Omnibiz Raised  $15 Million In Pre-Series A Funding

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Omnibiz Raised  $15 Million In Pre-Series A Funding

Timon Capital led a $15 million pre-Series A investment in Omnibiz, a Nigerian B2B e-commerce company. Ventures Platform, Lofty Inc, Chapel Hill Denham, Chandaria Capital, and Musha Ventures all participated in the $5 million equity and $10 million debt investment round.

Omnibiz, which is present in over 12 cities in Ghana and Nigeria, provides retailers with a fully integrated digital platform. The Omnibiz app allows retailers to easily purchase and restock from over 200 product brands, including Coca-Cola and Nestle.

The money was raised in order to begin further regional expansion this month. Rustagi stated that the company intends to expand into Nigeria’s second-tier cities such as Ilorin, Asaba, and Akure, where retail is expanding. He added that because there is no support in these cities, they see enormous potential. Omnibiz aspires to be the primary B2B operating system for these cities’ informal retailers, assisting with last-mile delivery, procurement, working capital, inventory management, and operational tools for tracking sales, costs, prices, and profit.

Deepankar Rustagi, CEO and co-founder of Omnibiz, told TechCabal on a conference call that this funding came about because existing investors pushed the company to raise a pre-Series A round.

According to a 2020 report by Standard Bank, informal retail controls 90% of Africa’s consumer products and retail market. In Nigeria, companies like Alerzo and TradeDepot also provide digital solutions for informal retailers. According to Rustagi, Omnibiz is different because they digitise the entire retail network. The company does not own a logistics fleet but instead uses its platform to connect a network of logistics companies to existing distributors.

Omnibiz also allows retailers to access credit, buy-now-pay-later options, and other financial services, which was launched in November last year. Rustagi said that they added the buy-now-pay-later feature because retailers on the company’s platform often went out of stock because of a lack of capital to grow their inventory size or volume.

With MyStore, a bookkeeping solution for retailers to manage their customers and inventory, retailers can move forward faster and open multiple stores easily. The company projects that retailers on its platform will see a 4 times increase in their revenue with this added support. He added that building this system has helped the company achieve the retention of 65,000 retailers and an average retailer monthly sales of $250.

Speaking about the challenges that Omnibiz faced with their buy-now-pay-later product, Rustagi said that the company’s biggest challenge was educating the customers on the model.

The company also provides insights that shows retailers their real-time inventory stock so they can avoid purchasing goods that they may struggle to sell. In a statement shared with TechCabal, Omnibiz said that the effectiveness of this insight feature is reflected in the fact that over half of the company’s annual gross merchandise value of $130 million comes from repeat retail customers.

On the call, Rustagi also stated that these types of insights and data are one of the critical areas driving growth in the retail industry. The pricing information his company provides retailers allows them to make better stock-keeping decisions and grow their revenues and margins.

In a statement to TechCabal, Timon Capital partner Nikos Katsaounis said of the funding, “We invested in Omnibiz because we believe it is solving a much-needed problem.” The food and beverage supply chain is fragmented, inefficient, and opaque. Omnibiz addresses all of these issues through an efficient software layer that provides much-needed data on this otherwise obscure market and supply chain.”

CBN Suspends COVID-Linked Loan Relief And Raises Interest Rates To 9%

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CBN Suspends COVID-Linked Loan Relief And Raises Interest Rates To 9%

According to the Central Bank of Nigeria, interest rates on all applicable intervention facilities have been reduced from 5% to 9% per year.

In the midst of the pandemic in 2020, the bank announced a one-year reduction in interest rates on all its intervention facilities from 9% to 5% as part of policies to mitigate the negative impact of the deadly coronavirus on Nigerian businesses and the economy.

At the time, the bank stated that it had approximately N3 trillion in various intervention programs run through commercial banks.

Anchor Borrowers, Commercial Agricultural Credits Scheme, Micro-Small and Medium-scale Enterprise, and Agri-Business/Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS) are examples of such programs.

Following our circular dated March 15, 2022 (Ref: FPR/DIR/PUB/CIR/001/040) extending the period of interest reduction to all intervention facilities from 9% to 5% per annum (as part of measures to mitigate the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Nigerian economy), the Central Bank of Nigeria hereby reverts the interest rate on all its intervention facilities to 9% per annum,” the letter stated.

“The reversed rates will be implemented as follows: all new intervention facilities granted after July 20, 2022, will be at a 9 percent annual rate; all existing intervention facilities granted before July 20, 2022, will be at a 9 percent annual rate effective September 1, 2022.”

 

 

eNaira Has Recorded N4billion Transactions And 200,000 Users Since 2021 Launch – CBN

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eNaira Has Recorded N4billion Transactions And 200,000 Users Since 2021 Launch – CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s digital currency, eNaira has recorded 200,000 users and N4 billion worth of transactions since it debuted in 2021.

This was disclosed by Mr Godwin Emefiele, the CBN Governor at the grand finale of the “eNaira Hackathon”.

The hackathon is a joint project between CBN and the African Fintech Foundry (AFF). The purpose of the event was to bring together teams of outstanding African entrepreneurs, developers, designers, solution developers and problem solvers to create creative solutions for increased eNaira adoption.

Emefiele said “Since its inauguration, eNaira had reached 840,000 downloads, with about 270,000 active wallets comprising more than 252,000 consumer wallets and 17,000 merchant wallets. In addition, volume and value of transactions has been remarkable reaching above 200,000 and N4 billion Naira respectively”

“The eNaira will make a significant positive difference to Nigeria and Nigerians. It was also developed to provide Nigerians with a cheap, safe and trusted means of payment. It is unlike the offline payments channels like agent networks, USSD, wearables, cards and near-field communication technology.

“The eNaira would give access to financial services to underserved and unbanked segments of the population,” he said.

He asserted that the eNaira-based products and services would increase Nigerians’ engagement in the digital economy and encourage the expansion of the budding Fintech sector.

PalmPay Launches Wallet Safe Workshop To Improve Payment Security Awareness

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PalmPay Launches Wallet Safe Workshop To Improve Payment Security Awareness

PalmPay (www.PalmPay.com), a fintech innovator aims to make digital payment more accessible and flexible, today announces the launch of Wallet Safe Workshop, a monthly campaign for payment security awareness training to help customers improve their overall security knowledge, and learn about how to spot and avoid e-scammers.

The penetration of the internet and digital payment in Africa has significantly increased in recent years. A number of potential issues, including fake news, leakage of personal information and financial scams, have emerged as a result of this rapid expansion in connectivity.

According to the NIBSS (Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System) report (https://bit.ly/3dGSbyS), the total number of fraud attempts in Nigeria has grown by 186% from 2019 to 2020. Mobile fraud attempts jumped 330% year over year, while web and POS fraud attempts rose 173% and 215% respectively.  It has become a top priority for financial institutions to guarantee the security of user transactions.

With the launch of the Wallet Safe Workshop, PalmPay will use both online and offline channels, including the app, social media, official websites, and printed materials, to publicise and expose examples of social media and telecom fraud, as well as how to spot fraudulent behaviour. In particular, the company will improve anti-fraud warning education for vulnerable groups such as students and senior citizens, and promote legal provisions related to the proper use of mobile wallet accounts, to effectively raise people’s awareness of combating and managing telecom fraud and cybersecurity.

“The expanding use of digital payments brings new risk and security concerns.” said Chika Nwosu, Managing Director of PalmPay, “PalmPay committed to delivering users with a secure and trustworthy digital payment experience. We will continue to optimise our risk control procedures, and look forward to collaborating with law enforcement and cybersecurity partners to prevent fraud and ensure payment security.”

Keeping users safe from fraudsters is not an easy task. The right fraud monitoring and know your customer (KYC) approaches are key to the current rise in fraud attempts.

With robust anti-fraud and KYC systems, PalmPay protects the users from fraud and unauthorized use with various protective measures, including real-time risk control and abnormal behaviour detection, which automatically monitors, flags, and freezes high-risk transactions and accounts.

If a person suspects that they or someone else has been a victim of fraudulent activities, they should contact PalmPay customer service via in-app chat, email, social media, or call centre.

PalmPay will investigate and freeze accounts to avoid additional loss due to fraudulent activities and to maximise the chances of tracing and retrieving funds

Usyk Defeats Joshua Again To Retain World Heavyweight Titles

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Usyk Defeats Joshua Again To Retain World Heavyweight Titles

Oleksandr Usyk edged out Anthony Joshua to retain his world titles after an enthralling rematch in Saudi Arabia.

Joshua, with new trainer Robert Garcia in his corner, produced a much-improved performance 11 months on from his defeat by the former undisputed cruiserweight world champion.

But Usyk again proved to be too good as he was given the nod on two of the three scorecards.

But Joshua’s performance was marred by his post-fight actions when he picked up two of the four belts on offer, slammed them on the canvas and stormed out of the ring in anger.

The Olympic champion regained his composure and returned to the ring before delivering an X-rated speech.

Usyk dominated Joshua over 12 rounds in London.

On that occasion, Joshua claimed he wanted to out-box his unbeaten rival only for his game plan to fall apart as he conceded the early rounds.

Joshua was unable to recover and was almost stopped on his feet in the dying stages as Usyk ran out a comfortable winner in just his third fight at heavyweight.

Joshua immediately triggered his rematch clause but the fight was delayed from April to July and finally to late August after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Joshua walked to the ring first for just the second time in his career and was decked out in a black, a change of outfit having been dressed in white for his previous 11 world title fights.

In another nod to Mike Tyson, the Brit was accompanied by the motivational words of legendary trainer Cus D’Amato.

Usyk, meanwhile, made his walk from the changing room in the blue and yellow of his homeland as he looked to extend his unbeaten record and cement his position in the upper echelons of the mythical pound-for-pound list.

And it was Usyk who landed the first solid punch of the fight with a left hand to the chin as Joshua looked to work the champion’s body.

He then responded to another left hand with a back hand of his own but it was the Ukrainian who made the better start.

Joshua punctuated the start of the second round with a right hand as he looked to take the initiative.

He looked to drop down to the body but Usyk’s footwork continued to cause problems, as it did in their first meeting, as he landed flush with his lead right hand.

Joshua landed a clubbing left-right in the opening minute of the third stanza but was struggling to find any consistency in the face of Usyk’s evasive style.

The champion worked his way into the round towards the bell but it was the challenger who did enough to nick the session.

Joshua’s corner told him he had won the opening three rounds and the Brit landed a stiff jab to open his account in round four.

A right hand forced Usyk back but the smaller man took the shot well on his gloves before planting his feet and landing his dangerous left hand.

Left hands were traded at the start of the fifth round as a more aggressive Joshua looked more comfortable letting his hands go.

Joshua looked to have Usyk hurt with a body shot but the Ukrainian complained of a low blow and was given time to recover.

Joshua stalked Usyk at the beginning of the sixth round as he landed a right hand followed by a left hook.

The challenger’s right eye was beginning to show signs of wear and tear as the pace began to slow.

But Joshua rallied the crowd with a right hand against the ropes.

Usyk responded with a left hand-right hook before finishing the session on top.

Joshua looked to rough up Usyk as the fight entered the second half, grabbing his head and looking to land to the body.

He looked to take the centre of the ring and landed a right to which Usyk replied with the opposite hand as he took over in the second half of the round.

Visa Gives Grant To Assist African Female Fund Managers In Growing Their Businesses

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Visa Gives Grant To Assist African Female Fund Managers In Growing Their Businesses

Visa has announced a donation to the African Women Impact Fund (Awif), a joint effort of Standard Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (Uneca).

The grant will be used to fund the working capital needs of female fund managers in Africa’s southern, eastern, and western regions, with a focus on the 55 women who responded to Awif’s call to action and have been a part of their program since 2020.

The grant from Visa to the Awif is an extension of the She’s Next program, a global advocacy initiative for women-owned businesses that has been expanded within Sub-Saharan Africa to further champion and strengthen African women business owners as they build, sustain, and advance their businesses.

With African women accounting for only 7.6% of private equity and women-led businesses receiving only 7% of private equity and venture capital in emerging markets, this demonstrates the opportunities to close the gender gap. This is also reflected in the fact that women and people of color manage less than 1.3% of the $69.1 trillion in global financial assets.

“The goal of She’s Next is to help women-owned businesses thrive, and our goal with this grant is to provide access to a market where women-owned businesses are under-represented.”

“With this program, we hope to ensure that women are not only recipients, but also decision-makers when it comes to institutional funding for businesses,” said Aida Diarra, senior vice president and head of Sub-Saharan Africa at the World Bank.

Increasing funding to have a greater impact
Visa funding will be directed toward activities that will help business owners improve their technical skillsets, become investible to larger institutional investors, and run profitable businesses that will, in turn, invest in others, including small and medium businesses.

“With the funding, these business owners will be able to focus on growing their enterprises without the burden of managing short-term debt and other operational costs associated with building a successful business,” Diarra added.

Developmental Areas
The grant to Awif will cover three areas:

Portfolio management capabilities include portfolio structuring, risk management, and administration.

Investment research capability includes identifying investment opportunities, due diligence, mandate alignment, and continuous investment and operations monitoring.
“We are thrilled to have Visa partner with Standard Bank, and we are grateful for their significant contribution to the African Women Impact Fund.” Gender equity is seen by Standard Bank as both a fundamental human right and a business imperative.

“The group believes that economic empowerment of women is critical to increasing Africa’s economic output and creating sustainable jobs, particularly within the small businesses that drive growth on the continent,” the report concludes.

Influences Of Consumers On The Shopping Renaissance

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Influences Of Consumers On The Shopping Renaissance

Despite the difficult economic and social environment, the longer-term trend in trading densities (sales per square metre) in more than 100 shopping centres in South Africa and Namibia shows a clear improvement since the 2020/21 Covid-induced performance downturn.

Looking at this revival, current times can be compared to a renaissance in many ways.

The Renaissance was a time of intense cultural, artistic, economic, and political rebirth and innovation. It is also a time to honor humanity and life.

Today, we note that Covid-19 has accelerated many trends, caused people to rethink their lives, world, and values, and has inspired extensive innovative thought.

We must understand key contemporary global consumer influences as we navigate turbulence to profitability in our modern renaissance. What

People wish to rediscover their love for life.
A desire for a life affair necessitates a holistic approach that encompasses body, mind, and spirit. This includes wellness, diet, exercise, home and pets, self-improvement, mindfulness, kindness, and sensitivity.

Underpinning this is a desire to work smarter and allow more time for life experiences as a result of a hybrid work model and a potential four-day work week in the UK and Europe.

 

Gone are the days of padded, slow-moving corporate existence. The new method eliminates unnecessary work steps, streamlines, and gets straight to the point, thereby shortening work and extending life.

 

The relaxation of lockdowns and restrictive measures has resulted in the emergence of’revenge travel,’ an indulgent splurging vacation full of luxuries and experiences.

The new cultural attitude is one of dignity.
Diversity, inclusivity, fluidity, neutrality, tolerance, and equality have paved the way for a larger cultural shift that values dignity. This is built on the foundations of acceptance and belonging. Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ2S+, Women’s Rights, and abortion ruling protests all highlight this changing social value, which is mirrored in SA.

Consider Sofia Jirau, the first model with Down syndrome to appear in a Victoria’s Secret campaign, Lebohang Monyatsi, South Africa’s first wheelchair model, and Precious Lee, a plus-size model who became the new face of Versace.

 

Men’s make-up is becoming more popular, as evidenced by the War Paint brand’s success in the United Kingdom and the United States. A dignified attitude must be reflected as a key value in

The Respect Economy establishes a new framework for living.
The stark recognition of the environmental impact of daily life has resulted in a new value system based on ethics, thoughtfulness, and innovation. Responding to climate change, emissions, animal rights, and managing the protein supply chain are all critical.

The global and South African retail industries are responding in a variety of ways.

 

Pioneering internationally competitive South African biotech start-ups are attracting a lot of attention and funding.

 

Mzansi Meat Co. is bringing cultivated meat to Africa, reimagining food systems by growing affordable, sustainable, and healthy meat from cells with no animal cruelty. Plato’s makes crisps from recycled beer grains, and Inseco turns low-value organic byproducts into nutritious insect ingredients.

 

Public Relations: The Ideal Profession

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Public Relations: The Ideal Profession

I recently had the opportunity to be a part of St Teresa’s High School’s first career day, which gave me the opportunity to pause and reflect on the career I love so much before standing in front of a group of impressionable young women looking to experts in their fields for inspiration.

Apart from presenting to prospective and existing clients, I don’t have much opportunity to speak to large groups of people – and I initially found a group of teenagers with their own attitudes and opinions to be quite intimidating.

The room was packed, and seeing all their eager faces inspired me to put my nerves aside so I could share my passion for my profession and inspire them.

Here are some of the key points I discussed.

What motivates us to do what we do

 

While we’re on the subject of reasons… It’s a key differentiator of my public relations approach, as well as Tribeca’s, that no project or plan gets off the ground unless it has a clear business objective.

 

Everything sounds so serious – but it’s critical. You won’t be able to plan or measure your success unless you understand what you’re trying to accomplish for your client and their brand.

 

Public relations isn’t just about parties and events.

 

In movies and TV shows, public relations is portrayed as more than posh parties and exotic trips. True, we do get to organize and plan.

It’s also true that we’re frequently behind the scenes at these events, ensuring that everything runs smoothly, that every VIP’s every whim is met, and that the event accomplishes what it was intended to accomplish and isn’t in the news for the wrong reasons.

So, what exactly do we do all day?

 

In the wonderful world of public relations, no two days are alike. One of the things that motivates me to come to work every day is the opportunity to be a part of important stories, and through public relations, I’ve been able to assist local and international brands in telling their stories to the audiences they want to reach.

It’s also true that we’re frequently behind the scenes at these events, ensuring that everything runs smoothly, that every VIP’s every whim is met, and that the event accomplishes what it was intended to accomplish and isn’t in the news for the wrong reasons.

So, what exactly do we do all day?

 

In the wonderful world of public relations, no two days are alike. One of the things that motivates me to come to work every day is the opportunity to be a part of important stories, and through public relations, I’ve been able to assist local and international brands in telling their stories to the audiences they want to reach.

Why They Signed The ‘People Over Prime’ Pledge- TikTok’s Gen Z creators

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Why They Signed The ‘People Over Prime’ Pledge- TikTok’s Gen Z creators

A group of 70 TikTok creators with a combined following of 51 million people announced “People Over Prime,” a pledge not to work with Amazon or accept sponsorship money from the company until it meets the demands of the Amazon Labor Union.

The campaign was organized by Gen Z for Change, a coalition of young TikTok creators and activists.

Elise Joshi, a 20-year-old TikTok creator and director of strategy at Gen Z for Change, said the group decided to target Amazon after an earlier campaign in support of Starbucks union workers. In February, the group sent over 140,000 fake applications to Starbucks locations that had fired workers who had organized union efforts.

“So, what’s a bigger target than the largest company that employs nearly the largest number of people in the country?” she said of their next target, Amazon.

Joshi hopes to expand the “People Over Prime” campaign to as many creators as possible.

TikTok’s design, according to 19-year-old creator Connor Hesse, lends itself to activism. “It’s much easier to spread the word on TikTok because it’s easier to go viral and have more people see your content than it is on Instagram and Twitter. That’s how the algorithm works “he stated.

According to him, TikTok has become a “safe space for activists trying to talk to their communities.”

According to Gen Z for Change, many of the creators who signed the “People Over Prime” pledge had previously worked with Amazon through its influencer program. The initiative compensates content creators in exchange for linking to Amazon “storefronts” containing recommended products.

According to the group, all 70 members of the campaign will refuse to work with Amazon until it meets labor union demands, such as a $30/hour minimum wage, better working conditions, and an end to any union-busting tactics.

The first Amazon warehouse voted to unionize in Staten Island in April, but there are a number of additional unionization efforts underway at various warehouse locations across the country.

“Amazon is a multibillion-dollar company that has millions of millions of dollars in profit that they use for stock buybacks and dividends,” Joshi said. “They have the capability to give people $30 an hour, and they don’t.”

#UsykJoshua2: Live Stream Joshua Vs Usyk 2 Boxing Match Free

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#UsykJoshua2: Live Stream Joshua Vs Usyk 2 Boxing Match Free

#UsykJoshua2, Live Stream Usyk vs Joshua 2 Boxing Match free below.

Brand Spur Nigeria reports that the highly-anticipated heavyweight rematch between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk is finally taking place on Saturday night, August 20, 2022.

This Digital Platform for Latest Nigeria News understands that Britain’s Joshua was outclassed by Ukrainian rival Usyk in their first fight at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September 2021, losing his world heavyweight titles in the process.

The rematch was originally planned for May but the ongoing situation in the champion’s homeland put that on hold. Usyk travelled back to Ukraine and joined the military in defence of his nation after the Russian invasion which began in February.

The 35-year-old later received permission from his country’s sports minister to return to his training camp and gear up for the epic rematch with Joshua, 32.

Brand Spur Nigeria reports that the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO world titles are all on the line, as will the Ring Magazine strap after WBC champion Tyson Fury confirmed his retirement.

Watch Joshua vs Usyk 2 LIVE! Boxing Fight Stream below…

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