Economy
Janngo Gets €1m Seed Funding to Grow African SMEs
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Janngo has announced successfully closing its first funding round, launching its Paris and Abidjan offices and unveiling its strategy of building digital ecosystems in Africa during Paris Tech for Good Summit and Viva Technology.
This €1 million seed funding will enable Janngo launch and grow new digital platforms targeting African SMEs while creating tech-enabled jobs at scale for women and youth.
According to founder and CEO of Janngo, Fatoumata Bâ, “With Janngo, we want to empower African SMEs, leveraging technology to improve access to market and business performance. We build turnkey solutions to support their growth, access new market opportunities, build capacity, improve their productivity and boost their competitiveness.”
The firm plans to launch digital solutions tackling challenges faced by African SMEs with the company demonstrating its ability to attract both African and international capital with a pool of experimented investors including Mulliez Family, a family office with a long-term patrimonial vision; Clipperton, a leading independent Investment bank fully focused on high growth Technology companies and backed by Natixis; and Soeximex, leader in international trading supporting access to consumer goods in West Africa for more than 5 decades and specialized in commodity and vehicles trading.
“We are excited to be leading Janngo’s first funding round as they embark on a journey of building world-class digital services for SMEs, at the backbone of African economies. With this investment, we demonstrate again our vision of enabling passionate entrepreneurs promoting innovation that make sense and creating a larger and long-term impact on the whole ecosystem.
“We have recently opened an office in Nairobi which illustrates our commitment and trust in Africa” comments Benoît Leclercq, President of Pole Innovation Metiers of Mulliez Family.
“Clipperton supports Janngo since inception. It’s unusual for investment bankers to join a seed round but Janngo has achieved unanimous backing, a great testimony of the quality of their vision combined with the team’s track record and execution capabilities.
“We see them as a potential tech champion in Africa, in line with our core focus and positioning as technology experts for high growth tech companies with global ambitions,” explains Nicolas von Bulow, Managing Partner at Clipperton.
“Soeximex Group is very proud to be backing Janngo. We were not only convinced by the relevance of their vision but also by the strong social component of their approach. Our African roots motivate us to endeavour to give back to this amazing continent, while contributing to build robust business models, capable of delivering economic performance for the ecosystem,” highlights Christel Dagher Hayeck, Senegalese-born Director of Soeximex.
“We are extremely proud to have been able to bring together this quality of investors onboard, committed to delivering our vision of technology as a lever of betterment of our society. They come with a unique blend of expertise as leaders in their respective fields combined with a long term vision and commitment to Africa, a strong mission alignment and values fit, solid operational synergies and evergreen funding, particularly critical for Africa where patient capital is needed to deliver sustainable impact.
“The successful closing of our €1 million seed funding is only a first step towards delivering our long term vision,” adds Fatoumata Bâ, Founder & CEO of Janngo.
Combining the very best of marketplaces and SAAS business models to serve the real economy, with an inclusive approach has been an ongoing passion turned into reality by Fatoumata Bâ, Founder of Jumia in Côte d’Ivoire, previously Managing Director of Jumia in Nigeria and Member of Jumia Executive Committee at Africa level, having driven the performance of up to 130 websites and mobile apps across the continent in more than 30 countries, with an impact of more than 3000 direct jobs, 70 000 indirect jobs and opportunities created for hundreds of thousands of SMEs in Africa.
African SMEs represent up to 17 percent of the GDP but face fragmented markets, prohibitively expensive operational costs, under optimized and non-integrated supply chains with limited access to international markets, insufficient capacity and limited access to capital to scale their business; yet, they generate more than 85% of jobs on the continent, with major untapped opportunities. With fast growing markets such as Côte d’Ivoire consistently delivering a record 8% growth, a booming middle class, a continent home to more 1 million inhabitant cities than Europe already and mobile leapfrog pioneers such as Nigeria, with the highest number of mobile internet users worldwide.
“We strongly believe that our central thesis of being a technology-driven backer of African SMEs is a powerful lever to accelerate growth, owing to their preponderant role in the larger economy.
“That’s why Janngo mobilizes both technology and capital, providing solutions to grow their business, win additional markets, further build their capacity, accelerate their growth and enable their market expansion to ultimately become national, regional or pan-African champions,” explains Fatoumata Bâ.
In a context where African countries are getting ready to tackle an unprecedented demographic challenge with more than 900 millions of jobs needed to absorb the growing labor pool by 2030, Janngo develops a double bottom-line approach boosting value creation from African start-ups and SMEs while contributing to the economic empowerment of women and youth.
“This is most likely our bigger challenge and best answer to the sense of urgency : create, via our platforms and our ecosystem of SMEs, directly and indirectly, qualified jobs at scale enabling as many women and young individual to earn their living with stable and recurring income.
“Many African countries are recording record high GDP growth at a global level but these numbers need to be translated into concrete improvement of population living conditions, higher disposable income and more job opportunities.
“If we manage, through Janngo, to generate long-term job opportunities at scale, especially for women and youth, while creating more opportunities for thousands of African SMEs in the coming years, then only we would be able to say that our mission is accomplished. It’s our North and the cement of our team,” concludes Fatoumata Bâ.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Vice President, Mr Kashim Shettima, inaugurated the Board of the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP) and gave a 50 per cent access target for workers, saying consumer credit was critical to Nigeria’s ambition of becoming a one-trillion-dollar economy by 2030.
According to him, President Bola Tinubu established the CREDICORP to build a trusted credit infrastructure, provide catalytic capital to lower borrowing costs, and help Nigerians overcome long-standing cultural resistance to credit.
Speaking on Thursday in Abuja when he inaugurated the board on behalf of the President, the Vice President, in a statement by his spokesman, Mr Stanley Nkwocha, said that the quality of life of Nigerians cannot improve without closing the gap between access to capital and human dignity.
“A civil servant who earns honestly does not have to chase sudden wealth just to buy a vehicle, or save for ten years to buy one. A young professional should not remain in darkness simply because solar power must be paid for all at once,” the Vice President said.
VP Shettima disclosed that in just one year of operations, CREDICORP has disbursed over ₦37 billion in consumer credit to more than 200,000 Nigerians, with over half of them accessing formal credit for the first time.
The Vice President said the organisation was specifically tasked with building credit infrastructure to bridge the trust gap between lenders and borrowers, providing wholesale capital and credit guarantees through its portfolio company.
“Ultimately, these critical jobs of CREDICORP will enable access to consumer credit to at least 50 per cent of working Nigerians by 2030,” he said.
The Vice President explained that the new board’s role was not ceremonial as they are custodians of the organisation’s mission, adding that the long-term strength of the institution would depend on their “vigilance, integrity, sacrifice, and commitment.”
He directed Board members to uphold Public Service Rules, the Board Charter, and all applicable governance frameworks, warning that accountability and stewardship of public resources were non-negotiable.
The Chairman of CREDICORP, Mr Aderemi Abdul, expressed appreciation to President Tinubu for his vision behind the formation of CREDICORP and for the confidence reposed in them, noting that the establishment of the corporation marked an important step towards strengthening the nation’s financial architecture.
He assured President Tinubu that the board understands its responsibility and will guide the institution to deliver meaningful benefits to Nigerians.
For his part, Mr Uzoma Nwagba, Managing Director/CEO of CREDICORP, recalled watching President Tinubu say 20 years ago that consumer credit is one of the major tools that will improve the lives of Nigerians.
He noted that over the past 18 months, the institution has benefited more than 200,000 Nigerians, including students.
He assured that the presidential vision behind CREDICORP would not be taken lightly, as the team considers their appointments a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Other members of the board inaugurated include Mrs Olanike Kolawole, Executive Director, Operations; Mrs Aisha Abdullahi, Executive Director, Credit and Portfolio Management; Mr Armstrong Ume-Takang (MD, MoFI), Representative of MoFI; Mrs Bisoye Coke-Odusote (DG, NIMC), Representative of NIMC; and Mr Mohammed Naziru Abbas, Representative of FMITI.
Others are Mr Marvin Nadah, Representative of FCCPC; Mrs Chinonyelum Ndidi, Representative of the Federal Ministry of Finance; Mr Mohammed Abbas Jega, Independent Director; and Mrs Toyin Adeniji, Independent Director.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Six price gainers helped the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange retain its stay in green territory after a 0.23 per cent appreciation on Thursday, February 26.
The price gainers were led by Nipco Plc, which added N25.00 to close at N278.00 per share compared with the previous day’s N253.00 per share, NASD Plc rose by N5.13 to N56.41 per unit versus N51.28 per unit, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc expanded by N2.24 to N102.44 per share from N100.00 per share, Afriland Properties Plc grew by 88 Kobo to N18.88 per unit from N18.00 per unit, 11 Plc increased by 35 Kobo to N277.00 per share from N276.65 per share, and Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC) Plc gained 27 Kobo to close at N3.75 per unit versus N3.48 per unit.
On the flip side, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc lost N1.75 to sell at N68.25 per share versus N70.00 per share, and Geo-Fluids Plc depreciated by 2 Kobo to N3.25 per unit from N3.27 per unit.
The weight of the advancers fortified the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 9.21 points to 4,034.46 points from 4,025.25 points, and the market capitalisation soared by N5.51 billion to N2.413 trillion from Wednesday’s N2.408 trillion.
Yesterday, the transaction value jumped by 18.8 per cent to N102.8 million from N80.7 million, and the number of deals surged by 18,8 per cent to 38 deals from 32 deals, while the transaction volume went down by 84.9 per cent to 1.3 million units from 8.7 million units.
At the close of business, CSCS Plc was the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 34.2 million units worth N2.04 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 6.3 million units sold for N1.1 billion, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 122.1 million units valued at N478.2 million.
Resourcery Plc remained as the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.05 billion units exchanged for N408.7 million, trailed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 122.1 million worth N478.2 million, and CSCS Plc with 34.2 million units traded for N2.04 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira further weakened against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) for the fourth straight session this week on Thursday, February 26.
At the official market yesterday, the Nigerian Naira lost N3.71 or 0.27 per cent to trade at N1,359.82/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,356.11/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window on Thursday by N8.27 to close at N1,843.23/£1 versus Wednesday’s closing price of N1,834.96/£1, and against the Euro, it crashed by N8.30 to quote at N1,606.89/€1, in contrast to the midweek’s closing price of N1,598.59/€1.
But at the GTBank forex desk, the exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar remained unchanged at N1,367/$1, and also at the parallel market, it maintained stability at N1,365/$1.
The continuation of the decline of the Nigerian currency is attributed to a surge in foreign payments that have outpaced the available Dollars in the FX market.
In a move to address the ongoing shortfall at the official window, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervened by selling $100 million to banks and dealers on Tuesday.
However, the FX support failed to reverse the trend, though analysts see no cause for alarm, given that the authority recently mopped up foreign currency to achieve balance and it is still within the expected trading range of N1,350 and N1,450/$1.
As for the cryptocurrency market, major tokens posted losses over the last 24 hours as traders continued to de-risk alongside equities following Nvidia’s earnings-driven pullback, with Ripple (XRP) down by 2.7 per cent to $1.40, and Dogecoin (DOGE) down by 1.6 per cent to $0.0098.
Further, Litecoin (LTC) declined by 1.3 per cent to $55.87, Ethereum (ETH) slipped by 0.9 per cent to $2,036.89, Bitcoin (BTC) tumbled by 0.7 per cent to $67,708.21, Cardano (ADA) slumped by 0.6 per cent to $0.2924, and Solana (SOL) depreciated by 0.4 per cent to $87.22, while Binance Coin (BNB) gained 0.4 per cent to sell for $629.95, with the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closing flat at $1.00 each.
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