The global automotive industry has shifted significantly towards electric vehicles (EVs) in recent years. This shift is aimed at reducing carbon emissions and fighting climate change. The transition to cleaner mobility has given rise to a new sector known as E-mobility or Electromobility. According to Gartner, Electromobility refers to the use of electric powertrain technologies, in-vehicle information and communication technologies, and connected infrastructures to enable the electric propulsion of vehicles and fleets^. These electric vehicles may include cars, two-wheelers, commercial vehicles, boats, and even aircraft.

Over 2.3 million electric cars were sold in the first quarter of 2023, about 25% more than in the same period last year.

Kenya, renowned for its stunning landscapes and dedication to sustainability, is actively participating in the green revolution by promoting E-Mobility. With government incentives, technological advancements, and a growing awareness of environmental issues, the use of electric vehicles in Kenya is increasing, which bodes well for a cleaner and more sustainable future.

The Current Landscape

According to a draft of Kenya's National Climate Change Action Plan (2023-2027), the country's population is undergoing rapid urbanisation, with about 50% of its people living in urban areas. This rapid urbanisation has resulted in an increased strain on the environment, leading to deforestation and pollution.

Reducing the release of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is a possible solution to the problem of climate change. Movement and transportation are the main contributors to the emission of polluting gases that have a detrimental effect on climate cycles in the long term. To address this issue early on, the government is already taking steps to restructure the mobility market.

Nigeria's heightened crackdown on cryptocurrency companies over the naira’s slide is driving the local crypto community underground, moving traders to informal channels on instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram for peer-to-peer (P2P) trading.

“They can’t shut us down,” one crypto vendor with a years-old P2P trading desk on WhatsApp told WT, asking not to be identified to protect his business.

“We have always been able to trade outside of Binance and this ban is just going to push people to trade using other means," he added noting that non-custodial (or self-custody) crypto wallets such as Trust Wallet remain useful for this purpose.

The recent suspension of P2P trades and the discontinuation of the naira/dollar stablecoin pair on major crypto exchanges, including Binance, has prompted Nigerians to explore alternative avenues, such as Telegram and WhatsApp groups, as well as employing virtual private networks (VPNs) to navigate the blockade on crypto websites.

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Kenya, the acclaimed Silicon Savannah, is reeling from turbulence in its tech landscape. Notable companies like Cellulant, Twiga, Wasoko, and MarketForce have recently grappled with disruptions ranging from layoffs, contractions, and strategic recalibrations. This raises crucial questions about the trajectory of the country's tech ecosystem.

Despite a history of relatively sizeable funding, the Kenyan tech scene faces a crossroads, prompting a closer examination of the nuanced challenges it grapples with and the strategies for a resurgence. Beneath the surface of apparent setbacks lie nuanced challenges and the potential for a reinvigorated tech landscape, insiders reckon.

“We need to get back to the fundamentals,” Mbugua Njihia, a Kenyan entrepreneur and venture builder with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry, told WT.

Kenya's tech startup ecosystem has been a key player in Africa, attracting significant funding and attention as part of the so-called ...

Private equity (PE) investment in Africa has seen a remarkable upswing in recent years. This surge can be attributed to strong economic growth, favourable demographic trends, and growing investor interest.

According to industry reports, private equity investments in Africa have been consistently increasing, with sectors such as technology, healthcare, consumer goods, and infrastructure attracting significant capital.

This increase in investment activity shows that investors have more confidence in Africa's long-term growth prospects and the continent's immense potential to offer attractive returns. This trend is expected to continue, which makes Africa an attractive destination for private equity investors who want to leverage the continent's growth potential.

The value of investments made by private capital firms in Africa remained strong despite economic uncertainty throughout the year, closing 2022 with private capital firms reporting investments worth USD 7.6 B. The number of full exits made by private investors hit a remarkable 82 deals in 2022, the largest number of exits ever recorded in a single year on the continent. 

Although Africa presents some promising opportunities for private equity investors, the industry is not without its challenges. Regulatory complexities, political instability, currency risks, and inadequate infrastructure can pose significant hurdles for those operating in the region. Additionally, finding quality deals, conducting thorough due diligence, and managing portfolio companies in diverse and often unfamiliar markets require specialized expertise and a deep understanding of local dynamics.

Nigerian fintech startup, Moniepoint, is on a growth tear demonstrated by news of last year’s impressive showing despite extended periods of turmoil in the country’s financial services sector. At the heart of Moniepoint’s boom, WT gathered, are timely manoeuvres that have proved shrewd, and yet more fresh bets aimed at future-proofing the business.

About this time a year ago, Nigeria was plunged into chaos as botched banknote reforms by the Central Bank of Nigeria triggered a four-month cash crunch, leaving Nigerians grappling with limited access to currency notes.

During this time, fintech startups whose bottom lines rely on powering agency banking services largely based on cash-in/cash-out (CICO) transactions, endured a torrid time as the cash crisis bit hard.

The cash scarcity meant less business for Nigeria’s near-ubiquitous POS agents; the country’s version of mobile money agents numbering 1 million+ currently, and therefore depleted earnings, as locals also opted out amid the transaction fees surge at POS agent posts.

Having evolved from a little-known banking software development company led by ex-banker Tosin Eniolorunda into a key player in the agency banking space since 2019, Moniepoint had plenty to lose amid a cash scarcity likely to cripple much of its 300,000-strong POS agent network across Nigeria.

“When agency banking started, it was one of the things we used to build for banks, we built a lot of their back office settlement systems. But then we realised the banks are dealing with urban areas and there's the opportunity to take it upon ourselves and go down into where loads of people need it,” Edidiong Uwemakpan, VP - Global Marketing, at Moniepoint, told WT in a wide-ranging interview that took place at the back end of last year.

“We started as an agency banking business, offering debit cards, insuring terminals, providing savings products, and even overdrafts to agents. As we expanded, we realized that agents were essentially businesses selling cash, and what if we transformed our products for agents into something we could sell to other businesses” she explained.

Thus, the company would be cushioned and propelled by a strategic move it had completed a year prior: Expanding its product suite to offer business banking solutions following the receipt of a banking license in February 2022.

“The [cash] scarcity issue changed things. Moniepoint was in a unique position. On one side, cash scarcity affected the cash-in, cash-out aspect of the agent business. On the other side, Moniepoint also had a robust business banking operation. Lots of people were coming on board to receive payments and stay in business,” Uwemakpan said.

“So even though there was a decline on one side, it was offset on the other side of the business banking environment,” she added.

Consolidation is emerging as a lifeline for business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce startups in Africa, in response to the sector's tumultuous run over the past year. The rise of these startups, hailed as supply chain disruptors connecting manufacturers with small-scale retailers, has encountered a tough reality: survival amid fierce competition and funding woes.

Efforts at joining forces, albeit not painless but with the potential to serve up collective upside, are gaining traction — exemplified by recent news that Wasoko and MaxAB, among Africa’s largest B2B e-commerce players born in Kenya and Egypt respectively, are discussing a merger to create a robust entity.

Both tip the merger to be a landmark deal, combining a gross merchandise value of USD 50 M, reports TechCabal, though it’s anticipated that this would come with a combined headcount reduction of 10 percent (~400 people).

Industry stakeholders suggest such fusion arrangements between rivals are likely to become a feature of the sector going forward.

“Besides scaling back operations to preserve cash[amid the downturn], other options include consolidation, vertical integration (which remains capital intensive) or pivoting their primary focus to differentiated products and/or services (mostly fintech offerings),” suggests Tesh Mbaabu, CEO of MarketForce; a Kenyan B2B supply platform, in a recent submission.

Retail spending in Africa is estimated at more than USD 1.4 T and B2B e-commerce startups emerged to eliminate supply-chain inefficiencies and tackle procurement constraints, including credit, in the informal retail segment with digitally-mediated solutions.

At the height of their appeal, Africa’s B2B e-commerce startups attracted huge capital, pulling in global marquee investors. In 2022, Wasoko secured a hefty USD 125 M in a Series B round led by Tiger Global. Alongside other players like MarketForce, Omnibiz and Sabi, they have collectively raised over USD 400 M, per WT Data, primarily over the three years before 2023.

As the curtain draws on a year during which the tech landscape in Africa took on unprecedented challenges yet unlocked opportunities, understanding the lessons learned from 2023 and predicting the trends for 2024 becomes pertinent.

Flourish Ventures, a global venture capital firm, has been an instrumental player, particularly in supporting fintech entrepreneurs across emerging markets amid a trying macroeconomic climate.

With a recent commitment of USD 350 M towards bolstering their investments in emerging markets, Efayomi Carr, leading the Africa investments at Flourish Ventures which counts Africa's highest-valued tech startup Flutterwave among its hits, is in the engine room.

In this exclusive interview, Efayomi shares key takeaways from 2023 and anticipates trends for the upcoming year. From lessons learned in a challenging market to predictions shaping future investment strategies, the conversation explores innovation, market shifts, and strategies for startups seeking investment in today's landscape.

The interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and brevity.

A shadow looms over the promise of vehicle financing initiatives designed to empower drivers in Nigeria's bustling ride-hailing industry. The rent-to-own model, spearheaded by companies like Moove and LagRide, heralded as a beacon of empowerment, now faces scrutiny and criticism.

It emerged recently that LagRide, an e-hailing platform backed by the Lagos State Government that is wholly based on vehicles distributed to drivers/partners on hire-purchase agreements that some perceive as repressive, was mired in a debacle involving the repossession of 21 vehicles from a partner.

LagRide, heralded as a state-backed venture empowering drivers through asset financing, encountered problems with drivers and partners, ostensibly due to lacklustre profitability amid steep terms and headwinds in Nigeria. Additionally, its attempt at an empowerment scheme through enforced vehicle ownership contracts led to a clash with drivers and the Amalgamated Union of App-Based Transporters of Nigeria, which criticised it as exploitative.

The rigidity of LagRide's asset financing, wherein drivers are obliged to pay daily instalments of NGN 8.9 K (~USD 11.27) for four years to claim ownership, clashed with the drivers' expectations. This friction, compounded by a lack of autonomy in choosing their vehicles and enduring unfavourable returns, sparked dissent within the driver community.

Cracks have also emerged elsewhere. Earlier this year, Moove, envisioned as a solution for drivers to own vehicles through daily remittances from their earnings, drew ire that went as far as drivers going on strike.

Since its inception in 2020, Moove has raised over USD 300 M from notable investors like British International Investment and the International Financial Corporation’s venture capital arm to execute an ambitious drive-to-own initiative for drivers across multiple countries seeking access to vehicles without upfront payments. However, there have been reports of discontent. Drivers, burdened by steep repayment terms and demanding work conditions, say they find themselves entangled in a web of financial strain.