22 APRIL, 2022

CRYPTO MARKET

Recordsdata as of 10: 00 PM WAT, April 20, 2022.

QUICK FIRE 🔥 WITH JANIS KOUASSI

Janis Kouassi is Declare material Manager and Curation Specialist for ANKA, an all-in-one SaaS to promote from wherever, ship worldwide and receives a commission sooner on worldwide and African cost ideas. She began her occupation in communications as a Mission Manager in a corporate advertising agency and has excelled within the subject for the closing 5 years.

Display camouflage your job to a 5-yr-traditional

My job is to advertise made-in-Africa products. I raise out it by choosing items which may per chance per chance per chance well well be posted on Fb or Instagram. These items are made by our sellers and may per chance per chance well well just also be trend, meals, decoration, class products and the listing goes on.

What’s something you’d like you knew earlier to your occupation/existence?

Life doesn’t necessarily dash as deliberate. I thought I would be a plan designer and even an interpreter at some point soon in my existence however I am now a Declare material Manager. The crucial ingredient to be aware is that one can continually combine what one is smitten by with its true occupation route. Verbal exchange, language and trend dangle continually been solid interests of mine and I am completely overjoyed to voice that I became as soon as ready to integrate them into my occupation opinion.

What’s essentially the most promising ingredient about tech in Africa?

One of essentially the most promising things about tech in Africa is that Africans now no longer restrict themselves. We’re making cars, smartphones, and medicines provide by drones. The sky is the restrict, truthfully (or per chance money is)! Africa is additionally constructing the infrastructure to simplify entrepreneurs’ journeys, especially in Ivory Float the assign I’m from which additionally encourages a stronger ecosystem. I am very proud after I leer starting up-usalike ANKA who chose to evaluate outside the sphere by focusing on exporting Africa as a exchange of trying to promote things to Africans. 

What’s one false influence folks dangle about issue material introduction and administration?

Declare material introduction and administration are no longer beautiful about creativity and weblog writing! One additionally has to just accept to raise out the dirty job reminiscent of replying to offended comments or customer help help. Total, it’s serious to hang that on social media especially, one turns into an ambassador to the firm they’re working for. YOU are the predominant influence. Your response and how you tackle a subject introduced to you by a follower will dash away an enduring price on them and it better ensure! One approach to raise out it’s to use empathy, and your listening abilities (funny, steady?) and be solution-oriented in reveal to clear up their subject and speak the becoming journey seemingly to anybody who interacts along side your page.

Can also just peaceable all startups or companies dangle a issue material department or crew?

I feel about all of them should peaceable! No longer very aim, is it? Alternatively, it will most likely per chance attain further within the existence of the starting up-up reckoning on its goals. As an instance, an e-commerce enterprise positively wants one early on as the kind of crew will help unfold awareness of the enterprise and promote products. A enterprise can create loyalty through issue material introduction and traditional updates that will per chance well just consequence in extra gross sales or gross sales alternatives in unique markets. Amazon is the becoming example that comes to mind. 

What (singular) fulfillment are you most contented with?

One of my ideal achievements in relation to issue material introduction with ANKA would be our Instagram Tales Mission for the Afrikrea marketplace, one of our ANKA Services. I became as soon as responsible of constructing from scratch everyday issue material to spark curiosity in our marketplace products and entice extra followers to our Instagram page. It became as soon as moving and provoking on the identical time however I got to use my creativity with out a constraint at all which became as soon as liberating. Inside of a yr, we had posted extra than 1,900 tales, reached 2,500,000 accounts and received extra than a thousand organic views on common per memoir.

What’s something you love doing that you’re unpleasant at. What’s something you if truth be told raise out no longer esteem doing that you’re enormous at.

In general speaking, I if truth be told dangle continually been unpleasant at all the pieces I esteem doing (even after I wasn’t) as a consequence of for my phase, apply makes ideal. One has to use to procedure better designs or write compelling articles however it absolutely is the love you dangle for it that will cease you from quitting.

I previous to evaluate I didn’t esteem calling sellers as a consequence of I am nervous after I if truth be told want to attain out to them however past the few first seconds of a phone name with a stranger, I prepare to remodel into an investigative journalist. I realized I really esteem what they want to voice as a consequence of I want to learn extra about how they built their enterprise and what’s struggling with them from growing worthy extra.

SEND BY FLUTTERWAVE

EGYPT IS IMPRISONING TIKTOKERS

Image source: Aljazeera

In 2020, an Egyptian social media influencer named Haneen Hossam became as soon as sentenced to 2 years imprisonment for “violating family values and ideas”. 

What’s Hossam’s crime?

Merely set, utilizing TikTok, and absorbing various folks—especially girls folks—to enroll within the platform and blueprint with their videos. 

Hossam, who on the time had received over 900,000 followers on TikTok, would be incomes about $700 per post she made. 

Egypt, on the opposite hand, has strict guidelines that draw to sustain its society’s conservative custom and values. 

Under Article 25 of Egypt’s Cybercrime guidelines, Egyptians are forbidden to use know-how to “infringe on any family ideas or values in Egyptian society,” and dissidents possibility severe penalties including 6 months in penal complex, and a fair of 50,000 –100,000EGP (~ $3,100–$6,200). 

The Egyptian govt views the cyber internet as a border that requires “elephantine deterrence and safety” to address “a phenomenon abused by forces of coarse” trying for to “execute our society, extinguish its values and ideas and purchase its innocence and purity…to push its adolescence and adults to the brink of destruction”.

It’s no longer Egypt’s first or closing time

Since the passing of its Cybercrime guidelines in 2018, social media customers all the plan in which through the speak had been fined or/and imprisoned. 

Bellydancer Samar El-Masry became as soon as sentenced to a few years imprisonment and fined 300,000EGP ($16,000) for posting her videos on Fb, Instagram, and YouTube. Anas Hassan became as soon as handed a identical sentence for being the crew supervisor for the Egyptian Atheists’ Fb page, and “insulting faith and misusing social media”. 

Many exchange Egyptians dangle additionally been handed identical charges as a consequence of they previous social media in ways that contradict Egypt’s correct values. 

Egypt is additionally no longer the predominant African nation to lengthen its claws of morality to social media customers. Tanzania, Ethiopia, and even Nigeria all dangle commence circumstances the assign governments dangle jailed folks for utilizing social media “immorally”.

What’s happening with Hossam?

Months after her trial, an allure court docket overturned her sentence and she regained her freedom in February 2021.

Alternatively, the prosecutor then introduced the pricetag of human trafficking against Hossam, claiming that she became as soon as “utilizing girls in acts opposite to the guidelines and values of Egyptian society with the draw of gaining subject topic advantages”.

In June 2021, she became as soon as sentenced to 10 years for human trafficking, a price she additionally appealed. The retrial ended on a sour present this month as the allure court docket handed her a 3-yr sentence and fined her 200,000 EGP ($10,800).

Zoom out: It’s comprehensible to witness how conservative [or even autocratic] governments can if truth be told feel threatened by social media. It’s nonetheless unfair the assign questionable charges are handed in reveal to stifle these charges. What it appears is that the Egyptian, worthy esteem its Nigerian counterpart, is having a eye to reap the advantages of tech with out adhering to the civil tasks that stretch with it.

TRADE WITH YELLOWCARD

WAVE GETS E-MONEY LICENSE IN SENEGAL

Wave Digital Finance, a Senegal-primarily based fintech unicorn, has been granted an e-money license by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), a central financial institution serving the 8 francophone West African worldwide locations, to operate e-money in Senegal.

What does it imply for Wave?

In accordance to the firm assertion, the license will allow Wave to give a wider number of economic services esteem merchant payments, financial savings, credit, and remittances in collaboration with various partners within the WAEMU financial ecosystem.

Since 2018, Wave has had to rely on third-get together banks esteem the United Bank of Africa (UBA) and Ecobank to energy its cell money enterprise mannequin. But with this e-money license, the firm can now independently and straight offer its most recent suite of economic products to potentialities with out the toughen of third get together banks.

The license finest covers Wave’s Senegal’s operation for now. Frequent Manager Coura Sène, on the opposite hand, illustrious that Wave is working to lengthen the license to various worldwide locations. 

What does it imply for the Senegalese?

Whereas Wave license provides it extra leeway, it isn’t a outmoded financial institution yet. The e-money license does allow it to raise out extra including:

• Accept customer funds and alternate them into e-money. The fintech can no longer steal and prepare customer funds yet.
• Possibilities can use their e-money accounts as digital wallets, however they’ll’t blueprint curiosity on them or dash overdrawn.
• Wave can offer debit cards, chronicle-to-chronicle transfers, standing orders, and reveal debits, however no longer lending as a standalone product.
• Wave can offer some digital financial services products, reminiscent of international exchange alternate.

TC INSIGHTS: FUNDING TRACKER

This week, Zambian fintech Union54 raised $12 million in a seed extension round led by Tiger World. Other participating investors in this round consist of existing ones reminiscent of Vibe VC and unique investors reminiscent of Earl Grey Capital and Packy Mccormick’s No longer Uninteresting Capital.

Right here are the numerous deals for the week:

• The Food Lab, an Egyptian cloud kitchen platform, raised a $4.5 million pre-seed round to help it assemble bigger all the plan in which through Egypt and into unique markets. The round became as soon as co-led by Nuwa Capital, Shorooq Companions, and 4DX Ventures, and additionally seen the participation of Saudi Arabia-primarily based Al Faisaliah Community as neatly as Abdul Majeed Al Hokair, Japan’s Samurai Incubate and various angel investors.

• Nigerian insurtech startup ETAP, secured $1.5 million in pre-seed funding in a round led by Mobility 54, the enterprise capital arm of Toyota Tsusho and CFAO Community, with participation from Tangerine Insurance coverage, Graph Ventures, Newmont, and various angel investors.

• Elloe, a conversational e-commerce startup primarily based in Kenya, raised $1 million in pre-seed capital from Philippines-primarily based Mad Ventures. 

• Nigerian startup, Rise.ng secured a $150,000 pre-seed round as it’s speak to starting up its enterprise operations within the nation.

• Egyptian electrical mobility startup Shift EV raised an undisclosed Sequence A round led by Union Sq. Ventures, Algebra Ventures, and Wamda. Oman Skills Fund (OTF) additionally participated within the funding round. 

• Egyptian e-health startup Rology, closed an undisclosed pre-Sequence A round to help it assemble bigger all the plan in which through the Heart East and Africa. Investors consist of Egypt Ventures and Sequence Ventures from Egypt, Waseel, Tawaref from Saudi Arabia, and Viktoria Ventures from Kenya. 

That’s it for the week.

Phrase us on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn for extra updates.

EARN WITH THE TROVE APP

EVENT: ECOBANK FINTECH BREAKFAST SERIES

What comes to mind in case you read about partnerships between fintechs and banks?

Originally, you can be vastly surprised thinking about that every parties are competitors. There should be a winner and a loser. But it doesn’t continually work that plan – veritably each parties can even be winners. So the seek recordsdata from is, how can fintech and banks strike and sustain strategic partnerships?

Join us this day, the 22nd of April at 8: 30 AM (WAT), as Ecobank hosts the inaugural edition of its Fintech Breakfast sequence in partnership with TechCabal.

This edition is interested by addressing how fintechs can get and nurture partnerships with banks, and how they’ll leverage these partnerships to grow and assemble bigger all the plan in which through the continent.

Talking on the event are

• Tayo Oviosu – Founder & CEO, Paga Community
• Tomilola Majekodunmi – Co-founder & CEO, Bankly
• Gbenga Ajayi – Accomplice, QED Investors
• Daniel Ahouassa – Co-founder & Co-CEO, Weblogy
• Isaac Kamuta – Community Head: Money Management and Consumer Obtain entry to, Ecobank

Join the dialog here.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Every week, we part job alternatives within the African ecosystem.

• TechCabal – Editor-in-Chief, Journalist – Lagos, Nigeria

• Nestcoin – Community Hiss Marketer – Africa (A ways away)

• Nestcoin – Affiliate UX Researcher – Africa (A ways away)

• Nestcoin – Product Sort designer – Africa (A ways away)

• Nestcoin – Product Manager – Africa (A ways away)

There are extra alternatives here. While you’d esteem to part a job opening or an opportunity, please non-public this assemble.

What else we’re reading

• This 18-yr-traditional grew to turn out to be down a college scholarship to revolutionise training.

• Jobberman’s co-founder Olalekan Olude is drawn to the “serious” problems. 

• Vodacom Tanzania indicators $4.59 million fibre type out the government.

• CNN Plus is shutting down finest a month after it launched.

THE ONLY BAG YOU NEED TO GET IS ON TECHCABAL

Seek the advice of with techcabal.com/store and procure yourself some merch.