Economy
NowNow Raises $13m to Promote African Financial Inclusion
By Adedapo Adesanya
NowNow Digital Systems has raised $13 million in its seed round to improve financial inclusion across Africa by providing financial services to the unbanked and underbanked in the continent.
The funding round led by NeoVision Ventures Ltd., DLF Family Office, and Shadi Abdulhadi heralds NowNow’s plans to scale and expand its service offerings across Africa.
With the newly secured funds, NowNow will drive financial empowerment as well as introduce new products which will further enhance its already existing consumer banking, agency banking, and merchant payment solutions.
Equipped with a rapidly growing product suite and highly agile technology platform, NowNow seeks to build the world’s best technology that digitizes cash payments for Africans.
Speaking on this, Mr Sahir Berry, CEO/co-founder, NowNow, shared NowNow’s renewed commitment and vision to include everyone financially.
“Today, we announce that we have moved to the next stage of our commitment to drive financial access and empowerment for Africans at the last mile. With the secured funding, we look to not only provide services that include everyone financially but also upscale our agile ecosystem which ensures that our multidimensional offering remains a market leader.
“The credit facility will also support our unique strategy to advance financial inclusion and independence through financial education. The interest and backing of our investors will enable us to grow our world-class team as we would be unveiling innovative products and services,” Mr Berry said.
On his part, Mr Gary Peters, Managing Partner of Capital V Ltd, said, “One of the key elements that propelled us to invest in NowNow through one of our funds is based on the founders’ tenacity to grow the company to a viable level, as well as overcoming many challenges and market cycles since its inception in 2018. Its core business and vision of digitizing the African region through facilitating daily payment services is also another important element.
“Whenever we meet a company founder like Sahir Berry, whose leadership’s vision aligns with Capital V’s fund of funds strategy to back disruptive and high-potential start-ups, especially in emerging markets like Africa, the decision process becomes easier.”
NowNow is focused on solving everyday financial challenges by creating the largest fintech ecosystem in Africa as well as supporting the financial inclusion goal in the continent.
The fintech platform was recently selected to participate in the Mastercard Start Path Global program created to help later-stage startups innovate and scale.
Proceeds from NowNow’s seeding round will focus on improving Africa’s financial inclusivity and help bridge the gap between the banked and unbanked in Nigeria.
The African Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Company (B2C) FinTech company, recently partnered with the Lagos Business School’s (LBS) Sustainable Inclusive Digital Financial Services (SIDFS) to initiate a financial education and literacy program aimed at driving Nigeria’s financial inclusion growth. NowNow will utilize SIDFS’s rich data, library content, and resources to provide financial and digital literacy tools for its customers to ensure smart financial planning.
NowNow says it is on a mission to deliver best-in-class financial services to SMEs, banking agents, and consumers, and to provide financial empowerment to Africans.
Some of NowNow’s customers in Nigeria, have never had a bank account, so it is the company’s social mission to provide the proper educational support. With the funding, NowNow aims to advance the introduction of other innovative solutions in the region to help create a more financially inclusive continent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria added 150,000 barrels per day to its crude production in November 2024 as it continues to pursue an ambitious 2 million barrels per day target.
According to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Nigeria’s oil production rose to 1.48 million barrels per day in November, up from 1.33 million barrels per day the previous month.
In its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR), OPEC revealed that at 1.48 million barrels per day, it is the continent’s leading oil producer, surpassing Algeria’s 908,000 barrels per day and Congo’s 268,000 barrels per day.
Business Post reports that OPEC doesn’t account for condensates, which Nigeria’s accounts for in its broader 2 million barrels per day target.
Despite the surge in production levels, Nigeria is still under producing its 1.5 million barrels per day output quota under a deal involving OPEC and 10 other producers known as OPEC+.
OPEC said it relied on primary data gotten through direct communication, noting that secondary sources reported 1.417 million barrels per day as Nigeria’s crude production in November — up from 1.4 million barrels per day in October.
The data also shows that OPEC’s total oil production among its 12 members rose by 104,000 barrels per day in the month under review.
According to secondary sources, the total of the 12 OPEC countries’ crude oil production averaged 26.66 million barrels per day in November 2024.
“Crude oil output increased mainly in Libya, Iran, and Nigeria, while production in Iraq, Venezuela, and Kuwait decreased”, OPEC said.
“At the same time, total non-OPEC DoC crude oil production averaged 14.01 mb/d in November 2024, which is 219 tb/d higher, m-o-m. Crude oil output increased mainly in Kazakhstan and Malaysia,” the organisation added.
In a related development, OPEC trimmed its 2024 and 2025 oil demand growth forecasts for the fifth time this year.
Now, the cartel expects the world’s oil demand growth at 1.61 million barrels per day from the previously 1.82 million barrels per day.
For 2025, OPEC says the world oil demand growth forecast is now at 1.45 million barrels per day, a 900,000 barrels per day cut from the previously expected 1.54 million barrels per day.
On the changes, OPEC says that the downgrade for this year owes to more bearish data received in the third quarter of 2024 while the projections for next year relate to the potential impact that will arise from US tariffs.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Afriland Properties Plc and Geo-Fluids Plc crashed the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by a marginal 0.06 per cent on Wednesday, December 11 due to profit-taking activities.
The OTC securities exchange experienced a downfall at midweek despite UBN Property Plc posting a price appreciation of 17 Kobo to close at N1.96 per share, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing price of N1.79.
Business Post reports that Afriland Properties Plc slid by N1.14 to finish at N15.80 per unit versus the preceding day’s N16.94 per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc declined by 1 Kobo to trade at N3.92 per share compared with the N3.93 it ended a day earlier.
At the close of transactions, the market capitalisation of the bourse, which measures the total value of securities on the platform, shrank by N650 million to finish at N1.055 trillion compared with the previous day’s N1.056 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went down by 1.86 points to wrap the session at 3,012.50 points compared with 3,014.36 points recorded in the previous session.
The alternative stock market was busy yesterday as the volume of securities traded by investors soared by 146.9 per cent to 5.9 million units from 2.4 million units, as the value of shares transacted by the market participants jumped by 360.9 per cent to N22.5 million from N4.9 million, and the number of deals increased by 50 per cent to 21 deals from 14 deals.
When the bourse closed for the day, Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.7 billion units valued at N3.9 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units worth N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc 297.5 million units sold for N5.3 million.
Also, Aradel Holdings Plc, which is now listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited after its exit from NASD, remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 108.7 million units sold for N89.2 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.5 million units worth N5.3 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The euphoria around the recent appreciation of the Naira eased on Wednesday, December 11 after its value shrank against the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N5.23 or 0.3 per cent to N1,547.50/$1 from the N1,542.27/$1 it was valued on Tuesday.
It was observed that spectators’ activities may have triggered the weakening of the local currency in the official market at midweek as they tried to fight back and ensure the value of funds in foreign currencies strengthened.
The domestic currency was regaining its footing after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) launched an Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) platform to tackle speculation and improve transparency in Nigeria’s FX market.
At midweek, the Nigerian currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling by N3.56 to close at N1,958.68/£1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,955.12/£1 and against the Euro, it slumped by 34 Kobo to trade at N1,612.66/€1, in contrast to the previous session’s N1,613.00/€1.
As for the black market segment, the Naira lost N45 against the American currency during the session to quote at N1,670/$1 compared with the N1,625/$1 it was traded a day earlier.
A look at the cryptocurrency market showed a recovery following profit-taking as the US Consumer Price Index report matched economist forecasts.
The news was enough to convince traders that the Federal Reserve is certain to trim its benchmark fed funds rate another 25 basis points at its meeting next week.
The move also saw Bitcoin (BTC), the most valued coin, return to the $100,000 mark as it added a 2.9 per cent gain and sold for $100,566.12.
The biggest gainer was Cardano (ADA), which jumped by 15.00 per cent to trade at $1.16, as Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 10.4 per cent to sell for $121.76, and Ethereum (ETH) surged by 7.0 per cent to $3,929.30, while Dogecoin (DOGE) recorded a 6.7 per cent growth to finish at $0.4181.
Further, Binance Coin (BNB) went up by 5.2 per cent to $716.72, Solana (SOL) expanded by 4.6 per cent to $229.77, and Ripple (XRP) increased by 4.2 per cent to $2.43, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 apiece.
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