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Blockchain Research Institute Expands Work, Partners Standard Bank

Hassan Barakat
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Blockchain Research Institute Expands Work, Partners Standard Bank

Blockchain Research Institute (BRI) is a global blockchain think tank that has expanded its work in Africa thanks to a partnership with Standard Bank, one of the continent’s largest banks.

The partnership has launched the Blockchain Research Initiative (BRI) Africa, which brings together academics, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and researchers to conduct ground-breaking research on blockchain technology, bridging the gap between blockchain’s technological functionality and real-world market demand.

As a result, the organization is working on more than 100 projects to explore strategic possibilities, difficulties, and consequences of blockchain technology in industry, government, and society.

Part of the think tank’s role will be to provide a variety of educational deliverables in the form of webinars, publications, and conferences as part of its efforts to disseminate the knowledge gained across the country.

The BRI will also offer an online course in conjunction with INSEAD, Europe’s top-ranked business school, and Coursera, the world’s largest online learning platform.

While most financial institutions have been ordered not to support cryptocurrency transactions, big banks across Africa are aware of the potential of cryptocurrencies – and it’s no surprise that Africa’s largest bank by assets is eager to harness the potential of crypto in Africa.

According to Ian Putter, the bank’s Head of Blockchain, the blockchain is being considered to improve speed and transparency.

Through the Africa Blockchain Incubation Program, the think tank is also nurturing business ideas centered on blockchain technologies. According to BRI Africa, the initiative, which is now open to new founders in Egypt and Zimbabwe, provides tools to help them develop and scale their businesses.

Lipa Later Raises $12 Million, Plans to Extend to More African Markets From Kenya

Hassan Barakat
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Lipa Later Raises $12 Million, Plans to Extend to More African Markets From Kenya

Lipa Later raises $12 million in pre-Series A funding. The Kenyan tech-led consumer lending platform plans to extend to other countries in Africa.

Cauris Finance, Lateral Frontiers VC (one of Lipa Later’s early investors), and GreenHouse Capital led the equity and debt investment round, which also included SOSV IV LLC, Sayani Investments, and Axian Financial Services.

The Kenyan BNPL startup, which was launched in 2018, is now planning to grow into Tanzania, Ghana, and Nigeria, as well as expand in its current markets of Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.

“As we strive to grow and extend into other African areas, we are thrilled to be working with our investors.”

“In the next 12 months, we want to quadruple our presence in existing regions while also expanding into 3 to 5 additional African markets,” said Eric Muli, co-founder, and CEO of Lipa Later.

“This latest round of funding leaves them well-positioned to extend their product offering and moves Lipa Later one step closer to being the leading Buy-Now-Pay-Later player on the continent,” said Samakab Hashi, partner at Lateral Frontiers VC.

Lipa Later has exclusive arrangements with businesses in various markets, allowing customers to pay in installments for their purchases.

Customers can pay for products like furniture, electronics, and even perishables in monthly installments thanks to Lipa Later’s cooperation with French retailer Carrefour (who has a regional presence).

Customers pay a monthly interest rate on the credit granted to them (approximately 2.3 percent in the case of Carrefour).

In order to expand into more African countries, the firm plans to form more agreements with merchants.

“Lipa Later is not only transforming the consumer credit landscape in Africa, which has been mostly inaccessible to most until now, but it is also igniting the future of shopping, e-commerce, and payments,” says the company.

Consumers can join up and receive a credit limit nearly instantaneously thanks to Lipa Later’s own credit rating and machine learning engine.

The company has also developed a BNPL API that links with e-commerce platforms and allows merchants to sell products directly to customers while also allowing customers to pay for items in monthly installments.

The latest finance follows an undisclosed 2020 investment by Tokyo-based Uncovered Fund, which invests in Africa’s early- and seed-stage firms. Lipa Later was one of five companies to get investment.

Lipa Later is a major competitor in Kenya’s BNPL market, competing against Aspira, Miti, Flexpay Technologies, and Julla.

According to this 2021 survey on Kenya, the BNPL payment business in the country has grown rapidly due to rapid e-commerce penetration and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic-related economic slowdown.

Kenya’s BNPL business is predicted to grow at a 30.8 percent CAGR from 2021 to 2028. From $51.6 million in 2020, the gross BNPL merchandise value is predicted to reach $589.5 million in 2028.

Lipa Later will face competition from Payflex (which was recently bought by Australian BNPL Zip) and PayJustNow in South Africa, as well as PayQart and Carbon Zero in Nigeria, in its quest to expand across Africa, where opportunities exist as e-commerce and alternative credit sources increase.

Nigeria Lifts Twitter Ban After Seven Months

Boluwatife Aponmade
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Nigeria Lifts Twitter Ban After Seven Months

Nigeria’s Twitter ban has been lifted after seven months. The Twitter ban was lifted after the social media platform has promised to open a local office, among other agreements made with the authorities in Nigeria.

Twitter was suspended by the Nigerian government on the 4th of June, 2021, after the social media platform removed a post made by President Muhammadu Buhari that threatened to punish regional secessionists.

It accused Twitter of being on the side of the secessionists. Telecoms companies subsequently blocked access to Twitter users in Nigeria.


However, many Nigerians continued to access Twitter with the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPN) despite the ban on the social media platform. Most corporate organizations and many media outlets had obeyed the federal government’s order.

Analysts believe the suspension of Twitter has cost the Nigerian economy millions of dollars, this has mostly affected small businesses which use the platform to get across to customers.

Director-General of the National Information Technology Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi said in a statement that Buhari has permitted to lift the ban.


“Twitter has agreed to act with a respectful acknowledgment of Nigerian laws and the national culture and history on which such legislation has been built…”, Abdullahi said in his statement.

The company would work with the federal government of Nigeria and the broader industry “to develop a Code of Conduct in line with global best practices, applicable in almost all developed countries”, the statement read.

Therefore, the Federal Government lifts the ban on Twitter operations in Nigeria from midnight of 13th January 2022.

Kashifu, who also chaired a joint technical committee of Nigerian and Twitter officials, said the United States company agreed to appoint a country representative to engage with Nigerian authorities and to obey local tax obligations.

Fintech Farm Raises $7.4M to Launch in Emerging Markets including Nigeria

Mena Adediran
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Fintech Farm Raises $7.4M to Launch in Emerging Markets including Nigeria

Fintech Farm, a fintech startup based in the U.K., has raised $7.4 million in a seed funding round. Fintech Farm, which is newly launched, creates neobanks in emerging markets.

The seed round was led by Flyer One Ventures and Solid; TA Ventures, Jiji, u.ventures as well as AVentures Capital were also participants. The startup has plans to use this recent investment to launch neobanks (also known as digital banks) in eight countries in the next two years.

Fintech Farm is cofounded by Dmytro Dubilet, Nick Bezkrovnyy and Alexander Vityaz. The company launched in its first market — Azerbaijan — in November 2021. It provides loans to users with little credit histories through an app and cards. Fintech Farm’s business model, as is in Azerbaijan and potential markets, is to launch its app with partnerships with local traditional banks.

Fintech Farm launches with different names in each country it is available in, yet the design and mascot is the same. So far, in Azerbaijan as Leobank, the company has issued more than 100,000 cards.

In the next two years, Fintech Farm has plans to break into eight emerging markets across Africa and Asia, kick-starting in Nigeria. “Our next market is going to be Nigeria, we have visited Nigeria a couple of times already and it is one of our favourite countries,” said Dubilet; including that the launch may happen in the first quarter of 2022.

Furthermore, Vladimir Mnogoletniy, co-founder of Genesis, the parent company of Jiji, will join Fintech Farm’s board. He expressed that Jiji was seeking a partner to enter the neobanking scene and as such investing in Fintech Farm was strategic.

The GT Tech Academy

Hassan Barakat
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The GT Tech Academy

The GT Tech Academy.

Are you techy, a recent graduate of Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science or Statistics? 

Do you want to change the world a code at a time? 

Then it’s time to join the GT Tech Academy.

Location: Lagos, Nigeria.

Application Deadline: January 31st, 2022.

About Us

Whether you’re just starting out or looking to advance your career, our prestigious brand provides you with several opportunities to make a difference in people’s lives and achieve your goals.

Inspiring. Empowering. Rewarding. Fun.

These are just a few of the phrases people use to characterise their careers at GTCO.

Working with us means being a part of a company that has a clear goal and a strong ambition to sustain excellence, innovation, and exceptional customer service.

A career with GTCO allows you to make a difference in your own life as well as the lives of others in your community.

Throughout our history, we have remained committed to assisting our employees in realising their dreams while also providing opportunities for them to reach their full potential on a personal and professional level.

We put technology and innovation at the heart of everything we do, and the Tech Academy was created specifically to help you code your way to success.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree from a reputable university in Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science or Statistics,

• 5 O ’Level credits minimum (English and Mathematics included)

• Completion of NYSC is mandatory

Interested in joining the Guaranty Trust Holding Company Tech Academy?

Read more about the opportunity here

Apply for The GT Tech Academy Here.

The City of Capetown Graduate Internship Program 2022

Hassan Barakat
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The City of Capetown Graduate Internship Program 2022

The City of Capetown Graduate Internship Program 2022.

Applications for various training and skills development opportunities are open. Please apply before 1 February 2022 if you are between 18 and 35.

Qualification

Bachelor’s degree or Postgraduate qualification.

Graduate Internship Program Requirement

The program may be part-time or full-time with a national diploma or degree certificate as the entry requirement.

Find out more about the Graduate Internship Program.

Infrastructure Skills Development Grant (ISDG)

 

This curriculum is designed with engineering and science graduates in mind. It introduces you to numerous science and engineering subjects and ensures that you are registered as Professional Natural Scientists, Professional Engineers, Technologists, or Technicians, or are eligible for registration.

You must have a BSc Eng; BSc Hons; MTech; MSc; Ph.D.; BTech; M.Eng qualification in one or more of the following fields:

  • Civil/Chemical/Mechanical/Electrical or Industrial Engineering
  • Planning
  • Environmental Science
  • Materials Science
  • Microbiology
  • Biotechnology
  • Virology
  • Chemical Science
  • Chemistry
  • Atmospheric Science
  • Hydrogeology
  • Geochemistry
  • Hydrology
The internship is funded by the Infrastructure Skills Development Grant (ISDG), which allows students to register with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) in certain disciplines of study.

Skills Program

This program is for people who have completed Grades 9/10/11 or have a National Senior Certificate. It provides you with practical experience and attempts to provide structured chances for practical learning.
The Skills Program has a quarterly intake of candidates throughout the year.

Work Integrated Learning 

This program is designed for those who hold a National Certificate – N6. This in-service training combines classroom instruction with on-the-job experience. This work experience includes particular learning objectives and is a prerequisite for obtaining a formal qualification.
This program has a quarterly intake of candidates during the financial year.

BFree, Lagos Fintech Gets $1.7M Funding For African Vision

Boluwatife Aponmade
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BFree, Lagos Fintech Gets $1.7M Funding For African Vision

BFree, a Lagos fintech, has received $1.7 million in funding for its African ambition. BFree is a credit management fintech startup in Lagos that has secured $1.7 million investment to expand in Africa and beyond, and other springing markets, bringing its war chest to $2.5 million, besides the $800,000 that was raised last year May.

The pre-series B funding round was led by Octerra Capital, Logos Ventures, Voltron Capital, 4Di Capital, and a host of several angel investors.

The funding aims at facilitating the vision of BFree to expand beyond Nigeria where its operations began in August 2020 before going to Kenya in July 2021.

The fintech company has started a recruitment process for 16 new markets including Pakistan, Mexico, Ghana, Indonesia, India, Uganda, Brazil, Colombia, Russia, and Poland.
Julian Flosbach, BFree co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) said the aims and objectives of the company are to develop better ethical and tech-inspired debt-collection tools and processes.

He cited the first-hand experience of the co-founders – Chukwudi Enyi, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Moses Nmor, Chief Product Officer (CPO), and himself – who have worked for digital leaders in Nigeria as an advantage.

Julian explained further how the tech firm focuses on ethical debt collection standards working closely with defaulters for tailor-made settlement options to increase the rate of repayment and customer satisfaction, as reported by Nairametrics.

“We saw that there was a little bit of a breach in the value proposition of lenders – they are good at giving out loans, but the after-sales services of the credit market didn’t work as collection processes were inefficient and not user-friendly”, Flosbach said.

ITWeb Cloud & Data Centre Summit 2022

Mena Adediran
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ITWeb Cloud & Data Centre Summit 2022

The ITWeb Cloud & Data Centre Sumit 2022 will hold from February 23, 2022 till February 24, 2022 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The event will begin on February 23 with a roundtable segment and continue on the following day with two focused themes — Cloud and Data Centre. The summit is set to deepen attendees’ knowledge of the relationship between cloud and data centre.

The modernisation of cloud and data centre infrastructure is a necessary move organisations have to make to remain relevant in a global community that is rapidly facing digital transformation.

The ITWeb Cloud & Data Centre Summit 2022 will focus on critical topics, ranging from complexity of cloud, multi-cloud, private and hybrid cloud, data centre modernisation, Data ownership, amongst others.

The first track of Day 2, Cloud, will look into how organisations can operate, be secure as well as “highly” innovative in the multi-cloud. There will be industry experts such as top cloud solutions providers and end users; they will “examine how business agility has birthed the need for organisations to adopt numerous service providers to tap into technology and cost saving options”, amongst other subjects.

The second track of Day 2, Data Centre, will explore data centres in South Africa with a view to assessing the digital disruption since the outbreak of Covid-19 and its influence in remote working, virtual learning and the increase of e-commerce. There will be an assessment of the data centre models and services available to South African businesses and their roles in promoting innovation in South Africa’s digital economy.

To register for the event, click here.

SeamlessHR Secures $10 Million to Expand HR And Payroll Solutions Across Africa

Hassan Barakat
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SeamlessHR Secures $10 Million to Expand HR And Payroll Solutions Across Africa

SeamlessHR secures $10 million in Series A funding for its next phase of growth and regional expansion.

The Nigeria-based startup that uses cloud-based human resources (HR) and payroll software wants to assist African businesses “exploit the continent’s greatest asset: plentiful human capital”.

The financing was led by TLcom Capital, a pan-African venture capital firm.

Capria Ventures, a new investor, joined current backers Lateral Frontier Ventures, Enza Capital, and Ingressive Capital.

The company’s brand solution is a cloud-based, end-to-end HR software that assists firms in managing and streamlining their whole human resource procedures and workflow.

Its product range includes HR management systems, performance and competence management, HR analytics, leave management, payroll administration, and recruitment management.

CEO Emmanuel Okeleji and CTO Deji Lana didn’t build SeamlessHR from the beginning.

It was four years after various prototypes of Insidify, an aggregation site for job searchers and a review site for companies that they established SeamlessHR in 2017.

To establish its name, the business initially signed a couple of smaller enterprises.

However, as time went on, it began to focus on larger clients, and its first major business customer was a bank.

The company claims that its enterprise-grade solution is suitable for a wide range of businesses.

They range in size from small organizations with fewer than 100 people to huge corporations with more than 10,000 employees, including multinationals and banks like PwC, AXA, and Sterling Bank, as well as startups and investment firms like Flutterwave and TGIGroup.

After 4 years of managing wages for hundreds of firms, SeamlessHR has amassed a wealth of human resources and payroll data.

Because sitting on top of such data allows SeamlessHR to build even more vertical goods, the company will provide embedded finance products for employees.

This is how it will work: For example, if a company uses SeamlessHR for its 5,000 employees, any of them can use the platform’s earned wage access to obtain their salaries up to the point they’ve worked.

It’s a common wage structure in places like the United States, but it’s uncommon in Nigeria.

“We leverage finance, technology, and HR to assist people to convert their employment into collateral to obtain safe credit,” said the CEO, who believes the company’s cash advances will appeal to employees more than “predatory” loans given by other lending companies.

Newer businesses, such as YC-backed Workpay and Bento have entered Africa’s payroll and HR management sector.

They assist firms with wage distribution, taxes, and pensions, carving out a niche in what looks to be a sector dominated by SeamlessHR.

In Africa, putting together an HR solution takes longer than in developed countries, where most small businesses can afford to pay for software.

Large corporations, not SMEs, have the most opportunity in Africa.

They are the majority of SeamlessHR’s customers because they have more purchasing power and a greater need for HR solutions.

SeamlessHR has also eaten into the market share of legacy and “on-premise” systems like SAP and Oracle, which are commonly used by large businesses in their local markets.

Companies now realize they may focus on setting up and onboarding cloud-based software solutions capable of servicing their demands, although at a lower cost, rather than hiring staff who need qualifications to administer software.

SeamlessHR’s replacement of these old systems in Nigeria is also aided by software localization.

The fresh capital will bolster the company’s position as “Africa’s top cloud HR and payroll platform,” according to the company.

On the call, Okeleji, who formerly worked as an investment banker and as a doctor, stated that SeamlessHR would expand its operations to eastern and southern Africa, with Kenya and South Africa serving as operating centers, resulting in the hiring of additional workers.

Nigeria and Ghana are the company’s current locations.

SeamlessHR intends to expand its embedded financial capabilities and introduce new features, particularly in the areas of artificial intelligence, data analytics, and machine learning.

According to Okeleji, SeamlessHR will eventually expand beyond human resources and payroll into other areas that keep businesses running.

He also alluded to the likelihood of SeamlessHR expanding outside Africa into other global markets, using India’s Freshworks as an example.

“Right now, we’re developing software to optimize HR, but in the future, we’ll expand beyond HR.”

We’re also in a good position to establish a worldwide SaaS business since SaaS solutions cross the world faster than, say, fintech.”

“We’re beating multinational competitors in our local market, and we know we can play this game globally.”

2021: The Year For Nigerian Startups

Ruth Torty
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2021: The Year For Nigerian Startups

During the first quarter of 2021, a combined sum of $219 million was invested in startups. Over the next 9 months, we witnessed a four-fold increase. It is safe to conclude that 2021 was the year for Nigerian startups.

Every week, at least one African startup made headlines for successfully raising investment funds. In addition, the number of unicorns in Africa also increased to seven, with Opay and Flutterwave making the list.

By the end of the year, Nigerian startups raised the highest investment funds on the continent.

This article reviews the story behind Nigerian startups, the rain of investments they enjoyed in 2021, and the reasons behind their sudden boom.

Let’s dive in.

The Strength of Startups: Resilience

It was not the first idea Hanu Agbodje had noted down when Patricia kicked off. It was down at number 37, born from a desire to prevent gift cards scam. After 13 businesses, including selling popcorn as an undergraduate at the University of Port Harcourt, Hanu founded Patricia.

According to the company, Patricia has grown from having 2 employees to a staff strength of more than 350. In addition to this, they make 30,000 daily transactions. Hanu’s entrepreneurial skills and doggedness contributed to the success of the company. This is a common trend amongst Nigerian startups—they were mostly built on sheer determination and focus. 

Furthermore, the resilient spirit reflected in these startups was born from the desire to survive the unstable economic atmosphere in the country. Fintechs took a significant hit in the first quarter of 2021 when the Federal government of Nigeria banned all cryptocurrency trades in the country—freezing the bank accounts of several dealers and companies.

Although cryptocurrency trades are still thriving, the damage was done, forcing fintech startups to diversify their products and services. It is not only policies that pose a challenge but also the living conditions in the country. Poor power supply, bad roads, and sadly insecurity are a few factors that force these startups to spend a lot of money on expenditure. Simply put, startups in Nigeria surmount many obstacles to succeed. 

Young Nigerians Want To Solve Problems And Make Money From It

Several startups aim to solve a problem or bridge a gap in a particular sector. It is not surprising that young Nigerians want to create more accessible, affordable, and healthier processes. In fact, for some startups, as in the case of 54gene, their ideas are novel and significant.

When Dr. Abasi Ene-Obong founded 54gene in 2019, he wanted to use the genetic information of Nigerians to improve their healthcare. No one seemed to be doing it at that time. 

In reality, Nigeria is besieged by several problems with corruption at the core. The country’s weak public health system, security problems, and a struggling economy have put it at the mercy of Western countries. This is the primary reason several young Nigerians leave the country searching for greener pastures.

Ironically, while everyone was trying to “Japa” (leave the country for good), Amadi Omezulam and Chuks Ogbonna left their jobs in Cyprus and moved to Nigeria. In 2020, they co-founded Urban Akwu, a biotechnology company in Rivers State, Southern Nigeria. They knew poultry feed was expensive in the country and pursued rearing black soldier flies as an alternative source of protein for poultry. To solve the environmental waste problem, they feed the insects with spoiled food—something they find in abundance and cheap.

Startups are not targeted towards health and agriculture alone; they are spread across several sectors. E-learning platforms like uLessons are making education easier and more accessible. These startups create job opportunities, reducing unemployment significantly.

Startups also allow people to make profits from their solution-based ideas. Furthermore, the existence of startups has allowed young Nigerians with brilliant ideas to see why they should express their thoughts in the form of startups to solve real-life problems. 

Investment Funds

Africa: Big Deal revealed that startups in Nigeria have raised almost 1.4 billion dollars for funding in 2021—the highest on the continent. This data consists of startups that received $100,000 and more for investment funds. The top leaders include Opay, which secured $400 million, Andela $200 million, Flutterwave $170 million, Kuda Bank $80 million, and Decagon $26.5 million.

Although several startups raise their funds through different methods, including direct pitches, grants, and competitions, it still requires a lot of hard work. Releaf, an agricultural-based startup co-founded by Uzoma Bailey Ayogu and Ikenna Nzewi, secured $1.5 million in grants from The Challenge Fund for Youth Employment (CFYE) and USAID.

Several startups also received investment funds ranging from pre-seed funds, angel funds, and institutional funds. In August, Nigerian shared mobility startup Plentywaka raised a $1.2 million seed round. ReelFruit, a dried fruit company, announced a Series A investment of $3 million, while Klasha (a payments provider founded by Jessica Anuna, one of Nigeria’s few female founders) also secured a sum of $2.4 million in September and October 2021, respectively.

Why The Sudden Boom?

Five years ago, startups were not the next big thing. In fact, they were not considered much of “a thing.” Several businesses struggled to stay afloat, and technology had not ultimately settled in the global market.

According to Africa: The big deal, startups secured twice as much investment funds in 2021 than in 2020.

A probable reason for the high level of investment could be a shift in the attention of foreign investors. According to Rebecca Enonchong, chairperson of Afrilabs, investors have been eyeing Africa for a while but were making safe bets. One of the major investors, SoftBank, led the $400 million seed fund for Opay and the $200 million investment fund for Andela. Other foreign investors include Target Global, Avenir Growth Capital, and Valar Ventures. The activity of these investors is hardly surprising. Nigeria, by large, Africa is a promising frontier for tech startups, and it is just fertile for expansion.

Furthermore, another reason for the sudden boom is the presence of more local investors and investment companies. A notable name in this sphere is Future Africa. Through the Future Africa fund, more than 15 startups have received investment on the continent. They also joined Techstars and other investors to invest in Maas, a Nigeria-based diagnostic healthcare startup. In addition, startups are investing in one another—increasing investments and ensuring healthy circulation of funds.

The Future: 2022 and Beyond

Despite the wave of investments and attention that Nigerian startups received in 2021, there is a need for equity in the startup ecosystem. A report on 2021 startup founding in Africa shows that 82% of start-ups that received investment funds have at least one male founder or an all male founding team. Moreso, fintechs dominated the 2021 investment rounds—amassing the highest amount of investments. This has created a demand for diversity in sectors and inclusion for female-founded startups.

Furthermore, the attention on Nigerian startups might pressure these businesses to produce results faster than expected. It may also pressure young Nigerians to create startups whether or not it is needed.

Fortunately, 2022 could be an even better year for startups. The approval of the Nigerian Start-up Act might ease some of the difficulties in operating a business in the country. Startups will solve a significant part of Nigeria’s problems only if the environment is ideal for them to strive.

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