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Being a digital nomad, not simply in name only, can feel like a dream. Barring the cost and effort it takes to plan, prepare, and travel on short notice, frequent trips offer plenty of chance encounters, but they also test your tolerance for misadventures. Shelter is where fantasy usually collides with reality. According to three digital nomads and frequent travellers I spoke to, accommodation regularly eats between 40 to 50% of a travel budget. Beyond the cost, Yinka Oke, a Nigerian nomad, said the hardest part of planning for housing in a country where you know nobody is how unpredictable it is. Unlike flights, there is no single accommodation fare you can lock in and forget. Amaka Amaku, a nomad who has now travelled to 30 countries, said when she goes somewhere she has friends, accommodation might take up to 20% of her travelling budget. When she lands in a city where she knows no one, that share can quickly climb to 50%. “I don’t think about accommodation as a percentage of the budget,” said Oghenerukevwe Odjugo, an equity analyst at Schroders Australia and a nomadic traveller. “I think about what is a reasonable dollar amount I can pay for the quality of accommodation I am comfortable with. The cost of shelter is a major factor when travelling, so I rent whatever makes the most sense.” For most nomads, that decision often narrows to three options: a hotel room, a short‑term rental on platforms like Airbnb, or a third path, coliving hubs. Many long‑term travellers I spoke with preferred Airbnbs or coliving for multi‑week stays and kept hotels for quick stopovers. This piece is about that third option. What are coliving hubs in Africa actually selling, how do they work as a business, and are they really worth swapping for a one‑bed in Nairobi or Cape Town? Get The Best African Tech Newsletters In Your Inbox Select your country Nigeria Ghana Kenya South Africa Egypt Morocco Tunisia Algeria Libya Sudan Ethiopia Somalia Djibouti Eritrea Uganda Tanzania Rwanda Burundi Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Central African Republic Chad Cameroon Gabon Equatorial Guinea São Tomé and Príncipe Angola Zambia Zimbabwe Botswana Namibia Lesotho Eswatini Mozambique Madagascar Mauritius Seychelles Comoros Cape Verde Guinea-Bissau Senegal The Gambia Guinea Sierra Leone Liberia Côte d’Ivoire Burkina Faso Mali Niger Benin Togo Other Select your gender Male Female Others TC Daily TC Events Next wave Entering Tech Subscribe What coliving hubs are, and how they make money Coliving, at its simplest, is shared housing with services built around people who work remotely. Instead of renting an entire flat, you take a room in a larger home or compound and pay for a package that usually combines accommodation, utilities, cleaning, internet, and a measure of community programming. Globally, the coliving market was worth nearly $8 billion in 2024, according to Grand View Research, a research firm, and is projected to at least double over the coming decade, helped by rising urban housing costs and the growth of remote work. In South Africa’s advanced coliving market, that figure sits around $79 million. In Africa, coliving is still young but spreading. Nairobi, Kenya, appears in many guides as one of the continent’s emerging hubs for remote workers, with neighbourhoods like Kilimani, Lavington, Karen, and Kileleshwa now home to a mix of coworking spaces, serviced apartments, and shared houses that market themselves directly to nomads. Cape Town, Windhoek, and parts of Morocco host similar experiments, from beachside houses for surfers in Blouberg to retreat‑style compounds in Namibia’s capital. Alejandra Wolf, co‑founder of AfricaNomads, a community-based coliving hub for digital nomads, has spent the past few years building coliving stays across East and Southern Africa. She describes coliving as “the difference between just having a place to stay and having a place to belong.” For guests, the idea is that you land in a home that is already ready for work, with a built‑in community and a curated experience of the destination. Planning, discovery, and the trial‑and‑error of figuring out where to live, who to trust, and what is worth your time are outsourced to the operator. Structurally, many African coliving outfits run a hybrid model. Wolf says her company both operates its own homes and partners with local hosts, boutique properties, and families, but keeps tight control over the experience. That control covers how the space is set up, the daily rhythm of the stay, the rules of the house, and the programming that brings people together. In some locations, the founders actually live in the houses alongside guests. Rather than acting as an open marketplace like Airbnb, they see themselves as curators and hosts. The non‑negotiables are predictable but demanding: reliable Internet with backups, comfortable workspaces, power solutions where public supply is unstable, and locations that feel plugged into daily life rather than sealed off in high‑rise blocks. Many operators avoid anonymous tower blocks and look instead for compounds or houses with greenery, shared kitchens, and layouts that make it easy to bump into people to truly lean into the philosophy of experiencing a new place. How the numbers compare in Nairobi The cost picture between short-term rentals, like Airbnb, and coliving arrangements is less obvious than it looks at the booking stage. Take Nairobi, which has become one of the most comfortable cities in sub‑Saharan Africa for expatriates and remote workers, thanks to solid infrastructure, strong schools and hospitals, and a growing startup ecosystem around what many call the Silicon Savannah. In upscale residential areas such as Lavington, a one‑bedroom Airbnb for a single guest typically ranges between $34 and $72 per night, depending on the season. In Karen, another lush city in Nairobi, prices start from $23 and climb to around $131. Kileleshwa tends to sit between $37 and $58, while Kilimani often ranges from $37 to $50 a night. In Kitsuru, where United Nations (UN) staff and other international officials often prefer to live because of its security, greenery, and easy access
Read MoreAfrica Bitcoin Corporation (ABC), the South Africa-based Bitcoin treasury and SME-finance company, now holds 5.0246 BTC in its corporate treasury, according to its real-time analytics dashboard. The SME lender and advisory firm has set an ambitious 2030 target of holding 21,000 BTC. Its 2030 target would make it the largest African-listed company holding Bitcoin on its balance sheet. At its current holding of 5.0246 BTC, the firm has only covered 0.02% of that goal. The gap between a growing yet limited stash and a sweeping long-term goal underlines how early ABC remains in this strategy, even as it pitches shareholders on gaining regulated stock-exchange exposure to Bitcoin across South Africa, Namibia, the US, and Germany. The company, which is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), has accumulated its Bitcoin holdings at a weighted average purchase price of $100,574 per coin across seven transactions since 2024. Its cumulative Bitcoin yield—a metric that tracks the percentage growth in Bitcoin holdings over time—has reached 207%, driven largely by accelerated accumulation in the final quarter of 2025. The company’s Bitcoin net asset value (BTC NAV), which represents the total market value of all the Bitcoin it holds on its balance sheet, now stands at $359,140. Its market-to-net asset value multiple (mNAV), which compares the company’s enterprise value to the value of its Bitcoin holdings, stands at 46.29x. The figure underscores how small ABC’s Bitcoin treasury remains relative to the total value of its business. Africa Bitcoin Corporation remains one of the few crypto-focused firms publicly listed on a regulated stock exchange anywhere on the continent. It currently trades on the JSE and A2X Markets in South Africa, the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX), the OTCQB Venture Market in the US, and Germany’s Börse Frankfurt (Deutsche Börse), including the Tradegate and Lang & Schwarz retail trading platforms. The company is continuing its multi-exchange expansion plans, broadening its African investor base and attracting pension funds and family offices seeking regulated, indirect exposure to Bitcoin.
Read MoreTable of contents Nigerian companies that cut staff in Q1 2026 Global restructuring affecting Nigeria Why is this happening? What this means for Q2 and beyond Q1 2026 is drawing to a close, and the Nigerian job market has had a rough three months. Across the banking sector, the startup world, and the crypto industry, companies have been laying off staff, in some cases quietly and in others more publicly. Two things drove most of these decisions. The first is local: the Central Bank of Nigeria set a March 31, 2026, deadline for banks to meet new minimum capital requirements. Banks that could not raise enough capital on their own had to merge with others, and mergers almost always bring job losses. The second is global: AI tools are increasingly being used to replace or reduce teams, particularly in customer support, marketing, and operations. This piece covers five Nigerian companies with confirmed staff cuts in Q1 2026, followed by three global companies whose restructuring plans are relevant to Nigeria. Nigerian companies that cut staff in Q1 2026 1. Zap Africa When it happened: February 2026 Number of staff affected: 8 roles eliminated, bringing the company from 18 employees to 10. That is a 44% cut in total headcount. Why they cut staff: Zap Africa is a Nigerian crypto startup that lets users buy and sell digital assets. As crypto trading volumes dropped sharply, retail activity on the platform slowed. The company responded by replacing human roles with an AI tool called Martha AI, which now handles first-line customer support. The cuts hit the design, operations, marketing, and support teams. What the company officially said: Co-founder and CTO Moore Dagogo-Hart told TechCabal: “Zap Africa intentionally moved from 18 to 10 as part of an AI-driven efficiency shift. What occurred was a targeted internal restructuring as part of our ongoing effort to improve operational efficiency and align the team with our current product and growth priorities.” Source: TechCabal, February 28, 2026 Martha AI, the tool Zap Africa used to replace its customer support team, is a product built by the CTO’s other company, Cognito Systems. The broader market gives context to the timing. Since October 2025, the global crypto market has shed nearly $2 trillion in value. For a startup whose revenue moves directly with trading activity, such a downturn typically forces cost-cutting as companies try to extend their runway. 2. Quidax When it happened: March 2, 2026 Number of staff affected: The exact number was not disclosed. Quidax did not respond to TechCabal’s questions about how many people were let go. Employees say the company has over 100 staff, but the count of those cut in 2026 is unconfirmed. The cuts hit the sales, design, and operations teams. Why they cut staff: During a company-wide all-hands meeting, Quidax announced it was cutting roles for performance-related reasons, using data from an internal tracking app to identify who would go. The company is also shifting away from retail crypto trading toward B2B infrastructure and enterprise crypto payments. It shut down its peer-to-peer trading feature in January 2026 and partnered with blockchain company Lisk in February 2026. What the company officially said: Quidax did not respond to TechCabal’s requests for comment. According to affected staff, the reason given at the meeting was performance. One person told TechCabal: “There were no clear metrics. It was something about numbers from an internal performance tracking app. All of it is confusing. There was not a lot of information for us to go by beyond that; just a verbal notice in the morning, and that was it.” Source: TechCabal, March 26, 2026 Taken together, these moves suggest a pattern: Quidax shut down P2P trading in January, partnered with a blockchain infrastructure company in February, and cut retail-facing roles in March. The company appears to be shifting from a consumer app towards B2B products. Such shifts often result in redundancies in teams aligned with the previous focus. 3. Kuda Bank When it happened: March 25, 2026 Number of staff affected: At least one hundred, across multiple departments. In the marketing department alone, 19 out of 40 employees were let go, according to two affected staff who spoke to TechCabal. Why they cut staff: Kuda said the cuts are part of a company-wide restructuring following a strategic review of future operational priorities and industry benchmarking. Executives were said to have told staff during an all-hands video call on March 25 that the decision was about shifting operational priorities, not financial pressure or individual performance. The internal notice obtained by TechCabal read: “Following a strategic review of future operational priorities, industry benchmarking, and long-term direction, the Company has identified the need to restructure and reorganise certain departments.” What the company officially said: A Kuda spokesperson told TechCabal: “Kuda is evolving how the organisation is structured to support the next phase of our growth and scale. This is not a decision driven by financial pressure, but part of the natural evolution of a company at our stage, aligning with industry benchmarks. We are supporting those affected with enhanced severance packages and practical transition support.” Severance: Affected staff were offered packages that vary by role and tenure. Some expect up to seven months’ pay. The company is also offering an enhanced exit option tied to a legal settlement agreement. Source: TechCabal, March 27, 2026 Kuda has been narrowing its losses steadily. According to BusinessDay, its losses dropped from $35.11 million in 2023 to $5.83 million in 2024, driven by its Nigerian subsidiary, which nearly doubled its naira revenue to N21.2 billion. The bank last raised external funding in 2024, bringing in $20 million at a $500 million valuation. The job cuts suggest that even a neobank nearing profitability may be rethinking its cost structure. The marketing cuts in particular may indicate a pullback in aggressive customer acquisition spending in favour of a leaner, more sustainable growth model. 4. Unity Bank (Providus Bank Merger) When it happened: January 1, 2026 Number of staff
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