At Cyber Africa Forum, Africa’s tech ministers push for sovereign data infrastructure, enhanced cybersecurity
Tech ministers from Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, and the Republic of Congo have announced a unified digital agenda focused on sovereign data infrastructure, large-scale youth training, enhanced cybersecurity, and accelerated startup growth. They believe this collaborative approach will distinguish their countries within Africa’s tech ecosystem and pave the way for a digital future that is less dependent and more defensible Speaking on a panel during the recently concluded Cyber African Forum in Cotonou, the ministers agreed that Africa’s digital economy must be built by Africans, for Africans, and it must be resilient, inclusive, and globally competitive. “Every action we have taken is rooted in solving real problems for our citizens,” said Aurelie Adam Soule Zoumarou, Benin’s Minister of Digital Affairs. “Without trust in digital services, adoption doesn’t follow. That’s why we embedded cybersecurity at the foundation of all our digital projects.” Throughout the hour-long conversation, ministers dissected a decade of reforms, drew sharp lines under sovereignty concerns, and aligned on the role of state policy in enabling African tech entrepreneurship and innovation. Building digital economies from First Principles The panel served as a strategic review of how African governments have responded to the global shift toward digitisation. With over 70% of their population under 35, the stakes are high. Benin, for example, began its digital overhaul in 2016. Minister Zoumarou described it as a cascade of infrastructure investments designed to “open up” the country digitally. “We first cleaned up our foundational tech stack,” she said. “Then we invested in public service platforms, built cybersecurity frameworks, and created digital agencies to execute the state’s vision.” Benin now runs interoperable service platforms that allow citizens to access documents and government services online. The government also constructed an independent cybersecurity agency that participates in the design of every digital project. Côte d’Ivoire, meanwhile, is doubling down on digital sovereignty, said Ibrahim Kalil Konaté, Minister of Digital Transition and Digitalisation. The country is building its sovereign data centers, crafting an AI strategy, and preparing to centralise sensitive ministry data—including finance, health, and education—within its borders. “We can’t talk about AI and smart governance when 97% of our data is stored abroad,” Konaté said. “Our aim is to store, protect, and process our data on African soil.” From demographic dividend to workforce strategy Across the board, ministers stressed one strategic truth: no infrastructure matters if young people are not equipped to use it. Léon Juste Ibombo, Congo’s Minister of Posts, Telecommunications, and Digital Economy, noted that 66% of Congolese youth now access the internet via mobile, up from 19% in 2019. “We are training 1,200 young people in digital and emerging technologies in partnership with the World Bank, and we aim to scale this to 10,000,” he said. “Digital skills are the fifth pillar of our national development strategy.” Congo’s broader digital transformation plan, Congo Digital 2030, is underpinned by skill training and five other pillars: governance, infrastructure, public services, innovation, and inclusion. Ibombo emphasised that recent reforms—such as elevating research and innovation to a standalone ministry—reflect a government rethinking its digital posture from the ground up. Benin has followed a similar path, using digital classrooms, university networks, and early exposure programs to introduce students to IT literacy at scale. “From the primary level, we’re exposing children to digital tools in safe environments,” said Zoumarou. “Our goal is to eliminate future digital gaps by starting today.” Private sector inclusion: From regulation to opportunity Ministers across the panel repeatedly addressed the private sector as not just service providers but as co-architects of Africa’s digital economy. “No one wants to invest in a country where there’s regulatory chaos,” said Benin’s Zoumarou. “We modernised our legal frameworks to give clarity to private actors and unlock investment.” Côte d’Ivoire passed a Startup Act to support tech entrepreneurs, allowing the state and private sector to jointly select and back promising startups. According to Konaté, the country has funded multiple startups to attend global events like VivaTech, enabling exposure to investors and partnerships. “Our startup committee lets entrepreneurs pitch their projects directly to government and investors,” Konaté said. “We’ve had three years of consecutive support now. The ecosystem is growing.” Congo’s Ibombo cited the example of NokiNoki, a last-mile logistics startup that raised capital through government and international backing. “We don’t want to train youth just to train them,” he said. “We want to fund their businesses, send them to China for immersion, and turn their startups into job engines.” Cybersecurity: A non-negotiable national priority All three countries addressed the growing threat of cyberattacks, with Congo revealing it had suffered a major breach targeting a national bank. “If we didn’t have the right experts and institutions, it would’ve been catastrophic,” said Ibombo. “We lost some ground, but we responded quickly—within 19 hours.” The urgency of securing digital infrastructure was echoed by Konaté of Côte d’Ivoire: “The digital economy will collapse without trust. That’s why we created the National Cybersecurity Agency, now operational for six months, to defend our systems.” Each minister affirmed that digitisation must go hand-in-hand with resilience,a theme that gained traction as panelists called for greater inter-country collaboration on cybersecurity. Infrastructure: Sovereignty, speed, and scale Infrastructure remains both the bedrock and bottleneck of Africa’s digital transformation. Côte d’Ivoire and Congo are building national data centers with backing from development banks and international partners. “You cannot talk about artificial intelligence if you don’t have sovereign data,” said Congo’s Ibombo. “With the African Development Bank, we’re building a national data center and securing subsea cable landings.” But ministers also warned that infrastructure must evolve with technology. Côte d’Ivoire, for instance, plans to refresh its infrastructure every 1–2 years, a pace that requires massive and sustained investment. “We’re talking about 40–50 billion CFA ($71 million- $89 million) in capex, then another 15–19 billion CFA ($26 million – $34 million) annually just for equipment upgrades,” Konaté noted. “That’s why we need public-private co-financing models.” The next phase: Data governance, AI, and African cloud Ministers previewed next-generation digital strategies, including national AI governance frameworks
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – One card to rule them all
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Happy mid-week. If you’re curious about the best ways to make, manage and grow your money sustainably, you should be at Zikoko’s Naira Life Conference. They’re bringing together financial experts, entrepreneurs, creators and everyday Nigerians for a day of bold conversations and immersive workshops designed to hand you a playbook for building real wealth. It’s happening on August 8 in Lekki, and early bird tickets end in 5 days. Click here to get a ticket at 30% off. Africa launches pan-African payment card MTN’s $235 million data centre is here; Can it win Nigerians over? South Africa’s trade ministry is negotiating more time with Donald Trump South Africa’s Metrobus goes digital World Wide Web 3 Opportunities Economy Africa launches pan-African payment card to facilitate cross-border payment PAPSS team and other delegates at 2025 edition of Afreximbank’s Annual Meetings/Image Source: Afreximbank When the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) unveiled the PAPSSCARD on June 27, it wasn’t just showcasing another piece of financial hardware. It was adding a new layer to its older idea of bolstering cross-border payments in Africa. The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) was created in 2022 to make it easier for African markets to trade with one another in local currencies. It currently connects 15 central banks and over 150 commercial banks—22 of which are Nigerian banks. The PAPSSCARD, built in partnership with Mercury Payment Services (MPS), is Africa’s attempt to keep transactions, data, and value within the continent, eliminating external payment systems to facilitate cross-border trade. It promises lower costs, faster transfers, and more control over data. Cross-border payments are a big deal everywhere. In Europe, the European Payments Alliance (EuroPA) and the European Payments Initiative (EPI) recently teamed up to explore a system that will allow cross-border transactions by linking up payment solutions across the continent. This isn’t Africa’s first shot at card sovereignty. Nigeria’s Central Bank launched AfriGo in 2023 to push domestic payment options, lower costs, and reduce reliance on foreign card schemes. While AfriGo and PAPSS are local and continental, respectively, they both reflect a shift in how Africa wants to manage its payments. Bit by bit, Africa is bringing control back to the continent. But how will it work in real life? Can a Nigerian in Abidjan withdraw XOF from a local ATM with the PAPSSCARD? Will merchants in Accra or Nairobi accept it? The fine print is still unclear. The PAPSSCARD makes a bold promise. Can it deliver? Save more on every NGN transaction with Fincra Stop overpaying for NGN payments. Fincra’s fees are more affordable than other payment platforms for collections & payouts. The bigger the transaction, the more you save. Create a free account in 3 minutes and start saving today. Cloud Computing MTN’s $235 million data centre is here; Can it win Nigerians over? Image Source: MTN MTN Nigeria has just wrapped up Phase 1 of its $235 million Dabengwa Sifiso Data Centre, its first shot at commercial data hosting. The goal? Keep Nigerian data in Nigeria and reduce our dependence on foreign cloud giants like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure (which MTN itself used to rely on). What’s a data centre and why should we care? Data centres are the physical backbone of the digital world. Apps, websites, banking platforms, even AI models, live in data centres. For years, Nigeria has been shipping its data offshore, bleeding an estimated $350 million annually. MTN plans to reduce such spending and offer local cloud services priced in Naira. This puts it in competition with other dominating players like MainOne (Equinix), Rack Centre, Digital Realty (via Medallion), and Open Access Data Centres (OADC). But Nigerians are not sold… yet, as portrayed by mixed reactions on social media. Some say MTN should fix their network first before attempting to rival AWS or Azure. Others doubt MTN’s ability to deliver reliability. A few are cautiously optimistic, hoping the pricing won’t be out of reach for users. MTN has a strong pitch. An AI-ready capacity, 3D environmental monitoring, and an IT load of over 14MW at full scale. Building a data centre is one thing, convincing Nigerians to move in is another. If MTN wants serious buy-ins, it’ll need to prove it can deliver speed, uptime, and real value, because for many Nigerians, performance speaks louder than promise. Drive your business forward with Doroki Whether you are a retail store, restaurant, pharmacy, supermarket, salon or spa, Doroki helps simplify your operations so you can focus on what matters most: your customers and your growth. Manage your business smarter, start here. Economy South Africa’s trade ministry is negotiating more time with Donald Trump to secure a deal South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa with US President Donald Trump/Image Source: CNBC Africa South Africa has come out to plead with the United States and President Donald Trump to be graceful with his tariffs. On Tuesday, the country’s trade ministry said that it is trying to negotiate a trade deal with the US before the reciprocal tariffs, which Trump announced in April, kick in on July 9. ICYMI: Like Lesotho, South Africa was one of the worst hit African countries in Trump’s new tariff regime. If it kicks in, South Africa will pay 31% extra on all goods to export to the US. This is bad for business as the South Africa-US is one of the country’s most important trade corridors. In 2024, 8.2% of all South African exports—the second-largest after China—went to the US. South Africa is a major producer of pearls, metal stone ores, vehicle parts, and agricultural produce like citrus. As a result, the mining and citrus industries, which employ over a combined 235,000 employees, are two key sectors that could get caught in the Trump rampage. Prices of items made from pearls and precious stones—including jewellery and ornamental pieces—that get imported back to South Africa, could become more expensive. With the high cost, manufacturers of vehicle parts could consider selling sideways
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Algeria and Cameroon pitch themselves as Africa’s next innovation hubs
1st July 2025 Lire en Français Bonjour, Bienvenue dans le deuxième numéro de la newsletter The Next Wave Afrique Francophone, où nous partageons les analyses et informations les plus pointues sur le paysage technologique de la région. Cette newsletter est bimensuelle — le prochain numéro paraîtra le 15 juillet. Inscrivez-vous ici pour être parmi les premiers informés. Cette newsletter est publiée dans un format bilingue : version française suivie de la traduction en anglais. Entrons dans le vif du numéro d’aujourd’hui. Les pays d’Afrique francophone qui alimentent la prochaine vague de startups Nous poursuivons notre exploration des marchés en Afrique francophone. Comme nous l’avons déjà dit, cette région n’est pas en retard ; elle suit simplement une trajectoire différente. Ce que nous n’avions pas encore mentionné, c’est qu’on peut la diviser en trois grandes zones : l’Afrique du Nord, l’Afrique de l’Ouest et l’Afrique centrale. Une telle « zonification » a un arrière-goût de colonialisme, car elle rappelle fortement la manière dont la puissance coloniale — la France — découpait ses territoires sur le continent. Malheureusement, cette séparation reste une réalité. La bonne nouvelle, cependant, c’est que la collaboration au sein de chaque zone et entre elles est en nette progression. Il y a quelques mois, j’ai participé à un panel lors d’une conférence où des entreprises de Côte d’Ivoire, du Cameroun, du Tchad et de la République Centrafricaine échangeaient des opportunités. Revenons à notre sujet : cette fois-ci, nous nous intéressons au Cameroun et à l’Algérie. Nous allons explorer ce qui rend ces pays non seulement prometteurs, mais aussi stratégiquement préparés à une croissance dynamique des startups. Algérie : Le fennec à l’écoute… qui passe à l’action Le fennec, mascotte nationale de l’Algérie, est connu pour ses grandes oreilles, idéales pour survivre dans le désert. C’est une belle métaphore pour l’écosystème tech algérien. Longtemps discret, presque en retrait, l’Algérie semble avoir écouté, observé, et commence maintenant à agir. Aujourd’hui, elle s’ouvre et veut attirer fondateurs et investisseurs. L’Algérie, plus grand pays d’Afrique en superficie et riche en ressources naturelles, devient une destination d’investissement technologique de plus en plus attractive. Avec des réformes portées par l’État, une infrastructure numérique en croissance, et une jeunesse talentueuse encore peu exploitée, le pays offre un potentiel de croissance et un avantage de pionnier pour les investisseurs (bonjour VaulFi). Voici ce que l’Algérie propose aujourd’hui : Infrastructures numériques et modernisation bancaire Depuis le 1er trimestre 2025, les banques sont enfin interconnectées. Cela améliore la fiabilité, la rapidité et la sécurité des transactions financières à l’échelle nationale. Réformes gouvernementales et politiques pro-business L’Algérie simplifie la bureaucratie, offre des incitations fiscales et soutient des incubateurs tech à Alger et Oran, notamment. Ouverture accrue à la propriété étrangère Une rupture avec les politiques protectionnistes passées. L’Algérie veut attirer le capital et l’innovation mondiaux, se positionnant comme un pont entre l’Afrique du Nord et le Sahel. Localisation stratégique et accès aux marchés Située au carrefour de l’Europe, de l’Afrique et du Moyen-Orient, avec des accords commerciaux (UE, ZLECAf, monde arabe), l’Algérie est une base solide pour bâtir des plateformes régionales. Écosystème tech émergent Des startups se lancent dans la fintech, l’e-commerce, l’edtech, l’agritech et la santé. Des programmes comme le Fonds National pour les Startups et l’incubateur Algeria Venture leur offrent financement, mentorat et visibilité. Réformes et incitations fiscales express En 2025, l’Algérie est entrée dans le top 20 africain des pays accueillants pour jeunes entrepreneurs tech, et s’est classée #2 sur le continent. La loi de finances 2025 prévoit Impact d’Algeria Venture & Startup Fund Depuis son lancement en 2020, Algeria Venture a soutenu plus de 800 startups dans les secteurs de la fintech, de la healthtech, de la logistique et des énergies renouvelables. Complété par le Fonds national pour les startups de 411 millions de dollars et la collaboration avec le Fonds d’investissement algérien, l’écosystème attire désormais d’importants flux de capitaux. Croissance pilotée par l’IA et développement des infrastructures : L’opérateur public Algérie Télécom a lancé un fonds d’investissement de 11 millions de dollars dédié à l’IA, avec pour objectif la création de 20 000 startups et une contribution de l’IA à hauteur de 7 % du PIB d’ici 2027. Sur le plan des infrastructures, Algérie Télécom a déployé 265 000 km de fibre optique et plus de 1 400 nouveaux sites 4G, avec 7 000 autres sites prévus Fonds sectoriels spécialisés à venir : Le ministre Nourreddine Ouadah a annoncé, pour le printemps 2025, des fonds d’investissement orientés énergie (classique et renouvelable), soutenus par la Banque Islamique de Développement, ainsi que des extensions IA/TIC. Résumé L’Algérie entre prudemment mais résolument dans l’arène startup. Les bases sont posées : réformes politiques, infrastructures, fonds ciblés, volonté affichée du gouvernement. Le talent est présent, le marché est là. Oui, l’écosystème est jeune et en mutation, mais pour les investisseurs prêts à accompagner une dynamique naissante, c’est l’occasion rare de contribuer à la construction d’un hub tech nord-africain. Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15–16! Join Africa’s top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Early bird tickets now 20% off—don’t snooze! Get your tickets Cameroun : Résilience et réforme J’ai rencontré de nombreux investisseurs qui disent presque mot pour mot :J’adore les entrepreneurs camerounais. Ils ont ce truc, cette capacité à construire, à présenter leur business… mais je n’aime pas l’écosystème. Oui, le Cameroun a ses problèmes — deux systèmes juridiques, fiscalité lourde, bureaucratie. Mais voici ce qu’on oublie souvent : I can summarize the Ivorian ecosystem with the following: Des fondateurs tenaces Refusant de se laisser ralentir par les difficultés locales, ils pensent au-delà des frontières. En Afrique francophone, ce sont souvent les plus ambitieux et les plus vocaux. Marché bilingue (français/anglais) Un atout rare qui fait du Cameroun un pont naturel entre l’Afrique francophone et anglophone. Villes en pleine croissance Douala et Yaoundé accueillent de nouveaux accélérateurs comme ActivSpaces ou des hubs internationaux comme Orange Fab. Intégration régionale (CEMAC) Grâce à la BEAC, les systèmes de paiement SYGMA
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Why Johannesburg’ Metrobus is switching to contactless card payments
Metrobus, the second largest municipal bus operator in South Africa, is changing the way users pay for their rides. Starting on Tuesday, Johannesburg commuters will use contactless cards to pay for their bus rides: simply register, load money onto the card, then tap in when boarding and tap out when leaving. This new system enables Metrobus to calculate fares based on the actual distance travelled, not just the travel zone. This is all part of Metrobus’s push to modernise and streamline public transport, which it started in October 2024 with cashless payments. “Metrobus has embarked on a digital transformation journey,” said Tshepo Nathan, corporate strategy and business support manager at Metrobus. “This is in line with our strategic direction towards ensuring a digitally enabled operation for the benefit of our commuters.” Metrobus’ digital changes have led the bus to get rid of its old payment system, which was too old to keep up with the advances of technology. “The old system is no longer receiving support from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) due to its age,” he said. “ In addition, the system is not capable of basing fares on kilometers travelled, which is a serious limitation.” Nathan noted that the zonal based fare structure has caused major operational challenges for Metrobus and has had a significant negative impact on the collection of fares. The new system ensures that all services consumed are properly paid for. Metrobus transports approximately 90,000 passengers daily, covering 80 scheduled routes and 130 school routes, according to the City of Johannesburg. Passengers have been using the bus mostly due to its affordability, as compared to the taxis, particularly those who catch the bus twice to reach their destination. Now, every trip will be charged separately, calculated by the distance users travel. But there have been some concerns about the new system making fares increase with users noting that the bus fare is now higher than the taxis to some routes. Angel Mthembu who commutes from Soweto to Lyndhurst, relied on the free transfers, with the new payment system, it means she has to pay separately for going to Lydhurst. “I used to travel from Naturena to Gandhi Square and then transfer to Lydhurst for about R30,” said Mthembu. “Now, since there are no more free transfers and the fares have gone up, I have to pay about R8 extra for each trip. That adds up to around R300 more than what I used to pay.” Siyabonga Mdluli, who travels from Orange Grove to Linbro, is worried about how the high cost of living is hitting commuters who have to transfer buses. He says, “It’s really sad to see that some people will have to pay over R100 more, taking money from what little they already earn”. Mdluli noted that he is aware that there is an increase of about 4.6%, but at least he is not affected by the change to transfers because he can get a bus that goes straight to his work.” Talking about the transfer increase, Nathan noted that it is actually small—the highest fare bump is just R1.26, but for the commuters, it is not the case. Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15–16! Join Africa’s top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Early bird tickets now 20% off—don’t snooze! moonshot.techcabal.com
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Talstack is building an all-in-one tool to close employee performance gaps
When Talstack launched in 2022 it looked, at first glance, like another corporate learning portal: a slick catalogue of short video courses delivered by African operators for an African workforce. It was clean, intuitive, and not unlike Udemy or Coursera. “We looked at the landscape and asked ourselves, what’s the fastest way into the system?” said Seni Sulyman, Talstack’s co-founder and CEO. “Learning was the obvious entry point. It’s the lowest-friction problem companies are willing to solve immediately.”  What many didn’t know at the time was that the course library was merely phase one of a much larger playbook: a full-stack people operations platform designed for Africa’s evolving workforce. Internally, Talstack organises this ambition into a three-part framework: learn, perform, engage, and has been building toward it ever since. Learning that pays for itself Talstack’s learning platform is now markedly different from its early version. What began as a modest catalogue of 80 short-form courses has expanded to over 300 across categories like finance, supply chain, operations, and artificial intelligence. Today, companies can mix this content with their own via a lightweight learning management system (LMS), creating structured “learning paths” for new hires, managers, or even underperforming staff. “Companies no longer need to cobble together Excel lists and YouTube links,” Sulyman said. “Now, an HR team can build a full learning program in minutes and track who’s watching what, when, and for how long.”  Talstack claims its real innovation isn’t in the content but in the delivery. Each Talstack course ends with a to-do, a framework designed to drive immediate action. “The goal is that when someone finishes a course, they can apply the concept the next day,” explained co-founder Kayode Oyewole. “That way, even if the employee leaves nine months later, you’ve already captured the ROI.” “We’re not trying to inspire people. We’re trying to help them close performance gaps,” Oyewole said. Last month, Talstack unveiled Perform, its performance-management module. Built to be “the simplest 360-review tool on the market,” the feature allows admins to set up goal cycles, define feedback workflows (self, peer, upward, manager), toggle culture-specific settings like anonymity, and visualize results—all in one streamlined interface. “This might be, even on a global level, one of the simplest tools to use,” Sulyman said during a live demo. “HR teams are overwhelmed. Performance reviews shouldn’t be another painful admin task.”  The product design is informed by painful firsthand experience. “We’ve used global tools. You submit feedback into a black hole. It’s bloated and slow. Our customers were still running review cycles on Excel,” Sulyman said. “We’re making this simple, modern, and useful in context.” What competition? Talstack’s move into performance management puts it squarely in competition with Nigeria’s HR-tech players—SeamlessHR, PaidHR, NotchHR, and others. “We’re much less worried about competition,” Sulyman said. “We’re obsessed with the customer. If they say their current platform sucks, that’s a problem worth solving.”  That customer-centricity guides Talstack’s product philosophy. The startup claims it won’t build anything unless they believe they can do it “three times better” than what already exists. “Payroll, for example, is unlikely to be built in-house anytime soon. If it’s working well elsewhere, we’d rather integrate,” Oyewole said. “The goal isn’t to win alone. It’s to win with everyone else winning.”  Still, Sulyman and Oyewole admit their ambitions go well beyond reviews and courses. The duo’s north star is to make Talstack the single source of truth for every African employee’s skills, performance, and growth trajectory so future employers request a Talstack Score, not a résumé. That score—a composite index based on learning activity, performance reviews, skills gaps, and behavioral signals—is already in development. Every course watched, goal tracked, review submitted, and to-do completed contributes to a talent’s overall Talstack Score. “We want Talstack to be the single home for managing people—learning, performance, skill development, succession planning, everything,” he said. “Resumés are guesswork,” Oyewole said. “The Talstack Score tells the real story—what you know, what you’ve done, and how you’ve grown over time.”  To power this dream, Talstack raised additional (undisclosed) funding in 2024. The startup also raised a $850,000 pre-seed in 2022. The business operates a straightforward SaaS model: companies pay a fixed monthly fee per employee, billed annually or semi-annually. “About 90 percent of our customers are on long-term plans,” Sulyman said. “Only our largest enterprise clients get bespoke pricing.”  The business currently has clients ranging from conglomerates like UAC Foods with over 2,000 staff to construction firms, hospitals and oil-and-gas outfits. Sulyman also notes that Talstack is live in multiple African markets beyond Nigeria. What comes next? The final piece in Talstack’s Operation Software is “engage”, a culture and sentiment layer scheduled for public launch later this year. It will include Employee Net Promoter Score polls (eNPS polls), pulse surveys, and analytics that track how employees feel—not just what they do. Because Engage sits on the same data spine as Learn and Perform, the module will allow companies to correlate morale with learning and performance data, for instance, identifying that a demotivated team also missed its OKRs or skipped key training modules. “It’s about giving leaders the full picture,” Sulyman said. “Not just what people are achieving, but how they’re experiencing the workplace.” Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15–16! Join Africa’s top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Early bird tickets now 20% off—don’t snooze! moonshot.techcabal.com
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Stablecoins could be key in PAPSS’ new blockchain platform for cross-border settlements
On June 26, the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), the intra-African payment initiative, launched a new product for real-time cross-border settlements across Africa. The product, called the African Currency Marketplace, will enable businesses to settle transactions directly in African currencies without routing them through the US Dollar, the Euro, or any other foreign currency. Announced on the sidelines of the 2025 Afreximbank Annual Meeting, the African Currency Marketplace is built on the Bantu blockchain network that supports enterprise-level African payments and is overseen by Interstellar, a pan-African infrastructure company, to support up to 42 currencies. “We looked at how we could leverage blockchain technology to address Africa’s unique challenges,” said Ernest Mbenkum, Interstellar CEO, at the event. “We focused on using this infrastructure to develop the Bantu Blockchain. Through this platform, we were able to talk to various partners in the industry—commercial banks, central banks, and PAPSS—to see how we could begin to address the challenges that the continent faced.” The African Currency Marketplace will enable the direct exchange of local currencies, reducing costs and delays associated with routing through foreign currencies. It’s an attempt to address the payment fragmentation that continues to slow intra-African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). It also signals something more: it could lead to a massive stablecoin adoption across Africa. cNGN, the stablecoin pegged to the Nigerian Naira, is already live on the Bantu blockchain, with over ₦52 million ($33,800) transacted on the network since its launch. Compared to hard fiat currencies, stablecoins are easily sourced, provided solid, collateralised reserves back them. Their location-agnostic nature also means that the cost of sending stablecoins anywhere on the continent will incur the same low cost. cNGN is available on these protocols/Image Source: cNGN website Interstellar, which partners with PAPSS, is a core member of the cNGN project, making a stablecoin integration more viable. If cNGN integration is successful, it could spur more African countries to set up national initiatives to create stablecoins pegged to local currencies and debut them on the Bantu blockchain. This will not only accelerate stablecoin adoption but also improve liquidity and accessibility, particularly for less commonly used currencies in Africa. Fragmentation costs businesses and multinationals big money Africa’s 42 national currencies create a web of 861 unique intra-African payment corridors, each representing a direct currency pair through which cross-border payments can flow. In practice, however, most of these corridors are not directly accessible. When a business in Kenya wants to pay a supplier in Senegal, the Kenyan shilling must typically be converted first to US dollars, then from dollars to West African CFA francs. Each leg of this conversion introduces additional exchange rate spreads and fees, so the supplier ultimately receives less than the original value sent, sometimes significantly less, due to these cumulative costs and inefficiencies. This inefficiency is not trivial. Africa reportedly loses $5 billion annually to “leakages” and foreign currency dependency in intra-African payments. Aviation is one sector hit hard by Africa’s payment fragmentation. Airlines often can’t move their earnings out of certain countries because of currency restrictions and depreciation. In June, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported that $1.8 billion in airline funds is stuck, with the majority of affected countries being in Africa. As Mike Ogbalu, PAPSS CEO, has often highlighted, these kinds of barriers show why better cross-border payment solutions are needed. Get the best African tech newsletters in your inbox Country Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Antarctic Territory British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Canton and Enderbury Islands Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos [Keeling] Islands Colombia Comoros Congo – Brazzaville Congo – Kinshasa Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Côte d’Ivoire Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Dronning Maud Land East Germany Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories French Southern and Antarctic Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong SAR China Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Johnston Island Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau SAR China Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Metropolitan France Mexico Micronesia Midway Islands Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar [Burma] Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles Neutral Zone New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island North Korea North Vietnam Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pacific Islands Trust Territory Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Panama Canal Zone Papua New Guinea Paraguay People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen Peru Philippines Pitcairn Islands Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Réunion Saint Barthélemy Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria São Tomé and Príncipe Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu U.S. Minor Outlying Islands U.S. Miscellaneous Pacific Islands U.S. Virgin Islands Uganda Ukraine Union of Soviet Socialist Republics United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Unknown or Invalid Region Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Wake Island Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Åland Islands ?> Gender Male Female Others TC Daily Events TC Scoop <!– Next
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“Our dream is zero paper”: Côte d’Ivoire’s digital transformation chief on the country’s tech ambitions
Côte d’Ivoire is driving one of Africa’s most ambitious digital transformations, aiming for a fully paperless government by 2030. Karen Diallo, Director of Digital Transformation in Côte d’Ivoire’s Ministry of Digital Economy, is at the centre of one of West Africa’s most ambitious public sector modernisation programs, PARAE (Programme d’Appui à la Réforme de l’Administration de l’Etat) project. As the country wraps up its current digital strategy and drafts a new roadmap for 2026–2030, Diallo’s team is pushing to unify services, invest in AI, support startups, and—eventually—make paper government processes obsolete. TechCabal spoke to Diallo on the sidelines of the Cyber Africa Forum. In this conversation, she discusses Côte d’Ivoire’s priorities around artificial intelligence, the role of local startups in public procurement, and why the country is betting big on connectivity and digital identity infrastructure. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. Can you walk us through some of the most transformative pillars of Côte d’Ivoire’s digital strategy? We’re currently closing out the 2021–2025 digital strategy, so we’re already drafting the next one for 2026–2030. But for this phase, three projects stand out. First is interoperability: we’re building a system that gives citizens unified access to all public services from a single platform. Second is the national digital ID. And third, we’ve launched an access gateway that lets people request any public document or information in one place. We’re also investing heavily in AI and digital governance. We released strategies for both earlier this year and are now calling for investment to implement them. And of course, rural connectivity is a major focus, ensuring people outside cities can access digital services. Tell us more about Côte d’Ivoire’s AI strategy. What’s the framework for it? It’s built on three pillars: inclusiveness, investment, and governance. Every AI-related project must align with at least one of these. We’ve identified health, education, and agriculture as priority sectors, though we acknowledge that AI will impact everything. Right now, we’re working closely with stakeholders in these sectors to define use cases that are both impactful and locally viable, culturally and infrastructurally. We’re also working to establish a national AI agency that will coordinate these efforts. You’ve mentioned support for startups. What’s Côte d’Ivoire doing to strengthen the startup ecosystem? This is the place to be if you’re a startup in West Africa. The ecosystem is booming. We’ve passed a new startup law to make it easier for early-stage companies to access government contracts. Startups typically don’t meet the eligibility criteria for public tenders, but we’re changing that through what we call a “levelisation” process, essentially granting certified startups access to public markets. We also launched a national innovation hub called IvorTech. It’s located in Abidjan’s Plateau district and supported directly by the President’s office. It acts as a resource center, whether you need funding, training, or basic information to launch. There’s also an on-site incubator, though it only started operations recently. How else is the government supporting startups financially or otherwise? Beyond direct funding, our support is structural and visibility-oriented. IvorTech helps startups develop business capabilities, connect with funding opportunities, and access critical networks. We even took 20 Ivorian startups to VivaTech in Paris to spotlight their work globally. We’ve also created CI20, a coalition of 20 leading local startups—sort of our own unicorn pipeline—to drive sector innovation in fintech, healthtech, and more. As someone working on public digital services, how are you approaching modernisation within the government itself? My job is to harmonise digital efforts across ministries in Côte d’Ivoire. Today, every department has its digital budget and projects, which creates silos and inefficiencies. Our role is to coordinate, prevent duplication, and ensure that funds, talent, and timelines are used effectively. We’re also focused on interoperability and digital identity as foundational layers to enable cross-ministerial data sharing and service delivery. Looking ahead to 2030, what’s your long-term vision? Zero paper. That’s the dream, digitising everything. To get there, we’re building out infrastructure like a national data center, as well as backend systems that allow seamless communication between government departments and digital IDs for citizens. All of this creates the foundation for fully paperless administration. What’s one common misconception about Côte d’Ivoire’s digital future that you disagree with? People say we won’t succeed in digitising our public services in Côte d’Ivoire because citizens are resistant to change. I don’t agree. It’s not resistance—it’s inertia. People are used to doing things a certain way. But with the right strategy and change management, we can overcome that reluctance. We just need to be patient and inclusive in how we roll things out. We’re working across the board, but I’m currently focused on education and health. Those are the two sectors I work most closely with at the moment. Anything else you’d like the global tech community to know? Yes. We’re inviting investors to come to Côte d’Ivoire and help us build the digital future. The opportunities are real, and the ecosystem is ready. Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15–16! Join Africa’s top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Early bird tickets now 20% off—don’t snooze! moonshot.techcabal.com
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MTN Nigeria enters cloud race with completion of first phase of $235 million data centre
MTN Nigeria has completed the first phase of its $235 million Dabengwa Sifiso Data Centre, marking its official entry into commercial data hosting. The Tier III data centre facility is part of the telco’s broader push to strengthen cloud infrastructure. The newly completed Phase 1 features a 4.5MW IT load, spans three floors, houses 780 racks, and costs $100 million to build. When fully developed, the facility will reach 9MW capacity, with Phase 2—estimated at $135 million—targeting Tier IV certification, the highest global benchmark for uptime and redundancy. The project positions MTN at the forefront of Nigeria’s fast-growing data centre market, while also inserting the telecom giant into a competitive ecosystem long dominated by players such as MainOne (Equinix), Rack Centre, Digital Realty (via Medallion), and Open Access Data Centres (OADC). The Dabengwa Sifiso Data Centre, named in honour of MTN Group’s former CEO, is a strategic move. With over 50 data centres across Africa and the Middle East, MTN is capitalising on its pan-African infrastructure to meet surging demand for low-latency cloud computing, digital platforms, and enterprise-level IT services. Local cloud, local advantage MTN’s push comes as Nigeria continues to rely heavily on foreign hyperscalers like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, leading to an estimated $350 million in annual capital flight for offshore data hosting, according to industry estimates. By offering in-country hosting, Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) solutions priced in naira, and full compliance with regulations like the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) mandates, MTN is making a direct play to localise cloud spend and capture enterprise demand. “We are going to continue to expand the capacity we have in the data centre,” said Karl Toriola, CEO of MTN Nigeria, during a pre-launch briefing on June 30, 2025. “Part of that is the readiness for artificial intelligence and the processing power that AI needs and uses.” The Dabengwa Sifiso facility is carrier-agnostic, allowing clients to connect through any fibre provider, not just MTN’s network. This strategy is crucial in a market where vendor lock-in can deter large enterprises and governments. At the heart of MTN’s strategy is a push to democratise cloud access for startups and local developers. The MTN Cloud platform offers self-orchestration, mirroring what developers typically find on AWS or Google Cloud. Self-orchestration is the ability of a system, application, or service to automatically manage and coordinate its resources, workflows, and scaling without requiring external, manual intervention. This allows users to provision and manage resources autonomously, accelerating product development and reducing time-to-market. “I believe that we will be the first, or we are the first, to offer a self-orchestration data platform in Nigeria,” said Linda Saint-Okafor, chief Enterprise Business Officer, MTN Nigeria. A race for digital dominance Nigeria’s cloud market has expanded rapidly, with Equinix’s MainOne and Rack Centre setting high industry standards. OADC’s edge facilities and Medallion’s micro data centres have also gained ground in decentralised hosting. Yet MTN is banking on its telecom-grade resilience, deep capital investment, and the ability to integrate enterprise services across its existing infrastructure. At full scale, the centre’s modular design—featuring 96 prefabricated containers—can scale beyond 14MW, allowing for AI-ready workloads, 3D environmental monitoring, and advanced containment units. The facility includes 24/7 intelligent monitoring, PCI DSS readiness, and role-based access control, targeting high-compliance industries like finance, health, and national security. While competition may be stiff, MTN believes it has what it takes to snag meaningful market share. Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15–16! Join Africa’s top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Early bird tickets now 20% off—don’t snooze! moonshot.techcabal.com
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Riding a multimillion dollar Wave
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Welcome to H2. It’s six months until the end of 2025. Appraisals are around the corner. So is your will to finish the year strong. If you need great vibes to begin the new half, Instagram now lets you share Spotify songs—with sound—to your stories. Wave raises $137 million M-PESA’s market share declines six times in a row Starlink loses 11% of its subscribers in Kenya Pick n Pay sells its 51% stake in Pikwik World Wide Web 3 Opportunities Funding Wave raises $137 million to power African expansion Image Source: Wave The tide is turning in African fintech, and Wave is riding on the momentum. Wave just secured $137 million in debt funding to grow its mobile money services and expand its footprint across Africa. The funding will boost its capital, allowing it to double down on providing affordable financial access across the continent. Debt funding? Think of it like borrowing, as the name implies. Unlike equity, where startups give up a slice of their company, this funding means lenders trust Wave enough to hand them cash, knowing they will pay back. For Wave, it’s a vote of confidence in both its business model and its ability to grow sustainably—that’s quite the flex. This round was led by Rand Merchant Bank and a trust of global finance institutions, including British International Investment (BII), Finnfund, and Norfund. This signals sustained investor confidence in Wave’s low-cost, mobile-first approach—no surprise there as Wave has been the only African startup on Y Combinator’s top 50 earners list for two consecutive years (2023 & 2024). Wave’s been stacking wins. This fundraiser follows a busy few weeks. In June, Wave secured a licence to operate in Cameroon through a partnership with Commercial Bank Cameroon (CBC), its official entry into Central Africa. In September 2021. Wave reached a valuation of $1.7 billion after closing a $200 million Series A funding round—the largest Series A round ever recorded for an African startup. This made Wave Francophone Africa’s first unicorn. Save more on every NGN transaction with Fincra Stop overpaying for NGN payments. Fincra’s fees are more affordable than other payment platforms for collections & payouts. The bigger the transaction, the more you save. Create a free account in 3 minutes and start saving today. Get the best African tech newsletters in your inbox Country Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Antarctic Territory British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Canton and Enderbury Islands Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos [Keeling] Islands Colombia Comoros Congo – Brazzaville Congo – Kinshasa Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Côte d’Ivoire Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Dronning Maud Land East Germany Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories French Southern and Antarctic Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong SAR China Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Johnston Island Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau SAR China Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Metropolitan France Mexico Micronesia Midway Islands Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar [Burma] Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles Neutral Zone New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island North Korea North Vietnam Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pacific Islands Trust Territory Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Panama Canal Zone Papua New Guinea Paraguay People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen Peru Philippines Pitcairn Islands Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Réunion Saint Barthélemy Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria São Tomé and Príncipe Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu U.S. Minor Outlying Islands U.S. Miscellaneous Pacific Islands U.S. Virgin Islands Uganda Ukraine Union of Soviet Socialist Republics United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Unknown or Invalid Region Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Wake Island Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Åland Islands ?> Gender Male Female Others TC Daily Events TC Scoop <!– Next Wave –> <!– Entering Tech –> Subscribe Mobile money M-PESA’s market share drops for sixth straight quarter Image: M-Pesa Airtel Money is chipping away at M-PESA’s lead, but it’s still a long road ahead. According to new data from Kenya’s Communications Authority, Safaricom’s M-PESA market share dropped from 97% in Q4 2023 to 90.8% in Q1 2025. The new data means the fintechhasnow lost market share for six straight quarters. (Airtel Money’s market share has grown from 2.9% to about 9.1% in the last two years.) Why is M-PESA losing ground? Interoperability rules introduced in 2022 broke Safaricom’s long-standing hold on users, allowing cross-network transactions. Airtel seized the opening to attract new users with cheaper fees, airtime cashback offers, and agent partnerships with supermarket chains like Naivas. Airtel is still far behind, but its steady gains hint at a slow but steady closing of the gap. Safaricom isn’t ignoring M-PESA’s slide. In March, the company announced it’s investing over $309 million annually to rebuild M-PESA into a more resilient platform. While framed as future-proofing
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Lesaka goes shopping
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Good morning! It’s the last day of the first half of 2025. How has the las six months been for you? Crushed goals? Took some Ls? Completely burnt out? Or Just survived? That counts too. There is still enough time to reflect on how you did in the first half and how you can do better in the second half. Or, as Twitter likes to say: it’s time to lock in (again). Lesaka to acquire Bank Zero for $56 million Eskom eyes Bitcoin mining to generate revenue Asset Chain launches blockchain trading platform with zero fees Cybercrime makes up 30% of reported crimes in parts of Africa World Wide Web 3 Opportunities Banking Lesaka to acquire Bank Zero for $56 million Lesaka technologies inc rings the nasdaq closing bell Lesaka Technologies will acquire South Africa’s zero-fee digital bank, Bank Zero. The deal includes a 12% equity stake for Bank Zero’s shareholders and up to $5 million in cash. Here’s why it matters: The acquisition, pending regulatory approval, gives Lesaka access to Bank Zero’s banking licence, modern digital infrastructure, and an opportunity to tap into new revenue streams. It will also help reduce its own debt of over $56 million. It’s a win-win for both parties. Lesaka moves from being a fintech to a fully licensed digital bank, gaining control of deposits and lowering funding costs. Bank Zero gets the scale and capital muscle to reach more customers, faster. By combining Lesaka’s wide distribution with Bank Zero’s tech and license, the merger unlocks new growth paths. This deal signals Lesaka’s evolution from a payments player to a full digital banking platform. More financial details are expected when Lesaka publishes its year-end results in September 2025. For competitors, the deal raises the stakes. Traditional banks now face a more agile, tech-driven rival with a banking licence. The integration of Bank Zero into Lesaka’s ecosystem signals a shift in how digital banking services could be delivered. It puts pressure on other digital banks like TymeBank, Happy Pay, and Kuda to deepen their offerings, rethink distribution if they want to keep pace in the market. The deal still awaits regulatory approval. If this deal passes regulatory approval and is successful, it just might set the tone for the next chapter of digital banking in South Africa. Save more on every NGN transaction with Fincra Stop overpaying for NGN payments. Fincra’s fees are more affordable than other payment platforms for collections & payouts. The bigger the transaction, the more you save. Create a free account in 3 minutes and start saving today. Companies Eskom eyes Bitcoin mining to generate revenue Eskom. Image: Google Eskom, South Africa’s state-owned power company, has said it wants to support Bitcoin mining and host large-scale computing projects like data centres to generate new revenu CEO Dan Marokane argues that as more businesses and households turn to solar and private suppliers, Eskom’s electricity demand will keep dropping. In 2024, usage fell by 3%, and Eskom expects that trend to continue for the next five years. In theory, lower demand could ease pressure on the grid and reduce load-shedding. But for Eskom, less demand also means less income—and that’s a crisis for a utility already sitting on R400 billion ($22.3 billion) in debtin debt. The company needs new, energy-hungry customers to replace what it’s losing. Bitcoin miners and data centres fit that profile. However, Eskom’s electricity is neither consistently affordable nor dependable. Unplanned breakdowns recently pushed outages past 15,000 megawatts (MW), the level Eskom warns would force 21 days of stage 2 load-shedding in winter. The utility has been relying on expensive diesel generators to keep power flowing. That’s not the kind of setup that attracts long-term investment from miners or tech companies. There’s logic in trying to monetise unused power. But Eskom is trying to pitch a premium service while barely meeting basic supply. Unless it stabilises its operations first, its ambitions in Bitcoin and tech are unlikely to go far. This isn’t a growth plan yet—it’s a survival tactic. And it still depends on Eskom doing the one thing it hasn’t managed: keeping the lights on. Drive your business forward with Doroki Whether you are a retail store, restaurant, pharmacy, supermarket, salon or spa, Doroki helps simplify your operations so you can focus on what matters most: your customers and your growth. Manage your business smarter, start here. Crypto Asset Chain launches blockchain trading platform with zero fees gochukwu Aronu, CEO and co-founder of Asset Chain/Image Source: StartupSouth Crypto trading in Nigeria is massive but mostly invisible. Every day, millions of dollars move hands through informal peer-to-peer platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram. There are no protections, little oversight, and scams are common. But people keep using them because they work. Asset Chain, a Nigerian startup, is betting it can offer something better. It has launched its blockchain network, alongside a new decentralised trading platform that lets users convert stablecoins like USDT to cNGN with zero fees and instant settlement. Trades are automated, no middlemen are involved, and users keep control of their money. The platform is still invite-only, but Asset Chain is aiming big. It wants to hit ₦100 billion ($65 million) in trading volume in just two months. It also plans to expand beyond digital currencies. The company says users will eventually be able to buy and sell tokenised versions of real assets like property, farms, and bonds. That could be a big deal. Most crypto platforms and blockchain networks in Nigeria are foreign, which means value flows outward. Asset Chain is building local infrastructure that keeps value within the country. If it works, it could give Nigerians more control over how and where they invest. For a country where trust in institutions is low and access to traditional finance is limited, a reliable platform for trading and investing directly could be more than useful. It could change the game. Turn your hustle into an online business with
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