BD Insider 77th: Flutterwave's partnerships, Enye, and Future Africa

This is a blog copy of the 77th version of our weekly newsletter, BD Insider. Subscribers get to read it first and can take action based it.

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Last Friday, news of the National Communications Commission (NCC) International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) directive circulated the airwaves.

According to the directive, the NCC is mandating all phone owners to submit their IMEI within three months to a Centralized Equipment Identity Register, also known as Device Management System (DMS).  IMEI is a unique 15 digit number used to identify a device on a mobile network.

The Commission wants to leverage the information to curb mobile phone theft, enhance national security, reduce kidnapping, and other crimes. The plan seems good, but given the government’s history on human rights, the news did not go down well with Nigerians, and they stated their displeasure on Twitter.

The NCC later released a follow-on statement debunking the initial news. In the press release, they stated that they do not require Nigerian’s to submit their IMEI. Instead, the DMS will automatically update the IMEI to their database.

In today's newsletter, we will be looking at the following news items:

• Flutterwave’s partnerships
• Enye’s 5th Cohort
• Future Africa’s 2021 investment report
  

Flutterwave making unicorn strides

Flutterwave entered a few partnerships in the past week.

Early last week, the Basketball Africa League (BAL) unveiled the fintech company as its associate partner.

The partnership will ride on BAL and Flutterwave’s commitment to driving economic growth across Africa.

Later in the same week, Flutterwave entered another partnership with Ethiopia-based Amole, a mobile Digital Wallet platform.

The partnership will allow Ethiopian’s to facilitate cross border payments through their Amole wallets, bank accounts, and cash pick up locations across Ethiopia.

See how it will work below.

Flutterwave and Amole’s partnership

Enye graduates 5th cohort of founder and software engineering teams

Earlier in January, we announced that Enye is accepting its fifth software engineering cohort. Last week, it graduated its fifth Founders and Engineering Cohort at The Nest Innovation Technology Park, Yaba, Nigeria.

This cohort ran the Founders program and the Software Engineering Cohort side by side. While the former helps founders build out their MVPs, and the latter helps cohort members to upskill.  

The event saw 10 startups demo their products to the audience. They include; Build My House, Twinku, Crivlar, Ekolaundry, Liveite, Rentage, Stokkplie, Aderah, Medicaly, and iSabiDeliver.

Enye’s 5th cohort demo day

Future Africa exceeds its $1million commitment to female-led startups

Earlier in the year, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Future Africa’s CEO, announced their plans for 2021. The plans include; growing their co-investor collective, invest in startups outside Nigeria, and committing at least $1 million to female innovators.

Last week, Future Africa released its funding report for the year. The report highlighted their achievements and future goals. Some of the achievements includes;

• $3 million investment in 13 startups totaling their investment to 47.
• Pan African investment across startups in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa.
• Over $1million investment to women-led startups.
  There’s more

Future Africa’s 2021 investment report

💰Fundraising

Here are some of the recent startup fundraises across Africa that you should be aware of:

• Nigerian fintech startup, BFREE secures undisclosed funding
• Nigerian fintech startup, Mono secures $2 million seed investment
• Egyptian e-commerce startup, Homzmart secures $15 million Series A funding
• Egyptian ecommerce logistics startup, Bosta secures $6.7 million Series A
• Energy Startups, Rwandan Munyax Eco and Zambian Widescreens Energy secures undisclosed funding
• Tip: If you're looking to improve your take-home (salary) by moving jobs, companies that have just raised are a great place to apply. Companies almost always hire after a significant raise.

📰 Things we found interesting

Here are some of the most exciting stories we've written and read over the last seven days:

• Stax wants to increase financial inclusivity for Africans through USSD.
• Insights on uLesson’s exit from Jos.
• Emmanuel Adigwe’s Under The Hoodie interview.
• How culture influences entrepreneurship in Africa.
• How tech companies in Nigeria are marketing their apps.
• Read how Traction app is creating improved business experience for African merchants.

Job Opportunities🚪

In addition to last week's list of jobs, events, and other  opportunities, check these out, too:

• Bamboo is hiring a Product Manager, Growth Analyst, and Finance Manager.
• Cowrywise is hiring a Backend Engineer.
• Eden is hiring a mid-level Frontend Engineer.
• Frontplus is hiring a Frontend Developer.
• CcHub is hiring a Program Manager.
• TeamApt is hiring a QA Analyst.

Thanks for reading.

You can do the following:

• Share this newsletter with someone curious about tech in Africa.
• Turn on tweet notifications on our page, to stay tuned for the Under The Hoodie series every Tuesday by 8 am.
  
  Regards,
  Marvisclara