ಹಲೋ,
Victoria and Delight from Techpoint here,
Here's what I've got for you today:
- Cisco's AI focus costs 5,600 jobs
- Fintech's fraud surge: Nigeria's new normal?
- Global company to acquire SA startup for $70M
Cisco's AI focus costs 5,600 jobs
On August 14, 2024, Cisco dropped some big news along with its first-quarter results: they’re doing a major restructuring.
What’s the scoop? The tech giant plans to lay off about 7% of its global workforce, which means over 5,600 employees will be let go.
The restructuring will hit Cisco with up to $1 billion in pre-tax charges, covering severance and other one-time costs.
The company hasn’t yet said which departments or regions will be affected by the layoffs, but they shared a list of the people impacted on September 16.
Cisco, present in 23 African countries, including Angola, Algeria, South Africa and Nigeria, expects to take around $700 million to $800 million of these costs in the first quarter of fiscal 2025, with the rest spread out over the year.
The layoffs also hit Cisco’s Talos Security team, which focuses on threat intelligence. It seems Cisco is shifting its resources to beef up its AI networking and cybersecurity efforts. The company might have overhired, per reports, leading to this shake-up as they refocus on key goals. Some are worried if more layoffs are on the way, with the question not being “if” but “when.”
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This comes after Cisco laid off another 5% of its staff earlier in February 2024 from the 84,900 employees they had in 2023.
Fintech's fraud surge: Nigeria's new normal?
Fraud is running rampant in Nigeria’s financial sector, and the numbers are staggering. In Q2 2024 alone, there were 11,532 fraud cases reported, barely up from the 11,472 cases in 2023.
But don’t let that small increase fool you — the amount of money lost has skyrocketed. While ₦2.9 billion was lost to fraud in Q1 2024, that number exploded to ₦56.3 billion in Q2. Total losses jumped from ₦468.49 million to ₦42.6 billion in just a few months.
It's not just banks feeling the heat. Payments startup Flutterwave lost ₦11 billion to a security breach earlier this year, and last year, they lost $24 million to dodgy PoS transactions.
Similarly, Interswitch took a hit of ₦30 billion after a glitch let merchants file and get chargebacks unfairly.
This fraud explosion is shaking up business relationships too. Wema Bank dropped seven fintechs from its payment gateway after encountering fraudulent activity. They had already lost ₦685 million to fraud and forgery in 2023.
Fraud isn’t just a financial headache — it’s affecting how businesses interact and trust each other. But how does fraud work and what can be done about it, check out Chimgozirim’s story here.
Global company to acquire SA startup for $70M
Xero, the global accounting software giant, is acquiring Syft Analytics, a South African platform known for its cloud-based reporting and analytics.
The deal, which could be worth up to $70 million, is set to wrap up by early 2025. This acquisition marks a major step for Xero as it aims to boost its reporting and insights tools for small businesses around the world.
Syft, which was founded in Johannesburg in 2016 by Eleftherios Kyriazis, Matt Stephanou, and Vangelis Kyriazis, started out as a small venture focusing on financial analytics for small businesses.
Despite facing challenges, it grew its customer base to 200 by the end of 2019 and expanded its team to seven. The pandemic proved to be a turning point for Syft, with increased demand for cloud solutions helping it gain global recognition, reaching clients in places like Canada and New Zealand.
Today, Syft’s software is a top choice for thousands of customers across 80 countries, making it the most popular reporting app in Xero's marketplace.
Xero plans to integrate Syft’s powerful tools into its platform, which will provide small businesses with advanced features like real-time analysis, multi-entity reporting, and long-term cash flow forecasting.
Syft will continue to operate as a standalone product for those not using Xero, but this acquisition strengthens Xero’s presence in major markets like the US, UK, and Australia.
This deal is also a testament to the growing success of the South African tech scene, with Syft joining other local startups that have caught the eye of international buyers.
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What I'm watching
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Opportunities
- Reliance Health is looking for a remote Product manager. Apply here.
- Heroshe is hiring a Senior Backend Developer. Apply here.
- 3Pillar is recruiting a Mid Fullstack NodeJS Engineer. Apply here.
- Paradigm is looking for a remote Full Stack Software Developer. Apply here.
- Follow Techpoint Africa's WhatsApp channel to stay on top of the latest trends and news in the African tech space here.
Have a wonderful Wednesday!
Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa.
