On Monday, BBNaija, a Nigerian-based reality television show created by MultiChoice announced that its headline sponsor was Abeg-App, a fintech company that is barely eight months old.
Headline sponsorship of BBNaija which is the biggest reality TV show in Africa cost around $2 million which amounts to N762.0 million.
John Ugbe, CEO of MultiChoice described Abeg App as a young and ambitious fintech company that is passionate about providing payment experiences for its customers.
“We believe this new partnership with Abeg will deepen the engagement with our customers and fans of the show even as we look forward to a great season,” Ugbe said.
Patricia Technologies, a cryptocurrency-based payment company, was announced as the Associate Sponsor.
Who owns Abeg App?
The app was founded on 22 September 2020 by Muheez Akanni, Michael Okoh, and Dare Adekoya. The statement, MultiChoice said the mobile app is a product of financial technology company, Piggytech Global Limited.
Piggytech Global Limited is the owner of Piggyvest, an online savings platform for deposits of small amounts on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis.
BusinessDay reached out to one of the co-founders of Piggyvest, Joshua Chibueze who confirmed the ownership of the Abeg App.
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Who are the co-founders?
The co-founders of Abeg App Muheez Akanni, Michael Okoh, and Dare Adekoya share the top leadership positions among them.
Dare Adekoya is the CEO of the company and has experience as product designer for, Volante, Sterling Bank, and Swipemax.
Muheez Akanni is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) with experience as a front-end developer for Bulb Africa, Prospa, and Venture Capital Garden.
Michael Okoh may have left the company since March 2021 as his LinkedIn profile showed he only worked with the company for 1 and 2months.
Abeg App proposition and features
Abeg wants to make it easy and convenient for people to request for money from their relatives. This is why it is likened to CashApp, the mobile payment service by Square.
Once a user is verified, the system scans through their contacts to identify other users who have installed the app. The user can then make a request to anyone on their contact list for money. They can also type the username of the benefactor and the request will be sent.
Users don’t necessarily need to include their bank details in the request. Their number is all that is required. Once it is verified with a BVN, they can use it.
It is not clear how the company will be impacted by the recent decision by the CBN and NIBSS to ban non-bank financial operators from using the BVN for validation.
Funding activity?
Abeg App is yet to announce any funding since it began operation in September 2020 although it remains popular among millennials some of whom are investors.
Sources who spoke to BusinessDay said the company has strong financial backers.
The BBNaija Season 6 was announced on 24 March.
According to a statement on its official Twitter handle, the popular reality TV show will top previous seasons as organisers announced a grand prize of N90 million.
The first season of big brother naija premiered in 2006 and aired on Dstv Channel 37 from March 5 to June 4, 2016.
Tech companies have in recent times taken to jostling for the sponsorship of the show that attracts millions of viewers from across Africa. Past tech sponsors include PayPorte, Flutterwave, and Patricia Technologies.
