Cell C eyes IPO

Companies go public all the time—sometimes to raise cash, sometimes for more technical or strategic motives. For Cell C, South Africa’s fourth-largest telecom operator, the incentive is more structural. 

On May 16, its parent company, Blue Label Telecoms, announced that it is considering listing Cell C on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) as part of a sweeping restructuring.

The plan centres on converting Cell C’s debt into equity, reducing its financial burden while increasing Blue Label’s stake (Blue Label would offer up the debt Cell C owes in exchange for getting equity.) It also involves transferring airtime assets and bringing Cell C’s postpaid business fully in-house. Blue Label says this move will make Cell C stronger, more independent, and ready for life as a standalone public company. 

In 2017, 9mobile, a Nigerian telecom firm, once attempted a debt-to-equity swap with creditors (banks) but failed.

For Cell C, the stakes are high. It has spent years battling financial woes, from technical insolvency to major asset write-downs. It recently pivoted to a leaner, asset-light model instead of owning its telecom infrastructure. In 2023, Cell C started leasing infrastructure from competitor MTN in a bid to drive down costs, and so far, this has worked. The company's finances steadied again after major revenue climbs last year, and in the half-year period ending November 2024, it was profitable again. Cell C has not been consistently profitable since 2021.

Going public could put Cell C under new pressure to maintain order in its house. Yet, for the JSE, a Cell C listing would be a win. Despite solid financials, the exchange has struggled with more companies leaving than joining. In 2023, 11 companies delisted from the JSE. And by March 2024, two more companies had already exited the bourse. Cell C’s debut could signal that South Africa’s capital markets are open for new business.

The JSE currently lists six telecom companies, including the top three players: MTN, Vodacom, and Telkom. While Cell C still trails far behind its competitors, a listing could increase its visibility and familiarity with retail investors as well as raise capital. With its newfound efficiency, the telecom company could get a real shot at the top three.

Nigeria’s Central Bank (CBN), in collaboration with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), on the 13th of May, launched a platform to make it easier for Nigerians living abroad to get their Bank Verification Number (BVN) remotely. You won’t have to come all the way back to Nigeria for verification.

Spoiler: it’s not exactly free. For Nigerians abroad to get a Non-Resident Bank Verification Number (NRBVN), they are required to pay ₦80,000 ($50).

“So… why this?” The launch of the NRBVN platform is part of a bigger push to drive remittance inflows—money sent from workers abroad back to their home country—and strengthen Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves as remittances are a significant source of foreign exchange for the country. 

With $1.92 billion in direct remittances recorded in 2024 (a slight decline from the $1.98 billion in the previous year), the CBN is eyeing a much bolder goal: $1 billion every month. By making it easier for Nigerians abroad to send money home, this goal might very well be in sight.

Nigerians in the diaspora heard the news, and their reactions are a tale of two camps. Some diasporans see the $50 fee as a practical solution compared to the alternative of flying home just to stand in line to get a BVN. Others view it as nothing more than a thinly veiled revenue tactic that the government is using to pad its pockets. After all, BVNs cost exactly ₦0 back home; why does it suddenly come with a price tag when the border is crossed?

This initiative highlights CBN’s effort in integrating the Nigerian diaspora into the country’s economic activities. One wonders: how much should convenience cost?

Facebook wants to turn the “Chakam 📸” trend into a security feature. 

On Friday, the Meta-owned social media company announced that it is rolling out new facial recognition tools in South Africa to help fight scams and make account recovery easier.

The update includes a video selfie verification feature, which requires users to record a short selfie video to prove they’re real to unlock a locked account. Users will upload a live video, then Facebook matches the person in the video to the account’s profile pictures. The uploaded video is deleted after.

Public figures will also have the option to let Meta scan their profile photos to find and take down scam ads that misuse their faces—a common tactic in “celeb-bait” fraud. The company says these tools are encrypted, private, and won’t store users' facial data.

Here’s why it matters: The move follows growing pressure on Meta to deal with rising online scams, many of which run unchecked through ads on Facebook and Instagram. Critics, regulators and banks, say the company has been too slow to act, fearing that stricter ad rules might hurt its massive ad revenue.

Meta says that’s not the case and claims user safety as a top priority. But scammers are getting smarter too. A 2025 report by Smile ID, a regtech company, shows deepfake incidents surged by sevenfold by Q4 2024. For example, a scammer could generate a deepfake video of a celebrity and use it to pass as the celebrity, fooling the system during checks. 

Facebook hasn’t said how it’ll catch them. But a bit of irony here: in October 2024, Meta launched Movie Gen, which allows users to generate videos from photos of real people; that could potentially feed the deepfake video trend. While Meta is only trying to stay competitive with other AI companies, it is providing scammers with more options.

But who knows? Perhaps Meta, with its AI expertise, is feeling confident. Success here for Facebook could set the precedent for other social platforms to adopt efficient verification methods.

So when Facebook asks you for a video selfie, don't assume it's in bad faith; the app just wants to know if it's really you.