A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business. Chioma Okoli, a 39-year-old entrepreneur from Lagos, is being prosecuted and sued in civil court for allegedly breaching the country’s cybercrime laws, in a case … Read more
One of two Binance executives detained in Nigeria has escaped custody, while the Nigerian government has filed new tax evasion charges against the global cryptocurrency exchange. Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Monday announced that four new charges relating to tax evasion had been filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, according to multiple … Read more
African financial institutions typically scale their solutions using a mix of local and foreign tech. Appzone is one of the standout local fintech software providers for banks and fintechs, providing better pricing and flexibility. For over a decade, the Nigeria-based Appzone has functioned as an enabler (at payment rails and core infrastructure) within banking and … Read more
KURIGA, Nigeria — Rashidat Hamza is in despair. All but one of her six children are among the nearly 300 students abducted from their school in Nigeria’s conflict-battered northwest. More than two days after her children — ages 7 to 18 — went to school in remote Kuriga town only to be herded away by … Read more
Bfree, a tech-enabled debt collection startup based in Nigeria, was founded to automate and introduce ethical debt recovery processes after its founders witnessed the use and adverse effects of aggressive retrieval techniques, such as incessant calling and debt-shaming, by predatory digital lenders. After its launch in 2020, the startup introduced a number of scalable debt … Read more
FairMoney, a digital bank based in Lagos and headquartered in Paris, is in discussions to acquire Umba, a credit-led digital bank providing payroll and financial services to customers in Nigeria and Kenya, in a $20 million all-stock deal, sources tell TechCrunch. The move signals FairMoney’s interest in growing its customer base by expanding into more … Read more
Nigerian online teaching platform Klas has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding led by Ingressive Capital, with participation from Techstars, HoaQ Capital, and several angel investors. Founded in 2022 by Nathan Nwachuku and Lekan Adejumo, Klas enables users to create and sell ebooks, courses, and live classes. The platform offers essential class components such as … Read more
ABUJA, Nigeria — Three people died and 77 others were injured after a massive blast caused by explosives rocked more than 20 buildings in one of Nigeria’s largest cities Tuesday night, authorities said Wednesday, as rescue workers dug through the rubble in search of those feared trapped. Residents in the southwestern state of Oyo’s densely … Read more
OMO FOREST RESERVE, Nigeria — Habitat for a dwindling population of critically endangered African forest elephants is under threat, a casualty of the world’s appetite for chocolate. Deforestation driven by planting cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate, is whittling down Omo Forest Reserve, a protected rainforest in southwestern Nigeria that helps combat climate change and … Read more
ABUJA, Nigeria — At least 85 people have been confirmed dead after a “mistaken” army drone attack on a religious gathering in northwest Nigeria, authorities said. The president on Tuesday ordered a probe into the latest in a series of mistakes in Nigeria’s conflict zones. “Eighty-five dead bodies have so far been buried while (a) … Read more