The Government of Ethiopia has launched an electronic platform that would enhance efficiency in trade logistics landscape of the country by speeding the customs process for importers and exporters within the country.
Dr. Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s prime minister
Here Is All You Need To Know
• Labelled, Ethiopia Electronic Single Window Service, the platform will reduce the 44 days hectic long paper work process for importers and exporters to 15 days. • Gradually, it is also expected to cut the 15 days to three working days.
“…we launched the Ethiopia Electronic Single Window Service – a key technology that will enhance cost effectiveness and efficiency in trade logistics landscape of Ethiopia,” Dr. Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s prime minister noted in a tweet, after attending the launching which held at the Office of the Prime Minister. • The online e-business / e-government services aim to streamline processes and save time. Embracing digital transformation offers better service rendering practices and higher customer satisfaction.
• Studies to launch the electronic platform had been on for the past five years, according to Adanech Abebe, Minister of Revenue, who indicated that the technology will play key role in facilitating and speeding the process for importers and exporters.
• Abebe noted that the new electronic platform will also make the customs procedure easily predictable and reachable.
• The new service would also cut the paper works, and l spare traders from wasting their times and days running from one office to another.
• Gradually the number of companies using the system would be increased. • South Korean companies have taken part in the development and deployment of the new electronic customs procedures processing platform.
• At the initial stage, 16 trading companies, both private and state-owned will use the new electronic customs procedures processing platform.
• Building data center and preparations of the procedures and regulations that govern the system are under way, according to Minister Adanech.
• It will be recalled that with the aim of facilitating the customs procedures deploying new technologies, the government has recently announced liberalization of logistics related businesses to foreign companies and investors.
• The government of Ethiopia has also invited foreign companies to buy share in the state monopoly, Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services Enterprise.
• This latest move is expected to improve the ease of doing business ranking of Ethiopia, which now ranks 159 out of 190 countries on the World Bank Index.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world
Kenya has long been an economic powerhouse in sub-Saharan Africa. With a vibrant private sector, generally reliable infrastructure, and strong labour force, Kenya is well-positioned to maintain its status as the region’s economic front-runner. The World Bank Group’s recently-published Country Private Sector Diagnostic (CPSD) for Kenya has pinpointed three promising areas for growth potential — provided government reforms continue to improve the business climate.
Moses Ikiara, managing director of the Kenya Investment Authority
The study found that although Kenya has the largest economy in eastern and central Africa, along with a diverse private sector, structural obstacles remain — and this constrains economic growth. These obstacles include some infrastructure deficiencies, skills shortages, supply chain issues, and overall weaknesses in the enabling environment. Underinvestment and low firm-level productivity also hamper the potential of the private sector, which accounts for 70% of total employment, 80% of gross domestic product (GDP), and most of the nation’s export earnings.
But that is balanced against Kenya’s progress creating a stronger business environment in the last several years. Kenya moved to 56th place out of 190 economies in the World Bank’s 2020 Doing Business survey, up from 61 in 2019 and 80 in 2018. It ranks third-highest among sub-Saharan African countries in the ease of doing business, trailing just Mauritius and Rwanda.
Moses Ikiara, managing director of the Kenya Investment Authority (KenInvest), is optimistic about Kenya’s prospects. “It is very encouraging that Kenya is improving its investment climate ranking in literally all indicators one could think of,” he said.
Kenya remains a costly place to do business, in large part because of political uncertainty, relatively low foreign direct investment, and corruption, according to the report. Reducing high barriers to entry and regulatory requirements will be necessary for improving competitiveness, especially in key sectors. Policies are also needed to reduce the gap between the formal and informal sectors, the report said.
The government’s long-term development plan, Vision 2030, aims to transform Kenya into a middle-income country by 2030. Some initiatives are already moving forward: Since 2008, the government has pushed economic growth and social development through political, structural, and economic reforms. In 2017, it launched the Big Four agenda focused on food security, affordable housing, manufacturing, and universal healthcare. Kenya is also well-positioned to benefit from participation in regional and global trade opportunities, such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Together, these initiatives can accelerate Kenya’s integration into the global economy.
There are other promising indicators of progress. During the first 10 months of 2019, the country attracted 54 projects totalling $2.9 billion in announced investments, according to fDi Markets, a Financial Times data service that tracks greenfield cross-border investment. This growth reflects a general rise across Africa in foreign direct investment that supports new projects.
The private sector diagnostic analysis explored investment opportunities in several sectors and pinpointed three with significant potential over the next three to five years: agribusiness, affordable housing, and manufacturing.
“These sectors are the key to the country’s economic development and employment,” said IFC’s country manager for Kenya, Manuel Moses. “Kenya needs jobs for about 900,000 people entering the market every year, and these sectors have the potential to create them.”
Here’s a closer look at the three sectors identified by the report:
Agribusiness, Kenya’s largest sector, generates over one-quarter of Kenya’s GDP and helps address food security, one of the Big Four priorities. Transforming the sector will require improvements in competitiveness through extension services, enhancing smallholder links to off-takers, and improvements to transportation infrastructure. International certifications (such as organic) and export promotion strategies will facilitate Kenya’s participation in global agricultural markets.
Peter Njonjo, co-founder and CEO of IFC investee Twiga Foods, sees retail fragmentation as the root problem leading to inefficiencies in the sector. “We need to transition farmers from rain-fed to irrigation-fed farming with mechanisation and provide them with structured access to the local domestic market,” Njonjo said in an interview. He also believes that technology can transform domestic farming by helping informal retailers aggregate their buying power and link to farmers. “It starts a virtuous cycle that improves the viability of the agribusiness sector and contributes to the strategic priority of food safety,” he said.
Population growth and urbanisation are driving demand for affordable housing, which is in short supply. Only 10% of potential homebuyers in Kenya can afford housing. Access to mortgage financing is limited and out of reach for most low- and middle-income households. The World Bank estimates a backlog of over 2 million units. Reforms that address the high cost of land, high taxes, permits and regulations, and limited access to construction and housing finance can make housing more accessible to middle- and lower-income households. Stimulating this sector could lead to high development impact by developing skills, creating jobs, and creating local markets — for example, through greater use of local construction materials.
The government has started an affordable housing programme with a goal of building 100,000 housing units in the next three years. “This is set to trigger a construction boom that will usher in jobs for the youth and (give) business opportunities for medium and small enterprises,” said Charles Hinga, principal secretary of Kenya’s State Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Manufacturing in Kenya is diverse, with several subsectors, such as pharmaceuticals, textiles, and apparel, enjoying rapid growth. Manufacturing currently accounts for nearly 10% of GDP and is a priority in the Big Four agenda. Although historically strong, Kenya’s manufacturing sector has grown slowly in recent years — neighbouring countries have been closing in on Kenya’s lead. The government has set ambitious targets to expand manufacturing to 15% of GDP by 2022. The World Bank Group analysis recommends improving markets for local goods and integrating Kenya as a regional player for more advanced manufactured products. Vocational training, supporting innovation and technology, financing for R&D, strengthening industrial infrastructure (such as special economic zones), and reducing barriers to entry and competition will strengthen Kenyan manufacturing, including state-owned enterprises.
Opportunities also exist in other key sectors, said Vinita Kotedia, macro-strategist at EFG-Hermes, an investment bank active in Kenya.
Kotedia noted that several key sectors — manufacturing, financial services, construction, and health services — recorded strong growth in 2018 and 2019, suggesting additional growth areas for future private sector investments.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world
For businesses in both Sierra Leone and Nigeria, it may soon become easy to bypass exchange rates and increase the quantity of goods or services they previously purchased from across both countries. This is a good move as more West African countries continue to peg the exchange rate of their currencies to the U.S. dollar. The Chairman, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Committee of Governors of Central Banks, Prof. Kelfala Kallon disclosed the currency swap plan between the two countries recently
Prof. Kelfala Kallon, governor of the bank of Sierra Leone
Here Is All You Need To Know
According to Kallon, who is presently the Governor, Bank of Sierra Leone the increasing dollarisation of West African economies and subsequent depreciation of national currencies in the region is worrisome.
Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), quotes Kallon as saying that Sierra Leone decided to go ahead with the swap policy with Nigeria as its leading economic partner.
However, Kallon noted that the policy is still under planning and consultations between the two are in progress.
He also noted that the Sierra Leonean financial sector is dominated by Nigerian banks and institutions, and as such the policy will benefit both countries by removing thedollar as a factor in their trade relations.
“We are engaged in deep discussions with my brother, Godwin Emefiele, and we are forming up the plan, and we will take the plan further,” Kallon said.
“Since Nigeria already has a currency swap arrangement with China, Sierra Leone will key into that arrangement. Sierra Leonean import from China can now be done with Naira; this is why we are really interested in the immediate swap deal between Nigeria and Freetown,”
How Does This Help Your Business?
A lot. With the proposed currency agreement, business men in both countries, for instance, may be able to obtain each other’s currency without passing through the official dollar exchange rate. What this means is that your transaction would not be affected by the fluctuating dollar exchange rate.
In clearer terms, Kallon disclosed how the proposed swap deal will work:
“For instance, a Sierra Leonean trader coming to Conakry would go into the parallel foreign exchange market in Sierra Leone to acquire dollars (at a premium, most times) to bring to Conakry to convert into Guinean francs (mostly at a discount) in order to purchase her wares.
“This transaction then increases the demand for dollars in Sierra Leone, and its supply in Guinea. The result would be a depreciation of the Leone against both the dollar and the Guinean franc, and the appreciation of the Guinean franc against both the Leone and the dollar. When the transaction is reversed (with a Guinean trader going to Freetown to purchase rice, for example), the fortunes of the Leone and Guinean franc would be reversed relative to each other and to the dollar.”
He continued:
“This artificially-induced depreciation of our currencies then creates an expectation of future depreciations, which promotes speculation-induced hoarding of dollars. Like negative shocks, this adversely impacts macroeconomic stability in the region.
“We can mitigate against these outcomes by holding each other’s currencies as reserves to facilitate intra-ECOWAS trade, under such arrangement, the Sierra Leonean trader coming to Conakry would now have access to Guinean francs before leaving Sierra Leone, thus obviating the need for her to buy dollars at a premium in Freetown.”
He said the Guinean counterpart will now have access to Leones before he leaves for Sierra Leone, stressing,
“Consequently, intra-ECOWAS trade would have no significant impact on the exchange rates of both the Leone and the Guinean franc relative to the dollar.”
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world
Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmad, has said that the Finance Bill might not be effective from January 1, 2020, if signed into law.
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmad
“I am not saying the Finance Bill will take effect from January 1, because I have seen in the media reports that from January 1, 2020, people without TIN (tax identification number) will not be allowed to operate their accounts with the banks. It does not work like that,’’ Ahmad said
Here Is All You Need To Know
According to the Finance Minister the government is expected to receive the 2019 Finance Bill from the National Assembly before the end of the week for President Muhammadu Buhari’s assent but actions will not be taken in January 2020.
“For the bill to come into effect, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) will have to engage the commercial banks and work out a modality on how the new law will be implemented.
“Normally, there will be information that will be given to citizens, a reminder on how bank customers can get their TIN, which is a simple issue of visiting the FIRS website and register to get their TIN.
“There will be some time to be given for that process to be activated before any decision to stop the use of any account is taken,” the minister was quoted in Premium Times report.
The 2019 Finance seeks to change Nigeria’s outdated corporate tax laws. The bill, if signed into law, is expected to address most of the challenges with Nigeria’s corporate tax laws, ease payments of taxes, and ultimately increase government revenues. It is also expected to widen the tax base and reduce tax evasion.
New development: While there are fears that the provisions of the Finance Bill will take effect from January 1, 2020, Ahmad said that wouldn’t be possible as there were guidelines that needed to be followed. According to her, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and commercial banks in Nigeria would have to first draft out plans on how the new law would be implemented.
Also, information will have to be passed to Nigerians first, reminding them of the procedure to follow in order to get their tax identification number, and time will be given for this process.
“We (government) are confident that within this week, the president will have the bill from the National Assembly. Normally he will ask various ministries to comment before he gives the final assent before the government starts the work from January 2020, ” Ahmad added.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world
The Green Climate Fund says it has made available nine billion dollars for some selected countries including Ghana to access money for climate change projects.
Ayirebi Frimpong, project coordinator, green climate fund
The Green Climate Fund, according to the UNDP, will help the Finance Ministry endorse contracts that only meet requirements set out to protect the environment.
Speaking to journalists after an engagement with some key stakeholders, the Project Coordinator of the Green Climate Fund Readiness with the UNDP, Ayirebi Frimpong, explained that Ghana is expected to present a national plan to access the funds.
He stated that the UNDP has been given the mandate to provide finance for developing countries to be able to address issues on climate change.
“What we are doing is that, every year projects that are submitted have to be aligned with the priorities of the countries. So we have realized that sometimes we get projects that may not be aligned with the national priorities.”
Due to this, Mr. Frimpong stated that all countries that wish to participate must develop a country programme that will meet a requirement.
“This basically means that every country is going to tell the GCF their plans in terms of the projects that they want to get money for the next four years because the GCF has got money about 9 billion dollars.”
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was established in 2010 as an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), designed to disburse 9 billion dollars per year of new and additional resources by 2020 for addressing climate change.
Access to Fund resources will be through national, regional and international implementing entities accredited by the Board.
Direct access by national public and private entities has been a key feature of the Fund in line with a GCF’s commitment to country ownership.
The Government of Ghana nominated the Real Sector Division of the Ministry of Finance to be the National Designated Authority (NDA) to liaise with the GCF.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) Readiness Programme, a joint partnership between UNDP, UNEP, and World Resource Institute (WRI), is a global programme to support countries for enhanced access to international climate finance.
The Programme in Ghana was launched in June 2015, and seeks to support the Government of Ghana in strengthening national capacities to effectively and efficiently plan for, access, manage, deploy and monitor climate financing in particular through the GCF.
The project has targeted two important aspects of the GCF approach which include access to funds and private sector engagement, both of which will require significant preparatory work in many countries before GCF financing will be possible at scale.
The GCF Readiness Programme has focused on a range of preparatory activities to build and strengthen the institutional capacity of national entities in Ghana, with a focus on enabling direct access.
It is also targeted at helping Ghana prepare climate change mitigation and adaptation investment strategies, programmes and projects, including through the active involvement of both the public and private sectors
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world
John Quincy Adams once said “there are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.” He may have very well been referring to Nigeria of the last three years.
Barely two weeks ago, I warned during my Founder’s Day lecture at the American University of Nigeria, Yola, that Nigeria had taken almost as much foreign debt in the last three years, as she had taken in the thirty years before 2015 combined. Now that is frightening. And very true.
Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President of Nigeria.
Frightening, not just because of the amount, but because after such unprecedented borrowing, we have emerged as the world headquarters for extreme poverty and the global capital for out of school children. It begs the question: what were the funds used for?
I have said it time and again. The business of government is too serious to be left in the hands of politicians. We must all ask questions because if they throw away the future, it is not going to be their future they are throwing away, it will be all our futures.
The fact that Nigeria currently budgets more money for debt servicing (₦2.7 trillion), than we do on capital expenditure (₦2.4 trillion) is already an indicator that we have borrowed more money than we can afford to borrow. And the thing is that debt servicing is not debt repayment. Debt servicing just means that we are paying the barest minimum allowable by our creditors.
And while spending 50% of our current revenue on debt servicing, this administration wants to take further loans of $29.6 billion! To say that this is irresponsible is itself an understatement.
As a businessman, one of the very first things I learnt is that you do not take loans except you are expanding your business. Even as an individual, when your income cannot fund your lifestyle, you are challenged to grow your income, not your borrowings.
Even if this administration borrows $1 trillion, it will never be enough because their challenge is one of capacity. They are not using the funds they already have wisely. They do not need more debt. They need more intellectual capacity.
The money the Muhammadu Buhari administration wants to borrow to fund its Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) could be acquired without sinking the nation into further debt. All it requires is visionary leadership and business acumen.
In my economic blueprint, I said that rather than turn in regular losses (which it has consistently been doing), the best thing to do with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is to reform it. Of course, the administration’s paid propagandists went into overdrive, accusing me of planning to sell the NNPC to my friends. But just last week, Saudi Arabia’s ARAMCO, the most profitable company in the world, took that route and almost broke the global stock market with the most successful initial IPOs in world history, bar none. Ironically, Saudi Aramco raised $29.4 billion via this IPO. Just the amount this administration wants to borrow.
That could have been Nigeria’s story, but for our failure of leadership. By reforming the NNPC, Nigeria can raise the $29.6 billion the Buhari regime wants to borrow, and we will raise the money without going into debt.
If we had taken that route, not only would we have attracted Foreign Direct Investment into Nigeria, but even better than investment, we would have attracted confidence in our economy, because it would have shown that we have a thinking leadership.
Take the example of the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas company. This is a joint venture between the Nigeria government and the private sector. Yet, while the NLNG declares very handsome profits, in billions of dollars every year, the NNPC declares loses! This is proof that the NLNG model works, and the NNPC model does not.
Moody’s, the world’s preeminent rating agency, has just downgraded Nigeria. Ghana, a nation with only 15% of our population, now attracts more Foreign Direct Investment than Nigeria, and Rwanda, a country with less than 15% of our mineral endowment, has an economy that is growing at twice the rate of our economy. The problem is not revenue. The challenge is not Nigerians. The issue is leadership.
While there is scant information in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework for what the loan would be used for, I could not help but read a communication from the Presidency to the effect that one of such projects would be the digitalisation of the Nigerian Television Authority and other similar projects.
Spending revenue on such projects would be foolish, but spending loans in such a manner is nothing short of foolhardy. The Nigerian government does not have a good record of running businesses, and a public television network is unlikely to yield the type of income that would justify taking out loans to digitalise it. Besides, is that a priority, when we have 12 million children out of school? Like I said, capacity, not revenue, is the problem.
And in proof of this, I offer the example of how this administration took delivery of $322 million Abacha loot in 2018 and claimed it shared it out to poor Nigerians, only to obtain a $328 million loan from China, allegedly for ICT development the very next month. How do you share out $322 million and then borrow $328 million? Who does that? At the risk of repeating myself, it is clear that no amount of money, whether from revenue or borrowings, will be enough for an administration that lacks capacity.
So, what must Nigeria do now? Rather than profligate borrowing, what Nigeria needs to do is restore investor confidence in our economy. Key to that is respecting the independence of key institutions, such as the Judiciary and the Central Bank of Nigeria. Both of these institutions are now the captives of Buhari and his cabal, and though they are loathe to admit it, they cannot take one step without watching their backs.
Why are foreign investors leaving Nigeria for Ghana? The answer is that Ghana, unlike Nigeria, has learnt how to divorce key institutions from politics. The Ghanaian central bank enjoys a degree of independence that our own CBN can only dream of under the prevailing atmosphere. You will not hear Ghana’s leaders give flippant interviews overseas about their plans for the cedi, as Buhari has done in Europe about the Naira. It rang alarm bells because it is not the job of the executive to interfere in the role of the reserve bank.
Neither will you find Ghana’s leaders blatantly intimidating the judiciary by obviously setting up judges and invading courtrooms. Why would any investor come to Nigeria under such prevailing circumstances? Their thought would be that if they had industrial disputes, our courts, under this administration, could not be counted on to deliver impartial justice.
I was part of a team that paid off Nigeria’s entire foreign debt. I, therefore, cannot sit and watch an administration without vision squander our children’s future by taking and wasting loans that they do not even have the capacity to utilise properly.
Thank God for leaked memos that have exposed the lies this regime has told Nigerians about unprecedented revenues in the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. Now, we know that Nigeria is not poor because she is not making enough money. The truth is that Nigeria is poor because she is not making the right leadership decisions.
Thomas Jefferson said, “to preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.” Dear citizens of our beloved nation, this is a call to heed. President Olusegun Obasanjo and I paid off this nation’s debt, and I will not stand idly by and watch while Nigeria is plunged into second slavery by those who only know how to reap where they have not sown.
Our youth must have something better to inherit from us than unsustainable debt fuelled by insatiable greed. That is why I call on the Senate of the National Assembly to show loyalty to Nigeria and reconsider its decision with regards to approving Buhari’s $29.6 billion loan request.
We need to pay heed to Benjamin Franklin’s advise that “he that goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing”. I call on Nigeria’s youth to identify the Senator representing their senatorial zones and write to them, urging them to vote against this request. Do this, because it is you and your children that will pay back these loans that would be squandered by this ravenous cabal who do not have the word enough in their vocabulary.
Atiku Abubakar is a former Vice President of Nigeria.
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
Good news for Chipper Cash, the Africa-focused fintech startup that offers mobile-based, no fee, P2P payment services in six countries: Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Kenya. The startup has raised a $6 million seed-round led by Deciens Capital.
“Southern Africa is an area we’re looking to expand to in 2020,” said CEO Ham Serunjogi.
Here Is The Deal
This round of financing was led by Deciens Capital whose co-Founder Dan Kimerling confirmed the fund’s lead on the latest round and that he will continue his role on Chipper Cash’s board. Other participants in the $6 million financing include previous investors, and a few new backers, such as Boston based Raptor Group.
Chipper Cash plans to use the fund to move to Southern Africa — home to the continent’s second-largest and most advanced economy of South Africa.
It also plans to use the capital to grow its team and move into new geographic areas
This will place it in all three corners of the Africa’s triangle of leading digital finance markets.
In September 2019, Chipper Cash expanded into what is now arguably Africa’s largest fintech market, Nigeria.
With its latest round, the startup has raised over $8 million in seed capital.
The digital finance startup’s had a busy 12 months in an eventful year overall for Africa’s fintech scene.
After going live in 2018, Chipper Cash raised $2.4 million in May 2019 in a seed round that included support from 500 Startups and Liquid 2 Ventures — co-founded by American football icon Joe Montana.
A Look What The Startup Does
Chipper Cash is a platform that allows you to send and receive any amount of money across the East African region for free.
“We do not charge any fees at all and there is no minimum amount so you can send any amount,” says Chipper Cash.
The fintech company, co-founded by Ghanaian Maijid Moujaled, now has more than 600,000 active users and has processed over 3 million transactions on its no-fee, P2P, cross-border mobile-money payments product, according to Serunjogi.
The startup also runs Chipper Checkout: a merchant-focused, fee-based C2B mobile payment product that generates the revenue to support Chipper Cash’s free mobile-money business.
There are hundreds of payments startups across Africa looking to bring the continent’s large unbanked and underbanked populations onto mobile finance applications.
Recently, Chinese investors poured about $220 million into OPay and PalmPay — two fledgling payment startups with plans to scale in Nigeria and the broader continent. That money dwarfs rounds raised by other fintech companies, such as Chipper Cash.
On how the startup will compete in this crowded ecosystem, Serunjogi points to Chipper Cash’s gratis-payment structure, among other factors.
“Money doesn’t buy product market fit. It doesn’t buy ultimate success in this space,” he said.
“By offering our product for free, we’re not in a pricing war or competing on a dollar-to-dollar basis. We’re in a pure utility war on who can provide the most value to our users. We’re quite comfortable with our position, and our long-term value proposition will speak for itself over time,” Serunjogi added.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world
Barring any last minute changes, the Zambian government will start taxing internet services from January 2020. The move could effectively see internet services such as Netflix, WhatsApp and others taxed. According to Zambia’s VAT Amendment Bill 2019 which was issued on 20th November 2019, taxing of internet services companies will come into operational January 2020.
Here Is All You Need To Know
Under the new tax regime, companies offering internet services in Zambia but domiciled out of the country will be expected to appoint a tax agent to handle all tax matters in the country.
The Bill defines “Electronic Commerce” as the buying, selling and advertising or marketing of goods and services using the internet, mobile telecommunication networks and other electronic commerce infrastructure.
“A taxable supplier shall issue a tax invoice for the supply of goods and services using an electronic fiscal device. A taxable supplier who fails to issue a tax invoice commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a penalty not exceeding 300 penalty units or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to both,” the Bill says.
In the Bill, “Electronic Service” is defined as a service capable of delivery of data across multiple electronic platforms.
The Bill says the Supplier who does not have a registered office or Permanent address in Zambia shall appoint a tax agent resident in the Republic to act on behalf of the Supplier in tax matters.
“For the purposes of this Section, “Supply of Services” includes the supply of a service that is made by a supplier who is resident in Zambia or carries on a business outside the Republic to a recipient who is resident in Zambia.”
GDP Zambia
Comments:
With an estimated number of 7.1 million people connected to the internet in Zambia, out of its population of 15 million, Zambia, for the first time, is showing other African countries that global internet giants such as Netflix that makes money off Zambians could be taxed. Extending the tentacles of taxation across the barriers of geography could be a deal breaker for the nascent internet industry in Africa. However, it could be argued that companies with physical presence are already paying so much taxation. With Zambia’s tax to gdp ratio ( last reported in 2013) standing at 20.3 %, it makes sense that the Southern African country, rich in copper and other mineral resources, is turning to the 14.3 percent of its population who access the internet.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world
Egypt has been experiencing a rise in startup investments in the last few years, driven by Egypt Vision 2030 which aims to boost private investments into small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The most populous Arab nation hosts 128 active startups and 34 inactive startups that stopped operations between 2013 and 2018, according to the fourth edition of “State of Digital Investments in MENA 2013–2018” report developed by Arabnet in partnership with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for SME Development (Dubai SME).
Over the period between 2013 and 2018, the number of investment deals totalled 214.
Despite a drop in the number of deals from 2017 to 2018, the value of deals hiked to $66 million in 2018 from $16 million a year earlier on the back of several significant investments, including Swvl at $30 million and Vezeeta at $12 million.
Moreover, initiatives such as the World Bank’s $200 million investment project which targets SMEs as well as huge investments into Egyptian startups are expected to promote the overall ecosystem in Egypt.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world
From series of funding raised this year, it is safe to say that any Egyptian startup, whatever the sector it operates in, has more chances of raising funds from investors than any other startups anywhere else in Africa. Raseedi, the Cairo-based startup has become the latest to join the train. The startup which helps dual SIM users (in Egypt) optimize their telecom spend through its mobile app, has raised $400,000 in a seed funding round.
“We’re expanding and increasing our engineering and commercial teams to develop the “The O-Wallet” or optimization wallet. Within a couple of months, users will be able to recharge and save up to 30% of their credit spend by recharging directly through Raseedi credit. Raseedi will automatically allocate users’ spend among both SIM cards and activate the bundles instantly,” Samuel Samy, Raseedi’s co-founder and COO said.
Here Is The Deal
This round of funding was led by 500 Startups with participation from Falak Startups and EFG-EV Fintech, the startup announced in a statement.
The startup will use the latest investment to fully automate the experience it offers by allowing users to recharge Raseedi credit instead of recharging two separate SIM cards.
“By allowing users to directly recharge Raseedi credit instead of recharging two separate SIM cards, Raseedi will tap into the 100 million EGP daily recharges market.”
The startup, in a statement, said that its app is addressing the pain-point that affects a large part of population Egyptians who are dual SIM users.
The cost of a cross-operator minute is up to five more expensive than a minute used on the same network which is why such a large number of Egyptians have resorted to simultaneously use two SIM cards to optimize their spend, Raseedi’s statement explained.
“But with over 500 different packages being offered in the market by telecom operators, it is extremely difficult to subscribe to the most suitable packages for both lines/SIMs,” it added.
Raseedi helps therefore with its dialer app that has been downloaded over 200,000 times since its launch ten months ago.
Raseedi doesn’t have any immediate expansion plans but is eyeing some markets in Asia and Africa for expansion:
“Duality is huge in many parts of Africa and Asia, with Nigeria and Malaysia exceeding duality percentage of the Egyptian Market. Since we’re a completely digital experience with hardly any on-ground operations, scaling to other markets will be a mere language and market dynamic adaption,” said Ahmed.
On Why The Investors Invested
According to Sharif El-Badawi, Managing Partner at 500 Startups MENA:
“We are pleased to support Ahmed and Samuel as they establish and grow Raseedi. Since the launch in January 2019, Raseedi has reached more than 200k downloads, which portrays the need for spend optimization and saving. As lead investors, we are confident that their niche product and the competencies of the team will position Raseedi as a leading player in the telecom and payments industry.”
For the CEO EFGEV Fintech Mahmoud El-Zohairy:
“Having closely monitored Raseedi’s growth since they first joined Falak Startups, it was an easy investment decision; a great team with clear vision and intent with a unique product that serves the masses. We are really delighted to be part of their growth journey. This is only the beginning for Raseedi and we look forward to the continuation of our very promising cooperation and synergies on various fronts.”
For Farah Ehsan — Head of Programs & Marketing EFGEV Fintech:
“It’s rare for a startup to provide genuine value to the entire ecosystem in which it operates, with Raseedi quickly becoming an irreplaceable service for millions of Egyptians. Raseedi has ambitions to become the regional leader in optimization services, and we are delighted to be on board to help them achieve this goal.”
A Look At What Raseedi Does
Founded last year by Ahmed Atalla and Samuel Samy, Raseedi developed a phone dialer app for dual SIM users on Android that uses a smart algorithm to cross-match user consumption with most suitable packages on both lines and automate calls from the cheapest SIM for each call.
In simple words, with Raseedi installed, any dual SIM user will be able to make the cheapest possible calls (from the options that are available), without having to think and choose the options.
According to Ahmed Atalla, co-founder and CEO of Raseedi, the startup is currently integrating with they key cash collection aggregators to prepare for launch of Raseedi Credit as they aim to offer users a normal recharge experience by adding Raseedi as the fifth recharge option after four operators on POS at every KIOSK and top-up outlet.
Raseedi eventually also wants to expand its offering to food (apparently deliveries), utilities and ride-hailing with its ‘Optimization Wallet’. Raseedi’s initial success (at least in terms of number of downloads) suggests that users in Egypt are looking for such solutions.
Ahmed did not share a timeline but said:
“We want to first perfect the telecom experience and solidify user trust before getting into other sectors. If the user relies on Raseedi for measuring, comparing, paying and saving for telecom, unlocking other categories and shifting to a complete Optimization Wallet that manages all their finances will be a natural evolution to our product.”
The Cairo-based startup currently makes money by charging the users a small portion of their savings and a small cut on every top-up from aggregators.
Commenting on Raseedi’s launch and early success, Ahmed, explained,
“40 million Egyptians are walking around with two SIM cards to optimize telecom spend. We decided to offer them a higher level of optimization that can save them up to 30 percent of their monthly spend with our smart algorithm suggestions. In the first week, we clocked 5,000 downloads with minimal marketing spend and that’s when we knew the market is in need for an optimization app. We shortly left our jobs, joined Falak Startups accelerator and everything flew from there. We’re now on a new mission to optimize spend beyond telecom.”
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world
