Monday, 01 August 2022

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The troubles that have plagued Flutterwave and ChipperCash, the two arguably most ambitious fintech on the continent have only gotten worse.

The Central Bank of Kenya, after revealing that both companies aren't licenced for operation in Kenya, now says that both companies should not be petronised in the country by their partners.

Below are the tech stories and news you need to know to start your day, carefully curated by Technext.

Summary of the news

Stakeholders debate regulations in the Nigerian tech ecosystem at GAT Summit 2022
Kenya’s central bank has ordered banks to cease their partnerships with Flutterwave and Chipper Cash
Uber said it will start showing drivers how much they’ll be paid for accepting a trip
Meta said it will double the dose of force-fed filler on Instagram and Facebook in 2023

What happened at Technext's GAT Summit 2022?

At the maiden edition of the Government and Tech (GAT) Summit organised by Technext, held Thursday in Lagos, stakeholders of the Nigerian tech industry and regulators debated how the ecosystem can move forward amid the challenges that stifle the growth of the industry.

Olatubosun Alake, the Special Adviser on Innovation and Technology, representing governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, made the case that Lagos is at the forefront of the movement to encourage innovations in the country. But he cautioned that it would include some regulations.

“One of the key factors for driving sustainable economic growth is regulation,” he said, adding that “a balance must be struck” between citizens and regulators for the advancements to be made.

Technext reports that the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Inuwa Abdullahi who gave the second keynote lecture titled “Regulating for the People – The Role of Governance in Innovation,” argued for policies that will both protect the country and the industry, especially from foreign tech giants who pounce on developing industries like Nigeria’s.

“We have realised that the big tech sees us as free raw materials for extraction, production, commodification and sales,” he said. But he quickly added that “Our most dangerous illusion in the wonderland [tech ecosystem] is that these platforms, supposed to be tools to increase freedom and democracy, are actually eroding democracy and diminishing freedom.”

More trouble in paradise for Flutterwave and Chipper Cash

It's a full-blown war between the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and Flutterwave and ChipperCash. After it pushed further that Flutterwave and ChipperCash are not licensed to operate in Kenya, the CBK is taking drastic measures against the companies.

The CBK has ordered commercial banks, microfinance banks, and mortgage finance companies in Kenya to immediately end their partnerships with the fintech companies, Flutterwave and Chipper Cash, in a circular last week.

Matu Mugo, deputy director of bank supervision at the CBK, said in the circular:

It has come to the attention of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) that Flutterwave Payments Technology Limited (Flutterwave) and Chipper Technologies Kenya Limited (Chipper) have been engaging in Money Remittance and Payment Services without licensing and authorisation by CBK.

You are therefore directed to immediately cease and desist from dealing with Flutterwave and Chipper.

Weeks ago, when the CBK first said that Flutterwave was not licenced to operate in the country and a court froze its accounts, the CEO, Gbenga Agboola dismissed it as politically motivated. Now Flutterwave is backtracking, saying that it is working on getting its licence in Kenya.

According to TechCabal, Flutterwave said that it penetrated the Kenyan market through partnerships with “banks and mobile network operators licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya.”

Flutterwave's new statement:

We have been in constant engagement with the Central Bank of Kenya to ensure that we provide all the requirements and we look forward to receiving our license,

Uber will start showing drivers how much they’ll be paid for accepting a trip

Uber says that it’s “completely reimagined the way drivers accept rides” with a feature called “upfront fares,” which shows drivers exactly how much they’ll be paid for a trip and where they’ll end up after dropping a rider off.

In its announcement last week, the company says the change is part of its push to make driving for the rideshare service more flexible. Uber’s also planning on rolling out a feature that lets drivers see other ride requests in their area, letting them pick specific trips they’d like to do, The Verge reports.

For riders, the changes, which have been tested in select locations, could mean fewer cancelled trips because a driver doesn’t actually want to go to the destination, or realizes that it won’t be a very profitable trip.

According to an upfront fee support document, the amount shown to drivers before they accept a trip is based on “several factors, including base fares, estimated trip length and duration, pickup distance, and surge pricing.” The document notes that if the rider changes the drop-off address or there’s “unexpected traffic” along the route, the fare will be adjusted. The number also doesn’t include things like tips or wait times.

Meta to double recommendations on Instagram feed

Hundreds of thousands of people recently signed a Change.org petition asking Instagram to stop eating up space in their feeds by recommending so many Reels from accounts they do not follow. Shortly after, Instagram owner, Meta confirmed that these users aren’t just imagining that there’s a sudden avalanche of Reels ruining their online social lives.

Ars Technica reports that the short videos currently make up about 15 per cent of Instagram and Facebook user feeds—and soon, even more often, they'll be shoving to the side all the updates from friends that users choose to follow.

Despite all the negative feedback, Meta revealed on an earnings call that it plans to more than double the number of AI-recommended Reels that users see. The company estimates that in 2023, about a third of Instagram and Facebook feeds will be recommended content.

A Meta spokesperson says in response to the outrage:

Based on our findings and community feedback, we’re pausing the full-screen test on Instagram so we can explore other options, and we're temporarily decreasing the number of recommendations you see in your feed so we can improve the quality of your experience.

We recognize that changes to the app can be an adjustment, and while we believe that Instagram needs to evolve as the world changes, we want to take the time to make sure we get this right.