Banking
Kuda Bank Raises Fresh $55m to Conquer Banking Sector
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigerian financial technology startup, Kuda Bank, has raised a Series B of $55 million at a valuation of $500 million to expand its new services for Nigeria and prepare its launch into more countries on the African continent.
The new round was co-led by existing investors, Target Global and Valar Ventures, the firm co-founded and backed by PayPal co-founder, Mr Peter Thiel, while SBI Investment and other previous angels also participated.
With the latest round of financing, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Kuda, Mr Babs Ogundeyi, said the company aims to build a new take on banking services for “every African on the planet.”
“We’ve been doing a lot of resource deployment in our operational entity, in Nigeria. But now, we are doubling down on the expansion and the idea is to build a strong team for the expansion plans for Kuda.
“We still see Nigeria as an important market and don’t want to be distracted. So, [we] don’t want to disrupt those operations too much. It’s a strong market and competitive.
“It’s one that we feel we need to have a stronghold on. So, this funding is to invest in expansion and have more experience in the company with relation to expansion,” Mr Ogundeyi said, as per TechCrunch.
Mr Ogundeyi, however, did not say which countries would be Kuda’s next targets but said that its most recently launched product was Kuda’s first move into credit.
The company’s new offering allows credit by way of an overdraft allowance, to this he says, “It’s a unique product, an overdraft that we pre-qualify the most active users for.”
In the second quarter of the year, it qualified over 200,000 users and pushed out $20 million worth of credit. With a 30-day repayment, he said that default has been “minimal” because of the company’s approach.
“We use all the data we have for a customer and allocate the overdraft proportion based on the customer’s activities, aiming for it not to be a burden to repay,” he added.
Andrew McCormack, a general partner at Valar Ventures who co-founded the firm with Peter Thiel and James Fitzgerald, said that the still-nascent potential of the market, and how Kuda is approaching that, were behind its decision to invest in the startup another time.
“Kuda is our first investment in Africa and our initial confidence in the team has been upheld by its rapid growth in the past four months,” he said. “With a youthful population eager to adopt digital financial services in the region, we believe that Kuda’s transformative effect on banking will scale across Africa and we’re proud to continue supporting them.”
This comes after they invested in the recent Series A of $25 million in March.
It was also revealed that Kuda was not proactively raising money at the time Series B was initiated and closed.
According to another one of the participants, Mr Ricardo Schäfer, the partner at Target who led the round for the firm said, “We felt that Babs and Musty” — Musty Mustapha, the co-founder and CTO — “are ambitious on another level. For them, it was always about building a Pan-African bank, not just a Nigerian leader.
“The prospect of banking over 1 billion people from day one really stood out for me at the beginning.”
Currently, Kuda has 1.4 million registered users, which is more than double the number it had in March when it had 650,000 registered users.
In December 2020, Kuda, which has its headquarters in Lagos and London, raised $10 million in a seed round, the largest-ever seed round raised by a startup out of Africa.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reaffirmed that the old and new Naira notes will continue to be used for financial transactions in the country beyond December 31, 2024.
There had been rumours that the old and redesigned N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes would no longer be legal tender from Wednesday, January 1, 2025, because the central bank would phase out the notes in compliance with a Supreme Court judgement of November 29, 2023.
But the apex bank, in a statement signed by its acting Director of Corporate Communications, Mrs Hakama Ali, on Friday, clarified that the apex court’s judgement being cited did not authorise the bank to phase out the banknotes by the end of this year.
According to her, the court allowed the CBN to leave the old and new notes to be used concurrently until it decides to gradually phase out the former.
The central bank’s spokesperson urged members of the public to disregard claims suggesting the old series of these denominations would cease to be valid at the end of this year.
She urged them to continue to accept all Naira notes for daily transactions, encouraging banks to also adopt alternative payment methods such as electronic channels to reduce the pressure on physical cash usage.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has observed the misinformation regarding the validity of the old N1000, N500, and N200 banknotes currently in circulation.
“In line with the bank’s previous clarifications and to offer further assurance, the CBN wishes to reiterate that the subsisting Supreme Court ruling granted on November 29, 2023, permits the concurrent circulation of all versions of the N1000, N500, and N200 denominations of the Naira indefinitely.
“For the avoidance of doubt, all versions of the naira, including the old and new designs of N1000, N500, and N200 denominations, as well as the commemorative and previous designs of the N100 denomination, remain valid and continue to be legal tender without any deadlines,” the statement noted.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Access Bank Plc, the banking subsidiary of Access Holdings Plc, has entered into a binding agreement with South African-based Bidvest Group Limited for the acquisition of 100 per cent equity stake in Bidvest Bank Limited.
The deal for the 24-year-old South African lender is due to be completed in the second half of 2025, upon regulatory approval.
This shows Access Bank’s further expansion plans in line with goals set by its late founder, Mr Herbert Wigwe.
The agreement to acquire 100 percent stake in Bidvest Bank reflects Access Bank’s commitment to strengthening its footprint in South Africa and consolidating on its position as the continent’s gateway to global markets as it seeks to optimise the benefits of recent acquisitions and accelerate its transition towards a greater focus on efficiencies.
Bidvest Bank, founded in 2000 is a niche and profitable South African financial institution providing a diverse range of services, including corporate and business banking solutions and diverse retail banking products.
As of its year ended June 2024, Bidvest Bank reported total assets equivalent of $665million and audited profit before tax of $20million.
Upon conclusion of this acquisition, Bidvest Bank will be merged with the bank’s existing South African subsidiary to create an enlarged platform to anchor the regional growth strategy for the SADC region.
This is coming just as the bank opened a new branch in Malta as part of efforts to focus on international trade finance after obtaining a banking licence from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA).
Access Bank said the licence marks a transformative milestone in bolstering Europe-Africa trade flows.
The Maltese branch was established by Access Bank UK Limited, the subsidiary of Access Bank Plc, which is also the subsidiary of Access Holdings Plc, which is listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
To strengthen Europe-Africa trade ties, Access Bank has opened a new branch in Malta. It will focus on international trade finance, employing approximately 30 people in its initial phase, with plans for controlled expansion over time.
It was learned that this Maltese branch was established by Access Bank UK Limited, the subsidiary of Access Bank Plc, which is also the subsidiary of Access Holdings Plc, which is listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
Access Bank Malta Limited commenced operations after obtaining a banking licence from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA).
Access Bank said the licence marks a transformative milestone in bolstering Europe-Africa trade flows.
Malta, a renowned international financial centre, and a gateway between the two continents, is strategically positioned to play a pivotal role in advancing commerce and fostering economic partnerships.
This strategic expansion into Malta enables The Access Bank UK Limited to leverage growing trade opportunities between Europe and Africa.
It underscores the organisation’s commitment to driving global trade, financial integration, and supporting businesses across these regions.
“By establishing operations in Malta, we will gain a foothold in a market that bridges European and North African economies, moving us one step closer to our goal of becoming Africa’s Gateway to the World.
“It further enhances our bank’s capacity to support clients with innovative solutions tailored to cross-border trade and investment opportunities,” the chief executive of Access Bank, Mr Roosevelt Ogbonna, stated.
“Europe has emerged as Africa’s leading trading partner, driven by initiatives such as the Economic Partnership Agreements between the EU and African regions and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“With Europe-Africa economic relations entering a new phase, The Access Bank Malta Limited is ideally positioned to deepen trade and meet the financing and banking needs of our clients in these expanding markets,” the chief executive of Access Bank UK, Mr Jamie Simmonds, commented.
Also speaking, the chief executive of Access Bank Malta, Renald Theuma, said, “Malta is uniquely positioned as a bridge between Europe and Africa, making it an ideal location for our subsidiary. This move allows The Access Bank Malta Limited to engage more closely with customers in Europe and deliver tailored financial solutions that drive growth and connectivity across both continents.”
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