AFCON rakes in record sales 🤑

Ticket sales at the football tournament in Ivory Coast surged a whopping 800% compared to the previous edition + all the latest features on the Daba mobile app.

Author

Anthony Miclet
March 21, 2024

Hi there. Welcome to another Daba weekly newsletter!

South Africa has licensed 59 crypto platforms, making it one of the first nations on the continent to require digital asset exchanges to have permits to operate. Altogether, more than 300 providers sought approvals, per the financial regulator.

In other top stories from the past week:

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📢 Exciting Updates in Daba's Mobile App! 📱💼

Hey Daba Community,

We're thrilled to announce some major updates to our mobile application! We've been listening closely to your feedback and have been hard at work to bring you a faster, more reliable experience with some fantastic new features.

Here's what's new:

💰 Wallet - Deposit and Withdrawal: Now you can easily deposit and withdraw funds in CFA Franc, USD, and Euro right from your Daba wallet! Whether it's via debit card, bank transfer, or Mobile Money, managing your finances just got a whole lot simpler.

＄ Currency Display: Choose your preferred currency to view your balance and wallet status. With options including USD, Euro, and CFA Franc, personalizing your financial experience has never been easier.

📈 BRVM Stock Exchange: Dive into the world of stock market investment with ease! You can now invest in stocks listed on the BRVM directly from our app, with an automated order placement process for seamless transactions.

🐞 Bug Fixes: We've squashed pesky bugs reported by you, ensuring smoother navigation and enhanced stability within the mobile app.

With these updates, we're making it easier than ever for you to manage your investments and financial transactions on the go.

Tap the button below to check them out now and stay tuned for more exciting features coming your way soon! 🚀

Happy investing!

Here are last week’s top stories

Mixed markets

Decline in bellwether stocks weighs on benchmark BRVM indexes

Despite the prevalence of gains, major BRVM market indices, including the BRVM Composite (-0.07% to 211.92 points), BRVM 30 (-0.23% to 106.59 points), and BRVM Prestige (-0.30% to 98.83 points), declined last week. 

Bitcoin fell more than 1% last week and slumped  5.6% to $64,356 in Tuesday's trading session amid profit booking and ahead of the Federal Reserve policy decision and commentary on Wednesday. Major other coins like Ethereum also suffered losses.

Oil is trading at multi-month highs amid Ukraine's recent attacks on Russian refineries. Global benchmark Brent crude settled at 85.34 last week and on Tuesday, 0.6% higher at $87.38 a barrel, the highest since October 31.

AFCON success

Revenues from AFCON rise 26% as ticket sales surged 800%

Initial figures released by the African Football Confederation (CAF) show that over 1.2 million spectators attended the matches held across six stadiums during this year's Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.

The impressive turnout translated into a significant surge in ticket sales revenue, marking an 800% increase compared to the previous edition in Cameroon.

Consequently, commercial revenues for the Ivorian edition soared by 26%, driven by a 70% rise in the number of sponsors, totaling 17.

Cable cut

Undersea cable damage triggers internet outages across Africa

Major internet access disruptions have hit several African nations due to damage to submarine communications cables.

Ivory Coast appears to be experiencing the most significant impact from the cuts, followed by Liberia, Benin, Ghana, and Burkina Faso. Cameroon, Gabon, Namibia, and Niger are also facing disruptions, albeit to a lesser extent. 

In South Africa, Vodacom attributed connectivity issues to multiple undersea cable failures. The disruption could take weeks or even months to fix, per multiple reports.

Headline roundup

A summary of the major business, tech, and finance headlines of the past week.

Macro & Markets

VC Funding & Startups

  • South Africa's Simera Sense gets $14.8m for earth observation solution

  • Egypt-based ad tech dKilo secures $3.2m in seed funding round

  • Nigeria’s Youverify raises $2.5m to expand its ID, AML solutions

  • ORA Technologies closes $1.5m seed round to scale super app

  • Moroccan fintech Tookeez gets $1.5m in round led by Azur Innovation

Other Deals & Expansion

Funds & Accelerators

Startup Opportunities

Discover funding and accelerator opportunities to boost your startup's growth.

Our insight for the week

Get more context into events shaping Africa’s economic landscape.

Who is investing in Africa? Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is the lifeblood of economic development, fostering growth, innovation, and global connectivity. 

In Africa, FDI plays a crucial role, in fueling infrastructure development, job creation, and technology transfer. 

But who are the main actors driving investment into the continent, and what are the latest trends shaping this landscape?

European nations like the United Kingdom and France have historically been significant investors in Africa, pouring billions into various projects and sectors. 

However, the past decade has seen a notable shift, with Asia, particularly China, emerging as a dominant player in African investment. 

China's massive capital injections, totaling over $72 billion from 2014 to 2018, have sparked infrastructure development across the continent.

The United States and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also feature prominently in Africa's investment scene, with both countries channeling billions into diverse sectors. 

Recent trends reveal a mixed picture of FDI flows across the continent. 

While some regions have seen declines in investment, others, like North Africa, are witnessing surges driven by strategic mergers and acquisitions. 

The rise of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) presents a promising avenue for further investment, offering access to a vast market of 1.3 billion people across 55 countries.

To delve deeper into the trends of foreign investment in Africa, read the full piece on our website now.

That’s it for this week. Next Frontier is sent once weekly. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here.

If you haven’t, you can also download the Daba app to get daily bite-sized insights into African economies, industry and country reports, and access investment opportunities.

Catch you next week!