INDIA IN THE SPOTLIGHT OVER COUGH MEDICINES FATAL TO AFRICAN CHILDREN

By Lisa Vives Global Information Network

“For us it was psychological torture,” said Muoneke. “If tests for toxins had been done in late July or early startups from the North African country exposed to SVB’s closure.

DEG is used in car brake fluid and radiators. Cats and dogs attracted by the sweetness often die after licking it off the ground, said Leo Schep, a New Zealand toxicologist who published a peer-reviewed paper on DEG poisoning.

“It is like putting cyanide in a bottle of paracetamol (acetaminophen in the U.S.),” Schep said. Pharmaceutical experts have complained for years about lax oversight of drugs made in India whose industry supplies nearly half of all generic medicines used in Africa.

Employees at another fintech startup that spoke to TechCabal on the condition of anonymity said that their company had $1.5 million in SVB and are confused about how the company would move forward.

According to Business Insider Africa, there were 100 most funded startups in Africa at the end of 2022 - among them Nigeria with 27 and Kenya with 23. The other two members of the big 4, South Africa and Egypt, are represented by 34 startups, which means the big 4 represent 84% of the 100 startups. Together the group raised $10 billion across 436 deals at an average of $23 million per deal.

Some 50 Egyptian companies are said to be affected by the SVB collapse. A list is circulating among local players that includes the names of 46 startups and two VC firms (one of them global) that were banked with SVB.

In light of the increasing difficulty to obtain funds, the government of Nigeria has announced a $672 million tech fund to support young entrepreneurs in creative and tech sectors who struggle to raise capital in Africa’s largest economy.

The African Development Bank will contribute $170 million US to the fund, while the other $116 million US would come from Agence Francaise de Development and $70 million US from the Islamic Development Bank.

Adedeji Olowe, founder and CEO of Lendsqr, a fintech company, offered some assurance saying that while some startups may have funds trapped in the bank, the funds have not disappeared.

But for a lot of non-US-based startups, they don’t really have a lot of banking alternatives, said Sylndr co-founder and CEO Omar El Defrawy. “From an Egyptian perspective, people (bank) offshore b ecause the local banking system does not provide enough support for SMEs and startups.”

“In the short-to-medium term, there’s a lot of uncertainty and fear, but it’s not a doomsday scenario,” Managing Partner of Acasia Ventures Ali El Shalakany said. “Our main concern is to work with our portfolio companies as we have always done in times of crisis and to say: Look, it’s going to be okay.” Basil Moftah of Nclude agreed. “It’s a temporary blow — one more thing in a year that’s been pretty challenging overall.”