👨🏿‍🚀TechCabal Daily – How Namibia is boosting its fintech ecosystem

Startups

The train tracks may have been stripped out from under Copia Global, but Tracey Turner, co-founder of the fallen e-commerce giant is making a swift comeback to Kenya’s consumer market. Turner has registered a new company that will focus on household item deliveries in Nairobi and its suburbs, said people familiar with the matter. It will begin operations as early as September.

Interestingly, investors are circling, cash in hand, eager to back Turner’s new venture. 

What makes her so investable? Turner is a serial founder with a good track record. Before Copia—which was big business in Kenya—she founded MicroPlace, a micro-investment platform that was acquired by eBay in 2006.

Statistically, repeat founders with no exits are still likely to raise funding for a new venture quicker than first-time founders. Turner’s educational pedigree (including a Stanford MBA) and previous work experience also stand her out.

Again, her new venture targets Kenya’s familiar consumer market. This familiarity with the target market, geography, and business model will possibly help build network effects and scale fast, attracting investors who see the potential.

The road ahead: However, as she re-enters the commerce market, Turner faces competition from now-established players like Jumia Kenya, Carrefour, and an unexpected contender—social media. Small business owners are increasingly using platforms like TikTok and Instagram to sell online.

Till today, the jury is still out on why Copia was unable to raise additional funding. One insider suggests leadership issues, stating, “[Copia CEO] Tim was let down by his team.”

7 out of 10 informal business owners borrow money for their business. Click here to find out more about Nigeria’s informal economy and credit.

Big Tech

Last week, Nigeria’s consumer protection body placed a $220 million fine on Meta for data privacy violations. Meta has since rejected the decision.

What Meta did wrong: At the heart of the matter was an investigation into WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy in 2021. There were claims that WhatsApp wasn’t giving users a say on how their personal data was collected and used

Yesterday, the FCCPC released a 116-page document explaining its charges against Meta. We know you don’t have the time to read all of that so we did it for you.

The regulator claimed WhatsApp did not allow users to opt out of the 2021 policy. The FCCPC also found that an early version of WhatsApp policy mandated users to either accept the policy or be kicked off the platform. 

“The 2021 update was sent to users through frequent pop-ups asking them to accept the privacy policy. While there was an arrow that allowed users to dismiss the pop-up, they could not opt out or reject the update. If users refused to update their apps, the pop-ups became more frequent, and many users lost the ability to read or respond to chats,” writes Muktar.

The regulator deemed this move by WhatsApp—which has a 65% market share in Nigeria—as anti-competitive. 

Meta is treating Nigerians differently: The regulator also found that WhatsApp presented Nigerian users with a different privacy policy from European users. While the 2021 privacy policy update meant that users’ data could be shared with third parties, WhatsApp did not require third parties to obtain user consent before accessing shared user data.

If you had given the FCCPC a flack over the issue, you might want to reconsider your stance. While you’re at it, we’ll wait for Meta’s appeal of the FCCPC’s decision. 

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Ecosystem

Leonie Dunn, Namibia’s deputy central bank governor, spoke with TechCabal about her country’s plan to boost its relatively small fintech ecosystem, which has only 20 startups, like PayToday and PayPulse. 

“Regulators need to evolve with the fintechs. We need to be able to catch up.”

What has the Central Bank done to help the country’s fintech ecosystem?

We’ve done a lot in Namibia to create an enabling policy and legislative environment. We have enacted a whole host of new laws in 2023, to enable what we call open finance, and also to enable fintechs to thrive. 

We’ve adopted a fintech regulatory framework which has been operational since 2021 and created a regulatory sandbox where our fintechs can help create a regulatory outcome that will benefit the fintechs and what Namibia needs. 

What we are trying to achieve is not to stifle the innovation they bring to the market but rather to co-create a solution where our regulatory environment doesn’t feel threatened by the innovations but rather is complementing the innovation happening. 

What does a fintech need to do to get a license in Namibia? 

It is about the bankability of the product for us as regulators. How will the product affect our market and how will it innovate our financial services space. We don’t want them to do things that already exist in the market because they add no value. 

They have to develop new innovative solutions that will help consumers partake in the financial system. [The solution] has to serve the regionally excluded and underserved and the informal economy because we want them to leverage the opportunities of the formal financial system.

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Funding

Flat6Labs, a regional VC firm, is gearing up to launch an $85 million seed fund aimed at startups in Egypt, Tunisia, and broader Africa. Chief Investment Officer Dina El Shenoufy shared that the firm is currently negotiating with financial institutions, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), for participation.

Climate change solutions are high on the firm’s agenda, along with edtech, logistics, healthcare, and agritech—particularly critical in Egypt and other African markets.

Flat6Labs manages investments worth $96 million in Egypt and the Arab world, having invested in 160 startups, including 95 in tech, healthcare, e-commerce, and logistics through its first $13 million fund.

Its global accelerator is coming back: The firm is also partnering with Shell Egypt to support over 1,000 Egyptian entrepreneurs annually. This initiative is part of the Shell LiveWIRE global programme, which has empowered over 10,000 young Egyptians and facilitated the growth of around 200 startups.

Dalia Elgabry, Shell Egypt’s VP and Country Chair, emphasised the company’s commitment to sustainable social investment, while Flat6Labs’ Co-founder and Chairman, Hany Al-Sonbaty, highlighted the programme’s role in providing resources and mentorship to early-stage entrepreneurs.

The Shell Intilaaqah Egypt Programme will offer hybrid ideation and matchmaking sessions, bootcamps, and incubation cycles, culminating in an annual awards ceremony to celebrate top innovations.

Stat of the week

$83 million: That’s how much energy startups (cleantech startups) in Africa raised from April to June 2024.

Source: The State of Tech in Africa Report H1 2024

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Events

• You can still get an early bird ticket to the second edition of TechCabal’sMoonshot Conference!  From October 9–11, 2024, at the Eko Convention Centre, Lagos, Nigeria, you can join Africa’s biggest thinkers and players like Iyin Aboyeji, Wiza Jalakasi, June Angelides, Kola Aina on a global launchpad for change. If you want to join these stakeholders in Africa’s tech ecosystem for three days of insightful conversations, then get an early-bird ticket to Moonshot 2024 at 20% off. 


• The Nigeria Fintech Forum is set to hold its third edition on July 25, 2024, at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos. Nigeria Fintech Forum plays host to the most senior leaders across Nigeria’s fintech and banking, uniting industry stakeholders who are defining the future of the ecosystem, If your work resonates with fintech, payments or banking, This is where you should be. Get a ticket here. 


• JICA will organize an event related to Nigeria’s startup ecosystem in Japan on Sep 5th 2024. Find out more here.

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Written by: Muktar Oladunmade, Emmanuel Nwosu & Faith Omoniyi

Edited by: Muyiwa Olowogboyega & Timi Odueso

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