Fintech Association Of Kenya

Starting January 1st, 2025, the KRA(KENYA REVENUE AUTHORITY) (KRA) will require all mobile devices' IMEI numbers to be registered upon importation. This policy aims to enhance tax compliance and device integrity. We want to hear your thoughts on this development.

𝐊𝐨𝐛𝐨 𝟑𝟔𝟎 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 Kobo360, the Goldman Sachs-backed logistics company, is diversifying its business model with the development of HaulSight, a subscription-based fleet management software developed in 2024.  This development allows Kobo360 to use its existing relationships with major manufacturers like Flour Mills, Dangote and FMCGs like Unilever, to offer them a pure software solution for tracking vehicles, route planning, and invoice discounting without the operational complexities of truck-hailing or cargo liability management. The move comes as Kobo360 faces pressure on its traditional truck-hailing business, where rising fuel costs and declining commissions from 20% in 2019 to 8% in 2021 - have impacted profitability ,according to tech cabal. While the fleet management software market presents new revenue opportunities, it faces challenges, including established competitors charging $7-$50 per vehicle monthly for foreign providers and ₦100,000-₦150,000 for local ones, long sales cycles with corporate clients and resistance to switching costs.  Despite these challenges, Kobo360's established presence in B2B logistics since 2017 and its network of over 50,000 trucks could provide a competitive advantage, despite concerns about market size and corporate clients' resistance to switching costs. #kobo360 #haulsight #b2b

𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐍𝐁𝐃 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝟐𝐁 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭  Emirates NBD and Mastercard have launched the Emirates NBD Wholesale Travel Solution, a virtual card-based B2B payment product designed specifically for travel agencies in the MENAT region.  This innovative solution, supported by Mastercard’s Wholesale Program, is designed to enhance efficiency and security of payments between travel agencies and suppliers by offering extended credit lines, payment guarantees, security through data intelligence and improved fraud controls for both domestic and cross-border transactions. The product comes at a time when global air travel is projected to hit a record 4.7 billion passengers in 2024, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.  The collaboration between Emirates NBD and Mastercard addresses need for modernized payment infrastructure as B2B payment volumes rise in the EEMEA region. #mastercard #emiratesnbd #b2bpayments

𝐅𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 Nokia and fibertime™ have announced a partnership to expand broadband access across South Africa's underserved communities, with Fibertime deploying Nokia's fiber solution to connect 1.5 million new customers across five cities and 14 townships. The initiative aims to address South Africa's digital divide, where less than 85% of the population has access to high-speed broadband, by offering open, unlimited internet for R5 per day through Nokia's Lightspan FX Optical Line Terminals and Wi-Fi 6 enabled Optical Network Terminals, making internet access up to 70 times more affordable than current mobile plans. The deployment will initially cover Cape Town, Johannesburg, Gqeberha, Mangaung and Stellenbosch, with Fibertime planning to install 500,000 Nokia Wi-Fi 6 enabled ONTs over the next 36 months. This ambitious project, representing a potential R60 billion investment opportunity over the next decade, will create a semi-mobile network allowing users to access high-speed broadband from anywhere in their community. The partnership also includes future R&D collaboration to develop technologies for Africa's remote areas, with Fibertime implementing Nokia's ONT Easystart and Altiplano platform to streamline deployment and operations. #southafrica #fibertime #nokia

𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐂𝐃𝐂 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 The Africa CDC and Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) have launched "The Africa HealthTech Marketplace," a digital exchange platform unveiled on October 29, 2024, in Kigali, Rwanda, to address the critical healthcare access crisis affecting 600 million Africans.  The platform serves as a centralized hub for government technologists, policymakers and health professionals to discover, evaluate and implement vetted digital health solutions, with a particular focus on innovations from African startups, aiming to address the lack of healthcare facilities, vast rural areas without health services, too few trained workers and healthcare worker shortage across the continent, where many nations have fewer than two healthcare workers per 1,000 people. Under the leadership of Africa CDC Director General Dr. Jean Kaseya and Chief Digital Advisor Dr. Jean Philbert Nsengimana, the marketplace builds upon Africa CDC's 2023 Digital Transformation Strategy, offering a comprehensive catalog of online tools, products and resources from trusted sources. The platform features community engagement capabilities for feedback and collaboration, providing African innovators greater visibility and helping healthcare providers integrate digital solutions more effectively. #digitalhealth #africacdc

𝐔𝐊 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐒𝐌𝐄'𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐲𝐚 The British High Commission in Nairobi has announced a USD $5.2 million fund to support Kenya's SME sector, with plans to mobilize up to USD $300 million in sustainable finance. The initiative was implemented through FSD Africa, which aims to transform SME financing in Kenya, where businesses currently face prohibitive interest rates of up to 40%, by providing affordable credit access to at least 10,000 MSMEs and supporting over 200,000 people through improved basic services. The 'Listed SME Debt Fund is an approach to addressing Kenya's SME financing challenges, targeting USD $240 million from domestic institutional investors and the remainder from foreign investors. This initiative is important given that SMEs constitute 98% of Kenya's businesses and contribute 24% to the country's GDP, while providing employment to approximately 14 million people, especially among marginalized groups. The fund's structure is designed to create a new asset class for Kenyan institutional investors, particularly pension funds, which currently manage assets exceeding USD $30 billion but have yet to fully utilize their 30% alternative asset investment allowance. By providing a de-risked investment vehicle that will be listed and managed in Kenya, the fund aims to bridge the critical financing gap while offering attractive returns to investors. #financialinclusion #sme #kenya #uk

𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐁𝐨𝐱 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚 GVA Rwanda, through its Canalbox RDC service, has quickly grown in Rwanda's digital landscape since its 2020 launch, driving growth in the country's broadband connectivity from 9,000 homes in 2019 to approximately 74,000 today.  The company's latest "NI IYAWE MU BAWE" promotion, launched on November 8, shows its commitment to democratizing internet access by offering free installation and router packages with subscriptions ranging from 50 Mbps at Rwf25,000 to 200 Mbps at Rwf40,000 monthly, making high-speed internet more accessible to Rwandan families. Under the leadership of CEO Aime Abizera, CanalBox has differentiated itself in the market by offering high-speed connectivity of up to 200 Mbps, professional installation services, reliable performance even in adverse weather conditions and dedicated customer support. The company's expansion into Kigali's Busanza is reaching growing communities and supporting Rwanda's ambition to become one of Africa's leading digital hubs. #canalbox #rwanda

📌

𝐑𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐚 𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 Rwanda and Russia have signed a new visa waiver agreement eliminating visa requirements for service holders and diplomatic passports, marking a development in their bilateral relations. The deal was signed by Rwanda's Foreign Affairs Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov during the First Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, as announced in a November 9 statement from Rwanda's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. The agreement builds upon six decades of diplomatic relations between the two nations, established on October 17, 1963, which encompasses cooperation in political, military, educational and cultural spheres. This relationship has notably included Russia's provision of university scholarships to Rwandan students, with approximately 800 Rwandans graduating from Russian universities over the past 50 years in law, medicine, international affairs and political science, as well as training programs for Rwandan police officers. #rwanda #visa #russia

𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐓𝐚𝐩𝐓𝐚𝐩 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐰 𝐕𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 The Bank of Ghana (BOG) has suspended Taptap Send, an international remittance platform, from partnering with regulated financial institutions in Ghana for one month starting November 8, 2024, due to violations of foreign exchange and remittance laws. The primary violation involved TapTap Send's operation of a "cedi remittance wallet" without proper licensing, contravening Section 3(1) of the Foreign Exchange Act, 2006 (Act 723), which requires licensing for foreign exchange business operations. The suspension, communicated through a circular to all enhanced payment service providers, banks, mobile money operators and the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems, also cites violations of specific guidelines concerning inward remittance services. These violations relate to settlement timing requirements, payment processing procedures, and anti-money laundering compliance standards as outlined in paragraphs 7(b, d and e) of the Updated Guidelines for Inward Remittance Services for Payment Service Providers. #ghana #taptap #payment