The government of President Muhammadu Buhari has finally signed the long-awaited Startup Bill into law- the Nigeria Startup Act.. The motion which has been on for over a year in the senate and a hot topic of discussion in the business climes

After years of high-handedness on tech startups, Nigeria wants to better position its startup ecosystem to lead the continent. The new Startup Act lays out rules and systems for how startups and governmental and regulatory bodies collaborate in order to advance the country’s growing tech ecosystem.

Market roundup

Below is the Weekly Economic roundup from Ventures Africa for the week ending 21st of October 2022. This economic index gives you a glimpse into recent activities in the African economy and price changes that could affect it.

Stock markets 

Here is how stocks performed in key African markets (Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, and Kenya) at the end of the week ending Friday, 21st of October 2022:

• Nigeria

The Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) All-Share Index rose by +0.15 per cent (+66.50) to close the week at 44,396.73 basis points.

 Top 5 gainers

Academy Press – +9.77 %

Sterling Bank -+3.95 %

Chams – +3.85 % 

Mutual Benefits Assurance – +3.57 % 

Transcorp – +2.83 %

Top 5 decliners

N.E.M. Insurance – -9.98 %

Royal Exchange – -9.78 % 

Morison Industries  – -9.59 % 

Sovereign Trust Insurance  – -7.14 %

Apic Insurance  – -5.56 %

• Egypt

The Egyptian Exchange ( EGX 30)  Index rose by + 1.15 per cent ( +116.80) to close the week at 10,273.53 basis points, on Thursday 20th October.

Top 5 gainers

Maridive & Oil Services – +14.29 %

El Obour Real Estate Investment – +10.23 %

Egyptian For Tourism Resorts – +8.00 %

Aspire Capital Holding – +8.00 %

Belton Financial Holding – +7.55 %

Top 5 decliners

Egyptian Real Estate Group – -4.78 %

Medical Packaging Company – -3.70 %

Al Khair River For Development Agricultural Investment – -3.70 %

Nasr Company For Civil Works – -3.26 % 

Egyptian Financial & Industrial – -3.19 %

• South Africa

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) All Share Index slumped -0.39 per cent (-256.60) basis points to close the week at 65,539.25 basis points.

Top 5 gainers

Advanced Health Limited – +30.00 %

Orion Minerals Ltd – +16.67 %

Mix Telematics Ltd – +16.40 %

Cloud Atlas AMI Big50 ex-SA ETF – +13.06 %

Safest Capital Ltd – +8.59 %

Top 5 decliners

Rex Trueform Group Ltd – -20.32 %

SAB Zenzele Kabili – -12.46 %

Ellies Holdings Ltd – -11.76 %

Choppies Enterprises Ltd – -10.64%

Labat Africa Ltd – -9.09 %

• Kenya

The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index dropped -1.16 per cent (-1.51) to close the week at 128.30 basis points.

Top 5 gainers

Kakuzi – +7.69 %

Liberty Kenya Holdings – +7.27 %

Kenya Power & Lighting – +6.08 %

Carbacid Investments – +3.29 %

CIC Insurance Group – +3.08 %

Top 5 decliners

Longhorn Kenya – -9.41 %

Car & General (K) –9.36 %

Standard Group – -8.75 %

East African Cables – -7.83 %

UNGA Group – -6.90 %

Currency markets 

Here is how Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, and South Africa’s currencies performed against the US Dollar at the official markets.

• The Nigerian naira started the week at 438.72 NGN/$1 to closed at 436.61 NGN/$1.
• The Egyptian pound started the week at 19.6627 EGP/$1 and closed at 19.6289 EGP/$1.
• The South African Rand started the week at 18.0695 ZAR /$1 and closed at 18.0916 ZAR/$1.
• The Kenyan shilling started the week at 121.11 KES/$1 and closed at 121.20 KES/$1.

Oil prices 

• Brent oil started closed Friday 21st of October at $93.60per barrel, compared to $91.63 per barrel recorded the previous week.

• The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) closed the week at $85.05 per barrel compared to $85.61 per barrel last week.

Crypto markets

According to data from Coinmarketcap, the global cryptocurrency market cap stood at $926.26 billion as of 8 pm on Sunday, 23rd of October- a 0.55 per cent increase over the previous day. Here is how the top three cryptocurrencies performed:

• Bitcoin (BTC) rose 1.12 per cent to trade at $19,457.12.
• Ethereum (ETH) rose o.96 per cent to trade at $1,330.31.
• Binance coin (BNB) rose 0.67 per cent trade at $273.75.

Tech funding

• Egyptian B2B trucking startup Trella secures a further $6 million in debt funding from ALMA and United States’ DFC.
• SA employee wellness platform Strove raises an undisclosed amount of funding from Japanese VC.
• Egyptian delivery management startup Roboost raises 6-figure funding round from Falak Startups, AUC Angels and Flat6Labs.
• Nigerian social commerce startup Bumpa raises $4 million in seed funding led by Base10 Partners.
• Egyptian B2B pharma platform i‘SUPPLY raises $1.5 million pre-seed funding round led by Disruptech Ventures.
• Egyptian e-health startup Vezeeta raises growth funding to fund expansion from Gulf Capital and VNV Global.
• Egyptian B2B e-commerce startup MaxAB raises $40 million pre-Series B round from investors.
• Nigerian mobility fintech startup Moove raises $16.8 million financing facility to scale UK operations.

From the expert

“The Nigeria Start Act is one of the boldest moves by the government as it deliberately attempts to harvest the enormous intellectual and entrepreneurial capacity of the mind of young people, who form a larger part of the country’s population. I have seen the composition of the council and I am not sure if making the President its Chairman is a wise idea because he already has many things to deal with,” said Oladapo Olowo, Head of the Legal Department, Keystone Bank Limited.