5 African startups reimagining stores, services, and storytelling
Startups On Our Radar spotlights African startups solving African challenges with innovation. In our previous edition, we featured five game-changing startups pioneering artificial intelligence, e-commerce, and legaltech. Expect the next dispatch on January 23, 2026. This week, we explore five African startups in the e-commerce, cryptocurrency, cleantech, and creator economy sectors and why they should be on your watchlist. Here are our picks for today: Vyre Africa wants to eliminate P2P crypto scams (Cryptocurrency, Nigeria) Vyre Africa, founded in 2025 by Harvey Anafuwe and Alex Amatobi, is a blockchain-based financial platform focused on reducing fraud and friction in peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto trading, particularly within Africa’s high-volume but scam-prone crypto market. Although cryptocurrency transactions in sub-Saharan Africa reached $205 billion between 2024 and 2025, Chainanalysis, a blockchain data analysis company, estimates that up to $17 billion was stolen in crypto scams and fraud in 2025. The idea behind Vyre Africa grew directly out of Anafuwe’s personal experience losing money to P2P crypto scams, and similar incidents affecting friends and other users in Nigeria. Vyre Africa’s dashboard. Image source: Vyre Africa Vyre Africa is a web-based platform built for instant, trustless, peer-to-peer exchanges between crypto and fiat, without requiring both parties to be registered users. Its flagship product is Vyre Africa’s P2P trading system, where a market maker creates a buy or sell order (for buy orders, the user sends crypto and receives fiat directly into their bank account; for sell orders, the user sends fiat and receives crypto into a provided wallet address) by locking funds in their Vyre wallet. Each order generates a shareable trade link that can be sent to anyone, anywhere, and recipients can complete a transaction anonymously by opening the link, entering their contact details, and selecting a payout method. Vyre Africa does not rely on manual confirmation flows. Instead, funds are locked when the order is created and released automatically once transaction conditions are met. Trades are processed instantly, without direct communication between counterparties. Vyre currently supports USDC-based trades and enables payouts to bank accounts across multiple African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, and Egypt. The platform enforces minimum trade limits (for example, a minimum of 3 USDC on certain orders) and allows market makers to set exchange rates and order sizes. Vyre Africa also includes a cross-border remittance product that allows users to send stablecoins such as USDC or USDT and have them automatically converted and deposited into foreign bank accounts. The company says its system supports about 45 currencies across Africa, Europe, and parts of Asia. It also has an internal wallet-to-wallet transfer feature that lets users send crypto to other Vyre users using only an email address, dubbed Vyre Transfers. These transfers are instant and incur no transaction fees. Vyre Africa charges a percentage-based fee to the users who create buy or sell orders on the platform. Anonymous traders do not pay fees at this stage, though the startup plans to introduce additional revenue streams for other user categories in the future. Vyre Africa conducted a pre-launch in September 2025, initially rolling out its cross-border remittance and wallet transfer features before activating P2P trading. Why we’re watching: Vyre Africa is tackling the trust issue in crypto’s peer-to-peer transactions, a persistent problem in emerging markets. By enabling anonymous link-based trades and automating fund release, the startup positions itself as a safer alternative. This link-based model also allows the platform to facilitate trades for users who haven’t yet signed up, effectively expanding its reach beyond its registered user base. Ulo Helps wants to make finding trusted domestic workers easy and fast (Services, Nigeria) Founded in 2025 by Chiamaka Igwe, Ulo Helps is a digital platform designed to replace the often unreliable process of hiring domestic staff through traditional agents. Born from Igwe’s personal frustration with finding nannies and a desire to replicate the ease of care platforms she used in the United States, Ulo Helps connects households with verified caregivers, cooks, nannies, and housekeepers and functions as a self-serve marketplace. Employers register on the web app, select the type of domestic service they need, filter by location, and browse worker profiles that include photos, short bios, availability status, age, work history, and other relevant details. To contact a worker directly on their mobile phone number, email, or WhatsApp, employers must subscribe to a service-specific subscription plan. The basic plan costs ₦15,000 ($10.53) monthly, giving access to all profiles within a selected service category, with unlimited replacements during that period. Ulo Helps’ landing page. Image source: Ulo Helps. For users who prefer a more hands-off approach, the assisted plan costs ₦30,000 ($21.06) monthly. Under this option, Ulo Helps pre-screens candidates, shortlists five workers based on the employer’s requirements, and sends them for final interviews. The company also offers an optional premium verification service after employment, which includes police reports, fingerprinting, and address verification to ensure safety for employers. For domestic workers who want to be onboarded on the app, they pay a ₦5,000 ($3.51) one-time registration fee, which covers identity checks, facial verification, and guarantor verification. Ulo Helps does not take a percentage of workers’ salaries and does not manage payroll or wages, as compensation negotiations are left entirely between both parties. However, compensation benefits are usually communicated and agreed upon by both parties before the domestic worker shows up for the task. The platform says it currently lists over 100 fully verified domestic workers, and maintains a broader pool of about 700 unverified workers in its outreach channels. Verified workers have paid the one-time registration fee and has undergone identity checks, while unverified workers have not undergone identity verification. Why we’re watching: Ulo Helps differentiates itself in Nigeria’s informal labour market by prioritising ethical treatment of workers. Unlike traditional agents who often confiscate a part of or half of a worker’s first-month salary, Ulo Helps charges zero commissions on wages, in a bid to attract higher-quality talent. The startup is also laying groundwork for scale across Africa and the Middle East
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For businesses tired of saying no to crypto payments, CoinCircuit has an answer
Chidubem Ogbuefi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and founder of CoinCircuit, a Nigerian crypto payments startup, carries more money in crypto than he does in cash. For him, paying with digital assets is often simpler than converting to naira, waiting on bank transfers, or dealing with point-of-sale (PoS) withdrawals. Yet, that ‘crypto convenience’ does not translate to real-world use cases. In Lagos stores, restaurants, and retail outlets, the answer is usually the same when he asks to pay with crypto: no. It frustrated him. “That friction is what pushed me to build CoinCircuit,” said Ogbuefi. “Not because people don’t have crypto, but because businesses don’t want to deal with it.” CoinCircuit, which launched in December 2025, is a Nigerian startup building payment infrastructure that allows businesses and individuals to accept crypto payments without becoming crypto businesses themselves. The product sits between customers who want to pay with digital assets and merchants who would rather receive naira or stablecoins without worrying about wallets, volatility, or compliance. Ogbuefi describes it as a Paystack-esque product if the Nigerian payments giant focused entirely on digital assets. Paystack enables businesses to accept payments from customers in different local currencies. 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 Carrying crypto, living in fiat Ogbuefi’s habit of spending crypto is unusual in Nigeria, where fiat naira still dominates daily transactions. He does not dispute that reality. What he argues is that the way crypto is used in Nigeria is often misunderstood. A large volume of crypto activity already exists, but it rarely shows up at supermarket tills or restaurant counters. Payments happen privately, peer-to-peer, or outside formal merchant environments. When customers want to spend crypto in public spaces, the infrastructure is missing. “A lot of times, people walk into stores and ask if they can pay with crypto,” said Ogbuefi. “When the answer is no, they just leave. I do that too.” The problem, from his perspective, is not demand. It is design. Most existing crypto payment tools either exclude Nigeria altogether or assume merchants want to custody digital assets themselves. Global platforms like CoinPayments or Binance Pay often do not support African countries, or they restrict local currency invoicing. “You can’t generate invoices in naira or Ghanaian cedis,” he said. “So I wanted to solve everything in one product.” How CoinCircuit works, without forcing merchants into crypto CoinCircuit’s design begins with a compliance-first approach. Once onboarded, users identify themselves either as individuals—such as solopreneurs, freelancers, or content creators—or as registered merchants and businesses. Business users are required to submit Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) documents or equivalent regulatory filings. Individuals submit personal identification. All users complete know-your-customer (KYC) checks to allow transaction monitoring. Once approved, users connect two things: a local fiat bank account and, optionally, a crypto wallet. Then CoinCircuit becomes a layer that sits between customers and merchants, translating one payment preference into another. A merchant can create a payment page for use in-store or online. The page is branded with the business name and logo and can be accessed through a link or a printed Quick Response (QR) code. When customers scan the code, they are taken to a checkout page where they enter the amount they want to pay. What matters is how the amount is quoted. A merchant can choose to quote prices in naira or in United States dollars. If the page is set to naira, the customer sees naira. If it is set to dollars, the customer sees dollars. CoinCircuit handles everything else. Working with service providers, the startup enables settlement to happen in real-time. If a customer pays using crypto or stablecoins, the merchant can receive naira directly into a bank account or receive stablecoins like Tether (USDT) in a wallet, depending on their preference. “The logic behind this is that you’re quoting your customers in a currency they understand, while you receive a currency you understand,” said Ogbuefi. “We will be adding more currencies like Ghanaian cedis, Kenyan shillings, and South African rand, to help merchants expand their payment collection to a wider market.” Beyond local and foreign currency settlement, CoinCircuit supports payments in a range of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, including Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), TRON (TRX), Binance Coin (BNB), USD Coin (USDC), and Tether (USDT). CoinCircuit merchants and even creators can create invoices and send to customers, who can choose to pay in crypto or fiat currencies. Image Source: TechCabal. These payments run across multiple blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Binance Chain, Solana, and TRON, with transaction fees typically below $1. Ogbuefi said the startup plans to expand support for additional crypto assets and networks over time, as it adapts the product to the payment preferences of different markets. This flexibility of the product swings for both sides: Crypto-native merchants who prefer to hold digital assets can quote customers in naira or dollars and still receive cryptocurrencies or stablecoins. Merchants can accept payments from crypto-paying customers and receive only local currency. CoinCircuit does not hold customer funds, according to Ogbuefi. When a payment is made, the crypto asset is automatically swapped through a crypto financial service provider that supplies liquidity and regulatory cover. The service provider earns money from exchange spreads, while CoinCircuit charges a 1% take rate from customer transactions. For example, when a customer completes a $10 transaction, CoinCircuit charges $0.1 in fees. Ogbuefi said the structure allows CoinCircuit to operate without touching deposits while still offering immediate settlement, a feature he considers essential for trust. “Business
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Starlink rolls out instalment payments for internet kits in Kenya
Starlink, the SpaceX-owned satellite internet service, has introduced instalment payments for its mini kits in Kenya, cutting upfront cost for users as it seeks to revive subscriber growth that has slowed over the past year. The new plan requires a KES 6,750 ($52.8) upfront payment, plus KES 16,250 ($125.8) in activation fees and KES 3,010 ($23.3) for shipping, with the balance spread over six months. It adds KES 4,500 ($34.8) a month for the kit over six months to the standard KES 6,500 ($50.3) residential subscription fee. The instalment plan cuts the upfront cost of Starlink’s equipment, which has been a barrier to adoption for most users. It is likely to increase access among price-sensitive users, particularly in rural and underserved areas where paying the full amount upfront has reduced uptake. Priced at KES 27,000 ($209.1), the mini kit now requires less upfront cash, with more of the cost spread across recurring monthly payments. A screenshot of a checkout for a Starlink mini kit. Image source: TechCabal The Starlink mini kit was introduced into the Kenyan market in September 2024, one year after the company launched to offer a cheaper alternative to the standard kit, which is KES 49,900 ($386.46). Since it entered Kenya in 2023, the company has expanded rapidly within the first six months, reaching a 0.5% market share. According to data from the Communications Authority of Kenya, the number of customers rose from 16,786 in September 2024 to 19,146 as of December 2025. However, growth was slowed after the company, in November 2024, halted new sign-ups in densely populated urban areas like Nairobi and Mombasa due to capacity challenges. The freeze, which remained in place until June 2025, reduced its momentum, with active subscriptions falling to 17,066 by March that year. The pause created an opening for competitors. Safaricom and Airtel, the country’s biggest telcos, moved to deploy 5G routers priced below KES 3,000 ($23), targeting the same rural users Starlink had aimed to reach. Safaricom controls 35.6% of Kenya’s fixed internet market, followed by Jamii Telecom (20.6%), Wananchi Group (12.7%), Poa Internet (12.5%), Ahadi Wireless (7.5%), and Mawingu Networks (3.6%). Starlink follows at a distant (0.8%).
Read MoreNigeria ends 2025 with inflation at 15.15% and fewer price shocks
Nigeria closed 2025 with headline inflation at 15.15% in December, down 19.65 percentage points from 34.80% recorded in December 2024, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). 2025 will be remembered as the year inflation numbers stopped being shocking, even though prices remained elevated. Unlike the wild swings that defined 2024, where inflation rose to record highs, 2025 was the year of more predictability. That stability came at a price. Nigerians adapted by cutting back, repricing their lives and businesses, and lowering expectations. Nigeria’s headline inflation stood at 24.48% in January 2025 after the methodology and base year were changed. Inflation stood at 34.80% in December 2024. According to the NBS, inflation was rebased, “to replace outgoing reference periods (2009). Rebasing aligns the price and weight reference periods with the current economic environment, ensuring methodological accuracy, updating the composition of the goods and services basket, revising item weights, and incorporating necessary improvements.” Since then, inflation has seen a steady drop, falling to 15.15% in December 2025. “The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 131.2 in December 2025, up by 0.7 points from the previous month (130.5),” the NBS said. “The December 2025 year-on-year Headline inflation rate stood at 15.15% relative to the November 2025 headline inflation rate (17.33%).” Beyond the headline number, the inflation figure directly impacts Nigerian paychecks, which have not moved at the same pace. For many tech workers and startup employees, transport costs now rival rent, and food bills have reset monthly budgets. In places like Lagos, Nigeria’s startup capital, where inflation of 17.5% is above the national average, startup workers are having to absorb shock quietly through side gigs, delayed life plans, or lower living standards. While the data may be signalling a turning point, with food inflation at 10.84% in December 2025, the reality for many startup workers is a change in living standards and an everyday life that is now indifferent to economic shocks.
Read MoreUS latest visa freeze puts African founders’ global mobility at risk
The United States is suspending all visa processing for applicants from 75 countries, including Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana, Algeria, and Somalia, Fox News reported on Wednesday, citing a State Department memo. Fox News reported that the Trump administration has directed consular officers from 75 countries to reject visa applications under existing laws while the State Department reconsiders its screening and vetting processes. The pause will begin on January 21. “The State Department will use its long-standing authority to deem ineligible potential immigrants who would become a public charge on the United States and exploit the generosity of the American people,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Piggott told Fox News. “Immigration from these 75 countries will be paused while the State Department reassess immigration processing procedures to prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would take welfare and public benefits.” Other African countries on the list include Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Libya, Morocco, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, and Uganda. The suspension could have knock-on effects beyond immigration policy, particularly for startup founders from affected countries. African founders, particularly those from Nigeria and Egypt, may face disruptions to travel to the US for investor meetings, accelerators, conferences, and fundraising roadshows, at a time when access to global capital is already becoming more challenging. The suspension comes a week after the US announced a visa bond programme that could require applicants from more than 20 African countries, including Nigeria, to post refundable financial bonds of up to $15,000 as a condition for short-term business and tourist visas.
Read MoreAfter big rounds, Francophone Africa investors want ecosystem depth in 2026
In Francophone Africa, where venture funding is still dominated by a handful of large deals, investors say 2026 will be defined less by headline numbers and more by whether fintech interoperability, climate adaptation startups, and venture studios can turn early momentum into durable ecosystems. Francophone African startups raised at least $450 million in 2025, according to data from Africa: The Big Deal, mostly in fintech, mobility, and climate-linked services. Funding to countries such as Senegal, Benin, and Togo was driven by single outsized rounds, masking thinner deal flow at the early stage. Yet, deal counts and investor participation are rising across the continent, with over 500 investors backing startups with at least $100,000 ticket sizes. We asked three investors what they think of Francophone Africa and how they predict the tech ecosystem to grow in 2026. Fintech will remain a dominant sector Lina Kacyem, Investment manager, Launch Africa Ventures “Fintech will continue to dominate in Francophone Africa because the most impactful initiatives at a regional level are still happening in financial services. Interoperability efforts coming from the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) and the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) are a big deal. Both regions are trying to solve the same problem but in different ways, and 2026 is when we’ll really see how implementation plays out. What makes this interesting is the mix of players. You have giants like Orange Money and MTN MoMo, Wave on the other side, and then startups that have been trying to build on the interoperability layer, like Djamo and smaller players. How those dynamics evolve matters. Another major issue is cross-border payments. There is an increasing amount of inter-regional trade within the WAEMU and the CEMAC regions, but moving money is still complicated for individuals and businesses. Even moving from West African CFA to Central African CFA requires conversion into euros first. Startups trying to solve regional payments and payments to suppliers in places like China, Turkey, or Dubai, ideally while working with regulators, are tackling a real infrastructure problem. 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 Beyond fintech, logistics is one of the most interesting sectors. Many countries are investing heavily in ports, roads, and regional trade corridors, such as Lomé, Dakar, Abidjan, Cotonou, Doala, and Accra. There is an increasing effort around the inter-regional movement of goods, and that creates real opportunities. Financial services and logistics remain the most compelling sectors. Banking still works very poorly, and that gap is not going away soon. Senegal stands out because the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Dakar is already well established. You have strong institutional players, experienced VCs, and a very active diaspora in the US tech ecosystem that stays connected to what’s happening locally. There’s also meaningful government involvement, and a next wave of entrepreneurs that has been preparing for the past two to three years and is about to emerge. Morocco has built a solid early-stage ecosystem through universities, entrepreneurship centres, government support, and funding mechanisms. The challenge now is talent retention and scaling beyond the early stage. What becomes interesting is when people come back and launch companies. Moroccan startups also benefit from serving Europe, North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa at the same time. Tunisia is very similar in terms of talent and startup generation, but the economy is more fragile, which makes retaining talent harder. Still, within the Francophone ecosystem, it remains one of the stronger environments for producing startups. Benin is interesting less because of entrepreneurs coming out of the country today and more because of its ability to attract people. The government has focused on digitalising administrative processes and making it easier to set up businesses and access preferential treatment. That is starting to work. What will matter is who they manage to attract and how. Finally, in terms of funding, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon will remain notable in the ecosystem. Cameroon, for what a lot of investors note as the strength of its entrepreneurs despite a very challenging environment, and for Côte d’Ivoire, given the growth of the country.” Investor interest is broadening, but early-stage funding remains the bottleneck Maxime Bayen, Operations Partner, Catalyst Fund “Francophone African markets definitely continue to look increasingly attractive but still uneven for investors: there’s growing funding activity beyond the “Big Four,” with countries like Senegal and Benin raising significant rounds in 2025 for instance (though in these 2 cases mainly driven by 1–2 large rounds like Wave’s debt round and Spiro’s $100 million round), and targeted vehicles such as Digital Africa or Saviu directing significant portion of their capital into Francophone Africa startups. However, the ecosystem remains highly concentrated and early-stage segments are undercapitalised, with pre-seed funding unfortunately a bit stagnant—not specific to Francophone Africa though—and dependent on grants, signalling structural gaps that need to be addressed for sustained investor interest. Using Africa: The Big Deal database, in 2025, no less than 108 different investors signed cheques to startups in Francophone Africa through over 100 deals. Some of them, like Digital Africa (with over 15 deals), Axian, Plug & Play, Madica, and Janngo Capital, have been doing more than 4-5 deals across this area over the past 12 months. This is clearly more than an exploratory move. Francophone Africa is definitely on the investment radar of most active Africa-focused VCs now. According to Africa: The Big Deal database, the number of deal sizes above $100,000 in the region is now regularly above 80 each year since 2021 and
Read MoreUganda orders nationwide internet shutdown ahead of polls
Two days before Uganda’s January 15 general election, the government has ordered mobile networks and internet service providers (ISPs) to suspend public internet access, block new SIM card registrations, and stop roaming calls. In a letter dated January 13 seen by TechCabal, Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) said the measures would take effect from 6:00 pm local time on Tuesday and would remain in place until further notice. The restrictions cover social media, web browsing, video streaming, messaging apps, and other online services. Mobile data roaming is also affected. The directive follows a growing trend in Africa, where governments temporarily block internet access during elections, disrupting the daily lives of millions who rely on it for information, communication, and essential services such as mobile money payments. “The suspension applies to mobile broadband, fibre optic, leased lines, fixed wireless access, microwave radio links, and satellite internet services,” UCC executive director Nyombi Thembo said in the letter. The UCC says the move will prevent misinformation and ensure security during the election period. Only essential services, such as hospitals, banking systems, government payment platforms, and secure election systems, will be allowed to operate via dedicated IP ranges, VPNs, or private circuits, the commission stated. This isn’t the first time Uganda has restricted internet access around elections. In 2021, the government shut down the internet for over 100 hours. According to Reuters, Netblocks estimated that the almost five-day shutdown cost the Ugandan economy around $9 million. President Yoweri Museveni, 81, is seeking re-election against seven challengers, including pop star Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine. Museveni has been in power since 1986. Similar internet restrictions happened last year in Tanzania. During the 2025 general election, access to the internet, social media, and messaging apps was temporarily shut down, blocking millions from accessing bank and mobile payment networks like NALA.
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Amazon’s Kuiper satellite secures Nigerian permit to begin operations in 2026
Project Kuiper, the Amazon-owned satellite internet initiative, has taken a major step toward entering Nigeria’s broadband market after securing a landing permit from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to begin operations from 2026. Dated February 28, 2026, the seven-year landing permit authorises Kuiper to operate its space segment in Nigeria as part of a global constellation of up to 3,236 satellites. According to the NCC, the approval aligns with global best practices and reflects Nigeria’s willingness to open its satellite communications market to next-generation broadband providers. NCC’s permit to Amazon’s Kuiper. Image Source: NCC website. The permit positions Kuiper to provide satellite internet services over Nigerian territory and sets the stage for intensified competition with Starlink, currently the most visible low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite Internet provider in the country. The permit also gives Amazon LEO legal certainty to invest in ground infrastructure, local partnerships, and enterprise contracts, while signalling to the wider market that Nigeria is now a contested LEO battleground rather than a Starlink-led monopoly. For regulators, telcos, and large customers, Kuiper’s approval introduces real competitive tension—one that can reshape pricing dynamics, accelerate service rollouts, and force incumbents to raise performance standards across the satellite broadband ecosystem. When contacted for comments, a spokesperson for the Amazon team in Africa told TechCabal that they had nothing Nigeria-specific yet except what was publicly available, but would reach out when they did. “We don’t have any information to share beyond what is publicly available at this time, but we’ll sure be in touch if we announce anything,” the spokesperson noted in a Tuesday email. What the NCC approval covers The landing permit enables Amazon Kuiper to offer three categories of satellite services in Nigeria: Fixed Satellite Service (FSS), Mobile Satellite Service (MSS), and Earth Stations at Sea (ESAS). FSS enables broadband connectivity between satellites and fixed ground stations, such as homes, enterprises, telecom base stations, and government facilities. This is the core service behind satellite home internet and enterprise backhaul. MSS, by contrast, is designed for mobility and resilience. It supports direct satellite communication with portable or handheld devices and low-power terminals, typically used for emergency communications, asset tracking, maritime safety, and connectivity in remote or hostile environments. ESIM extends high-speed satellite broadband to moving platforms, including aircraft, ships, trains, and vehicles. These systems rely on sophisticated antennas that can track satellites in real time while in motion, making them critical for aviation and maritime connectivity as well as logistics and transport sectors. Together, these service categories indicate that Kuiper is not entering Nigeria as a niche rural broadband provider alone, but as a multi-segment connectivity platform targeting households, enterprises, mobility, and critical infrastructure. Why the “super-high” frequency matters Kuiper’s Nigerian permit covers operations in the Ka-band frequency range, also known as super-high frequency, with uplink frequencies between 27.5 and 30.0 GHz and downlink frequencies spanning 17.7–18.6 GHz and 18.8–20.2 GHz. These bands fall squarely within the spectrum used by modern high-throughput satellite systems. Ka-band is strategically important because it delivers far greater data capacity than older satellite frequency ranges such as C-band and Ku-band. C-band, which operates between 4 and 8 GHz, relies on large dishes and is valued for its stability and resistance to heavy rain but offers limited bandwidth. Ku-band, operating between 12 and 18 GHz, supports smaller dishes and higher speeds for broadband and television services, yet is more susceptible to weather-related interference. By contrast, Ka-band operates at higher frequencies, enabling significantly higher traffic capacity and making it better suited for modern high-speed broadband services. Higher frequencies allow wider bandwidth allocations, supporting multi-gigabit traffic capacity and dense spot-beam architectures that reuse spectrum across different regions. For users, this translates into faster speeds and lower latency. For operators, it means a lower cost per bit at scale, making satellite broadband more competitive with terrestrial alternatives in urban and semi-urban markets. The trade-off is that Ka-band signals are more sensitive to rain and atmospheric conditions, particularly in tropical regions like Nigeria. However, modern LEO constellations mitigate this through adaptive modulation, power control, and intelligent routing across multiple satellites and gateways. The significance of 100 MHz bandwidth Kuiper’s approval includes 100 MHz of bandwidth per channel, a design choice that reflects a balance between performance and cost. In LEO systems, wider channels deliver higher speeds but require more expensive and power-hungry user terminals. A 100 MHz channel is well-suited to Kuiper’s target performance. Amazon has indicated that its standard customer terminal is designed to deliver speeds of up to 400 Mbps. This bandwidth size allows reliable delivery of those speeds while keeping terminals affordable enough for mass adoption. From a regulatory perspective, dividing the spectrum into 100 MHz channels also allows Kuiper to serve multiple users simultaneously using frequency division techniques, improving overall network efficiency. Why Nigeria matters to Project Kuiper Nigeria is one of Africa’s largest untapped broadband markets. With a population exceeding 200 million, rapid urbanisation, a growing digital economy, and widespread connectivity gaps—especially in rural areas—the country presents a prime opportunity for satellite broadband operators looking to bridge underserved communities. The NCC estimates that over 23 million Nigerians live in unserved and underserved areas, and mobile broadband penetration is still at 50.58% as of November 2025. LEO satellites are particularly attractive in markets like Nigeria because they offer low latency, unlike traditional geostationary satellites. By orbiting much closer to Earth, Kuiper’s satellites reduce signal travel time, enabling real-time applications such as video conferencing, cloud services, online gaming, and financial trading. For enterprises, Kuiper’s services could support telecom backhaul, oil and gas operations, mining sites, ports, logistics corridors, and remote industrial facilities where fibre deployment is costly or impractical. Raising the stakes for Starlink Kuiper’s entry significantly raises competitive pressure on Starlink, which has enjoyed a first-mover advantage in Nigeria. While Starlink has rapidly built brand recognition and a growing subscriber base with over 66,000 subscribers, making it the second-largest internet service subscriber, Amazon brings a different kind of competitive muscle. Amazon officially rebranded Project Kuiper to Amazon Leo
Read More23 million underserved Nigerians could go online if spectrum reform works
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)’s newly released 2025–2030 Spectrum Roadmap aims to bring broadband to 23 million people across 87 unserved and underserved clusters, according to the Universal Service Provision Fund, Nigeria’s primary financial vehicle for closing the digital divide. The roadmap, released in December 2025, sets out how Nigeria plans to allocate, price and deploy radio spectrum over the next five years. Spectrum, the invisible resource that powers mobile networks, satellites and wireless internet, is one of the most powerful tools available to the government to shape connectivity outcomes. The NCC bets that reforming how this resource is managed can unlock rural broadband coverage that market forces alone have failed to deliver. At its core, the roadmap answers a pressing question: how can Nigeria make it commercially viable for operators to serve communities that have long been considered too remote, too sparsely populated or too expensive to connect? Why spectrum reform matters now Nigeria crossed 50% broadband penetration in 2025, but that milestone masks deep geographic inequality. Urban centres enjoy multiple layers of 4G and growing 5G coverage, while many rural areas still rely on patchy 2G or remain completely offline. The challenge is not demand—millions of Nigerians want connectivity—but cost. Building towers, laying fibre and powering base stations in rural terrain is expensive, and returns are slower. The NCC’s roadmap frames spectrum reform as a supply-side intervention. By lowering the cost and complexity of deploying networks, especially in low-income and high-cost regions, the regulator hopes to tilt investment decisions in favour of rural expansion. The policy prioritises efficient use of low-band spectrum below 1 gigahertz (GHz), which travels longer distances and requires fewer base stations, making it particularly suited for rural coverage. Flexible licencing is another key pillar of the policy. Rather than forcing operators into rigid, one-size-fits-all deployment models, the NCC plans to allow spectrum use to reflect local realities. The regulator is also weighing targeted incentives for operators that extend coverage into hard-to-reach areas, using regulatory levers to shift investment where it is most needed. “Overall, Nigeria’s evolving spectrum landscape demonstrates that long-term market leaders have built spectrum depth through sustained investment, early technology adoption, and consistent participation across multiple assignment cycles—ranging from refarmed GSM holdings to digital dividend and capacity bands,” the NCC said in its roadmap. From edge case to core strategy A notable shift in the roadmap is the elevation of satellite connectivity from a complementary option to a core pillar of national coverage. The NCC acknowledges that terrestrial networks alone cannot economically reach every part of Nigeria. Low-Earth Orbit satellite systems are expected to play a growing role in connecting remote schools, health facilities and communities where fibre and towers are impractical. The Commission also plans to optimise existing geostationary satellite assets and explore high-altitude platforms and other non-terrestrial technologies for mobile backhaul. These alternatives could reduce reliance on expensive fibre links and lower the overall cost of rural network operations. This approach reflects a broader rethinking of what “universal access” looks like in a country with Nigeria’s size and geography. Connectivity, under the roadmap, does not have to be delivered through a single technology, so long as service quality and affordability targets are met. The pricing question While the NCC presents the roadmap as an investment-friendly framework, operators say execution, especially around pricing, will determine whether the policy succeeds. Gbenga Adebayo, president of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), which represents the four biggest mobile network operators, including MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and T2 Mobile, argues that spectrum pricing remains one of the biggest risks to network expansion. According to Adebayo, evidence from global markets shows that when spectrum prices are set too high, consumers ultimately pay the price through slower rollouts, weaker coverage and higher service costs. “Radio spectrum is a scarce and valuable resource,” Adebayo told TechCabal. “ But when spectrum prices are too high, consumers suffer from slower mobile data speeds, worse coverage and delayed deployment. That directly undermines digital inclusion and the National Broadband Plan.” ALTON has pushed for what it calls “reasonably objective” spectrum pricing, arguing that affordable access to sufficient spectrum is essential for delivering high-quality mobile broadband services. Closely linked to pricing is the industry’s call for instalment-based payment options. In Nigeria, spectrum licences are typically paid for upfront and in full, a model operators say drains capital that could otherwise be invested in network rollout. Adebayo notes that, apart from one exception, the upfront payment model has left operators with limited funds to meet coverage obligations after winning spectrum. Licence refarming challenges ALTON is also urging the NCC to align licence durations with global best practice. Citing GSMA research, the group argues that long-term licences—often 20 years or more—provide the certainty needed for large-scale network investments, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, where payback periods are long. Another flashpoint is spectrum refarming. As demand for 4G and 5G grows, operators need the flexibility to repurpose spectrum currently tied to legacy 2G and 3G services. Technology-neutral licensing, ALTON says, would allow operators to upgrade networks at a pace driven by market demand, maximising the social and economic impact of mobile broadband. The industry group has also raised concerns about how spectrum assignments are handled. Under current practice, some spectrum lots are auctioned while others are administratively assigned. ALTON says this has created opportunities for arbitrage, where entities acquire spectrum without plans to deploy networks, only to trade it later for profit. The NCC did not respond to requests for comments on the concerns raised by ALTON. Quality of experience, not just coverage Beyond access, the roadmap places growing emphasis on the quality of experience. The NCC has committed to nationwide minimum data speed thresholds by the end of the decade, alongside improvements in reliability and service consistency. Achieving those targets will require more than new spectrum. The roadmap prioritises stronger fibre backhaul to base stations, better integration of existing networks and redundancy through microwave links in hard-to-reach areas. Spectrum trading guidelines are also
Read MoreIdo Sum on what Africa’s VC industry needs to do achieve scale like US and Israel
Long before Africa’s venture capital (VC) ecosystem became as visible as it is today, Ido Sum was already helping shape it. As one of the earliest partners at TLcom Capital, an Africa-focused venture firm managing over $250 million, Sum spent 14 years investing across the continent and helping define the firm’s strategy from its London office. During that time, he led investments in several African startups and served on the boards of four companies: Zone, a blockchain-powered payments infrastructure provider; uLesson, a Nigerian edtech platform; Littlefish, a South African fintech; and Ilara Health, a Kenyan startup expanding access to affordable diagnostics. In September 2025, Sum announced that he was leaving TLcom after 14 years at the firm. Two months later, he published a widely circulated essay arguing that Africa’s VC industry is not broken despite the scarcity of large, repeatable exits, but simply earlier than many investors are willing to admit. While Sum does not shy away from the truth that if African tech investors can’t systematically return capital, the venture cycle will break and the industry will eventually fold, he places the continent’s VC ecosystem at a comparable stage to the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s, Israel in the 1980s and 1990s, Europe in the late 1990s, or India in the early 2000s—markets that only matured after decades of iteration. Sum argued that these ecosystems matured through decades of repetition, deep pools of capital, non-equity financing, a funnel that allowed progression, domestic acquirers, and a growing base of experienced operators. Africa, by contrast, remains in what he calls “Act One” with a thinner startup funnel, smaller and largely local exits, limited institutional scaffolding, and a talent bench still under development. The mistake, Sum argues, is pretending otherwise. Africa’s venture industry, he says, needs to stop behaving like it is in “Act Three” and instead design funds, strategies, and expectations that reflect current realities while deliberately building toward the next chapter. In our conversation, Sum expands on these ideas, unpacking the distortions created by impact-heavy capital, the risks of funding everything with equity—over-dilution and inflated valuations—and why capital efficiency matters even more in fragmented markets with limited exit options. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You worked at TLcom for well over a decade. Why now—after leaving TLcom—did you decide to write this piece about Africa’s VC ecosystem? Was there a specific deal, conversation, or experience that made you sit down and write it? It was a collection of many conversations and interactions over the years, and also trying to reflect. Before that, it’s important to state that people who were close to me and worked with me had heard a lot of this before. I presented parts of this data at Oxford, where I gave a lecture in a course for managers within the African tech ecosystem. I’ve shared parts of this internally before and in conversations with people. So most of it wasn’t a surprise to people who have worked closely with me. I just had the time now—time I didn’t have before—to sit down, think it through, substantiate some things that were previously more intuition-based, and put them together. It was half for myself, but also with the hope that, on a good day, it would strike a conversation. I’m not saying my view is the right or only view. I just felt this needed to be voiced and put somewhere as a reference so we can have a conversation about it. If you had to compress the entire essay into one sentence—advice for founders and VCs—what would you say? Think independently and challenge your thinking with data. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be aspirational or ambitious, but my advice is to think independently and integrate data into your thesis-building. What’s your bar for a fund being good in Africa? The same bar as everywhere else. Return a lot of money. You say VC is a very simple business—you take $1 from LPs and return $3. In your experience, has that been realistic for Africa, given currency devaluation, how early the ecosystem is, and systemic challenges? Of course, the one and three are oversimplified. But there are a few simple truths about the business. Historically, venture capital has been a pretty poor asset class globally—not just in Africa. The top-performing funds are outliers, but at an industry level, returns have struggled. I don’t assume the average return of African VC will be 3x—it’s not that anywhere in the world, and it won’t be here. But we do need several outlier funds that can hit or exceed that at scale. Returning five times a million dollars is very different from returning five times fifty or five hundred million. Success, to me, is having a few funds that show global-level returns on meaningful amounts of capital. Without that, attracting global capital will remain hard. It’s a chicken-and-egg problem, but if we can’t show returns at scale, it’ll be extremely hard to attract non-concessionary capital. I agree it’s a chicken-and-egg problem. There have been signs of returns, but mostly via secondaries. How do isolated returns become more widespread, and can secondaries deliver that at scale? There’s a scale issue. Returning a high multiple on a small amount is very different from doing so on a large amount. For 5x $50k, someone needs to pay you $250k. To 5x $5 million, someone needs to pay you $25 million. That’s a massive difference. We’ve seen reasonable secondary returns on small invested amounts, not systematically on large ones. To see that, you need large growth rounds in the hundreds of millions, where tens of millions can come off the table. We’re not systematic there yet. Much of the capital comes from DFIs with impact mandates. Does that reduce accountability around returns? It’s not an accountability issue. None of us would be here without DFIs—they were the first money in. Intuitively, they’re probably 70–75% of the capital in the ecosystem. That matters. But it often creates friction. DFIs push
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