Good morning! 
Welcome to Moonshot week!
Moonshot by TechCabal, the most important tech gathering in Africa, is now only 2 days away. Put it in your plans to be in Lagos, Nigeria this week to be a part of the important conversations about Africa’s tech ecosystem.
Here’s the best part—attending with friends and colleagues makes the experience even more powerful. Share insights, build ideas together, and expand your network as a team! It’s an experience that’s even better enjoyed when shared.
AI
Nigeria gets additional $1.5 million AI fund
When Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s tech minister launched the National AI strategy, people criticised it. They saw the strategy—which provided a framework for the development and implementation of AI systems in the country—as putting the cart before the horse.
Critics highlighted the absence of crucial infrastructure—electricity and compute—needed to support the growth of AI.
Given the country’s cost-of-living crisis, many Nigerians also found it difficult to justify pursuing any ambition beyond stabilising the country’s economy.
Yet, the minister’s argument has been simple: there is no better time to ride on the wave of emerging technologies like AI to address the nation’s problem.
“We know our limitations, but we have clarity in terms of what we can do with AI and how to go about it. We may not have the compute, but we have young people that can be trained to build global AI solutions,” Bosun Tijani told TechCabal in an interview last month.
The Minister has gone on to launch Nigeria’s first Multilingual Large Language Model (LLM), alongside the National AI Strategy.
In September, Bosun Tijani was once again criticised after he announced that the ministry had received its first tranche of investment for the AI research and development fund. It was a ₦100 million ($61,500) donation from Google. The money will just be enough to purchase two Nvidia GPUs which usually costs between $30,000 and $40,000.
Bosun Tijani, at the time, said people failed to realise that the government was in talks for more funds. One of those funds is an additional $1.5 million from Luminate group. The funds which will be launched today is the latest move by the government to bolster AI development in the country. The government also plans to launch an AI collective this week as well as a National Artificial Intelligence Trust.
Read Moniepoint’s Case Study on Funding Women
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Regulation
What does a digital nomad visa mean for Kenya?
Kenya is having quite the year. Its drawn-out protests, debt defaults, and members of parliament railing into Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua as they call for his impeachment are some of the obvious highlights of the year. Yet, the country is finding ways to win.
On Thursday, Kenya amended its citizenship and immigration regulations to introduce a Digital Nomad Visa. This visa targets individuals who work remotely for foreign employers while choosing their own work locations.
According to the amended regulation, applicants to the visa program must be employed by a non-Kenyan company, be earning an annual base salary of $55,000, and have no criminal history.
Kenya hopes the visa will bring more remote workers into the country, boosting its tourism sector, which grew by 21.3% in the first half of 2024, generating KES142.5 billion ($1.1 billion). In addition to tourism, the visa is expected to benefit other sectors like housing, transportation, and hospitality.
However, details of the program, such as the visa’s processing time, the duration of stay, and the pathway to getting Kenyan citizenship remain unclear. More information is expected to be communicated soon as the program takes shape.
Kenya will join other countries like Seychelles, Mauritius, Namibia, and Cape Verde which have successfully rolled out digital nomad visas, offering remote workers tax breaks and a chance to live and work from beautiful cities.
Remote work is growing in popularity worldwide and countries want to capitalise on it. In Nigeria, Lagos State will tax remote workers. Kenya, needing a quick win, will also try and tap into this growing travel-work culture. It is unclear if, and how much tax digital nomads in Kenya will pay.
Issue USD and Euro accounts with Fincra
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Banking
Fidelity Bank records ₦200.8 billion ($125.5 million) pre-tax profits
Fidelity Bank, a Nigerian tier-2 bank with a market capitalisation of ₦323 billion, has reported a ₦200.8 billion ($125.5 million) pre-tax profit for the second quarter of 2024. The results were driven by a surge in net interest income and gains from financial assets.
The bank’s net interest income soared by 202%, reaching ₦326.4 billion ($200 million) during the period. This significant increase was fueled by rising interest rates and a growing loan portfolio. Additionally, Fidelity Bank’s fees and commission income rose by 45%, reflecting strong growth in its non-interest income streams.
To reward its shareholders, the bank has proposed an interim dividend of ₦0.85 per ordinary share. This dividend payout is expected to further enhance investor sentiment and attract additional capital inflows into the bank.
The bank’s total assets grew by 27% year-on-year to ₦7.9 trillion ($4.9 billion) up from ₦6.2 trillion ($3.8 billion) in the same period last year. Per its financial statement, the bank is currently profitable.
Fidelity Bank’s strong financial performance comes after the bank raised over ₦127.1 billion ($78 million) in August as part of the CBN recapitalisation mandate.
Introducing Pay with Pocket on Paystack Checkout
Paystack merchants in Nigeria can now accept payments from PocketApp’s 2 million+ customers. Learn more →
CRYPTO TRACKER
The World Wide Web3
Source:
|
Coin Name |
Current Value |
Day |
Month |
|---|---|---|---|
 Bitcoin |
$63,525 |
+ 2.56% |
+ 17.25% |
| Ether |
$2,487.64 |
+ 2.92% |
+ 10.00% |
 Hamster Kombat |
$0.004976 |
+ 6.74% |
– 49.00% |
| Solana |
$149.58 |
+ 4.92% |
+ 18.16% |
* Data as of 06:20 AM WAT, October 7, 2024.
Opportunities
- Here’s an exciting opportunity for crypto innovators! Quidax in partnership with TC Battlefield has launched an exclusive award category to celebrate the most promising and innovative crypto startup in Africa. If you’re solving big problems with cryptocurrency, you stand a chance to win the $15,000 grand prize and other exciting rewards. Applications close next week so apply quickly!
- The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation is open to African innovators creating engineering solutions to local challenges. Innovators from sub-Saharan Africa should pitch viable engineering products or services that will have social or environmental benefits to the continent. Apply for the chance to get up to $25,000 in funding.
Issue virtual USD cards for you and your customers
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Written by: Faith Omoniyi & Emmanuel Nwosu
Edited by: Olumuyiwa Olowogboyega
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I am the CEO of 9JAGISTLAND.My name is Adedeji Timothy and my co-owner is Oyekola Damilare.This blog is born out of our passion to educating to people in all aspect of internet life.We are enthusiastic about writing posts and articles online.
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