Economy
Mr Eazi, Others Invest $9m in PawaPay
By Adedapo Adesanya
An African payments company, PawaPay, has secured a $9 million seed fund from investors which include the Nigerian-Ghanaian music star, Tosin Ajibade, otherwise known as Mr Eazi.
The round was co-led by MSA and UK-based investment fund 88mph, with participation from Vunani Capital, Kepple Ventures and Mr Eazi’s Zagadat Capital.
The capital will be deployed to scale the United Kingdon based company’s operational presence, find more talent to join the team and expand into new markets on the continent.
Founded in 2020, PawaPay started off from online sports betting company, betPawa, and is focused on the mobile money infrastructure provided by telecommunications companies (telco) in Africa.
The company seeks to challenge the problems facing payments in Africa made difficult by large unbanked populations, declined credit card transactions, charge-backs, fraud, dropped and lost payments and slow cross-border settlements.
However, through PawaPay’s simple application programming interface (API), merchants can access more than 300 million customers in more than 10 markets and enjoy seamless, transparent and highly reliable payments.
With the single API, PawaPay’s customers can access all telco mobile money systems and thus receive and send payments to hundreds of millions of people.
PawaPay handles local operations, compliance, regulatory cover and bank accounts, making it as simple as clicking a button to start receiving payments in a new market. It is already successfully handling millions of transactions on its rails per week and has operations in 10 countries.
Commenting on the funds secured by the company and its growth prospects, Mr Nikolai Barnwell, CEO of PawaPay said, “We’re making a bet that this infrastructure will continue to grow and offer a superior experience than traditional financial infrastructures such as card and banking.
“With more than 500 million registered users on the continent, 200 million of which are active frequent users, this isn’t a fringe fad or a stepping stone to cards and swift payments. This is an example for the rest of the world of how payments could – and should look.
“Most of our competitors are largely focused on bank and card payments, but over the past many years, we have been laser-focused on addressing the unique set of challenges that accompanies specializing in mobile money.
“I think this gives us a good position to explore the opportunities that are coming up as this alternative financial infrastructure continues to grow.
“We are excited to have world-class investors supporting our vision to connect every mobile money wallet in Africa to each other, and the rest of the world, as we continue to make it simpler to do payments.”
Mr Kresten Buch, founder of 88mph, added “When we first invested in Africa in 2010, one of the key drivers was that mobile money was a superior payment method to credit and debit cards when used for online payment.
“So, we are excited to be an investor in PawaPay’s journey and continue to witness the development of digital infrastructure in Africa.”
On his part, Mr Eazi stated that, “Being investors hugely focused on Africa and very familiar with the landscape, we believe that mobile money-focused fintech is not just one of the most exciting places to invest but also one of the most important bridges to ensuring financial inclusion of the billions of people across the continent, the kicker for us was that we believe in the clear mission, vision and strategy and we are confident that the PawaPay team is the best team to achieve it.”
By Dipo Olowookere
The need to make the Nigerian stock market more attractive to retail investors has again been emphasised by a business enthusiast and food expert.
The chief executive of UAC Foods, Mr Oluyemi Oloyede, said efforts must be made by the regulators to ensure the man on the street understands the stock exchange and the capital market like the back of his hand.
In a post on Sunday, Mr Oloyede specifically gave this task to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, noting that it should educate Nigerians on how to trade equities so as to make the space robust, which he insinuated would be good for the economy.
This, he said, can be achieved through an intensive investor education to further improve confidence in the market.
“The Nigerian stock exchange needs to bring the market to the streets, to social media, to the commonplaces where Nigerians can understand what the market is about and break down big concepts to simple, everyday languages. People are putting hard earned money in wrong places,” he said in the post yesterday.
The NGX has been churning out some activities to carry retail investors along, including organising workshops to explain how the market works.
It also recently introduced a cutting-edge web application known as NGX Invest, which is designed to transform the primary market equity capital-raising process, specifically public offers and rights issues.
This online capital-raising platform has been approved by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and was introduced in line with NGX Group’s commitment to market development.
The platform was created to boost retail participation in the capital market, promote financial inclusion and further deepen the pool of available capital in the market by enhancing its capabilities to fulfil the needs of Issuers and other market stakeholders.
Last year, the NGX released a new edition of a unique comic book, StockTown, designed to promote financial literacy among the younger generation of Nigerians.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian government has stopped the issuance of waivers for the importation of threaded pipes, a key component in oil and gas operations that drains Nigeria’s foreign reserves by over $1 billion annually, as part of efforts to plug capital flight and boost local manufacturing.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Mr Heineken Lokpobiri, announced this at the commissioning of Monarch Alloys Limited’s coating plant in Lagos.
He said Nigeria does not justify importing pipes when local capacity is being developed, stressing that investments like Monarch Alloys must be patronized to stimulate industrialization, reduce import dependency, and create jobs for Nigerians.
“Let me state clearly today: no more waivers for the importation of threaded pipes into this country. We have a duty to support our industries to grow. We will not allow dumping of pipes or such things anymore.
“It makes no sense for Nigeria to continue spending hard-earned forex on products we now have the capacity to produce locally. This is why we are stopping waivers immediately,” he stated.
The directive was handed to the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), which oversees compliance with the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act.
The newly commissioned plant boasts an annual external coating capacity of two million square meters and one million square meters for internal coating. It is designed to meet the needs of both onshore and offshore pipeline projects, including high-spec applications that demand advanced corrosion protection.
Also speaking, the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr John Owan Enoh, described the facility as a transformative development.
“This investment is a strong testament to Nigeria’s industrialization drive. It reduces our dependence on imports, creates jobs, and expands the value chain,” he said, noting that Monarch Alloys is a model for public-private collaboration and pledged continued government support to ensure a thriving investment environment.
On his part, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr Felix Omatsola Ogbe, praised the initiative as a strategic win for local content, warning that sourcing key elements like pipeline coatings from abroad saps the economy of opportunities and value.
“This facility is aligned with the Nigerian Content Equipment Certificate scheme under the NOGICD Act. It gives companies like Monarch Alloys priority consideration during technical bid evaluations in the oil and gas industry.
“That era must end. This facility introduces high-performance 3LPE and concrete weight coating capability into Nigeria, keeping technical and economic value within our borders.”
“The economic implications are significant including job creation, skills development, stimulation of local manufacturing, and logistics. Monarch Alloys is not just meeting a sectoral need; it is contributing to national development,” Mr Ogbe added, urging operators in the industry to prioritize partnerships with local manufacturers.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange fell by 0.24 per cent on Friday, April 25 after the duo of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc and Afriland Properties Plc landed on the losers’ table.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N2.58 to sell at N35.37 per unit compared with the previous day’s N37.95 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 2 Kobo to close at N17.78 per share versus Thursday’s closing value of N17.80 per share.
However, Geo-Fluids Plc appreciated by 10 Kobo during the trading day to sell for N1.80 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1.70 per unit. The rise in the price of the stock could not prevent the fall of the bourse yesterday.
Consequently, the market capitalisation of the trading platform went down by N4.64 billion to N1.914 trillion from N1.918 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) declined by 7.92 points to 3,269.06 points from 3,276.98 points.
The final trading session of the week ended with a surge of 1,695.8 per cent in the volume of securities transacted to 3.7 billion units from the 206.2 milion units transacted in the previous trading day.
Equally, the value of transactions jumped by 2,592.6 per cent to N9.5 billion from N354.1 million on Thursday, and the number of deals decreased by 47.4 per cent to 20 deals from the 38 deals recorded a day earlier.
Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units sold for N520.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 259.3 million units worth N456.1 million, and Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units valued at N4.9 billion.
Also, Okitipupa Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 153.6 million units valued at N4.9 billion, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 15.6 million units worth N598.5 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 533.9 million units sold for N520.9 million.
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