Modern banking is here and Moove is the largest in financing vehicular fleet in Africa: “Moove, a Nigerian mobility startup that provides vehicle financing to drivers of ride-hailing platforms like Uber, has secured $76 million in new funding to expand globally.” Yes, Moove is moving things and great brands like Blackrock are believers.

Do not be confused: Moove is a tech company which offers banking services for those who want to buy cars for use in the ride-sharing ecosystem. It has essentially disintermediated the regular banks in the sector. As they grow, new ordinances will emerge. I expect them to be closing in total at least $500 million by Dec 2023 (they’re at $334 million before this new announcement).

Tekedia Capital salutes #builders.

Speaking on the funds raised, Moove Co-Founder Ladi Delano said: “We are excited to be partnering with Mubadala and BlackRock to double down on our already profitable markets including the UAE, India, Uk, 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.

“With this investment, we will now accelerate our mission and continue creating life-changing opportunities for our customers while working towards profitability, It gives us great pride in seeing our customers build a better life for themselves and their families, and this funding will allow us to offer this chance to more entrepreneurs.”

While Moove is raising money, not many startups are that lucky as global challenges on fundraising continue.

Startup companies are struggling to survive as venture funding dries up, according to The Wall Street Journal. Some potential investors pulled back after Russia invaded Ukraine, while others are hesitant to invest in companies that aren’t growing revenue or turning a profit. Despite investors’ enthusiasm in artificial intelligence companies, funding for U.S. tech startups plunged 49% in the year ended June 30, per recent PitchBook data. Investment in U.S. early-stage startups in the second quarter also fell sharply to $10 billion, leading more startups to fail. One investor calls it a “perfect storm.”

Mr Jason Njoku, the Iroko Tv boss wrote: “Nigeria Twitter vs Actual Nigeria is surreal. The reality feels so different to being on the ground. The middle & working classes are suffering. Everywhere is empty. Restaurants, hotels, and roads are deserted. Consumption has definitely collapsed. You can see it clearly in Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG). Maybe I’m just a hater though”. 

In response to this tweet, Sandra Ezekwesili, the radio host with Nigerian info wrote; “I’m on air every day talking to Lagosians. At least a million people listen to my program, Hard Facts. This tweet doesn’t even begin to cover the reality on the ground currently in Nigeria”.

There is no post that has ever resonated with me and resonated with me and with millions of Nigerians more strongly than this post;  Things are terribly bad at the moment in Nigeria. It has never been this bad.

Unfortunately, if you scroll through social media, especially Twitter and Instagram you may think that everything is normal and everyone is doing fine in Nigeria. This is the handiwork of some paid media aides of the ruling government or those whose job is to constantly defend the ruling government.

Take it from me that people are suffering since this government came into power; people barely feed themselves two square meals a day; consumer products no longer move because of the fall of the purchasing power of the Nigerian consumer and to make things worse the prices of the consumer goods have experienced an astronomical increase in price.

I was in Lagos last week and there were just a few cars on the road. I can count the number of vehicles that were driving on the road. Coincidentally, I flew into Lagos by 6 pm which is always the peak period of traffic jams but there was an unusual free flow of traffic. I asked my driver and he told me that it has been like this since fuel prices increased, people can no longer afford to fuel their cars and go around for their daily hustles. In fact a car dealer I know told me that car owners have been bringing their cars to sell in his car stand recently because the owners can no longer afford the maintenance cost of the cars.

My parents, family members and relatives call me every day from home to make demands and complaints. My Aunty broke down crying the other day while speaking with me over the phone and narrating how bad things have been since Tinubu entered power. Callers on radio programs do break down crying as well while speaking and narrating how bad things have been on air.

Companies are leaving Nigeria due to the high exchange rate of the dollar to naira. As companies pack up their bags and leave,  workers of those companies become jobless; some of the companies I know that are still in operation are dropping some of their staff due to the fact that they can no longer afford to pay their salaries.

For those that do not live in Nigeria and for those that are yet to have a feel of the reality, take it from me, things are extremely bad in Nigeria at the moment. People are hungry; the economic situation has never been this bad. Everybody seems to be overwhelmed. Even those that voted for Tinubu are not having it easy either.

This is not a political post nor is it a blame post but a true representation of fact as to how bad things are currently in Nigeria, forget about the tweets you see, most of those tweeting those lies are paid political jobbers.