Investors update: January 5 2023

Ethereum deal volume surpassed Bitcoin’s last year

Highlights

• The total transactions on the Ethereum network tore through that of Bitcoin by more than fourfold in 2022, data from DollarGeek has shown.
• Data from Nasdaq and Ycharts shared on Reddit on January 2, 2023, showed that there were 338% more Ether transactions in 2022 (408.5 million) than Bitcoin ones (93.1 million).
• Nonetheless, according to Google trend searches, Bitcoin retained its crown regarding online search interest. About 28.41 million people googled Bitcoin during the year.

Source: Nairametrics

Our Takeaway

Last year, the Ethereum blockchain averaged a daily transaction count of around 1.1 million for ETH, while that of Bitcoin’s network stood at 255,000 for BTC. Although the Ethereum network led the charge, it experienced much more volatility while transaction volumes on the Bitcoin network were steadier and more periodic. This was due to spikes in demand at certain times such as NFT launches and other gas fee-intensive events such as XEN minting.

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Telecom service provider Iristel expands into Kenya

Highlights

• Iristel, a telecommunications service provider, has announced its expansion into Kenya providing the company with a presence in Africa, as it looks to expand to new emerging markets.
• Iristel’s voice service offers an expansive, facilities-based local telephone number coverage and inbound voice origination service that enables over-the-top (OTT) and voice service providers to offer voice and messaging (SMS) services to their business or consumer end users.
• For this initial rollout of its global expansion, the company plans to provide the capability to purchase session initiation protocol (SIP) trunks, which can be aggregated with its onnet footprint and DIDs.

Source: ABC

Our Takeaway

Africa’s telecommunications industry, one of the largest sectors in the region, has witnessed rapid growth over the past two decades while playing a key role in shaping the continent’s economy as we know it today. Much of this growth is driven by some deregulation of the sector across the continent, massive investments in network infrastructure by operators, and a large young population increasingly adopting mobile voice and data services. The huge, yet-to-be-realized potential in the market keeps attracting interest from foreign investors and players.

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Okra Solar gets $4.5m debt for solar networks in Nigeria

Highlights

• Okra Solar has secured a $4.5 million revolving working capital facility from EDFI ElectriFI, to help the company penetrate the Nigerian market further and eventually speed up sustainable electrification.
• Launched in 2016, Okra Solar develops mesh-grid technology, composed of their proprietary Okra Pod and sold together with PV panels, batteries, and inverters to electrify underserved or unserved communities.
• The company is now focusing on expanding in Nigeria and plans to deploy multiple pilot projects and energize more than 30 000+ households in the next two to three years.

Source: Leadership

Our Takeaway

Even with off-grid solutions like mesh grids being 10 times cheaper than grid extension for hard-to-reach communities, 80 million people live off-grid in Nigeria. This highlights the importance of Okra’s raise and work, providing financial tools that enable local developers to deploy grids at scale and bring power to thousands of communities. The ElectriFI Country Window for Nigeria is developed in partnership with EU Delegations and host governments.