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Startups
Kippa loses $31,000 to internal fraud
Nigerian bookkeeping startup Kippa lost ₦30 million ($31,000) in an internal fraud, a TechCabal investigation revealed.
The news: Sources say the fraud came to light in November, a month after Kippa shut down its agency banking app and laid off 40 employees.
In October, Kippa shut down KippaPay after facing several macroeconomic issues. The shutdown led to a bank run, and in the withdrawal frenzy, Kippa noticed that a customer without a POS terminal had made unusually large withdrawals. An internal investigation uncovered ₦30 million ($31,000) in the account of a senior manager, revealed to be the source of the fraud. The manager, who cannot be legally named, was arrested in November and has since been released.
The kicker? Kippa’s laid-off staff may be the receiving end of the fraud. In October, the company said it would provide one month in severance pay to affected employees, but it has yet to honour that agreement.
The internal fraud at Kippa constitutes a significant breach of trust, but the alleged failure to fulfil promised severance packages to laid-off employees further exacerbates the situation. This raises concerns about the company’s commitment to ethical business practices and its ability to uphold employee rights. At this time, Kippa has yet to respond to any of the concerns.
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Economy
Nigeria’s inflation hits 28.92%, a 27-year high
Nigeria’s inflation rate is on its way to the top.😬
Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that headline inflation, which tracks the prices of food, energy and other commodities, rose to 28.92%. Food prices, which drive the country’s inflation rates, increased by 33.93% last December.
High on history? Nigeria hasn’t witnessed inflation this scorching in 27 years, since the military regime of the mid-1990s. Annual inflation soared to 29.27% in 1996, but many Nigerians still remember the staggering peak of 72% experienced the year before.
What is the government doing? The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has faced scrutiny for its hold on the crisis. The apex bank faced criticism for postponing the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) meeting—a financial policy-making committee—in October 2023, citing a fulfilled “quota” of meetings for the year. This perceived inaction fueled concerns about the government’s commitment to tackling inflation. The central bank is yet to announce its next monetary policy committee meeting. It last held a policy meeting in July 2023.
Zoom out: Nigeria faces a stark reality if the inflation figures continue to rise. Businesses may struggle to operate, unemployment could rise, and social unrest could be the order of the day. It remains to be seen to the government’s next step in curbing the inflation.
Streaming
Showmax 2.0 is bringing cheaper deals
For the second iteration of its streaming service, MultiChoice’s Showmax will let users watch the premier league on their mobile devices at just ₦2,900 ($3.03).
Yesterday, the streaming service announced three new subscription tiers—exclusive mobile-only entertainment, Premier League, and a bundle subscription combining the two—ahead of the February launch of Showmax 2.0.
How much? The mobile-only subscription for the Premier League will cost ₦2,900 ($3.03), ten times cheaper than the ₦29,500 ($30) premium DStv subscription. A mobile-only entertainment subscription will cost ₦2,500 ($2.61) a month, while the combo bundle will cost about ₦3,200 ($3.34).
Will Showmax 2.0 take off? Streaming is usually considered expensive on the continent due to the high cost of internet subscriptions. The average cost of 1 GB of data on the continent is between $0.75 in Nigeria to $20 in Sao Tome. Arinola Shobande, marketing manager of Showmax says the company betting on a mobile-first focus on the continent due to their understanding of the market. Shobande claims watching Showmax for 24 hours costs 1GB—which is how much data one hour of standard definition streaming on Netflix costs. The new app will be available for download by January 23.
Zoom out: Currently boasting 5 million subscribers, Showmax hopes this mobile-only move can further expand its reach, particularly among football fans and mobile-first viewers across Africa. This move could have led to increased customer acquisition if it had launched before the AFCON tournament. It remains to be seen if this strategy will lead to a goal or an offside when Showmax 2.0 launches in February.
In more news about strategy, MultiChoice has named Andrea Zappia as the new chairman for Showmax. Zappia, who spearheaded new market expansion at European broadcaster Sky, became a Non-Executive board member at MultiChoice Group in September 2023, after the two companies, along with NBCUniversal, formed a partnership to boost African viewership. Zappia is bringing a decade of streaming and broadcast experience to Showmax and we should see results in a couple of months.
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Cybercrime
South Africa sees rise in online scams
South Africa remains a hotspot for cybercrime.
One journalist Maya Fisher-French, reported a surge in fake phishing scams after she was tricked by a convincing ad for discounted Sketchers shoes, only to realise she’d landed on a fraudulent website. Online shopping stores in South Africa have also issued warnings about fake social media ads leading to fraudulent websites. Some of these sites offer up to 80% discounts!
Fisher-French’s report echoes a 2023 IBM report, revealing an alarming 8% increase in data breaches within the country. A 2022 report by Interpol listed the country as the “cybercrime hub of Africa” with a total of 230 million cybercrime threats detected. The South Africa Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS) noticed a crazy 600% jump in reported incidents from 2018 to 2022.
Other cybercrime trends: Jacques Jordaan, CEO and co-founder at Specno notes that another prevalent form of fraud in South Africa is account takeover, commonly referred to as ATO. In this approach, hackers gain access to a customer’s online account details and leverage the information to either withdraw funds or infiltrate the accounts of other unsuspecting victims.
Cybercrime drains R2 billion ($107 million) from South Africans annually, ranking them third worldwide in losses.
What’s the SA government doing about it? To reduce the rise in scams, the SAFPS announced that it is developing a product called “Yima” in May 2023. Once it’s launched, the platform will help South Africans report scams, lock down their personal info, and check if a website has any sketchy business going on. In February 2022, the South African government also held a Cyber Intelligence event to become a more cyber-secure nation. However, there are still many vulnerabilities. What you can do to help is to look left, and then right, when you see an unreasonably juicy deal on Instagram or Twitter. 👌🏾
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Regulation
Are regulators gunning for Nigeria’s tech ecosystem?
Headlines of venture capital (VC) decline dominated the global tech scene in 2023. Nigeria, which historically leads “Africa’s Big 4 countries” in VC inflows, sat at the bottom last year with $398.2 million.
While funding might be slowing down, Nigeria’s regulatory landscape in Nigeria is anything but stagnant. The past year saw a flurry of new rules and guidelines, which could impact how businesses operate and investors perceive the market.
Four regulations that stood out in 2023: In March, Nigeria became the first African country to adopt open banking regulations, allowing banks to share customer data with third-party service providers. In December, the country’s apex bank then mandated all financial institutions to collect ID cards before creating financial accounts to curb fraud. In that same month, the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) asked banks and mobile money operators to delist unlicensed fintechs from directly accepting consumer deposits. On the crypto front, two days before Christmas, the central bank lifted a two-year ban that blocked banks from processing crypto-related transactions
With all these regulations, it’s open season on Nigeria’s tech ecosystem and it’s already causing chaos. Abraham Augustine writes about its ramifications here.
Crypto Tracker
The World Wide Web3
Source:
|
Coin Name |
Current Value |
Day |
Month |
|---|---|---|---|
 Bitcoin |
$42,873 |
+ 0.50% |
+ 1.58% |
| Ether |
$2,533 |
+ 0.83% |
+ 12.76% |
 Xai |
$1.10 |
+ 25.24% |
+ 62.54% |
| Prosper |
$0.5 |
– 5.03% |
+ 50.54% |
* Data as of 06:37 AM WAT, January 16, 2024.
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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 Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa: Doctoral Dissertation Research fellowship 2024 (up to $15,000). The Social Science Research Council offers fellowships to support the completion of doctoral degrees and to promote next-generation social science research in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. The fellowships support dissertation research on peace, security, and development topics. Apply by February 11, 2024.
What else is happening in tech?
Written by: Mariam Muhammad & Faith Omoniyi
Edited by: Olumuyiwa Olowogboyega & Timi Odueso
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