👨🏿‍🚀TechCabal Daily – Africa’s Newest Unicorn: MNT-Halan

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EGYPT IS BORN ANOTHER UNICORN AFTER A $400 MILLION FUNDING ROUND

Egyptian fintech and e-commerce company MNT-Halan just made history by becoming the country’s second unicorn! In a tough VC funding market, MNT-Halan has managed to secure a whopping $400 million in equity and debt financing at a $1 billion valuation.

The round includes $260 million in equity financing and $140 million in debt financing through two guaranteed securitized bond issuances over the past year. About $200 million of the investment came from Abu Dhabi-based Chimera Investments in exchange for 20% equity.

Last year, MNT-Halan raised $120 million from private equity firms, including Apis Growth Fund II, Development Partners International (DPI), and Lorax Capital Partners, and venture capitalists such as Middle East Venture Partners, Endeavor Catalyst, and DisruptTech. Now, MNT-Halan is also in the advanced stages of raising $60 million, 40 million of which is supposed to come from the International Finance Corporation.

That’s a lot of money…

Yes, it is, and for good reason. MNT-Halan is currently Egypt’s leading lender to the unbanked; it has shelled out more than $2 billion, according to its website. This innovative company goes beyond lending as it has created a digital ecosystem of products, including eCommerce, FMCG delivery, and mobile POS payments, often providing individual and corporate customers for their business. of loans.

MNT-Halan has big plans for the future, as it intends to add a debit card to the suite of services offered to its 5 million customers by the end of March. The company is also actively seeking opportunities to consolidate its position in the country’s fintech and e-commerce market through mergers and acquisitions.

Now, Egypt has two of the nine unicorns on the continent: Fawry and MNT-Halan.

WHAT’S NEW FROM SAMSUNG?

It’s that time of year when tech companies start pushing everyone to make upgrades they don’t really need.

Yesterday, Samsung held its Galaxy Unpacked event where it announced its 2023 lineup of devices. So which Samsung phones are coming this year and what minor updates will they bring?

Here’s a quick summary:

• The latest in the S Series are the Samsung S23, S23 Plus and S23, Ultra, which come with slight updates. The S23 is 6.1 inches, with a 3,900 mAh battery; the S23 Plus is 6.6 inches, with a 4,700 mAh battery; and the S23 Ultra comes with an S Pen, a 6.8-inch display, and a 5,000mAh battery. All the phones are powered by Samsung’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, or at least the US versions will be, which Samsung says will deliver a better battery experience. The S23 starts at $800, the S23 Plus at $1,000, and the S23 Ultra at $1,200.

• A major upgrade to the S23 is Gorilla Glass Victus 2, which will help the phones survive drops of up to two meters. Samsung also added a new selfie camera: a 12-megapixel sensor that takes better HD photos.

• Finally, Samsung added three new computers to its lineup. First up is the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra, a 4-pound laptop that comes with an Nvidia RTX 4050 chip and a Core i7 processor for $2,400. There’s also the Galaxy Book3 Pro and the 3 Pro 360, which don’t tell us anything new except that Samsung needs a new naming convention.

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NIGERIA EXTENDES DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF OLD BONDS… AGAIN

At this point, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria could be moonwalking as he has backtracked on another decision related to the unveiling of old naira notes.

Following a meeting with the country’s House of Representatives, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has agreed to extend the time limit for the redemption of old naira notes pursuant to Section 20(3) of the CBN Establishment Act. . Even after they cease to be legal tender on February 10, the ₦1,000, ₦500 and ₦200 notes will now remain redeemable, but only at CBN offices.

This move is another pushback from Emefiele, who had previously announced that there would only be a one-week grace period for the redemption of old notes, and even before that announced that the initial The deadline of January 31 was irreversible..

Why was it considered necessary?

There is a cash shortage in the country, and POS agents, in response, have been charging withdrawal customers up to 10% of cash withdrawn.

Bank CEOs say the new naira notes are not available in sufficient quantities. Bank employees whom TechCabal interviewed made similar claims. It is because of these reports that the House of Representatives called the meeting that produced these decisions. Emefiele was also ordered to provide weekly reports on the issuance of new notes to commercial banks to allow the House of Representatives to verify the claims made by the banks’ chief executives.

In addition, the CBN was ordered to reinstate banks’ over-the-counter transactions and increase ATM cash withdrawal limits to speed up the circulation of the new notes.

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AFRICANXT 2023 will host 200 sessions and experiences with prominent guests such as VC executive Biola Alabi; the CEO of Herconomy, Ife Durosinmi-Etti; filmmaker Daniel Etim-Effiong; and influencer Samuel “Broda Shaggi” Animashaun Perry.

Register to attend here and get a 20% discount when you register with our code TCNXT2023.