Your bank is an onigbese

Nigerian banks owe the telecommunications guys serious money, and it will cost you

Good morning, Big Brains. I’m not sure if it's the national grid or my street’s transformer, but something has fallen, and it's pissing me off real bad. I hope your day is off to a better start.

- Margaret

Word count: ~ 1, 000
Reading time ~ 4 mins

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Let’s get into today’s edition:

• Your banks owe your mobile sim guys

• Female founders did not have a great 2024

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The Big Deal

Your banks owe your mobile sim guys

The tables just did a 360° turn, and the lenders have found themselves on the onigbese side. In case it wasn’t clear enough, Nigerian banks are the onigbese in question.

If you’ve been relying on Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) codes to quickly send urgent ₦2k to your friend or to check your account to figure out how you’ll survive until salary day, you might want to brace yourself because telcos are threatening to suspend USSD payments.

And yeah, Nigerian banks are the ones responsible for the looming suspension because they reportedly owe telecom companies over ₦120 billion for USSD services. Apparently, the banks have been enjoying the service for years but have been moving funny when it’s time to pay.

We don’t know the banks involved yet, but the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has promised to expose all of them with the hopes that public humiliation will force them to pay their gbese. But, telco guys are not even waiting around to find out if the humiliation would work; they’ve already hinted that if this debt isn’t cleared, they’ll suspend USSD services altogether.

Why is this a big deal?

USSD services are supposed to be straightforward: the telcos provide the platform, the banks use it to serve their customers, and everyone plays their part. But what’s playing out now is a situation where institutions prioritize profits over accountability. Banks continue to charge you for everything—SMS alerts, transfer fees, maintenance charges, and even USSD transactions —but they can’t seem to pay their telco bills.

Unfortunately, if telcos suspend their USSD services, it’s not the banks that will suffer—it’s the everyday Nigerians who depend on USSD to get things done. Think of the average Nigerian who doesn’t have fancy smartphones or data bundles to process online transactions. If you’re thinking that only a handful of people fall under this unfortunate category, you’re wrong. As of 2023, only about 30% of Nigerians living in rural areas had access to smartphones. Now, paint a mental picture and imagine the millions of people that will be affected.

We’re not mad at NCC’s plan to shame these banks into doing the right thing, but this is Nigeria – a country where nobody can shame the shameless. Like almost every nonsense in this country, poor Nigerians who rely on USSD codes for their personal or business needs have more to lose in this situation than anybody else.

Female founders did not have a great 2024

Things are not looking so great for women in tech. According to Africa:The Big Deal, funding raised by women-led startups in Africa hit an all-time low in 2024, with female founders getting only 2% of the total funding on the continent. If this were a test, the entire continent would be repeating a class on gender equity.

Female founders across Africa raised just $48 million in 2024, a major drop from 2023 and the lowest since 2019. Meanwhile, their male counterparts raised $2.2 billion. It’s not just female founders that are receiving less funding—gender-diverse teams only managed to collectively raise $123 million, which is insane considering the fact that all-male teams got $1.6 billion.

According to Disrupt Africa, an organisation that publishes tech-related commentaries, 55% of 483 female founders said access to funding is the major roadblock for their startups. And it’s not just about the money—it’s the bias. Chidalu Onyenso, founder of Earthbond, said female founders face unnecessary judgement over their personal lives during fundraising. This means that while male founders pitch their business plans, women are bombarded with invasive questions about their priorities and work-life balance.

If you don’t know what to do with this information, note that the ripple effects of this imbalance won’t just be felt by female founders—they’ll touch the entire African economy. Female entrepreneurs drive innovation, create jobs, and build businesses. When they don’t get funding, the economy suffers because Africa isn’t rich enough to leave money-making ideas in the hands of men alone. If the funding gap isn’t bridged, the entire economy will continue to underperform.

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This Week’s Big Question

“One-way ticket to Canada or 24 hours with Tinubu?”

Derin’s response - “Someone needs to take one for the team and do what everybody’s been thinking, so I’ll go for 24 hours with Tinubu.”

You can also share your response here, and if it’s as interesting Derin’s, we’ll feature it in the next edition.

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The Big Picks

CBN Sanctions Banks For Failing To Dispense Cash Via ATMs: The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) isn’t here for any cash scarcity drama. In a strong move to show it means business, the CBN has penalized Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) for failing to stock ATMs with Naira notes during the yuletide season.

Police Reject ₦1m Bribe From Lakurawa Suspects In Kebbi: Police officers in Kebbi State turned down a ₦1 million bribe from suspects connected to the infamous Lakurawa bandits.

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