- Pineapple, a South African insurtech startup, has raised $22 million in a Series B round, making it the most capitalised insurtech startup in Africa.
- Neighbourgood, the South African real estate investment company with over 1,000 work and co-living spaces across Cape Town and San Francisco, has acquired traveltech startup Local Knowledge in a deal worth $1.5 million in cash and equity.
- Jumia, one of Africa’s most prominent e-commerce businesses, cut its operating losses by more than half to $19m in the third quarter of 2023. It was a particularly bright spot in a quarter that saw the company lose 800,000 active customers compared to the same period last year.
- Nigeria's headline inflation has jumped for the tenth consecutive month, increasing the likelihood that the central bank will raise borrowing costs. Official data from Nigeria's Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that October’s headline inflation number was 27.33% after a rise in food and transport…
- A Kenyan high court has approved the withdrawal of the second and last case against Flutterwave, leaving the fintech startup free to pursue growth in the East African country.
- Constellr’s data will contribute to Africa’s agriculture industry by helping smallholder farmers prepare for climate change.
By @theprincelyx
https://techcabal.com/2023/11/14/constellr-wants-to-enhance-farming-in-africa-with-data/
- Google is facing off against a Nigerian, Chianugo Peter, in a $150 million lawsuit. Peter sued the company and GoDaddy for shutting down his website, YouTubeAudio.com, which Google claims is infringing on the YouTube trademark.
More in #TCDaily.
- Union bank, Nigeria’s second-oldest deposit bank will no longer be a publicly listed company after its acquisition by TitanTrust. The ₦191 billion acquisition is a crucial part of TitanTrust’s five-year plan to join Nigeria’s elite league of tier-1 banks
- America’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has suspended trading activity for Tingo Group on the stock exchange. Tingo is a Nigeria-focused agriculture company that claims to provide a marketplace and payment services for farmers in the country.
- In April 2023, AltSchool raised $3 million, and Angaza Capital, a VC firm that co-manages the Rwandan Innovation Fund, participated in that round, data from Pitchbook shows. This investment has previously not been reported.
- As competition intensifies in Africa’s streaming market, Netflix, the previous market leader, which held more than 40% of the market, has lost its status as the market leader to Showmax.
- Sweden’s Norrsken Foundation hopes a $20 million investment in its first hub outside Stockholm will birth an new hub for impact startups Rwanda’s first impact unicorn.
- Eden Life’s entry into e-commerce means it will compete against market leader Jumia and its rival Konga. “[We want] to be bigger than Jumia,” the company said.
- Six months after the CBN revoked its license, Eyowo, one of Nigeria’s oldest digital banks, remains unsure of when it will resume its banking services. Eyowo, the Nigerian fintech startup that had its license suspended by the Central Bank, has stalled a resumption of banking operations, raising…
- Digital IDs could worsen inequalities in Africa, but African governments are pushing for them without informing people of their privacy implications.
- Egyptian fintech giant Fawry has denied rumours that its systems were breached by Lockbit. On Friday, the company released a statement noting that a comprehensive review of its systems has shown no security breaches.
More in #TCDaily.
- Now in its fifth year, Abidjan’s Next Fintech Forum (NFF), one of the largest fintech events in Francophone Africa, is organising its event around the theme “Fintech and Commerce: How Fintech will shape commerce in Francophone Africa”, on November 16th and 17th at the Radisson Blu, Abidjan.
- With his $500m university, Wigwe is borrowing from the playbook of wealthy Nigerians like Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president, by venturing into tertiary education.
- Uganda, the landlocked Pearl of Africa, held an investor summit today as it joins the race to be East Africa’s tech destination of choice. Prominent African investors flew into Kampala for the event
- mata, the agro-financing startup in Uganda, is leveraging farmer cooperatives and whatsapp chatbot in Uganda to disburse collateral free loans to small holder farmers in the country.
- A Kenyan high court has withdrawn the second and last case against fintech Flutterwave. The fintech was being investigated on allegations of money laundering and fraud by Kenya's Asset Recovery Agency.
More in #TCDaily.
- Nigerians will no longer be able to place food orders on the Bolt Food app as Bolt is shutting down its food delivery service in the country from December 7, 2023. The company announced its decision as a move to streamline its resources and maximise its overall efficiency.
- Paystack, the Nigerian fintech giant, is launching a direct debit product in partnership with NIBSS, which operates Nigeria’s instant payments infrastructure.
- Maybe you missed it, but the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) recently introduced an online platform to easily book Lagos-Abeokuta-Ibadan train rides. See how it works:
- A Kenyan high court, yesterday, dismissed a billion-dollar class action lawsuit against Safaricom and Vodafone. Earlier in March, Safaricom was sued by three petitioners who claimed it was operating its loan service Fuliza illegally.
More in #TCDaily.
- In a fireside chat at the Moonshot by TechCabal Conference, Marlon Nichols, a managing general partner at MaC Venture Capital, a firm with over $20 million invested in Africa, shares his investment thesis. Funding for Africa’s tech ecosystem has been on a downward spiral since the start of the year…
- Abdulhakeem Olasupo might just be 21, but this product design expert has a wealth of experience working for companies globally. In this edition of #EnteringTech🚀, Hakeem shares how communities like Kwarabuild have helped his journey.
- Ask An Investor episode featuring Brenton Naicker, principal and head of growth at Crypto Valley VC (CV VC)’s Africa operations. According to data by ChainAnalysis, Sub-Saharan Africa has the smallest crypto economy of all regions, accounting for 2.3% of global transaction values between July 2022…
- What started as her organising car trips for students from her school, in south-west Nigeria, to Lagos, 45 kilometres away, and back, soon turned into a thriving mobility tech startup, AutoGirl.
- The Global Startup Awards Africa named the 16 category winners at the GSA Africa Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Nigerian startups were the biggest winners, walking home with four categories out of 16.
- With Kenya and Ethiopia in the lead, increased investment in the geothermal sector will double Africa's geothermal capacity by 2050 and see the continent exceed the total installed capacity in Europe, according to a recent report.
- Telecom MTN is in talks for possible exits in three African markets: Liberia, Guinea-Conakry and Guinea-Bissau. The telecom will also complete its exit from the Middle East within two months.
More in #TCDaily.
- Flutterwave’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Oneal Bhambani has resigned just 18 months after joining the fintech startup, raising questions about the company’s plans to list on the stock market.
- CEO Big Cabal Media Tomiwa Aladekomo explained that Moonshot by TechCabal represents a monumental effort to build radical or innovative solutions to huge problems in the continent.
- A snapshot of Sabi at Moonshot by TechCabal.
At TechCabal’s flagship conference, Moonshot, Anu Adedoyin Adasolum, co-founder and CEO of Sabi, a Nigerian B2B platform, spoke to Big Cabal Media CEO Tomiwa Aladekomo about how Sabi works.
- Bolt Kenya has denied having buyout discussions with Little Cab, a Kenyan competitor, after a report by Kenyan publication Business Daily, claimed both companies were in talks.
- Exclusive: IROKOtv started 2022 with 192,174 active users but by the end of the year, those numbers fell to around 46,000, a 76% decline.
techcabal.com/2023/11/06/exclusive-irokotvs-user-numbers-show-africas-oldest-streamer-is-behind-competition/
By Ngozi Chukwu
- Novastar Ventures, an Africa-focused investment firm, has entered a partnership with Japanese venture capital firm SBI Holdings. The partnership will see SBI Holdings commit $40 million to Novastar's upcoming fund.
More in #TCDaily.
- The mental health of tech founders isn’t often talked about in our ecosystem. These can take a psychological toll on them, leading to stress and anxiety, and a breakdown in their personal relationships.
- Showmax announced, last week, that it would discontinue its streaming services outside Africa by December 1, 2023. The service now wants to focus on meeting the needs of its African market.
More in #TCDaily.
- Victor Ekwueme, now an Odoo specialist and data scientist at Chams, a Nigerian company providing integrated technology solutions, is living proof that with enough access to assistive technology and more accessible digital products in Africa, people with visual impairments can live independently and…
