At an event earlier today, First Bank announced a strategic partnership with payment company PayPal. PayPal officially opened its doors to Nigerian users last month. The partnership allows First Bank customers create PayPal accounts right from First Bank’s online web-banking portal. In addition, First Bank customers get instant verification of their accounts as soon as they are created. How is this different from other banks? First Bank customers get instant notifications and higher transfer limits than other Nigerian banks. They can also fund their PayPal account direct from First
Read More Africa’s leading e-commerce site, Jumia, has just raised $26 million from Summit Partners, a $15 billion equity firm that invests in rapidly growing companies. The company is already active in Nigeria, Egypt and Morocco, and says it will use the funds to expand to more countries and strengthen its operations. The new investment is in addition to the one they received earlier from JP Morgan Asset Management. The terms of this investment are still undisclosed but we know from information that Summit has a history of investing in e-commerce start-ups in emerging markets like the Asian Amazon
Read More We just heard MIH invested in Nigerian online retailer, Konga. Our source did not include financial details of this deal, but it’s significant enough for MIH to cancel its MoMall project in Nigeria. The deal was sealed in October 2012 and will be officially announced in February this year. In December 2012, TechLoy hinted at the possibility of MIH investing in locally grown Konga or foreign-owned Jumia. For Konga, this is funding to increase its product base or acquire smaller e-commerce companies like it did with 3Stitches. Konga can also
Read More Following the launch of Sabunta, Kasuwa(now Jumia) and HelloFood, Rocket has launched another e-commerce site that is largely an eBay clone and has named it Kaymu. Kaymu works like a basic marketplace for buying and selling items online but allows sellers run an online auction for items or select a fixed price option. For items with the online auction option, the seller specifies a price at which bidding starts as well as a start and end date for the auction. Like any normal auction, the buyer with the highest
Read More A handful of e-commerce startups in Nigeria have launched lately retailing various items from grocery to electronics. Sunglasses.com.ng is setting itself apart by focusing specifically on eyewear – everything from sunglasses to contacts. The startup has direct relationships with brands like Gucci, Ray-Ban and Armani, that let them sell sunglasses and frames at lower prices. The site has glasses from over 40 brands with classic staples like the Ray-Ban Wayfarer retailing for ₦29,900. They also just launched a 5K collection with glasses priced at, you guessed it, ₦5,000 a pair.
Read More Mobile Money service, Paga, has announced a cashback promotion for every transaction on its service. The company says users will get N100 cashback over every money transfer transaction. Paga will also give N1000 to new users to try out is service as well as N50 per transaction to users who refer their friends. The minimum amount required to get these bonuses is N500. You must transfer at least N500 to get the N100 cashback. Friends you’ve referred must also transfer above this threshold for you to get the N50 bonus.
Read More Following Sunglasses, Sabunta’s Ex-CEO Leonard Stiegeler has launched a new website selling beauty products. Glamour.com.ng sells Fragrances, Skin care products and Make-up items. Leo, as he is fondly called, left Sabunta(now Jumia) and launched Sunglasses - an online store for glasses, sunglasses and contact lenses, a while after. Before launching Sabunta in Nigeria, he worked at Zando – Rocket Internet’s online fashion store for South Africa. Glamour promises to ship items ordered between 5 and 10 days and explains that it will sometimes come across hitches in the delivery process. Glamour’s design
Read More Rocket Internet Nigeria has launched HelloFood – an online/phone service that allows you order food and get it delivered. Rocket’s foray into the Nigerian e-commerce scene with the launch of an online fashion store Sabunta and an electronics and media store Kasuwa. Both stores were later merged into Jumia – an Amazon-like store for Nigeria and a large part of North Africa. HelloFood says it has over 30 restaurants in Lagos for customers to order from at delivery prices starting from N0. To find restaurants in your area, all
Read More Nigerian e-commerce and retail website Jumia which was formerly known as Kasuwa, just received funding from J.P. Morgan Asset Management. The amount that was put into Jumia hasn’t been disclosed but the investment company is a global company which has assets under supervision of approximately $2.0 trillion and assets under management of $1.3 trillion (as of June 30, 2012) and its clients include institutions, retail investors and high-net worth individuals in every major market throughout the world. In a press release by Jumia co- founders and joint-CEO’s Tunde Kehinde & Raphael Afaedor stated that “This
Read More Going to the market in Nigeria, Lagos especially, can be such a chore. There’s traffic, you have to go deep into it sometimes to get the best deals, and you have to deal with “area boys” half the time. It doesn’t exactly top your list of favourite things to do. This is where the MHQ Store comes in. You can buy anything from tatashe to shaki, Lux to Olay and even recipes. Just order and they’ll deliver the next day at the cost of ₦1,000. They deliver from 12p.m. to
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