Trading has always been a fascinating thing for many. It’s a great way to grow wealth. For many like me, rather than just saving money in banks and watching the funds lose value over time, investing comes to mind. 

For some messed up reason, many investment apps around the world do not admit Nigerians. This has sidelined ambitious Nigerians for many years and prevented us from participating in the global markets. In 2018/2019, however, some individuals rose to the task and created platforms that would allow Nigerians to trade global stocks freely. Trove is one such app founded in 2018 while Bamboo is another one founded in 2019. In this article, Bamboo is the focus as I have used it more. 

First off, Bamboo has done well by giving Nigerians access to global stocks. However, there are many issues I have faced with this platform and I believe these issues affect other users as well. 

The first and most annoying downside of this platform is that it has too many fees. Users are charged for almost everything. For deposits, they charge around 100 naira. So, you are being charged right before you even start earning money or losing money in the market. They also charge $1 to buy shares and around the same amount or higher to sell. Don’t know if this is how it works everywhere though. 

Unfortunately for me, I lost significant money recently on this platform, between September 6 and September 9, 2024. I deposited #84,900 ($50.92) and tried placing a buy order for some shares a few moments after the funds had settled. After clicking buy, I was surprised to see that the order had failed and my account was $9 short. In Nigeria, we all know how expensive the dollar has become so losing even a single dollar can be annoying, especially for small retail traders like myself. At that point, I was furious so I contacted them on the same day (Friday, September 6, 2024) to find out why that happened.

I got a reply on Monday, September 9) and according to the correspondent, I somehow had a deficit from August which I had no idea about and so they had to debit the money. Attached to the reply was a complicated statement which just made me more furious as I couldn’t understand it. I just withdrew what was left which was #66,875 ($41.54). 

The correspondent claimed I sold stocks worth $176.29 in total in August and withdrew 185.7, leaving a deficit of $9.5. When I checked my account trading activity, I actually sold stocks worth $189.17 and could only withdraw 185.7 because of their charges. I have screenshots of these in case they try to tweak my account activity to fit their narrative. Clearly, I owed Bamboo nothing and they just stole my money. 

Another notable thing about Bamboo is its exchange rate. Basically, You deposit with a higher exchange rate and withdraw with a lower rate. The difference is usually around 50 naira but if you’re depositing and withdrawing large amounts, that difference can result in significant losses. I contacted Bamboo about this exchange rate and they told me that it is a normal thing in financial markets. Truthfully, I experienced the same when I made a dollar transaction with a bank. Still, I believe this only happens in Nigerian financial markets although I may be wrong. 

The exchange rates and fees aside, Bamboo’s reply time is too long. Their usual reply time is around 12 hours but it can be longer. It’s like they have a long discussion on what to say to you before they eventually reply. 

In conclusion, every time I have an unpleasant experience on the Bamboo platform, I pull out my money and vow never to come back. Ironically, after a few weeks (and sometimes months) of watching the deteriorating situation of things in Nigeria and thinking about the potential of investing in the stock market, I go back to the platform. And each time I go back to Bamboo, I experience something worse. It’s really hard to consider investing in such a platform for a long time, like 5 to 10 years, when users encounter problems regularly. 

It would be great to see this platform improve its services and consider reducing its fees. Also, they are not transparent enough and you it’s frustrating to reach them. If you go to their instagram page, twitter profile, and app on playstore, you’ll find people complaining of similar issues regarding fees and others. Meanwhile, You can only send them messages via the app and their email and you can get frustrated waiting for their reply. The phone number displayed on the site does not even go through. 

Also in my opinion, the app is uninteresting and users are not allowed to log in and trade using the website. I have been using Bamboo on and off for two years and if I had to rate it, I would give it a maximum of 2 out of 10 at least for allowing Nigerians to invest in some global stocks. 

Update On The Sudden Deduction On My Account 

On September 10, 2024, I received another message from Bamboo in regards to why my money was suddenly deducted.

According to the respondent, I was taxed 10% on a PTP stock I sold in line with US laws. Even if this is the case, then Bamboo needs to work on revealing this vital information to customers before they place a trade on such stocks. Because I don’t think anybody wants to be taxed 10% on profit they have not even made. The $9 tax on that sale swallowed up the little profit (or maybe even loss) from the trade and even ate big into my capital. This is absurd.

Bamboo should know its customer base. Here in Africa, we are not used to such ridiculously high taxes. Imagine buying $500 worth of PTP stock and then you earn an additional $100, making a total of $600. You try to sell and you get taxed $60 plus a fee for selling. In the end, you’re left with less than $40 as profit. How does one grow wealth like this? They’re not even taxing you on the profit but on the gross amount (profit + capital). Ridiculous. This is nothing but legal stealing. 

Bamboo should not impose the oppressive tax system of the US on us in Africa just because we want to trade. I advise the platform to come up with a way to inform users about this tax whenever they want to trade PPT stocks. Bamboo does not expect its users to know about every regulation out there or term in the stock market before trading. If I had known about this, I would have avoided that asset and traded others.

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