Here’s everything we know about Google’s Gemini 3
Google is ushering in a new era with the launch of Gemini 3, an AI model that the tech giant claims is its most intelligent yet. This comes two years after Google launched the first version of Gemini to compete against OpenAI’s GPT models. The company says Gemini 3 represents a new level of reasoning, context awareness, and multimodal understanding, the kind of intelligence that actually plans and builds responses, and adapts as it goes. It is available across a suite of Google products. Gemini 3 is a culmination of Gemini 1, 1.5, and 2.5, stacking the specific breakthroughs of these previous models into a more potent architecture. Instead of reinventing the wheel, it leverages the context and multimodal infrastructure established in earlier versions as a baseline. The result is a model that is better at long-chain reasoning and significantly more capable of handling complex tasks without breaking coherence. The new model comes with upgrades across the Gemini app and Google’s AI ecosystem. Here are some exciting new features launched with Gemini 3. Deep Think mode that learns, builds, and plans The new model comes with a new Deep Think capability that allows the model to pause and reason through complex logic before responding. Gemini 3 is said to set a new benchmark for performance because it was designed to achieve the kind of depth and nuance that enables it to solve complex problems across science and mathematics with a high degree of reliability. Its responses are now concise as it has been trained to trade clichés and flattery for genuine insight. With advanced multimodal understanding, the model can synthesise and understand various types of content simultaneously, including text, images, video, audio, and code. This means that it can easily process a photo of handwritten material or transcribe lengthy lecture notes into customised, interactive learning materials like flashcards or visualisations. New generative UI in Gemini App The app has a visual layout feature that allows the new model to create a new type of interface that adapts to the user’s specific prompt. This feature is a magazine-style view that generates explorable visual content, such as a full itinerary for a trip plan, complete with photos and customisable modules. This new interface also comes with a dynamic view feature that allows the model to design a custom interactive user interface in real-time. For example, asking for an explanation of a historical gallery could result in an interactive guide optimised for learning. 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 TC Scoop Subscribe Gemini Agent for multi-step tasks A new agentic tool has been launched within the Gemini App that allows the model to take on multi-step tasks like research, planning, or interacting with other Google apps, like Gmail and Calendar, on the user’s behalf. This tool can handle actions like organising an email inbox, adding reminders, or researching and booking travel. This feature will roll out to Google AI Ultra members first. “My stuff” folder for your stuff The Gemini app has introduced a new section in the menu, dubbed My Stuff, which stores the images, videos, and Canvas creations that a user generates within a chat, rather than them being buried within such chat history. This feature makes it easier for users to find their generated materials. Better shopping experience The model now offers an improved shopping feature, pulling product listings, prices, and comparison tables directly from Google’s Shopping Graph, which has over 50 billion product listings. This allows users to conduct complex product research and receive actionable purchase information within the Gemini chat. Image source: Google Google Search learns to research Google’s update to AI Mode on Google Search will now use a query fan-out technique, which means that rather than the model looking for matching keywords from a user’s prompt, Gemini 3 will break a complicated question into smaller pieces, do the research on each part, and give you one clear answer. This allows Search to more intelligently fan out and uncover a broader range of relevant web content that might have been missed by older models. It will be available to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers. Interactive simulations in AI Mode Google Search can now harness Gemini 3’s coding capability to instantly generate interactive tools and simulations directly within the AI Mode response. This may include a custom-built, functional loan calculator or an interactive simulation of a complex physics concept that is tailored specifically to the user’s query. Google Antigravity developer platform Google also launched Google Antigravity, a new agentic development platform powered by Gemini 3, and built around the idea that users need not spell out every line of code or manually debug every issue. It is a standalone Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that is available for Mac, Windows, and Linux. The environment allows the AI agent to operate across a user’s code editor and browser simultaneously. When a user gives it a high-level prompt, like asking it to build an app feature, the system creates a plan, generates subtasks, and executes the code. The agent also learns from its past work and integrates users’ feedback into its responses. Gemini 3 and Antigravity are pivotal for Google as they transform the company’s flagship model into a foundation for agentic intelligence. For Google, this new era is necessary to contribute to the evolving nature of artificial intelligence, and represents its belief that AI can be operational and active rather than just a response tool.
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I tried planning a BBQ on Piggyvest-backed PartyVest. Here’s what happened
Let me be upfront, I am not an event person. I actively avoid hosting (and sometimes, attending) anything, ever. Why? My stress tolerance is low, and the chaos of planning events just sends me running. You’d have one group chat for communication, a separate notes app for the budget (or, in my case, a piece of paper that will definitely vanish), and scrolling through debit/credit alerts on my bank app to know who paid for what. Did I mention frantically calling vendors? It’s a mess. As a curious person, when I heard about PartyVest, an app that claims to bring all these pieces into one place, I decided to see if it worked by hosting a small barbecue for five friends. Spoiler alert: the barbecue didn’t end up happening, but plotting it out on the app was its own kind of adventure. It was almost… fun. Building a ‘faaji’ (enjoyment) ecosystem PartyVest launched in September 2025 as a response to what General Manager Mobola Awe calls the Nigerian truth: that we celebrate everything, but planning anything feels like a battle. PartyVest began with a conversation between Awe, who had been working in events for over a decade, and an engineer about the endless tools she had to keep up with while planning events. The first version of the product was designed to address planning, featuring budgeting, task monitoring, vendor tracking, and collaboration tools. But as the team tested the product, it became clear that Nigerians attend events, give gifts at them, promote them, and share memories from them, in addition to planning them. So, the product shifted into something broader. “We wanted an entire ecosystem that caters to planners, attendees, people who want to give gifts, and people who want to receive gifts,” Awe said. 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 TC Scoop Subscribe The app is designed to be a central hub for planning, discovering, attending, and remembering events within or outside a user’s network. The company is led by Awe, along with an executive team that includes Francisca Edoki, Edidiong Uwah, and Aisha Musa-Bawa. It is backed by PiggyVest, the Nigerian online savings & investment platform, and Zrosk, an alternative investment management company, in a partnership that provides deep infrastructure for the app. PiggyVest Business powers the financial layer of the app, which includes the wallet system, vendor payouts, event account numbers, and inflows. Into the PartyVerse: Planning “Yemi & Frnds Sunday BBQ” When I started planning this event, I wanted to see how far I could get without feeling overwhelmed. So, I tapped ‘Create Event’ and was immediately prompted to define the vibe of the event. Since this was just an in-house hangout, I selected ‘Social and Community Gathering’ from the list. I named my event and set its timeline. I got a shareable event URL I could send to people and a slot to input the event description. Instead of typing out a paragraph, I let the built-in AI generate the description for me. It was a small detail, but for someone who was avoiding stress, it was a great start. Next, the app asked for basic logistics such as the expected number of guests (I input 5 people), an estimated budget (I settled on ₦50,000 [$34.53]), and whether I wanted extra features like a wishlist that tells attendees what I would like them to bring, a budget tracker to manage expenses, and vendor management. Now, I didn’t strictly need to onboard vendors because it was all going to be DIY barbecue, but I enabled the feature anyway. The app allows you to discover vendors for food, drinks, or rentals, which is an upgrade from sending Instagram DMs, wondering if the vendor is trustworthy. Awe explained that the vendor marketplace is curated, noting that the PartyVest team deliberately selects verified vendors and suppliers. For the aesthetics, I needed a cover image and a theme. You can upload your own, but I browsed the in-app library, selected a pre-made poster that perfectly fit the mood, and then the event dashboard appeared. The planner’s dashboard is where PartyVest starts to feel like a genuine planning tool. At the top is a countdown clock showing how long I have before my event starts. Below that is my event wallet, which allowed me to generate a unique bank account number for my barbecue. “That account number is a Pocket App account number that PiggyVest Business APIs provides, ” Joshua Chibueze, co-founder of PiggyVest, noted, adding that the engine powering transfers to vendors is Pocket. What’s interesting is that planners can earn daily interest on the money that sits in there. This effectively turns the planning period into an investment opportunity, ensuring that the money gathered for the event is actually growing until the moment it needs to be spent. The planner’s dashboard also enables me to manage my budget effectively. I input my estimated costs for chicken, juice, fries, and drinks, and the app visualised it for me (who doesn’t love a good pie chart?). To keep my planning organised, I used the task tracking feature, which works like a shared to-do list where each person can be added as a planner and assigned specific tasks. I also pinned the event location, which integrates with Google Maps, so that guests can navigate directly to the venue without the usual back-and-forth of location sharing. Guest management happens on the same dashboard. You can see people who have RSVP’d or those who have been
Read MoreHow Wema Bank, a $552 million bank, is investing in startups from all sectors
Corporate venture capital (CVC) offers a rare win-win for Africa’s startup funding sector, as it can increase how much African startups raise and the speed at which these large companies innovate. It’s not surprising that over 70% of African investors think the same. Abdulyekeen Abdulazeez, the innovation venture manager at Wema Bank, a Nigerian bank with a $552 million valuation, is one of those investors. After working at Ventures Platform and Lagos Angel Network, he’s been helping Wema Bank invest in and build startups. “If we want investors who truly understand the market, people who understand the local context, the operational realities, and what it takes to build in Africa, then corporates are among the best positioned,” Abdulazeez told TechCabal. “Many of them have survived and scaled through decades of economic cycles, regulatory uncertainty, and infrastructural gaps. That depth of experience is invaluable.” At Wema Bank, his work focuses on funding early-stage startups and providing them with resources and support that can help them reach product-market fit (PMF). The bank’s portfolio startups use its wallet and payout products, and are connected to Wema’s customer base, partners, and internal teams. “We give startups immediate access to the kind of infrastructure and credibility that would normally take them months or years to build on their own,” Abdulazeez said. “Through our digital platforms, APIs, and operational resources, startups can plug directly into the systems they need to launch quickly.” The bank is sector-agnostic and invests in startups building competing products, with an average check size of $40,000. “We don’t view innovation that overlaps with traditional banking lines as a threat. Instead, we see startups as indispensable allies.” Outside of his work as an investor, he is also a co-founder of Ule Homes, a rent-financing startup based in Lagos. He met his two other cofounders during his postgraduate programme, and a shared problem with house financing led to the startup’s creation. For this week’s Ask an Investor, I spoke to Abdulazeez on how Wema picks its portfolio startups, the type of support it offers, and how corporate venture capital works in Africa. How does Wema Bank define its corporate venture mandate? Our corporate venture mandate is focused primarily on strategic returns. We back startups in ways that go beyond funding by providing access to our infrastructure, tools, and platforms. For example, startups leverage our wallet APIs and payout API through AlatPay, which offers solutions similar to Paystack but faster and more cost-effective. In some cases, we also become clients of these startups, using their services within our operations. This creates a mutually beneficial relationship, where startups gain access to real-world markets and operational support, while the bank strengthens its ecosystem and strategic capabilities. A key element of this thesis is our flagship Hackaholics initiative. This platform is specifically designed to provide high-potential startups with the necessary infrastructure, mentorship, and capital. Through Hackaholics, we have had the privilege of supporting over 100 successful ventures, including notable names such as TeamApt (now Moniepoint), Plumter, Feegor, MyItura, and Build Africa, among others. What gaps or opportunities in Nigeria’s financial ecosystem inform your investment thesis today? I wouldn’t describe it as gaps in the financial sector; rather, we recognised a major opportunity. Startups and innovators are here to stay, and they’ve shown incredible agility and speed in solving real market problems. The regulatory environment also gives them enough room to experiment and innovate, which has contributed to their rapid growth. Seeing this, we asked ourselves, ‘How can we support this momentum in a way that adds real value?’ That led us to focus on providing startups with what they often need most—market access, infrastructure, credibility, distribution, and operational support. We help them enter the market faster and scale more efficiently. 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 TC Scoop Subscribe Which fintech segments interest you? The fintech segment that currently excites me most is the tap-to-pay, tap-to-tap, and phone-to-pay space. I believe this area represents the next major wave of growth for fintech in Africa. This is driven by high mobile penetration rates and the massive potential to leverage the increasing adoption of AI for smarter, more secure, and personalised payment solutions. My interest is particularly heightened because we are actively engaged in this market through a strategic partnership. We support GoTap, a promising fintech company focused on disrupting and innovating the tap-to-pay market. GoTap participated in our accelerator program, and we have been highly encouraged by their progress and potential for future success. How does Nigeria’s current macro environment reshape what you consider “venture-backable” in 2025? Nigeria’s macro environment has definitely reshaped what we consider “venture-backable”, but not in a limiting way; rather, in a more disciplined and opportunity-focused way. High interest rates and regulatory shifts have forced founders to build with stronger fundamentals, clearer unit economics, and faster paths to sustainability. That is a positive shift for the ecosystem. In this environment, what becomes venture-backable are startups that demonstrate resilience, capital efficiency, and the ability to localise their solutions to Nigeria’s unique market realities. We are seeing more founders designing products that hedge against FX exposure, diversify revenue, or leverage technology to reduce operating costs. These are the kinds of models that can not only survive macro pressures but grow through them. What internal incentives govern your decisions—who inside the bank needs to buy into a deal before you proceed? Our decisions are governed less by individual incentives and more by institutional alignment and a clear mandate from the
Read MoreNigeria launches ₦50m VC grant to turn student ideas into scalable ventures
The Nigerian government has opened applications for a ₦50 million ($34,250) equity-free venture capital fund for student innovators in tertiary institutions, betting that young innovators can build the country’s next wave of globally relevant entrepreneurs capable of driving the economy with real-world solutions. Launched under the Student Venture Capital Grant (S-VCG), the initiative is part of a broader push to cultivate tech-driven entrepreneurship within universities and colleges. It promises equity-free funding, mentorship, and access to modern technology tools for selected student founders working on ideas with commercial and societal potential. “The President has challenged us to look for the next Moonshot within our tertiary institutions. We are not just looking for projects; we are scouting for future Nigerian Unicorns whose roots will be planted right here in our universities and colleges,” Tunji Alausa, the Minister of Education, said in a statement. The move signals a wider effort by the Nigerian government to support the nation’s innovation ecosystem. The government, through the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) programme, recently invested in Ventures Platform’s $64 million new fund, its first limited partner commitment to a major local VC. It also plans to launch two additional funds for Nigerian startups in 2026 under the iDICE programme. The S-VCG primarily targets students in STEM and medical fields, with an emphasis on ventures that can scale and address real-life challenges. The beneficiaries will enter an incubation pipeline that includes expert mentorship, technical resources, and structured support designed to help transform early-stage ideas into market-ready products. Alausa framed the programme as an “equity-free seed investment in Nigeria’s future,” positioning campuses as fertile ground for venture-backable innovation. One of the initiative’s most significant elements is a new partnership with Google. The Ministry says Google’s Gemini AI will power custom “evaluation agents” embedded into the application portal to support the screening process. In addition, every applicant who completes a submission will receive a one-year Gemini Pro licence and access to educational resources. Nigeria’s tertiary institutions have produced promising innovations for years, but many of these ideas stall before they can mature or scale due to chronic gaps in funding, mentorship, and institutional support. The S-VCG, if effectively executed, could provide the critical leverage student innovators need to break out of campus limitations and compete within a global innovation landscape.
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You’ve heard of Kílẹ̀ńtàr; here are the intra-African trade gaps it navigates to scale
Michelle Adepoju never knew she would be in fashion. But in 2018, she found herself in Burkina Faso, searching for fabric production sites. With a translator in hand, in a non-English speaking country, she approached a man selling a few streets away from where she lived. He offered to search the city with her, and she got in his car. They drove around for an hour before discovering a weaving site. Adepoju still remembers it vividly. “I walk in, to my left, [I’m] hearing the sounds of the looms. To my right, I’m seeing fabrics drying. And at that moment, it was almost like I knew.” The vision for Kílẹ̀ńtàr, her now popular women’s clothing brand, was born at the weaving site. A weaving site Originally, Kílẹ̀ńtàr, which means ‘what are you selling’ in Yoruba, was ideated as a marketplace for African items. Today, Kílẹ̀ńtàr is a global fashion brand featuring clothing items produced from scratch by local artisans in West Africa. It has taken African heritage to a global stage. But building a global fashion brand with strictly sourced African materials and production processes has its peculiarities. Adepoju’s commitment to the pan-African supply chain reveals the very gaps in the continent’s trade backbone that it seeks to celebrate and overcome. Mapping production networks Whether each clothing item is made of raffia, dye, cotton, or shells, the craftsmanship behind every Kílẹ̀ńtàr piece journeys through West Africa: from Burkina Faso to Côté d’Ivoire, to Senegal, and Nigeria. She considers a thread of decisions when putting together each clothing item. “The most important [part of the clothes] is the fabric. I also design all my fabrics, so all the hand-woven fabrics that you see are exclusively made in-house by Kílẹ̀ńtàr,” she said. Even the cotton from which the fabrics are made is cultivated in the continent. Historically, Burkina Faso, one of the production sites for Kílẹ̀ńtàr, was the largest producer and exporter of cotton. That position is now held by Mali. To make Kílẹ̀ńtàr’s cotton-based clothing, cotton is harvested and separated into threads, spun on a wheel to form a continuous, strong strand of yarn, and dyed. Indigo dye pits Dyed cotton The coloured threads are then prepared on a loom to be woven into fabrics. The process leans strongly on the craftsmanship of local artisans, especially those in Burkina Faso and Nigeria. “Wherever the fabric is being made from, if it’s being made in Burkina Faso or if it’s been made in Senegal, the fabric has to come to Nigeria, because it’s being produced in Nigeria,” Adepoju explains. With already approved patterns made on a simple fabric, the production for the final product begins. Adepoju sampling fabrics for her sketches However, with diverse regulations across countries and informal trade networks, logistics of the raw materials is one hurdle for the fashion brand. According to Mordor Intelligence, Africa’s global cotton market is fast-growing and is projected to expand at a 5.60% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2030. In 2024, the Better Cotton initiative started efforts to strengthen supply chains within the West African region. This included sustainability mapping and assessments to improve the cotton-to-textile value chain within West and Central Africa. Yet, supply and distribution gaps remain for cotton and other raw materials. For Adepoju, because of these limitations within Africa’s trade infrastructure, committing to locally sourced and produced materials involves travelling around the continent herself to source materials and bring them down to Nigeria. The logistics problem Logistics, too, presents significant challenges. Adepoju alternates between air and ground logistics to deliver her raw materials to Nigeria. In a last procurement trip, Adepoju recalled that the cost of the airfare had tripled. From Lagos to Burkina Faso where Adepoju interfaces with her artisans and sources for Kílẹ̀ńtàr, there are no direct flights, a journey of about three hours. Instead, Adepoju travels for about eight hours with different flights to connect both countries. “We’re still figuring out the best approach to get our pieces to us more smoothly,” she said. In addition, shipping these sourced materials by air to Nigeria for production also necessitates an expensive border clearance. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has provisions for smoother logistics for trade across the continent. The protocol on trade in goods incorporates the gradual elimination of tariffs and non-tariff barriers, and improved customs procedures. But implementation of these protocols has not been harmonious across regions, especially Nigeria, where the brand’s production is domiciled. In July, the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment of Nigeria completed a five-year review on the country’s implementation of Phase I of the AfCFTA protocols. These include the protocol on trade in goods and the protocol on trade in services. The review revealed gaps in Nigeria’s implementation strategy that currently weaken its effectiveness, including logistical constraints and policy misalignments, which the ministry identified. In the 2023 World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI) report, which ranks countries on six dimensions of trade, including the efficiency of customs and border management clearance (“Customs”) and the quality of trade and transport infrastructure (Infrastructure), Nigeria scored 2.6 out of 5, while Burkina Faso scored 2.3. West Africa, where the fashion brand primarily operates cross-border operations, generally ranks near the African average for logistics performance. Southern Africa leads the continent with high indices, such as South Africa at 3.7 and Botswana at 3.1, indicating strong logistics capabilities. Northern Africa shows solid performance too, with Egypt at 3.1 and Algeria at 2.5, while Morocco, ranked 2.54 in 2018, was unranked in 2023. East Africa has varied scores, with Rwanda at 2.8 and Namibia at 2.9. Central Africa tends to have lower scores overall and below West Africa’s, contributing to the regional disparities in logistics ease across the continent. This landscape highlights stronger logistics and cross-border trade facilitation in Southern and Northern Africa relative to West, East, and Central Africa. In the 2025 Future of Commerce report by TechCabal Insights and Sabi, Nima Yussuf, Chief Operations Officer of Silverbacks Holdings, said: “Private capital
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Digital Nomads: Jephte Ioudom Foubi left the corporate chase to build a tech consulting business in Portugal
Travelling through Europe for work, Jephte Ioudom Foubi often finds himself comparing the places he visits with home. He notices how data flows differently across industries, how cloud infrastructure evolves, and how business decisions often hinge on subtle details that are easy to overlook. On one afternoon flight between Brussels and Lisbon, he caught himself smiling at the thought. This was not the life he imagined as a business student in Cameroon. Yet somehow, he had built a life that allowed him to work with companies across Europe, travel across Africa, and live quietly in Portugal, running his own tech consulting business. The journey stretched further back than the moment he registered his company. It began with curiosity—it always does. “I just became fascinated with everything that had to do with tech,” Ioudom Foubi said. “From that moment, I would say I touched everything from 3G to how the world was going to be interconnected.” That fascination would eventually lead him away from the corporate track in Cameroon, across continents, and into a career he had not even planned for. Beginnings: from business student to accidental technologist Ioudom Foubi grew up in Cameroon, studied in Cameroon, and imagined he would build a career in management. He studied business administration and went on to make his mark in the corporate world, working in management and business-facing roles. In 2014, he joined Ericsson, the global technology infrastructure firm, as a wide-eyed intern supporting MTN’s 3G rollout in Cameroon at the time. Ioudom Foubi during his time as an Ericsson intern, circa 2014/Image Source: Ioudom Foubi For the first time, he saw the delicate, invisible machinery that powered the modern world. He supported logistics for one of the country’s most consequential telecom infrastructure projects. He spent days onboarding equipment in warehouses, preparing deployments, and handling work orders for field teams. He remembers the pressure. A single damaged component could’ve delayed the entire rollout. But what stayed with him from that internship was a modest assignment that revealed how tiny inefficiencies can choke an entire operation. Field technicians often returned from remote sites without the small expense receipts they needed for fuel, food, and transport reimbursements. Without those receipts, reimbursements stalled, which created tension between teams and slowed field operations. Management asked him to look into why the existing reporting tools were not helping staff capture this basic information properly. During that process, another intern showed him an automation tool that could collect responses instantly and organise the data automatically. It was a small discovery, but it changed the entire workflow. Instead of printing pages, handing them out manually, and spending days compiling results, he could now watch submissions come in live as technicians filled a form. “I could see the results immediately as people were responding,” he said. “It took me maybe a day to compile everything, and I did a presentation for the whole company.” It stayed with him because it was the first time he saw how a simple digital improvement could unclog a system of people, processes, and tools. It taught him that technology was not abstract. After Ericsson, Ioudom Foubi carried that growing interest in technology into his next role at Kia Motors in Cameroon. He joined as a marketing and sales assistant. This was Ioudom Foubi during his first week at Kia Motors in Cameroon/Image Source: Ioudom Foubi Every month, he went into the field collecting quantitative and qualitative data from dealerships and competitors. The market for cars was competitive, so understanding pricing shifts, stock levels, and customer preferences mattered. His data reports informed decision-making at Kia Motors more than he expected. “I would collect the data, make recommendations to management, and then it would influence our strategy, even with the seemingly little things,” said Ioudom Foubi. “That was when I realised I was already drifting away from pure business and into analytics.” Those months pushed him to start asking bigger questions. “What would it look like to work fully in technology instead of circling it from the business side? Could I switch fields entirely?” he asked, recalling existential career questions he had considered. In search of answers, Ioudom Foubi began researching schools that would let him pivot from management to a technical field, a move that was difficult to execute inside Cameroon, he said. That search opened the door that eventually led him to Portugal. In 2018, he moved to Portugal on a study visa to build a company where he now consults on data and business intelligence for large enterprises. 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 TC Scoop Subscribe The leap into tech consulting If you ask Ioudom Foubi why he chose Portugal over everywhere else, he answers like someone who has done the long, exhausting homework, laying out his reasons the way someone might tick through a well-prepared grocery shopping list: Quality of education, check. Language—English is widely spoken, check. Migration feasibility, check. Tech industry growth, check. And importantly, a strange but real influence from a television show. Check. He compared programmes across Europe and the US. Portugal stood out because the best business intelligence programme at the time was at NOVA Information Management School in Lisbon, according to Ioudom Foubi. It also helped that the programme was fully in English, unlike Germany’s mixed-language offerings, and that Portugal had just secured a ten-year hosting right for the Web Summit, a critical annual tech conference that brings in business leaders from all over the world to talk about
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Is the OnePlus 15 the best $900 Android phone? Here’s how it compares
Table of contents What the hardware looks like on each phone How the phones perform in daily use What you get for your money in the long run The OnePlus 15 was launched globally on Thursday, November 13, priced at $899, entering a price range where every major brand wants to offer the best value. The device stands out with its strong battery and fast display, features typically found in more expensive phones. This article compares the OnePlus 15 and other Android smartphones in the same price range, highlighting the key trade-offs in performance, software support, hardware quality, and long-term value. How we chose the phones for this comparison The OnePlus 15 starts at $899 for the base model. To make a fair comparison, the analysis focuses on Android flagships priced within a window of roughly $720 to $ 1,079. This keeps the comparison tight and helps you see how the OnePlus 15 fits within the upper mid-range and premium category. Five Android flagships were selected because they are comparable in price to the OnePlus 15 and offer features that matter to buyers in this segment. Comparative flagship matrix What the hardware looks like on each phone A quick look at the hardware reveals that these phones share strong processors, but noticeable differences are evident in battery choices, display priorities, and durability. Detailed technical specifications comparison 1. Processing and display Most competing phones use the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, which is built for high performance. The Pixel 10 Pro utilises Google’s Tensor G5, while the OPPO Find X9 Pro employs the Dimensity 9500, offering both devices distinct approaches to speed and efficiency. The OnePlus 15 sets itself apart with a 6.78-inch LTPO OLED screen that can reach 165 Hz. Samsung and Google typically operate at around 120 Hz. This higher refresh rate makes the OnePlus 15 more appealing if you care about smooth gaming or animations, which explains why the device requires a significantly larger 7300 mAh battery to keep the screen running comfortably. 2. Battery and charging Battery design is where the biggest split appears. OnePlus and OPPO focus on large batteries and very fast charging. You get 7,300 mAh on the OnePlus 15 and 7,500 mAh on the OPPO Find X9 Pro, both utilising new Silicon Carbon technology to pack more power into the same space. Samsung and Google take a more conservative route. The Galaxy S25 features a smaller 4000 mAh battery, while the S25 Plus and Pixel 10 Pro have batteries of just under 5000 mAh. Charging speeds also differ. The OnePlus 15 reaches 120 W, while Samsung and Google offer noticeably slower options. 3. Durability All phones in this group reach the IP68 rating for dust and water protection. The OnePlus 15 and OPPO Find X9 Pro take it a step further with IP69K support. This rating protects the phone against high-pressure and high-temperature water jets, which shows extra attention to durability. How the phones perform in daily use Performance is more than peak benchmark numbers. You should examine how each phone performs under prolonged use, including its temperature, battery life, and image quality. 1. Benchmarking and heat control Phones using the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, including the OnePlus 15, Galaxy S25 Plus, and Xiaomi 15, deliver strong short burst speed. The Xiaomi 15 is smaller, so it has less room for cooling, which can make it throttle earlier during long gaming sessions or heavy tasks. The Pixel 10 Pro takes a different approach with the Tensor G5 chip. It does not aim for the highest benchmark score. Instead, it focuses on steady performance, especially for AI tasks. During long workloads, it maintains close to the sustained performance levels of larger Snapdragon phones, which is helpful if you use your phone for extended content creation sessions or multitasking. 2. Battery life and charging Battery life shows a clear gap. The OPPO Find X9 Pro, with a 7500 mAh battery, lasts the longest, and the OnePlus 15, with a 7300 mAh battery, is close behind. These two will give you far more screen time than Samsung and Google phones that stay under 5000 mAh. Charging speeds follow the same pattern. The OnePlus 15 reaches up to 120 W and can refill much faster than the S25 Plus or Pixel 10 Pro. Some regions receive a reduced 80 W speed, which slows things down slightly, but it still charges more quickly than most rivals. 3. Camera performance Camera systems follow two different paths. OPPO focuses on large sensors and robust zoom hardware, giving it a significant advantage if you prioritise high detail and long-range zoom. Google leans heavily on computational photography. The Pixel 10 Pro may not have the biggest sensors, but its processing produces clean, balanced photos that are ready to post without adjustment. The OnePlus 15 uses a triple 50MP setup and a new imaging engine. Early samples look solid. Your experience with this camera will depend on how well OnePlus continues to improve its software tuning over time. What you get for your money in the long run The long-term value of a phone depends on more than hardware. Software updates, support, and the true cost of ownership all matter when you plan to use your phone for several years. 1. Software support and longevity Software support has become one of the strongest factors in this price range. Samsung and Google both promise seven years of major Android updates and seven years of security patches for the Galaxy S25 series and Pixel 10 Pro. This keeps your phone secure and feature-ready for a long time. Other brands lag. The OnePlus 15 and Xiaomi 15 offer four years of major updates and six years of security patches. OPPO goes a little further with five years of OS updates. If you plan to keep your phone for more than three years, the extended support from Samsung and Google can provide you with better long-term value, even if the phone costs slightly more. 2. Customer support
Read MoreSpectranet slides below 100,000 subscribers as Starlink and FibreOne regain momentum
Starlink and FibreOne regained momentum in the second half of 2025, strengthening their positions as the country’s second- and third-largest internet service providers. Their rebound coincided with a significant decline for Spectranet—the long-time market leader—which fell below 100,000 subscribers for the first time since the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) began publishing ISP data. Spectranet lost 3,732 subscribers in Q2, falling from 103,252 to 99,520, a significant drop for a company that consistently held a six-figure base. Starlink also saw a decline in the same period, losing over 6,000 subscribers and dropping from 65,564 to 59,509, but the impact was short-lived. By Q2 2025, the satellite-based ISP had recovered to 66,523 subscribers, surpassing its Q4 2024 performance and reinforcing the resilience of its user base. Spectranet, meanwhile, continued to contract, underscoring ongoing challenges with service delivery, customer retention, and broader market strategy. FibreOne also experienced significant turbulence. In the first quarter, the fibre-to-home provider suffered one of the steepest declines in the sector, losing an estimated 42%of its subscriber base. Its customers dropped sharply from 33,898 at the end of 2024 to just 19,823 in Q1 2025. This dramatic fall reflected a broader trend of subscriber churn across Nigeria’s ISP market, as rising costs, shifting consumer expectations, and performance inconsistencies drove users to switch services. However, FibreOne rebounded convincingly by the second quarter of 2025, gaining subscribers and climbing to 37,117, more than doubling its Q1 tally and reasserting its foothold in the competitive fibre market. These shifts in 2025 were shaped in part by trends established the previous year. NCC’s data for 2024 showed that active internet subscriptions for ISPs grew by 8.9%, rising from 262,206 in December 2023 to 285,605 in December 2024. Spectranet ended 2024 as the largest ISP with 102,486 subscribers, followed by Starlink with 60,862, reflecting the satellite operator’s rapid rise after entering Nigeria. FibreOne held 19,000 subscribers as of December 2024, remaining the leading provider in the wired broadband category. In the wireless segment, Spectranet controlled nearly half the market with 47.3 percent of subscriptions, while Starlink held 28.4 percent, a clear indication of how quickly the new entrant had gained nationwide traction. Starlink’s ongoing success can be attributed to several structural advantages and shifting consumer behaviours. Its low-earth orbit satellite technology offers high-speed internet across virtually every part of Nigeria, including rural and underserved areas where fibre and LTE providers struggle to reach. Many users, frustrated by inconsistent speeds, outages, and coverage limitations from traditional ISPs, found Starlink’s reliability appealing. Even though Starlink’s service is significantly more expensive than that of Spectranet or FibreOne, a growing number of customers were willing to pay a premium for stability, especially remote workers, SMEs, and heavy internet users who rely on consistent connectivity. At the same time, dissatisfaction with established ISPs played an important role. Spectranet and FibreOne both grappled with service degradation, prolonged outages, and customer support challenges at various points in the reporting period. These issues contributed to subscriber churn, with many customers migrating to Starlink in search of better performance. For Spectranet in particular, the continued decline in subscribers not only reduces recurring revenue but also constrains its ability to invest in upgrades, marketing, or innovation, creating a cycle that could further erode its competitive position.
Read More‘People should move their money freely’: Eswatini’s Central Bank on opening the payments market
Although Eswatini—a country of 1.2 million people—is still catching up with more established African central banks, its central bank is overhauling the payment system by building interoperability from the start across all major players. This includes the four commercial banks—First National Bank (FNB) Eswatini, Standard Bank Eswatini, Nedbank Eswatini, and Eswatini Bank—and the newly licenced Building Society, and three mobile money operators, including MTN MoMo and Instacash. On Wednesday, I spoke with Sabelo Gama, Deputy Director of Operations for Payments at the Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE), about the country’s push to build an interoperable instant-payments system. The CBE is also preparing to move into new offices about 12 kilometres from Mbabane, where construction is underway for a 22-storey headquarters. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Eswatini’s mobile money growth is strong. How is the CBE balancing rapid innovation by non-bank players with the need to protect consumers and maintain financial stability? Our latest data shows financial inclusion at about 87%. Ten years ago, most activity sat around the 50% mark and came from the banking sector. The jump has come from mobile money. Non-bank providers drove most of the gains, and banks have since responded by launching their own wallets. The market now has a mix of mobile money operators and bank-led products. We can start from the consumer’s point of view. People should move their money freely, so interoperability is key, which means customers shouldn’t be locked into one provider. We also regulate how agents work. In this case, agents can’t sign exclusive agreements with a single operator. This keeps the market open and avoids behaviour that would limit choice or competition. We also set clear rules for complaints. Each provider must follow defined steps for handling disputes. Our national switch supports this process by tracking cases and enforcing response timelines. The goal is to keep the market open, safe and fair while letting new products grow. As Eswatini builds its instant payments system, how will the CBE ensure it connects everyone and not just banks, but mobile wallets and fintechs as equal participants from day one? One of our early gaps was that most payment infrastructure had been built for banks, yet banks don’t reach most people. Mobile money covers far more of the population, but its link to bank-owned systems was limited. The switch (Eswatini Payment Switch or EPS) was designed to close that gap from the start. We built interoperability into the project, where all banks and mobile money providers were part of the governance group. The central bank funded the project, but both sides shaped the technical work. That helped us design a system that serves everyone, not only the incumbents. Connection timelines varied because each provider had different systems and capacities. We issued clear regulatory expectations to keep the onboarding process moving. In total, we have eight participants: four banks, three mobile money providers and Building Society (which received a banking licence in October). The final participant goes live this coming weekend, so at that point, everyone in the country will be reachable on the switch. The first phase was about getting every provider connected. The next phase is about reaching the channel level, making sure people can send and receive from every channel their provider offers. Talk me through the onboarding process of a new fintech or mobile money service provider in Eswatini. A new mobile money provider must first go through our licencing process. The National Payment Systems (NPS) Act of 2023 sets out our powers and the obligations for payment system providers, participants and anyone operating in the value chain. We are also finalising regulations that spell out timelines, documentation and detailed requirements, but for now, we use our mobile money guidelines. The applicant submits core documents that cover ownership, directors, the business model and how the firm plans to operate. We then involve other units inside the central bank. Market conduct reviews pricing and the proposed model. The payments team checks how customer funds will be protected and where the trust account will be held. Our financial integrity unit looks at anti-money laundering (AML) controls and the processes the firm will rely on. Once approved, the firm receives a provisional licence. That stage lets them operate with close monitoring. They must submit regular data on volumes, values and other indicators through our reporting system. We track performance and compliance as they scale. This regime is lighter than banking rules by design. It lowers barriers to entry, but it doesn’t open the door to anyone. Applicants must meet security, governance and operational standards before joining the ecosystem. Many citizens have mobile money accounts but use them mainly for P2P transfers. What are the biggest barriers preventing broader use for payments, savings, or credit? Most mobile money services started with peer-to-peer (P2P). As they grew, they added bill payments and small credit products. One provider offers limited credit today (MTN). Some government payments already flow through mobile money, but only through one provider. From a regulatory point of view, it needs to move onto the switch so every provider can support those use cases. The main barrier is the limited range of things you can pay for inside the wallet. People send money, then cash out because most real transactions still happen in cash. That cycle weakens digital savings and makes it harder for new services to take off. Our focus now is on building a broader digital ecosystem, which means person-to-government and government-to-person payments. It also means merchant acceptance, so that people can pay directly from their wallets. We are working on domestic e-commerce through open banking and bringing in payment gateways. The aim is to give people enough reasons to keep money in their wallets. Once that happens, products like savings and credit can grow on a stronger base. Beyond the Payment Systems Act, what legal or regulatory updates are most urgent to support digital finance, especially for remittances, data privacy, and digital identity? The
Read MoreJumia narrows losses, cuts 7% staff as AI reshapes operations
E-commerce giant Jumia inches closer to profitability with narrowing losses and growing revenue in the third quarter of 2025. The gains come as the company deepened its use of artificial intelligence to streamline operations and cut operational costs. Revenue rose 25.28% to $45.6 million in Q3, 2025, from $36.4 million a year earlier, according to its recent financial statements. For the first nine months of the year, revenue increased marginally by 4.68% to $127.5 million. Operating loss fell 13.43% to $17.4 million, while loss before income tax declined slightly $17.7 million. Jumia has reduced its workforce by 7% since December 31, 2024, with just over 2,010 employees on payroll as of September 30, 2025. The company said the cuts were part of a broad cost-optimisation strategy enabled by AI-driven automation. “We are leveraging AI across key functions to enhance productivity and reduce operating expenses,” Jumia said. “AI-driven workflows in customer service, marketing, and technology operations are improving efficiency, streamlining processes, and supporting a leaner cost structure. These initiatives are contributing to ongoing reductions in total operating expenses and improved scalability.” The company’s general and administrative expenses decreased by 7% to $17.6 million in Q3 2025, with further reductions expected as it continues to ramp up operational efficiency initiatives over subsequent quarters. Technology and content expense are down 10% to $8.7 million, driven by ongoing headcount optimisation and savings from recently renegotiated contracts. Beyond AI, Jumia is driving other efficiency measures to further trim costs. The company is lowering fulfillment unit costs by boosting warehouse productivity and automating parts of customer support. Aside from cost optimisation efforts, higher-order volumes and an uptick in active customers drove Jumia’s growth in Q3. Total orders rose 34% year-over-year, Gross merchandise volume (GMV) climbed 26%, while active customers ordering physical goods grew 23%. The company noted that its momentum in Nigeria has continued, with orders up 30% and GMV up 43%. CEO Francis Dufay described the quarter as a period of “significant acceleration in customer demand and order growth,” adding that Jumia has reached an inflection point due to its value proposition and operational discipline. “We continue to strengthen our cost structure and sharpen operational discipline, reinforcing our path toward profitability,” he said. “Our focus remains on execution and customer engagement as we build a more efficient business. We believe that we are on track to reach breakeven on a Loss before Income tax basis in Q4 2026 and achieve full-year profitability in 2027, positioning Jumia for long-term growth and value creation.” The long-term success of Jumia’s AI strategy remains to be seen. Many firms walking the same path have discovered that while AI may boost efficiency, human workers remain central, especially to customer experience and operational nuance.
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