👨🏿‍🚀TechCabal Daily – Another inflation spike?

Analysts expect Nigeria’s inflation to quicken in October

Nigeria’s headline inflation for September quickened slightly as fuel price increases exceeded the price reductions from a bumper food harvest. That acceleration reversed a two-month easing period in the country’s headline inflation, which currently stands at 32.70%. 

With October inflation figures expected to be released on Friday, analysts predict the number to be between 33.5% and 34%. 

Although Nigeria’s harvest season helped ease food prices, flooding in key agricultural states like Borno and increased transportation costs due to a fuel hike have reversed those gains. The country’s failure to implement a 150-day waiver on food imports may also quicken food inflation rate which is already at 37.7%. 

If the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announces a quickening inflation in October, it will add to the worries of Nigerians who are living through the country’s worst cost of living crisis in decades. 

Regardless of what figures the NBS shows, the Central Bank will likely maintain the benchmark lending rate again. In September, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) delivered a shock 50 basis point interest rate hike. 

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Now more than ever before there are more African-focused remittance startups that allow you to send and receive money abroad. NALA, Raenest, Grey Finance, LemFi, you can mention them with little effort. Yet these well-known remittance companies rely on lesser-known payment businesses like Fincra to succeed.

Fincra provides payment infrastructure that enables remittance companies to process cross-border transactions.

Since 2023, the company has processed $10 billion in transactions—serving clients like Lemfi, OneLiquidity, and Cleva—and is profitable. Fincra has remained largely bootstrapped, having raised only a $250,000 investment from Techstars in 2022.

Read more about the business and what it does beyond remittance.

In the hierarchy of cybersecurity mishaps, consumer data privacy breaches are probably the most costly for companies. The damages often go beyond financial losses for the company or the harm to customers. In the trust business, losing customer trust does not bode well for any company.

Data breaches expose customers to risks like identity theft and fraud, but consumers have some power to act when companies fail to protect their data. 

In many countries, including South Africa, laws like the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), 2013 require companies to notify affected consumers and report breaches to regulators. 

Consumers can file complaints and, in some cases, pursue legal action for damages caused by a company’s negligence.

In September 2024, Telkom, South Africa’s third-largest telco with 21 million subscribers, was breached in an incident that saw the perpetrator gain access to crucial information on its customers. However, there was no reported financial loss to these customers.

The breach occurred when an unnamed franchisee employee allegedly accessed and shared Telkom customer data with a third-party company, which then used the information to poach clients. 

Telkom responded swiftly to the data breach. The company notified the impacted customers and reported the incident to the Information Regulator, as required by POPIA.

On Wednesday, Telkom received a high court order to raid both the third party’s premises and the employee’s residence, seizing records to assess the full extent of the breach.

While Telkom may still get a slap on the wrist for employee negligence, the telco could still walk away without litigation due to the alarm bells it raised and the subsequent follow-ups to its affected customers.

South Africa’s National Treasury has proposed plans to introduce carbon taxes to its tax regime to offset its carbon emissions. Carbon taxes are levied on companies that emit large amounts of carbon.

Africa’s global contribution to carbon emissions and the consequential climate change may be a meagre 4%; but within the continent, South Africa is one of its biggest carbon emitters. This is no thanks to its national power-generating company, Eskom.

Eskom produces and supplies 80% of the electricity the country consumes, with coal as a major energy source. This heavy reliance on coal means South Africa emits 435.9 million tonnes of carbon annually, with its coal power contributing about 85% to that number. Alongside Egypt and Algeria, South Africa is responsible for 60% of Africa’s total carbon output.

Yet, South Africa could see a significant drop in its emissions over the coming years. The country has been making key advances in its mobility sector where electric vehicles (EVs) have seen strong uptake. Also, due to the electricity availability, compared to countries with frequent power cuts, South Africans rely less on fossil-fuel generators.

The country’s obvious pathway to cutting carbon emissions is to reduce reliance on coal to generate electricity. It has previously talked up plans to move its electricity production to solar and wind energy sources. But while it explores that change, South Africa could incentivise companies like Eskom to watch the amount of fumes they pump into the air.