54gene | TechCabal

54gene Raises $4.5 million to Create the World’s First African DNA Biobank

Business, Funding, News, startups

2nd July 2019

Nigerian medical startup 54gene has secured a $4.5 million seed funding barely 7 months after it launched. The sum was raised from investors some of which include YCombinator, Fifty Years, Better Ventures, KdT Ventures, Hack VC and Techammer.

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From loans to digital banking: FairMoney eyes growth in Nigeria

FinTech, startups

Kay Ugwuede

20th September 2019

Microlending platform FairMoney offers small loans of between N1,500 – N150,000 to Nigerian with maturities of 1-3 months. To determine who is fit to receive a loan or not, an algorithm allows the company evaluate an individual’s creditworthiness using two parameters: financial data and alternative data. With financial data, the algorithm evaluates the ability of […]

What is really going on with Nigeria’s new VAT and electronic processing fees?

Business, FinTech, Government, Internet, News, Politics

Abubakar Idris

20th September 2019

The news cycle in Nigeria has been dominated lately by several regulations introduced by varying financial institutions. First, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) announced a new 5% Value Added Tax (VAT) on all online transactions from January 2020. Then the federal government unveiled plans to increase the VAT paid on all goods services to […]

Andela, with a projected $50m revenue, lays off 420 developers

Business, Developers, Entrepreneurship, Funding

Abubakar Idris

17th September 2019

Andela, the Africa-focused tech accelerator, is laying off more than 400 employees across three countries as the company changes its business model away from developer training. The company told TechCabal it is laying off 250 junior developers from Nigeria and Uganda and about 170 others in Kenya. CEO Jeremy Johnson said the company will now […]

Court rulings threaten APCON’s attempt to regulate online ads in Nigeria

Business, ecosystem, Government, Internet, News, Policy, Social Media, Technology

Abubakar Idris

14th September 2019

Nigeria’s advertising regulatory body’s plan to vet adverts on social media is in peril after two historical court cases ruled the agency had no jurisdiction over non-members.

Nigerian digital bank, Kuda, raises $1.6 Million pre-seed funding in readiness to exit beta

Business, startups

Kay Ugwuede

12th September 2019

And now, three years later, the rebranded fully-fledged online-only digital bank, Kuda, has raised pre-seed funding to the tune of $1.6 million from a number of angel investors.

FBI announces arrest of 167 alleged fraudsters in Nigeria in anti-fraud operation

Business, ecosystem, FinTech, Government, Internet, Mobile, News, Policy, Technology

Abubakar Idris

11th September 2019

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested 281 individuals, including 167 in Nigeria, for their involvement in fraudulent business email compromise (BEC) schemes, the agency announced recently. Working with over 12 agencies across multiple countries, the FBI disclosed that the latest arrests are part of Operation reWired, a four-month international operation “designed to intercept […]

Pitchdrive Diary: Pitchdrive Asia Tour Comes to an End

startups, Venture Capital

Kay Ugwuede

11th September 2019

After an intense two weeks of long flights, very little sleep, lots of pitch and networking events, and some fun in between, the second edition of the Pitchdrive Asia tour organised by Co-Creation Hub, in partnership with Google for Startups, has come to an end.

What does the future hold for Africa’s transport and logistics tech sector?

Events, people, startups

Aanu Adeoye

10th September 2019

There’s been an emergence of specialized ride-hailing solutions from two-wheelers to auto-rickshaws and very recently, boats. But the sector faces regulatory and infrastructure challenges and it is barely scratching its potential.