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MTN’s Q1 results show fintech progress MTN Nigeria recently released its financial report for the first quarter of 2021, and there’s a lot to unpack from the results. Policies have consequences: When the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said in December 2020 that it was suspending new SIM card registrations, it seemed like everyone, but the regulator could see the second-order effects. MTN’s Q1 results show one of those effects as the telco’s mobile subscribers declined by 5 mil...

Tunisian fintech startup Expensya raises $20m Twitter spaces now available to users with 600+ followers Designing and building sustainable commercial spaces in Nigeria As workplaces continue to re-open, many organisations are adopting the hybrid work model – a new working style that combines work remotely and from the office.  The hybrid work model is perfect for most businesses, especially those with heavy dependence on their operations and customer service teams. Kobo360 is an example of...

Good morning ☀️ ️ For the first quarter of 2021, Amazon posted revenues of $108.5 billion. Thats a revenue increase of 44% from the same period last year. In todays edition: Nigerias selling its power generating plants BitPesa’s parent firm raises $50m TC Insights Africa’s last untapped telecoms market In November 2020, the Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA) officially opened the gates to bids from telecoms companies looking to snag two licences Ethiopia is offering. Ethiop...

Opera’s unaudited Q1 report The Norwegian web company Opera has released its unaudited report for the first quarter of 2021. In Africa, Opera is most famous for its browser’s data-saving feature. But the company also owns a news platform called Opera News hub, with an app on Android and iOS. The app reportedly has over 300 million users, with many users doubling as paid news creators. It means that Opera has multiple revenue streams, and in Q1, all those streams saw huge improvements. Hi...

Good morning ☀️ ️ Looks like Netflix’s investment in Africa is paying off with the South African documentary My Octopus Teacher winning an Oscar at the 2021 Academy Awards and British Academy Film Awards earlier this year. In todays edition: Center Stage YC-backed Kidato raises $1.4m seed round The Two fintech companies sponsoring Africa’s biggest reality show Yesterday, Africa’s biggest reality show Big Brother Nigeria announced its two main sponsors: Abeg App and Pa...

Good morning ☀️ ️ In SA, a national strike is on the horizon after negotiations between the government and public sector unions on salary increases deadlocked. In todays edition: Nigerias communications minister TC Insights Airtel takes $500 million loan to refinance obligations “One of Airtel’s goals in the last two years has been to reduce its debts... But there’s also the fact that it is preparing for bond repayments. The company has a repayment of $890 million due in May as ...

Nigerians haven’t given up on Bitcoin Bringing more African music to movies and Tv “I’m one of those people who social media really helped to figure out what they wanted to do with their life.” After Excel told his father he would not be joining the military, he had to figure out what he would do to earn a living. While he waited to make a decision, he continued to do the thing he loved on social media – talk about movies, music and culture. Twitter was where he would begin to build a...

Nigerias SIM card fiasco takes a turn In the past month, I have reported on the decision of Nigeria’s Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy to suspend the sale and registration of new SIM cards. It was a decision that cost people and multinational companies money. Despite the brilliant analysis by several publications, the minister, Dr Isa Pantami, held firm and insisted the decision was for the good of national security. On Friday, he backed down from that position, with the minis...

SEC’S new rules will affect investment-tech platforms Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has made new rules which will affect Nigeria’s investment-tech platform. In the last couple of years, platforms that allow Nigerians to buy stocks on stock exchanges in America have become popular. They partner with companies like Drivewealth, a cloud-based, API-driven brokerage infrastructure that handles the trading on their behalf. Yet, in December 2020, there was some sign of regu...

Good morning ☀️ ️ “qwerty”, “password”, "123456" were some of the most popular passwords used in 2020 and 2019. How secure is your password? In todays edition: One of South Africas oldest cryptocurrency exchanges shuts down Facebooks data breach, over 500m users involved A briefing on Africas music streaming industry Gokada’s new CEO on expansion and the company’s future Last month Gokada announced Nikhil Goel as its new CEO. He’s been respo...