Investors update: November 21 2022

Nigerian real estate firm Purple launches its $22.5m IPO

Highlights

• Purple Real Estate Income, a real estate investment firm, today launched its Initial Public Offer, which will be open for 25 working days till December 23. 
• The group’s ₦10 billion ($22.5 million) Equity Offer represents an IPO of up to 2 billion new ordinary shares at ₦5 per share. Following completion, the shares will be listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX).
• Proceeds from the Offer will be used to expand the group’s existing portfolio by diversifying its lines of business and geographies to create more inclusive homeownership opportunities for Nigerians.

Source: Nairametrics

Our Takeaway

Nigeria’s real estate sector offers many prospects for investors, particularly for consumers increasingly demanding all-inclusive living, blending high-quality lifestyle offerings with residential and commercial assets. Perhaps more significantly, Purple’s IPO represents the country’s second share issuance available to retail investors via a digital platform—after MTN Nigeria’s IPO in 2021—and also comes at a time when African bourses are experiencing a dearth of listings and a spate of delistings. 

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Fintech lender Pivo raises $2m seed round for expansion

Highlights

• Nigerian fintech startup Pivo has closed a $2 million seed funding round to upgrade existing products and build new ones to improve supply chain transaction management and payment reconciliation.
• Formed in 2021, Pivo provides financial services to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the supply chain sector, offering them access to banking, lending, and insurance solutions.
• The funding comes from Precursor Ventures, Vested World, Y Combinator, FoundersX, and Mercy Corp Ventures. It will also be used to establish its presence outside its Lagos office, expand operations to East Africa, and grow its team. 

Source: Disrupt Africa

Our Takeaway

Across Africa, there is a clear supply chain finance gap for SMEs that is not being met by traditional banking institutions and other lending services companies. As such, businesses miss out on significant business opportunities without the requisite capital to support their transactions. Pivo’s business is yet another example in Africa’s alternative lending market focused on SMEs, which is gathering momentum thanks to the emergence of financial technology (fintech) on the continent. 

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Crypto prices still under pressure as Bitcoin clings on above $16k

Highlights

• Bitcoin hovered around a one-week low on Monday, trading for $16,060, and other major cryptocurrencies fell sharply, as the impact of the dramatic collapse of FTX continues to ripple through the market.
• The cryptocurrency market has come under pressure over the last two weeks as problems at the major exchange came to light.
• From November 6, the day Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said his exchange would liquidate its FTT tokens, the crypto market has lost more than $260 billion of value.

Source: CNBC

Our Takeaway

Bitcoin has experienced significant losses due to the FTX collapse, falling from over $21,000 to a two-year low of $15,500 last week. It made an effort over the weekend to make up ground, briefly rising to $17,000 before falling below $16,000 on Monday morning. Nearly 70,000 traders were liquidated on the last day of the week, totaling $187 million in liquidations while the greatest single liquidation order, worth $7.05 million, was made on Bitmex.