Sagittarius, Digital Lenders Tax and the Prosecutor is Prosecuted
Podcast
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Song
This episode was edited while we were listening to (a throwback!):
Quote of the week
“You never lose by learning how much you can love”
— Unknown
What’s Happening in Nigeria?
Access
Access Bank of Nigeria is preparing to acquire Kenya's Sidian Bank for $36.7 million, assuming Centum Investments' entire stake in the bank. The merger will be the bank's second in the Kenyan market if it is finalised. It would obtain the 83.4% of the shares of Sidian Bank currently owned by Centum and its subsidiary, Bakki Holdco Ltd, as part of the acquisition.
Sidian Bank's focus is small and medium-sized businesses and trade finance, and its balance sheet has grown from $162.2 million to $256.2 million in ten years (2012-2022). With this addition, Access will be propelled to Tier 2 status in Kenya.
Access Bank CEO, Roosevelt Ogbonna believes that this agreement will enable the Bank to expand its footprint in Kenya, which they have stated is critical to their diversification plans.
Centum likewise believes the deal is advantageous for them as a company. Access Bank purchased and rebranded the Transnational Bank for $12.8 million in 2020, with Centum Investment owning the majority of the shares at the time. Because this acquisition is one of the largest Private Equity transactions in the region, James Mworia, CEO of Centum Investment, believes that the deal's monetary value will influence investments in East Africa. Centum Investment would establish itself as a leading investment platform, attracting foreign investors to Kenya and East Africa.
The transaction is still subject to regulatory approvals in Nigeria and Kenya, and will be added to the growing number of acquisitions in Kenya's banking sector. If successful, the acquisition will be a major accomplishment for Roosevelt, who only took office last month
Kaduna begins Medical Drone Services
Nigeria has become Africa's third and the world's fifth country to use drone medical services.
Subject to final regulatory permission, Zipline, a global leader in instant logistics, and the Kaduna State Government expect to transport medical supplies to hundreds of health facilities to help establish a more agile, responsive, and accessible health system.
Zipline's technology is a significant step forward in Kaduna State's continuous efforts to build a smarter, more powerful health system that better serves all residents of the state. It will run three distribution centres across the state, encompassing 46, 000 square kilometres and distributing to around 500 health facilities that serve millions of people.
The company will begin by providing more than 200 medical products, such as medicines and routine immunizations to Kaduna, with ambitions to grow to more in the near future.
Regular commercial operations in Kaduna are set to begin later this month, and the company has secured deals with a number of other states to launch later this year.
What’s Going on Across Africa?
MFS Acquires US-based Fintech
MFS Africa, a digital payments company, will pay $34 million to acquire Global Technology Partners (GTP), a company based in Oklahoma.
The usual news is about African companies buying other African companies or foreign companies buying African companies. It is rare for an African corporation to acquire a foreign company in a developed market, making this transaction even more significant.
MFS is Africa’s largest fintech hub, with more than 300 million customers. It connects banks, telecommunications companies, and money transfer companies in more than 35 countries.
Due to this acquisition, MFS will be able to offer prepaid cards to clients, which is a true progression of Africa's expanding fintech.
In addition, the firm said that it has reached an agreement with Spotify, which would allow consumers in Kenya, Uganda, and South Africa to pay with mobile money.
While this is the fintech's first purchase outside of Africa, it has already bought three other African firms in order to extend its digital payment network. MFS Africa bought Sochitel, a firm that specialized in foreign airtime transfers into Africa, in 2016, and the acquisition, according to MFS Africa, helped develop the continent's largest transfer payment network. Beyonic, a Ugandan fintech that provides payment management solutions to small businesses, was bought by the company in 2020. It bought Baxi last year in "Nigeria's second-largest Fintech acquisition deal," according to the company.
All of these purchases have helped MFS Africa get closer to its goal of serving 500 million people and millions of small businesses in all 54 African countries.
According to the company, its most recent acquisition will expand its reach to millions more.
Gupta brothers arrested in UAE
You’re all likely aware of former South African president, Jacob Zuma being ousted from power and facing corruption charges. But the circumstances which led to this and the allegations of state capture go further than just Mr Zuma, involving three Indian South African brothers, the Guptas. Two of the infamous Gupta trio, Atul and Rajesh, have now been arrested in the United Arab Emirates. Their third brother, Ajay, is also wanted but is still on the lam.
This comes a year after the UAE and South Africa ratified extradition treaties. The arrest was made following Interpol's "Red Notice" issued in February, according to Dubai Police.
The Gupta brothers have been accused of abusing their close connection with former President Jacob Zuma to exert illegal influence.
So, who are the Gupta brothers? They are the three affluent Indian-born businessmen who arrived in South Africa in 1993, and became close associates of fmr. President Jacob Zuma's during his term.
Following a corruption investigation by the Judicial Commission, they fled South Africa in 2018.
They were accused of paying bribes in order to gain lucrative government contracts and have the power to affect government appointments. Because of their friendship with Jacob Zuma, many things were smoothed over or facilitated in their favour.
The brothers had become deeply established in the highest levels of government and Mr Zuma's ruling African National Congress (ANC) party, according to a four-year probe later published by the country's Public Prosecutor as at the time.
Eskom SOC Ltd., South Africa's electrical public utility, got into fraudulent contracts totaling $924 million (14.7 billion rand) with mostly Gupta-connected enterprises. Eskom now has about 400 billion rand of debt.
The Guptas' aims, according to Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, were to acquire Eskom in order to manipulate the system to their benefit. Let’s not forget that the Gupta’s came to light for using a military base to land a plane which was taking guests to one of the brother’s children’s weddings. A classic case of aseju.
According to current president Rampaphosa, the corruption under Zuma’s tenure cost over 500 billion rand ($32 billion) for the company that delivers over 90% of South Africa's power and has hindered the country's already poor growth. Power outages are now a regular occurrence in the country.
This arrest is the most significant step so far in South Africa's effort to prosecute businesses and government officials suspected of corruption during Zuma's presidency.
While South Africans demand that the Gupta brothers be extradited and tried in the country, President Cyril Ramaphosa has stated that he is doubtful whether they would be released.
Digital Lenders Tax
Kenya's parliament has suggested an amendment to the Finance Bill's Excuse Duty 2015, indicating that all digital loans will be subject to a 20% excise tax.
Kenya's digital lending market is booming. At least 53.7 million Kenyans have received digital loans from the country's 120 digital lenders. As of 2021, the lenders had disbursed up to $17 million in loans.
This proposed tax is an attempt to control the digital lending industry, which has been accused of charging high interest rates and engaging in debt-shaming practices, according to sources.
The Central Bank of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, which gave the Central Bank the power to regulate digital lenders, was passed by Parliament last year. Following this, the government has been enforcing regulatory measures in these lenders.
An example is the Data Protection Act, which bans them from using debt-shaming to violate users' privacy. In addition, the Digital Credit Providers Regulations, was introduced in March this year, which require digital lenders to seek licenses from the Central Bank of Kenya in order to operate, as well as disclose and verify their sources of income.
These laws will go into force in September.
However, the millions of Kenyans who utilize digital lenders may experience unforeseen consequences as a result of this change in terms of a spike in interest percentage.
Kenya Audits Voters' Register
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) conducted an audit of the voters' register via the auditing firm, KPMG, in preparation for the upcoming Kenya General Elections.
The results were shocking, as it was discovered that 250,000 names of deceased people were still on the books. Furthermore, half a million people had duplicate records, and over 226,000 people were registered with documents that were not theirs. Others were discovered to have registered using illegal documents.
The voting register, which was supposed to be issued by the 9th of June, has been postponed to the 20th to allow for more revisions.
Comair shuts down
Comair, which is responsible for nearly 40% of South Africa's domestic seat capacity, has been grounded completely and declared by Business Rescue Practitioners to have failed beyond rescue.
The airline missed the May 31 deadline to gather funds in order to develop viable preparations for continuing operations.
The financing, the amount of which was not disclosed, was required to pay off debts and negotiate with lenders about arrears.
No Democracy Yet!
The Mali Junta has stated that restoring civilian authority in the country will take 24 months, starting in March 2022.
They have been under pressure from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to restore democracy since toppling the government in August 2020. ECOWAS sanctioned them after they promised and failed to hold elections.
The Transitional Government's spokesman, Abdoulaye Maiga, said on National Television that the transition will last 24 months, with March 26, 2022 as the commencement date. He stated that this demonstrates the Malian authorities' desire to engage in conversation. ECOWAS has yet to respond, and the length of the transition has strained relations with Mali's allies, especially the United States and former colonial power, France.
Over the weekend, West African Heads of State convened in Ghana and resolved to keep the sanctions in place. As a result, unless a faster transition is planned, borders would stay closed and financial transactions will be restricted.
The leaders will meet for another summit before 3 July.
Prosecutor is Prosecuted
President Cyril Ramaphosa suspended state Public Prosecutor Busisiwe Mkhwebane on Thursday, following her announcement the previous day that she would launch an investigation into the Limpopo Farm case.
Last week, fmr. Spy Chief Arthur Fraser, who served under Jacob Zuma, filed a case with the police. He revealed a $4 million robbery occurred on President Cyril's farm in 2020 but was allegedly covered up by the President himself and was not reported to the police. The President continues to maintain that he did not act illegally.
This suspension follows a probe three months ago by parliament into her incapacity and misinterpretation of the law, (Mkhwebane has even been found guilty of lying under oath) after which President Cyril urged her to present reasons why she should not be suspended.
The Western Cape High Court dismissed her appeal on Friday to have her impeachment by parliament halted and the president's suspension overturned, stating it fell "overwhelmingly short" of the requirements.
What in the World?
(The segment where we highlight the most outrageous story we have come across while scraping the web for news articles for you. We have taken to using what we call the Ehn scale. The longer the Ehn the more incredulous. For example, President Buhari is not Nigeria’s most prolific travel blogger: Ehnnnnn? Got it?)
Saggitarus
A woman has allegedly turned into a half horse after sleeping with a married man. She even developed a tail.
Some people are taking star-signs a little too literally.
Rating: Ehn????????
Editor’s Corner
We enjoyed this thread immensely and thought some of you might as well:
