In 2023, Moniepoint handled over 5 billion transactions 📈 | Bolt same-day delivery service in South Africa 📦

In today’s menu 🥘

📈 In 2023, Moniepoint handled over 5 billion transactions
❎ PalmPay will block customers who do not reconfirm their NIN or BVN by January 31, 2024
🚶🏻‍♂️Tosin Osinbodu, founder of Chaka, departs from the company following its merger with Rise
📦 Bolt introduces same-day parcel delivery service in South Africa

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📈 BUSINESS

In 2023, Moniepoint handled over 5 billion transactions

For the year 2023, Nigerian fintech firm, Moniepoint, processed over 5 billion transactions. In the same year, there was a significant increase in the number of businesses utilizing the company’s Point-of-Sale (PoS) terminals.

While the company did not disclose specific numbers for its personal banking product introduced in August 2023, the number of new accounts opened monthly surged by sevenfold. Interestingly, Moniepoint processed transactions worth more than $150 billion, a substantial rise from the $100 billion processed in the previous year...….continue reading

PalmPay will block customers who do not reconfirm their NIN or BVN by January 31, 2024

Customers of PalmPay, who have previously confirmed their bank verification number (BVN) or national identity number (NIN) but fail to reverify it by January 31, 2024, will be blocked by the fintech company. Additionally, user accounts will be frozen if they don’t validate their BVN or NIN by March 31, 2024.

This move aligns with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) directive that accounts not associated with a BVN or NIN by April 2024 will be suspended due to reported incidents of fraud and identity theft…..continue reading

👨🏽 PEOPLE

Takealot appoints Frederik Zietsman as new CEO

Frederik Zietsman has been named the new group chief executive officer of online retailer Takealot. Additionally, the company announced that their former CEO, Mamongae Mahlare, who was appointed as CEO in October 2021, has now been appointed as executive chairperson of the Takealot Group.

Zietsman will assume his new role, expanding on his current position as the chief executive of Takealot.com. These leadership changes have been implemented at a time when the South African e-commerce sector prepares for an increase in competition, especially with the forthcoming entry of U.S.-based giant, Amazon..….continue reading

Tosin Osinbodu, founder of Chaka, departs from the company following its merger with Rise

Tosin Osinbodu, the founder of Nigerian startup, Chaka, has exited the company five months following its acquisition by Rise. Chaka allows retail investors to purchase shares from the NYSE and other foreign stock exchanges.

As per his LinkedIn profile, Osinbodu has moved on to join Alpaca, a company that develops Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for trading stocks and cryptocurrencies.

The recently merged companies are now solely helmed by the founder of Rise, Eke Urum. In a LinkedIn post, Osinbodu expressed his excitement about the future roadmap of both entities under Urum’s leadership…..continue reading

OTHER STORIES

• EXCLUSIVE: How Seyi Agbedana, Co-founder of Genzaar, is transforming financial literacy through gaming and innovation…read more

• Nigeria’s national ID ranks ninth among documents most commonly used for identity fraud in Africa…read more

• Nigerian fintech startup Miden selected for Y Combinator’s Winter 2024 Cohort…read more

• Bolt introduces same-day parcel delivery service in South Africa…..read more

🚀 OPPORTUNITIES

• The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) is calling on all aspiring African entrepreneurs seeking to turn their business dreams into reality to apply to the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme (TEF2024), for the opportunity to receive a non-returnable seed capital of $5,000. Application deadline: 1 March 2024 Click here to apply.

• The Federal Government through the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, has opened applications for Nigerian girls to participate in its new initiative called the National Girls in ICT Competition. Application deadline: 18 February 2024. Click here to apply.

• Safaricom, M-PESA Africa and Sumitomo Corporation calls for tech startups looking to join the Spark Accelerator program, which aims at accelerating early stage startups to grow and scale their businesses. Application deadline: 16 February 2024 . Click here to apply

• Norrsken22 invites African startups to apply for its $125k Accelerator Program. Interested entrepreneurs can apply here.

• Cohort 2 of the Visa Accelerator Program is now open for applications. Click here to apply. Application deadline: February 18, 2024

• CcHUB is currently accepting applications from EdTech companies interested in becoming members of its 2024 cohort. Click here to apply. Application Deadline: 17th February, 2024

• Application open for the MEST Training Program. The MEST Training Program is a one year, fully sponsored, graduate-level program in tech entrepreneurship. Click here to apply. Application Deadline: 18th March 2024