The Briefing: Binance Transfers 1.6T SHIB Worth $21 Million To Unknown Wallet
A mysterious Binance-affiliated address transfers 1.62 trillion Shiba Inu tokens worth $21 million to an unknown wallet address.
Greetings!
The events of the past week in Nigeria have shown what the leaders - from the president to the local government chiefs’, think of its citizen. I’ve resisted the urge to make today’s briefing about the sufferings of the past week - fuel scarcity and price hikes, & naira shortages and exorbitant POS charges. People who deposited their old naira notes in the bank, following the directive (cajole/deception) of the CBN, no longer have easy access to their money. As it is, someone somewhere decided to hoard the new naira notes. In Patience Jonathan’s words: “There is God!”
We are at a time where individual wealth is depreciating due to fx rates and increased inflation. In a time like this, African leaders should protect the wealth of their people through health insurance. It’s a no-brainer. So, that health emergencies don’t lead to poverty for many.
According to a 2021 report by Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC);
“Less than half of Africa’s citizens (52%) – some 615 million people – have access to the healthcare they need, the continent’s quality of health services is generally poor and the family planning needs of half the continent’s women and girls are unmet.”
For instance, In Nigeria, only 0.5% have insurance while about 3% of that have health insurance. To understand what the figure means, Keep your eyes on these numbers 👇🏽
14.6% of Nigerians are unable to access adult medical services
9.5% cannot access maternal health care services.
11.7% are unable to access child healthcare services
This is my concern, and by extension - The Briefing, at this time as we go to the poll in another two weeks. You’re Welcome. - Samson.
Quick Stats.
77% of total health spending in Nigeria is out-of-pocket compared with 37% African, and 18% world average.
Binance to temporarily suspend bank transfers in US dollars beginning Feb. 8
No other trading methods will be affected, the exchange said in a tweet on Feb. 6. The announcement came with just two days’ notice, but it does not apply to Binance.US users, so only 0.01% of active users will be affected. Binance has had banking challenges in the United States recently. Its SWIFT transfer partner, Signature Bank, said on Jan. 21 that it would only process trades by users with USD bank accounts over $100,000, effective Feb. 1. The bank had said previously that it was drastically reducing deposits from crypto clients. Cointelegraph
Google takes on ChatGPT with Bard and shows off AI in search
Bard shows Google taking a page from that playbook, releasing a “lightweight” version of the model for testing purposes. Google is rushing to participate in the sudden enthusiasm for conversational AI, driven by the pervasive success of rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Bard, the company’s new AI experiment, aims to “combine the breadth of the world’s knowledge with the power, intelligence, and creativity of our large language models.” TechCrunch
Okonjo Iweala: WTO head wants to ‘double or triple’ Africa’s share of global trade
Global trade is expected to slow sharply this year as high energy prices and rising interest rates take their toll on the economy. The World Trade Organization (WTO) projected in October that after growing by 3.5% in 2022, trade volumes would increase by just 1% in 2023. Okonjo-Iweala: “That 15% is too little. Africa’s share of global trade at 3% is too little. We need to do something to double and triple that. We need to overcome the challenges that lie in front of the continental free trade area: we need the infrastructure to work, we need to digitize more so that we overcome some of the bureaucratic hurdles that make it difficult to trade, and we need to reduce trade costs.” CNN
Ibom Air to Launch Flights to Seven Regional Destinations
Ibom Air is pursuing an ambitious network expansion. The airline is finalising plans to launch regional flights to seven African countries in April. This was disclosed by the airline's Manager, Marketing and Communication, Anie Essienette, while briefing reporters in Uyo, the capital city of Akwa Ibom State, on Friday. Under the expansion drive, Ibom Air will launch commercial flights to regional destinations in 7 African countries, including Ghana, Cameroon, Liberia, Gambia, Senegal, Gabon, and Côte d’Ivoire. Africa Traveller
Kenya drops financial impropriety case against Flutterwave
Kenya has dropped its charges of financial impropriety against Flutterwave. The court case began in July 2022, when Flutterwave was charged to court on suspicions of card fraud and money laundering. As a result, the court froze 6.2 billion Shillings held by the fintech giant in various Kenyan banks. Kenya’s Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) said at the time. Tech Cabal
Nigerian clean tech startup, SunFi, raises $2.325 million in seed funding
SunFI, a Nigerian clean tech startup, announced that it has raised $2.325 million in seed funding. SunFi creates value for clean energy investors by de-risking the technical and credit risk involved in financing portfolios of solar solutions, opening avenues for lending as a service play for clean energy providers. The company’s CEO, Rotimi Thomas, said the investment would help SunFi grow its operations and improve its capabilities to recommend the best systems at the lowest cost to customers. Nairametrics
Will Flutterwave move ahead with its IPO plans this year?
The million-dollar question in the African tech ecosystem is whether the fintech giant, Flutterwave, will move ahead with its plans to float an initial public offering (IPO) this year. Flutterwave has long been one of the shining lights of the African startup space. But a combination of a bearish public market and a series of scandals means that an IPO no longer feels like a surefire thing. Will Flutterwave move ahead with its IPO plans this year? Tech Cabal
Naira: CBN allows over-the-counter withdrawals, PoS operators charge 10%
Mr Godwin Emefiele, Governor, of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has directed commercial banks to begin the payment of the redesigned naira notes over the counter. The governor said, “while reiterating our commitment to Nigerians to ensure the effective distribution of the newly introduced naira banknotes, we urge them to exercise patience as the CBN is working assiduously to address the challenge of queues at ATMs.” Vanguard
Exclusive: Kwik Delivery held talks in 2022 to acquire Gokada
In a previous report, TechCabal reported that Gokada laid off at least 20 employees in November 2022 before laying off 54 more people this week. Tosin Oni, Gokada’s CEO, said the layoffs were in response to harsh macroeconomic conditions. Despite the hush-hush nature of the proposed sale talks, several ex-employees say they were familiar with the links to Kwik logistics. Tech Cabal
Shiba Inu: Binance Transfers 1.6T SHIB Worth $21 Million To Unknown Wallet
A mysterious Binance-affiliated address transfers 1.62 trillion Shiba Inu tokens worth $21 million to an unknown wallet address. The transfers occurred in the early hours of Friday and initiated the first four fund movement in less than 10 minutes. The Binance account continued the transfer spree hours later moving the tokens to a private wallet address. The reason for moving trillions of SHIB tokens to an unknown wallet address remains to be unknown. The first four transactions were initiated and completed in less than 10 minutes. Watcher
What we are reading.
MTN Nigeria’s active fintech customers hit 14.9 million in 2022 as digital revenue soars
African Startups Raised Record-Breaking $4.8 Billion in 2022
Africa’s latest unicorn, MNT-Halan, answers a very important question
Facebook's parent firm Meta can be sued by ex-moderator, judge rules
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About The Briefing.
The Briefing is a quick bite briefing of African tech and business activities trending. The writers’ opinion on one huge trending topic that matters, followed by “In Other News” and “What We Are Reading”
This Briefing by Sam.
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