Google has announced its partnership with Verve to make digital transactions on Google Play Store easier and more accessible for Nigerians.
Verve is a pan-African payment card scheme owned by Interswitch that can be used to make payments at merchants, withdraw cash from ATMs and transfer money between accounts.
Nigerians can now use their Verve cards to make purchases on the Google Play Store, Google will conduct the transactions in Naira (₦‎), and banks will treat these transactions as local transactions.

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Nigeria’s central bank unfroze the accounts of some firms illegally trading in foreign exchange in Nigeria. It could symbolise new beginnings.
The acting CBN governor, Folashodun Shonubi, and Emefiele’s replacement raised interest rates to 18.75%, banks were told to lift the restrictions on the bank accounts of 440 individuals and companies.
Experts said the apex bank's reversal of its earlier stance is a means of bridging a gap where foreign investments can flow into Nigeria.
An analyst at Meristem Securities Limited, Fifunmi Laosebikian says the CBN is trying to be flexible while reducing barriers to trade.

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MTN Nigeria has reported a drop in its H1 result from 2023— January 1 to June 30, 2023. MTN reported a 29.14% decline in its profit for the period under review of ₦128 billion, compared to ₦181 billion during the same period in 2022.
MTN Nigeria’s CEO, Karl Toriola, stated that operating conditions in the first half of 2023 remained challenging with energy, food, and general inflation at elevated levels. Toriola explained that MTN had robust commercial and financial performances in H1 and would continue to invest in the business to further improve the quality of its delivery.
The MTN boss says H1 helped the telco gain 1.5 million new subscribers, taking its total tally to over 77 million subscribers. Already the firm prioritised enhancing the capacity and coverage of its 4G and 5G networks.

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The Kenyan Court of Appeal lifted an earlier court order barring the implementation of Kenya’s new Finance Act.
The Finance Act 2023, which is designed to generate revenue for the government, introduces several new taxes, including a 1.5% tax on content creators and a 3% tax on crypto traders.
The senators argued that the Act was passed without due process and that the 1.5% housing levy which the Act mandates employers and employees to pay, is unconstitutional because the Constitution limits the national government’s role in housing to developing a housing policy.

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ChatGPT is available to pre-order” for Android users who want to take the ubiquitous chatbot on the go.
The ChatGPT app on Android looks to be identical to the iOS one in functionality, meaning it gets most if not all of the web-based version’s features.
OpenAI says that the Android app will be rolling out to users next week, presumably in the U.S. first.
No plans were mentioned for other countries, but it’s likely that they’ll follow after a few weeks or months.

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Senegal announced it was finally ready for 5G by opening up the window for applications for 5G spectrum licences.
Telecom regulator L’Autorité de Régulation des Télécommunication et des Postes announced that interested investors should submit applications by July 14.
ARTP director Abdou Karim Sall, says the application process would help the regulator decide which telecom has the capacity to rapidly provide quality 5G infrastructure across the country.
The regulator announced that it had provisionally awarded Sonatel—a 5G licence after the telecom beat out others with its bid.

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South Africa’s biggest Internet Service Provider, Telkom, has plans to sell its Swiftnet tower.
CEO Serame Taukobong, says part of the money from the Swiftnet sale will contribute to the company’s negative free cash flow and allocate additional investment in capital expenditures for their fibre business.
Taukobong also stated that Telkom’s tower portfolio has two solid bidders.
Telkom is open to offers from other companies and there is no guarantee that IHS will acquire the unit.
Nedbank Group Ltd., the Swiftnet business is valued at approximately R8.7 billion ($482 million) based on anticipated future cash flows.

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IMF keeps approving loans despite the country’s escalating debt, leading to widespread criticism, protests, and loss of faith in the government.
Kenya is dealing with a challenging economic landscape and dwindling revenues following a global economic downturn and rising inflation. The country’s borrowing has increased even as it struggles to raise revenue.
The government struggles to pay salaries as citizens protest increased living costs. As part of efforts to dig itself out of a fiscal hole, the International Monetary Fund
recently approved the disbursement of a $1 billion (about $3 per person in the US) loan to Kenya.
This loan is intended to support the nation’s efforts in addressing the ongoing economic crisis and the country’s efforts in fighting climate change.

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Bundle Africa has shut down its exchange services; the crypto payments app will now be focusing on Cashlink, its peer-to-peer platform.
Bundle Africa, a social payments app for cash and cryptocurrency, has announced it is shutting down operations of its exchange services after three years.
The company says the decision was made by its shareholders in a bid to “restructure the business.
The company said it hit 50,000 monthly active users and a $50 million monthly volume on Bundle and crossed over 3 million transactions on Cashlink.

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Kenya has introduced the Common Reporting Standard to improve financial transparency and fight tax evasion.
The CRS requires financial institutions to report information about their clients’ accounts to tax authorities, which helps identify individuals evading taxes.
Kenya introduced the Common Reporting Standard through the Finance Act in 2021. The Tax Procedures Act was updated to include the CRS.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development says many organisations use offshore entities to stash taxable income while trading or holding financial assets.
The CRS was implemented to require that Reporting Financial Institutions (RFIs), such as depository accounts and other financial institutions, report account information to tax authorities.

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