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Summary of the news

• M-KOPA has secured $250 million in new funding
• Gricd has raised $1.5 million in a seed funding round
• Airtel Africa has reported a 5% drop in its profit
• CBN has launched SabiMONI

Ecosystem

• Gricd has raised $1.5 million in a seed funding round to support its expansion across Africa and the delivery of new solutions that it says will make it easier to insure perishable goods on the continent. The company has also rebranded as Figorr. "At a time where the price of everything seems to be rising and the global economy is experiencing significant challenges, unnecessary wastage should not be compounding these issues," CEO Oghenetega Iortim said. (Technext)
• Airtel Africa has reported a 5% drop in its profit for the first quarter of 2023, citing challenging operating environments and worries about currency devaluation as causes. Airtel made $750m in profits, compared to $755m from last year with revenue at $5.25m from $4.71m last year. (TechCabal)
• Africa-focused private equity firm, Infinite Partners, has led the acquisition of e4, a software company, at a $52 million valuation. (Technext)
• Alain Nteff, the CEO of Healthlane the Cameroonian startup that allegedly ceased operations after it failed to make salaries and pay vendors last year, is reportedly raising funds for a new startup. Nteff has denied the claim, saying the company’s business model is changing. This comes after the company raised over $5.1 million. (Techpoint Africa)
• M-KOPA has secured $250 million in new funding, including $55 million in equity and over $200 million in debt, as part of its new focus which will include financing electric motorcycles. "We’re very excited about electric mobility and we’re sure that in the next couple of decades, there will be a big switch in ownership where electric motorbikes will scale when there’s financing to go with them,” CEO Jesse Moore said. (TechCrunch)

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Policy

• SEC has said that the safety of investors and their investments in the capital market is one of its cardinal objectives in rolling out its Regulatory Incubation Programme for Fintechs. "The principal plan is to provide an avenue of new solutions without compromising on investor protection which is our key objective," Director, Registration, Exchanges, Market Infrastructure, and Innovation, Abdulkadir Abbas said. (Nairametrics)
• The Central Bank of Nigeria has launched SabiMONI, an e-Learning platform that it says would help provide individuals with the opportunity to be trained and to become Certified Financial Literacy Trainers through self-service. "We must take deliberate steps to upscale financial capability through financial education programmes. The shortage of skilled and experienced persons to drive financial education remains a major hindrance," Godwin I. Emefiele said. (Tribune Nigeria)

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Social Tech

• The Secretary-General of the Amalgamated Union of App-based Transport Workers of Nigeria, Ayoade Ibrahim has accused Bolt and Uber of sponsoring internal elements to hijack the union. “I haven’t seen anywhere where employees would set up a union for employers to manage for them. But that is what Uber and Bolt practice globally. They always try to impose their rules over any country’s teams of engagement,” Ibrahim said. (Technext)

Global News

• Microsoft Corp has gained EU antitrust approval for its $69 billion acquisition of Activision. It now has until May 24 to appeal a decision by Britain's Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) to block the deal. (Reuters)
• Yintao Yu, the former head of engineering for ByteDance’s U.S, TikTok's parent company has accused the technology giant of a “culture of lawlessness,” including stealing content from rival platforms Snapchat and Instagram in its early years, and called the company a “useful propaganda tool for the Chinese Communist Party.” Yu macde tghe allegations as part of a wrongful dismissal suit filed last week. (New York Times)

Latest in funding

• M-KOPA snaps up $250M+ debt, equity for its asset financing platform
• Gricd rebrands as ‘Figorr’, raises $1.5m seed fund to support data-driven insurance for perishable goods

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