In today's edition of TechCabal Daily: MTN Group moves it $280m out of Nigeria; South African insurtech platform Naked raises $11 million; Wapi pay raises $2.2m to ease payments between Africa and Asia; and Google to build its own smartphone processors this year.
Zuri Health’s cure
Khula is planting a new seed COVID’S GIFT TO TELECOMS What’s that saying about storms having silver linings?
Well, if anyone can see the silver lining of COVID-19, it’s Nigerian Telecoms. Their revenues rose by 12% in 2020.
How did that happen?
First guess, a lot of netflix and chill.
Since the first case of the coronavirus disease was confirmed in Nigeria in February 2020, nationwide lockdowns and movement restrictions meant more people spent time on their phones. Businesses were also forced to alternative working models so this meant virtual workspaces (and Zoom fatigue).
Add in the plethora of festivals, seminars, workshops, and masterclasses, and you’ve got a significant increase in internet consumption. In fact, the number of active internet subscriptions increased from 125.98 million in December 2019 to 154.29 million in December 2020, a 22.5% increase.
TechCabal Daily - MTN s wish is about to be granted techcabal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from techcabal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Nigerian founders-turned-investors are now running syndicate funds
The Future Africa Fund kicked off in 2015 when Iyinoluwa Aboyeji and Nadayar Enegesi, co-founders of U.S.-based and African-focused talent company Andela, wrote checks to African startups as angel investors. This continued even as Aboyeji joined and left Flutterwave, the fintech company he co-founded.
In January 2020, the pair made the fund official, with Aboyeji as general partner and Enegesi as limited partner. Simultaneously, they announced that the fund had invested $1.5 million across 19 African companies.
The idea for a syndicate fund would come in the following months as the pandemic disrupted investment activities worldwide.
Kick-starting FDI in Africa
By Carl Manlan and Efosa Ojomo
LOMÉ/BOSTON In the United Nations’ 2020 World Investment Report, Secretary General António Guterres noted that global foreign direct investment (FDI) this year is “expected to fall sharply from 2019 levels of $1.5 trillion” to below the trough it hit during the global financial crisis. This decline will have a devastating effect on emerging economies, many of which are already in crisis as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Few regions will struggle more than Africa. Not only does the continent account for just 3 epr cent of global GDP, but it currently attracts less than 3 per cent of global FDI, which has been a critical factor in propelling other regions to prosperity.