Henry Kissinger, towering American foreign policy figure, dies at 100

November 30, 2023 News Editor

Kissinger, a controversial figure who was both admired and reviled, was known for his pragmatic approach to diplomacy and his willingness to engage with adversaries. He was a key figure in the Nixon administration’s efforts to end the Vietnam War and in the normalization of relations between the United States and China.

Kissinger was born in Fürth, Germany, in 1923, and emigrated to the United States in 1938 to escape the Nazis. He served in the US Army during World War II and later earned a doctorate from Harvard University.

After teaching at Harvard, Kissinger entered government service in the 1960s. He served as national security adviser to President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973 and as secretary of state from 1973 to 1977.

In his role as national security adviser, Kissinger played a key role in the Nixon administration’s efforts to end the Vietnam War. He also helped to normalize relations between the United States and China, making a historic visit to Beijing in 1972.

Kissinger’s tenure as secretary of state was marked by a number of significant foreign policy achievements. He helped to negotiate the Camp David Accords, which led to a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, and he played a key role in the development of the Helsinki Accords, which helped to ease tensions between the East and West during the Cold War.

However, Kissinger was also a controversial figure. He was criticized for his role in the Vietnam War, particularly his support for the bombing of Cambodia. He was also criticized for his support of authoritarian regimes in Chile and Greece.

Despite his critics, Kissinger remained a respected figure in international affairs. He continued to write and speak on foreign policy issues long after leaving government service. He also served as a consultant to a number of governments and businesses.

Kissinger’s death marks the end of an era in American foreign policy. He was a towering figure who shaped American policy for decades. His legacy will continue to be debated for years to come.

Arab League Emergency Summit, AU/Arab Summit to hold in Riyadh amid heightened security

November 7, 2023 News Editor

Heightened security is likely throughout Riyadh as it will host the Arab League Emergency Summit on November 11, 2023.

Foreign ministers of member nations will meet to discuss the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. The meeting was called by the Palestinian Authority and Saudi Arabia.

Authorities will likely increase security in and around the summit venue and its surrounding areas in the days leading up to the event.

Additional security measures, including checkpoints and road closures, are also likely along all major routes between the venue and King Khalid International Airport (RUH).

Authorities may also temporarily close airspace around Riyadh as key figures arrive and depart the city; flight delays are possible immediately before and after the event.

The Arab League – African Union Summit is also holding simultaneously. The Arab African Summit is aimed at establishing practical solutions for developing Arab-African cooperation and catching up with the emerging and influential international powers in African.

The summit seeks to identify fields for cooperation, build a common vision for sharing knowledge and experience, and identify projects and frameworks for improving bilateral and multilateral ties between Arab and African countries.

Some of the objectives of the Summit include reinvigoration of the Arab-African Relations, addressing issues relating to conflicts and counter-terrorism as well as tackling challenges such as poverty, education, health, food security, developmental matters, debt crises, and global challenges like climate change, migration, and humanitarian aid.

The Summit was last held in 2016.

Reputation Poll Magazine

October 30, 2023 News Editor

Greetings!

The Reputation Poll Magazine is here. This groundbreaking edition rides with the “Heralds of the Droidan Age”, spotlighting the revolutionary Artificial Intelligence advancement generation. We certainly cannot ignore the trends; AI is the force to reckon with.

Whilst its challenges are before it, the revolution of AI continues to tear down barriers of controversies as it further embeds its deeper progressive natures into the human way of life.

And as the saying goes: “If you’ve been waiting for a sign, this is it!”

However, AI is by far not the only thing to look out for in this edition of the Reputation Poll Magazine.

Please, download via link 👇

RPI Magazine Magazine

Moove takes in $76M equity, debt from Mubadala and BlackRock at a $550M valuation

October 30, 2023 News Editor

Moove, an African mobility fintech that provides vehicle financing to drivers of ride-hailing platforms like Uber and other gig networks, has raised $76 million in new funding.

It includes $28 million in equity from new and existing investors led by Mubadala Investment Company, $10 million in venture debt from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, and $38 million in previously undisclosed funds raised during the prior 12 months, Moove said in a statement.

The news is coming a year after Moove raised a $105 million Series A2 financing ($65 million equity and $40 million debt). The company, which closed its $23 million Series A round in 2021, has employed several types of debt financing since inception from British International Investment, Franklin Templeton Investments and ABSA.

Moove has raised $325 million ($150 million in equity and over $175 million in debt). This latest financing takes Moove’s valuation to $550 million.

Founded in 2020 in Lagos, Nigeria, by co-CEOs Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi, Moove, via revenue-based financing, provides flexible options for drivers who want to get into the business of ride-hailing or other gig economy services without having to borrow from car owners or take bank loans to finance these cars bought from dealerships.

Drivers sign up on the platform and, once verified, are trained and sign contracts with Moove to access loans to buy or rent cars. The company gets these drivers on Uber (its exclusive partner across Africa for ride-hailing) or other mobility platforms, including Glovo, Kobo360 and Swvl, as gig drivers.

Moove then deducts weekly rental fees from their earnings before transferring the balance to their accounts. The loans are between 12 and 48 months, and when drivers repay them (at an 8% to 13% annual interest rate), they own the cars, according to the three-year-old startup.

Since its launch, the Lagos-born and Amsterdam-headquartered startup has expanded its operations to 13 cities across Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The countries where Moove has a presence include Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, the U.K., India, and the UAE, demonstrating what the founders informed TechCrunch on the startup’s expansion plans during its last pricing round in March 2022.

“We have managed to build a Nigerian solution for what we now know is a global problem,” Delano said. “And that is exciting for us because not only do we have the opportunity to help solve the lack of access to vehicle financing problems for mobility entrepreneurs in Africa, but now we have the opportunity to take this Nigerian-born solution to the rest of the world.”

Moove intends to use the investment to expand and consolidate its position in these markets, where it remains Uber’s largest vehicle supply partner across EMEA. Moove claims to be India’s second-largest vehicle partner and operates the largest EV fleet by supply hours on the Uber platform in the UAE, despite launching only four months ago.

The mobility fintech, which works with 15,000 customers who have completed more than 22 million trips, said it has experienced a 17x revenue growth since its Series A in 2021. Moove has annual recurring revenues of $90 million, according to the Financial Times.

Delano, in a statement, alludes to Moove’s profitability in some markets. According to the co-CEO, the Mubadala-led financing will help Moove double down on already profitable markets, including the UAE, India, the U.K., and South Africa, “as well as continuing to invest in our customer experience and accelerate our product development to deliver group-wide profitability within the next 12 months.”

In retrospect, it could be argued that Moove’s actions over the past couple of months, which have raised eyebrows, were geared toward meeting this target. Moove, which employs 500 people, conducted a company-wide “dismissal” in December, affecting an unknown number of employees. In May, a report detailed complaints of unfair working arrangements in Nigeria where Moove impounded drivers’ cars for nonpayment of loans.

Unsurprisingly, these reports haven’t deterred Moove’s investors, who now have an appetite for profitable companies or those that can show a clear path there, from pumping more money into the self-described mobility fintech. For lead investor Mubadala, this is its first investment in an African-founded upstart, and Faris Sohail Al Mazrui, its head of ventures and growth, will join Moove’s advisory board. “Moove has built a highly scalable tech-enabled platform to serve mobility entrepreneurs globally by providing them access to credit and other financial services previously unavailable to them. This is a hugely underbanked and underserved market that we believe has significant long-term potential,” he said of his firm’s investment in Moove, which also has other global backers, including Speedinvest and Left Lane Capital.

AfDB, IDB, IFAD Vote Additional $1bn To Fund Nigeria’s Agribusiness In 24 States

October 30, 2023 News Editor

The African Development Bank (AfDB), Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), have voted $1 billion to further deliver Special Agro-industrial Processing Zones in 24 States of Nigeria.

This is in addition to an initial $520 million voted by the development partners for the development of eight special agro-industrial processing zones in Nigeria.

President of African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, made this disclosure at the on-going Norman Borlaug International Dialogue, World Food Prize 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa, United States of America.

Delivering his address titled, “From Dakar to Des Moines,” Adesina noted that the decision to pump such huge funds into Nigeria’s agribusiness was part of the resolve to develop Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs) in 13 countries.

Explaining that it was the core of the food and agriculture delivery compacts from the Dakar 2 Summit held earlier this year in Dakar, Senegal, the AfDB President said, “We are investing heavily in the development of SAPZs to support the development of agricultural value chains, food processing and value addition, enabling infrastructure and logistics to promote local, regional, and international trade in food.

“The African Development Bank Group is investing $853 million in the development of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones, and it has mobilized additional co-financing of $661 million, for a total commitment of $1.5 billion. We are deploying effective partnerships at scale. We are currently implementing 25 Special Agro-industrial Processing Zones in 13 countries.

“For example, the African Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development provided $520 million for the development of eight special agro-industrial processing zones in Nigeria. The second phase of the program aims to mobilize an additional $1 billion to deliver special agro-industrial processing zones in 24 States of Nigeria”.

Adesina regretted that while much progress had “been made in African agriculture, 283 million people still go to bed hungry in Africa, about a third of the 828 million people that suffer hunger globally.”

He however described the Norman Borlaug International Dialogue World Food Prize 2023, as a “journey and narrative of how we are combining the power of science, technology, policies, and politics to ensure that Africa fully unlocks its agricultural potential, and feeds itself, with pride.”

The AfDB President thanked Vice President Kashim Shettima, and the President of Ethiopia, Sahle-Work Zewde, for participating in the global event, saying their presence is an indication “that Africa has the political will and is fully ready to tackle food insecurity and make hunger history” on the continent.

Also speaking during the sideline chat with the AfDB President, Vice President Shettima who spoke on the Tinubu administration’s initiatives for food security said the quality of present leadership in Nigeria and the rest of Africa will drive transformation in agriculture and other sectors.

According to him, “a nation falls or rises fundamentally due to the quality of its leadership. Right now Africa is blessed with quite a handful of quality leaders that have the drive, passion and skills set to redefine the meaning and concept of modern leadership.

“Bola Ahmed Tinubu, my boss, is a good example, Macky Sall of Senegal and of course, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt are doing wonderfully well, just to mention a few of the African leaders that are distinguishing themselves in leadership.

“I want to assure this gathering of investors and stakeholders in the agricultural sector that my boss, President Tinubu is a quintessential 21st century modern African leader who is determined to redefine the meaning and concept of modern leadership.

“Be rest assured that there will be a sea change in the fortunes of the Nigerian nation and by extention the African continent in the next couple of years because Nigeria is an anchor nation”.

On wheat production, Shettima disclosed that “our target towards wheat production in Nigeria is to achieve 50% self sufficiency in the next three cycles. It is inconceivable that we are the second largest wheat importer in the world.

“Luckily, we have already procured the heat tolerant variety of wheat seeds and we are going to drive that process by supporting the farmers with the heat tolerant variety, agricultural extention services, fertilizer and also hope to increase the irrigation areas to one million hectares in the next cropping cycle.

“We need to produce about 2.4 million tonnes of wheat grains in Nigeria. We are going to reach out to our farmers through small irrigation schemes and through digitalisation. All the actors in the value chain will be sufficiently taken care of through innovative finance, partial credit guarantees and crop insurance,” he emphasized.

For rice production, the Vice President said the major challenge for Nigeria is the insufficiency of paddy rice and noted that Nigeria has adequate milling capacity but “we need to produce three to four million tonnes of paddy rice to meet our requirement of about 2.5 million tonnes per annum. We have 75 million hectares of arable land and most of it suited for rice cultivation.”

He added that “we will provide our farmers with certified seeds, fertilzer, extension services, the digitlization of services, inputs, finance and market information. Our target is to achieve self sufficiency in rice latest by 2027.”

Shettima also spoke about the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs), reiterating the Tinubu administration’s commitment to providing an enabling environment for investors in the zones.

He said government would create an SAPZ development authority that will operate like a one-stop shop where regulatory and associated issues will be addressed.

US FinTech Squeeze.com acquires Youtility to revolutionise comparison market

October 30, 2023 News Editor

US-based tech platform Squeeze has acquired Youtility, a UK technology start-up, in a bid to offer a unique embedded experience for both businesses and their customers.

The collaboration hopes to combine the consumer-facing expertise of Squeeze with the market-leading B2B services of Youtility, to bring about a transformative change in the financial sector.

Squeeze is a rapidly growing platform dedicated to helping consumers manage, evaluate, and save on their recurring insurance contracts. Youtility, based in the UK, operates a market-leading B2B API platform. It collaborates with banks and fintech companies to deliver integrated home finance management services, providing customers with a streamlined way to manage their household finances.

The move comes in response to a report from The Office for National Statistics, which claims that there has been a significant rise in UK household energy bills, leading to a growing need for banks and FinTech platforms to support their customers in better managing and saving money.

Elias Janetis, Founder and CEO of Squeeze, said “I am excited that our expert team and unique technology can help UK consumers to make more informed decisions and to save money on their home finances. Our combined technologies will allow banks to embed essential money saving actions and help all customers, not just the financially savvy, bring about a new era of price comparison to the UK market.”

Tyler Randolph Boyd, Chief Strategy Officer and Lead of the newly combined group, noted “By combining the consumer facing expertise of Squeeze with the market leading B2B services of Youtility, we will offer a one-of-a-kind embedded experience both for businesses and their consumers.”

Youtility co-founders Will Kostoris and Charlie Quigley, said “We are excited to bring together the Squeeze and Youtility technologies and accelerate the businesses development by harnessing Squeeze’s expertise from the US market. We are thrilled to join forces with such a strong team and to align our collective missions to help people save money on their largest payments year after year.”

Prepaid cards expand in India

October 26, 2023 News Editor

Indian fintech Pepper Money is collaborating with the National Payments Corporation of India and merchant technology company Pine Labs to issue a prepaid card via the national Rupay payment network.

The product, called the Pepper Money Dreams Card, is expected to reach more than a million consumers within the next year.

The card is designed for smaller towns and rural areas, where financial services are not as accessible as in India’s larger cities. Pepper Money will partner with about 100 local businesses in fashion, travel, electronics, dining and health care at launch.

The NPCI estimates the Indian prepaid card market is about $119 billion and is expanding at a compound annual growth rate of 36%.

India’s government has encouraged expansion of non-cash payments for years, often through controversial steps such as removing huge amounts of paper money from circulation and taking a hard line on U.S. payment firms that could cut into Rupay’s share.

Fiserv joins Swift’s partner program

October 26, 2023 News Editor

Fiserv has joined the Swift Partner Program, allowing the bank technology seller to enable connectivity to Swift’s application programming interfaces and support Swift’s Global Payment Initiative.

Swift’s GPI lets parties track payments across different banks and countries through a single source — a capability that’s considered a key cog in Swift’s real-time and cross border payment strategy.

Fiserv is attempting to make it easier for its financial institution clients to offer cross-border digital payments, or to set up digital payments in new countries.

Like many bank technology firms, Fiserv is in the midst of expanding its ability to connect banks to real-time payment networks, which will require technology upgrades to support interoperability across borders.

Canadian tech firms lobby for open banking

October 26, 2023 News Editor

A group of payment technology companies including Wise, Wealthsimple, Xero Canada, Borrowell and fintech industry lobbyist Fintechs Canada have started the Choose More campaign, which is pushing for open banking.

Open banking refers to using data sharing to enable a single log in (usually a payment credential) to access financial and nonfinancial products from other companies.

Adoption of open banking in Canada is relatively low, and there isn’t a formal framework to govern open banking in Canada.

The Choose More campaign is designed to pressure faster work on data portability regulations, while educating consumers about data sharing and real-time payments, which are also delayed in Canada. Small financial institutions and credit unions are also advocating for open banking in Canada.

U.K. sends out 146 crypto marketing warnings in one day

October 26, 2023 News Editor

The Financial Conduct Authority’s crypto asset promotion rules went into effect on Monday, and the agency had a busy day — issuing 146 alerts in 24 hours, with firms being given an opportunity to engage with the FCA to correct marketing before more formal steps are taken.

The rules mandate that firms marketing cryptocurrencies or related assets must be authorized and registered with the FCA, or have their marketing programs approved by a firm that the FCA has authorized.

The promotions must be “clear and not misleading” and labeled with risk warnings about the dangers of investing in cryptocurrency.

“These changes bring crypto assets in line with other high-risk investments,” the FCA said in a release.