Nigerian Female Ex-Banker Defies Central Bank Stance To Raise $1m For Her Crypto Startup

The Central Bank of Nigeria recently blocked banks in Nigeria from hosting crypto-currency trading accounts, but that has not deterred Deborah Ojengbede, a former banker, from raising $1m for her startup AFEN Group. The fund was raised through the non-fungible token (NFT). The 27-year-old CEO resigned from her position as a business analyst at a major Nigerian bank, where she had spent the previous five years.

27-year-old female ex-banker raises 1 million dollars for her tech startup
Deborah Ojengbede is the CEO of AFEN Group

Following that, Deborah began pursuing her crypto aspirations, giving birth to AFEN, the groundbreaking platform for the digitization of African arts, real estate, and education. AFEN intends to use blockchain technologies, specifically the Binance smart chain network, to provide a solution to the problems limiting the Industrial African trio. For more details on AFEN’s site to get acquainted with the new crypto revolution.

Read also: Central Bank Of Nigeria Closes Crypto Bank Accounts. What Does This Mean For Nigerian Crypto Startups?

What Are Non-fungible Tokens And How Do They Work?

Essentially, this is the most recent craze in the cryptocurrency world, and it has exploded in recent months. If something is fungible, it can be exchanged for another good or asset; if something is non-fungible, it cannot. Plane tickets are examples of non-fungible assets in the real world. Although two plane tickets may appear identical, they will each have a different destination, seat number, and airline class, preventing them from being swapped like for like.

Read also:Nigeria Has No Plan To Devalue Its Currency — CBN 

Christie’s held the first auction of a piece of art that does not exist in physical form in March.

It was created by digital artist Beeple and sold for $69.3 million (£50.3 million). Earlier this week, Sotheby’s sold a collection of NFTs by digital artist Pak for a total of $16.8 million (£12.2 million), including an image of a single pixel for $1.36 million (£987,000).

“From the creative industry perspective, we believe this is a great opportunity for artists and IPR owners to monetise their existing assets via a new revenue stream. The myth of the starving artist needs to be rewritten. Every creator, artist, influencer has the right to showcase their IP with dignity and on a credible platform with legitimate buyers,” Vishakha Singh, Adviser, NFT Marketplace said.

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Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer