Tingo Group, Inc. (formerly Tingo Inc) is a publicly traded
fintech
Fintech, a portmanteau of "financial technology", refers to firms using new technology to compete with traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services. Artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, and big data are ...
and agri-fintech conglomerate initially established in Nigeria and now with operations across
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
,
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
, and the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
.
In November 2023, the US
Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against mark ...
(SEC) suspended dealings in Tingo shares, and, in December 2023, filed charges against founder
Dozy Mmobuosi
Dozy Mmobuosi, is a Nigerian businessman and tech entrepreneur. An advocate for technological advancement in Africa, he is the founder and former CEO of Tingo Inc.
In 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against him sa ...
and three US-based entities: Tingo Group Inc, Agri-Fintech Holdings Inc and Tingo International Holdings Inc, alleging fraudulent financial claims to defraud investors.
On 2 January 2024, Mmobuosi was charged with securities fraud, making false filings with the SEC, and conspiracy charges.
History
In 2001,
Dozy Mmobuosi
Dozy Mmobuosi, is a Nigerian businessman and tech entrepreneur. An advocate for technological advancement in Africa, he is the founder and former CEO of Tingo Inc.
In 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against him sa ...
launched Fair Deal Concepts Limited, now Tingo Mobile Plc (Nigeria), an agri-fintech company which provided mobile telephones and financial solutions for users in the
agricultural sector
The primary sector of the economy includes any industry involved in the extraction and production of raw materials, such as farming, logging, fishing, forestry and mining.
The primary sector tends to make up a larger portion of the economy in ...
.
In 2002, Mmobuosi launched Nigeria's first SMS banking solution (sill used by a large bank today). In 2013, two mobile phone assembly facilities were set up in Nigeria (Lakowe and
Lugbe
Lugbe, Abuja is a residential district and town in Abuja. The town covers approximately 50 km2 The community is a countryside settlement expanding on the urban fringe of Abuja. The area is site to a Voice of Nigeria
The Voice of Nigeria or VON ...
). Tingo Mobile claimed these facilities had produced and distributed over 20 million mobile devices. In October 2018, Tingo International announced that it had shut down its two handset manufacturing plants in Nigeria and relocated manufacture to China.
In January 2020, Mmobuosi created Delaware-based Tingo International Holdings (TIH) as Tingo Mobile's U.S. holding company, and undertook a share exchange, effective February 2020, through which TIH became Tingo Mobile’s sole shareholder.
In early 2020, the company unveiled
Reno Omokri
(born 1974) is a Nigerian author and social media influencer.
Omokri was the host of ''Transformation with Reno Omokri,'' a Christian teaching TV show broadcast (for one season) on San Francisco's KTLN-TV and Detroit's Impact Network.
Career
...
as its brand ambassador.
Goodluck Jonathan
Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957)Lawson Heyford, ''The Source'' (Lagos), 11 December 2006. is a Nigerian politician who served as the President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to f ...
, former president of
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...
, and
Olusegun Olutoyin Aganga
Olusegun Olutoyin Aganga (born 1955) is a Nigerian politician, he was the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment of Nigeria from 2011 to 2015. He was first nominated by President Olusegun Obasanjo and appointed by President Goodluck Jonat ...
, former Nigerian minister for Trade, Industry and Investment were on the board of Tingo as of June 2020.
In August 2021, Tingo Mobile Plc became a public company when acquired by iWeb Inc in an all-stock deal worth $3.7 Billion. The merged company was renamed Tingo Inc and Mmobuosi was appointed CEO.
In September 2021, MELD announced a three-way partnership with Tingo International Holdings and Ubuntu Tribe – an ethical firm which tokenises natural resources.
In March 2022, doubts were raised about Tingo Mobile claims to have signed up over 12 million Nigerian farmer customers. Experts expressed surprise at Tingo claims of widespread mobile platform adoption; farmer co-operative organisations also denied any knowledge of Tingo.
By this stage, neither Goodluck Jonathan nor Reno Omokri, former spokesperson for Goodluck Jonathan, remained on Tingo's board.
In November 2022, the company was announced as the official sponsor of the
Nigeria Professional Football League
The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) is the highest level of the Nigerian football league system, for the Nigerian club-football championships.
The Nigerian league has suffered, like many others, from the financial impact and dwindl ...
where it sponsored the
Nigeria Federation Cup
The AITEO Cup (a.k.a. Challenge Cup, sometimes shortened to Fed Cup), is the main football single-elimination tournament in Nigeria contested by 74 teams, representing the 36 states + 1 FCT of Nigeria. It is the Nigerian domestic cup and the Nig ...
with a cash prize of N100million for the winner.
In December 2022, Tingo Mobile was sold by Agri-Fintech to
Nasdaq
The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...
-listed MICT, a global fintech and agri-fintech group, again through an all-stock merger, which valued Tingo at more than $1bn and gave it access to US capital markets.
Subsequently, on February 27, 2023, MICT changed its name to Tingo Group, Inc.
Fraud allegations
In June 2023, Nasdaq-listed shares in Tingo Group plunged in value after a report from
short seller
In finance, being short in an asset means investing in such a way that the investor will profit if the value of the asset falls. This is the opposite of a more conventional "long" position, where the investor will profit if the value of the ...
Hindenburg Research
Hindenburg Research LLC is an investment research firm with a focus on activist short-selling founded by Nathan Anderson in 2017 and based in New York City. Named after the 1937 Hindenburg disaster, which they characterize as a human-made avoidab ...
said the company was an "exceptionally obvious scam".
[ The company denied the Hindenburg report claims] and appointed lawyers White & Case
White & Case LLP is a global law firm based in New York City. Founded in 1901, the firm has 46 offices in 31 countries worldwide and has been ranked among the top ten firms worldwide by revenue.
History
The firm was launched on May 1, 1901 wh ...
to review the report's claims. In September, Tingo Group declared itself innocent of Hindenburg's allegations based on an investigation by its own outside counsel "and further investigative work of its own". Hindenburg described Tingo's claims as "brazen and obvious fabrications". On 18 September 2023, Tingo Group appointed Dozy Mmobuosi and Kenneth Denos interim as Co-CEOs.
On 13 November 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against mark ...
halted trading in Tingo Group shares and that of related entity Agri-Fintech Securities after finding inaccuracies in their disclosures. While the SEC suspension of shares expired in late November, Nasdaq chose to keep trading of Tingo securities halted pending a review of provided information.
In December 2023, the SEC announced charges against Mmobuosi and three US-based entities: Tingo Group Inc, Agri-Fintech Holdings Inc and Tingo International Holdings Inc, alleging fraudulent financial claims to defraud investors. SEC alleged that fraud's roots "date back years", beginning in at least 2019 with Mmobuosi creating fake financial statements and Mmobuosi siphoned hundreds of millions of investors' money for his personal benefit. The SEC's 72-page complaint also outlines allegedly fraudulent transactions involving Tingo Mobile in December 2022 and Tingo Foods in February 2023. Auditor Deloitte
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of professio ...
had given Tingo Group a clean, unqualified audit for its 2022 accounts, leading Hindenburg to question if Deloitte had "missed or rushed through procedures".
On 20 December 2023, Tingo Group said Mmobuosi was temporarily stepping down as interim co-CEO. Following the SEC charges, on 21 December 2023, director John J Brown resigned from Tingo's board; the following day, Jamie Khurshid and C. Derek Campbell, also resigned from board. Christophe Charlier had refused to sign off Tingo financial reports and resigned in April 2023.
On 2 January 2024, Mmobuosi was charged with securities fraud, making false filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and conspiracy charges.
Subsidiaries
Tingo Mobile
Tingo Mobile is an Agri-Fintech company that provides a platform service through the use of smartphones to empower a marketplace to allow subscribers/farmers within and outside of the agricultural sector to manage their commercial activities of growing and selling their production to market participants both domestically and internationally. Tingo connects farmers to markets, services, and resources via Nwassa, its digital AgriTech marketplace platform, which commenced its operations in April 2021.
Tingo Foods
Tingo Food is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tingo Group. It offers food processing and production services operating in Lagos, Nigeria
Lagos ( Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 ...
and was founded by Dozy Mmobuosi
Dozy Mmobuosi, is a Nigerian businessman and tech entrepreneur. An advocate for technological advancement in Africa, he is the founder and former CEO of Tingo Inc.
In 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against him sa ...
and with Neha Mehta as the CEO.
Tingo DMCC
Tingo DMCC operates a commodities trading platform and commodity export business, connecting farmers and buyers around the world to facilitate fair trade and market access.
TingoPay Super-App
In partnership with Visa
Visa most commonly refers to:
*Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company
** Visa Debit card issued by the above company
** Visa Electron, a debit card
** Visa Plus, an interbank network
*Travel visa, a document that allows ...
, TingoPay Super-App provides payment services, e-wallet, and a range of services to its customers, as well as merchant services to businesses across various sectors.
References
{{reflist
Financial technology companies
Financial technology companies of Nigeria
Publicly traded companies of the United States
Companies listed on the Nasdaq
Companies established in 2001