A major security breach is brewing online with the discovery of a new malware on Google’s Play Store that propagates itself through WhatsApp messages. According to Check Point Research (CPR), the malware was hidden in a fake Netflix application called FlixOnline on the Google Play Store.
“The fact that the malware was able to be disguised so easily and ultimately bypass Play Store’s protections raises some serious red flags. Although we stopped one campaign of the malware, the malware family is likely here to stay. The malware may return hidden in a different app,” says Aviran Hazum, Manager of Mobile Intelligence at Check Point.
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According to CPR, once installed, the app unleashed the worm-like malware which hijacked connections to WhatsApp in its bid to automatically respond to incoming messages on behalf of its victims. The content of the response was provided by a remote server. In the couple of months it stayed on the Play Store, the malware infused FlixOnline app was downloaded about 500 times. CPR says it shared its finding with Google and the malicious app was subsequently taken down.
Hazrum however doesn’t expect these types of malware to fizzle out anytime soon, since the threat actors have apparently found a way to break through Play Store’s protections.
As a general principle, Hazrum suggests users to not exclusively rely on Play Store’s protections and be “cautious of links and attachments received over WhatsApp or other messaging apps, even when they appear to come from trusted contacts or messaging groups.”
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
The French government took a step in furtherance of efforts aimed at cementing economic relationship with Nigeria with the launching of a €3.5 billion initiative for small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in Africa. This was disclosed by the French Minister of Foreign Trade and Attractiveness, Franck Riester who is in Nigeria to open the ‘Choose Africa’ conference. The €3.5 billion initiative by the France President, Emmanuel Macron is dedicated to supporting the development of start-ups and SMEs in Africa. Riester said the initiative would enable the continent to benefit fully from the opportunities of the digital revolution.
French Minister of Foreign Trade and Attractiveness, Franck Riester
A statement issued by the Press Officer of the French Embassy Nigeria, Onyinye Madu, said the visit was a follow up on the priorities set by Macron during his official visit to Nigeria in July 2018 as well as his desire to build a new partnership between Africa and France. According to the statement, “As the largest economy in Africa and the economic engine of West Africa, Nigeria is indeed a major partner for France-the first in sub-Saharan Africa with bilateral trade amounting to a total of $4.5 billion in 2019 and $2.3 billion in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘’The minister will have several official meetings in Abuja and Lagos to underline the importance of the bilateral economic relationship and to prepare the summit on the financing of African economies in Paris on May 18, 2021.’’
The objective of the minister’s mission, who will be in Nigeria between April 12 and 14, the statement said, was also to further strengthen the links between the French and Nigerian private sectors.
“In this regard, the minister will have in-depth discussions with the main Nigerian economic actors to strengthen bilateral cooperation and investments, both in Nigeria and in France, particularly in the logistics sector,’’ it added.
He is expected to also meet with young Nigerian entrepreneurs in the cultural and creative sector to discuss the major role of their country in African creativity and the development of the African entrepreneurial ecosystem, with the support of France.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
The choice of Ghana to site its first Africa office came to many Nigerians as a shock because Nigeria is seen as the tech hub of Africa, and with other tech giants such as Facebook, and Google already established in the country. However, with the announcement made through a tweet by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey where he thanked the president of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo for his hospitality and also looking forward to a long lasting relationship between Ghana and Twitter, it became clear that Ghana is the choice. The tweet also included a link to a post on Twitter’s official blog written by Kayvon Beykpour, Product Lead at Twitter, and Uche Adegbite, Director, Product Management, Global Markets.
Jack Dorsey, founder and CEO of Twitter
The blog post noted that Twitter’s mission is to serve the public conversation, and it’s essential, for the world and for Twitter, to increase the number of people who feel comfortable participating in it. “To do this, we need to make it easier for everyone to join in and provide more relevant experiences for people across the world”.
An excerpt from the blog reads: “Today, in line with our growth strategy, we’re excited to announce that we are now actively building a team in Ghana. To truly serve the public conversation, we must be more immersed in the rich and vibrant communities that drive the conversations taking place every day across the African continent.”
According to the post, Twitter will be hiring across several teams including product, design, engineering, marketing and communications. Successful applicants will be onboarded remotely until there is an opportunity to open a physical office in Ghana.
When Jack Dorsey had his African tour in 2019, he visited Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, and Ethiopia. For a lot of people this pointed at the possibility of a move into the continent. Now that the move is happening, one does wonder why Ghana was the choice of the countries visited.
Twitter’s blog post answers that question: “As a champion for democracy, Ghana is a supporter of free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet, of which Twitter is also an advocate.” There are also reports that Twitter management is not happy with the way the Nigerian government handled the #EndSars protests which was heavily supported by Twitter. Twitter sees Nigeria as restraining human rights and freedom of expression especially by the armed forces and the Police and other para-military agencies. Moreso, Twitter believes that young people face a lot of harassment by law enforcement agencies in Nigeria.
On the business side, Twitter cites Ghana’s appointment to host the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a key indicator of the country’s importance in establishing Twitter’s presence across Africa.
Regarding their move into this new market, investing in these markets is key and Twitter has already had partnerships with several impactful African organisations including Amref Health Africa in Kenya, Afrochella in Ghana, Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative (MANI) in Nigeria, and The HackLab Foundation in Ghana. The company says it plans to “continue to explore compelling ways we can use the positive power of Twitter to strengthen our communities through employee engagement, platform activation, and corporate giving.”
With Twitter on the continent, Africans can look forward to content and experiences more tailored to them. Twitter’s staff roles for the Ghana team can be found here.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
“The declaration and payment of your taxes by electronic means (mobile phone) are now operational for MTN subscribers.”
This is the message that the Directorate General of Taxes (DGI) in Cameroon has been disseminating for several days. According to the tax administrator, the new tax collector will facilitate payment to taxpayers at the country’s divisional tax centers (CDIs).
MTN thus becomes the second telecom operator after the Cameroonian subsidiary of Orange.
With both Orange and MTN Cameroon coming on board, electronic tax payment service now reaches some 20 million subscribers in the central African country.
Other operators such as Camtel and Nexttel as also waiting to join.
Electronic tax collection is a provision of the country’s 2021 finance law.
The law now covers the issuance and notification of receipts electronically and consequently eliminated the issuance of manual receipts which are a source of “various fraud”.
However, according to the 2021 finance law, taxpayers can also carry out these tax transactions by bank transfer.
The country recently prohibited the payment of tax in cash. This is to avoid embezzlement of public funds. Indeed, tax officials in the past were not often hesitant to help themselves when in contact with cash.
In 2017, the country’s Minister of Finance had to sanction no less than 137 agents of his administration. The charges against these employees revolved essentially around the production of false receipts and the embezzlement of revenue.
These agents, usually deployed in public revenue collection stations, fabricated false documents attesting to the payment of collected revenue into state coffers, although these funds did not appear anywhere in the treasury books.
MTN and Orange will hope to eliminate most of these lapses.
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
To expand to foreign countries as a startup in Tunisia, you have to pass through the eye of a needle. Don’t be confused, the country’s Startup Act is a deal-breaker; it offers a range of uncommon incentives to startups: a monetary grant, which could allow startup founders and all those who are shareholders in a labelled startup to cover their living expenses for one year; an incentive on the cost of patent registration whether in Tunisia or in other offshore countries; a good fail strategy which entitles startups to pull funds from the Tunisian Startups Guarantee Fund if they experience financial turbulence, among others.
Yahya Bouhlel, GoMyCode’s co-founder.
But the Startup Act does not give one thing, at least in practice. In Tunisia, transactions in currencies other than the country’s dinar are generally disallowed by the country’s central bank (BCT). In fact, credit and debit cards cannot be used for purchases on foreign commercial internet sites and most Tunisian banks only allow account holders to use bank-affiliated credit and debit cards to make domestic online purchases denominated in dinars.
Now, although the Startup Act, by its terms, currently allows startups to open a special foreign currency account which they can freely fund with contributions of capital, turnover and dividends in foreign currency, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a startup to be approved to have access to a foreign currency account.
“Going international for a Tunisian [startup] is almost impossible,” says Yahya Bouhlel, GoMyCode’s co-founder. “To settle elsewhere, you need currencies. The startup label gives us the right to a foreign currency account, but to have them, you have to go through the BCT and wait for months.”
How Did GoMyCode Circumvent This?
To beat this system, the Tunisian edtech startup that teaches coding skills to learners and which is now present in Nigeria, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Senegal, Bahrain and Cote d’ivoire had to do one thing: first headquarter abroad, and not in Tunisia.
It therefore, strategically chose to set up its headquarters in The Netherlands where everything is digitized and investors are not afraid to finance startups.
However, the choice of The Netherlands was particularly informed by the fact that the country is welcoming to international business owners and does not discriminate against businesses with a foreign headquarters. Consequently, foreign companies are allowed to own 100% of the stock of (most) Dutch companies. This fact is important because sometimes, it is impossible to own shares (by law) in companies based internationally if you are not resident in any of the countries of choice.
But perhaps, the single most significant point here, that still enabled GoMyCode to retain its Tunisian nationality (or pride itself as a Tunisian startup), is that the Tunisian Companies Law allows entrepreneurs to set up branches of their foreign companies in Tunisia, provided that the branch must appoint at least one director of any nationality during the registration process with the Tunisia Trade Registry in order to conduct any commercial activity in the North African country.
Having done that, GoMyCode proceeded to raise funds abroad, from Dubai, United Kingdom and France, where investors could invest in euros, and not just dinar.
“The business model of the startup requires strong responsiveness from the administration and speed in everything related to paperwork and authorizations. To our great misfortune, this is not the case. We suddenly realize that our officials are not imbued with the startup philosophy. For a Tunisian company to set up in Egypt, Morocco or Nigeria, you have to go through 4 ministries and a multitude of administrations, and the same in the host countries,” Bouhlel says.
If GoMyCode had not pushed beyond its limits despite the tough regulatory turf, it would have been worse off for it.
Today, the startup’s first $850k fundraiser has enabled it to acquire a space in Tunis, Tunisia’s Capital, and to open branches in Algiers (Algeria), Casablanca (Morocco), Lagos (Nigeria), Dakar (Senegal), Abidjan (Cote d’ivoire), Cairo (Egypt) and Manama (Bahrain). It also currently employs 85 full-time people and 150 part-time trainers. Its growth rate is 4 to 5 times higher from one year to the next, and Yahya Bouhlel aims to open 100 spaces to train 50,000 students per year in 15 countries. (It is looking to raise another funding round for interested investors.)
GoMyCode Is Not Alone; There Are Other Tunisian Startups
Joining GoMyCode in lamenting about the difficulties in internationalization as a Tunisian startup is a fellow country firm Next Gen, which got funded barely two months ago by MAXULA Gestion, manager of the startup fund STARTUP MAXULA SEED FUND.
“The startup label does not allow us to convert our national currency; we had to generate money in foreign currency. So we managed to find a currency fund and we found it in the Sultanate of Oman,” said Moez Lachneb, CEO of NextGen.
But it looked like a miracle for NextGen. It got a US$100,000 grant from the Oman Technology Fund (OTF), an investment fund specializing in supporting innovative national and international startups. Using the grant, the startup opened a foreign currency account, and then from there launched into the neighboring Morocco. It is also planning to open its second branch in Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman soon.
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
This year, Africa-based investors are taking the bull by the horns. They have gone after AppZone, the Lagos-based fintech software firm and have poured in up to $10 million in new funding, consequently. Appzone has clients spread across Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo), Tanzania, Senegal and Guinea, and has so far raised $15mn in total equity funding.
“For the last 12 years, we’ve worked in stealth mode, building the really complex infrastructure to power the continent’s growing digital financial services space and forging partnerships with the continent’s biggest financial institutions,” Appzone’s co-founder and CEO Obi Emetarom. “We are not just trying to bring African fintech on-par with the rest of the world — we exist to make our financial sector the most innovative and technologically advanced on the globe through solutions built for Africa by Africans.”
The latest round was led by CardinalStone Capital Advisers with participation from V8 Capital, Lateral Investment Partners, Constant Capital, and Itanna Capital Ventures.
The funding will bolster investment in Appzone’s key technology and set off a surge of new nation expansions.
Why The Investors Invested
A majority of the investors involved in this round are based in Africa. While CardinalStone Capital Advisers and Itanna Capital Ventures are based in Nigeria, Constant Capital is based in Accra Ghana. On the other hand, V8 Capital has its base in Mauritius. Lateral Investment Partners, although it has its base in the United States, maintains strong African presence.
Investment in AppZone is one of the few instances where local investors would be spearheading a big ticket size funding in an African startup.
This is particularly interesting because according to African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association 2019 VC report, North American investors represented 42% of the total number of investors that participated in VC investments on the continent between 2014 and 2019, followed by European based investors at 23%. African based investors accounted for only 20%, followed by Asia-Pacific (8%) and investors based in the Middle East (6%). This, perhaps, shows why the continent lags behind other continents in terms of funding available to its startups ecosystem.
Cardinal Stone Capital Advisers’ investment in Appzone, according to Yomi Jemibewon, co-founder and managing director, is “further evidence of Africa’s potential as the future centre of world-class technology.”
“Appzone is building a disruptive fintech ecosystem that will be the backbone of Africa’s finance industry with products across payments, infrastructure and software as a service. The impact of Appzone’s work is multifold — the company’s products deepen financial inclusion across the continent whilst providing best-fit and low-cost solutions to financial institutions. Its emphasis on premium talent also helps stem brain drain, rewarding Africa’s best brains with best in class employment opportunities,” he said.
Lead investor in this round, CardinalStone Capital Advisers (CCA) recently failed to raise the $100 million it expected when its first vehicle was finally closed. Focused on Nigeria and Ghana, CardinalStone Capital Advisers Growth Fund LP finally closed with commitments of around $64 million. The operation, which took place in September 2020, was announced by the firm on Tuesday, March 23, 2021. The VC invests in high-growth companies, for amounts between $5 and $10 million. The fund, which has already made two investments in a fintech and a welfare company in Nigeria, has announced over the next two years, 7 more commitments in diverse sectors.
AppZone, which was established in 2008, provides proprietary solutions for digital core banking and interbank transaction processing to clients in seven African countries, including well-known institutions such as Access Bank, GT Bank, and Zenith Bank.
The firm began as a consulting company specialising in custom software creation for commercial banks. The business released its first core banking product for microfinance institutions in 2011. The next year, Appzone launched its first commercial banking product (branchless banking). In 2016, it launched its mobile and internet banking services, and in 2017, it introduced an instant card issuance product. In 2020, the firm will introduce services for end-to-end lending automation and blockchain swapping for banks.
To date, the company’s channels have represented 18 commercial banks and over 450 microfinance banks, totaling $2 billion in annual transaction volume and $300 million in annual loan disbursement.
Traditional and challenger banks in Africa are restricted, according to Appzone co-founder and CEO Obi Emetarom, to using international technology solutions customised for Western markets, many of which are plagued by major stumbling blocks such as prohibitive prices, inadequate flexibility to innovate, and a lack of local tech support.
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
Since the discovery of major petroleum reserves in Senegal between 2014 and 2017, the country has been a strong advocate for positioning local content and capacity building as the key to unlocking industry growth. While Senegal does have existing local content requirements under its New Petroleum Code of 2019, the emerging petroleum player differentiates itself from other producers because it has the lead time to create local capacity in support of its oil and gas sector before it happens, rather than as an afterthought. In this sense, the country has placed a major focus on developing in-country financing capabilities necessary for training, up-skilling and engaging local companies and individuals.
President Macky Sall
A new local content law was set to be signed by President Macky Sall in the first quarter of 2020, yet COVID-19 has since delayed the implementation of the reform, and the country has turned its attention to its Economic and Social Resilience Program, which seeks to encourage public-private partnerships, lend macroeconomic and financial assistance and support private sector recovery. With first oil and gas set to flow in 2022, many local financial institutions have yet to put in place a strategy to leverage Senegal’s growing hydrocarbons market. To satisfy operators’ needs and international performance requirements, companies operating locally require funding to up-skill the indigenous labor force, yet very few local banks are able to provide viable terms and conditions, forcing local companies to find alternative financing methods. Improving access to funding for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will be critical to assuring local participation in the country’s emerging hydrocarbon sector and enabling them to compete for offshore service contracts.
“Financing economic opportunities for local content will help meet the goals and vision of the Local content policies advocated by President Macky Sall. The road to shared economic prosperity in the oil and gas industry and Senegal travels through two-way streets, where all are included, and none are left in the margins of the marketplace” says NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber.
The quantifiable gaps in opportunity and in access to capital for local companies should define the agenda of the oil and gas industry execution of the upcoming projects”. Concluded Ayuk
In an effort to increase financial inclusion, Senegal has taken advantage of its strong mobile penetration, in which over 32% of adults have a mobile money account. Meso-finance aims to serve as the missing link for financing in emerging African economies by targeting companies whose needs cannot be met by microfinance or commercial banks. Meso-finance is an attractive model for SMEs that struggle to invest in training and new equipment due to limited access to financial resources.
Several commercial banks – including Bank of Africa and Orabank – are currently implementing specific offers to target SME development across sectors, with the underlying goal of fuelling demand for petroleum-related services. Access to financing for SMEs is also being developed by the private sector and foreign partners.
Invest in Africa (IIA) is an organization of major operators Woodside Energy, BP, Cairn and Kosmos Energy, aimed at developing local content capacity across the energy value chain. IIA unites several partner banks and financial institutions in an effort to lower the risk associated with backing local ventures, thereby increasing their own access to affordable, well-equipped local service providers and suppliers. As the market moves forward and more local players are called in, synergies between the private financial sector and the government will be critical to achieving shared local content goals.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
The Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa (ASR Africa) initiative has announced the appointment of consummate International Development and M&E expert, Ubon Udoh, as its pioneer Managing Director/Chief Executive effective immediately. The ASR Africa Initiative, which is the brainchild of industrialist and Philanthropist, Abdul Samad Rabiu, was recently set up with an annual pledge of $100 million dedicated to Health, Education and Social Development issues within the African continent – with Nigeria to benefit $50million yearly and the rest of Africa, $50miilion dollars in what is the largest private philanthropic giving of its kind by an individual in Africa.
Abdul Samad Rabiu, Chairman of ASR Africa
Speaking on the appointment, Abdul Samad Rabiu, Chairman of ASR Africa, who is also the Founder/Chairman of the African conglomerate, BUA Group, said Mr Ubon’s appointment signaled the seriousness with which the initiative intends to carry out its mandate with a focus on systems, programme development and deployment, monitoring and evaluation as well as sustainability.
“We are pleased to have Ubon Udoh lead the team at the ASR Africa initiative which has been set up to help bridge the development gap in these key areas of health, education and social development within Africa. A well respected and proven expert in building systems and processes and managing donor funds and grants, with an exceptional record of tangible results and value for money.
“Ubon has added immense value to every institution he has been a part of, and we believe he is a perfect fit for the goals and aspirations of ASRi. He brings with him many years of experience as well as the expertise needed to drive the ASR Africa Mandate whilst also engendering sustainable partnerships for development across the African continent. ASR Africa is confident that he will bring these to bear in developing a sustainable programme for the initiative’s annual $100million Africa Fund for Social Research & Development.”
With over 20 years of international development and project management experience, Ubon Udoh has a strong Monitoring & Evaluation background, and an operational track record of programme coordination and results management of international donor funds and loans from Multilateral development banks.
Prior to joining the ASR Africa Initiative, he was the Head of Monitoring & Evaluation at the North East Development Commission – North East Recovery and Stability Programme which included responsibility for over 1 billion dollars in loans and grants (World Bank, AfDB, Islamic Development Bank) across various projects dedicated to the recovery of North East Nigerian states from the ravages of the Boko Haram Insurgency, and multilateral interventions with national coverage for COVID 19 response.
Over the course of his career, Mr Ubon has provided expertise and support in several capacities with multiple agencies like The World Bank (North East Nigeria Multisectoral Crisis Recovery Project), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), African Development Bank (Nigeria Inclusive Basic Services Development Programme), GIZ, UN Women Peace and Security Programme, Presidential Committee on the North East Initiative (PCNI), North East Development Commission, North East Recovery and Stability Programme (NERSP) and several state Governments in Nigeria.
Mr Ubon Udoh was responsible of the overall coordination of M&E of the World Bank supported Multi-Sectoral Crisis Recovery Project – NERSP at the Presidential Committee on North East Initiative – a role he joined from being an M&E consultant to the UN Women in Peace & Security Programme (WSP-UNSCR 1325).
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
As part of efforts aimed at deepening operations and expanding its digital banking services across the continent, Appzone, a Nigeria-based company that builds technology for banks, has raised $10m in a Series A round. The funding was led by CardinalStone, an investment banking firm in Nigeria. V8 Capital, Lateral Investment Partners, Constant Capital, and Itanna Capital Ventures also participated, the company said.
Founded in 2008 by Obi Emetarom who is also the CEO with the objective of building software solutions for banks, it took three years for them to launch their first product – a Digital Core Banking application for microfinance institutions. The company has grown in leaps over the last decade.
Obi Emetarom, CEO Appzone
In 2012, they launched a banking system to facilitate branchless banking for Diamond bank, a rare feat at the time. At this time, Appzone reported an Average Rate of Return (ARR) of 5% of total revenue (ARR is a useful metric for companies and their investors to assess how well a business is performing on the path to profitability).
Four years later, they began providing internet and mobile banking services to Providus bank, followed by a system to help Guaranty Trust Bank issue cards instantly to customers. The company’s ARR was at 76% by this time, receiving a Payment Solution Service Provider (PSSP) license from the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2018.
With this funding A, Appzone plans to build on the success and experience garnered so far to become a pan-African fintech. For CEO Emetarom, it is time for the company to emerge from stealth mode and take a place among the class of innovators defining fintech on the continent.
“We are now looking to hire from Africa’s top 1% to grow our team of elite talent who have proven themselves to be true African builders; the brightest senior software engineers and domain experts, doing the incredibly hard work of building the backbone and next generation infrastructure for digital financial services at a level beyond world-class,” Emetarom said in a statement.
Appzone’s mission, according to Emetarom, is “to make our financial sector the most innovative and technologically advanced on the globe through solutions built for Africa by Africans.”
That would mean gaining more ground in the African countries where it currently operates – Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Senegal and Guinea – and pushing into new territories.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
Laverie, Egypt’s first dry-cleaning and laundry app, has received an undisclosed six-figure (USD) funding from A15, one of Egypt’s biggest tech investors. With a new range of services, the groundbreaking dry-cleaning and laundry app hopes to extend its operations across the Greater Cairo region, and eventually the GCC.
“Partnering with A15 is a pivotal milestone for Laverie and we are thrilled to be a portfolio company of such a leading and impactful tech investor. We are excited to have access to A15’s team of experts who will help build capabilities across different functions through its venture development program as well as use its network and offices for future regional expansion,” Ayman Gaballah, Co-founder at Laverie said.
From L-R: Ayman Gaballah (Co-founder; former CEO); Hani William Salama (new CEO); Mohab Aloush (Co-founder)
Here Is What You Need To Know
The funds will be used to start a luxury laundry service in Greater Cairo, with hopes to extend to the Gulf Cooperation Council over the next two years.
Hani Salama, the new CEO of Laverie, who has been operating his family-owned laundry company for 30 years, has also joined the startup at this stage. In view of the team’s previous accomplishments and experience. Laverie’s goal is to disrupt and improve Egypt’s on-demand customer service level.
“I am very excited about joining Laverie, and having the opportunity to converge the 30 years of my family-owned laundry business experience into Laverie’s innovative digital model, along with the new services that will be added to our portfolio. We are looking forward to fine tuning a localized model capable of scaling in the Gulf countries with the support of our stakeholders soon,” Hani Salama, CEO at Laverie, has stated.
Laverie has handled over 60,000 products and acquired a customer base of over 4,000 registered customers, with a month over month increase of 25%, since it was created in 2018. This has piqued A15’s interest.
“We have noticed the work of the Laverie team, how they achieved early organic traction in the areas they operate in and the exceptional level of service they provide to their clients. The startup is a great addition to our portfolio given our previous experience in building and investing in tech-enabled consumer startups,” Karim Beshara, A15 General Partner, said.
A15 is an Amsterdam-based Middle East and Africa-focused venture capital company that invests in digital products and technology brands. The VC had, in October last year, made a six-figure investment in Cairo-based community-inspired startup, Milango. It also invested most recently in Egyptian fintech startup Paymob.
Founded in 2018 by Ayman Gaballah and Mohab Aloush, Laverie is a professional on-demand dry clean and laundry service with pick-up scheduling through the startup’s mobile app.
The smooth user experience and journey when using the app, the level of service, and after-sales customer care are what set Laverie apart from other players in the industry. For added ease, the company provides order monitoring and a variety of payment solutions.
Laverie intends to extend its activities in the Greater Cairo region to offer convenient access to luxury laundry facilities to a much broader variety of unserved clients, with the aim of extending to the Gulf over the next two years.
The founders of the startup have a combined 20 years of experience in software growth, corporate development, and digital transformation in both large corporations and small businesses.
“The revolution in digital services is touching upon all sectors, and I see a great potential & need in the laundry market in Egypt for transformation and makeover. With a capable team such as Laverie’s, we can expect to disrupt the industry,” said Sahar Salama, Laverie Board Member.
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
