Author: Akin Naphtal

The National Information Technology Development Agency’s  (NITDA) Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team has warned ministries, departments, and agencies of rising cyberattacks in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This warning was made in a press statement distributed by NITDA’s spokesperson, Hadiza Umar. It read in part, “Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, cyberattacks on businesses and government organizations have grown, with the possibility of spillover cyberattacks against non-primary targets becoming far more frequent. There is a greater danger for countries doing business in or with these countries’ governments, as well as businesses or countries that apply sanctions or are believed…

Azentio Software, a Singapore-headquartered technology firm owned by funds advised by Apax Partners, announced today that BigPay, a Ghana-based global digital payment solutions company, has gone live with AmlockTM, Azentio’s Financial Crime Detection and Management Solution (FCDMS). AmlockTM will meet BigPay’s requirements for an effective transaction monitoring process, through an online workflow system. A unique feature of this workflow is the ability of the system to group or link together accounts belonging to a customer and investigate all transactions and the underlying alerts under a single case ID. The business challenges for BigPay arose on account of the different formats…

Halo Financial Services Limited, a fintech start-up that offers banking, investment, lending, and other financial services to formal and informal communities, has launched an innovative approach to help Nigerians manage and grow their money. Halo Financial Services Limited, a fintech start-up that offers banking, investment, lending, and other financial services to formal and informal communities, has launched an innovative approach to help Nigerians manage and grow their money. Speaking at a media round table the Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, Chidimma Onyeokoro, disclosed that Halo enables communities to provide financial services to their members. Halo defines a community as any…

Nigerian fintech startup Bridgecard has raised a US$440,000 pre-seed funding round to expand its user base and build out its platform. Co-founded by Owumi Festus and Tunde Adewole, Bridgecard merges a user’s cards, bank accounts and fintech wallets into one card and an app, allowing users to perform online transactions, pay bills, and withdraw from any linked account. After a private beta where Bridgecard launched to 120 users and processed over US$70,000 transaction volume within two months, the startup recently launched publicly. It has now raised US$440,000 in pre-seed funding with the participation of the likes of ABV Fund, Ingressive…

Renewal of vehicle particulars, roadworthiness certificates and other vehicle existing documents can now be done with the launch of a platform called ‘Plate Detect’, which is expected to address vehicle documentation in Lagos and Nasarawa States. The ‘Plate Detect’, an innovation of Soft Alliance, is said to create convenience for getting vehicle particulars, and avoiding paying fines as well as getting embarrassed by policemen and various agencies when a car owner is found with incomplete particulars. This can now be seamlessly done with the aid of technology. Speaking on the initiative, product specialist, Saidat Adebule, said the platform was brought…

Safaricom has announced an increase in service revenue of Kshs 281.1-billion, a 12.3% increase from last year’s figure of Kshs 250.4-billion. According to its full financial year for the period 2021/2022 M-Pesa registered a 30.3% year-on-year growth to record Kshs 107.7-billion in revenue, accounting for 38.3% of the service revenue The company has advanced on its strategy is to ensure M-Pesa is accessible to its 30 million customers with the M-Pesa super app registering over 5 million downloads. Over 3 million businesses are also using M-Pesa payment channels in an addressable market of between five and six million merchants. Safaricom…

OPay Egypt, the leading fintech and electronic payments company, has announced the opening of its first “OPay” store in Egypt in the Downtown area in the 5th Settlement, to offer all the company’s services and products for individuals and corporates. The move comes as part of OPay’s expansion plan in the Egyptian market and capitalizes on the success the company has achieved last year through distributing tens of thousands of Points – of – Sale (POS) and increasing its vendors and retailers, becoming the fastest-growing company in the fintech and e-payments market, just one year after its launch in Egypt.…

OPay Egypt, the leading fintech and electronic payments company, has announced that the Central Bank of Egypt has granted it the initial approval to issue prepaid cards through its OPay app. The prepaid cards will be issued with cooperation with the Egyptian Cards Company, the largest card distributer in the local and regional market. OPay Egypt, aims with this new step to provide all electronic payments solutions in the local market. The prepaid cards will allow customers to deposit money in the cards, thereafter use it in cash withdrawals and purchases without having to open a bank account. These cards…

Kenyan startup TopUp Mama, which provides African restaurants with access to supplies, financial services and business management tools, has closed a US$1.7 million seed funding round to accelerate its growth. Founded by Njavwa Mutambo, Emilie Blauwhoff and Andrew Kibe in 2021, TopUp Mama is a one-stop-shop for restaurants in Kenya and Nigeria that provides them with all the necessary supplies, short-term credit and tools needed to manage their businesses. Since raising its pre-seed round 10 months ago, the company has grown by over 1,000 per cent, signed up over 3,000 restaurants, and expanded into Nigeria. It has now closed a…

Nigerian clean-tech plastic waste recycling company Kaltani has raised US$4 million in seed funding to expand its recycling operations across the country. Founded in Nigeria by Engineer Obi Charles Nnanna, Kaltani aims to solve Africa’s growing plastic waste crisis by promoting the circular economy and recycling best practices. The startup has a team of 100 spread across its collection centres, recycling factory and offices, responsible for collecting bottles and other plastic waste which is transported to its collection centres for aggregation and processing, and eventually taken to its recycling factory. At the factory, plastics are then converted into hot washed…