Zdravstvuyte,
Last week, Flutterwave announced a partnership with Microsoft to develop a new generation of payment services on Microsoft Azure to support payment infrastructure in Africa and beyond.
Flutterwave will support transactions processed on its platform for international clients like Uber, Netflix, and Microsoft.
Flutterwave seeks to integrate its products, including Flutterwave for Business, Send by Flutterwave, Flutterwave Store, and Flutterwave for Fintech Platform, with Microsoft's Azure Cloud Platform.
Currently, Flutterwave uses Azure OpenAI Service capabilities to scale its product offerings to millions of retailers worldwide.
Here's what I've got for you today:
- CBN faces possible lawsuit on new regulation
- Airtel Kenya to increase network coverage
CBN faces possible lawsuit on new regulation
On Saturday, June 24, 2023, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) threatened to sue the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) if it doesn't withdraw a recently published regulation.
Quick facts
Name of the regulation - The Customer Due Diligence Regulations 2023
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Date released - Friday, June 23, 2023
Contents - All financial institutions — including banks, credit unions, and savings and loan organisations — must collect and verify customers' social media handles.
Reason - To increase compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) provisions.
What SERAP claims - The regulation violates Nigerians' rights to privacy and freedom of expression.
Some context - this information will be combined with other Know Your Customer (KYC) data, like legal names, addresses, contact information, and identification documents, to create a comprehensive customer profile.
SERAP stated that since banks and other financial institutions already collect these information, asking for a customer's social media handles or addresses serves no legitimate purpose.
Because of this, SERAP asked that the CBN repeal the law three days after its receiving and/or publishing its letter or it could sue the apex bank.
Failure to do so would allow SERAP to pursue all available legal remedies to compel the CBN to abide by its request in the public interest.
Airtel Kenya to increase network coverage
Airtel Kenya plans to add 349 new sites to expand its network's coverage by the end of the year and meet the nation's increasing demand for data services.
The company's network infrastructure currently spans over 3200 sites and extends across all 47 counties or 89% of the country.
Kenya's Internet is 34% slower than the global average, ranking 106th out of 117 countries in terms of speed, quality, and growth.
Consequently, Airtel Kenya claims it has embraced technologies and innovations to improve connectivity, increase service quality, and provide a dependable network.
These include deploying small cell/street solutions in densely populated areas such as Eastland, launching VOLTE and Esim, and deploying LTE on the 2600Mhz band for capacity expansion and future 5G rollout.
Besides, the company says its plans for network expansion will help it gain a stronger position in the market while providing competitive pricing and tariff plans.
Last week on Techpoint Africa
- Airtel Nigeria set to launch 5G mobile network today, igniting competition in the telecom market
- Google Cloud partners with Moniepoint to provide financial services to underbanked businesses in Nigeria
- Binance issues cease and desist order to "Binance Nigeria Limited" amid regulatory scrutiny
- Seedstars Capital and Foundation Botnar partner to improve the well-being of people under 30 in Ghana, Tanzania, Egypt
- Domiciliary account holders in Nigeria can now withdraw up to $10,000 daily
- Malawian asset financier, Yellow, secures $14m series B to expand its presence in Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia
- Google for Startups awards $4 million to 25 African companies for its third Black Founders Fund cohort
- Nigerian banks and institutions fined over N200 million for data privacy violations
- This new Whatsapp feature allows you auto-silence calls from unknown numbers
- E-hailing drivers could go on strike again, but their battle with ride-hailing companies could be a lose-lose
- Kenyan payment services provider, Pesapal loses $1.65 million tax appeal
- Islamic fintech, Agel closes pre-seed round to provide alternative financing for small businesses in Egypt
- Somalia's Central Bank launches QR Code standard to drive cashless transactions
- Kenya’s telcos partner China’s mobile device dealer, Shenzhen, to launch locally assembled smartphones
- Kubik gets $3.34 million to turn plastic waste into low-cost building materials
- How SecondSTAX plans to unlock value in Africa's capital markets
- The Nigerian Financial Services Market Report: Industry insights and figures
What I'm reading and watching
- Is it possible to spot a good liar – and why do we all tell tales?
- Why Are We So Bad at Reporting Good News?
- What Happens To Your Body When You Start Exercising Regularly
- 3 signs that you’ve hit clinical burnout and should seek help
Opportunities
- Ethena Labs is hiring remote for Quantitative Software Engineer and Senior Web3 Engineer (Full-Stack). Apply here.
- Bravado is looking for a remote Lead Product Designer. Apply here.
- Applications are open for the AWS Startup Loft Accelerator. It's an equity-free programme focused on supporting early stage startups in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa with technology, product development, go-to-market advice and getting you funding ready. Apply here.
- If you are a software engineer, creative designer, product manager, design researcher, or a techie looking for an internship role, please, check out this website.
Have a productive week!
Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa.
