TechCabal Daily – Was Nigeria’s presidential election rigged?

24 MARCH, 2023

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

THE WORLD WIDE WEB3

Bitcoin	$28,211	+ 2.87%
Ether	$1,809	+ 3.97%
BNB	$327	+ 1.56%
Solana	$22.04	+ 2.75%
Name of the coin Price of the coin 24-hour percentage change		Source: CoinMarketCap

* Data as of 05:50 AM WAT, March 24, 2023.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged eight celebrities for promoting crypto schemes illegally. BBC News reports that the celebs, including Ne-Yo, Lindsay Lohan and Soulja Boy, reportedly broke US’ anti-touting law by promoting TRX and BTT crypto assets without disclosing that they had been paid to promote the assets. All eight have paid about $400,000 in fines. In September 2022, another celebrity, Kim Kardashian, paid over $1.2 million in fines for breaking the same law.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one step closer to launching its own central bank digital currency (CBDC). CoinTelegraph reports that the country signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi’s G42 Cloud and digital financial services provider R3 to be the infrastructure and technology providers for the implementation of the digital currency. As of March 2023, over 115 countries are reportedly exploring CBDCs. 

The founder of collapsed crypto coin Terra has been arrested in Montenegro for running a $40 billion crypto fraud scheme. The Verge reports that Do Kwon has been apprehended following the 2022 Terra/Lina crash which the SEC alleges constituted a massive fraud that evaporated over $40 billion in value.

NIGERIAN POLITICIAN ACCUSES INEC OF RIGGING

Two weeks after the conclusion of Nigeria’s presidential elections, one of the country’s presidential candidates has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of rigging the election with third-party software. 

According to candidate Atiku Abubakar, INEC reconfigured the Bimodal Verification and Accreditation System (BVAS) with software that rigged the election in favour of president-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu. 

In an electoral petition filed earlier this week, Abubakar alleged that this premeditated manipulation was the real reason behind the delayed transmission of the results. Throughout the elections, several polling units reported INEC agents experiencing difficulties accessing the BVAS portal, and the results were not available until hours after they were uploaded to the IReV portal. 

One day after the elections, INEC reported that its election result viewer (IReV) was experiencing “technical hitches” related to scaling the use of its election. According to a statement signed by chairman for its Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, the portal was unprepared for managing nationwide general elections and has only been used in “off-season” periods.

Per Abubakar’s petition, INEC did not experience any hitch. The institution, instead, used a third-party software called Device Management System (DMS) to alter the configuration that INEC’s ICT team head, Chidi Nwafor, had initially done. This new configuration allegedly allowed the BVAS to monitor, quarantine, and filter the data before transmission to the endpoint.

Zoom out: Another candidate, Peter Obi, also filed a petition, asking the courts to subpoena Amazon staff. Per Obi’s petition, Amazon’s hosting platform (AWS) still holds INEC’s election data and as such “ought to be the same” as the announced results. Looks like Nigerians don’t have a new president yet. 

KENYA SAYS NO TO PROTEST COVERAGE

Kenya wants everyone to keep mum about its protests.

Yesterday, the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) warned six media outlets against their coverage of the country’s ongoing protests.

What protests?

Led by Raila Odinga, a presidential candidate who lost to President William Ruto, Kenyans are protesting the high cost of living in the country. They are protesting against the regime of President Ruto which they say is illegitimate. 

Between September 2022 when President Ruto assumed office and March 2023, Kenya’s inflation rate rose from 6.8% to 8.3%, and the prices for key commodities grew by 42%.

The bi-weekly protests—scheduled for Mondays and Thursdays—have already seen two people shot, one fatally, and over 200 protesters arrested. Thirty-one policemen have also been injured in the violent clash across Nairobi and other cities. According to vice president Rigathi Gachagua, Kenyan businesses have already lost $15 million to the protests. 

Media outlets across Kenya have broadcasted the protests, but a recent warning from the CAK reveals that this is illegal. Per the CAK, broadcasters have to obey several laws which direct them to broadcast with care. Clause 19 of the Kenya Information and Communications Act, for example, urges broadcasters to not glorify violence that will incite or perpetuate hatred. 

Per the director general of the CAK, Ezra Chiloba, six stations—NTV, Citizen TV, K24, KBC, TV47, and Ebru TV—were in violation of these laws and further violations would lead to a loss in broadcast licences.

KENYA INTRODUCES NEW FOREIGN EXCHANGE LAWS FOR BANKS

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has announced a new Kenya Foreign Exchange Code (the FX Code) to commercial banks.

The Kenya Foreign Exchange Code is made up of six principles that all institutions are required to adhere to.

The principles

The principles address the code of ethics when operating in the FX market, the need for sound and effective governance framework to oversee FX market activity, and exercising due care when negotiating and executing transactions.

Additionally, the principles seek to address clarity and accuracy in communication in the FX market, development and maintenance of a robust control and compliance framework, as well as ensuring predictable, smooth, and timely settlement of FX transactions.

All for a good cause

According to the CBK, the principles aim to strengthen and promote the integrity and effective functioning of the wholesale foreign exchange (FX) market in Kenya.

“It will facilitate better functioning of the market, reinforcing Kenya’s flexible exchange rate regime for greater resilience of the economy,” the bank said.

TC INSIGHTS: FUNDING TRACKER

Here’s the funding news for this week.

This week, Credable, a pan-African-based fintech company, raised $2.5 million in a seed round. The round was led by The Continent Venture Partners (TCVP). Other investors included Lauch Africa, MAGIC Fund, ACASIA Ventures, AAIC Investment, Aadverse Emurgo Africa, and other investors.

Here are the other deals this week:

• Egyptian SaaS company Flapkap raised $1.2 million in an undisclosed funding round. The round was led by A15, the leading MENA venture capital firm and one of the most prominent investors of early-stage start-ups in the region. 

That’s it for this week!

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn for more funding announcements. You can also visit DealFlow, our real-time funding tracker.

EVENTS: TECHCABAL AT 10

Here’s a list of all the Twitter Spaces we’ll be holding to celebrate our 10th-year anniversary.

• March 30—The role of the media in covering African tech. How can the media help Africa’s developing tech ecosystem? What responsibility does the media owe the ecosystem, and what can the media expect in return? Should the media only cover the good stories? Find out here.

IN OTHER NEWS FROM TECHCABAL

What state-generated electricity could mean for Nigerians and local tech ecosystems.

Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures announces $43 million venture fund for pan-African startups.

JOB OPENINGS

There are more jobs on TechCabal’s job board. If you have job opportunities to share, please submit them at bit.ly/tcxjobs. 

What else is happening in tech?