- Nigeria's inflation hit 28.92% in December, a 27-year high! Nigeria hasn't witnessed inflation this scorching since the military regime of the mid-1990s when inflation rose to 29.27% mid-1996. More in #TCDaily.
- Kippa lost ₦30 million to internal fraud connected to Kippa Pay, its agency banking product, two people with knowledge of the company’s business told TechCabal.Â
- Around 850 million people globally lack any form of digital identification. A large percentage of this population comes from Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. This creates challenges, especially in accessing critical services, building robust systems to tackle identity fraud, and promoting…
- In the last 30 days, Nigerian regulators have repeatedly signaled that Africa’s biggest recipient of venture capital funding has entered regulatory waters.
- In July 2023 Olu Akanmu, stepped down as co-CEO of Opay.
TechCabal can now report that a clash of vision between the former banker and the company’s leadership led to Akanmu’s departure.
- African stock exchanges, big or small, have the opportunity to build a robust equity capital market ecosystem. That should take priority over asking tech giants to IPO locally.
- Showmax 2.0 has three subscription tiers: entertainment (₦2,500), Premier League(₦2,900) and a bundle subscription of entertainment and the Premier League.Â
- In today’s edition: Lyca Mobile shuts down in South Africa || Citigroup to lay off 20,000 employees || Woven refutes shutdown || The future of EV in Africa || Stat of the week
- Woven Finance, the Coronation Group-backed fintech startup, has denied shutting down operations, claiming that an email sent to customers on Wednesday morning informing them of a shutdown was sent in error.
- One early-stage pan-African VC firm returned its first fund, a $5 million micro-fund, after it sold part of its Moniepoint shares in a secondary transaction, three people familiar with the sale told TechCabal.Â
- Motorcycle taxis are on the rise in various African markets, thanks to low electrification costs and efficiency in last-mile transportation and experts are advocating for incentives to accelerate the process.
- For African startups, Seedstars' $30 million investment from EIB Global means they could get between $250,000 and $2 million, with the potential for follow-on investments up to $5 million. More in #TCDaily.
- You can now easily carry out the major Nigerian passport application processes online. Here, we explain each step, using pictures to provide more clarity.
- Nigeria’s Central Bank (CBN) has appointed new board members for Union Bank, Keystone Bank, and Polaris Banks following the dissolution of previous board members yesterday.
- After a drawn-out licensing battle, MultiChoice has announced that it will also stream all 52 AFCON matches on its Supersports channels. Canal+ will also stream the tournament across francophone African countries.
- The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has sacked the board of directors of three banks: Keystone Bank, Polaris Bank, and Union Bank, in a meeting at Abuja, the nation's capital. A high-ranking CBN official confirmed the development to TechCabal.
- Twenty-five-year-old Donald Yotay spent the first years of his career as an artist. Now, armed with a year of projects, mentorship and a spotlight from Nigeria's tech minister Bosun Tijani, Donald is charting a new path for himself with UI/UX design.
- Nigeria's five biggest banks—First Bank, Access Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank and Zenith Bank—have achieved a market capitalisation of at least N1 Trillion each on NGX, Nigeria’s stock exchange.
- Innovative cement technologies that cut emissions and utilise local materials are entering Africa, where the green cement market is forecast to hit $867.9 million in four years.
- Woven Finance, the fintech startup founded by Trium, a venture group by Coronation Group, is discontinuing its service, according to an email shared with customers on Wednesday morning.Â
- The company recently advertised its first Africa role, a Global Licensing Activation Manager position based in Nairobi, Kenya. The role will oversee Starlink's licence acquisition in other African countries. More in #TCDaily.
- For the second consecutive week, the Nigerian stock market began on a positive note, as investors continued to take advantage of the market's strong performance to trade more stocks.
- The Nigerian Stock Market has overperformed its target since 2020 till date. Nigerian startups can take advantage of last year’s bull run to list on the Nigerian Tech Board in 2024
- Daniel Ngungi, head of legal and administration at Twiga Foods, left the company days after TechCabal reported that Peter Njonjo, the founder and CEO, resigned from Twiga’s board. Ngungi confirmed his departure in a LinkedIn post on Monday.
- Wasoko, the Tiger Global-backed Kenyan e-commerce startup and MaxAB, its Egyptian counterpart, will trim roughly 10% of the combined workforce of both companies, TechCabal has learned.
- In a continent where technology directly impacts lives, human-centric design takes centre stage. User experience designers are crafting interfaces that are not just visually appealing but also intuitive and accessible.
- Padmore, a driver with LagRide, the Lagos state-backed ride-hailing platform that launched in 2022, died this morning before he began his morning routine. Over 20 ride-hailing drivers gathered at the hospital this morning told TechCabal that LagRide failed in its duty to drivers.
- South Africa's energy minister is inviting the public to comment on the country’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) which could see South Africa spend R5.9 trillion ($315 billion) to R8.4 trillion ($449 billion) to solve its power problems.
- For a third consecutive time, Nigeria's stock market has started the year strong, with its returns beating inflation. This latest rally is driven by banking stocks.
- According to its latest financial report, Swvl, the former darling of the Middle East’s tech ecosystem, posted a profit for the first-time ever in H1 2023
- Cellulant, one of Africa’s oldest fintech startups, quietly completed a third round of layoffs in December 2023, one month before the abrupt departure of CEO Akshay Grover.
- Peter Njonjo, the CEO and co-founder of Twiga, has resigned from the company board, arguing that he can only add “very little value” to the company in the future, seemingly confirming earlier reports that he was forced out as CEO last year.
- Akshay Grover, who was named Group CEO of Cellulant, one of Africa’s most prominent payment companies, in July 2021, is stepping down this month to focus on personal matters. Â
- The CBN has asked Nigerian banks and other stakeholders—First Bank, Access Bank, Sterling Bank, and Providus Bank—to develop a stablecoin, a cryptocurrency pegged to the naira’s value. The cNGN will launch later this month.
More in #TCDaily.
- Created by Zain Verjee, a former CNN correspondent, and Matthew Cullen, a Grammy-winning director, Ndoto uses artificial intelligence to depict the effect of climate change in Africa. Â
- Koree aims to solve the problem of spare change in cash-based economies by using a card and digital wallet that allows merchants to return their customers’ spare change.
- It’s a 36% decline from 2022’s ~$5 billion. Nigeria's ecosystem also recorded a 66% decline with $398.2 million while Kenya's sits atop with $756.2 million.
- Dozy Mmobuosi is charged with conspiracy, securities fraud and making false filings. The three charges carry a maximum sentence of 45 years; prosecutors say Mmobuosi is at large.Â
- With 2023 now behind us, we look back on a year marked by strong economic headwinds and market upheavals. A cursory look at funding numbers shows that 2023 was a mixed bag. Venture capital (VC) funding fell by 41.7%, quarter-on-quarter, going from $916m in Q2 to $499m in Q3. In 2022, funding…