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Nigeria’s apex bank is starting the year in full swing.
Late yesterday, the CBN sacked the board of directors of Keystone, Polaris and Union Banks, citing infractions and threats to financial stability.
Shutdowns
Woven shuts down operations
Woven Finance, a Nigerian fintech backed and financed by the Coronation Group has shut down. The fintech, which offered virtual accounts to business owners, communicated the closure in an email to its customers on Wednesday morning.
Woven Finance was originally housed under Access Bank before a CBN directive forced a spin-off. The startup, which holds a Payments Solution Service Provider (PSSP) licence, was one of several bank-led attempts to compete in the fintech sector. It appears that deep pockets alone were not sufficient to guarantee success.
In an almost ironic return to its roots, Woven Finance will transfer its services to Hydrogen, a fintech company owned by the Access Group.
Zoom out: While GTCO’s fintech, Squad, is making inroads in the fintech space, the progress of other bank-led fintechs like Zest by Stanbic or even Acess Bank’s Hydrogen remain unknown.
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Telecom
Safaricom may face penalties for M-Pesa’s outage
Safaricom may face penalties after M-Pesa’s unscheduled outage on Tuesday.
The mobile payment platform, which 29 million Kenyans rely on, was unavailable for three hours on Tuesday. While Safaricom blamed the downtime on “scheduled maintenance”, it did not inform users beforehand.
This isn’t Safaricom’s first outage, but Kenya’s Communications Authority (CA) may impose a fine for this incident.
The CA classified M-Pesa’s outage as a “systemic risk to the country’s economy” underlining its crucial role in digital payments for Kenyans. With a 97% market share, M-Pesa has morphed into a national payment system, which makes it a critical part of the economy.
This is not Safaricom’s first rodeo with the CA. In 2017, the CA slapped Safaricom with a h KES270 million ($ 1.7 million) fine for failing to meet the call quality standards. It remains to be seen what sanctions the CA will place on the telecom.
Streaming
MultiChoice will now broadcast AFCON
You can now watch AFCON matches on Supersports!
In an interesting turn of events, MultiChoice-owned Supersports will now broadcast all 52 matches of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament.
No gree: Multichoice previously announced that it had lost the broadcasting rights bid to a Togo-based platform, New World TV (NWT). While yesterday’s announcement comes as a relief to football fans who have been scampering for alternatives, it raises questions on how MultiChoice got the contested broadcasting rights.
In the same vein, the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) has also secured the rights to broadcast the upcoming African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament. NTA is collaborating with Afro Sports—an Afro-centric sports media broadcaster—to stream all 52 matches of the tournament. Similarly, Canal+ also secured rights to stream the tournament across francophone Africa.
Where else to watch the AFCON: Startimes, SkySports, Viaplay, and BeIn Sports are among the available alternatives to watch the most prized football tournament on the continent. Also, French-speaking audiences can stream live on New World TV whose subscriptions cost about CFA 3,000 to 7,000 ($5–$18), a cheaper alternative to DStv’s $10–$40.
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Markets
Nigeria’s five largest banks valued at $6.6 billion
Nigeria’s stock market is soaring, and its top five banks are reaping the rewards.
Five of the country’s largest banks—First Bank, Access Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), and Zenith Bank—now have market capitalisations of at least ₦1 trillion ($1.09 billion).
A rising tide lifts all boats: The NGX finished 2023 strongly, led by oil and gas sector and the banking sector. Nigeria’s top banks reported record profits last year and investors seem to believe that this performance will carry over in 2024.
The banking index experienced an 8.2% or ₦6.1 trillion ( $6.6 billion increase) at the close of Tuesday’s trading session, propelling Access Bank, UBA, and First Bank into the “trillion naira club,” where GT Bank and Zenith already hold strong positions with caps of ₦1.42 trillion ($1.5 billion) and ₦1.49 trillion ($1.6 billion), respectively.
Bringing balance to the NGX: Analysts have raised concerns about the market being too dependent on a few large firms accounting for 66% of the NGX’s overall market value. With these additional banks reaching the trillion naira mark, their successes are contributing to a more balanced market.
The boom across the NGX is finally paving the way for more tech startups to join the NGX tech board this year. In December 2022, Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the rules for listing on the NGX tech board, but since the rules were introduced, no startup has been listed on Nigeria’s stock exchange.
The big picture: Banking booms are great, but NGX sees the future: backing homegrown tech for a diverse, dynamic market that challenges one-size-fits-all tech giants. There’s more on this here.
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Cybercrime
MTI Ponzi scheme faces prosecution and penalties
Justice might finally be served for MTI’s 15,000 victims.
The promoters and directors of the bitcoin ponzi scheme might face criminal charges soon.
Backstory: MTI was a Bitcoin-based network marketing scam that began in South Africa in 2019 and lured countless members with promises of 10% Bitcoin returns and hefty referral bonuses. However, MTI faced exposure by Anonymous ZA in 2020, after the hacktivists leaked a redacted version of the entire MTI database, providing insights into how the scheme was run. This led to The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) opening a criminal case and issuing warnings against the scheme.
MTI collapsed after CEO Johann Steynberg went missing in December 2020, leading to liquidation proceedings. Steynberg was later arrested in Brazil in December 2021.
The largest Ponzi scheme in South Africa: According to MyBroadBand, around 39,000 bitcoins were reportedly deposited into the scheme and 32,000 withdrawn leaving thousands with massive losses. In July 2022, the U.S Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charged Steynberg in a bitcoin fraud scheme of $1.7 billion. In April 2023, a high court judge, Alma de Wet, declared MTI a pyramid scheme and also declared the agreements between MTI and investors void, treating them as if they never existed.
What’s happening now? Liquidators are determined to recover funds and hold perpetrators accountable. Criminal investigations could lead to arrests and trials and civil lawsuits might force directors to repay stolen funds.
Crypto Tracker
The World Wide Web3
Source:
|
Coin Name |
Current Value |
Day |
Month |
|---|---|---|---|
 Bitcoin |
$46,075 |
+ 0.82% |
+ 5.04% |
| Ether |
$2,525 |
+ 7.04% |
+ 6.80% |
 Xai |
$0.53 |
– 3.31% |
– 21.64% |
| DeFiChain |
$0.14 |
+ 0.97% |
+ 22.10% |
* Data as of 23:15 PM WAT, January 10, 2024.
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A hack of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s X account has cost $90 million in liquidation. CoinDesk reports that SEC’s account was compromised on Tuesday and a fake post claiming that the agency had approved the long-awaited bitcoin ETF was sent out. While the SEC denied the now-deleted tweet, the incident caused bitcoin prices to drop from $47,000 to $45,000.
X’s Safety Team has blamed the hack on the SEC’s poor security practices on its account—get your 2FA on kids—and lawmakers and critics are now calling for investigations into how the SEC, a poster boy for security, allowed itself to become a platform for disinformation.
Opportunities
- Deji Alli ARM Young Talent Award (DAAYTA) 2024 for Innovative Nigerian startups (₦12,000,000 in funding) is open for applications. DAAYTA is an ARM initiative, in partnership with TechnoVision’s TVC Labs, that aims at providing young Nigerians with an opportunity to develop innovative startup ventures that add economic value to Nigeria. Apply by January 16.
- Applications are open for the World Press Photo Contest 2024 for Photographers Worldwide (5,000 euros cash prize). The Contest recognises and celebrates the best photojournalism and documentary photography produced over the last year, selected by an international independent jury. Apply by January 11, 2024.
- Applications are open for the Mastercard Foundations Scholars Program 2023/2024 at the Carnegie Melon University Africa. The programme provides generous financial, social, and academic support for students whose talents and promise exceed their financial resources. Apply by January 15, 2024.
What else is happening in tech?
Written by: Mariam Muhammad & Faith Omoniyi
Edited by: Olumuyiwa Olowogboyega & Timi Odueso
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