According to Starlink’s website, the hardware will cost $350 with a $50 monthly subscription and Starlink mini for $200 and a $30 subscription. Unlike in other African countries where Starlink offers local currency pricing, customers in Zimbabwe will be charged in dollars. 

Starlink’s launch in Zimbabwe comes as the satellite internet service continues to make inroads into African countries despite regulatory troubles. In August, the company launched in Botswana—its sixth country in southern Africa.

In September 2023, Zimbabwe’s regulator the Postal & Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) announced that Starlink applied for a license. The regulator would later crack down on unregistered users smuggling in Starlink devices from neighbouring Zambia, warning that they were breaking the law.

In October 2023, some Zimbabwean legislators argued that Starlink’s operating license should be rejected because Musk’s other comapny, X, was being used to allegedly disparage the country’s leadership, including President Emerson Mnangagwa.

In May 2024, President Mnangagwa said the telco regulator approved the licence and a local company, IMC Communications, was appointed the official sole and exclusive reseller.

The misconduct allegations, filed by an anonymous complainant, made headlines earlier this week and reportedly led to several members of the company’s executive team threatening to resign.

One of the allegations was that Mupita  transferred responsibilities of MTN South Africa’s CEO to the unnamed executive.

The investigation found no evidence of improper conduct, and attempts to engage with the complainant were unsuccessful, MTN said in a statement on Friday.

“In its deliberations, the board accepted the report finding and is of the view that the matter has been addressed and is now closed. The board further expressed its full support for the Group Chief Executive Officer and the MTN strategy.”

The outcome of the investigation is a sigh of relief for Mupita who has come under fire over the favouritism allegations which raised serious questions about corporate governance at Africa’s biggest telco. On Tuesday, Mupita assured employees that MTN had governance processes in place to address their concerns.

Mupita also reportedly garnered the support of ten of the company’s 15  following the allegations.

Since 2021, MTN’s South Africa subsidiary has seen numerous high-ranking executives leave the company. These include CEOs Charles Molapisi, Godfrey Motsa, CTO Giovanni Chiarelli, chief strategy officer Marco Gagiano, chief sales and regional operations officer Phillip Besiimire, chief technology and information officer Michele Gamberini and chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer, Jacqui O’Sullivan.

Popat held executive positions at Citi including CFO for Middle East and Africa and Global Equities Sales and Trading. He will oversee Flutterwave’s corporate finance functions. 

With two decades of experience in global financial services across different markets, Popat will be instrumental in driving Flutterwave’s next phase of growth and financial sustainability, the company said in a statement.

“I have a deep understanding of the operating environment in Africa and complexity of operating an emerging market business and I plan to bring my experience in growing Flutterwave, while optimising our business model for sustained profitability,” Popat said.

The ex-Citi CFO replaces Bhambani who resigned just 18 months after joining the fintech startup. In March 2024, Flutterwave’s chief operating officer, Bode Abifarin left the company after six years of leading its operations. These high-profit exits had raised questions about the company’s much-talked-about IPO plans.

Popat’s hiring comes months after the company rethought its product strategy to focus on enterprise and remittance. In March 2024, it shut down the struggling Barter, a virtual card and international payments service it launched in 2017. In 2023, it relaunched its international remittances product, Send App, and launched other offerings to help local businesses swap international currencies.

“As our new CFO,  his work will be adding value to our customers – both enterprise merchants and retail remittance customers, as well as the African fintech ecosystem,” said Olugbenga Agboola, Flutterwave CEO.

“We are currently conducting a comprehensive review of the recent increase in fuel prices and considering various initiatives to minimize its impact on driver earnings. Our aim is that Uber remains the app of choice for drivers while ensuring an affordable service for riders.” Tope Akinwumi, the Nigerian country manager for Uber, told TechCabal. 

Drivers are already expecting ride-hailing platforms like Uber and Bolt that use algorithms to set prices to increase fares following the latest increase in fuel prices. While ride-hailing companies decide on raising fares, drivers are turning to Indrive, a ride-hailing platform that uses a bidding system that allows drivers and riders to set fares. 

Bolt did not respond to a request for comments.

In the meantime, in Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital, ride-hailing customers are facing a near-permanent surge in fares as fewer drivers operate on the road. Ride-hailing platforms typically use surge pricing to align ride fares with the often delicate balance of driver availability and rider demand. 

Drivers told TechCabal they are waiting for ride-hailing companies to react to the new pump price before they hit the streets. “If I buy fuel for ₦1,200 or ₦1,500, I will probably park my car at home for like three days and wait to see what Bolt and Uber will do about the new fuel price,” a gig driver told TechCabal.  

When demand exceeds supply—such as during high-demand periods or when there are insufficient drivers on the road—ride-hailing platforms apply surge pricing to incentivise drivers to get on the road. 

In May, Bolt introduced a flexible pricing system, similar to Indrive’s system, allowing passengers to offer higher fares to drivers to increase their chances of getting rides during periods of high driver demand.

“I have been in the queue all day and I still don’t have fuel by 2 p.m., that automatically means that I can not work today,” a gig driver told TechCabal on Tuesday. Long queues at filling stations have led to traffic in major areas of Lagos, which drivers say may have led to the surge. 

Drivers also told TechCabal that they have been in fuel queues since 4 a.m. but have yet to buy fuel because filling stations have not started selling today, leading to a scarcity of drivers working. 

“There is no filling station selling fuel on the island,” a driver who asked not to be named told TechCabal. He added that he had been searching for fuel for hours but is reluctant to buy at the black market rate, which hovers above ₦1,000 per litre.

Ride-hailing platforms are in an unenviable position following Tuesday’s fuel price hike as they need to appease customers—who are spoilt with options and dealing with record inflation—and drivers—who constantly demand lower commissions and increased fares. 

“We are extremely distressed by the video of Tigran in court yesterday. This video is just a snapshot of Tigran’s current reality. His health is rapidly declining and we are deeply concerned about the long-term consequences of this unjust detention,” a Binance spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Nigeria does not need to keep Tigran in order for us to settle any alleged past issues. We continue to implore the Government of Nigeria to let Tigran return home and let us continue in our engagements.”

Gambrayan, a US citizen who is remanded in Kuje prison, faces money laundering charges filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alongside Binance, which the company denies.

His lawyers filed a new bail application citing his deteriorating health condition. But the EFCC counsel opposed the application based his medical records. The court will rule on the bail application on September 4.

The detention of Gambaryan and his escaped colleague Najeem Arjawalla was part of the Nigerian government’s crackdown on cryptocurrency despite the Central Bank lifting a three-year ban on crypto-related banking transactions.

Gambaryan’s continued detention has raised serious questions about Nigeria’s hard stance on crypto. Months after authorities blamed Binance for currency volatility, the naira has fallen sharply but the Binance executive remains in detention. In June, two US lawmakers called for his immediate release after visiting him in Kuje prison, heightening political pressure surrounding his trial in Nigeria.

Sixteen American lawmakers also accused Nigerian authorities of holding the American citizen hostage. On June 6, Axios reported that a group of former prosecutors and federal agents wrote to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, urging him to “step up” efforts to secure Gambaryan’s release.

It is the second major fuel increase for a country that tried to end costly fuel subsidies in May 2023 when prices tripled from around ₦200 per litre. A second fuel hike in over a year will raise operating costs for last-mile delivery companies and food delivery businesses. Gig drivers, who have endured a tough year, will be among the worst hit. 

Unlike last-mile and food delivery companies that pass on costs to customers, gig drivers do not set their prices. And cabs, still largely considered a luxury for most Nigerians, may experience softer demand if price increases are passed on to customers. 

Ride-hailing companies like Bolt, Uber, and InDrive, which use algorithms to set prices, are wary of steep price increases in a country where incomes are already under pressure. 

Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comments.

“I now use public transportation and Uber when I am going on long distances and public transportation when I am going on short distances,” a product designer in Lagos told TechCabal. 

As customers adjust, gig drivers who face increasing maintenance costs because of record inflation—headline inflation quickened to 34.19% in June 2024—are also becoming pragmatic. 

“It got to a stage when any ride that comes in for ₦1,500 or ₦2,000, I don’t attend to them because I know what I go through to get fuel,” a gig driver who asked not to be named told TechCabal.

Beyond pragmatism, gig drivers, who often have to meet daily targets to earn bonuses from ride-hailing companies, have asked for fare increases. Warning strikes, dialogues with ride-hailing companies and conversations with the government have been part of their strategies to force fare increases. 

They also want these companies to reduce their commission on driver earnings from around 25% to 10%. It is unclear if that margin works for the companies. A similar situation happened in Kenya, where drivers began to impose their ride prices. 

“They have to adjust their prices because they cannot expect drivers to make money for them and expect them to make low prices. If they don’t increase fares, the drivers will frustrate the platform”, a gig driver told TechCabal. 

The drivers and their partner companies are locked in this delicate balance, with each weakened by Nigeria’s poor macroeconomic condition. While a price increase looks inevitable, it is unlikely to improve the drivers’ fortunes. If anything, the most likely outcome is more friction between gig drivers and ride-hailing companies for the next few months.   

*Additional reporting by Muktar Oladunmade

While the Central Bank lifted a directive restricting banks from “dealing in cryptocurrencies or facilitating payments for cryptocurrency exchanges” in December 2023, it began asking banks to block the accounts of p2p traders by May 2024. 

On August 23, 2024, a high court in Uyo, Nigeria, denied an application to unfreeze Patrick Okon’s Kuda bank account. The restrictions on his account were directly linked to crypto payments. In April, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) asked a court to block over 1,000 bank accounts over crypto links. 

In March 2024, Nigeria’s financial regulators blocked prominent fintechs from onboarding new customers for five weeks as a currency crisis worsened. It moved against Binance on claims that the platform allowed for manipulation of the naira and detained two of the company’s executives. 

While the case against the detained Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan drags on, the CBN compelled fintechs to block any account believed to be trading crypto. The SEC, which issued last week’s crypto licences, also held several meetings in May suggesting that exchanges should block p2p transactions out of patriotism. 

These policy flip-flops make it likely that banks and fintechs will continue to distance themselves from crypto-related activities. 

“Crypto is still persona non grata. The CBN has not openly accepted it yet,” one bank executive who asked not to be named told TechCabal.

Banks are ignoring the provisional licences the Securities Exchange Commission  (SEC) issued to Quidax and Busha, said highly placed executives at prominent fintech startups.  

Omotimi Agama, the SEC’s director-general, insisted to TechCabal that “the CBN has lifted any ban.”

While Agama’s position is accurate, banks and financial institutions prefer to play it safe with the Central Bank, always choosing caution. 

“The devil is in the details,” a top executive at one of the fintechs told TechCabal.  “The [guideline] is confusing, and the processes are challenging.”

Chike Okonkwo, the founder of Gamic, a blockchain startup, that claims to have been speaking to the SEC since 2019, understands the banks’ position. 

“If that circular [greenlighting] the banking of crypto firms is binding, why can’t retail traders freely add crypto to the description of their banking transactions?”

Busha, one of the new licensees, is more optimistic and anticipates a better relationship between banks and crypto companies. 

“The issuance of the crypto licences is a critical step in maturing the industry. It means that users can engage with operators with increased confidence, which should generally deepen the market,” a spokesperson for Busha said. The company also claims that it is ready for whatever “tight but effective regulations” are deemed necessary by the CBN.

Until then, banks and fintechs will continue sitting on their hands in understandable fear of the CBN’s hammer. 

“Nigerian banking laws are not customer-friendly,” a highly placed fintech executive told TechCabal, adding that “Financial institutions [retain] the right to freeze any account they have reasonable suspicions about any infraction or illicit activity.”

Are crypto trades illegal? Two new licences and the CBN’s December 2023 directive say they’re not. However, one operations manager at a commercial bank states, ” We can only acknowledge the license after receiving instructions from the CBN, our regulator.”

The SEC opened an investigation into Tingo Group in 2023 and filed charges against the company and its CEO in December. The company, which has often described itself as an agri-fintech and reported millions of dollars in revenue, was listed on the NASDAQ.

However, the SEC alleged that the company inflated its financial performance. One of its subsidiaries Tingo Mobile reported cash and cash equivalents of $461.7 million for 2022 in its Nigerian bank accounts, but its actual bank balance was less than $50, the SEC said.

“The judgments, entered on the basis of default, enjoin Mmobuosi, Tingo Group, Agri-Fintech Holdings, and Tingo International Holdings from violating the anti-fraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. “

Despite Tingo’s denial of the charges, the company and its CEO did not enter a defense in the civil complaint, said the Financial Times.

Judge Jesse M. Furman of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered Mmobuosi and his three US-based entities to pay more than $250mn in fines.

Despite its grand claims, Tingo has long been regarded as a curiosity, given how little was known about the company.

“The referenced Approvals-in-Principle are a precursor to the grant of full registration by the SEC and are meant to ensure that appropriate protection and transparency is in place in respect of each product or service,” the SEC said in a statement on Thursday.

The two companies will operate under the Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Program (ARIP) introduced in July 2024. ARIP was created to onboard crypto exchanges which had commenced operations before the SEC released rules on virtual asset service providers in May 2022. 

“The license admits the startups into the SEC’s accelerated regulatory incubator which allows us to study them and fashion rules [to guide their operations],” SEC Director General Emomotimi Agama said on a call with TechCabal.

“Millions of Nigerian crypto enthusiasts and users deserve safe and moderated local venues for managing and trading crypto-assets, and this is an overdue step to sanitise the space for the benefit of the economy, in line with global expectations,” Busha CEO Michael Adeyeri wrote on X.

Quidax also confirmed it has received the provisional licence.

This ends months of uncertainty about the regulator’s stance on issuing crypto licences. Last week, several publications claimed that the SEC approved a provisional licence to a major crypto platform—a claim the regulator denied. In January 2024, TechCabal reported that at least two crypto exchanges were in talks with the SEC over a crypto licence after the Central Bank lifted a two-year ban on crypto-related banking transactions.

It will also signal a major policy turnaround for crypto exchanges that have faced increased scrutiny from Nigerian regulators since February 2024. The SEC has talked up banning P2P trading which Nigerian authorities blame for the volatility in the FX market. In May 2024, the SEC DG met with crypto industry players and reiterated the need for crypto exchanges to delist naira from P2P trading. 

Based on that audit, investors alleged Adesanmi misrepresented the company’s financial position, mismanaged and misappropriated $1.5 million, said two people who asked not to be named so they could speak freely. The matter was reported to law enforcement in March, those people said, as the company began recovering funds.

Investors were surprised by Spleet’s decision to lay off employees in February 2024, said one person with direct knowledge of the matter. That person suggested investors were misled about Spleet’s finances in monthly status reports.

“We’re letting go of some team members because when prices went up, landlords began renewing at 0.8 to 2.2x last year’s rent,” Adesanmi told TechCabal in February. “Many of our tenants can’t afford that, and the best way to continue as a business is to lay off people.”

Investors weren’t the only ones the layoffs took by surprise. At least three former employees said they were blindsided by the decision because the company had only concluded a new round of hiring in December 2023.

Co-founded in 2018 by Adetola Adesanmi, Spleet provided an alternative to paying rent annually in Lagos. It connected tenants with properties they could rent monthly but soon found that that business model was difficult to scale.

“Growth was slow on the landlords’ side. We just couldn’t add as many landlords as we wanted to on time,” Adesanmi told TechCabal in 2022. It moved from being a marketplace for landlords and tenants to building infrastructure.

According to Crunchbase, the company raised $260,000 in a family and friends round in 2019. It raised $625,000 in a 2021 pre-seed round from investors like MaC Venture, Ajim Capital, and Daba Finance and $2.6 million in a 2022 seed round led by MaC Venture.

MaC Venture did not immediately respond to a request for comments.

Daniela Ajala, who joined the business as business development lead in 2019 before becoming Chief Operating Officer (COO) in 2020 now leads Spleet and has also been named cofounder.

Adesanmi declined to comment on any part of this story, citing confidential legal processes.

Spleet has remained the last one standing in the early class of proptech startups that sprung up from 2015. Pioneered by Fibre.ng, those startups believed they could disrupt the Lagos real estate market by offering monthly payment options.

Their assumptions soon ran into a hard reality: without fixing the massive housing shortage, landlords—and the agents who play a big role in the rental process—have no incentive to change the model. This left businesses at the mercy of landlords, and many of them soon shut down.

Yet, Spleet outlasted the pack by quickly realising that the juice was not in trying to change the hearts and minds of landlords who saw nothing wrong with the status quo. People close to the company believe this leadership change is just a pebble in the road; for Spleet, the road itself extends ceaselessly into the horizon with promise.

*MaC Venture is an investor in Big Cabal Media, TechCabal’s parent company.