital to us. * This interview has been edited for style and clarity.
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Entering Tech #35: How [not] to use AI
This one is for writers and creatives. 12 || July || 2023 View in Browser Brought to you by Issue #35 How [not]to use AI Share this newsletter Greetings ET people Today, we’re revisiting a topic we’ve already explored here on Entering Tech: artificial intelligence. As we all know, AI is creeping into every nook and cranny of various industries, and with this kind of viral spread, it’s easy for people to misuse these tools. One thing that’s worth mentioning is that AI is meant to support, not replace human effort. Meanwhile, if you watched our Entering Tech Shorts, please leave us a review and let us know what you think. by Pamela Tetteh and Timi Odueso. Tech trivia This week’s trivia is inspired by Apple’s new $3,500 AR goggles. How many AI organisations do we have in Africa? A refresher on AI We’ve spoken about artificial intelligence a few times on #EnteringTech. In Edition #28, we explored five AI careers you can look into, and in Edition #31, we also talked about how AI can help you apply for new jobs. One thing we left out in those editions though is how to use AI judiciously, and how not to use AI. See, here’s the thing. Like crocs, amapiano, or any other good thing in life, everyone’s getting into AI. Hell, ChatGPT crossed over 100 million users earlier this year and the website is visited 1.8 billion times per month. This doesn’t include the millions of other AI tools that are growing in popularity by the day. The problem with this is that as AI’s popularity has grown, so has its misuse. Yes, AI can do (almost) everything, but not everything should be done with AI. For example, if you’re applying for a job as a writer, you probably want to actually write your application yourself, just to show that you can do the job, no? Take, for example, the job advert Buffer put up two months ago for a content writer. The team received about 1,500 applications—and several applicants were rejected as they had applied using AI. More recently, the GRAMMYs also banned the submission of AI-generated songs for award consideration—using AI to generate tunes is fine, but creating a whole song with AI is not. We could go into a whole debate on the ethics behind these decisions, but the key point is that people should not be rewarded for things or ideas they do not wholly create. This rings especially true for creatives whose works deal with brainstorming ideas and bringing them to life with words, colour and sound. Can you call yourself a technical writer if AI is doing all the work? A few weeks ago, in a panel discussion I hosted about the future of AI in Africa, an attendee asked, “Can I use AI to write my book?” and the unanimous answer from guests and other attendees was no. “It’s not your book then,” one person responded. “You didn’t write it.” Sure, there are now jobs like Prompt Engineer—whose role it is to create the perfect prompts for AI tools—but even this role needs some brainpower. How to use AI How then should AI be used? After reading Tamilore’s post on how the Buffer team uses AI, we’ve outlined the ways creatives can use AI and still maintain authenticity and originality—like how Keke Palmer is using all the publicity she’s getting. A. Generate ideas: Yup, if there’s anything ChatGPT, Duet AI, or Bard will do well for creatives, it’s generating ideas. Finding it difficult to come up with a marketing plan? Ask AI what you can do to promote that event, product or service. Brainstorming—like any storm—can be rough, but AI can make it easier for you. Even journalists can use it to consider what story angles they can work with on trending topics. B. Create outlines and templates: Unlike Taylor Swift, we can write our exes names on blank pages, our jobs require words that actually make sense—and money. Blank pages are the archenemy of the creative. Whether you’re a technical writer, a designer or even a product manager, everything starts with a blank page—like a president’s criminal record when it’s time for re-election . And we typically spend so much time trying to figure out the perfect opener, so much time afraid of these blank pages that we procrastinate on our tasks. AI can help. Ask for an outline on specific projects and it’ll help you out. The outline for this edition of #EnteringTech was created with AI! C. Complete administrative tasks: SEveryone knows that 50% of the job these days is responding to emails—and half the time, you forget the attachments too. The good news is that if you’re on Google Workspace—Docs, Sheets, Gmail etc—you’ll soon be able to cut down the time you use composing emails and doing other admin tasks. Google is building generative tools that will help you compose responses to emails from any meetings you’ve held, create presentations from scratch and even build workflows and apps. If you’re not on Google, there are already a couple of AI tools you can use for these tasks, and yes, Chat GPT and Bard can be used as well. D. Edit and proofread stuff: You probably already use AI for this and you just didn’t realise. If you’ve got Grammarly, Quillbot, or any extension that suggests corrections to your work, then you’re already using AI. AI can help you make sure you’re not spelling “committee” as “comittee” or like many troubled persons, using “would” instead of “will”. If you’re a social media marketer, AI can also help you create copy for different social media. Share an article with Bard and ask it to create a 250-character copy summarising the article! E. Add a little bit of colour: My colleague Abraham Augustine who writes The Next Wave started something exciting in Q2—that’s office speak for April to June. He used Midjourney to create simple feature images for his newsletter
Read MoreBridging the funding gap: Inside Helium Health’s innovative healthcare financing model
Despite being the first point of call for many Nigerians, more than half of Nigeria’s private health facilities lack access to external sources of funding. Helium Health is addressing this through its product, HeliumCredit. When Helium Health started digitizing electronic medical records (EMR) in Nigeria, Adegoke Olubusi, the CEO, discovered a market gap. Private health facilities, despite being the first point of call for many Nigerians, lacked access to external funding. More than half of the private healthcare facilities in Nigeria lacked access to external financing, according to data from Pharmaccess. “We started to understand more deeply the gap that exists with healthcare financing, but it became more apparent to us how heavy and how wide of a gap this is. And we wanted to build a solution that could bridge that,” Olubisi told TechCabal. In 2020, Olubisi and his team launched HeliumCredit to give hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and diagnostics centers loans to buy medical equipment and medication and facilitate business expansions. Using loans to scale is a critical part of any business strategy. Africa has a $66 billion health financing deficit, and this is mostly due to the lack of data. Investors and donors often rely on data-driven assessments to determine the impact and effectiveness of their contributions. Helium Health bridges the data gap by enrolling hospitals on HeliumOS—its core product which digitises electronic medical records. The EMR gathers information about the hospital’s finances and other metrics, which HeliumCredit uses to decide whether a hospital can receive a loan. “With HeliumOS, we can see that there is this financing issue, and we saw that the lenders wanted to lend, and we said, how can we use this technology in the data system to digitize the end-to-end process?” Olubisi told TechCabal. How it works HeliumCredit provides easy access to credit for hospitals and healthcare institutions in an entirely digital process. Intending applicants apply for financing via HeliumCredit’s website and receive a disbursement of funds within 48 hours of approval. The average loan size is about ₦14m. Helium Health deploys loans through the Helium Wallet feature. The loan can then be repaid over an 18-month period. For hospitals already enrolled on HeliumOS, Helium Health combines their existing data with third-party data from the banks. “So everything from their operations, to their inventory, to their stock, to their invoices and how it’s invoiced. Who pays and when they pay, and how they pay, or their insurance and their insurance claims,” Olubisi said, enumerating the type of data they typically gather. “So, when it comes to financial and operational data, there’s a lot of critical information that is already within the system. And that is what supports the decision and process.” “For example, if a healthcare facility requests a loan of ₦50 million, we decide if the facility can pay back the loan based on the data supplied. So we might decide to give the user a ₦5 million loan, based on the numbers we have of them,” he added. According to Olubisi, Helium Credit has disbursed loans worth $3 million to hundreds of facilities. “These loans have been critical to these healthcare facilities in acquiring medical equipment, scaling their operations, better quality of care, attracting more experienced talent, and restocking their inventory.” Olubisi claims that 70-80% of the healthcare facilities that obtained loans from HeliumCredit have returned to obtain more loans. Despite the risky nature of the credit-financing model, none of HeliumCredit’s clients have defaulted on their loans, according to Olubisi. “In cases where healthcare facilities default on the payment of loans, we will offer a full cycle of monitoring of the facility and provide support to them: whether it is capacity development through education or financial training,” he said. Driving health tech innovation in Africa Helium Health secured a $30 million in investment from a Series B funding round in June this year. The funding round will be used to expand the reach of HeliumCredit. While interest in healthtech startup funding spiked in 2023—per data from The Big Deal— health tech startups witnessed a 7% year-on-year growth in funding, showing that credit financing is still in the nascent stage on the continent. The YC-backed healthtech startup claims to be the widest-reaching EMR platform in West Africa, used by more than 10,000 health workers across 1,000 facilities to care for over 1 million African patients. Helium Health has great plans for expansion. According to the CEO, the company is set to launch HeliumCredit in Kenya in 2024 and will also increase its lending portfolio to 1,000 healthcare facilities by 2024, in partnership with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).
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