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We’re excited to invite you to the Ecobank Fintech Challenge Semi-Finals happening today, August 14, 2024, at 2:30 pm WAT at the Ecobank Pan African Centre in Lagos, Nigeria!
The Ecobank Fintech Challenge is an exciting competition that seeks to identify and support the most innovative fintech solutions from across the globe. Out of over 1,550 global applications, 40 fintechs have made it to the semi-finals. Join us today for the unveiling of the 40 semi-finalists and the announcement of the top finalists for the 2024 competition.
You can join in the programme physically or register to stream it online here.
Climate
Egypt launches Carbon market
Africa is emerging as a key player in the global carbon market, with countries increasingly recognising the lucrative potential of selling carbon credits.
Uganda, for instance, has already issued over 33 million carbon credits under the Clean Development Mechanism. Other nations like Kenya, Zimbabwe, and South Africa are also actively developing their carbon markets.
Now, Egypt has entered the fray. The country officially launched its carbon market yesterday, opening doors for companies and countries to offset their emissions by purchasing carbon credits. This move is expected to generate substantial revenue for Egypt, contributing to its goal of reducing carbon emissions by 17 million tonnes annually.
With a global carbon market valued at $909 billion, Egypt’s entry is a strategic move. It joins a growing number of African nations capitalizing on this opportunity to fund climate action projects while contributing to global emissions reduction efforts.
Read Moniepoint’s 2024 Informal Economy Report
Did you know that 57.7% of the business owners in Nigeria’s informal economy are under 34 years old? Click here to find out more about the demographics of Nigeria’s informal economy.
Companies
Pernod Ricard tops up its Jumia shares
Jumia has had its fair share of challenges over the years, but it still has admirers who are putting their money where their mouth is. And despite missing revenue expectations for Q2 2024, Jumia’s admirers are in it for the long haul.
Pernod Ricard, the maker of wines and spirits like Jameson, recently increased its stake in Jumia from 6.4% to 7.5%, buying 1.27 million secondary shares in the e-commerce company worth an estimated $6 million.
Pernod bought the shares on August 6, 2024, when Jumia stocks ($JMIA) traded at $4.68. On the surface, it does seem like the wine-maker bought the dip after $JMIA price crashed from $11.11 on August 1. But after Jumia announced its sale of secondary shares last week, Pernod moved quickly to shore up its ownership stake in the face of another potential dilution.
The wine-maker has been a Jumia shareholder since December 2018, initially owning 8.4%. However, Jumia’s previous secondary share sales in 2020 and 2021 diluted existing shareholders like Pernod to 6.4% which it held since.
Topping up its shares amidst another secondary share sale looks like a defensive move to preserve its stake in the company. After all, what’s the point of going long on a company if, when they actually find success, you only have a negligible stake?
It’s equally an opportunistic move for both companies, as Jumia is hedging its bets to regain form in Q3 2024. For Pernod Ricard, it could explore exclusive joint marketing campaigns and product placements on Jumia.
Collect payments anytime anywhere with Fincra
Are you dealing with the complexities of collecting payments from your customers? Fincra’s payment gateway makes it easy to accept payments via cards, bank transfers, virtual accounts and mobile money. What’s more? You get to save money on fees when you use Fincra. Get started now.
Mobility
Uber and Bolt drivers raise prices in Kenya
Africa’s gig economy is under strain as ride-hailing drivers rebel against what they deem as exploitative conditions. Soaring fuel prices and the rising cost of living have pushed drivers to the brink, igniting disputes over fare prices and working conditions.
In Kenya, drivers have taken matters into their own hands, defying platform regulations by imposing their own fares. The drivers started making a case for an increment in fare prices with a five-day protest in July. The drivers also asked for the removal of a VAT tax and the lowering of Uber’s commission fee last year.
These drivers contend that the current fare prices do not make business sense. They recommend a minimum fare increase from $1.40 (KES180) to $2.33 (KES300). The Automobile Association of Kenya also recommended a $0.26 (KES33) charge per kilometre.
This unprecedented move brings a new challenge to ride-hailing apps, which now have to deal with customers’ reports of harassment and assault when they refuse to pay the unofficial rates. The move also raises questions about the sustainability of the gig model itself.
The ride-hailing companies started negotiations with drivers yesterday, with a decision expected between Thursday and Friday.
Startups
Safaricom blocking API access led to PrivPay shutdown
Businesses thrive in the API economy. Yet, for both providers and dependents, risks and rewards go hand in hand. Providers could be risking exposure to security and regulatory non-compliance from third-party businesses they open access.
For dependents, while the rewards are high to build a business on borrowed technology, the risks are equally zero-sum. They could wake up to being cut off from access to technology that spins money for them—like PrivPay.
The situation between PrivPay, a Kenyan fintech startup and M-PESA, perfectly demonstrates this nuance. PrivPay built its business on M-PESA’s application programming interfaces (APIs) to allow users to hide their personal information when they send money. It was selling the privacy dream to Kenyans who perform 99% of their mobile money transactions on M-PESA.
But the problem with this business model is that it goes against regulations in the financial services industry that make personal data collection a big part of its play—and for good reasons. Bad actors were going to have a field day when their transactions could not be tracked, and no one knew how they moved money in or out.
This was bound to raise serious concerns from Safaricom, the landlord of the M-PESA APIs that PrivPay built on. And right on the money, it made a decision that shut down the business for PrivPay—ending its one-year run for 30,000 users who hopped on the privacy dream it was selling.
In a discussion about how API startups are problematic businesses to run, I once argued that “Building a business on borrowed technology is risky because [these businesses] will remain subservient.” While this rings true, it goes a bit further than that. Technology providers equally face bigger risks themselves. And for PrivPay, it was going to be hard to run anything sustainable on that model.
It’s a story of what could have been; it was a good run until it no longer wasn’t.
Our reporting explained what happened to PrivPay after; catch up here.
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Crypto Tracker
The World Wide Web3
Source:
|
Coin Name |
Current Value |
Day |
Month |
|---|---|---|---|
 Bitcoin |
$60,989 |
+ 3.13% |
– 2.79% |
| Ether |
$2,729 |
+ 2.76% |
– 14.72% |
 Toncoin |
$6.66 |
+ 6.06% |
– 11.26% |
| Solana |
$144.67 |
– 0.12% |
– 4.80% |
* Data as of 06:15 AM WAT, August 14, 2024.
Events
- We are two months away from Moonshot 2024. 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 a ticket to Moonshot 2024 here.
- Step into the Future with AWS Community Day West Africa 2024! Are you ready to be part of the revolution shaping the next era of tech? Join the trailblazers, visionaries, and innovators who are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. This is your chance to connect, learn, and ignite your passion alongside the brightest minds in the industry. Don’t just witness the future—be a part of it on September 27th & 28th. Register today
- Join Career Brunch 2024 on August 17, 2024, in CcHUB with successful professionals from diverse fields and beyond for an exclusive (physical) career hangout for all professionals. Whether you’re a 9-5er, entrepreneur, founder, or young-and-coming professional looking to climb the career ladder, scale your business or transition, Career Brunch has something for you. This is your golden ticket to connect with industry leaders and professionals from MTN, CcHUB, McKinsey, Spotify etc., gain invaluable insights, and supercharge your career trajectory. Get your tickets here.
You should definitely read these 👇🏾
Written by: Emmanuel Nwosu & Faith Omoniyi
Edited by: Muyiwa Olowogboyega & Timi Odueso
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