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Cardano Funds Kenya-Based Fintech Company, Pezesha

Pezesha, a digital lending infrastructure, and platform that helps finance medium, small, and micro enterprises startups (MSMEs) in Kenya, has raised $11 million in Series A to expand in Africa. The equity-debt round was led by Women’s World Banking Capital Partners II with participation from Verdant Frontiers Fintech Fund, cFund, and Cardano blockchain builder Input Output Global (IOG). The round also included a $5 million debt from Talanton and Verdant Capital Specialist Funds.

The Kenyan fintech company seeks to bridge the financing gap affecting millions of micro, small medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) across its current markets and also expand into Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, and Francophone Africa with the  $11 million investment.

Pezesha’s collaboration with Cardano is anticipated to lead to the development of an African peer-to-peer financial operating system.

Hilda Moraa, the CEO of Pezesha expressed her merriment in a tweet saying, 

“I am deeply humbled and excited about the investment from Charles Hoskinson, in our current Pre-series A round of $11m. The future looks promising as we join hands with Input Output in building Africa’s embedded finance operating system for SMEs.”

Charles Hoskinson, the co-founder of IOG and Cardano, also commented, “Facilitating the movement of capital into emerging markets to support economic growth and job creation is a core promise of blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Our vision is centered on using technology to make it easier for people across the globe to borrow and lend to each other in a regulated way. This investment in Pezesha is an important milestone, and we’re excited to be a part of their growth story.”

The business has been able to provide loans to more than 100,000 businesses so far owing to its collaboration with more than 20 partner companies.  It expects this number to grow before the end of the year as an additional 10 companies integrate with its infrastructure. The fintech is presently able to extend loans of up to $10,000 at single-digit interest rates, and a repayment period of one year.

Pezesha is also collaborating with businesses like Twiga and MarketForce, whose platforms use its credit score APIs to give their clients access to real-time loan offers.

Pezesha plans to create a $100 million financing opportunity each year for businesses by tapping local and international banking institutions, high-net-worth individuals, and decentralized finance.

“We are building for the future and this means tapping new innovations for additional liquidity that allows us to offer affordable loans to SMEs,” Moora said.

Pezesha was founded in 2017 by Hilda Moraa. The company has built a scalable digital lending infrastructure that allows both traditional and non-traditional financial institutions to offer working capital to MSMEs.

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Meet EA Kazi, A Decentralized Learning and Earning Platform for Africans

EA Kazi is an online teaching, learning, and earning platform for Africans that was created on the NEAR blockchain. It allows them to receive training and subsequently be hired as highly regarded Web3 engineers around the world.

Kazi is a Swahili term that means “Job,” and EA Kazi is a direct translation of “East Africa Job.”

In order to develop and deploy talent into the Web3 domain, Africa BIoT Labs, a Tanzanian blockchain and IoT innovation hub created the decentralized platform with an African focus.

The project is a combination of an individual’s career development and advancement in the thriving Web3 ecosystem, enabling easy transitioning for developers in the existing tech space.

The EA Kazi platform also aims to unite young software engineers, reshape them to fit the blockchain industry, and give renowned Web3 educators the chance to increase their income.

The EA Kazi platform offers a decentralized feature making it incorruptible and transparent, open and accessible to anyone. The platform is also user-friendly and also awards NFT-based certificates.

Some of the benefits of the platform for the trainers include;

Promoting teamwork.

The tech hub is allowed to use its developers instead of scouting for illegitimate developers.

The trainer/company is entitled to 2.5% of their trainee’s earnings and gets paid for the milestone the individual attains.

The opportunity of empowering yet earning is available.

For the Trainee;

  • Ability to learn courses freely and pay when employed.
  • Flexible course duration: 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months, etc.
  • An NFT-based certificate is awarded.
  • Swift and easy transitioning into being a blockchain developer.
  • Freelance or contract jobs are available to support the training.

EA Kazi will be launched on September 27, 2022, at the Africa Money and DeFi Summit in Accra, Ghana.

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El Salvador’s Bitcoin Beach to receive $203 million in infrastructure investments

According to President Nayib Bukele, El Salvador will receive over $200 million in infrastructural investments to enhance Bitcoin Beach.

El Zonte, a beach in the country, was renamed “Bitcoin Beach” as a result of its acceptance of the cryptocurrency. The beach has gained icon status in El Salvador, with BTC establishing a circular economy in the region.

It has developed into a popular tourist destination, and the investments will be used to build brand-new amenities to improve the vacation experience.

President Bukele said in a statement,

“El Zonte for many is known as Bitcoin Beach; we are going to fix an area of 15,000 square meters, where there will be a shopping center, parking, beach club, treatment plant, to revitalize the area.”

Bukele confirms that the investment from the El Salvador government totals just over $203 million. Bitcoin Beach won’t be the only tourist destination to profit from the investments. Surf City beach, commonly known as El Tunco, will also profit from these renovations.

In addition, tourists in El Salvador will see improvements in cycle paths, a new drainage system, pedestrian crossings, and 14 bridges. The renovations will begin later this year, according to President Bukele.

He said, “This year we will expand 21 kilometers of the Littoral Road to four lanes. And we will also do it with hydraulic concrete, which is more expensive than asphalt, but lasts much longer.” 

The exact date for the start of the renovations is still unknown.

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Nigerian Central Bank Slashes CBDC Transaction Fees by 50%

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced it will cut the service costs incurred by people and businesses utilizing the digital currency platform by 50% in an effort aimed at encouraging the embrace and adoption of the e-naira central bank digital currency (CBDC).

In addition, Nigerian businesses signing on to become e-naira merchants have an opportunity to increase the volumes of their respective e-commerce transactions by 50%, according to a report.

Kingsley Obiora, the central bank’s deputy governor, commented on this stating that merchants could be owners of petrol stations, supermarkets, e-Commerce, and other businesses. He also added that individuals and businesses should leverage the opportunities offered by eNaira to improve cash management and make significant savings in operating costs.

He further stated that the platform is imbued with opportunities for increasing business income as the availability of the eNaira payment option on e-Commerce merchant platforms such as Remita is expected to complement the existing digital payment system, translating to about a 50% increment in e-commerce transactions and at a lower cost.

The central bank governor also emphasized that Nigerian businesses adopting the CBDC could also potentially boost the country’s cross-border trade volumes.

Obiora stated, “Also, the implementation of cross-border transactions in phase 3 of the e-naira project is expected to increase cross-border trade by about 30%. Furthermore, the lower transaction cost is expected to increase the usage (transaction volume and value) of eNaira and improve income generation by businesses.”

The remarks by Obiora, who reportedly spoke at a merchant onboarding event, come just days after CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele revealed that the CBDC had less than 1 million users. However, the CBN is now targeting a tenfold increase in the number of e-naira users.

Emefiele stated that the central bank would implement a feature to enable users of smartphones with no bank accounts to access the CBDC in order to do this. The CBN has since unveiled an unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) code which it says will deepen financial inclusion.

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Meta allows Users to Post NFTs on Facebook and Instagram

Meta has announced that it is now allowing its users to post NFTs across Facebook and Instagram.

Starting this week, Meta will be testing digital collectibles on Instagram with selected US creators and collectors to share NFTs that they have created or bought.

The feature includes connecting a digital wallet, sharing digital collectibles, and automatically tagging the creator and collector. This will bring NFTs to almost 3 billion users worldwide across both platforms.

According to Meta, there will be no fees associated with posting or sharing a digital collectible on Instagram or Facebook. 

In a blog that Meta published recently the company emphasized, “As we continue rolling out digital collectibles on Facebook and Instagram, we’ve started giving people the ability to post digital collectibles that they own across both Facebook and Instagram.”

Meta further stated, “This will enable people to connect their digital wallets once to either app in order to share their digital collectibles across both. This further brings the two Meta apps together in the metaverse, allowing users to keep their NFTs across both platforms.”

Twitter emerged as one of the first social media platforms to embrace NFTs at the beginning of 2022 while Meta first introduced NFT usage on Instagram in the Spring. It is now allowing usage across both of its popular social media platforms.

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Central African Republic top court blocks purchases with new cryptocurrency

The purchase of citizenship, “e-residency,” and land using a cryptocurrency, the Government introduced last month was ruled as unconstitutional by the Central African Republic’s Constitutional Court recently.

The Sango Coin went on sale on July 21 despite a sharp fall in bitcoin prices during recent months and doubts over the project’s viability in a poorly connected and war-torn country.

Under the initiative, foreign investors would have been able to buy citizenship for $60,000 worth of crypto, with the equivalent Sango Coins held as collateral for five years and “e-residency” for $6,000, held for three years, according to the Sango website.

A 250-meter square plot of land had also been listed as $10,000, with the Sango Coins locked away for a decade.

However, the nation’s highest court has now ruled that those purchases are unconstitutional, arguing among other reasons that nationality did not have a market value and that residency required a physical stay in the Central African Republic (CAR), a decree showed.

Also, the impact on the Sango Coin initiative was not immediately clear.

When asked to comment on the recent decision by the court, Government spokesman Serge Djorie stated that he did not have a response to the ruling.

CAR, also reported as one of the world’s poorest countries, became the first in Africa to make bitcoin legal tender in April, raising eyebrows among cryptocurrency experts and prompting the International Monetary Fund to warn it was not a “panacea” for the continent’s challenges. 

Although sales of the sango coin have been slow, with just over 5% of the target bought in the hours after its launch, the Sango Coin has been supported by President Faustin-Archange Touadera who says it is a remedy for financial exclusion and that it will encourage investment in the vast mineral wealth of the CAR.

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Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) admits Chipper Technologies As a New Stockbroker

Uganda Securities Exchange (USE), recently announced the admission of Chipper Technologies Uganda Limited also known as “Chipper” as a new trading participant or a stockbroker on its market.

The principal stock exchange stated in a press statement released yesterday that as a trading participant, Chipper’s core mandate is to enable existing and potential investors execute transactions in relation to shares and bonds listed on USE by providing stock brokerage services in line with the rule of the exchange, the Capital Markets Act and regulations thereunder.

Paul Bwiso, the CEO of Uganda Securities Exchange further commented, “Having acquired a stock brokerage license from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) and (Chipper technologies) has satisfied the eligibility requirements to be a stockbroker of the USE in all material respects, it is our pleasure to welcome Chipper technologies as a new trading participant in the market. To date, we have a diverse range of over 130,000 investors on the market and we are continuously working to ensure an improved experience for the investor as they undertake their investment journey.” 

The Chairman Board of the Exchange, Richard Byarugaba also stated, “Over the past year the Exchange has significantly enhanced its digital capabilities, directly and through strategic partnerships in a bid to further democratize the Uganda stock market. We want to reiterate our commitment to growing an inclusive market. In addition to service efficiency, we hope that Chipper, leveraging its fintech business model, will boost our current efforts to drive the financial inclusion agenda in the market.” 

Chipper has also been approved as a USE Securities Central Depository Agent (SCDA).

The USE’s Securities Central Depository (USE SCD) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Uganda Securities Exchange. Established in 2009, USE SCD’s core mandate is to provide a centralized depository, clearing, and settlement services for equity and debt securities listed on the USE. According to USE, to date, over UGX 3.5 trillion worth of securities transactions have been settled through the USE SCD which currently hosts over 130,000 SCD accounts opened by retail and institutional investors from Uganda, the East African region, and globally.

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Zugacoin Slammed Over Investors’ Inability To Withdraw

As promoters of Zugacoin, a Nigerian cryptocurrency ostensibly created to end poverty in Africa, continue to tout the token as a legitimate digital currency, there are growing reports on social media of merchants and holders of the coin who have failed to withdraw.

These allegations have given rise to claims that the project is just another fraud that has been deceptively passed off as a sophisticated cryptocurrency enterprise.

Zugacoin’s founder, Archbishop Sam Zuga, has in turn issued a burst of Facebook posts criticizing those spreading false information about the project in response to their complaints and accusations made against the cryptocurrency.

In one of his latest posts, Zuga said he was not engaged in cryptocurrency trading but was instead building a digital financial system to correct a financial future. He added that his crypto, which automatically gives you 200% profit of any amount you transfer to it, is only being used as a driver of the system in the future.

The founder refutes claims of manipulation within the Zugacoin ecosystem in the lengthy piece. In addition, Zuga’s post describes the ecosystem’s operation and the potential causes of some holders’ withdrawal issues.

He said:

“The only challenge is lack of knowledge from the users. Anyone can withdraw conveniently if the people that are withdrawing are less than the people who are depositing. No system can survive if what is going out is more than what is coming in.”

Zuga has vigorously defended the cryptocurrency initiative, but key participants in Nigeria’s blockchain industry have said they are still not convinced. As warning signs, they cite the project’s lack of transparency or its apparent abuse of Nigerians’ strong religious ties or their religious leaders.

One of the players, Ophi Rume, aka “Cryptopreacher,” said that unless the Zugacoin founder reveals the rest of the team behind the project it will be difficult to make a judgment about the project’s legitimacy. 

Noting that scammers often exploit people’s desperation and ignorance, Rume, a blockchain analyst and educator, also said ordinary Nigerians should only consider investing in this project after doing some basic due diligence.

Rume added that when prospective investors learn or become aware of such details about this project they will likely decide against investing and thus preserve their meager savings.

Meanwhile, another expert who wished to remain anonymous lamented scammers’ growing use of religious titles when marketing their projects to unsuspecting victims. According to the expert, when a dubious cryptocurrency project is fronted by a religious leader, people will refrain from criticizing it. 

The expert reported,

“I have found that no one wants to be seen as the prophet of doom or enemy of progress when it comes to big and questionable projects like Zuga. Besides, the founder is a Christian leader with a considerable following who has also used his influence to project Zuga out there. Remember Inksnation.”

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Eminem And Snoop Dogg Bring The Metaverse And NFTs To The VMAs 2022

Rappers Eminem and Snoop Dogg brought their NFT avatars to life on US national television for the first time at the MTV Video Music Awards 2022 (VMAs). The duo collaborated for their single ‘From the D 2 the LBC’ and performed the track live on stage. The music video started with their NFT avatars from the Bored Ape Yacht Club, showcasing life inside Yuga Labs’ upcoming game Otherside.

Both Eminem and Snoop Dogg looked dapper in their NFT avatars as the audience grooved to their single. The avatars are showcased behind colorful backdrops bringing the performance to life. 

In the NFT and metaverse world, rappers have taken the lead. According to reports, Snoop Dogg possesses NFTs worth $17 million, and his collections are now very expensive. The musician also disclosed that he runs the fictitious Cozomo de’ Medici Twitter account, which shares NFT creativity.

On the other hand, Eminem owns 166 NFTs from 32 different collections, reported DappRadar. Earlier this year, he purchased a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT worth $452,000. The Slim Shady singer had also changed his Twitter profile picture to the Ethereum-based ape previously.

Rappers are entirely responsible for bringing NFTs into the mainstream and extending their appeal to a larger audience. Aside from Eminem and Snoop Dogg, other well-known people who own BAYC NFTs include Paris Hilton, Steph Curry, DJ Khaled, Post Malone, and Jimmy Fallon.

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Virtuzone to accept crypto via Binance Pay

Virtuzone, a leading provider of corporation and business formation services in the United Arab Emirates, has partnered with Binance to become the first organization in the nation to accept cryptocurrency for commercial use. The firm will use the Binance Pay service to facilitate its new ambitions. 

Virtuzone hopes to lower barriers to entrepreneurship by assisting companies in accepting cryptocurrency payments. Additionally, they intend to make it easier for foreign businesses to interact with the country’s thriving startup culture.  The company also aims to advance and encourage the use of cryptocurrency in the UAE.

Chairman and Co-founder of Virtuzone Neil Petch commented on this recent decision saying,

“The partnership we have forged with Binance reflects our commitment to continue our pursuit of innovative solutions that will positively impact the UAE startup community while expanding the future possibilities and opportunities for Virtuzone and its clients. Collaborating with a renowned Web 3.0 technology leader like Binance puts us at the forefront of digital transformation and the Fourth Industrial Revolution across the UAE and the region.”

George Hojeige, CEO of Virtuzone, further added,

“Our alliance with Binance is geared at generating more synergies between the business setup and crypto industries, with an overarching goal of building a crypto-friendly and tech-centric business environment where we can ease the way for the establishment of companies specializing in decentralized finance (DeFi), blockchain technologies, non-fungible token (NFT) development and trading, and more, further establishing the UAE as a pivotal hub for innovation and next-generation technologies.”

The UAE is sure to become a hub for crypto and web3 developments. Dubai, in particular, has gained a name for being crypto-friendly. Additionally, more and more crypto-related businesses are moving to the UAE for their crypto policies and ease of business.

Binance seems to be going hand-in-hand with the developments in the UAE. The Binance Pay service has supported many businesses so far.

With this collaboration, Virtuzone has joined a subset of well-known companies in the UAE that have integrated Binance Pay into their operations. Majid Al Futtaim and JA Resorts & Hotels are additional group members. Binance Pay is now accepted in 29 shopping malls, 13 hotels, and four mixed-use communities in the UAE thanks to its partnership with Majid Al Futtaim.

Binance Pay allows contactless, borderless, and secure cryptocurrency payments and transfers. The service has allowed businesses to facilitate crypto payments or payments in general without an intermediary.

The UAE’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority [VARA] has just recently implemented new regulatory requirements for the marketing, promotion, and advertising of virtual assets in Dubai. The platform aims to establish a legal framework that supports security without impeding economic growth and innovation.