Investors update: December 9 2022

Moove bags fresh $30m debt to fund UAE expansion

Highlights

• Nigerian mobility fintech startup Moove, Uber’s exclusive vehicle financing, and vehicle supply partner in Sub-Saharan Africa, has secured $30 million from a debut Sukuk issuance to fund its expansion into the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
• Founded in 2019 by Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi, Moove is democratizing vehicle ownership in Africa by providing revenue-based vehicle financing to mobility entrepreneurs.
• Moove sells customers new vehicles, financing up to 95% of the purchase, and embeds its alternative credit-scoring technology onto ride-hailing and e-logistics platforms, allowing access to proprietary performance and revenue analytics of mobility entrepreneurs to underwrite loans.

Source: Disrupt Africa

Our Takeaway

Millions of rides have already been completed in Moove-financed vehicles across six African markets – Lagos, Accra, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Nairobi, and Ibadan – and three product categories – cars, trucks, and motorbikes, and the company has also expanded into Europe and India having raised significant debt and equity funding. This debt round for UAE expansion—bringing its total funding to over $200 million—is the fifth raise Moove has had this year after $10 million in February, $105 million in March, $20 million in debt funding in June, and $18.3 million in October.

---

Africa’s 5G connections to hit 150 million by 2028

Highlights

• The latest mobility report by a global technology vendor, Ericsson, has projected a speedy growth in 5G across sub-Saharan Africa, with Nigeria and South Africa in the driving seat.
• According to the report, the two countries will push the continent’s 5G connections from 7 million to 150 million by 2028.
• The two largest economies on the continent are also expected to immensely benefit from the technology, which the report says will drive smart industries and agriculture.

Source: Nairametrics

Our Takeaway

From the report, 4G subscriptions are expected to grow higher over the same period from 260 million in 2022 to 600 million in 2028. While noting that 2G connections still constitute about half of the total mobile subscriptions in SSA, Ericsson expects the number of people on 2G to decline significantly over the next 6 years as subscribers are migrated to 4G and 5G networks. The potential benefits of this next-generation network for the continent are well-published. But adoption faces hurdles due to the high cost of 5G-enabled handsets and mobile data in the country.

---

Beko lays foundation for new $100m plant in Egypt

Highlights

• Beko Egypt for home appliances, a subsidiary of Arçelik, has celebrated laying the foundation stone for its first factory in Egypt on the 10th of Ramadan Industrial Zone, in the received land allocation with a total area of 114,000 m2.
• The state-of-the-art manufacturing site is on the heels of fruitful discussions between the Egyptian government and Arçelik, a global household appliances manufacturer and a subsidiary of Koç Holding. 
• Both parties had come together to explore investment opportunities and means to increase local employment and create value for local industries and communities.

Source: Africa Business Communities

Our Takeaway

Scheduled to begin operations by Q4 2023, the plant is projected to manufacture an annual capacity of 1.5 million household appliances, more than 60% planned for export to Europe, the Middle East & Africa as “Made in Egypt”, with around $250 million in annual export potential. The investment marks a significant milestone and is expected to boost the regional economy by creating more than 2,000 jobs and transferring technical know-how. In addition, the factory will develop local supplier ecosystems to create sustainable value for all industries.