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Since our last newsletter, Nigeria's SEC has issued a "steer clear" order on WealthTech companies, Twitter has opened an office in Ghana, and Nigeria's NCC has undone the evil that was the sim card registration ban after several complaints.

Over the last 7 days alone, we have seen:

• Uber and bolt drivers go on strike
• Okra raise a seed funding of $3.5 million
• Audiomack partner MTN to make its service free

In today's newsletter, we will be covering all of that and more!

🚖 Ride-hailing drivers in Nigeria go on strike

Drivers with all the popular ride-hailing services in Nigeria embarked on a one-week strike last Monday. Hence why some people might have had issues hailing a ride last week.

Some drivers unionized under the Professional E-hailing Drivers and Private Owners Association (PEDPA) Aha! bet you didn't know that existed. They claimed that the strike was to drive an upward review of the prices the ride-hailing companies charged users.

But that's not all. The drivers want more, and PEDPA has intervened.

What next for ride-haling?

💸Okra bags $3.5 million in Seed funding

Remember the Nigerian API fintech that raised a pre-Seed round of $1 million last year?

They have followed it up with a Seed raise of $3.5 million this year. This new round was led by US-based VC Susa Ventures.

Since its first round, Okra says it has analysed over 20 million transactions and has seen API calls grow an average of 281% month-on-month.

TLCom Capital which bodied their entire pre-Seed raise participated in this new round alongside other investors.

More on Okra's Seed raise

Partner Content

Treford Group is organizing a training for people looking to begin a career in product marketing.

Click here to go to the registration page.

Audiomack joins the African streaming wars

And after Spotify entered the arena, nothing was the same..

When Spotify announced its entry into several African markets, how the competition would react was the big question. After all, Spotify is the biggest music streaming service in the world.

It hasn't taken too long for us to see the reactions, though. The battle for subscribers is well and truly underway.

Deezer, one of the top streaming platforms in Nigeria, halved its pricing barely two weeks after Spotify launched.

Boomplay, another streaming company, entered into a license agreement with Universal Music Group. The licensing allows Boomplay to extend UMG’s global music catalog to 47 countries in Africa and, in the process, grow Boomplay’s subscribers.

Two weeks ago, UduX, in partnership with Piggyvest, launched PopRev, a product that will allow fans to invest in a musician’s project. Poprev will allow artists to generate income for subscribers through streaming. Perhaps, the UduX team believes invested customers will drive up streaming on the platform.

Our latest entrant  Audiomack has partnered with MTN Nigeria to launch the Audiomack+MTN Data Bundle Program. The program will allow MTN subscribers access to stream music via Audiomack for zero data costs. All users need to do is subscribe to the programs weekly (₦270) or monthly plan (₦550).

It's early to identify who will win the battle now; however, one thing is clear: users will benefit immensely from this free-market competition.

Audiomack's partnership with MTN Nigeria

💰Fundraising

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

• Ghanaian fintech, Bezomoney has secured $200k in seed funding.
• Nigerian fintech startup, Appzone raised $10-million series A funding
• Ugandan fintech startup Numida raised $2.3-million seed funding.
• Ugandan insurtech, Oko, raised $1.2 million to expand its footprint in SSA.
• Nigerian fintech startup, Okra raised $3.5-million seed funding.
• Paymob, an Egyptian fintech start, has raised $15 million in series-A funding.
• Revix, a South African crypto company, has raised $4 million  

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:

• Could Nigerian banks be turning to regulators in the fight against Fintech?
• Lemonade Finance is easing cross-border transactions for Africans.
• Planning to leave Nigeria sometime soon, Read Fola Olatunji-David's Ways to legally Japa from Nigeria.
• Fundall wants to become a one-stop-shop for the financial needs of young Africans.
• Read Bukayo Ewuoso's article on using paid advertising as a catalyst for digital marketing.
• Nigerian startup, SpottR wants to change global retail commerce through AI.
• 13 Tech careers that do not require any coding knowledge.
• If you're working at a startup, you should want to know what stock options are and how to exercise them.
• A brilliant read on how Fintechs struggle beyond their first product.

Job Opportunities🚪

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

• Micdee is looking for two female designer interns.
• Apply for the 2021 Kimoyo design fellowship.
• TalentQL is hiring mid- and senior-level developers.
• Kippa is looking to hire a Flutter Engineer.
• Twitter is hiring staff Designer and other roles.
• Branch is hiring an Android software engineer, Associate Accountant, and a Credit and analytics lead
• Bundle is hiring a Product designer and Blockchain Engineer.

What next? Do these:

• Reply this email if you are in Accra, Ghana. Benjamin would love to connect.
• Share this newsletter with someone curious about tech in Africa
• Turn on tweet notifications on our page, because we are about to launch a new Series! Thanks for reading.
  
  Written by Marvis
  Edited by Hachi and Benjamin
  Designed by Joseph