MTN SA in legal hot water over Limpopo health deal

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August 6, 2024
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4 min read
MTN South Africa

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안녕하세요,

Victoria from Techpoint here,

Here's what I've got for you today:

  • MTN SA in legal hot water over Limpopo health deal
  • From med school dropout to startup star
  • MTN Nigeria takes full control of MoMo PSB

MTN SA in legal hot water over Limpopo health deal

MTN's office

MTN is in hot water after losing an exception application related to a questionable deal with the Limpopo Department of Health. 

What happened? The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) found that MTN had made an unsolicited offer to supply 10,000 cell phones for COVID-19 screenings, costing the department R10 million. 

However, this deal didn't follow the proper financial management rules.

The SIU's probe uncovered that only 388 phones were actually distributed between September 2020 and March 2021, and they didn’t even come with the necessary screening app. 

The former head of the department, Dr. Thokozani Florence Mhlongo, is being accused of wasting money by approving this purchase.

The SIU is now taking legal action to cancel the contract and recover the lost funds. They’ve also managed to freeze Mhlongo’s pension after she stepped down amid disciplinary issues. 

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The SIU has the authority to take these matters to court to tackle corruption and fraud and can also refer any criminal evidence to the National Prosecuting Authority.


From med school dropout to startup star

Kristin Wilson, Spurt! CSO

Ever wondered what drives someone to switch paths from a promising medical career to launching a startup? Kristin Wilson’s journey is pretty eye-opening! 

Unlike Chimamanda Adichie, who left medical school because she wasn’t passionate about it, Kristin had a different spark. 

READ MORE   “It’s tough but not undoable.” Ifeoluwa Dare-Johnson on Healthtracka’s $1.5m seed round

The lightbulb moment: During a laparoscopic surgery observation, she was struck by the high cost of medical equipment and realised she couldn’t see herself settling permanently in the United States.

So, she switched gears, diving into comparative literature, East Asian studies, and neuroscience at Princeton.

 After stints at She Leads Africa and Big Cabal Media, she moved to Double Feather Partners, focusing on Africa. Seeing a gap in how investment was going to talent in startups, she co-founded Spurt! in 2021 to help entrepreneurs build stronger teams.

Spurt! offers a bunch of cool tools to support startups and SMEs, like Spot for talent management, Spur for performance, Spark to keep motivation high, and Sync! for better teamwork. These tools are all about using data to help businesses find and manage talent effectively.

Curious about Kristin’s journey, including the biggest mistakes co-founders make? Check out Chimgozirim’s story for the full gist!


MTN Nigeria takes full control of MoMo PSB

MTN signpost

MTN Nigeria has snagged a 7.17% stake in MoMo Payment Service Bank (MoMo PSB) from Acxani Capital for ₦6.95 billion (around $4.36 million). Now, MTN Nigeria owns MoMo PSB outright.

Previously, the telco held 80% of MoMo PSB and Acxani had 20%. But in May 2024, Acxani decided to offload its stake, which ended up being reduced to 7.17%.

Besides the ₦6.95 billion paid to Acxani, MTN also put another ₦9.4 billion into MoMo PSB and picked up ₦3.38 billion worth of assets from Acxani. Thus, MTN’s "Other Reserves" took a ₦12.97 billion hit.

MoMo PSB, which got its operating license from the CBN in 2022, is doing great. In the first half of 2024, it raked in ₦48.6 billion in revenue, up 11% from the same time last year. 

READ MORE   11 startups unveiled for Google Launchpad Accelerator Africa second cohort

Active MoMo PSB wallets soared by 73.9% to 5.5 million by the end of Q2 2024, up 701,000 from Q1. The number of agents jumped by about 498,000, totalling 239,000. Transaction volume also increased by 33.4% year-on-year.

Sidebar Alert: Mastercard invested $200 million (₦3.8 billion) in MTN Group’s fintech arm in February 2024, grabbing a 3.8% minority stake. 


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Have a lovely Tuesday!

Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa.

She's autistic and interested in mental health and how technology can help Africans with mental disorders. Find her on Twitter @latoria_ria.
She's autistic and interested in mental health and how technology can help Africans with mental disorders. Find her on Twitter @latoria_ria.
She's autistic and interested in mental health and how technology can help Africans with mental disorders. Find her on Twitter @latoria_ria.

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