| Nigeria | The Central Bank of Nigeria extends the deadline for phasing out old notes. The CBN has extended the deadline for replacing old N200, N500 and N1000 notes, to February 10. The extension was granted to give more Nigerians time to swap in their old notes. The Guardian |
| | EDITOR'S NOTE | This policy (in addition to the limits on cash withdrawal) is aimed at reducing the cash in circulation and driving the adoption of digital payments. In reality, the results have been unclear and reactions have been strong. In a country where 55% of the population has access to financial services, any disruption to cash distribution has a strong impact. There have been complaints of a scarcity of new banknotes at withdrawal points.
There are also timely questions being asked about the availability of digital touchpoints and the reliability of the underlying infrastructure. Driving digital payments with policy is a very complex and sensitive endeavour. Aggressive directives that require accelerated action need to consider the complexity of not just onboarding new customers but also ensuring that businesses have the tools and willingness to accept these digital payments. |
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| Nigeria | CBN launches AfriGo domestic card scheme. Nigeria's apex financial regulator has officially unveiled the AfriGo card scheme. The new card scheme which is being issued in partnership with NIBSS and the commercial banks will compete with Visa, Mastercard and Interswitch's Verve (another local card scheme). TechCabal |
| | EDITOR'S NOTE | In Issue 152 we wrote extensively about cost and currency as the underlying motivations behind the new card scheme. With increasing FX scarcity and CBN's renewed push for local digital payments, these factors are increasingly relevant.
Earlier questions around reliability and building a new card scheme versus supporting existing players are still there, and it’ll be interesting to see how these impact local card payments in the long run. |
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| Kenya | Kenya releases a framework for regulatory sandboxes. The Communications Authority of Kenya has released its draft framework for a proposed regulatory sandbox. The framework expands beyond just fintech and will allow startups and businesses involved in emerging technologies to test their innovations in a supervised environment. Bitcoin KE |
| | EDITOR'S NOTE | Here’s a link to the draft framework. Kenya has joined the list of African countries including Nigeria and Ghana, that have launched sandboxes. For further reading, the Decode Fintech team released an explainer and a roundtable discussion on regulatory sandboxes and what they mean for the fintech ecosystem. |
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| Nigeria | CBN grants Interswitch a Payments Service Holding Company (PSHC) license. In a busy week for the CBN, the apex regulator has granted Interswitch a PSHC license. With a PSHC license, Interswitch is allowed to create a holding company for separate financial services including mobile money, switching and processing, and payment processing. Business Day |
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| Africa | African fintech funding declined in 2022. According to a 2022 review of VC funding by Partech Partners, funding into African fintech was $1.9 billion, down 41% from the previous year. Despite this drop, fintech remained the most funded sector and was responsible for 39% of all investments in 2022. Partech |
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| Nigeria | Trade Lenda raises $520k in pre-seed funding. Trade Lenda, a Nigerian lending startup focused on SME supply chains, has raised $520k in pre-seed funding. Investors in this round included Sovereign Capital, ARM Labs, Expert Dojo, and a couple of angel investors in Nigeria. TechCabal |
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Share a tip | Do you have an announcement, event, or job posting you'd like to share, or have you come across an interesting bit of African fintech news recently? Hit reply and let me know! I might be able to include it in next week's newsletter. |
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