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Payourse, a Nigerian Blockchain Firm, Has Raised $600,000 in Pre-seed Funding To Build a web3 Powerhouse

Abdulquadri Ayilara
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Payourse, a Nigerian Blockchain Firm, Has Raised $600,000 in Pre-seed Funding To Build a web3 Powerhouse
With a $100,000 raise from Ugwu in March 2021, another $100,000 from Flori Ventures in July 2021, and an angel investment from a Nigerian blockchain firm, Payourse’s co-founder, John Anisere’s brother, Oluwatobi Anisere in 2020, this is the company’s first significant funding round.
There are two sides to the coin in almost every narrative. Some people can raise money in as little as two hours, while others may need as long as nine years.
The fundraising process can be lengthy, and Payourse CEO Bashir Aminu told Techpoint Africa on a call yesterday that it took a long time for everything to come together.
“How is this supposed to be real money?” Bashir Aminu, Payourse’s CEO and Co-Founder, wondered when he acquired his first cryptocurrency. He founded a firm that was constructing a Disha for crypto-wallets after two failed ventures and over three years.

A number of startups are entering the market in an attempt to fix this challenge. Payourse, a blockchain business located in Lagos that creates user-friendly products and solutions to drive crypto acceptance in Africa, has received a $600,000 pre-seed investment to scale its products, employ additional people, and expand into other markets.

Michael Ugwu, one of Africa’s largest NFT collectors, Flori Ventures, Olumide Soyombo’s Voltron Capital, and Allegory Capital are among the investors in this round. CELO co-founders Marek Olszewski and Rene Reinsberg, Kola Aina of Ventures Platform, Angel Touch Holdings, and Oluwatobi Anisere were among the other angel investors that took part.

Payourse, founded in September 2019 by Bashir Aminu (CEO) and John Anisere (CTO), is addressing the challenge of Web3 economy accessibility and adoption by delivering the basic infrastructure and technologies that enable African businesses to create user-friendly crypto and Web3 products.

It all began as a side project.

Aminu came up with the idea for a simple platform that collects wallet addresses and then generates shareable links while working as the first product designer at Busha, a crypto exchange that just raised $4.2 million in venture funding. As a result, he pitched the idea to Anisere, a Busha colleague and front-end engineer at the time. Anisere was sold on the notion, and after a few brainstorming sessions, they got down to business. Coinprofile was created as a side project in September 2019.

Coinprofile, on the other hand, began to gain traction among crypto consumers due to its flawless experience. As more people became aware of the product, the duo realized how powerful and essential it could become. To improve Coinprofile, they proceeded to establish product-market fit and collect consumer feedback.

“We launched a remittance option that allows users to make payment using their wallets in May 2020, after accumulating a few of users and evaluating the comments and requests we’ve pulled,” Aminu told TechCabal.

Coinprofile has evolved into an easy, fast, and inexpensive crypto-fiat payment gateway that lets customers anywhere in the world to send crypto and receive fiat value in any African bank account within minutes, beginning with Nigerian bank accounts, in just over two years.

“We realized that we could open up our technology to other firms to build sustainable and user-friendly web3 products on top of them because of their ease of use,” Aminu added. “We believe that this will lead to the creation of more goods that the ecosystem requires to grow and enable widespread crypto adoption across Africa.”

What about CBN when you say remittance?

The Nigerian Central Bank has been ordering all financial institutions to stop enabling cryptocurrency transactions for over a year. Thanks to companies like Helicarrier, Binance, Paxful, and others who began adopting the peer-to-peer (P2P) paradigm to mitigate the market’s impact.

Trading cryptocurrency was challenging in the early days of the ban, but as these companies continued to strengthen and improve their peer-to-peer offers, things began to improve. But how has Payourse dealt with the elephant in the room in particular?

While peer-to-peer (P2P) is a useful alternative, it can be slow and insecure. Most exchange platforms do not want to act as escrow; it would be like taking on a new business for them. As a result, they solely offer a peer-to-peer marketplace and leave everyone to their own devices.

Payourse, on the other hand, did not go the P2P way and instead relies on liquidity partners. This means they’ve teamed up with some companies who supply liquidity (in the form of fiat currencies like the Naira) whenever a transaction is made. Within minutes after sending your crypto, their partners get the signal and complete your transaction.

Payourse believes that crypto will define the future of banking in Africa, and has set out to help more African businesses and individuals get on board by presenting itself as the continent’s go-to platform for all things crypto. And it’s already set its sights on Ghana and Kenya as the next markets to pursue.

Herconomy, Africa’s Female-Centric Community, Raises $600000

Abdulquadri Ayilara
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Herconomy, Africa’s Female-Centric Community, Raises $600000

Herconomy is using fintech to empower women, from creating a female-centric community on social media to building Africa’s largest financial services platform for women.

Women make up half of the world’s population, yet they face more challenges in gaining access to financial goods and services that might help them improve their well-being and economic empowerment. According to UNCTAD, based on World Bank Financial Inclusion data, although 72 percent of men had a financial account in 2017, only 65 percent of women had (a 7 percentage point difference).

Even while financial inclusion has progressed in Nigeria, gender parity remains a challenge. Only 15% of women (compared to 27% of men) were banked in 2008, according to EfiNA, a financial sector development organization in Nigeria that promotes inclusive banking (a gender gap of 12 percentage points). By 2018, 33% of females had been banked, although the gender divide had grown to 13 percentage points. Nigeria was placed 128 out of 153 nations in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index 2020, emphasizing women’s economic enslavement. Given the pressing need to close the gender gap and improve women’s quality of life, policymakers and the public and private sectors have continued to engage on a number of fronts.

Changing the direction of the financial exclusion story and underrepresentation of women in the economy would need a frontline and hands-on approach for Herconomy, Africa’s first women-focused digital platform. The female-focused organization, formerly known as AGS Tribe, has rebranded as a financial technology (Fintech) service provider in order to democratize economic opportunities for women and the financial environment. “This year, we chose to rename to Herconomy so that the essence of what we do is simply communicated,” said Ifedayo Durosinmi-Etti, Herconomy’s founder and CEO. “We recognize that when a woman’s life is positively influenced, value is created not only for that woman but for the entire community.”

They understood they wanted to reach even more women once their mobile app launched, so they developed a free tier that provided users of their network free access to all possibilities on their platform. They also launched a second tier, which offered discounts of up to 30% on certain products and services. These brands came from a variety of industries, including fashion, travel, salons, spa and wellness, legal, and hospitality, allowing Gold Visa cardholders to take use of services that improve their well-being. As a result, the AGS Tribe community grew, and by the middle of July 2021, it had grown to over 15,000 members.

“Some of our members have received foreign grants, and one of our members, Confidence Stalavey, was named an Obama Leader in November 2021,” Ifedayo stated. “Another member of our community died in a tragic incidence of domestic violence in June 2020, and as a community, we organized a fundraiser that earned over N26 million, which was put into an FBNQuest trust fund for her children’s education.” As a community, the organization does a lot to aid each other. Another member of the community found work in the UK after attending one of the organization’s weekly capacity-building sessions.

In addition, through the AGS Savings Challenge, approximately 500 women were able to save a total of $100,000 in just six months.

They launched the Herconomy Cooperative Multipurpose Society this year, which was regarded as the community’s first move toward owning a female-focused bank in Nigeria. The community started on a capital raising exercise to fund the expansion of Herconomy.

Ifedayo disclosed plans to raise funds for Herconomy on her Instagram account in August 2021, and 130 people expressed interest. “I had previously met with certain investors and their vision was lost on them, but I knew what I wanted and had faith in my community,” Ifedayo added.

That list swelled from 130 to 509 persons, but this time with concrete numbers they could commit to within the following two weeks. Within 24 hours of launching its capital offer, Herconomy had a whopping 11.4x oversubscription, raising $5.7 million versus the $500,000 target.

“We got 70% of our investment from our community, with the rest coming from Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors,” Ifedayo stated. “A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) was developed to onboard members with less than $20,000 investment due to the minimum floor of $20,000 investment.”

Among the Angels who have invested in Herconomy are:

1. Zephans and Co. CEO Nkiru Ayemere

2. Ernest and Young’s Ehi Onwudiwe is the Director of Business Transformation.

3. World Bay Technologies’ CEO, Olanrewaju Smith

4. Diageo’s Head of Reserve, Ope Makinwa

5. Ama Akpata, Jand2gidi Co-Founder

Herconomy is setting its sights on more audacious and ambitious aims, inspired by the significant strides gained and the need to consolidate achievements for women in the economy. According to Ifedayo, Herconomy’s upward trajectory would lead to the development of Africa’s largest digital bank, which will focus on financing women and projects that improve women’s economic standing. Meanwhile, Ifedayo stated, “Herconomy is committed to enabling women to learn, network, and earn high interest on their money while they spend.”

UNOSA/Japan Nano-Satellite Technologies Fellowship for Nationals of Developing Countries

Sopuruchukwu Elizabeth Mba
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UNOSA/Japan Nano-Satellite Technologies Fellowship for Nationals of Developing Countries

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and the Government of Japan in cooperation with the Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech) have established a United Nations/Japan Long-term Fellowship Program on Nano-Satellite Technologies for nationals of developing countries or non-space-faring nations. The Program will provide extensive research opportunities in nano-satellite systems through the use of the nano-satellite development and testing facilities available at Kyutech.

Every year this “Post-graduate study on Nano-Satellite Technologies (PNST)” Fellowship Program will accept up to three students in the Master’s Program (2 years duration) and up to three students in the Doctoral Program (3 years duration). Successful participants will be awarded a master’s or doctoral degree after successful thesis defense. The successful candidates will enroll in the Space Engineering International Course (SEIC) after passing an official entrance examination by the Graduate School of Kyushu Institute of Technology.

Benefits

  • The selected candidates will each receive a grant under the Japanese government (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology: MEXT) scholarship (Research Students) of approximately 144,000 JPY per month for the duration of their fellowship study (2 or 3 years) to cover housing, food, local transportation, and other expenses.
  • Each candidate will be provided, according to his/her itinerary and route as designated by MEXT, an economy class air ticket between an international airport in the country of his/her nationality and an international airport in Japan used on the normal route to the accepting university.
  • Fees for matriculation, tuition, and entrance examinations will be paid by Kyutech.

The purpose of this fellowship is to help non-space-faring nations join the community of space-faring nations.  Consequently, if you are selected as a PNST Fellow through the aforementioned process and you earn your advanced degree at Kyutech, you have an immense moral obligation to return to your home country and contribute to it. This is the central expectation of both UNOOSA and Kyutech.

Application Requirements

Applicants should:

  • Be nationals of developing countries or non-space-faring nations (countries without an established substantial capability to develop space technology/launch space objects);
  • Be duly nominated by their institutions;
  • Born on or after 2 April 1987;
  • Should have the academic and professional background required by the specific fellowship program. Candidates seeking a Master’s degree are expected to have completed studies ending with a Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent (4-year university degree) in engineering-related subjects. Candidates seeking a Doctorate degree are expected to have completed studies ending with a Master’s Degree or equivalent (5 years university degree) in engineering-related subjects. Degrees in different technological fields can be considered by the Doctor Commission; and
  • Be able to make professional use of the experience gained in the fellowship program.The Office for Outer Space Affairs is committed to achieving a 50/50 gender balance in its program and ensuring a balanced representation from different perspectives. This program intends to select 3 male and 3 female students for the fellowship.

Application Submission Procedure

  • The fully completed application form and other required documents except the referee report forms shall be submitted in electronic format (.doc or .pdf or.xls) at the Web address that is in the confirmation e-mail you will receive after registering above, by no later than 10 January 2022 (Monday, 23:00 JST). If not fully completed at the time of the deadline, the application will be deemed to be not qualifying.
  • Note: For file a name, do not use any non-English characters. Moreover, each character must be a one-byte type of character. As well, do not use spaces in your file names as the file server will not handle such data correctly. Use “_” (under bar) or “-” (hyphen) instead, e.g. “01_Tom_Smith_2021.12.24”.
  • The Referee report forms should be sent by email to the Post-graduate study on Nano-Satellite Technologies (PNST) (pnst [at] space-kyutech.net) email address by the referees themselves by no later than 10 January 2022 (Monday, 23:00 JST).

Timeline of the Selection Process

The timeline anticipated for the selection process of the Fellowship Programme is as follows:

  • From August 2021: Dissemination of information on the Fellowship Programme to potential candidates worldwide and application period.
  • 10 January 2022(Monday, 23:00 JST): Submission deadline – all application documents must be received by PNST except in exceptional cases.
  • February 2022: After the first round of selection based on the application documents, the remaining candidates will be notified regarding interviews about two weeks after the submission deadline.
  • February 2022: The first interview will be held in February 2022. The second interview (if necessary) will be held after the first interview. The interviews will be conducted remotely. All the applicants shall make themselves available for these days. The outcome of the remote interviews is the selection of six persons who will be offered PNST scholarships.
  • March 2022: After the interviews, all PNST applicants will be informed about the outcome of their applications to PNST. We will contact you. Please do not contact us.
  • February-June 2022: Discussion and finalization of research and study plan between the successful candidates and their supervisors.
  • Early March 2022: Selected candidates must send all the required documents including original certificates of graduation, original transcripts, and original English test score with an explanation of transcripts to Kyutech using a reliable express mailing service. If any documents are written in any language other than English, official certified translations are also required. For the details of the required documents, please refer to the Checklist.
  • July 2022: Official entrance exam to Kyutech. Formal admission and administration to obtain a student visa.
  • August 2022: Travel arrangements for the candidates to Japan. Candidates need to find and book temporary accommodations in Japan by themselves.
  • September 2022: Arrival in Japan and finding accommodation. Official enrollment procedures at Kyutech.
  • October 2022: Beginning of the Fellowship Programme at Kyutech.

How to Apply?

Click here

Call For Ideas: The GIZ Decentralized Development Lab (DDLab) For Innovators

Sopuruchukwu Elizabeth Mba
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Call For Ideas: The GIZ Decentralized Development Lab (DDLab) For Innovators

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH created the Decentralized Development Lab (DDLab), which was commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) under the “Bund-Länder-Programm – German Government and Federal States Programme (BLP).”
The project is being carried out in partnership with minds & makers and enpact e.V.

The Decentralized Development Lab (DDLab) aims to address the challenge of sustainable development by bringing together actors from decentralized levels of state such as cities, regions, and districts to find innovative solutions and establish partnerships across countries.

Requirements

We are looking for individuals and gender-diverse teams with various backgrounds and experiences who can contribute their expertise and creative energy to one of the four challenges. At this early stage, it is more important that we create strong teams than having your ideas fully elaborated yet.

  • Social and public innovators, social entrepreneurs, innovative start-ups, and socially-oriented small and micro-enterprises.
  • Experts for topics that are related to the challenges: Researchers & PhDs, research institutions and associations, universities, and colleges.
  • Governmental and quasi-governmental institutions.
  • Experts for new technologies, programmers, and digital entrepreneurs.

Benefits

  • Technical and financial support equivalent of up to 50,000€ for your team and the chance to win a follow-up package worth up to 200,000€.
  • Access to an international network of subject matter experts, agile coaches, public and social innovators, and creative minds.
  • Accompanying events and workshops to connect and co-create with other idea providers.
  • 1-on-1 coaching curated tools, and content to support your journey through the Decentralized Development Lab.

The Challenges

Representatives from the German federal states and their partner countries have submitted numerous development challenges as part of an international Call for Challenges. Four of which were selected to be addressed in the Decentralized Development Lab.

  • E-Mobility Solutions
    How might we attract (public and private) investments in e-bus infrastructure and vehicles?
  • Mangrove-friendly Aquaculture
    How might aquaculture become mangrove-friendly, and how might smallholders get involved in the development?
  • Rural Female Entrepreneurship
    How might we untap the potential of female entrepreneurship for the green and the digital future of rural regions?
  • Inclusive Digitalization
    How might we make active citizen participation inclusive for silent groups by involving them in the development of suitable solutions like One-Stop Shops?

Program Timeline

December 19th, 2021 – Idea submission deadline.

December 31st, 2021 – Deadline to submit the final application form.

January 3rd to 16th 2022 – Short-listing.

January 24th to February 4th – Interviews.

January 24th to February 4th – Evaluation of post-interviews.

February 7th, 2022 – Announcement of the four selected teams.

End of February 2022 – Kick-off of the 5-month incubation program.

End of July 2022 – Pitch event and selection of the winning team.

Early August 2022 – Kick-off of the 7-month accelerator program for the winning team.

End of February 2023 – Closing of Program.

How to Apply?

Click here to apply

Community College Initiative (CCI) Program 2022/2023 for Technical and Vocational Students (Fully Funded)

Sopuruchukwu Elizabeth Mba
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Community College Initiative (CCI) Program 2022/2023 for Technical and Vocational Students (Fully Funded)

The Community College Initiative Program (CCI) provides scholarships to spend up to one academic year at a United States community college. Participants build technical skills and may earn certificates in their fields of study.  Through professional internships, service learning, and community engagement activities, participants strengthen English language proficiency and immerse themselves in the culture and day-to-day life in the United States.

Participants study in one of the following eligible fields: agriculture, applied engineering, business management and administration, early childhood education, information technology, media, public safety, and tourism and hospitality management.

CCI Program participants are recruited from historically underrepresented and underserved communities. After completing the program, participants return home with new skills and expertise to help them contribute to the economic growth and development of their country.

Eligibility Requirements

All applicants must:

  • Be able to begin the academic exchange program in the United States in July 2022.
  • Be 18 years old at the start of the program.
  • Have a diploma from a secondary school.
  • Possess basic knowledge of English.
  • Desire to build professional and leadership skills to contribute to the development of their home communities.
  • Be able to begin the academic exchange program in the United States in July 2020.
  • Meet country-specific requirements.

Eligible Countries – Africa

  • Cote d’Ivoire
  • Egypt
  • Ghana
  • South Africa

How to Apply?

Visit the website for country-specific application

MYDAWA: Kenyan E-pharmacy Business, Has Received a $1.2 Million Award from the Gates Foundation

Abdulquadri Ayilara
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MYDAWA: Kenyan E-pharmacy Business, Has Received a $1.2 Million Award from the Gates Foundation

MYDAWA, a Kenyan e-health business, has received a US$1.2 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to expand access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) treatments through its e-pharmacy approach, aiding Kenya’s HIV/AIDS fight.

Through relationships with healthcare practitioners and suppliers, MYDAWA enables users to obtain authentic high-quality medicines, health and wellness goods in a convenient manner. Over 80,000 people have joined up to utilize it.

Because of the stigma associated with HIV and the public nature of the existing onboarding approach, the startup’s virtual, discreet, and convenient PrEP service delivery could broaden PrEP’s reach. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given a $1.2 million grant to assist increase access to this technology.

This is in keeping with the Gates Foundation’s mission of accelerating the global reduction of HIV infection and saving lives through enhanced HIV prevention and treatment strategies. The foundation has given more than $3 billion in HIV funding to organizations all across the world to date.

MYDAWA CEO Tony Wood stated, “MYDAWA will adapt its present approach to offer a seamless end-to-end customer-centered delivery solution for anyone needing PrEP across the country.”

“Specifically, this investment will increase PrEP delivery online by leveraging MYDAWA’s well-established business.” We will build this model in collaboration with the University of Washington, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Jhpiego, and Audere, and evaluate its practicality, acceptability, and effectiveness in extending PrEP’s reach. We’ll also gather the data and lessons gained needed to support policy changes and donor commitment to this method.”

MYDAWA had previously received US$3 million from the Africa HealthCare Master Fund to help speed up a projected countrywide expansion.

Creditclan, Leading Credit Infrastructure Company, Partners Banks, Pivots to BNPL Officially

Hassan Barakat
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Creditclan, Leading Credit Infrastructure Company, Partners Banks, Pivots to BNPL Officially

Creditclan, a leading credit infrastructure startup has announced its pivot into the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) category which is now gaining momentum in the credit ecosystem across Africa. This follows a successful six-month trial period in which they switched from credit software as a service to the BNPL platform.

Creditclan is a BNPL platform helping banks, merchants, schools, and other businesses offer pay later option to consumers across Africa.

The startup focused on the often overlooked alternative channels for consumer credit during this time by building very strong technology and data anchors required for ecosystems like schools, merchants, hospitals, as well as partnering with financial institutions to offer consumers pay later options at their point of transaction.

BNPL at Creditclan
BNPL at Creditclan

Creditclan and Its Unique BNPL Approach

Creditclan uses a rich set of BNPL APIs to support both direct to market and embedded financing strategies. Creditclan provides a pure funding relationship with financial institutions, allowing them to obtain new clients at a cheap acquisition cost while still receiving a return on their balance sheet at the point of sale. Financial institutions can use the embedded play to connect directly to their current client channels and begin playing in the BNPL market without having to perform the grafting themselves. The credit infrastructure company uses its deep experience of the infrastructure market to offer a unique BNPL viewpoint that no other operator in the industry can match.

“We provide the channels to reach clients at their point of transaction,” explains Femi Bejide, CEO and founder, “using our cocktail of data points to achieve swift credit judgments, comparable to the tech we use to power many of the lending apps in the ecosystem.” As a result, banks and other financial institutions can collaborate on funding directly through our channels or through an embedded API infrastructure via their preferred terminals, mobile, web, or chat.”

Its Achievements So Far

To date, Creditclan has been able to onboard 4,000+ schools with its credit-for-good campaign, an increase of over 100 percent quarter over quarter. The company’s quick acceptance of its school-now-pay-later vertical has been fueled in part by a focus on parents who are underbanked or unbanked, with many parents able to pay their children’s fees on a weekly basis.

Furthermore, with over 7,500 merchants registered for the asset finance play during the period, up more than 50% year on year, the focus has been on partnering with micro to small scale businesses looking to scale their transactions with credit, a category that accounts for over 80% of businesses in Nigeria and across Africa.

Creditclan’s advantage, according to Soji Okunuga, CTO and co-founder, is its extensive expertise of credit from its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) days previous to the pivot, when 100+ retail lenders and financial institutions used the lending management software, bank statement analysis, credibility engine, or collection service.

“We ethically dimension data from everywhere possible, especially alternative channels like social and psychometric tests, as well as cashflow, identity, and credit history analysis, which allow us to make decisions quickly within minutes even when there isn’t enough legacy data available for prospective consumers.” He explains. Our funding partners can then use 250+ analysis points to establish their eligibility preferences and make a disbursement decision at the point of transaction.”

Its Growth Targets

Creditclan believes it will easily reach 150,000 merchants by Q2 2022, due to a strong ground game, as many new businesses across many sectors begin to give pay-later options to their clients, resulting in a combined 93 percent acquisition rate across channels. During the same time frame, the firm will have clustered 20,000 schools, and Creditclan will look at additional channels pay later can be extended to, such as medicals, rent, and insurance, starting with Nigeria and expanding to other African countries, with the continuous partnership with banks.

“We’ve been operating in stealth mode so far,” Femi says, “and now it’s time to provide the results that will promote wider consumer credit adoption across the continent.” We believe that we are the startup that can assist close the gap in this $2 trillion market. We believe we have the technology, staff, and relationships in place to accomplish this.”

Senior Mobile Developer at Horizontal

Abidemi Ogunyemi-Aderibigbe
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Senior Mobile Developer at Horizontal

Horizontal is looking for a senior mobile developer experienced with Android and iOS native development. Your primary focus will be on leading our mobile team to develop and maintain Horizontal’s apps. Apply to join a young and growing team developing technology for human rights!

About Horizontal

Horizontal is a nonprofit organization serving frontline defenders, activists, and journalists through digital security support and tool development. We leverage technology to empower grassroots communities to work safely from surveillance, censorship, and repression.

Working at Horizontal

Horizontal’s values drive both our collaboration with partners and our work internally. We believe in the power of group consensus in decision-making, and strive to ensure that all team members are heard and contribute to the success of the organization. Just as important as the success of projects is each team member learning, growing, and feeling fulfilled in their work.

We are a distributed team, with members located on different continents. Team members are free to work from wherever they want as long as they have a good enough connection to join our online meetings and collaborate effectively. While we make sure to respect each other’s boundaries and work/life balance, remote work requires some flexibility to accommodate different time zones.

We are a small team in a young and growing organization. We are intentional in how we develop our organizational culture and processes and hope to recruit someone interested in being part of this journey and investing themselves for the medium to long-term. 

As a community-centered organization, diversity of life experiences makes a big difference in how we identify needs, and design and implement solutions. As a result, we deliberately seek applicants with different perspectives, identities, and experiences to build an inclusive workplace to better inform our programs and processes. Horizontal is an equal opportunity employer and encourages people of all races, genders, ages, abilities, orientations, ethnicities, and national origins to apply.

Women, People of Color, LGBTQ+, and disabled folks are highly encouraged to apply and self-identify in the application.

The job role

Commitment: Part-time or full-time
Location: Remote
Deadline: December 10th, 2021, but we review applications as we receive them, so the earlier you apply the better!

Responsibilities As a senior mobile developer:

  • Developing new Android and iOS apps and adding features to existing apps.
  • Leading the high-level design and core architecture of mobile systems.
  • Ensuring the success of our mobile apps, including security, performance, and stability.
  • Leading a team of mobile engineers, including providing mentoring, code review, support, and spearheading the adoption of new best practices.
  • Translating designs and wireframes into high-quality code.
  • Identify ideas to improve system performance and impact availability.
  • Development of technical specifications and plans.
  • Troubleshooting, fixing bugs, and improving app performance.
  • Documentation of systems and development processes.

What we need (required qualifications):

  • You resonate with Horizontal’s values.
  • You have at least 5 years of experience developing Android and iOS native apps, from complex UIs to reliable remote API access and data storage.
  • You have experience working on security-focused applications and cryptography.
  • You have experience with automated testing (UI testing and Unit testing)
  • You are familiar with modular application architectures and design patterns like MVVM
  • You are familiar with hacking with Linux OS or have some backend development skills.
  • You have experience working with Git.
  • You have strong leadership skills. You are able to effectively advocate for preferred ideas, give constructive feedback to empower teammates, and identify areas for improvement in our development processes.
  • You pay extremely close attention to details.
  • You are flexible. We are a distributed team and remote work isn’t for everyone: it requires discipline and the ability to work independently, communicate daily over several different platforms, and be flexible to accommodate meetings across multiple time zones. You should also be able to work on multiple projects simultaneously.
  • You are naturally curious, willing to learn from others and to work collaboratively. We’re always striving to get better at what we do and learn new skills or tools, and are not scared to say “I don’t know, I’ll research it”.

What we would like (preferred qualifications):

  • You have experience working on civic tech, human rights, internet freedom, social justice, or activism (not necessarily as a developer).
  • You are fluent in a language other than English.

What we DON’T need:

  • You don’t have to be completely fluent in written and spoken English. We just need you to understand and speak English well enough to ensure that we can work together effectively. 
  • You don’t need formal education. We are looking for skill and passion more so than degrees.

If you meet the requirements for our senior mobile developer, hurry and apply below:

Apply Here

Senior Database Administrator – Ms SQL (Banking)

Abidemi Ogunyemi-Aderibigbe
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Senior Database Administrator – Ms SQL (Banking)

About Company

A financial institution that offers online/internet banking, retail banking, corporate banking, investment banking, and asset management services.

Job Description

A top-tier bank is in need of a senior Ms SQL Database Administrator to keep their databases running.

Location: Lagos, Nigeria (Onsite)

Experience: Senior level

Contract Duration: 11 Months (full-time)

Salary: N400,000 – N550,000

Contact: Ossy Ekwueme (sales@cousant.com)

Responsibilities

  • Build database systems of high availability and quality depending on each end user’s specialized role
  • Design and implement database in accordance to end users information needs and views
  • Define users and enable data distribution to the right user, in the appropriate format, and in a timely manner
  • Use high-speed transaction recovery techniques and backup data
  • Minimize database downtime and manage parameters to provide fast query responses
  • Provide proactive and reactive data management support and training to users
  • Determine, enforce and document database policies, procedures, and standards
  • Perform tests and evaluations regularly to ensure data security, privacy, and integrity
  • Monitor database performance, implement changes, and apply new patches and versions when required

Requirements for Senior Database Administrator

  • Has at least 5 years experience in Microsoft SQL Server Database Administration.
  • Knowledge of other popular databases will be added advantage
  •  Experience in troubleshooting and resolving database integrity issues,
  • performance issues, blocking and deadlocking issues, replication issues
  •  Knowledge of query optimization
  •  Expert knowledge of Database Clustering, High Availability (Always ON) and
  • Disaster Recovery (DR) options for MS SQL databases
  •  Knowledge of indexes, index management, and database statistics
  •  Good communication and documentation skills
  •  Strong knowledge of indexes, index management, integrity checks, configuration
  • and database patching
  •  Candidate must be able to build database systems of high availability
  •  The candidate must be able to provide proactive and reactive data management
  • support
  •  The candidate must be able to implement the release of database changes
  •  Experience in the implementation of database replication solutions
  •  Knowledge of users access permissions and privileges
  •  Proficient in MS SQL Server 2016 and above
  •  Proficient with Linux and Windows Operating System
  •  Good knowledge of database backup and recovery
  •  Knowledge of Oracle Golden gate will be added advantage

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Gozem, Francophone African Super App Raised $5M Series A Funding

Hassan Barakat
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Gozem, Francophone African Super App Raised $5M Series A Funding

Gozem, a francophone African super app that provides diverse services such as transport, e-commerce, and financial services has raised $5 million in Series A funding.

The company which is based in Togo and Singapore has received investment from AAIC, Thunes (TransferTo), Momentum Ventures (SMRT), Innoport Ventures (Schulte Group), CMC Ventures (National Express), and Liil Ventures (Mobility ADO).

In previous seed rounds, it has raised $7 million via three tranches from investors such as U.S. firm Plug and Play Ventures, Launch Africa, BANSEA, and Virtual Network. The multi-vertical application has raised over $12 million in total.

The startup was founded by Gregory Costamagna, Raphael Dana, and Emeka Ajene.

Gozem expanded its transportation verticals to include taxi and tricycle services in numerous cities in Togo and Benin as part of a bid to emulate the Grab and Gojek model in Southeast Asia.

As the COVID-19 pandemic spread, the platform ceased its regional expansion and shifted its focus vertically.

It pioneered e-commerce and logistics, letting merchants post an inventory of things that customers demand and have them delivered by its drivers.

The company then offered its drivers an asset finance option, using a lease-to-own model for automobiles and related equipment.

Costamagna, the chairman, stated that the three verticals work together to improve drivers’ disposable income. Gozem’s philosophy is that it produces a win-win situation in which its drivers become the future generation of middle-class Africans while their super app ambitions run smoothly.

“As a result, folks [merchants, suppliers, companies] that are interested in working with them [riders] will work hard and give a variety of services to our customer base,” he explained.

“And when we do so, we improve their disposable income by giving them more passengers, more delivery trips, and finding organizations that want to utilize delivery services by adding more merchants to our platform and finding companies who want to use delivery services.”

We also lower their operating costs through asset finance because they don’t have a formal alternative, and what they do have is usually informal and pricey.”

Gozem has offered up to 1,500 vehicles to drivers since launching the lease model. Costamagna stated in a statement that the financing will assist Gozem reach a population of over 200,000 people by 2025.

With over 800,000 registered users and over 5 million journeys completed, Gozem has expanded to 13 cities, including Gabon and Cameroon. The firm’s founders believe the company is aiming to provide digital banking services and financing to its users.

It’s a concept that other super app firms in Africa have used in the past, including Nigeria’s OPay (which has since canceled its super app intentions to focus on its financial services branch) and, more recently, SafeBoda. Other firms, like Yassir, which focuses on North Africa, are also aiming to offer banking and payment services.

In all of the cities where Gozem operates, the company wants to employ its current network of marketplace users (drivers and merchants) as agents. Individual users can exchange cash for mobile money via the Gozem app in this way.

“I believe we have a great differentiator. Generally speaking, our competitors are telcos that provide mobile money services, as well as standalone digital wallets,” Costamagna explained. “What we’re attempting to provide is an integrated wallet solution that is part of a broader set of services.” As a result, this is the most significant market distinction.

Francophone Africa had been largely left out of the tech and startup disruption sweeping across other African regions, particularly Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt, until it minted its first unicorn in the form of fintech startup Wave, which shed some light on the opportunities that abound in the market. They told me that it was the same reason why the founders established Gozem in the first place.

“Nearly 95 percent of the money and attention always goes to four or five African countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt, Dana said. “However, Francophone Africa is a bit sidelined when it comes to all the major traction.” We’ve noticed a lot of great prospects in Francophone as a nice market.”

Having founded firms in Singapore before Gozem, Dana and Costamagna welcomed Ajene on board, bringing his on-the-ground African experience to a team with extensive Southeast Asian market understanding.

After three years, Gozem now has 250 staff across four marketplaces. The Series A funding will be used to grow into other Francophone African countries, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, and the Ivory Coast. While offering its financial services, the corporation is also trying to strengthen its asset financing approach.

“The markets in which we operate on the continent are considered second-tier African markets by some.” We do, however, have a chance and believe in the approach we’re pursuing. As we’ve stated across all of our verticals, it’s truly a wide berth where there’s less competition. “We want to be embedded across the area over the next year,” Ajene added, noting that Gozem is now active in four nations.

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