M-PESA’s next act begins where banks still fall short: lending
This article is based on a conversation from Voices & Visions, a podcast produced through a partnership between Tutto Passa Agency and TechCabal, which explores the people and ideas shaping Africa’s innovation economy. The first problem M-PESA, the mobile money service owned by telco giant Safaricom, solved was moving money. The company now believes the harder one is lending. Nearly two decades after transforming how Kenyans pay, save, and transfer money, Safaricom is turning its attention to a credit market where banks are reluctant to lend beyond established borrowers, pushing millions of small businesses and households to expensive digital loans and shylocks. “There is pain. There is real pain,” says Peter Gichangi, Safaricom’s head of Super Apps, in a recorded conversation on Voices & Visions, a podcast backed by Tutto Passa Agency and TechCabal. “If there are people interested in partnering with us, from Europe or wherever it is, to provide accessible, affordable credit in the market, we are open to having those discussions.” Gichangi’s remarks point to what could be M-PESA’s next area of growth. Having built one of Africa’s largest digital payments platforms serving over 30 million customers, Safaricom is betting it can use the same playbook to expand access to credit, a market where traditional lenders like banks continue to treat as too risky. Credit gap While Kenya is one of Africa’s digitally connected financial markets, access to affordable business credit remains limited. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for more than 90% of businesses and employ millions of people, yet they consistently cite financing as one of their biggest constraints. Many operate without audited financial statements, formal collateral, or lengthy banking histories, making them difficult for traditional lenders to assess. In the past two years, lending has recovered, but cautiously. After successive interest rate cuts by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), private sector credit growth has recovered from a contraction of 2.9% in January 2025 to 8.1% in March 2026. Average commercial lending rates have fallen to about 14.7% from 17.2% in late 2024. Yet banks continue to carry bad loans, with the industry’s non-performing loan ratio rising to 15.6% in March, making lenders selective about where they deploy capital. Many households and small businesses opt for digital lenders charging steep interest rates. “The demand for money is there,” says Andrew Mutha, chief executive of Safaricom Money Transfer Services. “Banks are saying, ‘Look, you’re too risky.’ There’s a digital lender somewhere who is willing to give you credit. However, the risk is too high, so the interest rate is very high.” He says many borrowers end up paying annualised borrowing costs that can exceed the value of the original loan. “Quickly, that becomes 60%, sometimes even 100% plus over the year,” Mutha says. For Gichangi, the problem is not whether there is capital, but how most traditional lenders assess risk. “The banks still don’t believe there is enough data on these businesses to make correct credit decisions,” he says. “Most businesses end up having to get financing from informal areas.” Measuring risk differently The disagreement between banks and Safaricom is not really about lending, but about access to financial information. Kenyan banks have historically measured risk using collateral, audited accounts, employment records, and years of banking relationships. Those requirements work well for large companies but not for a kiosk owner, an online merchant, or a boda boda operator. With millions of transactions daily, M-PESA sees things differently. Every payment received, supplier invoice settled, salary paid, utility bill cleared, and customer purchase processed creates a history. It means the telco has accumulated one of the richest financial datasets on consumer and business behaviour, which makes it easy to lend. The company already uses that information to determine its Fuliza overdraft limits and other lending products like M-Swari and KCB-MPESA. It now plans to apply the same model to business finance. “We recently got a person joining the M-Pesa team to support on the credit side,” Gichangi says. “Defining how this will look like, what type of partners do we need, what type of loans do we want to get into, and how do we structure this going forward.” Safaricom believes that if digital payments can reveal how a business earns, spends and repays money, perhaps transaction history can become a more accurate measure of creditworthiness than collateral alone. It follows developments elsewhere. Companies such as Ant Group in China and Mercado Pago in Latin America have built lending businesses by analysing daily transactions rather than relying on conventional banking tactics. Safaricom thinks M-PESA has reached a similar level. The platform Interestingly, Safaricom and its money services subsidiary M-PESA Africa are not keen on becoming a bank. Instead, it wants to become the platform that connects capital with borrowers, and that distinction matters. Globally, banking is being unbundled. Tech firms own customer relationships and distribution, while licensed financial institutions provide capital and manage regulatory risk. Safaricom appears to be pursuing the same model. “We partner with financial institutions,” Gichangi says. “Banks bring in the financing, we bring in the platform, help with the credit scoring and collections.” The model also explains why Gichangi’s appeal was directed at international investors as much as Kenyan lenders. Rather than asking global funds to build lending operations from scratch, Safaricom is offering M-PESA as the platform. Investors bring capital while banks provide regulated balance sheets, then Safaricom contributes customer acquisition, behavioural data, collections infrastructure, and distribution. History repeating itself? There is a striking parallel between Safaricom’s ambitions today and M-PESA’s origins. When M-Pesa was conceived, banks viewed millions of low-income Kenyans as commercially unattractive. Opening an account often required minimum balances, employer letters, and referrals from existing customers. “You needed a referral. You needed to maintain a minimum account. Some banks were asking you to come with an introduction letter from your employer,” says Mutha. Those requirements effectively locked millions of informal workers out of the banking system. Safaricom’s response was to redesign financial services around the customer instead of
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Jerry Soko named Eswatini CEO as MTN doubles down on internal talent
MTN Group, Africa’s largest telecom operator, has appointed Jerry Soko as the chief executive of its Eswatini subsidiary, part of its leadership playbook of promoting insiders who have spent years navigating multiple markets. Soko will assume the role permanently on July 1 after serving as acting CEO since November 2025, when former chief executive Wandile Mtshali stepped down at the end of his contract. In a statement on Tuesday, MTN said Soko stabilised the business, strengthened operational discipline and improved customer engagement during his seven-month stint. The appointment reflects a broader leadership strategy unfolding across MTN Group. Rather than looking outside for top executives, the Johannesburg-headquartered telecom operator is increasingly relying on leaders developed within its own African operations. As MTN executes its Ambition 2030 strategy, which aims to transform the company from a traditional telecom operator into a digital platform business spanning connectivity, fintech and digital infrastructure, the company is betting that executives with deep operational knowledge of African markets are best placed to drive its next phase of growth. “Under Jerry’s leadership, MTN Eswatini has regained strong momentum, improving performance, strengthening operational discipline, and deepening customer engagement,” said Ralph Mupita, MTN Group President and CEO. “His track record, combined with his understanding of our operations, positions him well to lead MTN Eswatini into its next phase of growth.” During his tenure as acting CEO, Soko prioritised network resilience, operational efficiency and customer experience while strengthening cash management and forging strategic partnerships to support Eswatini’s digital economy, the company said. MTN also credited him with embedding a stronger culture of accountability and developing future leaders within the business. The Eswatini appointment on Tuesday is not an isolated move. On June 2, MTN filled three senior leadership positions from its existing executive bench. Mitwa Ng’ambi, then CEO of MTN Côte d’Ivoire, was promoted to Group Chief People and Culture Officer. Her move triggered two more internal appointments, with Abbad Reda leaving MTN Zambia to lead the Côte d’Ivoire business and Larry Annetts succeeding him as CEO of MTN Zambia. The leadership reshuffle reinforced a pattern that has become visible across the group. Rather than recruiting externally, MTN is rotating executives across markets and business units to build a pipeline of leaders with experience operating in different regulatory, commercial, and competitive environments across Africa. “Making these appointments from internal candidates talks to the depth of talent we have within the Group, and the effectiveness of our succession planning processes,” MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita said when announcing the June appointments. The strategy is closely aligned with MTN’s Ambition 2030 plan and mirrors the group’s previous Ambition 2025 strategy, when MTN regularly filled senior vacancies through internal succession, including leadership moves between MTN Rwanda and MTN South Sudan. Soko’s appointment follows the same playbook. A qualified accountant with more than 20 years of experience in telecommunications, Soko has held both chief executive and chief financial officer positions across several MTN operating companies, including Zambia, Botswana, Rwanda and South Sudan. Although Eswatini is one of MTN’s smaller operating companies, the market remains strategically important as mobile operators across Africa look beyond connectivity into mobile financial services, cloud computing, enterprise technology and digital platforms. True scale demands moving beyond surface-level integrations to robust execution. We’ve filtered the noise out of Moonshot 2026, optimising the conference strictly for high-calibre connections between startup founders, global financial operators, enterprise leaders and individuals rewiring Africa’s technical frameworks. Get 20% off Early Bird tickets for a limited time.
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This startup wants to build Africa’s tourism distribution layer
30 juin 2026 Hello , Welcome back to Francophone Weekly by TechCabal, your weekly deep dive into the tech ecosystem across French-speaking Africa. For readers who want to understand Francophone Africa beyond headlines—through markets, startups, and systems. New editions of the newsletter will land directly in your inbox every Tuesday at 12 PM WAT. By default, this newsletter is in French. If you’re reading this in your email inbox, click the “Read in English” button below to switch to the English version. If you’re reading on our website, you can either click the button below or toggle the language selector at the top right-hand side of the page to view the English edition. Read in English Il y a une image qui dit tout. Un revendeur veut packager un séjour. Il appelle un intermédiaire. L’intermédiaire rappelle l’opérateur pour vérifier les disponibilités. Et à chaque maillon, une marge s’ajoute. Au bout de la chaîne, l’offre africaine est devenue invendable — non pas parce qu’elle est mauvaise, mais parce que sa distribution l’a étouffée. C’est ce constat, vécu depuis deux terrains différents, qui a mené Ismène Cledjo et Yacoub Sidibé à fonder TripinAfrica, une infrastructure digitale B2B au service des professionnels du tourisme africain. Cledjo, ancienne auditrice dans un Big Four passée par la coopération internationale avant de créer African Xplorer, son agence touristique en Afrique de l’Ouest. Sidibé, technicien de formation, bâtisseur d’infrastructures digitales, qui observait le secteur depuis l’intérieur de la plateforme. Deux regards opposés, une même conclusion. La semaine dernière, nous avons exploré pourquoi le plus grand défi du tourisme africain n’est pas d’attirer des visiteurs mais de distribuer ses produits. Une trop grande partie de l’industrie fonctionne encore par appels téléphoniques, WhatsApp, et des couches d’intermédiaires qui rendent le voyage africain plus difficile à vendre. Cette semaine, nous nous entretenons avec Ismène Cledjo, co-fondatrice de TripinAfrica, sur ce qu’il faut pour construire une infrastructure numérique pour le tourisme africain, et comment cette industrie fragmentée peut être mise en ligne. Entrons dans le vif du sujet. 1. Quand deux mondes se rencontrent G-D : Ismène Cledjo et Yacoub Sidibé, co-fondateurs de TripinAfrica. Source de l’image : TripinAfrica TripinAfrica a été fondée en 2024 lorsque Cledjo a rencontré Sidibé. « Lui [Sidibé] observait l’écosystème de l’intérieur de TripinAfrica, en contact quotidien avec des professionnels du secteur. Moi, je le vivais sur le terrain, dans la réalité opérationnelle de la gestion de ma propre agence », dit Cledjo. « Deux perspectives, deux expériences. Et quand nous les avons confrontées, une conclusion s’est imposée presque d’elle-même : le tourisme africain n’avait pas besoin d’un acteur de plus vendant des expériences aux voyageurs. Il avait besoin d’une infrastructure numérique B2B qui permettrait enfin aux professionnels locaux de prendre leur place dans la chaîne de valeur. » Ensemble, les deux fondateurs ont identifié trois frictions liées entre elles. La première était l’approvisionnement : trouver un opérateur fiable, vérifier sa crédibilité et accéder à des offres à jour, ce qui dépendait encore largement de réseaux informels et du bouche-à-oreille. La deuxième était la disponibilité, où confirmer une réservation devenait souvent un marathon d’e-mails et de messages WhatsApp. La troisième était le pricing. La chaîne de distribution fragmentée de l’Afrique faisait que chaque intermédiaire ajoutait une marge, jusqu’à ce que le produit final devienne trop cher pour le voyageur, pendant que l’opérateur fournissant le service n’en tirait que peu de bénéfice. Ils se sont rendu compte que ce n’étaient pas des problèmes séparés, mais différents symptômes de la même rupture dans l’infrastructure de distribution de l’industrie. C’est ce problème qu’ils ont entrepris de résoudre. Un vide structurel, pas une coïncidence Les chiffres illustrent ce déséquilibre. Le secteur du voyage et du tourisme africain a contribué 228 milliards de dollars à l’économie du continent en 2025, et pourtant, une grande partie de la valeur générée lorsque les voyageurs réservent en ligne continue d’être captée par des plateformes de distribution mondiales basées hors d’Afrique. Pour Cledjo, ce n’est pas un effet secondaire malheureux de la mondialisation. C’est ainsi que l’industrie est structurée. Elle identifie deux vides structurels. Le premier se situe du côté de l’offre. Une grande partie de l’industrie touristique africaine reste informelle, fragmentée et peu standardisée, ce qui rend difficile pour les opérateurs de distribuer leurs produits numériquement. Le deuxième est que les agences de voyage en ligne (OTA) mondiales ont été construites autour d’hypothèses qui tiennent rarement dans les marchés africains. « Elles ont été conçues pour des paiements en devises fortes, sans mobile money, avec une connectivité stable et un pricing pensé pour des marchés matures », dit Cledjo. « Les OTA mondiales n’ont pas été construites pour l’Afrique — elles ont simplement étendu leur modèle dessus. » La réponse de TripinAfrica est une couche d’infrastructure plutôt qu’un énième site de réservation. Sa plateforme combine des outils d’abonnement-en-tant-que-service (SaaS) qui aident les opérateurs à gérer leur inventaire et leur disponibilité, avec des connexions d’interface de programmation d’application (API) qui distribuent ces offres à travers un réseau de revendeurs de voyage. Une marketplace business-to-consumer (B2C) vient se greffer par-dessus, permettant aux opérateurs de vendre directement aux voyageurs. Construire le logiciel s’est révélé plus facile que construire les rails de paiement. « La couche la plus difficile à construire reste les paiements », dit Cledjo. « Pas pour des raisons techniques, mais parce que le paysage des paiements en Afrique est fragmenté, régulé pays par pays, et nécessite des partenariats avec des opérateurs locaux qui ont leurs propres contraintes et délais. C’est une connaissance de terrain qu’on ne peut pas importer. » L’entreprise s’est heurtée à un autre obstacle dès qu’elle a commencé à signer des clients. Beaucoup d’opérateurs gèrent encore leurs réservations dans des cahiers ou des feuilles Excel, ne laissant aucun inventaire numérique auquel se connecter. TripinAfrica a répondu avec un processus d’onboarding simplifié qui fonctionne via les canaux de communication que les opérateurs utilisent déjà, avant de synchroniser automatiquement leur inventaire sur l’ensemble de son réseau. L’automatisation, soutient Cledjo, doit éliminer le
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Kenyan edtech Craydel expands into Ghana, its eighth African market
Craydel, a Pan-African education startup, has expanded into Ghana, extending its footprint to eight African markets as it builds a business helping students apply for higher education abroad. The move gives Craydel access to one of West Africa’s largest outbound student markets and increases its exposure to a sector that sees more than 400,000 African students leave the continent for higher education each year. The expansion adds Ghana to Craydel’s operations in Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Burundi, and Tanzania, and marks its fifth new market launch since late 2024, making it one of the few African education startups pursuing an aggressive cross-border expansion strategy. “Ghana has one of Africa’s strongest traditions of investing in education and global talent,” co-founder and chief executive Manish Sardana said in a statement on Tuesday. “We have seen tremendous demand from Ghanaian students looking for trusted, technology-driven guidance as they explore study opportunities abroad.” Founded in 2021 by Manish Sardana, John Nguru and Shayne Aman Premji, Craydel allows students to search, compare and apply to universities overseas through its AI-powered matchmaking tool. The company said it now works with more than 600 institutions across more than 50 study destinations worldwide. Craydel said the Ghana expansion will include local student advisory services and partnerships with schools and universities as it looks to establish a presence in the market. The startup earns commissions from universities and colleges for successful student placements, connecting African students seeking overseas education with institutions looking to recruit from a growing pool of applicants. The company has raised more than $2.5 million from investors, including Enza Capital and Angaza Capital, and competes with established international student recruitment platforms such as ApplyBoard and IDP Education, which have built global networks connecting students with universities in major study destinations. Rather than operating as a collection of national businesses, Craydel is building a continent-wide recruitment network that offers universities access to students across multiple African markets. True scale demands moving beyond surface-level integrations to robust execution. We’ve filtered the noise out of Moonshot 2026, optimising the conference strictly for high-calibre connections between startup founders, global financial operators, enterprise leaders and individuals rewiring Africa’s technical frameworks. Get 20% off Early Bird tickets for a limited time.
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Nairobi to host TechCabal’s Road to Moonshot mixer on Thursday
TechCabal, Africa’s leading technology publication, will on Thursday bring its pan-African innovation conversation to Kenya with an exclusive Road to Moonshot mixer, as part of preparations for Moonshot 2026, its flagship technology conference scheduled for October in Lagos. The evening mixer comes as Nairobi strengthens its position as one of Africa’s leading technology hubs, with Kenya attracting a growing share of venture capital, multinational technology firms, and regional startup headquarters. The evening mixer will run from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm East African Time (EAT). The event forms part of the build-up to Moonshot 2026, TechCabal’s annual conference in Lagos, which has emerged as one of Africa’s largest gatherings for entrepreneurs, investors, and technology executives. Unlike large tech summits, the Nairobi event will be a closed-door networking session with a curated guest list, allowing founders, investors, policymakers, and operators to exchange views away from formal stages. The decision to bring the pre-conference discussions to Nairobi reflects the city’s growing importance in shaping the continent’s digital economy. Kenya has long been regarded as East Africa’s innovation gateway, helped by the early success of mobile money, a relatively mature startup ecosystem, and the presence of regional offices for global technology companies. In recent years, Nairobi has also become a hub for venture capital firms, development finance institutions, and founders building businesses that target multiple African markets. That shift has expanded the conversations beyond fundraising to include questions about regulation, digital infrastructure, cross-border payments, artificial intelligence (AI), regional integration, and talent mobility. Road to Moonshot aims to capture those discussions in a smaller setting before they continue at the October conference. Moonshot, which launched in 2023, has grown into one of Africa’s biggest gatherings for founders, investors, operators, policymakers, and business leaders. The 2025 edition attracted more than 5,700 participants, over 200 speakers, and delegates from 39 countries. TechCabal expects the 2026 edition to be even larger after moving the conference to Lagos’ National Theatre, a venue capable of accommodating more delegates than previous editions. The conference is scheduled for October 28–29. True scale demands moving beyond surface-level integrations to robust execution. We’ve filtered the noise out of Moonshot 2026, optimising the conference strictly for high-calibre connections between startup founders, global financial operators, enterprise leaders and individuals rewiring Africa’s technical frameworks. Get 20% off Early Bird tickets for a limited time.
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Paga turns to tokenised investments in latest infrastructure push
Paga, one of Africa’s oldest fintech companies, is deepening its push into wealth products through a partnership with blockchain infrastructure startup TBook that will allow users to invest in tokenised real-world assets (RWAs). The partnership will connect Paga’s payment and compliance infrastructure with TBook’s marketplace for tokenised assets built on the Sui blockchain, giving customers and businesses access to investments ranging from fixed-income products to tokenised private assets. The partnership deepens Paga’s infrastructure strategy. Paga Engine, its payments infrastructure business, which it said processed about $12 billion in transaction value in 2025, can now distribute tokenised investment products alongside its existing financial services. The company is positioning itself to power the financial products that other businesses offer, not just the ones it provides directly. “My desire is to see Africans participate fully in global commerce and grow their wealth,” Tayo Oviosu, Paga’s Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), said in a statement. “This partnership gives everyday Africans access to investment-grade opportunities that have historically been out of reach. Businesses building on Paga Engine can offer these investment products in their own apps, extending reach significantly.” During the Sui Live event in Miami, the United States, in May, Oviosu said the company was seeking to launch more crypto-enabled, yield-bearing, and investment-grade products for African consumers. It partnered with Sui, the blockchain network developed by US-based Mysten Labs, to enable users to earn yield on Sui Dollar (USDsui), a US dollar-pegged stablecoin whose reserve assets generate interest that is passed on to holders. This isn’t Paga’s first move into wealth products. In 2020, it partnered with Wealth.ng, a Nigerian investment platform, to enable users to access investment opportunities across agriculture, real estate, and fixed income, offering returns of up to 16% annually. This time, however, Paga is targeting the on-chain finance opportunity. Tokenised assets convert ownership of traditional financial instruments into digital tokens that can be traded on blockchain networks. In practice, that could allow a Nigerian retail investor to buy a fraction of a commercial property portfolio overseas, or gain exposure to private credit or government securities, without meeting the high minimum investment thresholds that have traditionally kept such assets out of reach. The market has grown rapidly over the past two years as financial institutions continue to experiment with blockchain-based versions of traditional investments. Tokenised RWAs now hold about $10 billion in total market capitalisation, growing tenfold from $957.3 million at the start of 2024, according to analytics firm CoinMarketCap. The total value of tokenised real-world assets held on blockchain networks has grown to $31.59 billion, according to industry tracker rwa.xyz. At the same time, India-based research firm Mordor Intelligence estimated the broader asset tokenisation industry was worth $2.08 trillion in 2025. The industry could reach $18.74 trillion by 2031, according to Mordor. While tokenisation promises broader access, greater liquidity, and faster settlement, it does not eliminate the risks associated with the underlying assets. For example, tokenised property, used in real estate, still depends on proper legal ownership, independent custody, accurate valuation, and regulatory oversight in the jurisdictions where the assets are located. Founded in 2023, New York-headquartered TBook provides the infrastructure that allows fintechs to embed tokenised investment products into their existing apps without building the underlying blockchain technology themselves. The company connects regulated issuers of tokenised assets with fintechs seeking to offer investment products to their users and enables businesses to generate yield from customer balances through tokenised real-world assets. The model could appeal to deposit-taking fintechs seeking new revenue sources beyond transaction fees, creating another way to monetise customer balances while allowing users to earn investment returns. While Paga’s core payments business operates under a Mobile Money Operator (MMO) licence, Oviosu told The Banker, a Financial Times publication, in 2023 that the company had also secured a microfinance banking licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which could enable the fintech to offer tokenised investment products directly. “Every consumer fintech is sitting on idle balances that earn nothing for the customer and little for the business—especially in emerging markets,” Nick Young, TBook’s co-founder, said. “TBook’s partnership with Paga unlocks fully regulated, institutional-grade assets for millions of users through a single turnkey integration. This is what financial inclusion looks like at scale.” TBook is part of a growing wave of StableFi (stablecoin finance) infrastructure startups offering fintechs and investment platforms a plug-and-play way to integrate yield-bearing products into their apps. Companies such as Blend, OpenTrade, and Stable offer similar infrastructure for embedding yield-bearing tokenised assets, including stablecoins (currency), real estate (property), and gold (commodity). Paga could also become a distribution channel for TBook’s embedded investment products across the more than 300 businesses using Paga Engine, allowing those businesses to embed tokenised investment products into their own applications. A similar model already exists in Europe: Spanish fintech Criptan offers annual yields of up to 8.5% on USDC and 5.5% on EURC—the US dollar- and Euro-backed stablecoins issued by US company Circle—through infrastructure provided by OpenTrade. The integration allows Criptan’s customers, including fintechs and other businesses, to access and offer tokenised yield products without building the underlying technology themselves. For Paga, the partnership also reinforces a broader blockchain strategy. In June, the company partnered with stablecoin infrastructure startup Crossmint to integrate multi-chain settlement for cross-border payments, following its earlier collaboration with Sui. The moves suggest Paga is steadily assembling blockchain infrastructure across payments, savings, and investments as it seeks to become a financial infrastructure platform. TBook has adopted a similar strategy elsewhere. In November 2025, the company partnered with OmniPay, a Philippines-based fintech, to distribute embedded tokenised investment products through consumer-facing financial applications, underscoring its strategy of expanding through fintech partners rather than selling directly to end-users. Under the partnership, Paga said it will distribute the investment products only through entities regulated in the jurisdictions where it operates, such as Nigeria, its home market. The commercial success of the partnership, however, will depend on whether African consumers are willing to adopt tokenised investment products, and how regulators across the
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Airtel Kenya appoints new managing director as rivalry with Safaricom intensifies
Airtel Kenya has appointed Senegalese telecoms executive Djibril Tobe as managing director, a major leadership change as the country’s second-largest mobile operator seeks to build on recent market share gains. Tobe succeeds Ashish Malhotra, who is leaving after four years to become chief executive of Indus Towers Africa. The move comes at a pivotal moment for Airtel Kenya, which has emerged as the country’s strongest challenger to Safaricom after years of investment in network expansion, mobile money and home broadband. Before his appointment, Tobe served as managing director of Airtel Congo B, a role he has held since May 2023. He previously served as managing director of Airtel Chad and as commercial director at Airtel Burkina Faso. Before joining Airtel, he held leadership positions at Expresso Guinea, Ernst & Young and Coca-Cola. “We welcome Djibril Tobe to his role and are confident that his expertise will steer Airtel Kenya to the next level as we continue delivering innovative and relevant solutions,” the company’s board said in a statement. Tobe inherits a business that has grown rapidly under Malhotra’s leadership. In a Tuesday statement, Airtel said it rolled out more than 2,000 network sites during the period, the largest expansion programme in the company’s history, while introducing 5G services, eSIM technology, fibre connectivity products and its Home and Office Smart Connect broadband platform. The operator also expanded its financial services business, with Airtel Money’s market share rising from about 2% to 11% over the four years, according to company figures. Data from the Communications Authority of Kenya for the quarter ended March 2026 shows Airtel held a 27.6% share of mobile subscriptions, compared with Safaricom’s 68.9%. In mobile broadband, Airtel accounted for 31.8% of subscriptions, compared with Safaricom’s 64.5%. The gap remains widest in mobile money, where Airtel Money held a 10.9% market share compared with M-PESA’s 89.1%, underscoring both the progress Airtel has made and the scale of the challenge that remains in Kenya’s payments market. Airtel Kenya says it doubled revenue during Malhotra’s tenure and expanded its subscriber base from 16 million to more than 24 million customers. The operator does not disclose financial figures for its Kenyan unit. True scale demands moving beyond surface-level integrations to robust execution. We’ve filtered the noise out of Moonshot 2026, optimising the conference strictly for high-calibre connections between startup founders, global financial operators, enterprise leaders and individuals rewiring Africa’s technical frameworks.Get 20% off Early Bird tickets for a limited time.
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South Africa turns to drones, AI, CCTV cameras ahead of anti-migrant protests
South Africa has deployed 33,000 CCTV cameras, drones, helicopters and 13,000 law enforcement officers across Gauteng Province ahead of Tuesday’s anti-migrant protests, in a R600 million ($35.5 million) security operation that highlights the country’s rapid shift toward technology-driven policing. The unprecedented high-tech security deployment comes as fear spreads among migrant communities, with many foreign nationals seeking refuge at embassies and consulates in Johannesburg and Cape Town ahead of demonstrations organised by the anti-illegal immigration movement March and March. Some migrants have fled homes and businesses, fearing attacks similar to previous outbreaks of xenophobic violence. Five years after the July 2021 unrest exposed glaring weaknesses in South Africa’s intelligence gathering, coordination and public-order policing, the South African Police Service (SAPS) is increasingly relying on a vast network of surveillance technologies and private-sector security infrastructure to maintain order. The June 30 operation offers the clearest indication yet that South Africa is quietly constructing a technology-driven surveillance network in which state and private security systems are becoming intertwined. Gauteng Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Tommy Mthombeni said authorities are fully prepared for the demonstrations and have already identified several hotspots across the province. “We have made arrangements to deploy CCTV cameras, helicopters and drones,” Mthombeni said during a media briefing in Eldorado Park on June 25. “Indeed, we have mobilised extensively, and we will have what is called a downlink so that we can observe activities as they happen in real time.” Mthombeni warned that lawbreakers would be identified through the extensive surveillance network. “The drones and helicopters will be able to identify who is doing what. So, if you get arrested, do not say you were not warned,” he said. “We have more than 33,000 CCTV cameras. We cannot take any warning lightly in the course of our daily duties. Whenever we receive information about a possible protest, we prepare accordingly.” Chad Thomas, director at IRS Forensic Investigations and a 32-year veteran of South Africa’s security and law enforcement industry, said the deployment marks an important technological evolution for South African policing. “It’s necessary, and it’s good to see that the state is finally investing in making use of technology,” Thomas told TechCabal on Monday. “Most other countries are already making use of these technologies, whereas in South Africa everything tends to be labour-intensive.” He believes that the June 30 operation will rely heavily on surveillance infrastructure owned by municipalities, private security firms, and community security networks. “There is so much CCTV in the hands of the private sector that can be utilised and onboarded by the state during operations,” Thomas said. Thomas added that private surveillance networks will play a key role during the operation. “Companies such as Vumacam have massive camera networks throughout Johannesburg, and security companies operating community camera networks could also allow the state access during operations,” he said. The increasing reliance on surveillance technology reflects lessons learnt from the July 2021 unrest, which left more than 300 people dead, crippled supply chains and caused billions of rands in economic losses. “This should be a very good test of this type of equipment for future reference,” Thomas said. “It would have been exceptionally useful during the July 2021 unrest if police had qualified drone operators and greater access to surveillance technology.” The June 30 protests have also prompted unprecedented cooperation between the police and private security companies. On June 26, Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia met representatives from the private security industry to strengthen collaboration ahead of the demonstrations. According to the Ministry of Police, the meeting focused on improving information sharing, coordinated planning, and technology resource pooling between the public and private sectors. True scale demands moving beyond surface-level integrations to robust execution. We’ve filtered the noise out of Moonshot 2026, optimising the conference strictly for high-calibre connections between startup founders, global financial operators, enterprise leaders and individuals rewiring Africa’s technical frameworks.Get 20% off Early Bird tickets for a limited time.
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Sub-Saharan Africa still imports over 90% of assistive tech despite policy gains
Africa’s assistive technology ecosystem is becoming more coordinated, but millions of people with disabilities remain vulnerable because many countries have yet to build locally led assistive technology systems, according to a new report by South Africa’s Stellenbosch University. The Assistive Technology Landscape in Africa Scoping Review, commissioned by the Mastercard Foundation, analysed 523 sources, including 185 peer-reviewed scientific studies and 338 policy documents, organisational reports, and other materials spanning all 54 African countries. It found that assistive technology policy activity has accelerated since 2016, with at least 38 countries adopting national strategies aligned with the World Health Organisation and United Nations frameworks. But most policies remain aspirational because they lack adequate financing and monitoring systems to support implementation, leaving Africa “policy-rich but implementation-poor.” The report said East and Southern Africa have built more resilient assistive technology ecosystems by strengthening links between governments, universities, and civil society. By contrast, West and Central Africa remain more reliant on donors and international partners, with weaker institutional integration limiting the development of sustainable systems. The findings come as more than 200 million Africans require at least one assistive product, while only 10% to 25% of that need is being met across most countries. Demand is projected to double to 400 million people by 2050, according to the World Health Organisation, driven by the continent’s youthful population and rising rates of chronic disease and injury. Without stronger domestic financing and coordination, the report warns, many African countries will struggle to meet that growing demand as donor support becomes less certain. The report said that weak financing remains one of the biggest obstacles to building self-sustaining assistive technology systems. It found that government-led programmes account for less than 15% of assistive technology distributed across the continent. At the same time, most countries lack dedicated budget lines or ring-fenced funding for assistive technology. The review also found that more than 90% of assistive technology products used in sub-Saharan Africa are imported, exposing countries to supply chain disruptions and shifts in donor priorities. That dependence extends to local manufacturers. Of the 42 manufacturers and innovators identified across Africa, only four receive stable government subsidies, including the Ethiopian Prosthetic and Orthotic Service (EPOS), which produces artificial limbs and supportive braces for people with physical disabilities and two orthopaedic service providers in Namibia. Most instead rely on grants, donations, and other unstable revenue streams to survive and expand, the report found. Private-sector financing remains limited. The report cites Safaricom in Kenya and I&M Bank in Rwanda as rare examples of companies helping to finance assistive technology, rather than evidence of a broader market. Overall, it characterises Africa’s assistive technology financing landscape as one marked by donor dependence, high production costs, low insurance coverage and fragmented governance, conditions that it says make it difficult for even well-established manufacturers to operate sustainably at scale. The report said the consequences of that instability fall directly on the people who need assistive technology most. “In countries where manufacturers rely on donations or unstable grant funding, users face inconsistent supply, long waiting times and limited device choice, often leaving them dependent on imported or poor-fit products,” it said. Against that backdrop, the report identifies East Africa as home to the continent’s strongest locally coordinated assistive technology ecosystem. It says Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania have developed systems linking governments, academia, the private sector, civil society and international partners. Academic institutions play a central role in generating evidence to inform policy, while the region hosts 19 of the 42 assistive technology manufacturers and innovators identified. Southern Africa follows closely. It says South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe have developed mature ecosystems anchored by social enterprises and long-established academic institutions, together hosting another 11 manufacturers and innovators. West Africa presents a different picture. Despite being home to some of the continent’s largest economies, the region has only five of the 42 manufacturers and innovators identified in the review. Although Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Senegal have adopted national assistive technology frameworks, the report says donor organisations continue to play a larger role than locally coordinated systems. According to the review, Central Africa relies even more heavily on regional bodies and faith-based organisations to fill service delivery gaps, with limited evidence of sustained government leadership. Nigeria illustrates the wider challenge. The report notes that Nigeria’s National Assistive Technology Scale-Up Plan, one of the few in West Africa to include formal costing, estimates that ₦12.6 billion ($9.16 million) is needed to implement the strategy, but government funding remains limited. Across West Africa, the share of assistive technology needs being met ranges from as little as 5% in Nigeria to more than 70% in localised pilot projects in Sierra Leone. The review also found that governments across the continent are increasingly using Technical Working Groups to coordinate multi-stakeholder policy development, describing the approach as promising. Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe are among the countries where these groups have been actively engaged in co-producing and validating AT policy. But the report cautions that the groups have not yet delivered their full potential. “While promising, coordination across education, labour, industrial development, and youth systems remains weak,” it said. True scale demands moving beyond surface-level integrations to robust execution. We’ve filtered the noise out of Moonshot 2026, optimising the conference strictly for high-calibre connections between startup founders, global financial operators, enterprise leaders and individuals rewiring Africa’s technical frameworks.Get 20% off Early Bird tickets for a limited time.
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I&M taps departing Absa chief Abdi Mohamed as Kenya CEO
Hours after Absa Bank Kenya announced the departure of chief executive Abdi Mohamed after a 32-year career at the lender, rival I&M Group named him as the next CEO of its Kenyan banking business. The appointment, subject to CBK approval, sees I&M recruit the sitting chief executive of a larger rival, an unusual move in Kenya’s tightly knit banking sector. Mohamed joins I&M from Absa Bank Kenya, where he spent more than three decades rising through the ranks to become chief executive and managing director in 2023. He previously served as managing director and chief executive of Absa Tanzania and held senior leadership roles across Barclays operations in Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia, including chief operating officer and retail and business banking director. The move was announced only hours after Absa disclosed Mohamed’s resignation, saying he would leave the bank on June 30 to pursue other career opportunities. Absa appointed chief financial officer Yusuf Omari as interim chief executive while it begins the search for a permanent successor. Mohamed will replace Gul Khan, who led I&M’s Kenyan unit from 2023 to 2026, following the promotion of predecessor Kihara Maina to regional chief executive of the wider group. “We are delighted to welcome Abdi to I&M Group at an important time in our journey as we continue to scale our business, deepen customer relationships and strengthen our market position,” Sarit Raja-Shah, Group Executive Director at I&M Group, said in a statement. The appointment comes as competition among Kenya’s listed lenders intensifies, with banks investing heavily in digital channels, transaction banking and regional expansion to capture growth beyond traditional corporate lending. I&M Group, valued at KES 108.76 billion ($844 million), is Kenya’s seventh-largest listed banking stock by market capitalisation. Mohamed joins from Absa Bank Kenya, which has a market value of KES 176.53 billion ($1.37 billion), making it the country’s fourth-largest listed lender behind Equity Group, KCB Group and Co-operative Bank. True scale demands moving beyond surface-level integrations to robust execution. We’ve filtered the noise out of Moonshot 2026, optimising the conference strictly for high-calibre connections between startup founders, global financial operators, enterprise leaders and individuals rewiring Africa’s technical frameworks.Get 20% off Early Bird tickets for a limited time.
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