The African continent hit a new milestone in mobile money transactions after it recorded $836.5 billion in transaction value in 2022, which was about two-thirds of the global transaction value at $1.26 trillion.

The transaction value is a significant increase from previous years, which grew by 22% between 2021 and 2022, from $1 trillion to around $1.26 trillion. However, the share of cash-based transactions in the overall transaction mix declined, with cash-in and cash-out transactions dropping nearly two percentage points. This is due to a significant rise in digital transactions, particularly interoperable bank transfers, and bill payments.

Registered mobile money accounts grew by 13% year on year, from 1.4 billion in 2021 to 1.6 billion in 2022. This can be attributed, in part, to regulatory changes in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in Nigeria and Ethiopia where mobile money adoption rose rapidly.

Also, the number of mobile money agents grew from 12 million in 2021 to around 17 million in 2022, a staggering 41% year-on-year increase. Much of this growth was in Nigeria where a liberalized regulatory regime has led to an increase in MMPs.

According to a GMSA report, in West Africa, the transaction value recorded was $277 billion, in North Africa $4.7 billion, in Central Africa $57.6 billion, in East Africa $491.8 billion, and in Southern Africa transaction value recorded was $5.3 billion.

Mobile money adoption in Africa in West Africa last year had the highest number of new accounts of all sub-regions worldwide. Within West Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Senegal have been mobile money leaders, followed closely by Benin, Burkina Faso, and Mali. Between 2020 and 2022, these countries were the main drivers of growth in the region. 

Data from the nationally representative 2022 GSMA Consumer Survey shows that access and usage of mobile money in Nigeria have grown since the recent PSB launches. Among all adults that are aware of mobile money and have used a mobile phone, mobile money account ownership has grown from 16% to 22% in the last year. Of all adults with a mobile money account, 88% have one registered in their name.

Speaking on the growth of mobile money in different regions across the globe, the DG GSMA Mats Granryd said,

“The habit of using digital payments, enforced by the pandemic, has stuck, leading to mobile money activity growth outstripping new registrations in many countries. Some of the key contributors to the growth of mobile money in the past few years have been regulatory changes in large markets. In Nigeria, for example, new licenses have seen many new mobile money players emerge, and with this a 41% growth in the number of registered agents. Not only has this created employment for millions of new agents, but mobile money services are now accessible to more people in Africa’s largest economy.”

As the world moves towards a post-COVID era, mobile money services have continued to show resilient growth. The growth experienced in 2020 and 2021 could be attributed to pandemic-induced policy and regulatory measures, such as cash transfers and salaries being paid digitally. However, the continued rise in bulk disbursement values shows that mobile money use has been sustained beyond the peak of the pandemic.

Weeks after Femi Otedola acquired 6% of Transcorp, which triggered a scramble for the conglomerate’s shares as they doubled within weeks, the billionaire investor has issued a statement, shedding light on the events that led to some the decisions surrounding the deal, which became a notorious topic last month.

Recall that Tony Elumelu, via his special purpose vehicle, Heirs Holdings, quickly increased his stake in Transcorp to 25.5%, cementing his place as the company’s biggest shareholder. This was after Otedola agreed to sell his entire 6% stake to Heir Holdings.

While there has been a lot of media speculations about what really transpired between the billionaires, Otedola’s statement on Monday reveals that there is more to the story than people know. He talked about his business relationship with Elumelu, dating back to 2005, and the motive behind his move to acquire Transcorp for N250 billion.

He said Elumelu had double-crossed him in 2012, after he informed the UBA chief of his intention to go into power business, specifically the Ughelli Power Plant.

Read the full statement below:

“In 2005, while Tony was the Managing Director of Standard Trust Bank he approached me to get funds to acquire UBA. I enthusiastically gave him $20 million, which was N2 billion at that time to buy the necessary shares in UBA for the acquisition. After a short period of time, the share price moved up and I decided it was a good moment to sell and get out of the bank. However, Tony appealed to me to hold on to the shares as he was convinced that there were future prospects – so I kept the shares.”

“I became Chairman of Transcorp Hotel in 2007 with a shareholding of 5% and unknowingly Tony gradually started buying shares quietly.”

“By the following year in 2008, I went bankrupt in Nigeria. Tony proceeded to take my shares in UBA to service the interest on my loans and he also took over my shares in Africa Finance Corporation, where I was the largest shareholder.”

“Shortly after, Albert Okumagba informed me that an American firm wanted to acquire my shares in Transcorp, which I then agreed to sell. However, this supposed American firm turned out to be Tony Elumelu. The revelation of this prompted me to resign as Chairman of the hotel.”

“Years later in 2012 Tony said he wanted to see me so we met in my office where I had previously had a meeting with foreign investors who had not yet departed the premises. Curious to know, he asked what sort of meeting I had had and I disclosed that I wanted to go into the power business, specifically Ughelli Power Plant. Tony quietly went ahead to bid for Ughelli and he outbid me by offering to buy the plant for $300 million.”

“And as some would say: the rest is history.”

“Fast forward to the present…”

“I offered to buy Transcorp Plc for N250 billion, but unfortunately, my offer was rejected. My goal was to maximize the company’s potential as a Nigerian conglomerate with a market cap of at least N2 trillion instead of the current N40 billion, but it seems some shareholders have a different vision.”

“As a businessman, I believe in healthy competition and market dynamics. Two captains cannot man a ship, and I respect the majority shareholder’s decision to buy me out. This is the nature of the game.”

“But let me be clear: my offer was made with the best intentions for Transcorp Plc and its shareholders. I saw an opportunity to unlock the company’s full potential and create value for everyone involved.”

“It’s important for investors to understand that free entry and free exit are crucial to healthy markets. The scramble for shares after my acquisition is a testament to the value that Transcorp Plc can offer, and I hope the company continues to thrive under new leadership.”

“My message to Transcorp Plc and its shareholders is this: I remain committed to the growth and success of Nigerian businesses, and I will always be looking for ways to create value for all stakeholders. Stakeholders are unfortunately always shortchanged by getting stipends while the owners and managers of the business live a jet-set lifestyle, which is detrimental to the stakeholders. Thank you for the opportunity to engage in this exciting chapter of Transcorp’s history.” Femi Otedola

Meanwhile, Transcorp power led by Elumelu has won the bid to take over Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), according a statement issued by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday.

“At the meeting of the National Council on Privatization (NCP), the council approved Transcorp Power consortium as the preferred bidder of the acquisition of the Abuja Distribution Company,” he said at the commissioning of the Afam 3-fast power plant in Oyigbo LGA, Rivers state.

This means that Transcorp Power has been delisted from the routine evaluation and monitoring of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), underlining a milestone for the company.

LinkedIn, the social media network for professionals has joined the fray of job-cutting with a move to reduce headcount by about 700.

The Microsoft-owned company, which has 20,000 employees, made the announcement on Monday, revealing that it is also shutting down its China-focused job application as the tech winter lingers.

Global economic downturn has seen big players in the tech industry significantly cut their workforce as cutting costs become watchwords for companies fighting to stay afloat. Though compared to other companies towing this path, including its parent Microsoft, LinkedIn recorded notable quarterly profits last year.

The company’s decision to cut jobs underlines the pressure the global economic outlook is mounting on companies. More than 270,000 tech jobs globally have been cut in the past six months, according to Layoffs.fyi.

Amazon leads the pack of tech companies’ layoffs with 27,000 job cuts, the most in its history. Others include social media conglomerate Meta, which has cut 21,000 jobs, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, which laid off 12,000 employees and microblogging app, Twitter, which also has cut its workforce by more than 7,500.

Layoffs.fyi said that 5,000 tech jobs have been eliminated in May alone, before LinkedIn’s announcement.

LinkedIn, which makes revenue selling ads and offering premium services generated $14.5 billion revenue in 2022. The company was bought for around $26 billion in 2016 by Microsoft, which has in recent months, announced about 10,000 job cuts. It also took a $1.2 billion charge related to the layoffs, according to Reuters.

In a letter to employees, quoted by Reuters, LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky said the move to cut roles in its sales, operations and support teams was aimed at streamlining the company’s operations and would remove layers to help make quicker decisions.

“With the market and customer demand fluctuating more, and to serve emerging and growth markets more effectively, we are expanding the use of vendors,” Roslansky wrote.

A LinkedIn spokesperson said the vendors were “external partners” who would take on new and existing work.

Roslansky also said in the letter that the changes would result in creating 250 new jobs. The spokesperson said that employees affected by the cuts would be eligible to apply for those roles.

LinkedIn also said it was eliminating the slimmed down jobs app that it offers in China after it decided in 2021 to mostly withdraw from the country, citing a “challenging” environment. The remaining China app, called InCareers, will be phased out by Aug. 9, LinkedIn said.

“Despite our initial progress, InCareer faced fierce competition and a challenging macroeconomic climate, which ultimately led us to the decision of discontinuing the service,” the company told users of the website.

LinkedIn will retain a presence in China to help companies operating there to hire and train employees outside the country, the company spokesperson said.