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News
Eyowo denies shutdown rumours
Digital bank Eyowo has denied news of its shutdown.
Yesterday, tech publication Technext, in an exclusive, reported that the Nigerian startup allegedly would shut down on June 27. An email from the startup’s founders attributed the closure to recent “market complications”.
Eyowo co-CEOs Yomi Adedeji and Omoseindemi Olobayo, however, told TechCabal that the company has no plans to shut down.
Upcoming layoffs and a shuttered project: Olobayo, who confirmed that the company sent emails to employees about significant changes at Eyowo, claimed that the news reports making the rounds misinterpreted the email. Eyowo is decommissioning a product—Kwiksell, a retail management tool and has let go of employees whose roles have consequently become redundant
“The company is indeed letting go of employees, but the number is 13 out of the current workforce of 110,” Olobayo said.
A new model: Olobayo explained to TechCabal that the company is not dissolving but evolving into a different kind of business and mindset. Co-CEO Yomi Adedeji added, “We started out as an enterprise-focused company, but we have been evolving into a retail business that offers entrepreneurs and individuals a roadmap for their money. Today, we stepped into a new phase, which requires changing our enterprise DNA to a retail-focused DNA.”
In a tweet posted last night, the company announced a pivot to a direct-to-consumers (D2C) operating model where it will “deliver revenue to selected entrepreneurs”. It also noted that its product, Eyowo X—which suffered a brief pause after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) pulled its licence in May—would not be affected.
Zoom out: Earlier this year, employees at the company revealed that it had suffered several setbacks stemming from struggling products. At the time, the company admitted that its setbacks had caused several salary delays for its employees.
You’ll be in good company
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Internet
Refugees in Uganda get free internet
In partnership with the World Bank, the Ugandan government is set to provide free internet access to refugees in Uganda.
The partnership is created through the Universal Digital Acceleration Programme which is set to launch on July 1.
Side bar: Uganda is home to most of the refugees in Africa. Many people flee there from unstable countries like South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Rwanda, Eritrea and Burundi, where political unrest exists. Per the United Nations, in April 2023, the country hosted 1.535 million refugees.
More about the free internet: The people in these refugee camps are finding ways to support themselves and the World Bank wants to help them by giving them access to the internet through its Universal Digital Acceleration programme. According to Techpoint, the programme entails expanding the computer lab and providing free internet connection at Refugee and Hope International, a non-profit refugee home in Kampala.
Fintech
Safaricom leads the pack of mobile money players
M-PESA is eating its rivals for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Reports by Kenya’s Communications Authority show that Safaricom’s M-PESA rules the Kenyan mobile money jungle with a roaring 96.5% market share.
This leaves Airtel Money with 3.4% of the market and T-Kash of Telkom Kenya with 0.1%. M-PESA continues to lead the mobile money race by a landslide despite all the Kenyan central bank has done to level the playing field for other telecoms providing the same service.
What has the central bank done? One of the most notable is interoperability. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) lobbied for mobile money interoperability so that customers could access Safaricom bill payment services using either T-Kash or Airtel Money wallets. So far, it looks like Safaricom has taken up the most space in CBK’s lobby.
Winning on every side: Safaricom is at the forefront of the subscription game with a staggering 43.7 million users. Its competitors—Airtel Kenya, Telkom Kenya, Equitel, and JTL—follow behind with 17.6 million, 2.7 million, 1.5 million, and 368,250 SIM subscriptions, respectively.
It is also the only operator that offers 5G commercially. So, if you spot a Kenyan rocking a shiny new 5G device from Xiaomi, Samsung, or Apple, chances are they’re using Safaricom.
Airtel and Telkom have their work cut out for them, it seems.
Economy
Lagos to cement position as frontier tech city
According to Disrupt Africa, startups based in Lagos accounted for over 87% of total tech startup funding in Nigeria, as of 2022. In the same year, the startup ecosystem in Lagos was ranked 82 out of 100 globally, from 41 the previous year, according to StartupBlink Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2023.
Of course, the ascendancy of Lagos as an African tech powerhouse can be attributed to two key factors. First, the number of tech hubs in the city has grown from 10 to 85 in five years. Second, Lagos boasts a large pool of tech talent, with 67% of Nigeria’s developers choosing to stay in the city, as reported by a survey conducted by DevCenter.
Amid this digital evolution, the Lagos state Government plans to make the state to emerge even further as a frontrunner, capturing global attention and investor interest. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in his keynote address at the recently-concluded GITEX Africa in Morocco, emphasised how his administration wants to shape the tech narrative with strategic initiatives to scale the state’s tech ecosystem with the Lagos State Innovation MasterPlan through infrastructure development, public-private partnerships, regulatory reforms and capacity building.
Read the full story here.
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Crypto Tracker
The World Wide Web3
Source:
|
Coin Name |
Current Value |
Day |
Month |
|---|---|---|---|
 Bitcoin |
$30,217 |
– 0.81% |
+ 12.94% |
| Ether |
$1,854 |
– 2.19% |
+ 1.53% |
 BNB |
$235 |
– 1.18% |
– 23.06% |
| Solana |
$16.20 |
– 4.20% |
– 18.88% |
* Data as of 22:45 PM WAT, June 26 2023.
Events
The Moonshot Conference
This is Moonshot by TechCabal.
Moonshot is a conference that will bring together Africa’s tech ecosystem to network, collaborate, share insights and celebrate innovation on the continent.
Click here to join the waiting list to get more news and updates about this conference.
Opportunities
- The SaaS Accelerator Programme: Africa 2023 has opened applications for its accelerator programme to enable early startups in Africa to receive funding. Selected startups will receive up to $70,000 in funding. Apply by September 7.
- Wise Guys SaaS Accelerator Program is looking to help SaaS startups level up through tailored guidance and support from world-class mentors and experts. Apply before September 7.
- The AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards 2023 ($5,000 prize) is now open to applications from reporters doing work for independent news organisations around the world, with articles readily accessible to the public by subscription, newsstand sales or online access, with the submitted work available in English are eligible to Apply by August 1.
- If you are a young (no older than 24 years of age) and emerging photographer looking to embark on a career in the world of photojournalism, the Ian Parry Photojournalism Grant 2023 (up to £10,000) is open for Applications. Apply by August 31.
What else is happening in tech?
- Work, create, collaborate at ThinkSpace, an optimised workspace for the modern Lagos professional.
- Despite new rules, Nigerian banks aren’t asking customers for social media handles yet.
- The Next Wave: Questioning Africa’s booming tech event circus.
- South African government is looking to bail out Telkom.
- Kenya strikes three minerals known to fuel regional conflict.
- Zimbabwe’s inflation is back at three digits after currency crashes.
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