👨🏿‍🚀TechCabal Daily – Play stupid games, win stupid prizes

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ChatGPT maker OpenAI has raised $6.6 billion, valuing the company at $157 billion in the largest VC round ever. It will use the funds to advance its AI research.

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For gig drivers, bonuses are a lifeline

In the cutthroat world of ride-hailing, where gig drivers are constantly hustling to make ends meet, bonuses have become a crucial additional source of income. But these bonuses aren’t without strings attached. Drivers must complete 30–50 weekly trips to earn between ₦30,000 ($20) to ₦63,000 ($40) in bonuses. 

They must also have a minimum quality score of 70 to qualify for the bonuses even when they meet the weekly trip targets. 

These bonuses have become a lifeline for many drivers in the face of rising fuel costs and inflationary pressures. Desperate situations require desperate moves. These drivers now adopt creative measures to meet the targets including accepting fake short trips.

Yet, as drivers are learning to fly without perching, ride-hailing companies are learning to shoot without missing. They look out for fradulent trips to stay one step ahead.

While ride-hailing companies constantly update their algorithms to detect and prevent such fraudulent activities, in the end, it’s a stark reminder that the gig economy is a tough, unforgiving place. Survival may sometimes mean bending the rules.

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After losing their mother, Azeezat and her siblings struggled to keep Olaiya Foods afloat. Now, with Moniepoint, they’re transforming Nigeria’s local buka scene. Click here for a deep dive into how Moniepoint is helping her and other women entrepreneurs overcome their funding challenges.

In 2023, Africa recorded over 387 mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals worth $11.2 billion, with East Africa leading the way for the most deals. Yet, it was a slow year for M&A with a 38% value decline compared to 2022.

However, 2024 is already bucking that trend. The value of African M&A deals was $26.9 billion in H1 2024, doubling what was recorded in the whole previous year.

Some notable deals have come from South Africa. The latest is Lesaka Technologies, the NASDAQ-listed South Africa-based fintech company acquiring another fintech, Adumo in a cash and stock deal that stands at $96 million.

Lesaka paid $10 million in cash, and bought the remaining in stocks, providing stakeholders with an exit.

First announced in May, the deal was supposed to finalise for $85 million. However, a 27% increase in Lesaka’s share price since that agreed-upon $85 million took the deal to $96 million. This was because part of the value of the deal was paid in stock.

But Lesaka won’t mind this. Adumo is a strategic acquisition that will help Lesaka reach 1.7 million active consumers and 120,000 merchants in Africa.

While both companies didn’t disclose leadership changes, the new entity will hire 3,300 employees across South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, and Kenya. 

Why would you leave a SIM card in your mobile phone that provided poor network service for nine months, instead of simply switching to another network? For 9Mobile subscribers, it is a sentimental attachment to a network they once cared about. It is like continuing to love your football club when they don’t win trophies.

Subscribers of 9Mobile, dubbed the sickman of the telecom industry, have seen many months of below-par services. While they held on faithfully, they were not told the telco suffered fibre cuts—until now. 

The telco recently changed ownership, from Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services Limited (EMTS) to Light House Telecoms. Apart from the ownership switch, little has changed in terms of capital investment. The number of fibre optic cables it has since its previous owner and UAE-based Etisalat left the company in 2018 is still the same as of 2022—4,650 km.

Thomas Etuh, founder of LightHouse Capital, parent company of LightHouse Telecoms, is raising money to fund the telcos’s infrastructure needs. Pending when he gets the money, 9Mobile subscribers would need more patience.