The Briefing: New currency hoarding: We have to go into banks’ strong rooms – CBN
Central Bank Governor, Emefiele Tackles Kano Governor, Ganduje, Says State’s Security Challenges Not Connected To Naira Redesign Policy
Greetings!
And should I congratulate my Nigerian readers as they battle their currency exchange - “old note to new note”? Or should we focus on the upcoming Nigerian presidential election and what it could hold for the tech startup community? Whichever side you feel the pressure more, both will keep affecting the living conditions of all Nigerians, and by extension African countries.
Two threats worthy of note about the Naira redesign and the extended date before Nigerians, and everyone that holds a Naira note can no longer spend their money. Unless it’s deposited at the bank to exchange the new note.
It’s alleged that Ganduje told Buhari that his safety is not assured in Kano state if the old note deadline (which was January 31) was not extended.
Gbajabiamila, Speaker - Federal House of Rep., threatened Emefiele - CBN Governor, with an arrest warrant if the deadline is not extended.
Both threats seem to have worked because Emefiele and its Central Bank’s Chief caved in and extended the deadline by 10 days. That means you can still spend your old note for another 10 days before you call it quit.
But, there are also the activities of the commercial banks that make it look as if they’re not in (full) support of the old note changes because a day before the previous deadline, most ATMs stopped dispensing cash. Leaving their customers stranded.
Emefiele has therefore said, he is going to enter all the commercial bank’s vaults (strong room) where he thinks they’re hiding the new notes. Welcome to The Briefing - Samson.
Quick Stats.
The Central Bank of Nigeria via its Monetary Policy Committee has approved the raise of its benchmark interest rate to 17.5% from 16.5%. Read more:
In other news.
Gokada banks on its community as it looks to crowdfund $750,000
It is no longer news that last year there was a downward spiral in global funding for tech companies. However, as a region with a heavy reliance on foreign investors, forecasts for 2023 have been cautious. Against this background, Gokada, a Nigerian e-commerce logistics company, has taken the crowdfunding route to try and raise $750,000 at a $10 million valuation. The company raised $5.3 million in Series A funding in 2019 to expand across Nigeria. Tech Cabal
3 Nigerian tech startups selected for Startupbootcamp Africa’s Accelerator Programme
Three Nigerian tech startups have been selected to join Cohort 3 of the Africa Startup Initiative Program (ASIP) Accelerator Programme by Startupbootcamp Africa. The 3 startups from Nigeria are part of 11 innovative companies from across Africa selected for the programme. The Nigerian startups include PharmaServ, Park well, and Jand2Gidi. According to a statement from Startupbootcamp, each startup will receive an intensive three-month coaching and support programme to accelerate their growth and benefits worth $750,000. Nairametrics
3 Nigerian startups selected for the YC W23 batch, banking $500k
Three of the first 85 startups revealed for its W23 batch are from Africa – all Nigerian. They are Waza, a B2B payments infrastructure that provides the rails for global payments and intra-Africa trade; Shekel Mobility, a simplified finance and operations platform for auto-dealers, and Bujeti, an end-to-end expense management and budgeting platform. Disrupt Africa
Netflix to Stop Password Sharing in March
Netflix recently announced its plans to start cracking down on subscribers who share their passwords by the end of March 2023. Back in October, the streaming giant said it would begin charging subscribers who share their accounts but did not give a specific date or information for when the new policy would be enacted. It said on its website that the company uses “a person’s geographic location, IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity from devices signed into the Netflix account” to determine which devices are in the same household. The company told investors last week that it would roll out more stringent sharing rules by the end of March. More than a hundred million households currently share Netflix passwords, the service said. ThisDay
Why international DFIs are looking to African startups to scale impact investing efforts
British International Investment (BII), a DFI from the U.K., told TechCrunch recently that it will deploy $500 million into startups by the end of 2026, and half of that amount has been earmarked for African tech companies. In addition to backing VC funds in the region, the organization aims to make more direct equity investments in startups, adding to the four African companies it invested in last year. Tech Crunch
Report: Despite Challenges, Morocco’s Startup Ecosystem Is Thriving
Analysts Lotf Belych and Yassin El Hardouz published a report analyzing the Moroccan startup ecosystem through the examination of data and interviews with key stakeholders. Morocco World News has been given exclusivity to delve in-depth into the report’s findings. Morocco sees a rapidly growing number of startups each year, from a scant eight startups in 2016 to an extrapolated number of 101 startups in 2022, marking an increase of 60% each year. Morocco World News
French-speaking Markets Play Catch-up With Africa’s eCommerce Rebirth
Africa’s eCommerce economy was valued at USD 16.5 B in 2017, and this worth could surpass USD 75 B by 2025. Between 2014 and 2018, online shoppers on the continent averaged a growth rate of 18 percent, higher than the 12 percent global average. in Ivory Coast—the largest Francophone African economy—eCommerce, with an estimated worth of USD 46 M and an increasing population, is yet disconcerted by excessive transfer fees, restrictions from global online paytechs, and a lack of local delivery options. Among other headaches, these persist throughout the region. WT
Sub-Saharan African investor - Convergence, raises $296m for Africa tech buyout fund
The Johannesburg-based fund is focused on investing in digital infrastructure across sub-Saharan Africa, including fibre networks, data centres, wireless towers and artificial intelligence. The fund, one of the first PE vehicles focussed on sub-Saharan Africa this year, mainly attracted money from previous investors, development agencies and pension funds in the US, UK, Europe and Africa, said Chairman Andile Ngcaba in an interview. Convergence will look to invest the fund’s assets in a range of technology assets from "data centres to optic fibre on land and sea", he said. Private Equity Wire
Meet Abiola Bawuah, UBA’s 1st female CEO for Africa
Abiola Bawuah is the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc’s new Chief Executive Officer for African operations. The Nigerian bank, with branches worldwide, announced this in a statement released today. Abiola Bawuah, Ghanaian, will be at the helm of the company’s operations across Africa except for Nigeria. The move effectively makes Bawuah the first female CEO of UBA Plc, which also expands the number of female directors to eight. TechNext
25% more people installed finance apps across Africa – Joint report by AppsFlyer & Google
The report analyzed more than 140 million installs, across 3,000 finance apps, and found that installs across the continent grew 25%.
Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya & South Africa were the main contributors to this rise in finance app installs, with the former largely bolstering this by a massive 200%; followed by Nigeria, which saw an increase of 33%. Kenya’s growth was recorded at 5%, while South Africa witnessed a decline of 11%. TechCity
What we are reading.
New currency hoarding: We have to go into banks’ strong rooms – CBN
UK lists priority subjects for immigrating teachers
Forget ChatGPT — this Google AI can create music from text prompts
The Future Of Payments In An AI-Enabled Future
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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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