The Green Exchange, an African Fintech is aiming to sell $5 billion in green bonds in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and other African countries over the next five years to support green bond projects across the continent.
Investors will be able to exchange debt on projects like wind turbines, electric vehicle charging stations, sustainable housing, and solar panel installations in a secondary market, according to the website.
According to Bloomberg, Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa have thus far issued green bonds in Africa, while China and Chile have been key sellers in other parts of the world.
The Green Exchange’s cofounders, Orla Enright and Diana Boadu Amoatin said they plan to raise $2 million to construct the virtual marketplace by July for both debt and equity financing, using crowdsourcing on the equity side and green bonds on the debit side.
Its Chief Executive Officer, Enright, said that Africa has been left out on a global boom in borrowing to fund projects that assist in diminishing climate change. She also said that the reactions of companies in the area of giving corporate green bonds are affirmative.
Global investment in green bonds hopes to get to $1 trillion before the end of 2022, according to Enright, but the African market gives only about 0.4% of the global market base for green bonds.
Citing a greater example of climate change by developed countries and investment funds for developing countries who already are making investments in Africa, Orla said, “We will aim for an increased number of North American and Scandinavian institutional funds using ESG as one of their major criteria of investment”.
Overseas Development Institute said green binds solutions would assist in arranging $5 billion every year to address these in Sub-Saharan Africa even when Africa stands at risk of climate change as well as they endure a high cost of finance.
The Green Exchange African Fintech Aims For $5 Billion Green Bond Issuance in Nigeria and Other Countries
Jambo Secures $7.5M in Seed Funding, to Build “Web3 Super App” of Africa
Congo-based startup, Jambo, is building Africa’s web3 user acquisition portal through “learn, play, earn” and has secured $7.5 million in seed funding.
Jambo intends to onboard millions of users to web3 across Africa. This it will do through its applications, according to James Zhang, the company’s co-founder, and CEO.
In November 2021, after realizing the chance to replicate the success of web3 initiatives in Southeast Asia across Africa, he started the company alongside his sister, both Congo-born Chinese.
According to Zhang, Jambo works with telecom carriers to obtain a nearly 70% discount, which it then sells straight to its subscribers at a 50% discount.
“It’s one of our primary user acquisition techniques,” Zhang explained, “where we aim to quadruple every African’s airtime and data.”
Second, Jambo is working with social media businesses to allow users to earn tokens (which can be converted to money) by watching their content on its app.
Last but not least, there are games where you can earn money by playing. There are currently no well-known play-to-earn web3 games from Africa, owing to a lack of infrastructure for creating such through Guilds.
Jambo, according to Zhang, wants to construct such infrastructure.
Since the beginning of the year, Jambo has enrolled over 12,000 students from 15 countries (Morocco, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Uganda, Kenya, Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, DR Congo, Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia, Madagascar, and South Africa) in a curated web3 curriculum that can be completed both online and offline.
Students will be able to explore potential in play-to-earn gaming and decentralized finance, according to the company (DeFi).
Hundreds of ambassadors sign up students at colleges and 600+ physical partner locations where the 10-week programs are offered.
With recent web3 upstarts in Africa, it appears that educating Africa’s young population about web3 and decentralization is a common subject.
The main difference between Zhang’s platform and others is that, while traditional platforms assist Africans save and send money, new upstarts are enhancing users’ income and wealth potentials.
Jambo plans to deploy its beta version in the second quarter and go live in the third quarter.
In order to construct its super app, the 60-man team, which is distributed across Sub-Saharan Africa, Santa Clara, and Shenzhen, received a party round from investors who had previously funded prominent web3 businesses such as Avalanche, Dharma, BlockFi, and Polygon.
Coinbase Ventures, Alameda Research, Tiger Global, Delphi Ventures, AllianceDAO, DeFiance Capital, Yield Guild Games, and Polygon Studios are among others.
Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder and CEO of Polygon; Santiago R Santos, ex-ParaFi partner; Do Kwon, co-founder and CEO of Terraform Labs; and partner at Delphi Digital Piers Kicks are among the web3 ecosystem’s angel investors.
“Jambo will do in Africa what WeChat did in China.” In a statement, Santiago R Santos, a web3 investor, and former ParaFi partner said, “Excited to back this A+ team in becoming the Web3 super app of the continent.”
Internet of Things: 20 IoT Examples You Should Know About
Assume you’re on a road trip and realize you haven’t switched off the lights. What if, instead of returning home, you could use your smartphone to confirm and maybe turn off the lights? Isn’t that fantastic? This is possible with the Internet of Things.
The Internet of Things (IoT) makes life much easier for us. It allows us to monitor and operate almost all appliances remotely.
IoT is a network of physical objects (things) integrated with sensors, software, and other technologies to communicate and exchange data with other devices and systems over the internet.
The following are good examples of IoT that have been making life easy;
- Smart Agriculture
IoT can be applied in farming to make for easy management. In the case of watering farmland, IoT can be adopted for automatic watering when the moisture level drops by installing sensors that transfer the soil information to the IoT gateway with the help of communication protocols like MQQT or HTTP. The gateways aggregate data and feed it to the cloud using WIFI.
Nowadays, farming may be a reasonably high-tech business. Farmers are increasingly turning to IoT-enabled technologies to keep track of the weather, soil composition, and soil moisture levels. They also use IoT gadgets to evaluate crop health, growth, and livestock behavior. We can also use the information to determine the optimal time to harvest plants and establish fertilizer profiles and schedules. Drones can also be used to capture images and data about the weather.
- Smart Cities
People are going crazy with smart cities, one of the most powerful IoT applications. Everyone aspires to live in a smart city with smart monitoring, automated transportation, and various other innovative features.
IoT will be used to address a variety of issues that city dwellers face, including pollution, traffic congestion, power shortages, and many others. Smart cities use IoT equipment such as connected sensors, meters, and lights to evaluate and collect data.
For example, by using web applications or deploying sensors, you can quickly locate free parking spaces across the city at any given time. In addition, smart transportation, energy, infrastructure, data, IoT devices, and mobility are just a few of the essential technologies that smart cities rely on to function.
- Automated Cars
Tesla and Ford are the two carmakers who have already made smart cars a reality. Before now, having a smart car used to be a big deal, but today we live in a time where almost everyone owns a smart car.
Tesla is one of the most successful companies in this industry. Tesla automobiles have wowed the public with their unique features, such as a car that can open the garage gate for you before you arrive, as well as the ability to manage the lights, temperature, and charging of the vehicle remotely.
It also offers an App model that allows you to design your own app to track the car’s position, speed, and battery level from anywhere.
The Tesla Model S, for example, has a constant 3G cell connection to the internet, making it part of the “Internet of Things.” It also boasts Wifi, Bluetooth, a built-in garage door opener, and a rear camera.
The Ford Figo is equipped with cutting-edge technology that keeps you informed and engaged. It offers built-in navigation, rain-sensing wipers, automated headlights, and push-button start.
- Smart Homes
Smart homes are a great illustration of the Internet of Things. Nest, Ecobee, Ring, and other smart home businesses are preparing to release something unprecedented. Smart houses are expected to become as prevalent as smartphones soon.
Refrigerators, speakers, water heaters, smoke alarms, televisions, and lighting are examples of smart home appliances. When your alarm goes off in the morning, you can also open the window blinds to enjoy a stunning sunrise view.
- IoT Data Analytics
More businesses now rely on IoT data analytics to determine trends and patterns by analyzing large and small data sets.
Different electronic gadgets are connected to the internet and share data via sensors daily, but this data is useless unless it is analyzed.
Nonetheless, the company collects and stores data with the help of IoT analytics, resulting in better-optimized operations at all levels. As a result, IoT data analytics software may look at structured, unstructured, and semi-structured data to extract useful information.
IoT Analytics is the key to constructing helpful information from the massive amounts of data that arrive daily, just as IoT is the core of an IT system.
For example, we can see how businesses might use it to improve operations, automate procedures, attract more customers, and authorize staff.
It is possible to develop result-based pricing and subscription models using IoT analytics to improve a company’s business by predicting consumers’ demands by evaluating their data and collecting accurate information from various sources.
- Barcode Scanners
Retailers benefit significantly from IoT barcode readers since they aid in managing inventory.
Cloud data connections are emphasized by IoT-based bar card readers to communicate with other systems. As a result, employing the attached bar code reader will streamline the inventory management process.
IoT barcode readers could be integrated into shopping carts to detect items as they are added or discarded. As a result, customers and sellers save time and have a more effortless experience.
The barcode scanner’s sensor detects reflected red light from the illumination system and sends an analog signal to the decoder. The decoder recognizes that signal and validates the barcode using the check digit before converting it to text.
- Wearables
Large corporations are heavily spending on the development of these devices. IoT includes any gadget connected to the internet, such as a smartwatch or a Fitbit.
Smart jewelry, AI hearing aids, fitness trackers, and body-mounted sensors that track and communicate biological data for healthcare analytics are all examples of wearable tech.
These devices contain sensors and software that may track user information. These devices are mainly used for exercise, health, and recreation. As a result, these gadgets can transmit data to present you with the most precise information about your preferences.
In a fitness tracker, IoT assists in continuously sensing the body’s movements on a three-axis accelerometer and recording the data anytime you wear it and turn it on, allowing the tracker to determine if the person is jogging, walking, or just standing.
- Smart healthcare
Different health ecosystems have emerged to provide better care and lower healthcare costs. Within the healthcare ecosystem, many IoT applications have emerged, including remote patient monitoring, personal healthcare, smart sensors, medical device integration, pharmaceutical industry, healthcare insurance, smart pills, and so on.
The entire healthcare system can keep patients safe and healthy while improving physician services. Healthcare encourages patient-doctor interaction and provides satisfaction to patients by allowing them to spend more time with their doctors.
- Shipping container tracking and logistics management
Many businesses use IoT solutions to track their assets. IoT asset tracking devices use GPS or radio frequency (RF) to track and monitor properties. Smart gadgets can be used to identify and verify assets over great distances.
- Microchips
Microchips are well-known and are utilized for various applications, including safety and defense. Microchips are typically employed to track something or detect data. However, you can now use it to keep track of your pets’ activities.
Microchips are tiny, run-on-a-low power source, and have limited computing power.
People working in shelters, for example, can scan a chip for an animal’s unique ID number and assist chip-carrying pets in locating their owners.
You could implant a tiny IoT-based microchip in your pet or attach it to its collar so that you don’t have to physically seek for them and can quickly track their movements. As a result, your pet will feel free, and you will be able to keep track of their medical history.
Microchips are also beneficial in other ways. They can be used by biologists to monitor wild animals and learn about migration. Credit cards are getting a lot of chips to make them more secure for payments. Thirsty plants can potentially utilize chips to alert people when they require water.
- Supply Chain Management
Smart routing and rerouting algorithms can help supply chain managers make better predictions. In addition, smart IoT devices connected to shipments can provide real-time after-the-event information via GPS and RFID signals, allowing supply chain managers to make more informed decisions.
IoT applications can aid in the reduction of supply chain management risks. As a result, supply chain managers can use smart supply chain management solutions to reduce variance, save money, and boost profits.
The programs can help with inventory management, vendor relationships, fleet management, and scheduled maintenance.
Amazon and Volvo are two good instances of how the Internet of Things (IoT) is revolutionizing supply chain management.
- Detecting Motion
Sensors can detect subtle disturbances and trends that could lead to catastrophic breakdowns in large-scale structures like buildings, bridges, and dams. In places prone to landslides, avalanches, and earthquakes, networks of detectors are also deployed.
- Household Safety
The Internet of Things (IoT) is the driving force behind a smart and safe home. The Internet of Things (IoT) connects a variety of sensors, alarms, cameras, lights, and microphones to provide security 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days in a year—all of which can be controlled from a smartphone. The Ring doorbell video security system, for example, enables users to see, hear, and speak with visitors at their doors using a computer, tablet, or smartphone.
- Activity Monitors
These sensor devices are intended to be worn in the daytime to track and transmit critical health indicators such as fatigue, appetite, physical mobility, oxygen levels, blood pressure, fall detection, and medication compliance in real-time. At-home health monitoring helps elderly or disabled persons live more independently by reducing the intervention of an emergency doctor or hospital visits.
- Digital Twins
A digital twin is essentially an identical digital replica of a physical object in the manufacturing industry. Using technology such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, the digital twin may update itself when the actual object changes in response to its surroundings. As a result, engineers can make tweaks or test updates using the digital twin rather than the physical device.
- Self-Correcting Machines
Manufacturing equipment can be built to notice and rectify irregularities in its own operation using hundreds of sensors, artificial intelligence, and machine learning before they become problems that require shutdowns and maintenance. This keeps costs down for businesses and allows personnel who ordinarily monitor equipment and perform maintenance to focus on more critical activities.
- AR Glasses
Augmented Reality Glasses are gadgets that combine a front-facing camera with software to recognize specific anchors and landmarks -and create tangible objects.
The following are a few examples of AR features that various firms are working on:
AR glasses with a microphone can communicate with Alexa or Siri for voice-controlled searches, with the results appearing directly in front of your eyes.
Your smart AR glasses can gauge the area around you using simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithms, allowing you to control the visuals you view using hand gestures.
Without taking your phone out of your pocket, you can acknowledge and reject message alerts that appear inconspicuously in the field of vision.
Virtual arrows will float up into view thanks to embedded GPS technology, assisting you in finding your path, so you never get lost again.
- Ingestible Sensors
Swallowable electronic devices, about the size of a pill and equipped with a power source, microprocessor, sensors, and controller, can be used to monitor illness states and transmit data from within the gastrointestinal tract — for example, to identify bleeding or medicinal absorption. The first pill with a digital tracking device to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration was Abilify MyCite (aripiprazole tablets with sensors).
- Contact Lenses With Built-In Intelligence
Smart contact lenses that can collect health data or treat specific eye problems are the subject of extensive research. For example, SENSIMED, a Swiss startup, has created Triggerfish, a soft smart contact lens with a sensor built-in soft silicone eyewear that senses small fluctuations in an eye’s volume, which can be a sign of glaucoma. Data is wirelessly transmitted from the sensor to a sticky antenna worn around the eye.
- Industrial Safety and Security
IoT has made it possible to employ sensors and cameras to keep an eye on the border of restricted zones and catch lawbreakers in unlicensed regions. Small chemical leaks or pressure accumulations can also be detected and repaired before they become severe issues.
Spotting and repairing fluid leaks decreases corrosion and lowers maintenance expenses. Chemical plants, nuclear power plants, and mining operations are all monitored by IoT-enabled detection systems.
Overall, the Internet of Things is a game-changer, the one technological breakthrough that the world has been waiting for. Although it is still being developed and improved, it is here for the long haul and to make our lives easier.
MTN Share Sales Shows Nigeria Can Lure Young Crypto Users
MTN’s stock offering demonstrates Nigeria’s ability to attract young cryptocurrency investors.
Nigeria’s primary stock market is planning to digitalize the equity sales process to attract younger investors who are more interested in cryptocurrencies and international assets than in local public firms.
According to Temi Popoola, Chief executive officer of the Lagos-based Nigeria Exchange Ltd, MTN Group Ltd.’s Nigerian unit’s successful selling of 575 million shares in December was ‘groundbreaking”, For the first time, he added, the South African telecom carrier offered an “end to end” electronic stock offering to investors.
The offering was 1.2 times oversubscribed, with 85 percent of investors being below the age of 40. Popoola said in an emailed answer to inquiries that this compares to 30% of all stock investors.
“Our goal is to encourage the next wave of growth in an age where investors’ needs are getting increasingly sophisticated and the rising youth demography is relying more on technology to transact business”, Popoola said.
A lot of young Nigerians have run away from trading in local equities, yet, they are still actively buying and selling cryptocurrencies, which, according to Paxful, a Bitcoin marketplace, accounts for the largest volumes outside the US. Africa’s most populated country has the biggest number of retail users making transactions below $10,000, according to Chainalysis.
However, the stock market is the largest economy in Africa may struggle to catch up with the returns given by cryptocurrencies. The Nigerian Exchange 50 Index is a measure of the nation’s largest equities, and it has gained 28% in three years till 2021. Bitcoin made six folds in the same amount of time.
MTN experimented with a digital app known as PrimaryOffer, which was administered by the Nigerian Exchange. The application allows paperless subscriptions, enabling investors to have access to the offer on electronic devices and complete the process in five minutes or less. There was also a paper-based subscription.
“At NGX, we understand the disturbance of new-age technology-based investments has created in the financial industry”, Temi said. “Digital change is the next area of growth for the NGX”.
According to Popoola, the course aims at automating other processes and procedures, like access to company information, engagement of market operators, and resolution of complaints. It also looks forward to attracting technology companies that want to raise more capital to increase opportunities for traders, he concluded.
A lot of Nigeria and Africa-focused tech startups have reached unicorn status, that is, a $1 billion valuation for a private company –recently, including Flutterwave Inc, which boosted its valuation to $3 billion above after its just-concluded $250 million funding round.
Popoola also said that attracting youth to the local stock market will “create and sustain a boost” in the local market as they become owners of the economy in years to come. “They will become primary beneficiaries of the sustainable and long-term benefits that come with investing”.
FG Bars Officials from Using Private Mails for Official Communication
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the National Policy on the Government, Second Level Domain, which aims to protect official communications using government top-level domains, according to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.
This was when he spoke to State House media on the outcome of the Council meeting on Wednesday in Abuja, which was presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
He claimed that government personnel must now shift from generic domains to the “second level under the government top-level domain” in their websites and emails.
According to him, government officials will no longer be allowed to use private email accounts such as yahoo.com, hotmail.com, or gmail.com for official interactions.
“The paper I provided is our national policy, which the Federal Executive Council has endorsed.” National Policy on the Government, Second Level Domain is the name of the policy.
“This policy has been approved, and it focuses on requiring federal public institutions, ministries, departments, agencies, and all other institutions that are part of the government to migrate from using generic domains in their websites and emails to using our second level domain under the government top-level domain.”
“For example, certain government entities will engage in official communications utilizing private email: yahoo.com; hotmail.com, gmail.com, and it is an official communication,” says the author.
“And someone may retire, or his or her tenure may be completed, or the tenure may be terminated, and he or she will leave with the same email.” And there are a lot of official documents in that email.
“As a result, the government will no longer accept this.” Any official correspondence must be sent via official email. And it should not be a generic email. It’s got to be dot gov dot ng.
“What matters most, dot.ng, is that our national identity be preserved.” There are many different types of second-level domains, some of them are for military purposes, such as mil.ng (military is a short version of military). Nigeria is represented by the dot ng.
“It’s possible to see.gov. gov stands for government, and ng stands for Nigeria. So there are second-level domain categories, as well as our country’s top-level domain. ng must appear in our webpages so that anyone who visits them will recognize that they are from Nigeria. In the case of email, the official name must be reflected.”
The benefits of the new policy, he claimed, would include the protection of the country’s internet as well as national identity protection.
To encourage openness and good governance, he announced that all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) must adopt the new national policy.
Pantami stated that an official circular would be released soon, outlining the best method to begin implementing the policy right away.
He noted that the National Information Technology Development Agency, which is in charge of the government domain and the second-level domain, would be happy to help MDAs implement the new policy.
“Each government employee is also expected to have an official email address via which he can communicate.”
“As a result, the Federal Government of Nigeria has approved this policy.” And part of the policy said that the government would not tolerate noncompliance,” he added.
Freterium Raises $4M Seed Funding to Scale Across MENA
Freterium, a startup based in Morocco has raised $4 million in seed to scale across the country and into surrounding regions.
The round was led by San Fransisco-based investor Partech.
CDG Invest, Y Combinator, Flexport, Swiss Founders Fund, Outlierz Ventures, and a few angel investors from the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Africa participated.
YC-backed startup Freterium launched in 2020 and is trying to build a holistic approach to solving critical backend challenges of the freight industry.
CEO Mehdi Cherif Alami and CPO Omar El Kouhene formerly worked in consulting and logistics for companies like McKinsey, PwC, OCP Group and Strategy& (formerly Booz & Company) across Africa and the Middle East.
The startup’s Transport Management Software allows companies in the freight industry to manage shipments from the port to the factory, then products from the factory to the warehouses, B2B customers and eventually end customers, according to Alami.
Here’s an example of how the firm’s software works:
Let’s say you want to buy a TV from a merchant that has Freterium software incorporated into its e-commerce website.
The software notifies the consumer when Freterium will deliver the television.
However, behind the scenes, the software assists the shop in checking various moving parts to guarantee that the delivery is completed as efficiently as possible.
The availability of vans, the best path to reach the customer, and comparing cheaper and more efficient options between employing an in-house or third-party courier are just a few of the aspects it looks into.
Freterium software assists in execution and monitoring of shipments by sharing shipment information with parties engaged in the transaction.
After the shipment has been delivered, retailers can monitor invoices from delivery companies, examine performance and service quality, and gain insight into inefficiencies inside their company.
According to the CEO, Freterium onboarded more than 20 enterprise customers in its first full year of operation, gaining 35 percent month over month. Its program is used by over 3,000 people.
While incumbents have significant implementation costs and lengthy installation times that can last months, Freterium says that their platform can be installed in under a week with no upfront expenditures.
Enterprise customers pay between $100 and $1,000 per month after installation, depending on their size.
Freterium is now one of the most well funded startups in the emerging Moroccan ecosystem. Only B2B e-commerce startup Chari and proptech Mubawab has raised more recently.
The funds will be used to invest in R&D, hire more people to quadruple the company’s existing team size within the next 12 months, promote the company’s software, and expand across Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, according to Alami.
Abuja-Based Crowdforce, Has Raised a $3.6 Million Pre-series A Funding
Abuja-based CrowdForce, has raised a $3.6 million pre-Series A funding.
The equity-and-debt round was led by Aruwa Capital Management, with participation from HAVAÍC and AAIC.
In order to triple its active agent network of 7,000 this year, the firm intends to use some of the funds to grow its personnel, regional operations, and marketing.
In 2015, Oluwatomi Ayorinde and Damilola Ayorinde started the company as MobileForms, a data collection agent network.
In 2018, while working on TraderMoni, a small credit scheme for micro traders pioneered by the Nigerian government, the company had its first big break.
With its 20,000-strong agents, MobileForms performed KYC on 4.5 million eligible traders and registered them for the TraderMoni program.
Then, there was the challenge of getting money into the hands of these traders.
Because the majority of them were unbanked, sending money to bank accounts was impossible, and for those who did have accounts, banks were located distant from their homes.
CrowdForce, a financial services distribution network that can turn any merchant into a mobile bank branch, saw an opportunity and opted to rebrand as such.
CrowdForce, which is supported by YC, continues to operate its MobileForms products. But it’s PayForce, the company’s second product, that’s in the driver’s seat currently.
PayForce is a POS-enabled system that merchants — who also act as agents — use to provide ATM, transfer, and bill payment services to customers in locations where banks are normally absent and where there is a great demand for cash.
So, over 200,000 agents across Nigeria often refinance their working capital walking considerable distances to the banks or the fintechs they work for like TeamApt.
There are even newer methods, like YC-backed float-as-a-service startup Moni, where agents are offered low-interest loans through a referral and vetting system.
But CrowdForce uses another approach. The company collaborates with larger brick-and-mortar businesses like gas stations and turns them into mobile bank branches that provide float services while storing their cash on a PayForce digital wallet.
CrowdForce also distributes its POS terminals to other businesses like pharmacies and reseller networks.
Ayorinde said CrowdForce will use the funding to distribute more POS terminals to its partners in the next 12 to 18 months.
African Fintech Flutterwave Triples Valuation to more than $3B After $250M Series D
After raising $250 million in Series D funding, African fintech, Flutterwave, has tripled its worth to over $3 billion in just one year.
The San Fransisco-based and Lagos-based startup raised $170 million in a Series C investment from Tiger Global and Avenir in March 2021, valuing the company at $1 billion. Flutterwave has raised a total of $475 million since its founding six years ago (it raised a $35 million Series B in 2020 and a $20 million Series A in 2018), confirming a Bloomberg scoop from October.
Flutterwave has surpassed the $2 billion valuations established by SoftBank-backed fintech OPay and FTX-backed cross-border payments platform Chipper Cash last year to become the most valuable African firm at $3 billion.
Flutterwave, led by the founder and CEO Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, uses a single API to simplify cross-border financial transactions between small and large firms in Africa. The firm also assists companies from outside Africa in expanding their operations on the continent. Booking.com, Flywire, and Uber are some of its foreign clientele.
Since TechCrunch published Flutterwave’s unicorn round last year, the company has grown at an exponential rate. The payments company claimed to have processed 140 million transactions worth $9 billion at the time. After a year, the African payment giant has grown to execute 200 million transactions worth more than $16 billion across 34 nations on the continent.
The amount of businesses using its platform has also shot up. It was 290,000 in March 2021, now, 900,000 businesses use Flutterwave worldwide to process payments in 150 currencies, using different kinds of payment modes: Consumer product barter, local and international cards, mobile wallets, and bank transfers.
While Flutterwave’s market share in enterprise payments has been majorly responsible for this success, diversifying into fintech products for small and medium scale enterprises, consumers also played a crucial role.
“It was intentional on our part because we saw the opportunity in the SMB space, and how they require the same technology type the Ubers and Netflixes of this world use”, Agboola said. “Some of this is obvious in how we made the Flutterwave store bigger, this allows small enterprises anywhere in Africa to build an e-commerce shop virtually at no cost scale”, he concluded.
The Flutterwave Market was just revamped last November, it used to be known as the Flutterwave Store which was launched in April 2020. The e-commerce solution has extended to more than 30,000 traders that retailers and consumers can buy various products. Flutterwave launched Send in December, a remittance program that enables users to send money to recipients into and out of Africa.
Customers use the feature –Send- which was called “Flutterwave’s fastest-growing product” by Olugbenga Agboola – majorly to pay for family support, tuition, and gifts, the company said. Send has processed 4,729 transactions, with the total payments reaching $3.59 million in its first month of being launched. Most of its customers are from Nigeria, U.S, and U.K.
“We are becoming what we have always wanted to be; the infrastructure of any kind of payments”, Agboola said. “There is no sector you will look at in Africa today that you won’t find Flutterwave taking a piece of it and helping sellers and consumers to grow and pitch”.
Flutterwave has its headquarters in the U.S, but it does not run any of its operations there. A lot of its U.S-affiliated businesses have to do with striking partnerships with fintech big-guns like Visa, Discover, Paypal, and Worldpay FIS to ease international transactions with Africa.
This has however changed since last year August. The company hired Jimmy Ku as head of growth to lead its expansion into the U.S. Flutterwave now operates an ACH network in the North American country with few customers using the platform to make ACH payments, payouts, and collections.
In years to come, Flutterwave will look at acquisitions that will further root its authority in the fintech ecosystem. As the fintech giant continues to deepen its authority in the SMB and consumer fintech world, we can presume that smaller upcoming startups, including those it is already backing like CinetPay, may become targets of acquisition.
“Presently, no IPO. The goal is to continue expanding and growing, and definitely, we have plans of being IPO-ready from a ripe perspective, this means continuing to build the infrastructure, crossing our Ts, and dotting our Is if we decide to go that way”, Agboola said.
Healthdart Provides Affordable and Accessible Healthcare in South Africa
Healthdart is making healthcare more inexpensive and accessible in South Africa.
There is perhaps no other industry that contributes as much to the growth of society as healthcare, aside from education. Individuals who are unhealthy are unable to start enterprises, push for good government, or invent life-changing breakthroughs. As a result, it is no wonder that some of the world’s poorest countries have the poorest healthcare.
Morocco was the highest-ranked African country in the World Health Organization’s health system rankings before it was suspended in 2000. Tunisia, the continent’s next largest country, was ranked 52nd. In the 21 years since not much has changed. According to research by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), healthcare in Africa is the worst in the world, with 50% of healthcare spending coming from personal funds.
In May 2020, a few weeks after the forced lockdowns in South Africa, Njabulo Skhosana, CEO of Healthdart, quit his job as the Chief of Staff to the CEO of Discovery Health to build his own company – Healthdart, a company aimed at providing primary health care services.
Healthdart solution employs an app to create a platform for users to order pharmaceuticals and have them delivered for less than the cost of the lowest two-way bus ride in South African townships (R30 or $1.99). Customers can pay with an electronic money transfer before receiving the medications or with a card or cash at the point of exchange.
One might wonder what is so unique about allowing patients to order and having their medications delivered to them wherever they want. Consider this scenario: You have a cold and have received a prescription from your doctor. However, there are no pharmacies in your immediate vicinity, therefore, you must go to the nearest drugstore to collect the medication.
This is where Healthdart comes into. The company not only delivers drugs to patients, but it also facilitates online and physical consultations with doctors and patients. As a result, the startup can provide access to primary healthcare services.
Healthdart proffers its solution using an app and still targets middle-income communities. With a little disposable income, this community is unlikely to have a smartphone, and here is how Healthdart plans on reaching out to them:
“I think if you had asked me this question five years ago, we would not have been able to kick-start this business. As of now, we realize that people can access basic android phones for low prices in the South African market”, the CEO said.
The solution of the new startup is not new, there are startups across Africa that either grant a platform for patients to order drugs or speak with a doctor. Skhosana argued anyway, that Healthdart provides more than just convenience to its users.
“A big part of our value proposition is cutting the total cost of care, and that is quite distinct from what our competitors do. In most cases, the aim is on convenience, which is almost like trying to create an UberEats for medicine. But we see our role as a lot more integral to the person’s way of life and trying to make it as affordable and easy as possible so that people can access the right level of healthcare that they need”.
Since the launch of Healthdart, the company has focused on a few South African towns. It also plans to add more towns and cities to the areas it presently covers before exploring possible expansion options. Although, Healthdart has facilitated over 1,000 medication orders and health consultations across Johannesburg in South Africa.
The startup was formerly housed in the Founders Factory Africa, it has also raised money from BFA Global’s Catalyst Fund as it aims towards building a general store for primary healthcare services in Africa.
MoneyHash Raises $3M to Create A Super-API for Payment Operations in Africa And Middle East
MoneyHash, based in Egypt and the United States, has exited beta with $3 million in pre-seed funding. The startup bills itself as the “first super-API for payment orchestration and revenue operations” in the Middle East and Africa.
MoneyHash reported an undisclosed six-figure investment in June from investors including Ventures Platform, Kepple Africa Ventures, LoftyInc Capital, and lead COTU Ventures.
This extension was similarly headed by the Middle Eastern early-stage fund, with participation from earlier backers in the pre-seed round as well as others such as VentureSouq, VentureFriends, The Continent Venture Partners, and First Check Africa.
Tim Chen of NerdWallet, Jake Gibson of Belvo, and Oriol Tintore of Belvo are among the angel investors.
MoneyHash was formed in late 2020 by Nader Abdelrazik, Mustafa Eid, and Anisha Sekar, who have a combined experience of over 30 years working for firms such as Microsoft, UpWork, NerdWallet, and Sigfig.
MoneyHash sits on top of payment processors, providing infrastructure as an extension of their product backends. This add-on becomes their link to the full payment ecosystem in the markets where they do business.
MoneyHash launched in Egypt in early 2021, allowing 17 firms to join to its API and use payment gateways such as Fawry, Paymob, and PayTabs through its sandbox environment.
After the beta, MoneyHash will integrate with a variety of Middle East and North African payment gateways and processors. Checkout, Stripe, Ayden, Amazon Pay, Tap, and ValU are just a few.
Integration with payment providers in Sub-Saharan Africa (primarily serving Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa) such as Yoco, Paystack, and Flutterwave would follow suit, according to the CEO, who did not specify when the product would be available in the region.
MoneyHash’s clientele come from a variety of industries, including e-commerce, travel & tourism, and remittances, to name a few.
With a few clicks, they can integrate payment providers, incorporate a single checkout system, and use micro-services like transaction routing, subscription management, and invoicing on the platform.
Five of the 17 companies who tried out its sandbox for free are now paying customers. MoneyHash bills these businesses $150 to $1,000 per month, depending on how many payment providers they connect to.
The platform also charges transaction fees, which start at ten cents and decrease as the number of payments increases.
Abdelrazik said MoneyHash aspires to become the AWS. of payments in the Middle East and Africa.
“We believe the payment business, particularly in emerging economies, is fragmented and need an AWS for money, which MoneyHash provides when you connect with it and construct as much as you want.”
MoneyHash plans to use the capital to accelerate its expansion throughout the Middle East and Africa, according to a release.
The company also intends to grow its staff, which presently numbers 15 people spread across the United States, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, and portions of Europe, by hiring mid-level and senior software developers.
In a statement, Amir Farha, creator of lead investor COTU Ventures, said, “MoneyHash is driven by three extraordinary entrepreneurs with extensive knowledge of payments and acumen for product-led execution.”
“They’re drawing a strong team of talent, and their product is ready for prime time following an amazing beta run.” We’re thrilled to be a part of their adventure.”