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Piggyvest acquires Savi.ng
Piggyvest is a crowd favourite for the emerging middle class. Anyone who knows the tech space will tell that few get the kind of hype that Piggyvest gets and for good reason, too. Upon announcing that the start-up had over 90 billion Naira in its coffers, it further went on to announce the acquisition of Savi.ng, a start-up offering similar services. Most analysts are calling this a move made with an eye for expansion and solidifying its unique place in fintech.Shell Is On Its Way Out
Well, it does qualify as Tech in my books so humour me, will you? So Shell seems to be calling it quits with its onshore operations in the Nigerian oil industry and they are currently accepting bids. Shell has, according to reports, hired Standard Chartered to mediate the wholesale process. But questions abound as to why IOC’s seem to be pulling out now, and a few reasons do come to mind, both remote and immediate. Total for instance recently rebranded, indicating its intentions of going green. It won’t be far-fetched if this factors as a reason in Shell’s impending sale of assets. The recently passed PIB does not favour investment as new taxes were included in the draft. The general insecurity and ineptitude with which Buhari’s government has handled the economy will not fill most with even an inkling of hope. That in itself could be a factor. Interestingly, where these IOC’s are decreasing investment in Nigeria, they seem to be doubling down on investment in other oil-producing climes on the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic including Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. It remains to be seen what would become of the damaged habitat that is the Niger Delta these days, as that region’s environment has seriously suffered in the wake of Nigeria’s oil boom, but I can tell you that there may actually not be much hope to be had if recent history is anything to be considered.Sign up to the Connect Nigeria daily newsletter
CBN Bars Bureau De Change From Accessing Dollars
If you know anything about Nigeria, you will know that dollar is gold (pun intended, if you like). We will practically do anything to have it, and for as long as one can remember, it has been a metric for measuring how well the economy is doing for many regular folks. So, the Central Bank made the “wise” decision to bar bureau de changes (BDC’s) around the country from accessing dollars. For those who do not know, BDC is an officially licensed outfit that sells dollars and other foreign currency in exchange for Naira. This move is not new under this dispensation. In 2016, CBN did the same thing and Naira’s value to the dollar fell astronomically from around #200 to over #360 to a dollar. This new move might result in the same as banks will, most likely, sell to BDC’s who will sell to importers, who represent the largest customers when it comes to buying foreign currency. If you buy a dollar for #700 by the turn of the year, remember why.Bundle CEO Steps Down
Yele Bademosi stepped down from his role as CEO of Bundle Africa, the crypto cum currency exchange platform. He revealed this in a blog posted Friday evening. He will now be replaced by Emmanuel Babalola. Yele has indicated that he will seek to promote crypto in other ways in the future. Bundle Africa launched in 2019 with Bademosi as founder and CEO and has grown under his leadership to serve 350,000 users and $50 million in monthly transactions. He had, before then, served as a director at Binance Africa which incidentally will now produce his successor in the person of Emmanuel Babalola. Bademosi is also the lead partner at Microtraction, a leading VC focused on FinTechs and crypto. Featured Image Source: TechCityGot a suggestion? Contact us: editor@connectnigeria.com