FG extends NIN-SIM linkage once again to May 6

April 6, 2021

If, for one reason or the other, you are yet to link your NIN to your SIM cards, the FG has given Nigerians yet another period of grace from now till the 6^th of May to do so.

It should be recalled that the whole NIN-SIM linkage first made the waves in December 2020 after which the FG allotted a timeframe of 2 weeks for the exercise. However, give that most people did not even have an NIN to begin with, the program was extended till February to allow people go get their NIN and link to their mobiles.

Even in February, the government postponed to April and even though we are not even done with the first full week in the month yet, news for another extension is already making the rounds.

While this move surely allows those without an access to NIN centres get their affairs in order and make the move happen, it is also detrimental to others who need to retrieve their main SIMs as telcos also lose massive revenue every month.

For now, there is no guarantee that we won’t have another extension of this program but it remains a waiting game to see where we go from here.

Mastercard invests a further $100 million into Airtel mobile money venrure

O. Christopher

April 2, 2021

Mastercard invests a further $100 million into Airtel mobile money venrure

We reported some weeks ago that Airtel was trying to raise some cash by selling off some assets, and they got that in the form of a $200 million injection into its African mobile money department. It seems that the good news is not over for the brand yet, though, with Mastercard now bringing new money on board.

The card issuing company has invested an $100 million into the mobile money business as Airtel is on the move to sell as much as 25% of the business to willing investors. With the two major money moves that the company has now seen, it is impressive to note that it is yet to selloff even a fifth of the business.

This is not the first time that Airtel and Mastercard will be doing a deal together so we know that something fruitful will come out of this new partnership. Likewise, we expect to see which other companies will take up the remaining stake that Airtel plans on selling, of which we have close to 15% left.

That said, it should also be noted that the $2.65 billion-valued Airtel start-up is not hard for cash in any way. In fact, they have maintained a good debt ratio on their books and will be looking to leverage such a strong financial strength to bring in bigger players in the industry.

Telcos lose more than #10 billion as consumers lament SIM lockdown

O. Christopher

March 31, 2021

Telcos lose more than #10 billion as consumers lament SIM lockdown

Since December 2020, the FG has put a lockdown on the purchase, registration and activation of new SIM cards in the country. This was done to enable the citizens get their NIN done and link to their SIM cards. The government has since extended the given deadline by two months but that is not sitting down well with everyone.

On the part of the users themselves, it is now impossible to retrieve important SIM cards used for business which might have been lost or damaged within these months. Even though there is an uptick in the number of citizens who now have their NIN, the FG is saying nothing about lifting the sales restriction soon.

Unfortunately, the people are not the only ones feeling the brunt of this move.

Telcos have also lost a cumulative NGN10 billion or more between December 2020 and February 2021 alone on the back of the inactive lines which they have on their books. At an average of NGN1,420 revenue per SIM user and considering the 7.6 million inactive lines within that timeframe, the financial figures are not a far stretch.

SIM losses and need for reactivation will continue happening in the coming months and it is estimated that these telcos could lose more than they have already had to weather.

The FG should find a balance soon so that everyone – both the businesses and their customers – can come out with a happy ending amid all these.

PlentyWaka earns a spot in the TechStars Accelerator program, secures $120k funding

O. Christopher

March 19, 2021

PlentyWaka earns a spot in the TechStars Accelerator program, secures $120k funding

PlentyWaka burst onto the scene in 2019 as a Nigeria bus hailing start-up and they have grown in leaps and bounds since then. Latest on the list of good news that the brand enjoys is an acceptance into the TechStars Toronto accelerator programme which means that they have also earned a cool $120,000 in extra seed funding to better their product.

The mode of operation of the start-up is to allow customers to book bus rides in real time across the states where they are present in.

Starting from Lagos, the start-up secured an extra $300,000 funding to expand to the federal capital territory and a handful of other states too. Now, they will be able to strengthen their position in the states where they are present and expand to other areas where they were not already in.

It should be noted that Onyeka Akumah, the current CEO and co-founder of PlentyWaka, is also the founder of Farmcrowdy from which CrowdyVest spun off. Thus, this makes it the second time a start-up that he is invested in will go through a TechStars accelerator programme.

Besides the seed funding that they have received, the accelerator program will also make it easy for them to get mentorship from top players in the industry while also getting visible to more investors.

Airtel Africa raises $200 million from mobile money share sale

O. Christopher

March 18, 2021

Airtel Africa raises $200 million from mobile money share sale

Airtel Africa had been looking to sell off some assets so that it can have more cash at hand to settle debts and improve operations. Thus, the London-listed company decided to sell off some stakes in its mobile money business.

This arm of the business had been helping to drive financial inclusion in areas of Africa, especially for the unbanked. As of the time of this writing, the company has found a willing investor in The Rise Fund which will be investing $200 million into the business. In return, the buying company will get equivalent share exchanges of the company.

The best thing about this idea is that Airtel Africa still gets to hold a majority share in the business so they can keep going on with the plans that they had for the unit. Likewise, Airtel Arica has now achieved its aim to raise some cash and will, thus, be able to pay off some of its debts while driving better penetration of the network in parts of Africa where more help is needed.

The deal will be completed in two parts. The first $150 million will be invested at first and a next $50 million will hit when the deal closes.

WhatsApp withdraws support for iPhone 4S users

O. Christopher

March 18, 2021

WhatsApp withdraws support for iPhone 4S users

If you still happen to have the iPhone 4S, you might not be able to use WhatsApp on your device anytime soon.

We don’t suppose that there are still a lot of people stuck with this unit out there, but it would surprise you that about 8% of the millions of iPhone users all around the world are on the iOS 12. Most of these users will have to be the iPhone 4S totters that we are talking about here.

As of the start of this week, WhatsApp announced that they won’t support units that are on the iOS 9 platform anymore. Recall that the iPhone 4 series are the ones that won’t go beyond that software level, considering the usual 5 year upgrade cycle that Apple offers to its users.

For those who have their main WhatsApp on this device – or any other WhatsApp account that is dear to them – you might want to use this time to backup your chats and download it somewhere. That way, you can port your WhatsApp account to a supported device without losing your chats.

If you are looking for a new device to change to, you can consider any unit from the iPhone 8 series up to the iPhone XS Max. If you have more to splash, though, nothing stops you from looking at the iPhone 11 or iPhone 12 units.

SA start-up rolls out WhatsApp payment model to boost B2Bs and peer payments

O. Christopher

March 17, 2021

SA start-up rolls out WhatsApp payment model to boost B2Bs and peer payments

WhatsApp informed the possibility of in-app payments to its users in India which happens to be the largest market for the company also. Now, South Africa is following suit but with another angle.

While the first was a venture launched by the social media company itself, the move from SA is from a start-up by the name Ukheshe. Partnering with Infobip, this start-up brings payments closer to users, allowing them to pay to another user’s mobile number if they have them on their contacts list.

It should be noted that this is not the first implementation of receiving money via phone numbers. We have seen the concept with Paga and Eyowo from Softcom, but this a step further that allows contacts to disburse money on the chat platform itself.

Besides enabling peer to peer payments and making it more seamless, this also provides a good avenue for businesspeople who use WhatsApp for their trades to collect payments from interested customers better and faster. Instead of having to share a traditional account number all the time, the said customer could just pay via the vendor’s phone number and get it done.

Flutterwave integrates with PayPal to support seamless African payments

O. Christopher

March 16, 2021

Flutterwave integrates with PayPal to support seamless African payments

Flutterwave was just in the news for achieving a unicorn status after getting a US$1 billion valuation and they are not even resting on their oars. As of the time of this writing, the African payment processor has integrated with PayPal to allow merchants and individuals receive PayPal payments from all around the world.

It should be noted that while PayPal boasts a base of more than 300 million users, most of those people are outside Africa. This is also affecting African merchants and individuals seeking to get payments from abroad as most of their payers will prefer to use the PayPal option.

As of now, that won’t be an issue anymore.

PayPal has yet to issue any official statement on why it is not natively supporting African countries. Even for the select few on its list, it is mostly a one-sided operation where they allow the making of payments but not receipt. Thanks to Flutterwave, anyone with a PayPal account can now pay a Flutterwave user via the ‘Pay via PayPal’ button.

This further cements the plans of the company to make payments seamless across Africa while connecting the continent to the rest of the world also.

Google Chrome’s new update brings faster bootup time, less crashes and more

O. Christopher

March 13, 2021

Google Chrome’s new update brings faster bootup time, less crashes and more

The Google Chrome might be the most used browser in the world, but that does not mean that it is without its own flaws.

For one, users have always complained of how much memory the app consumes in the background. That, and we have also had issues with constant freezing of the browser when you relaunch it with a series of tabs open.

It is, thus, great that Google is listening to the complaints of the users as they have brought out a new update (Chrome 89) which fixes those issues and more.

According to the official release, the new Chrome version will see a 13% jump in start times due to a better memory management. Google explains that your other tabs left running will now be loaded into a lightweight version of the browser on next start-up. They show up only as a screenshot of the page you had left open but you can still interact with the links and clickable elements on that page.

Google believes that the new update brings an overall 22% boost in browser performance and does 8% better in GPU rendering.

We know that these tests tend to be carried out in controlled environments so that actual numbers might not be equal to what is reported. Given the standing and reputation of Google in the market, we doubt that they would want to veer too much off real numbers – so you should expect a sizeable boost truly.

MTN Strengthens Position in Nigeria with 800Mhz Acquisition

O. Christopher

March 13, 2021

MTN Strengthens Position in Nigeria with 800Mhz Acquisition

Just about a week ago, we reported that MTN posted very strong numbers in Nigeria despite the pandemic wave of 2020.

The telecommunications giant is acting on that now, looking to achieve a deeper penetration in the country. As of the time of this writing, the company confirmed that it has acquired an additional 800MHz spectrum in the country.

This will allow them to better the services they are already delivering while also reaching more regions where the network might not have been readily available.

This acquisition is not only underway but has been completed by the telco. The selling partner is Intercellular Nigeria Limited, so all that is left is for MTN to start implementing and rolling out their added capacity.

Seeing how proactive this company can be, and the fact that Nigeria keeps showing its hand to be a strong market for them, we doubt that they are going to rest on these oars.

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