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Andela to lay off 400 staff across Africa, confirms $50M in revenue

September 18, 2019 Editor

Africa-focused tech talent accelerator Andela will cut 400 junior engineers across Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria, Chief executive and co-founder Jeremy Johnson said the move will impact junior engineers as the company focuses on boosting its senior talent. “This shift in demand also means that we now have more junior talent than we are able to place,” he said in a statement. “This is a challenge for the business, and for these junior engineers who want and deserve authentic work experiences that we are not able to provide.” Approximately 250 junior…

Tala Microloan Startup gains $110 Million In latest Funding

August 23, 2019

Mobile-based lenders pose money laundering risk, says CBK

Tala, a Los Angeles startup that makes microloans to consumers and small business owners in emerging markets, is announcing today that it has raised $110 million in funding. The new Silicon Valley venture capital firm RPS Ventures, cofounded by Kabir Misra, former managing partner at Softbank’s $100 billion Vision Fund, is leading the round. Tala’s backers include PayPal, billionaire Steve Case’s VC firm Revolution, Chris Sacca’s Lowercase Capital and Data Collective, among others. The new funding values Tala at nearly $800 million, according to an investor. Tala has raised more…

Apple Card just quietly launched, takes a new approach to credit cards use

August 13, 2019

Last week, Apple Card was launched, a new product that just might make the tech firm a lot of money. However there wasn’t much elation and ululation. This is because, anyone who put their name down to get Apple notifications likely got a highly personalized invitation about the product. To celebrate the launch, Apple didn’t release an expensive ad featuring exited customers, rather, Apple’s YouTube page was filled with explanatory videos. The Card is Apple’s different approach to credit cards use, statements are handled, and rewards are redeemed, without any…

Nigeria proposes law to tax local online purchases

August 8, 2019 olivia Craig

Online purchases in Nigeria could soon come with a tax bill in part of plans to raise more revenue to fund a record budget, Nigeria’s government is considering a 5% Value Added Tax (VAT) specifically for online purchases. Babatunde Fowler, head of Nigeria’s federal tax agency, says the government may appoint banks as agents to deduct 5% VAT on all local online purchases with a bank card. The policy could be in place by early next year, Fowler said in an interview with Premium Times, a local online newspaper. This…

Kenya based Direct Pay Online (DPO) acquires SA’s PayFast, a payment firm

August 5, 2019

Nairobi-based online payment service provider Direct Pay Online (DPO) has acquired PayFast, a payment processor based in South Africa. A statement said the transaction by the DPO Group was executed through a mix of shares and cash, with the PayFast management team remaining key shareholders in the Group. Following the transaction, DPO Group said it will be providing services to over 100,000 merchants across 18 African markets. “The integration of PayFast into DPO’s services will increase the range of payment options available to DPO’s business customers, whilst providing a Pan-African…

Not coming to Ethiopia to Invest unless central bank rectifies the wrongful appropriation of diaspora shares – Sophia Bekele Eshete

July 24, 2019August 6, 2021 Editor

The monies and profits confiscated from the sale of the diaspora shares should be returned in full Op-Ed By Sophia Bekele Eshete, Addis Fortune | July 20, 2019 The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) passed a guideline about relinquishing shares in banks owned by foreign nationals of Ethiopian origin in 2016. The majority of the public, particularly the intellectuals and legal experts who understood what happened with the sale of the shares by the central bank and the financial institutions, know that it was a huge mistake. Various voices have…

Regulate? Mobile-based online lending firms may be money laundering channels says Central Bank of Kenya governor

July 12, 2019 olivia Craig

Mobile-based online lending firms should be regulated to avoid their usage as channels for introducing illegally-obtained cash into the financial system, Central Bank of Kenya governor Patrick Njoroge has said. In a presentation to parliamentarians Wednesday, Dr Njoroge singled out Tala, Branch and Okash — three highly-popular digital money lenders — as credit-only mobile lending institutions that could be easily used to launder illicit cash. Money laundering, which involves transferring and disguising illegally obtained cash to make it look legitimate, is mostly used by criminals and the corrupt to clean…

MumsVillage enters ecommerce to help mothers earn revenue

June 28, 2019

Isis Nyong’o’s MumsVillage has diversified into ecommerce to help mothers make money with the launch of MumsVillageShop. The move into ecommerce has been supported by impact investor Gray Matters Capital’s digital accelerator program – GMC Calibrator. MumsVillage also participated in the Unilever-DFID TRANSFORM partnership and Alibaba efounders Fellowship. “It is great to see one of the members from the first class of the eFounders program bring their vision to life. The program aims to empower young entrepreneurs to be champions for an inclusive digital economy, and the growth of MumsVillage serves as a…

Swvl, Egyptian bus bokking app raises $42 million for expansion into more African countries

June 20, 2019

Swvl, an Egyptian app for booking buses, has raised $42 million as it looks to expand into other parts of Africa, including Nigeria. The two-year-old company, which started in Cairo and also operates in Alexandria and Nairobi in Kenya, got the money from venture-capital firms including Sweden’s Vostok, Dubai-based BECO Capital, China’s MSA and Endeavor Catalyst, based in New York. “The plan is to be in at least two or three more African cities by the end of the year,’’ Mostafa Kandil, the 26-year-old founder and chief executive officer, said…

Capital Market’s Authority Launches regulatory sandbox for Kenya’s startups to develop inTech products

June 7, 2019 Editor

Kenya’s Capital Market’s Authority announced plans last year to set up a regulatory sandbox for startups to join and develop their FinTech products and they have started accepting applications to the sandbox. Apply for the CMA Regulatory Sandbox for a 12-month period to deploy & conduct live tests on innovative products, solutions & services that have the potential to broaden the Kenyan capital markets. Eligibility https://t.co/mqDeIgZzcT | Application process https://t.co/v3sTqdjT1p pic.twitter.com/XeZ1F8QWJf — Capital Markets Authority_Kenya (@CMAKenya) June 6, 2019 First regulatory sandboxes have been implemented around the world in at…