market trends
Safaricom's Network Disruptions Expose East Africa's Connectivity Vulnerability
A recent nationwide network connectivity issue affecting Safaricom, Kenya's largest telecommunications provider, has highlighted the vulnerability of ...
MarketsandMarkets Predicts Double-Digit Growth in South Africa and Brazil's ATS Market
According to recent reports by MarketsandMarkets, the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) market in South Africa and Brazil is expected to experience doub...
South Africa's $220m Fine Illuminates Meta's African Compliance Challenges
As the digital landscape continues to evolve, African countries are increasingly asserting their regulatory presence in the tech industry. A recent d...
Nigeria's Fibre Surge Sets Regional Benchmark for West Africa's Digital Leap
Nigeria's fibre revolution is setting a new pace for West Africa's digital transformation, with the country's fibre infrastructure playing a crucial r...
Nigeria’s 90,000km Fibre Project Could Become the Infrastructure That Powers Its Entire Digital Economy
Nigeria is moving forward with Project BRIDGE, an ambitious initiative to deploy 90,000 kilometres of fibre-optic infrastructure by 2030. The governme...
Marc Benioff-Backed Startup Tackles AI Deployment Problem with AI Solution
A Marc Benioff-backed startup is making waves in the tech industry with its innovative approach to solving the AI deployment problem using AI itself. ...
MTN’s Airtime Lending Pause Reveals How Deeply Fintech Has Become Connected to Everyday Mobile Services
MTN Nigeria’s temporary suspension of its airtime and data credit service, Xtratime, has affected the revenue streams of fintech partners that depend ...
Absa Kenya’s $31 Million Tech Bet Shows the Future of Banking Will Be Built by Automation, Not Branches
Absa Bank Kenya invested approximately KES 4 billion ($31 million) in technology during 2025, enabling it to automate 71% of its internal processes wh...
Airtel Money’s $1 Billion IPO Is More Than a Fundraising Plan, It’s a Test of Global Confidence in African Fintech
Airtel Africa plans to spin off Airtel Money through an initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), aiming to raise between $1 b...
MTN’s Stand on South Africa’s Migration Crisis Shows Businesses Can No Longer Stay Silent on Social Issues
As anti-immigration tensions intensified in South Africa, MTN publicly called for calm and backed efforts to resolve the country's migration crisis pe...
Kenya’s Court Ruling Could Redefine Digital Lending by Rewarding Compliance Over Rapid Growth
A Kenyan court has ruled that unlicensed digital lenders cannot use the courts to recover unpaid loans, reinforcing the importance of obtaining regula...
Zedcrest’s Acquisition of Leatherback Shows African Fintechs Are Entering the Global Expansion Era
Nigerian financial services group Zedcrest has acquired UK-founded cross-border payments startup Leatherback in a move to strengthen its global fintec...
Africa’s AI Future Will Be Powered by Electricity Before It Is Powered by Algorithms
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says artificial intelligence could increase Sub-Saharan Africa's GDP by about 4% over the next decade, but only ...
Kenya’s New Crypto Rules Could Transform the Country Into One of Africa’s Most Regulated Digital Asset Markets
Kenya has introduced the Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) Regulations, 2026, establishing detailed rules for cryptocurrency exchanges, wallet pr...
Airtel Nigeria’s Retail Expansion Shows That Africa’s Digital Future Still Depends on Physical Access
Airtel Nigeria has expanded its retail network to more than 200,000 customer touchpoints and over 4,000 exclusive shops nationwide as it competes to c...
Credit Direct Is Changing the Meaning of Sending Money by Turning Gifts Into Financial Growth
Nigerian fintech Credit Direct has introduced Gift A Yield, a feature that allows users to gift an investment plan to another person instead of sendin...
Stablecoins Could Become the Missing Link That Finally Makes AfCFTA Work at Scale
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) aims to increase trade between African countries, but inefficient cross-border payment systems contin...
GTBank Kenya’s Leadership Search Shows That Winning Africa’s Banking Race Depends on More Than Digital Innovation
GTBank Kenya has begun the search for a new Managing Director following the recall of Jubril Adeniji to Nigeria after completing his tenure. Adeniji w...
Esther Waititu’s Exit Signals That Leadership Has Become a Strategic Asset in Africa’s Digital Finance Race
Safaricom's Chief Financial Services Officer, Esther Waititu, will leave the company on 31 July 2026 after nearly three years leading its financial se...
Mining Digital Opportunities or Creating Value
Africa's role in the digital economy is multifaceted and rapidly evolving. As the continent continues to make strides in technological advancements, ...
Iron Capital’s Euromoney Award Signals a Bigger Shift in How African Businesses Are Being Financed
Iron Capital Markets has been named Nigeria’s Best Investment Bank for Financing Solutions at the 2026 Euromoney Awards for Excellence. The award reco...
GoCab’s EV Rollout With Yango Shows Africa’s Electric Mobility Race Is Entering a Commercial Scale
Mobility fintech GoCab has deployed 100 electric vehicles in Abidjan as part of Yango’s fleet, marking the first phase of a planned 200-vehicle progra...
Decide’s Enterprise AI Push Shows Africa’s AI Race Is Moving From Individual Users to Entire Workplaces
Nigerian AI startup Decide has launched Decide for Work, an enterprise-focused platform designed to bring its AI-powered spreadsheet analysis tool int...
Your Next Career Advantage May Come From Training an AI to Understand You, Not Just Your Résumé
As artificial intelligence becomes deeply integrated into recruitment, a new trend is emerging: professionals are building personalised AI career assi...
Supercell’s African Grants Show the Gaming Industry Is Finally Investing in Studios, Not Just Talent
Finnish gaming giant Supercell has opened applications for its first Developer Grants Program for African game studios, offering equity-free grants ra...
Why the JSE Is Betting on Startups Before They Are Ready for the Stock Market Brief Abstract
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has launched African Activation at 50 (AT50), a new initiative designed to help African startups become investme...
South Africa’s Instant Payment Debate Shows the Future of Banking May Be Defined by Fees, Not Speed
More than three years after the launch of PayShap, South Africa's real-time payment system, many banks continue to charge customers for instant transf...
Why Africa’s Biggest Funding Problem Isn’t Raising Millions—It’s Finding the First $50,000
While billion-dollar startup rounds often dominate headlines, many African businesses struggle to raise their first $50,000–$500,000. According to inv...
Kenya’s SIM Swap Ruling Is Redefining Who Is Responsible for Digital Fraud
A Kenyan High Court has ruled that Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) and Safaricom must share liability for losses suffered by a customer whose account was emp...
West Africa’s AI Future Will Depend Less on Software and More on the Infrastructure Behind
Global technology services company TeKnowledge has partnered with Equinix to accelerate secure hybrid cloud adoption and AI-ready digital infrastructu...
As AI Decides Who Gets Credit, Financial Accountability Must Evolve Just as Fast
Artificial intelligence is becoming a core part of Nigeria's financial services industry, influencing credit decisions, fraud detection, customer veri...
Accrue Business Shows Stablecoins Are Moving Beyond Crypto Into Everyday Business Banking
African fintech Accrue has launched Accrue Business, a stablecoin-powered banking platform designed for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The...
Musk's Anthropic Pledge Reveals Strategic AI Investment Calculus
Elon Musk, the prominent entrepreneur and CEO of Tesla, has publicly praised Mythos/Fable, a lesser-known entity, while also vowing not to "cut off" A...
JéGO and GoCab’s 6,000 EV Deal Shows Africa’s Electric Mobility Future Depends on Financing, Not Just Cars
JéGO and mobility startup GoCab have signed a partnership to deploy 6,000 electric vehicles across Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria over the...
Gigbanc’s Shutdown Shows the New Reality of African Fintech: Growth Alone Is Not Enough
Nigerian fintech startup Gigbanc is winding down operations after failing to secure the capital needed to continue scaling its business. The decision ...
Refiant AI’s 10-Million-Token Model Signals Africa Is Entering the Global AI Infrastructure Race
South Africa-founded Refiant AI has launched Protea, a new family of AI models capable of processing up to 10 million tokens in a single prompt. The l...
Nigeria’s Telemedicine Revival Shows Digital Healthcare Is Finally Matching How People Live
After years of slow adoption and limited investor confidence, Nigeria's telemedicine sector is experiencing renewed growth. Changing consumer behaviou...
Sycamore’s Licence Revocation Shows Why Compliance Can Matter More Than Growth in Fintech
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revoked the operating licence of the microfinance bank acquired by Sycamore as part of a broader purge that affe...
Safaricom’s Governance Changes Show Ownership Is Beginning to Shape Strategy More Directly
Safaricom will ask shareholders to approve changes to its Articles of Association that would give majority shareholder Vodafone Kenya the right to nom...
Nigeria’s New Data Rules Could Transform Local Data Centres Into Critical Financial Infrastructure
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed banks, fintechs, and payment companies to store all payment transaction data within Nigeria by January ...
GTCO’s 200,000 PoS Terminals Show Banks Are No Longer Chasing Customers, They’re Chasing Merchants
GTCO, through its fintech subsidiary HabariPay, plans to deploy 200,000 Point-of-Sale (PoS) terminals across Nigeria in 2026 as it seeks to challenge ...
Crypto-Backed Loans Are Emerging as Africa’s Next Lending Revolution
Crypto-backed lending is gaining traction across Africa as startups introduce products that allow users to borrow against digital assets instead of se...
Kenya’s New Banking Rescue Law Is Really About Preventing the Next Financial Crisis
Kenya has amended the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Act to give the regulator clearer powers to provide emergency liquidity to struggling banks during p...
Data Entry Academy’s Victory Shows Africa’s EdTech Opportunity Is Shifting From Classrooms to Careers
Lagos-based Data Entry Academy has won the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Get Ready 4 timbuktoo EdTech Accelerator, beating 1,429 applica...
Kenya Hosts Summit as Africa Pursues Unified Digital Market
Kenya is set to host a summit focused on the digital economy, as the African continent intensifies its push for a unified digital market. The move is...
Paga’s Latest Bet Suggests Investing Could Soon Feel Like Making a Payment
Paga has partnered with blockchain infrastructure startup TBook to give consumers and businesses access to tokenised real-world assets (RWAs), includi...
South Africa’s New AI Surveillance Push Raises a Bigger Question About Public Safety and Privacy
South Africa has deployed drones, AI-powered surveillance, CCTV networks, and thousands of security personnel ahead of planned anti-migrant protests. ...
Airtel Kenya’s New CEO Appointment Is Really About the Battle for Market Share
Airtel Kenya has appointed Senegalese telecom executive Djibril Tobe as its new Managing Director, succeeding Ashish Malhotra at a time when competiti...
CredAble Rebrands to _able as It Shifts From Credit Infrastructure to Embedded Finance Platform Play
CredAble has rebranded to _able, marking a strategic shift from being a working capital and credit infrastructure provider to a broader embedded finan...
Paystack’s Small Business Push Shows Fintech Is Expanding Beyond Payments
Paystack has launched a Small Business Program designed to support Nigerian SMEs with tools, services, and access to partners that help them start, ma...