E-Financial
ZappGroup Targets Nigeria in Expansion Plan
Net1 UEPS and QR payments technology company, Zapper are joining forces to take on the African market, targeting key regions across West and East Africa.
The two companies are partnering to launch ZappGroup Africa, a company focused on deploying a universal white-label QR payment solution.
“We intend to change the face of payments across Africa through innovative payment solutions,” says Net1 CEO Herman Kotze.
ZappGroup plans to target key regions across West and East Africa, from which regional hubs will be created for further roll-outs. West Africa will be the initial focus, with launches targeted in Nigeria and Ghana.
“Nigeria has both the largest population in Africa and the greatest number of mobile subscribers, at 193 million and 161 million respectively. However, only 30% of the population have access to financial services.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria, under its Payments Vision for 2020, intends to add 40 million previously excluded individuals to the financial sector in the next two years,” Net1 says in a statement.
Net1 believes Nigeria’s growth is representative of trends in the region more broadly, with Ghana coming out as another example where mobile money transactions almost doubled in 2017 to $35 billion (R519 billion).
ZappGroup has signed letters of intent and expressions of interest with some of the largest operators and key industry players across the region, and is targeting its first country launch in the second quarter of 2019, followed by a second country launch in the second half of 2019.
“The vast majority of Africa’s 1.3 billion people are unbanked, and this market remains one of the largest untapped opportunities for fintech players like Net1, who have extensive expertise on the continent. QR payments do not require costly point of sale equipment for merchants, and the key transaction infrastructure, mobile phones, is already pervasive, with over a billion mobile connections,” Net1 says.
Net1 says an entity called V2 has been formed to be an Africa-focused technology provider, concentrating on facilitating financial inclusion to the roughly 1 billion underbanked population on the continent. Net1 has acquired a 50% interest in V2 for $5 million (R74 million), and will commit an additional $5 million towards working capital funding over a period of time.
V2 will have access to license Zapper’s QR payment technology as well as Net1’s various payment solutions, such as UEPS/EMV and mobile virtual card. V2 owns 67% of ZappGroup Africa, which has a perpetual exclusive licence for Zapper’s proprietary QR technology across key African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania. Zapper will own the remaining 33% of ZappGroup.
V2 will be led by Barry Lobel as CEO and Paul Edwards as chairman of the board. Net1 will be actively involved with the management of V2, and will also have two seats on the board. Lobel’s former roles include CFO of Atlas African Industries, director of finance at Partners Capital, and co-head of private equity at RP Capital.
Net1 has a primary listing on Nasdaq in the US and a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
The next currency crisis could accelerate the shift of the roughly $315 billion global stablecoin market into a digital-dollar alternative for citizens in emerging economies, notably in regions like sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.
As local fiat currencies face devaluation and high inflation, citizens and businesses are increasingly utilizing smartphone-based stablecoins (such as USDT and USDC) as hedges and primary mediums of exchange.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the rapid adoption of dollar-linked digital assets—particularly in countries heavily affected by inflation like Nigeria—poses significant risks to monetary sovereignty.
With up to 95% of surveyed individuals in some African markets preferring to receive payments in stablecoins over local fiat, the rising volume of these decentralized, cross-border channels weakens domestic currency demand and dilutes the effectiveness of local monetary policy.
IMF observed in a report titled “Stablecoins in Nigeria: A Growing Cross-Border Channel” noted that the widespread use of stablecoins poses risks to monetary sovereignty, particularly as more individuals and businesses turn to digital dollar-linked assets for savings and transactions.
Nodding in agreement is Future Investment Initiative Institute (FII Institute), a non-profit organisation run by the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s main sovereign wealth fund.
FII Institute said that central banks face structural challenges.
And according to the institute, when citizens move savings out of national banks and into private digital wallets, conventional capital controls lose their grip.
Institutions like the Bank for International Settlements warn that interest-bearing stablecoins compete directly with domestic-currency deposits, complicating financial oversight and making smartphone-based transfers incredibly difficult for authorities to monitor.
In Nigeria, Naira depreciation has pushed users toward dollar-stablecoins, according to report by Gino Matos in cryptoslate.com.
A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a steady value by pegging its price to a reserve asset, such as a fiat currency (e.g., the U.S. dollar) or a commodity (e.g., gold).
They act as a bridge between traditional money and the digital asset world, providing the speed of crypto without the extreme price swings of assets like Bitcoin.
Federal government has reopened three federal government of Nigeria (FGN) bond issues valued at N1.2 trillion for subscription as part of efforts to raise long-term funds from the domestic debt market.
The Debt Management Office (DMO), which announced the offer on Tuesday, said the three reopened bond issues are each valued at N400 billion.
According to the DMO, the first offer is the January 2035 FGN Bond, a 10-year reopening, carrying an interest rate of 22.60 per cent per annum.
The second is the May 2028 FGN Bond, a 15-year reopening, with a coupon rate of 15.45 per cent per annum, while the third is the June 2037 FGN Bond, a 20-year reopening, also valued at N400 billion.
The office said the bond auction is scheduled for July 20, while successful subscriptions will be settled on July 22.
It explained that the bonds are offered at N1,000 per unit, with a minimum subscription of N50 million and additional investments in multiples of N1,000.
For the reopened bonds, the DMO said successful bidders would pay a price based on the yield-to-maturity that clears the auction, in addition to any accrued interest on the instruments.
Interest on the bonds will be paid every six months, while the principal will be repaid in full on the respective maturity dates.
The DMO reaffirmed that FGN bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the Federal Government and constitute obligations chargeable on the general assets of the federation.
It added that the bonds qualify as trustee investment securities under the Trustee Investment Act and enjoy tax exemptions for eligible investors, including pension funds, under the Company Income Tax Act and Personal Income Tax Act.
The bonds are listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) and FMDQ Securities Exchange and also qualify as liquid assets for banks in computing their liquidity ratios.
FGN bonds are long-term debt instruments through which investors lend money to the Federal Government in exchange for periodic interest payments and repayment of the principal at maturity.
Gigbanc, Nigerian fintech startup, has announced it is winding down operations, after three years, citing a tough fundraising climate.
Paul Omoregie Okundaye, and Babatope Oni, co-founders of Gigbanc
The company, which set out to build cross-border financial infrastructure for African freelancers, creators, entrepreneurs and businesses, confirmed the decision in a statement signed by its co-founders.
“After careful consideration, Gigbanc’s leadership has made the difficult decision to wind down operations,” the company said, adding that the move “reflects the broader funding environment affecting early stage startups in Africa, a challenge that has been widely documented across the ecosystem.”
Since its founding, Gigbanc grew a community of more than 150,000 people across multiple countries and processed over $7.28 million (N10 billion) in payment volume, helping thousands of users receive their first international payment.
The company also ran conferences, fellowships and community events aimed at connecting entrepreneurs and creators across the continent.
`Despite the shutdown, Gigbanc said it is not walking away emptyhanded.
The company disclosed that it is in active acquisition discussions with a prominent financial infrastructure firm, with further details to be shared once the process closes.
Paul Omoregie Okundaye, co-founder and CEO, and Babatope Oni, co-founder and CTO, framed the closure as the end of a chapter rather than the erasure of Gigbanc’s impact.
“While Gigbanc is winding down operations, we don’t see this as the end of what we built together. Instead, we see it as the completion of an important chapter,” the founders said. “The relationships, lessons, community, and impact we’ve created will continue to outlive the company itself.”
The founders thanked users for their trust throughout the company’s run, citing everything from transactions and feature requests to bug reports and criticism as forces that shaped the product
“We leave this journey incredibly proud. Proud of our team, who gave everything they had.
Proud of the community that rallied behind us,” they said.
Gigbanc’s exit adds to a growing list of African startups that have shut down or scaled back operations in recent years as venture funding on the continent has tightened, with founders increasingly citing capital scarcity as the primary driver behind closures and consolidations.
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