Good morning and welcome to another Daba weekly newsletter.

State-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia lost $14m when customers exploited a software bug. While the bank claims to have recovered $11m, authorities are chasing over 500 people still holding out. 

Talk about a costly lesson in cybersecurity!

In other top stories from the past week:

• Bulls dominate the markets

• BRVM investors reap $1bn

• Zambia’s debt revamp deal

• Why lending is hard in Africa

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ICYMI: We Rolled Out Exciting Updates on the Daba 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

Bullish markets

From equities and crypto to commodities, markets closed the week green

Oil prices closed out March higher and hit a five-month peak on Monday over the prospect of OPEC+ staying the course on production cuts, ongoing attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure, and tightening crude supplies.

Bitcoin stayed within the range of $71,600 and $68,400 with small price movements giving mixed trade signals. Investors are likely waiting for the upcoming halving event on April 19 before making major moves.

Gold prices ended the week in the green and are fast approaching all-time highs, propelled by US interest rate cut expectations and the metal’s appeal as a haven asset. Stocks across African markets under our coverage all closed positive.

Juicy returns

BRVM investors reap $1bn in 2023 as dividends boost stocks

Investors in BRVM securities enjoyed substantial gains in 2023, with dividends and capital gains boosting assets by $1bn. 

Nine companies on the Abidjan-based regional stock exchange have already announced net dividends totaling $660m for the year with Coris Bank in the lead by value.  

With an average net dividend yield of 11%, expectations are high for more distributions with forecasts surpassing the record $985m distributed in 2022.

Big breakthrough

Zambia reaches deal with creditors to restructure $3bn Eurobonds

The Southern African nation became the continent’s first debt defaulter over three years ago and is currently undergoing debt restructuring through the Common Framework, facilitated by the G20 platform.

Last week, it inked a breakthrough agreement – which has dragged on for a few years – with a consortium of private creditors to restructure $3 billion of its international bonds.

That involves consolidating three current instruments into two amortizing bonds, with one offering increased repayments contingent upon the country's improved economic prospects.

Headline roundup

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

Macro & Markets

• Regional bourse BVMAC sees turnaround after years of losses

• Ivorian lender NSIA Banque's 2023 profit beats expectations

• MTN Group's annual profit slumps on naira devaluation

• Ivorian farmers set for major gains after 50% cocoa price hike

VC Funding & Startups

• Sprints raises $3m bridge round to scale AI-powered ed-tech platform

• Kenya’s BasiGo secures $3m to boost EV bus rollout in East Africa

• African B2B e-commerce Wasoko's value marked down by half

Other Deals & Expansion

• Actis to acquire towerco from South Africa's Telkom in $355m deal

• African operator Telecel acquires MTN assets amid IPO drive

• M-Pesa partners Access, Coronation on intra-Africa remittances

Funds & Accelerators

• IFC invests $10.5m in new 4DX fund to support African startups

• Tunisia’s ANAVA invests $4.3m in Janngo's women-focused fund

• Climate tech VC Satgana closes fund for early-stage African startups

Startup Opportunities

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

• Irish Tech Challenge 2024 (Apr 26)

• Greentech Africa 2024 (May 10)

• Orange Social Venture Prize (May 24)

• Women’s Health Accelerator Program (May 16)

• Archipelagos SME Program (Jun 30)

Our insight for the week

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

Consumer lending in Africa is tough business: Getting a loan remains extremely difficult for millions across Africa. 

While global debt hit record levels in 2023, over 350 million Africans don't even have a basic bank account - automatically shutting them out from borrowing at traditional banks. 

Even those with bank accounts face stringent requirements like proving steady income that are unrealistic for many.

The huge shortage of available credit has fueled a boom in mobile lending apps promising easy access to loans. 

However, their lax approval processes have enabled reckless borrowing, trapping people in unmanageable debt cycles. 

Major digital lenders saw surges in defaults and losses in 2022 as loans turned bad.

Amidst these challenges, community-based lending groups like chamas in Kenya have thrived for generations by fostering social trust and accountability. 

Far from casual saving clubs, some women-led chamas have grown into sophisticated investment groups.

In addition, fintechs are now using artificial intelligence to lend to the unbanked via new credit scoring models. 

Rather than just looking at bank data, these assess digital footprints like mobile money usage to predict creditworthiness, even for those with little financial history.

Expanding affordable credit across Africa has no easy solution. 

But the path likely involves fintechs building on top of existing foundations of community trust and social capital, rather than trying to uproot them completely.  

To read the full piece on why Africa needs inclusive yet responsible lending models, and how entrepreneurs are tackling this challenge, check out the full article on our Substack. 

And don’t forget to subscribe to get the next edition straight to your inbox.

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.

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Catch you next week!