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With the African tech ecosystem beset by a funding downturn, rising inflation, layoffs and startup shutdowns, the trade was off to a sluggish and unsure begin this 12 months. Regardless of these challenges, some main highlights have saved us optimistic at TechCabal as we proceed to report information concerning the ecosystem in one of the simplest ways doable.
Our work captures the gamers, human affect and enterprise of tech in Africa, offering the content material, reporting, knowledge, occasions and context to assist the world perceive how tech is altering the continent. From acquisitions and strategic partnerships to firm expansions in new markets to regulatory legal guidelines for digital nomads to startup pivots and tech ecosystems popping up in sudden locations, listed here are a few of our best-loved tales from Q1 2024.
How a clash of visions led to Olu Akanmu’s exit from Opay
Whereas Olu Akanmu was CEO at Opay, the fintech grew exponentially, reaching over 30 million customers, 500,000 brokers, and 100,000 retailers, in response to publicly launched figures. Sadly, because of concept and route clashes with the corporate’s broader management, Akanmu stepped down as CEO.
How Huawei became Nigeria’s biggest telecoms vendor and enterprise business
Huawei launched in Nigeria in 1999, two years earlier than Nigeria’s telecommunications revolution. The corporate has bought servers and storage options for high Nigerian banks like UBA, Zenith, Entry, Constancy, Keystone, First Financial institution, Unity Financial institution, UBA, and FCMB. In Might 2023, a fire at Zenith Bank’s primary data centre brought on a service downtime, and makes an attempt to modify to its catastrophe restoration centre additionally failed. That incident is believed to have satisfied Zenith—a tier-1 financial institution with a market capitalisation of ₦1.1 Trillion to signal a $10 million cope with Huawei for a storage answer.
Patient capital, diverse exits: Verod-Kepple’s vision for the future of African startups
Verod-Kepple Africa (VKAV) is a enterprise capital fund that’s partnered with Verod Capital, a Lagos-based personal fairness agency. The agency’s common ticket measurement is between $1 million and $3 million, and it has invested in 11 growth-stage startups, like Moove (a Kepple Africa portfolio firm), Shuttlers, Chari, and Julaya. All three companions of Verod-Kepple—Ory Okolloh, Ryosuke Yamawaki, and Satoshi Shinada—shared with TechCabal their funding thesis and why they’re backing African startups.
Wasoko merger fallout
Wasoko, a Kenyan e-commerce platform which was based in 2013 and raised over $140 million from traders, entered right into a merger with MaxAB, an Egyptian retail firm, with out informing their staff. The workers first heard concerning the merger on a video name attended by MaxAB executives in early December 2023, the identical month the deal was introduced. This occasion triggered many different happenings within the firm, together with the layoff of over 100 staff throughout departments in each Kenya and India. It additionally led to 9 staff suing Wasoko, claiming they’d been unfairly fired. The workers argued that the corporate didn’t give them enough time to organize for his or her exit. Following this, the court docket barred Wasoko from firing the aggrieved staff, and the corporate promised to make provisions to help the exit of mentioned staff, together with offering medical insurance protection till March 2024.
How Eyowo’s bid to become a fintech giant hit the rocks
In 2019, Softcom, a software program improvement company, shifted its focus from its client-side enterprise to constructing consumer-facing merchandise, and have become Eyowo, considered one of Nigeria’s earliest digital banks. However, 5 years later, with three rounds of layoffs, persistent delays in wage cost, and a revocation of Eyowo’s banking licence in 2023, the corporate’s fortunes, sadly, turned. Sources who spoke to TechCabal claimed that Eyowo’s licence was revoked as a result of it stopped providing loans to prospects, contravening a regulatory requirement for microfinance banks. In March, the corporate insinuated it has regained its licence and that there are talks a couple of doable rebrand as “Entrepreneur Financial institution”.
Fintech giant Flutterwave secures release of $3 million in Kenya
In 2022, the Property Restoration Company (ARA) in Kenya froze $55 million, belonging to fintech big Flutterwave, on fraud and cash laundering prices. After the fees on the primary case have been withdrawn in March 2023, the court docket unfroze nearly all of the funds amounting to $52.5 million. The remainder of the funds weren’t instantly launched, regardless of a court docket order to launch them after the ARA sought court docket approval to withdraw cash laundering prices in opposition to the fintech startup in July 2023, however the decide denied the request. Lastly, in February 2024, over a 12 months later, the court docket cleared the remaining funds: $3 million; and launched it to Flutterwave. It was excellent news for the fintech big.
What is it like to build a tech ecosystem in Nigeria outside the country’s tech capital?
Lagos is to the Nigerian tech ecosystem what Silicon Valley is to the North American ecosystem. But, in contrast to the US, the place different states like New York, Seattle and Chicago nonetheless have thriving ecosystems that complement Silicon Valley, tech ecosystems outdoors Lagos battle to construct their identities or get vital consideration from stakeholders. Sanusi Ismaila and Excel Ajah are a few of the folks working to beat the percentages by creating co-learning labs and communities in different Nigerian cities like Kaduna and Owerri. These communities are taking form and constructing promising tech expertise outdoors Lagos in ways in which can be helpful to the nation’s ecosystem as an entire.
Bolt launches in Zimbabwe and waives driver commission for six months
In January, Bolt, the favored ride-hailing firm, expanded their African operations to Zimbabwe, notably its capital metropolis, Harare. As an incentive for drivers, the corporate waived its regular customary fee for six months. This transfer marked Zimbabwe because the third nation in Bolt’s strategic transfer into the Southern African market; after the corporate launched in South Africa in 2016, and performed pilot operations in Zambia in 2023. In the same transfer, Bolt additionally launched operations in Botswana in February, about a month later.
South Africa eyes Nomad gold rush, targets wealthy remote workers in new draft regulations
South Africa is making an attempt to turn out to be the fifth African nation to begin granting digital nomad visas. The nation introduced this choice and printed draft laws for the visa class, inviting the general public to share suggestions and feedback that may form its eventual implementation in February. South Africa’s digital nomad visa will goal nomads incomes a minimum of R1 million (~$53,000) yearly. The aim is to place the nation as the worldwide hub for digital nomads. Nevertheless, the nation has many amendments to make in its legal guidelines, particularly round tax exemption, if the digital nomad visa regulation is to take off.
Inflation is a two-sided coin for BNPL startups in Nigeria
Purchase-now-pay-later startups in Nigeria function in a market the place retail credit score is in its very early phases, however inflation and the rising value of residing are affecting these companies in attention-grabbing methods. The lowered buying energy of people implies that extra persons are exploring methods to pay for his or her desires in instalments, which implies a lift in new prospects for these startups. Then again, the identical inflation has obliterated a complete demographic of former middle-class Nigerians who now can not afford to pay for any desires in any respect and would slightly give attention to their primary wants.
