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Crowdfunding Platform Kickstarter Plans to Move to Blockchain

Hassan Barakat
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Crowdfunding Platform Kickstarter Plans to Move to Blockchain

Crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter has announced plans to develop an open-source protocol “that will essentially produce a decentralized version of Kickstarter’s fundamental functions”, placing a big bet on blockchain.  The goal, according to the business, is for the protocol to be adopted by a variety of sites, including, eventually, Kickstarter.com.

Kickstarter is forming Kickstarter PBC, a new entity that will begin developing the protocol. The platform is also sponsoring the project, creating an initial board of directors, and pledging to be one of the first platforms to implement the protocol, though no exact deadlines for when this would happen were provided. In addition, the business announced the creation of an “independent governance lab,” which will publish research and engage with the community on protocol governance.

It’s an intriguing avenue for Kickstarter, which already shares some philosophical DNA with blockchain platforms that allow users to support projects and build communities around them while also investing in their success. While a completed physical or digital product has been the “stake” in Kickstarter’s concept, newer blockchain crowdfunding platforms are upending that model by providing consumers tokens attached to projects that can grow in value as the product evolves. Some of these attempts are questionably legal, but there are a plethora of ways to hide what consumers are buying and selling.

For the time being, it appears that the Crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter is taking a cautious approach to how the protocol may affect the user experience. “As a user, you can expect the same Kickstarter experience you’re used to. You won’t be able to see the procedure, but you’ll profit from its enhancements,” according to a blog post.

While web3 technologies have sparked significant interest among technologists as well as amateur and professional investors, many ordinary users remain skeptical of the technology because of debates regarding the energy usage of some of the most popular networks, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. Kickstarter is attempting to address these issues by launching its new vertical on the Celo blockchain, which employs a less energy-intensive consensus mechanism that the project’s creators describe as “carbon negative.”

Twitter has been working on bluesky, an effort to establish a decentralized social media protocol, and Kickstarter isn’t the only “conventional” tech firm aiming to develop an open-source system that their own platform may eventually adopt.

CinetPay Receives $2.4 million Seed Funding, Backed by Flutterwave, 4DX Ventures

Hassan Barakat
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0
CinetPay Receives $2.4 million Seed Funding, Backed by Flutterwave, 4DX Ventures

Cinetpay has received $2.4 million seed funding. The payment gateway startup enables e-merchants and merchants in Francophone Africa to take mobile money and other forms of payment.

Pan-African venture capital fund 4DX Ventures and unicorn Flutterwave are the investors in the round, and it marks two milestones for the duo. CinetPay is the company’s first investment into the Francophone world.

Idriss Monthe and Daniel Dindji created CinetPay in 2016 after CEO Monthe had trouble collecting payments at his previous startup, CinetCore, which specialized in the acquisition of online domain names.

“After registering multiple PayPal accounts that were denied by PayPal because we were in Africa, we had problems collecting online money when we opened our website to sell domain names online.”

“However, we pay a price since in Francophone Africa, 80% of the population has a mobile money account.” A bank account and credit cards are held by between 10% and 20% of the population. We decided to look into the field of mobile money and design a payment gateway that would allow merchants in Francophone Africa to accept online payments.”

The Ivory Coast-based startup serves as an online and point-of-sale payment solution for merchants in nine French-speaking African countries: Ivory Coast, Senegal, Cameroon, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Congo, Guinea, and Benin.

Merchants must first create an account on the platform, then upload their KYC, integrate Cinet’s APIs, and begin accepting payments. Cinet receives a 1-1.5 percent commission on each transaction and each merchant pays a $20 annual subscription fee.

E-commerce platforms and digital public services, as well as insurance companies and schools, are among the merchants on the platform. Over 12,000 merchants have registered on the network since its debut. Monthe admits that just 400 of them are currently active. When asked why the company’s retention rate was so low, he explained that most active merchants had previously opened numerous accounts before settling on one.

It’s also possible that CinetPay’s stats reflect the presence of larger payment gateways like MFS Africa and PawaPay, which target the 562 million registered mobile money accounts in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Despite this, the company has done well on its own. It has completed over 30 million transactions for these 400 active merchants so far, averaging roughly $12.5 million each month.

“We’ve been following the Francophone Africa industry for a while now, and CinetPay’s ambitious goal of digitizing payments across the area has impressed us,” said Walter Baddoo, co-founder and general partner at 4DX Ventures. “We’re excited to work with the CinetPay team, as well as our long-time portfolio firm Flutterwave, to usher in the next phase of digital payments in the Francophone region.”

Flutterwave’s participation in the round is a continuation of the unicorn’s cooperation with CinetPay, which began in 2019, according to a joint statement from the two firms. It’s also a departure from Flutterwave’s recent mobile money initiatives, which included a deal with MTN to allow businesses in specified countries to receive MTN mobile money (MoMo) via the gateway.

The investment in CinetPay, according to Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, is an example of the two companies’ shared ambition to “simplify payments on the continent.”

CinetPay claims that the seed investment will allow it to expand its sales and marketing operations across West and Central African regions.

Despite the fact that the company is smaller than its competitors in terms of scale, Monthe believes that its geographical presence, technology, and aim to “simplify payment and make it available across all channels” set it apart from the competition.

In the long run, the goal is to become the most used payment gateway in the next four years.

“By 2025, we want to be the first payment aggregator in Francophone Africa,” says the company. In terms of geographic presence, we are the first in Francophone Africa, with 15 nations. He exclaimed grandiosely, “First in terms of invention, first in terms of market share.”

Common African Cryptocurrency can Boost Trade and Sustain Growth After Covid-19

Abidemi Ogunyemi-Aderibigbe
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Common African Cryptocurrency can Boost Trade and Sustain Growth After Covid-19

As maintained by some African economic experts, the Africa continent requires an integrated capital market and a common African Cryptocurrency to boost trade and give support to economic growth after Covid-19.

Importance of a common African Cryptocurrency 

From the argument of experts of the African economy, about a single Cryptocurrency and integrated market capital required for trade in other to growth, the African Development Bank Group(ADBG) released a press statement that these arguments ensued during a discussion on how to reform Africa’s financial system.

Professor of Finance and CEO at the West Africa Rating Agency, Anouar Hashoune being one of the experts was quoted to have argued that a single Cryptocurrency can help in reducing business costs. He elaborated that “each Africa member country must accept a common cryptocurrency as this is better to do at the continental level, and seeing that we have the expertise to do it, it is a matter of governance, not an issue of technology”

The professor also opined that such Cryptocurrency can serve as an alternative to monetizing some of the endowments of the continent like gold and other commodities.

The statement also quoted the head of the Economic and Financial Transition Department at Agence Française de Développement, Emmanuelle Riedel Drouin elaborating that although she is in support of the stance but cautioned that some conditions need to be met to ensure the launch of a single Cryptocurrency.

“We all shouldn’t forget that a lot of work has to be done on digital infrastructure, the development of payment systems, the payment system’s interoperability really needs to be worked on, so, a lot of work needs to be done in collaboration with financial institutions on digitalization of delivery and payment channels,” she stated.

Africa needs a functionally integrated capital market

Emmanuelle Riedel Drouin mentioned that, while the Central Banks are important to economic success, fund sources diversification is necessary to decrease their dependency.

Although lots of African countries are not in support of privately issued cryptocurrencies, there are some who have shown interest in launching their own digital currency and Nigeria is one of such.

Ghana most likely will launch its own digital currency as well and experts fear that the emergence of multiple digital currencies will decrease the chance of Africa becoming a single Cryptocurrency continent.

Augustine Ujunwa (an economist with the West African Monetary Institute) who also shows supports for a functioning integrated capital market in the statement also mentioned that

“African markets and countries are both small at the moment and it is required of us to take a regional approach in order to integrate these markets. However, harmonizing our laws, regulations, and protocols governing our digital and fintech systems is necessary before we can get there”.

In terms of the central bank’s role, the economist stated that there is a need for them to be innovative in providing financing for key sectors of the economy.

 

 

 

 

 

Visa Launches Global Crypto Advisory Services

Abidemi Ogunyemi-Aderibigbe
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Visa Launches Global Crypto Advisory Services

Visa Inc, the largest payment processor in the world launched Visa global Crypto Advisory services on Wednesday 8 Dec 2021. This initiative was required due to the rise in the adoption of digital currencies which is taking a high hold in popular consciousness.

Visa’s Global Crypto Advisory Services

The launch of the Visa global crypto advisory services is coming up against the viewpoint of unprecedented investors who were demanding Cryptocurrency services. This move is hereby geared towards financial institutions that are looking to acquire and retain customers with a cryptocurrency service, dealers wanting to delve into NFTs(Non-Fungible Tokens) or even the Central Banks considering and wanting to explore digital currency.

Visa stated that over sixty(60) platforms have worked together with them and provided a worthwhile experience for its product specialists and consultants. 

Visa stated that they are caple of rendering assistance to financial institutions by

 “evaluating crypto opportunities, development of concrete strategies, and take lead on new user experiences along with innovations like crypto rewards programs and CBDC-integrated consumer wallets.”

Visa’s service also includes creating awareness to institutions about crypto, allowing clients access to the use of payment processor’s network for digital offerings, and also helping to manage runnings at the backend.

“We approached Visa to delve and learn about cryptocurrency and stablecoins and also the use cases that will be most relevant for our retail and commercial business lines,” said the executive vice president at UMB Bank, Uma Wilson.

Visa’s Survey on Cryptocurrency 

On Wednesday the 8th of December, Visa also released a survey report titled “The Crypto Phenomenon: Consumer Attitudes and Usage.” This report has a survey of over 6,000 final decision-makers across 8 major markets which are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Germany, South Africa, Hong Kong, the UK, and the United States.

The survey result stated that:

“All of the survey participants who have liberties over their finances are all almost aware of cryptocurrency at 94% worldwide”

Also, “almost 1 out of 3 crypto-aware adults currently owns or use crypto, and most of those in that group (say about 62%) said their use in the past year has increased”. 

The survey also revealed that

“Amidst current crypto owners, 81 percent show interest in crypto-linked cards that will allow for conversion and spending of crypto at retailers shop the same way a debit or credit card can be used. 84% of owners are much interested in crypto rewards  that allow the reward of their card spending in form of crypto”

A new global report by Visa shows 40% of crypto owners would likely or most likely switch their primary bank to the one that’s able to offer crypto-related products or services in the next 12 months.

Visa is presently using its network to access buying, selling, and owning digital currencies. It as well gives a credit card that allows users to earn bitcoin while shopping and also allows for the use of USD coin, a crypto stablecoin that has the exact value as the U.S dollar to sort transactions on its payment network.

Although for crypto coins such as BTC to be used as a medium of exchange, the price has to be stable, said Vasant Prabhu, Visa’s chief financial officer.

“If the price of BTC fluctuates from $60,000 – $50,000 in just a few hours, it will be very difficult for a merchant to accept it as a currency” Prabhu stated.

The Visa head of crypto, recently mentioned: “Cryptocurrency is becoming cultural and cool.” He explained further that it is a “whole new class” of mainstream and consumers are entering the space because of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Though, Visa’s chief financial officer Prabhu, also mentioned that ” I am not sure if Crypto coins such as BTC will ever be a medium of exchange although Stablecoins will,” adding that when the time is right, Visa would facilitate the transactions.

Visa was part of the TRM funding round that was held this week for cryptocurrency transaction monitoring and a platform for forensics.

 

 

MTN ICT and Business Skills Training Initiative

Hassan Barakat
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MTN ICT and Business Skills Training Initiative

The MTN ICT and business skills training initiative aims to build the capacity of young people between 18 to 35 years in the areas of ICT and entrepreneurship skills in order to improve their entrepreneurial and employability abilities.

The initiative is organised by MTN Foundation. MTN Nigeria is a subsidiary of the MTN Group, a multinational telecommunications conglomerate with operations in 21 African and Middle Eastern nations.

We’ve accomplished a lot together, but there’s still a lot more to be done. If the last decade has taught us anything, it is how much more we can accomplish when we work together.

We are confident that in the coming years, we will continue to make headlines together.

MTN Foundation is organising another phase of its ICT and entrepreneurship skills training.

Since the commencement of the training in 2018, four rounds of this initiative have been implemented, with 3,052 teenagers successfully taught throughout ten states (Oyo, Kano, Imo, Nasarawa, Rivers, Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Borno, Kaduna, and Katsina). Google, Oracle, KPMG, IBM, Digital Bridge Institute, and Cisco collaborated to make this happen.

The fifth phase is commencing soon. Young entrepreneurs who live and operate small enterprises in the following states will be eligible for this round.

  • Adamawa
  • Anambra
  • Cross River
  • Jigawa
  • Kogi
  • Lagos

Entries close December 20, 2021

Register for MTN ICT and Business Skills Training here

 

Kenyan Fintech Startup Kwara Secures $4M Seed Funding

Mena Adediran
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Kenyan Fintech Startup Kwara Secures $4M Seed Funding

Kenyan fintech startup, Kwara has raised $4million in a seed round which it aims to utilize in building a neobank powered by credit unions.

Kwara was founded in 2019 to foster credit unions’ — also referred to as Savings and Credit Cooperatives Societies (SACCOs) — digitalisation by providing them with Back-end-as-a-service (BaaS) software. In the past two years of operating, the startup has grown from serving only 2 clients to serving 50. Showing that Kenya’s credit unions are welcoming the change to digital platforms.

Kwara for credit unions

The plan for Kwara now is to build the neobank which will allow credit union members to have access to quick loans and other services such as insurance, offering end-to-end solutions to its clientele. Kwara’s neobank app, which is set to launch in the middle of next year, will enable people to sign up with a credit union of their choice in order to access a range of financial services.

Cynthia Wandia, Kwara co-founder and CEO, said to TechCrunch, “We want to make credit unions as efficient as they can be by giving their members the kind of neobank experiences they wish to have.”

David Hwan, Kwara co-founder and COO, further explained that the app will empower users to monitor their financial statements, apply for loans and make loan repayments. He said that by providing this app, credit unions can be afforded more freedom to focus on their core business or “more value-added tasks.”

The seed round was led by Breega VC firm and had other participants including SoftBank Vision Fund Emerge, Do Good Invest, Future Africa, Norrsken Impact Accelerator, amongst others.

Regarding this investment, Ben Marrel, Breega’s founding partner, said; “Over the years, we’ve seen an increasing interest in how to build wealth through community, as well as a shift in consumer preferences towards digital-first banking. Kwara’s unique approach is a catalyst for a new way of retail banking through digital-first credit unions.”

So far, Kwara’s clients have seen a membership growth of over 19% year-on-year, and Kwara has processed $40million worth of transactions between credit unions and their members.

eHealth Africa Academy All-Female Cohort January 2022

Mena Adediran
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eHealth Africa Academy All-Female Cohort January 2022

eHealth Africa Academy is a free 2-month web development training programme. Applications for the first female-only cohort of the academy, to be hosted in January 2022, are now open.

eHealth Africa Academy All-Female Cohort January 2022

The decision to conduct a female-only cohort is part of the eHealth Africa (eHA) Academy’s commitment to reduce the barriers for women starting tech careers. “We are excited about this cohort, to play our part in closing the gender gap within the tech space,” said Oladele Oloruntoba, eHA New Business Development Manager.

The Academy combines modules, workshops, mentoring, and a specific project to train members of the programme and help with kick-starting their careers. Successful participants, at the end of the training, will be linked to internships in software development, quality assurance engineering, business analysis, as well as UI/UX design.

eHealth Africa, a non-profit organization based in Kano, Nigeria, develops “stronger” health systems in Africa with data-driven solutions. The organization provides underserved communities with tech-enabled tools to promote healthy living.

eHealth Africa launched eHealth Academy in Conakry, Guinea in 2016. An 8-week curriculum in software development and network engineering was developed by the eHealth Africa (eHA) team. The Academy was free for every participant, and the courses were taught by expert instructors. The purpose of the programme was to improve the skills of West African software developers.

To date, eHealth Africa Academy has hosted 20 sessions with a number of 74 participants out of the total 1,632 applications received.

As stated earlier, the programme is 100% free, however, the following requirements must be met to ensure successful participation:

  • Basic computer knowledge
  • Having access to a laptop
  • Having access to an internet connection.

The modules to be taught include:

  1. Introduction to Web Design & Development/Development Tools
  2. Introduction to HTML & CSS
  3. Introduction to Javascript
  4. HTML/JS: Making Web Pages Interactive.

Applicants have to complete an assessment, which will determine whether their application will be accepted.

To join the academy, apply here.

MTN Announces Appointment Of New Digital And Fintech CTIO

Abidemi Ogunyemi-Aderibigbe
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MTN Announces Appointment Of New Digital And Fintech CTIO

 Earlier today MTN group announced the appointment of Hermann Tischendorf as the new Digital And Fintech CTIO. 

“We are delighted to have a seasoned executive like Hermann’s caliber on board to grow our DigiFin team,” says  Serigne Dioum the Chief Digital and Fintech Officer of MTN group.

“He brings required skills and experience that will aid the acceleration of innovative digital and fintech advancements in line with our strategic intent of leading digital solutions for Africa progress.”

Hermann has a Master’s degree in Business Administration along with a Diploma with Honours from Karl-Franzens University of Graz, Austria. He studied Banking and Finance at the Anderson School of Management, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)

Hermann, coming from 4Finance Group, where he was Chief Technology Officer has 30 years of experience in the financial services sector. He has also occupied lots of senior roles making him a good fit for the role.

Hermann will be bringing onboard a solid track record of success in directing organizational expansion, digital product development, operations management, IT budget allocation, alongside mergers and acquisitions.

MTN believes the new digital and fintech CTIO, Hermann, will bring transformation and disruption to its mobile payment platform and help to improve customer engagement, experience, acquisition, and loyalty.

Hermann will take responsibility for the development of new products and services, allowing for the growth of a nascent ecosystem and to scale up existing streams of revenue.

His appointment as MTN’s new Digital And Fintech CTIO took effect on 1 December 2021.

 

 

 

Digital Payroll Platform, Bento, Expands To Three Markets

Mena Adediran
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0
Digital Payroll Platform, Bento, Expands To Three Markets

Bento, Nigerian digital payroll and human resources management platform, is entering Kenya, Ghana, and Rwanda, with plans to further expand into six additional African markets in the coming year. The markets considered for the next expansion include Egypt, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Angola, and Ethiopia.

Bento, founded in 2019, digitalizes the processes involved in paying salaries and other HR management procedures. The app enables businesses to automate the payment of employee salaries as well as taxes and pensions.

Ebun Okubanjo, Bento co-founder and CEO, explained that observing companies make use of traditional/analogue methods to manage their workers is a source of inspiration to build the operating system that provides businesses with world-class payroll and HRM tools. The goal is to have a “profound impact” in Africa for the coming generations.

Digital Payroll Platform, Bento, Expands To Three Markets

Bento is also planning to offer credit solutions to employees, with other services such as savings, investments, and unemployment insurance. To make provision for instant loans to users, Bento has a partnership with the Israeli fintech company, Tarya.

As of now, in Nigeria, Bento serves over 900 businesses some of which include; Hygeia, Tangerine Africa, Branch, Paystack, Kobo360, and LORI Systems.

Chidozie David Okonkwo, Bento co-founder, and COO said regarding this development; “We’re starting with payroll and HRM, but moving rapidly towards Salary 2.0, where we redefine the intersection of work and life and transform the way people earn, spend and borrow on the continent.

“Having successfully established product-market fit in Nigeria, one of the most difficult markets to penetrate in Africa, we’re excited to roll out across the continent and solve the real problems we know millions of employers and employees face on a daily basis,” Okonkwo added.

Commodity Staking Gains The Interest of More Than 80% African Users on Mineplex Marketplace

Hassan Barakat
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0
Commodity Staking Gains The Interest of More Than 80% African Users on Mineplex Marketplace

Commodity staking has gained the interest of more than 80% African users on Mineplex marketplace, a new report says.

This number eclipses that of Asian users (23 percent), European users (14%), and Americans (9 percent) who find commodities staking intriguing. Mineplex Banking claimed this commodities staking option fills in as a zero-cost alternative to alternative loans and allows users to acquire products they can’t afford right away.

“The strong degree of interest among African users in the new financial instrument could be attributed to the necessity to reform the system of access to consumer products and their purchases for cryptocurrencies for residents of African nations,” the paper states.

The report claimed that African users’ apparent preference for staked crypto could be due to changing interests and inclinations.

To highlight this point, the paper used South Africa as an example of a country that typifies this interest in staked crypto, with the Economist reporting that 86 percent of the adult population had borrowed a loan.

Similarly, with commodity staking, African consumers, who are faster and more eager to try new tools, can buy devices and gadgets for as little as 10% of their original price, according to the survey. The remaining monies for the purchase are obtained, according to the article, by staking available capital. At the end of the staking period, the products are delivered.

According to the report, South Africans can borrow from microfinance businesses that operate as online stores and marketplaces in addition to traditional financial institutions, which have strict debt payback schedules. These online retailers and marketplaces, unlike banks, allow consumers flexible payment arrangements.

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