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In partnership with moniepoint logo Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Good morning! ☀️ Last Sunday, SpaceX made headlines and history for catching the Starship rocket, a reusable rocket booster with mechanical arms. Yesterday, Anthropic released a new AI model that can control your PC. The firm released an upgraded version of its Claude 3.5 Sonnet model that can understand and interact with any desktop app. The new “Computer User” AI model—still in its beta stage—will be able to perform research, answer emails, and handle other back-office jobs independently. How cool is that? today's edition image MainOne completes integration with Equinix What went wrong with GT’s core banking migration? Ethiopia's historic IPO The World Wide Web3 Opportunities M&A MainOne completes integration with Equinix MainOne + Equinix Image Source: The Gazette NGR Mergers and acquisitions are big deals (pun intended). So, when MainOne, the first private company to land a submarine cable and build a tier III data centre, was acquired by Equinix on April 5, 2022, for $320 million, it hogged the headlines. An exit for an infrastructure business proved that Nigeria's tech ecosystem was finally getting the attention it deserved. For competitors, it was a wake-up call—Equinix, with an $84 billion market capitalisation and 260 data centres globally, was now in Nigeria. For MainOne employees, there may have been some anxiety about their jobs initially—redundancies are common in mergers and acquisitions. But two years on, with the post-merger integration completed, employees will receive pay bumps in March 2025 after signing new contracts. Equinix is also expanding its operations in Nigeria, increasing the number of data centres from two to five. Three new data centres are currently under construction, and the company plans to grow its fibre cable network in Nigeria's South-South region. Some changes came with the integration. MDXi, the unit that manages data centres, will now be called Equinix, while MainOne, which handles submarine cables and connectivity, will be rebranded as MainOne, Solutions by Equinix. Equinix is already expanding into other African countries, such as South Africa. How far is the company willing to go in its African foray? Read Moniepoint’s Case Study on Funding Women Moniepoint image After losing their mother, Azeezat and her siblings struggled to keep Olaiya Foods afloat. Now, with Moniepoint, they’re transforming Nigeria’s local buka scene. Click here for a deep dive into how Moniepoint is helping her and other women entrepreneurs overcome their funding challenges. Banking What went wrong with GT’s core banking migration? Why meme Image Source: TechCabal On Monday, October 14, GTBank told its customers that they could resume banking services after its tech team and an engineering team from Infosys spent the previous weekend migrating data from Basis, its previous core banking application, to Finacle, its new application built by Infosys. Yet, life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans. If you have spent time online, you’ll know GTBank customers could not complete transactions, received wrong credit and debit alerts, and incorrect account balances. The core of the problem was a problem integrating its channels with its new core banking application Finacle. Core banking applications (CBAs) manage transactions, customer accounts, regulatory compliance, fraud detection, and generate reports for the bank so any issues with the CBA directly affect customers. “Nobody can perform a banking transaction without channels,” a consultant for Temenos, a leading CBA, told me. Think of the CBA as an island and channels are like bridges that connect customers to that island. Customers received erroneous alerts due to a data migration issue at GTBank. The bank switched systems from Basis to Finacle on Friday, but transactions continued over the weekend. This created a backlog of alerts that were processed the following week, leading to the errors. Read more about the switch. Issue USD and Euro accounts with Fincra Fincra image Whether you run an online marketplace, a remittance fintech, a payroll, a freelance platform or a cross-border payment app, Fincra’s multicurrency account API allows you to instantly create accounts in USD and EUR for customers without the stress of setting up a local account. Get started today. Economy Ethiopia's historic IPO Ethio Telecom Image Source: TechCabal Since coming to power in 2018, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has pushed ambitious economic reforms to open up the Horn of Africa, often considered one of the last closed economies on the African continent. In July, the country floated its currency and entered a $3.4 billion IMF programme, which Ahmed described as “the pain of surgery, endured for healing.” Part of Ahmed’s financial sector reforms have been to open the country’s financial sector to the entry of foreign banks and the launch of a securities exchange. After almost five years of planning, the Ethiopian Securities Exchange (ESX) is expected to go live, with Ethio Telecom as the first company to list. The planned IPO has fallen short of the promise to allow the flow of foreign capital after the government limited the participation of diaspora residents and foreign nationals. The government plans to raise $255 million by selling 10% of the telco giant through Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH). However, the decision to restrict diaspora and foreign investors from Ethio Telecom’s IPO could slow the country’s development of open capital markets. EIH, the Ethiopian sovereign wealth fund, also plans to list 10 of its biggest investments, including the Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services and Ethiopian Insurance Corporation. It is unclear if the regulators will allow foreigners to buy a stake in the subsequent sale of state-owned firms. Introducing Pay with Pocket on Paystack Checkout Paystack image Paystack merchants in Nigeria can now accept payments from PocketApp’s 2 million+ customers. Learn more → CRYPTO TRACKER The World Wide Web3 Source: CoinMarketCap logo Coin Name Current Value Day Month Bitcoin $67,149.02 - 0.33% + 5.17% Ether $2,614.62 - 0-87% - 1.70% AI Companions $0.101 + 6.27% + 8.59% Solana $165.59 - 0.74% + 12.87% * Data as of 06:00 AM WAT, October 23, 2024. Opportunities Nearly 200 startups, including those from Nigeria, are vying for top honours in the world’s largest pitch competition, Supernova Challenge 2.0. With a $200,000 prize pool and a top prize of $100,000, it’s a great opportunity for innovative ideas to gain recognition. Startups will be judged on their market opportunity, business model, and traction. Don’t miss this opportunity to pitch your idea to global investors and win equity-free funding. Apply now and take your startup to the next level! The Growth4Her Accelerator is open for women that want to take their businesses to the next level. Get expert mentoring, networking, and access to alternative financing options for your SMB. Apply for Cohort 4. Applications are open for the 2025 Acumen West Africa Fellows Programme, a fully funded opportunity for emerging leaders in West Africa. This six-month hybrid program supports individuals who are committed to solving poverty through entrepreneurship in sectors like education, agriculture, energy, and healthcare. Participants remain in their jobs while engaging in virtual and in-person learning experiences designed to build their leadership skills. Apply by November 25. Applications are open for the 2025 Google for Startups Growth Academy: AI for Cybersecurity, a three-month hybrid program for Seed to Series A startups using AI to tackle cybersecurity challenges. Selected startups will receive equity-free support, mentoring from Google experts, and tools to scale internationally. The program includes in-person kickoff and graduation sessions, along with continuous mentorship and technical consulting. Apply by December 3. Applications are open for the 2024 FirstBank Fintech Innovators Pitch Programme, supporting early-stage fintech startups. The program offers training, mentorship, and the chance to pitch solutions to FirstBank, investors, and industry leaders at the Fintech Summit on November 13-14, 2024. Winners will receive support and resources to bring their products to market. Apply by October 27. Issue virtual USD cards for you and your customers Kora image Do you want to issue virtual USD cards for your customers and business expenses? Use Kora’s APIs to issue cards, customise your card program, and set your customers' funding limit to your risk level. Get started here. in other news image Madica backs Nigerian clean energy startup Earthbond with $200,000 Tim Cook on why Apple’s huge bets will pay off A local ride-hailing service can’t beat Uber and Bolt, so its drivers are beating up their rivals How Stripe’s $1.1 billion crypto bet could pay off Written by: Frank Eleanya, Muktar Oladunmade, and Adonijah Ndege Edited by: Olumuyiwa Olowogboyega Want more of TechCabal? Sign up for our insightful newsletters on the business and economy of tech in Africa. The Next Wave: futuristic analysis of the business of tech in Africa. Entering Tech: tech career insights and opportunities in your inbox every Wednesday at 10 AM WAT. TC Scoops: breaking news from TechCabal P:S If you’re often missing TC Daily in your inbox, check your Promotions folder and move any edition of TC Daily from “Promotions” to your “Main” or “Primary” folder and TC Daily will always come to you. Email Us