Balogun Harold - Leading Commercial &amp; Corporate Law Firm

Our Fundraising Round is Taking Longer Than Usual. What Options Do We Have?

If you are fundraising and your fundraising round is taking longer than usual, you may be heading towards a down round. In this update, we conclude that, whats key is for founders is to (a) think outside the box and not assume that venture capital is the only financing option available to them (b) review corporate strategy. Here are some options you may want to bear in mind, before considering a down round

July 26, 2022

What is a Down Round Financing? How Will a Down Round Financing Impact VCs & Founders?

What is a down round financing and how will it affect you? Tech start-ups and VCs often work with the assumption that the price of the shares sold in a later financing round will be higher than the price of shares sold in an earlier round.

July 26, 2022

Why Do I Need a Legal Opinion & Why is My Series A Investor Asking For One?

If you are raising a Series A Financing (or any priced equity around), US venture capital firms will typically ask you to provide a legal opinion, as one of the closing conditions for a venture capital financing.

July 21, 2022

Avoiding Permanent Establishment Risk - Nigeria's New Dependent Agents Rule

Presidential Order 5 has thrown up an array of contracting structures between local promoters and foreign OEMs and partners looking to bid for government contracts. These contractual arrangements are increasingly subject of litigation both from a taxation point of view and from the standpoint of counterparty liability and risk. Nigeria wholly consumes foreign technology and as such it is expected that such collaborations will continue.

July 15, 2022

Nigeria’s Proposed Internet & Social Media Regulation: Key Takeways

Nigeria has recently published a draft of its proposed social media laws. There are important thematic similarities between Nigeria’s social media laws and the proposed H.B. 20 in Texas, the European Digital Services Act, the UK Online Safety Bill and the Indian Intermediary Rules.

June 15, 2022

Rising Inflation & the Interest Rate Hike by The Central Bank – A Primer

There has been a palpable increase in the prices of goods and services in Nigeria, in recent time. The Central Bank of Nigeria (the “CBN”) is now taking steps to address the situation and to maintain price stability[1]. One of the steps the CBN has taken to is to increase the Monetary Policy Rate, by 150 basis points, from 11.5% to 13%.On July 19, 2022, for the second time in the year, the MPC hiked the Monetary Policy Rate by 100bps to 14.00%.

June 6, 2022

A Highlight of Development Finance Programmes by the Central Bank of Nigeria

In furtherance of its developmental functions under section 31 of the CBN Act, the Central Bank of Nigeria (the “CBN”) has vastly expanded its lending programs to the private sector in a bit to expand productive capacity, locally. The below summarises some of the key intervention programmes of the CBN across sectors

June 2, 2022

Private Equity Co-Investments - The New Regulations for Pension Funds

Nigeria’s Pension Regulator, Pencom, has recently issued regulations permitting pension funds to co-invest in private equity funds with the expectation that, allowing pension funds to co-invest with qualifying private equity funds will increase pension fund exposure to private equity. Expectedly, the Regulations prescribe minimum co-investment requirements, with the intent of ensuring the safety of retirement savings.

June 2, 2022

Insights

Why is the Nigerian SEC Regulating Digital Assets? What Do Fintechs Need to Know?

The Securities & Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has an inherent economic role of facilitating capital formation, meaning, from an economic standpoint, the SEC is also partly responsible for finding and regulating new and innovative ways by which members of the public pool capital together to invest in and promote economic activity. Within that context, the SEC’s decision to

May 23, 2022

CBN's RT200 Non-Oil Export Proceeds Repatriation Rebate Scheme

Nigeria’s Central Bank (the “CBN”) aims to increase the country’s foreign reserves by $200 billion in FX earnings from non-oil proceeds over the next (5) five years under a new export proceeds repatriation scheme.

May 5, 2022

Infrastructure, Power & Energy

Recent Policy & Regulatory Developments in Nigeria’s Electricity Metering Sub-Sector: Policy Somersault or Broad Consultation?

In Nigeria, up to 8 million electricity customers do not have electricity meters but they consume electricity. What happens is that an electricity distribution company (“DisCo”) estimates the amount of electricity used in arrears and sends an estimated bill to a customer, usually at month end.

May 5, 2022

A Primer on the Rules For Setting Up Private Equity Funds in Nigeria

Many of the private equity funds set-up by Nigerian sponsors are domiciled offshore.[1] However, the SEC in Nigeria has published rules relating to the formation of private equity funds in Nigeria. As of December 2021, only 10 private equity funds have been authorised in Nigeria.

May 2, 2022

Setting up a Venture Capital Fund in Nigeria – A Primer

Many of the venture capital funds set-up by Nigerian sponsors are tech-focused and are domiciled offshore.[1] As of December 2021, no venture capital fund has been registered with the SEC in Nigeria.

May 2, 2022

Closing Technology Mergers & Acquisitions in Nigeria

Acquiring high-growth technology companies in Africa presents an opportunity for scale-ups and strategic investors to acquire more customers, increase revenue and also become more attractive to trade buyers or public markets. Our work with firms in the tech industry...

April 4, 2022

New Rules for Operating a Fintech in Nigeria

Between 2020 & 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) made significant changes to the legal and regulatory framework around the establishment and operation of Fintech companies in Nigeria. While a wave of reactions have trailed the recent changes by the CBN, we think

January 25, 2022

Buy Now Pay Later Offerings in Nigeria: Some Market Entry Considerations (Nigeria)

Africa presents an interesting proposition for point-of-sale financings commonly referred to as Buy Now Pay Later financing (BNPL). However, there are ..

January 10, 2022

Insights

Registering a Nigerian Venture Fund: Some Key Issues

Nigeria’s venture capital rules do not appear to have been designed to attract modern venture capital. That’s concerning because venture capital fund managers perform an ..

September 7, 2021

Insights

Twitter Suspension in Nigeria: Some Key Policy & Legal Considerations for Web Platforms

Nigeria has no legal or regulatory construct similar to Section 230 (c) (1) & (2)[1]. The implication is that, providers of interactive computer services (“Platforms”) will likely be treated by ..

June 16, 2021

Six Operational & Time-Critical Takeaways From Nigeria's Open Banking Regulations

Nigeria's Central Bank deserves some commendation for publishing a well thought-out Open Banking Framework. Here are 6 (six) compliance/operational and time-cri...

March 29, 2021

Why Would Nigerian Courts Disagree with the Nigerian Central Bank on Cryptocurrency Regulation?

One may disagree with the approach of the Central Bank of Nigeria to regulating cryptocurrencies but Nigerian courts are not likely disagree. Here are 3 reasons why

March 4, 2021