Safaricom is quietly adding utility services into M-PESA super app
Safaricom is quietly changing how its customers use digital products by moving everyday services into its flagship M-PESA app, raising questions about the future of its long-running self-care platform, the mySafaricom app. This week, users began noticing that functions once exclusive to the mySafaricom app—such as airtime purchases and home internet management—appear inside the M-PESA super app. The overlap looks minor, but the shift signals a deeper rethink of how Kenya’s largest telecom operator wants subscribers to interact with its digital ecosystem. Launched in 2016, mySafaricom app was marketed as the all-purpose self-care app for anyone with a Safaricom line. Five years later, Safaricom introduced the M-PESA app, which the company described as a financial tool for payments, savings, loans, and global transactions. mySafaricom has M-PESA services, but only in stripped-down form. The super app, by contrast, has evolved into a broader marketplace, hosting mini apps for ticket booking, shopping, insurance, and more. It also carries PayPal withdrawals and GlobalPay, a Visa-backed virtual card that lets customers pay international merchants like Netflix. Yet gaps remain. Subscribers can’t configure Safaricom’s 4G and 5G routers directly on the M-PESA super app; Home Fibre, for instance, is still accessible only via a mini app, leaving mySafaricom still relevant. Safaricom has been experimenting internally for months to close these gaps, according to people familiar with the telco’s operations. The company is now seeking customer feedback on the updated M-PESA app’s design, look, and navigation. This step may test whether users are ready to manage everything—from internet and airtime to loans and global payments—inside one platform. For now, Safaricom hasn’t said whether it plans to retire the mySafaricom app. Another complication is that the two apps are developed by separate teams. The telco did not respond to a request for comment. M-PESA remains Safaricom’s biggest growth driver. The platform now commands over 35 million active users in Kenya, with millions relying on the M-PESA app for daily transactions. In the year to March 2025, the app processed KES 2.3 trillion ($17.9 billion), pushing M-PESA’s revenue up more than 15.2% to KES 161.1 billion ($1.26 billion). That lift, combined with rising spend per user at KES 395.22 ($3.10), means the service now brings in nearly half of Safaricom’s Kenyan revenue, well ahead of the shrinking voice and SMS business it once depended on. Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15–16! Join Africa’s top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Early bird tickets now 20% off—don’t snooze! moonshot.techcabal.com
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GITEX Nigeria: Resilience, a word used one too many
Two years after Lagos governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu first floated the idea of hosting GITEX Africa, the continent’s biggest startup show, in Lagos, his dream has finally materialised. He was beaming with happiness as he toured the exhibition area at Eko Hotel and Suites on Wednesday, and later declared on stage, “Lagos is not just a city for today – it is Africa’s innovation nerve centre and a launchpad for Africa’s tomorrow.” Many speakers who came before and after him echoed Lagos’s potential—home to over 600 startups and the birthplace of unicorns—and almost all tagged Nigerian founders with the familiar label: resilient. That word, resilience, hung heavily in the air and was offered as both an explanation and a badge of honour for why Nigerian founders survive. Over the course of two days, Lagos hosted dual events: GITEX Nigeria Tech Expo and Future Economy Conference at the Eko Hotel Convention Centre, and GITEX Nigeria Startup Festival at the Landmark Centre simultaneously. Image Source: @NITDANigeria/X. Trixie LohMirmand, EVP of Dubai World Trade Centre and CEO of KAOUN International, organisers of GITEX Nigeria, described Lagos as “a mega high-speed technology testbed that is dense, diverse, and demanding, where SMEs, startups, and entrepreneurs succeed not by conventional rules but by distinctiveness and necessity-driven innovation.” Kashifu Inuwa, Director-General/CEO of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), admitted that while founders in other parts of the world used capital infrastructure to fuel innovation, those in Nigeria needed resilience. “Because we have no options, and we need to create the solutions. We are ready for it. As a nation, our vision is clear,” he said. “Nigeria and Lagos in particular are a crucible of innovation, where raw talent meets the unshakeable will to succeed, a factory of unicorns. Lagos is the place where people use talent and come up with solutions without infrastructure.” While this rhetoric made sense on the surface, ecosystem players are tired, and during the first panel session at GITEX Nigeria in Eko Hotel, Olu Olufemi-White, CEO of Alami Capital, an investment and advisory firm, put it plainly: “We need a federal government innovation fund. A fund that is intentional, that is of the standard that you would find at the top institutions across the world.” Directing a plea to NITDA, she said, “We want you to fund those who will build the today and the future of this nation. For a nation to progress, it must intentionally invest in innovation. When the public sector moves, private capital follows.” Nigerian startups raised $410 million in foreign capital in 2024, with fintech Moniepoint raising $110 million to achieve unicorn status. She noted that the government needs to start using its money as a signal, not just words: “We are resilient, but support us by backing us with capital. Because what you do is you signal to the world that you have confidence in our innovation.” Government-backed funds are needed in startup ecosystems as they serve as patient capital and help strengthen public-private sector relationships. Image Source: GITEX Nigeria/X. For Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, founding partner, Future Africa, a pan-African-focused fund, investment in startups is not just nation-building but also lucrative. “It is necessary for the government to actually invest, because they will make a lot of money from it.” He said beyond investing in startups, the government must urgently fund human capital, while noting the work it is already doing with the Three Million Technical Talent (3MTT) program. “We cannot afford to graduate fewer than 4,000 STEM graduates while China is graduating 3.8 million,” he said. Aboyeji noted that many unicorns from the country were the result of exceptional talent. “Talent is very key, but we need to fund talent. So we need capital,” Olufemi-White of Alami Capital added. NITDA’s Inuwa argues that the government has not been passive. He pointed to the Nigeria Startup Act and even the Central Bank of Nigeria’s 2012 cashless policy, which he credited with sparking the rise of fintechs in Lagos. He, however, noted that the need to further reinvent the social contract between the government and the tech ecosystem still exists. In March 2025, Nigeria and Japan announced plans to establish a $40 million fund investing in early-stage technology startups. The Nigeria Startup ACT has provisions for seed funding of up to ₦10 billion annually. Lagos, meanwhile, isn’t waiting. “Here in Lagos, we are creating that future,” Sanwo-Olu said. The state wants to fill that gap with its proposed innovation fund—1.5% of its annual capital budget—to replace fragmented pools like the ₦1 billion Lagos State Science Research and Innovation Council (LASRIC) fund and provide a real lifeline to over 600 startups and research institutions, especially as foreign investments dry up. Startups in Lagos attracted over $252 million in 2024, and as of December 2024, LASRIC had disbursed $330,000 to support more than 40 startups. “Governance in the 21st century must be digital, inclusive, and data-driven,” Sanwo-Olu added. While GITEX Lagos is meant to serve as a bridge between local startups and foreign investors, it also presents the perfect platform for the ecosystem to ask the government to put its money where its mouth is. Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15–16! Join Africa’s top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Early bird tickets now 20% off—don’t snooze! moonshot.techcabal.com
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Zimbabwean ChatCash enters the ‘conversational commerce’ chat
In Harare’s informal markets, business happens in social media chatboxes. A grocery vendor takes orders over WhatsApp, a carpenter closes deals on Facebook Messenger, and payments are made either in cash or via mobile wallets such as EcoCash. For thousands of Zimbabwe’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), these chats are the backbone of commerce, but they rarely translate into seamless, scalable business operations. That is the gap ChatCash, a Zimbabwean startup, wants to close. Established in 2023, ChatCash helps businesses from small to big, embed payments, sales, and customer management tools directly into the places where people already transact, like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, without the need for extra software or platforms. John Sakala, an engineer-turned-founder of ChatCash, told TechCabal that the company is betting on the conversational future of African commerce. “Business here is built on relationships, and those relationships are nurtured in chat,” Sakala said. Although ChatCash is betting on Africa’s 44 million SMEs, many of them still lack the digital tools to automate payments and customer engagement. “Yet most of them are already doing business through conversations. We just needed to turn those chats into commerce,” Sakala says. He believes the ChatCash model can reframe how Africa thinks about digital commerce, not app-first, but conversation-first. Global players like Meta and TikTok and local players like Nigeria’s Bumpa and Kenya’s Chpter are already creating similar solutions for merchants across the continent. But Sakala says that ChatCash localises its model for Africa’s markets by focusing on businesses that may not own a business page, but will respond instantly to a customer pinging them on WhatsApp or Facebook. The startup is also layering in payments and financial services by tying chat-based interactions to credit, wallets, and multi-language support. At its core, ChatCash offers three products. Firstly, a suite for SMEs that enables catalog creation, invoicing, order tracking, AI-powered customer relationship management (CRM), and integrated payments across platforms like EcoCash, InnBucks, Visa, and Mastercard. Secondly, tools for individuals in local languages such as Shona or Ndebele. It also helps users discover verified nearby businesses. Lastly a backend layer for banks and regulators, using AI trained on African transaction data to detect fraud and cut transaction costs. Did Bumpa just lay the foundation for conversational commerce in Africa? Built for African languages Sakala says that ChatCash’s system is designed specifically for African contexts. Its natural language models cover Shona and Ndebele, with 95% accuracy in detecting what the user is trying to communicate. That allows traders to respond to buyers in the languages they trust. The AI also does more than translate. It drives sales through “Smart Catalogs” that he says have increased client sales by up to 30%, and uses geospatial intent mapping to connect queries like “headache” with the nearest pharmacy. Meanwhile, its spam-filtering models cut irrelevant messages by 70%, giving businesses more time to focus on real customers. Navigating Zimbabwe’s regulatory maze Building such a product in Zimbabwe, though, is no small feat. Sakala says the Reserve Bank requires fintech startups to pass through a regulatory sandbox. “Licenses are expensive, just applying for USSD access costs $55,000, while a full payment operator license can run into the millions, “he says. To get around that, ChatCash has been working as an aggregator, plugging businesses into existing banks and payment providers. The company partners with ZB Bank locally and South Africa’s Secure Trust for compliance. Microsoft also stepped in with technical support and cloud resources worth over $1 million, allowing the team to train machine learning models that power its AI. Even with those partnerships, Sakala admits the path is uphill. “The fees are high, but the opportunity is so much bigger,” he says. “We are solving a tangible, continent-wide problem.” Making money in Zimbabwe’s volatile economy Zimbabwe’s volatile economy would seem like hostile terrain for a fintech. But Sakala argues that ChatCash’s model of serving businesses and their customers simultaneously makes it resilient. “We are B2B2C,” he explains. “When businesses grow through us, their customers benefit too. So even in tough times, there is demand.” ChatCash claims it has 1,000+ paying businesses on the platform and more than 8,000 onboarded in total. Its clients include NGOs managing poultry farming cooperatives, SMEs running retail shops and household brands like Simbisa Brands (operators of fast-food outlets across Africa) and the Rainbow Tourism Group. ChatCash earns revenue through performance-based fees tied to client sales targets, monthly subscription averaging $125 per business, and premium add-ons like voice AI. The startup also sells enterprise-scale APIs and white-label solutions to banks, retailers, and governments. 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How foreign governments and Big Tech are racing to shape Africa’s AI future
In August, the ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) drew African attention for an unusual announcement: Japan proposed designating several of its domestic cities as “official hometowns” for Africans from Ghana, Nigeria, and Mozambique. The symbolic gesture is part of a broader push to deepen economic collaboration and cultural ties. Tokyo also made some other important pledges that day. It promised to train 30,000 African artificial intelligence experts over the next three years, a move aimed at easing the continent’s acute talent shortage while embedding Japanese technology and corporations in Africa’s fast-emerging AI economy, estimated to reach $16.53 billion by 2030. This commitment reflects a larger pattern. Despite Africa’s modest 2.5% share of the global AI market, the continent remains a magnet for foreign governments, multinational companies, and international NGOs. The lack of domestic support for infrastructure, talent, and financing leaves the field open for others to shape how AI is adopted and developed on the continent. From Ottawa to Tokyo to Silicon Valley, external actors are investing heavily to influence how AI is developed, deployed, and governed in Africa. Canada’s long bet Among Africa’s most consistent AI backers is Canada, mainly through its International Development Research Centre (IDRC), which funds research and innovation in low-income countries. Over half of the IDRC’s $282 million budget supports AI-focused projects in Africa. According to an IDRC policy paper, “research not only advances sustainable development in Africa but also builds a stronger future partner for Canada.” As of June 2024, the IDRC has about 82 active projects across countries such as Nigeria, Senegal, Kenya, and Rwanda. The impact is visible on the ground. At the University of Lagos, computer scientist Chika Yinka-Banjo heads an AI and Robotics lab established with IDRC support. Her recent AI in Education project, building personalised learning assistants for Nigerian students, is one of many responsible AI-focused projects funded by the Canadian institution. In South Africa, at the University of Pretoria, another IDRC-supported group is shaping how intellectual property laws can support inclusive, Africa-focused AI innovation. By filling critical funding gaps, Canada has positioned itself as a trusted, long-term partner in shaping Africa’s AI landscape. Japan’s talent diplomacy Ahead of TICAD, Japan’s development agency JICA released a report underscoring a key question: “Who will build, manage, and scale the continent’s AI future?” Its answer is the 30,000-expert programme that will place Japanese universities and companies at the centre of Africa’s talent ecosystem for the next three years. The scheme will draw in the top 20 to 30 African universities, with students trained in handling large datasets and applying AI to business. Graduates are expected to move between African startups and Japanese corporations. The model pairs human capital development with market access, a strategy that could spread Japanese AI standards across African businesses and economies. Italy’s different approach to diplomacy Under the 2024 “Mattei Plan,” Rome is attempting to reframe its Africa policy away from traditional aid programmes towards partnership and innovation-focused investments. Senator Adolfo Urso, Italian Minister of Enterprises, says the country will strengthen Africa’s AI ecosystem by supporting 500,000 African startups with computing power over the next three years. The AI Hub for Sustainable Development, supported by Italy, will also commence a six-month-long compute accelerator programme in October to support 120 AI early-stage ventures on the continent with compute needs, technical mentorship, and opportunities for international partnerships. Big Tech is also making big investments Global technology giants are also racing to stake claims. In July, Google pledged $37 million to boost AI development across Africa, including $1 million each for the University of Pretoria and Wits University in South Africa to support research projects. Microsoft also announced a $1 billion initiative to build a geothermal data centre in Kenya alongside projects to develop language models in local languages. African players are not absent. In April, Cassava Technologies, a tech company founded by Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa, announced plans to partner with Nvidia, the leading U.S.-based chip designer, to build AI-ready data centres across South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, and Morocco. The deal is valued at approximately $720 million. The sovereignty question Africa’s AI momentum is undeniable, but the imbalance in who funds and builds it raises questions. Foreign governments and corporations are already driving the establishment of research labs, data centres, and even regulatory frameworks. Without deliberate investment from domestic governments and institutions, Africa risks outsourcing not just its infrastructure but also its sovereignty over how AI is deployed. On September 1, Nigeria’s minister of communications, digital economy and innovation, Bosun Tijani, called on African governments to unify their efforts to build AI infrastructure on the continent to help ensure nations still catching up avoid getting left further behind in the AI era. Unlocking the continent’s AI potential will require careful collaboration: leveraging external resources while building local capacity, ensuring that Africa’s AI future is not only imported, but owned. Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15–16! Join Africa’s top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Early bird tickets now 20% off—don’t snooze! moonshot.techcabal.com
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New platform connects visually impaired people needing assistive devices with donors
Access Tech Innovation and Research Center, a Lagos-based non-profit focused on digital inclusion for blind individuals, has launched GiveTechToTheBlind, a new platform designed to connect blind people who need assistive technology with donors willing to fund these devices. The platform, launched on Tuesday, enables blind users to request assistive tech products from talking wrist watches to smart canes and donors to pay directly for items, ensuring transparency and tailored support. According to the Nigeria Optometric Association (NOA), there are about seven million blind Nigerians, making the country home to one of the largest populations of blind individuals in Africa. As a stepping stone to better living, Nigeria has the Discrimination Against Persons With Disabilities Prohibition Act. Yet, many face significant barriers to independence. Persons with disabilities in Nigeria often experience high levels of unemployment and limited access to income, which makes it difficult to afford even basic assistive tools. A white cane now costs at least $12, while software like the JAWS screen reader, which enables blind people to use computers and access the internet, ranges between $350–$450. Many blind Nigerians cannot access the devices that would enable them to participate fully in everyday activities. Akinola said this challenge inspired the creation of GiveTechToTheBlind, adding that while many visually impaired people cannot afford assistive devices, willing donors often don’t know where to find those in need or where to purchase the right tools. “There are many people who would love to support visually impaired persons by providing assistive tech devices, but they don’t know how to reach them or even where to get these devices,” he said. “The platform bridges that gap, connecting willing donors directly to verified needs.” Here’s how it works: A visually impaired person registers on the platform and submits a request for a specific assistive device. Access Tech professionals then verify the request to ensure it is genuine and matches the person’s needs. Once a donor pays for the item, the recipient is notified and invited to collect it at an Access Tech center, where they must present a valid national ID before receiving the device. Although GiveTechToTheBlind is built to scale across Africa, Akinola said Access Tech chose to launch in Nigeria first to test the model and refine it before expanding elsewhere. “We thought about other African countries, but we need to start from home first to gain traction before scaling to other parts of Africa,” he said. “Assistive technology is essential for every visually impaired person, but the structure we have on ground right now can only support Nigeria. With partnerships and support, we know we will scale quickly to other African countries.” GiveTechToTheBlind is Access Tech’s flagship initiative and builds on its other programs, including digital skills training and an Assistive Technology Experience Center, where visually impaired people can explore and learn to use different devices. Since its launch, the platform has attracted over 50 blind people who have registered. Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15–16! Join Africa’s top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Early bird tickets now 20% off—don’t snooze! moonshot.techcabal.com
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KrosAI is building for Africans without smartphones
In a village in Nigeria, where poor internet connectivity makes access to most apps difficult, a phone call to a local number could connect users to an AI assistant. In turn, real-time information, healthcare, and banking services become accessible in a few seconds. That’s the future Joshua Firima is chasing with his startup, KrosAI. For years, Nigeria’s startup space was dominated by fintech promising to ‘bank the unbanked’ and solve payment problems for businesses. This era led to the rise of players like Opay, Moniepoint, and Paystack. Still, by 2023, financial inclusion in the country was still at 64%, well below the 95% target set by the Nigerian government. Firima believes the next frontier in banking and other industries is making artificial intelligence accessible to Africans overlooked by Silicon Valley’s English-first products. “A decade ago, Africa’s biggest challenge for businesses was payments,” Firima said. Now, these businesses want to expand across emerging markets, but language barriers hold them back from reaching markets where attracting customers requires knowing local languages. “Without the tools to connect with customers in their local languages, growth stalls and opportunities are missed,” Firima says. KrosAI’s bet is that voice is the main way to bring AI tools into everyday life on the continent. Its flagship product, Oracle, is designed to help banks, telcos, e-commerce players, healthcare providers, and other businesses speak directly to customers in their own accents and native languages. The entrepreneurship journey “I’ve been an entrepreneur all my life,” he says. Firima’s entrepreneurship journey began when smartphone brands like Infinix and Tecno started gaining prominence in Africa. He would help people install applications and games on their phones. Then, in 2019, he decided to build a team to make and sell software products. The team launched a drag-and-drop website builder to help non-coders build their own websites. The business was eventually acquired after 10 months. “That was my first exit as an entrepreneur,” he said. Firima still liked the challenge and lessons of entrepreneurship and continued building. In 2022, he launched a tool called Moosbu, which was intended to be a ‘super business app for SMEs.’ Get the best African tech newsletters in your inbox Country Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Antarctic Territory British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Canton and Enderbury Islands Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos [Keeling] Islands Colombia Comoros Congo – Brazzaville Congo – Kinshasa Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Côte d’Ivoire Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Dronning Maud Land East Germany Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories French Southern and Antarctic Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong SAR China Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Johnston Island Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau SAR China Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Metropolitan France Mexico Micronesia Midway Islands Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar [Burma] Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles Neutral Zone New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island North Korea North Vietnam Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pacific Islands Trust Territory Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Panama Canal Zone Papua New Guinea Paraguay People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen Peru Philippines Pitcairn Islands Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Réunion Saint Barthélemy Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria São Tomé and Príncipe Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu U.S. Minor Outlying Islands U.S. Miscellaneous Pacific Islands U.S. Virgin Islands Uganda Ukraine Union of Soviet Socialist Republics United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Unknown or Invalid Region Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Wake Island Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Åland Islands ?> Gender Male Female Others TC Daily Events TC Scoop <!– Next Wave –> <!– Entering Tech –> Subscribe Moosbu was a banking-as-a-service platform that enabled small businesses to set up online stores, manage logistics, access payments and accounts, and utilise AI-powered marketing tools. However, during Nigeria’s 2023 cash crunch, when digital payments slowed, players like Moniepoint and Opay overtook the market. Dependent on partner banks, Firima realised they couldn’t compete on speed and began to lose customers quickly. “We started looking for other external ideas and how we can still add value to businesses, both in terms of revenue and impact.” They pivoted, setting the stage for KrosAI. Filling language gaps When ChatGPT gained prominence in 2023, Firima noticed a blind spot in AI tools developed by Big Tech. “Most AI tools were designed for high-resource languages,” he says. The problem hit him while freelancing on Fiverr. A client in The Gambia dropped him because their conversations, filtered through Google Translate, never quite made sense. “We were talking,” he recalls, “but we weren’t understanding each other.” That experience pushed him towards fine-tuning open-source models with local language data and building a text-generation prototype. But he soon realised the bigger opportunity: voice. “Before you even learn how to write, you already know how to speak,” he says. KrosAI is building voice and
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Lelapa AI’s Jade Abbott is building AI that speaks African languages
The first computer Jade Abbott ever touched was not new. It was a patched-together machine her father had rescued piece by piece, a boxy hardware that buzzed loudly and crashed often. Abbott remembers sitting for hours in front of the flickering screen, not to play games, but to ask questions no one around her could answer. “It fascinated me. I am like, how? I know it’s made of zeros and ones. How can it do all these things? When she was not tinkering with the family computer, Abbott was losing herself in the world of science fiction. Shows like Star Trek fed her curiosity about machines that could talk back. It was not fantasy for her; it was about possibility. At first, her dream was to build a robot pal, but as she grew older, Abbot realised what she really wanted was to understand how language and intelligence could live inside a machine. “At some stage, I pivoted from building a robot friend to building tools that could help us communicate better. And that became my passion in a very deep way,” she says. That curiosity has positioned Abbott as a leading voice in Africa’s race to build local language artificial intelligence. Today, she is the co-founder and CTO of Lelapa AI, the South African startup building language models for African languages, tools she believes can bridge one of the continent’s deepest divides, communication. 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She read passionately, experimented constantly, and developed a deep sense of curiosity. But what drew her most powerfully was language. As she grew older, she realised her work was not only technical, it was deeply personal. “I grew up without being able to speak our own languages,” she says. Her work at Lelapa AI is a response to that absence, driven by questions that still haunt her: Why did I not learn this? Why was it never taught? What does that say about the society we live in? For Abbott, building Lelapa AI is more than innovation. She is creating the tools she once needed herself, and bridges for others to connect, reclaim, and belong. Building Lelapa When Lelapa AI was founded, Abbott and her co-founders had to decide where to place their bets. All had backgrounds in AI, but Abbott also brought her co-founder experience at Masakhane, a grassroots research collective advancing natural language processing (NLP) for African languages. Her conviction was that if Africa could solve language barriers, it could unlock every other application of AI. “Language is the enabler,” she says. “If we get it right, we improve quality of life across the continent.” Lelapa AI builds language tools that make African tech more accessible and inclusive, with real-world impact in education, healthcare, and civic engagement. Their models support translation, voice interfaces, and local-language access to digital services, helping people navigate systems in their own tongues. As CTO, Abbott does not just oversee engineers and researchers. She also works closely on data, identifying, collecting, and curating the linguistic raw material needed to train models that can handle the complexities of isiZulu, Yoruba, Twi, or Amharic. But stepping into leadership demanded new muscles. “The hardest part has been letting go of code,” she
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Interopérabilité en Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre : une nouvelle ère pour le secteur financier
2 septembre 2025 Welcome to The Next Wave: Francophone Africa, your weekly look at the tech ecosystem in French-speaking Africa. This newsletter is in French by default, but you can click the button below to read an English version. Bonjour , Cette semaine, nous nous intéressons aux paiements et à l’interopérabilité en Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre. Un changement est en cours, susceptible de transformer la façon dont les gens transfèrent de l’argent entre la CEMAC (Communauté économique et monétaire de l’Afrique centrale) et l’UEMOA (Union économique et monétaire ouest-africaine). Pendant des années, l’adoption de l’argent mobile a connu une croissance fulgurante, mais chaque opérateur a maintenu son système fermé. Envoyer de l’argent d’Orange à Wave, ou de Moov à MTN, impliquait souvent des coûts élevés, voire aucune option. Les banques centrales interviennent désormais. Grâce à de nouvelles règles, les portefeuilles et les banques seront connectés entre les pays et les opérateurs. Cela promet des transferts moins chers, une concurrence accrue et un système financier plus ouvert. Qu’est-ce que cela signifie pour les banques, les fintechs et les opérateurs d’argent mobile comme Wave, dont l’avantage initial résidait dans la construction d’un réseau solide et fermé? À travers une étude de cas sur la licorne fintech, cette édition explore les répercussions de l’interopérabilité sur le commerce électronique, l’agritech et les transferts de fonds, et pose la question: s’agit-il vraiment d’une nouvelle ère pour la finance numérique en Afrique francophone? Allons-y. Read in English 1. Interopérabilité : qu’est-ce que c’est et pourquoi est-ce crucial ? Dans le secteur de la finance numérique, l’interopérabilité désigne la capacité des acteurs financiers (banques, fintechs, opérateurs de mobile money) à effectuer des transactions fluides et instantanées entre leurs systèmes. Cela signifie qu’un utilisateur de Wave, Orange Money, Moov Money ou de toute autre plateforme mobile peut désormais envoyer de l’argent instantanément et en toute sécurité à un utilisateur d’une autre plateforme, sans frais de transfert supplémentaires, et ce quel que soit le pays ou l’opérateur d’une zone donnée (nous nous concentrerons ici sur les zones CEMAC et UEMOA). Ce concept est essentiel en Afrique, où le mobile money a explosé ces dix dernières années. Mais cette croissance s’est souvent produite au sein d’écosystèmes fermés, contrôlés par des opérateurs dominants, créant ainsi des silos. Pourquoi c’est important : Elle favorise l’inclusion financière, surtout en zone rurale. Elle réduit les coûts pour les consommateurs. Elle stimule la concurrence et l’innovation. Elle pose les bases d’une économie numérique unifiée à l’échelle régionale. Les deux grandes zones CFA en Afrique sont gérées par deux banques centrales: La BEAC et la BCEAO, qui chacune à leur tour avait lancé des initiatives vers l’interopérabilité. 2. L’interopérabilité imposée par la BEAC et la BCEAO Dès 2018, la BEAC a publié l’instruction 001/GR/2018, définissant l’interopérabilité des paiements monétiques (mobile money, cartes bancaires, virements) à travers le système GIMAC. En avril 2020, le gouverneur Abbas Mahamat Tolli a annoncé que l’interopérabilité mobile au sein de la zone CEMAC est désormais opérationnelle. Le GIMACPAY, système monétique intégré, est commercialisé depuis juillet 2020, avec 79 participants (opérateurs, banques, PSP). Pour la zone en Afrique de l’ouest, dans l’espace UEMOA, la Banque Centrale des États de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (BCEAO) a lancé en 2021 un vaste projet d’interopérabilité régionale. En 2024, ce projet a débouché sur un cadre réglementaire obligatoire pour tous les opérateurs, obligeant tous les acteurs du mobile money et de la finance numérique à devenir interopérables. La mise en place de GIMACPAY rend désormais possible l’envoi d’argent entre utilisateurs de différents comptes (wallets ou bancaires), dans toute la zone CEMAC, comme au sein de l’UEMOA. À la différence de l’UEMOA où Wave dominait, en CEMAC, ce cadre est centralisé dès l’origine via BEAC, ce qui structurerait un terrain de jeu plus régulé dès le départ. Un communiqué du 1er août 2025 de la BCEAO a annoncé le lancement officiel de la Plateforme Interopérable du Système de Paiement Instantané (PI-SPI) pour le 30 septembre 2025. Cette plateforme permettra des transferts instantanés, sécurisés et interopérables dans toute l’UEMOA, peu importe la banque, le compte ou l’émetteur. Ceci vient après une série « de tests en conditions réelles utilisations » faites depuis le 5 Juin 2025. Ceci a évidemment eu un impact sur plusieurs secteurs et startups. Par exemples, sur les acteurs concernés : Opérateurs de mobile money (MTN MoMo, Orange Money, Airtel Money, etc.) : soumis à la même interopérabilité imposée. Banques traditionnelles, MFIs, et établissements de paiement : intégrés dans le même réseau. Fintechs & PSP : désormais régulés, avec obligation de licence pour accéder à GIMAC Plusieurs conséquences sont à noter, donc les suivantes : Fin du cloisonnement propriétaire : l’avantage concurrentiel fondé sur un réseau fermé disparaît. Égalisation des chances : comme dans l’UEMOA, les retardataires peuvent entrer sur le marché via GIMAC sans construire une infrastructure coûteuse. Commoditisation de l’innovation basique (transfert instantané) : valeur repoussée vers services à plus haute valeur ajoutée. Charge réglementaire initiale pour les acteurs en place, mais un terrain plus structuré pour tous à long terme. 3. Étude de cas : Wave, victime de sa propre innovation ? Image Source: Wave En Afrique de l’Ouest, Wave a redéfini les règles du jeu avec son application simple, des frais à 1 %, et un contrôle total de la chaîne de valeur. Résultat ? Une adoption fulgurante dans plusieurs pays, et maintenant une entrée (certes timide) sur l’Afrique centrale en commençant par le Cameroun. Puis vint l’interopérabilité. Le projet d’interopérabilité imposé bouleverse le modèle de Wave : Fin des écosystèmes fermés : Le principal avantage compétitif de Wave disparaît vu qu’est éliminé la fidélisation forcée de l’utilisateur à une seule plateforme Effet d’aubaine pour les concurrents : Le marché a été éduqué par Wave, mais les autres en profitent sans le coût initial. Standardisation de l’innovation : Le transfert instantané n’est plus un différenciateur. Double effort réglementaire : En tant que pionnier, Wave doit s’adapter en premier aux nouvelles normes. Malgré une anticipation probable, la régulation nivelle le terrain et
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Luno draws 10,000 South Africans to tokenised US stocks in first month
In early August, Luno, the UK-based crypto company operating in four African countries, became one of the first startups to offer South Africans tokenised US-listed stocks. One month later, over 10,000 users have bought tokenised shares through the platform, according to Marius Reitz, Luno’s general manager for Africa and Europe. The early surge suggests that South Africans are quick to adopt digital assets that ease longstanding barriers in the financial system, such as high fees, foreign-exchange hurdles, and settlement delays. Tokenisation, by contrast, offers lower costs, instant access, and round-the-clock trading. “We launched with 44 stocks,” said Reitz. “Since launch, we have added 15 more stocks, and we have also added exchange-traded funds, including the S&P 500, which is one of the favourites among our customers. Customer interest has grown week-on-week, and the feedback has been positive.” While the adoption indicates strong demand for digital assets, it raises questions over investor protection, taxation, and how far regulators can keep pace with digital asset innovation. What tokenisation means Tokenisation refers to creating digital representations of real-world assets (RWAs) such as equities, property, or vehicles. In Luno’s case, customers are buying blockchain-based tokens that reflect the value of US-listed shares rather than the equities themselves, leaving them without the investor rights associated with traditional securities. The advantages lie in convenience and liquidity. Tokenised Apple shares (xAPPL), for instance, can be traded at any hour and transferred between wallets without intermediaries. Locally, stock exchanges are trying to compete with the always-on level of trading that tokenised stocks provide. In August, Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) CEO, Mary Vilakazi, told Bloomberg that the bourse is considering a move to round-the-clock trading. Globally, tokenisation is gaining momentum. Goldman Sachs, BNY Mellon, and several asset managers are experimenting with digital versions of money market funds and other securities to reduce costs, accelerate settlement, and reach new investors. Tokenised assets can also be used in decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols as collateral for loans. Why Luno moved first Luno rolled out tokenised US equities in partnership with xStocks, the tokenisation product of Kraken, the global crypto company. This gave South Africans access to tokenised shares of more than 60 public US companies and ETFs, such as Apple, Tesla, and the S&P 500. The actual shares are bought and held by regulated brokers and banks, while the digital tokens that represent them are handled by cryptocurrency providers, said Reitz. “There’s a separation of duties when it comes to [asset custody],” he added. “Kraken has been around for more than ten years, they’re a trusted brand, and they enabled us to bring this product to market in a way that is safe, transparent, and easy to use.” When a customer buys Luno tokenised stocks, the money first goes through Kraken’s regulated payments arm, Payward Digital Solutions. The funds are then sent to Backed, which converts them into US dollars and passes them to its broker in the United States. The broker buys the actual shares, which are held in regulated custody. Backed then creates a digital version of those shares on the blockchain and delivers them to partners such as Kraken and Luno. The real shares are held separately from company assets in regulated custody accounts, so they remain safe if a partner were to fail. But if the digital tokens are stored on an exchange that goes bankrupt, customers may lose access until administrators resolve the claims. However, since tokenised assets are digital tokens, users can move them into self-custody wallets. Luno charges a flat 1% fee on trades, which, according to Reitz, was designed to be transparent, compared to the hidden conversion costs and spreads that South Africans face when buying tokenised stocks offshore. The product also positions Luno against rivals such as VALR. But in the wider $341 million tokenisation market in South Africa, it competes with players like ReFi Cape Town and Salient Yachts offering tokenised access to other physical assets. “Our competitor [South Africa’s VALR] only offers five stocks,” said Reitz. “So our offering is much deeper and puts much more choice in the hands of customers.” Regulatory grey zones The growth of tokenised assets is forcing regulators to confront difficult questions.. Unlike traditional equities, tokenised stocks do not come with the same level of investor protection stop-gaps that securities laws provide. In South Africa, securities are taxed under capital gains and dividend withholding rules. Crypto and digital assets are treated differently; they are taxed as capital gains for long-term holders or as income for active traders. Yet the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has struggled to enforce compliance for crypto disclosures. As of August 2025, only 17,000 out of six million crypto holders in South Africa have declared their crypto assets and filed the required taxes. Applying existing tax regimes to tokenised assets could be more complicated, since they sit in a grey area between securities and digital tokens. The cross-border, digital nature of tokenised stocks further complicates oversight of trading and money flows. While Luno stresses that it applies stringent know-your-customer and anti–money laundering checks to curb illicit flows on the blockchain, it remains unclear whether such systems are sufficient to address products that mimic traditional securities. “We are a regulated financial service provider in South Africa,” Reitz said. “Any product that we offer to our customers must be compliant with regulations, else we risk losing our licence. There must be a balance between investor protection, which is of paramount importance, and innovation.” Industry sceptics are unconvinced. The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), the trade association of publicly regulated stock, futures, and options exchanges, has warned that tokenising traditional assets undermines the ability of regulators to do their jobs and safeguard consumers. Still, the early traction of Luno’s product suggests tokenisation addresses real market gaps. For the sector to move from a niche experiment into mainstream finance, however, regulators will need to create clearer frameworks around investor protection and taxation at a pace that matches rising adoption. Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal
Read MoreLife in Nigeria runs on data, and it now costs ₦721 billion monthly
This is Follow the Money, our weekly series that unpacks the earnings, business, and scaling strategies of African fintechs and financial institutions. A new edition drops every Monday. Whether it is football, prayer meetings, or Nollywood marathons, life in Nigeria now runs on data. That shift, plus a long-overdue tariff hike, has increased the country’s monthly data bill by 307.74% to ₦721.18 billion in July 2025 from ₦176.87 billion in July 2023. For Peter Adebiyi, a fashion entrepreneur, data has replaced cable. His 40-inch TV has never seen a satellite dish. “I use a smart TV, so I just stream whatever I want to watch,” he told TechCabal. That shift has driven an 83% surge in data consumption in just two years, boosting telecom revenues but leaving Nigerians to shoulder a far steeper monthly bill. According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), one hour of video streaming consumes about 350 MB in standard definition and 1 GB in high definition. More streaming has meant more data usage. Monthly consumption has surged 83.88% to 1,131,255.90 terabytes (1.13 billion GB) in July 2025, up from 615,207.39 TB (615.21 million GB) in July 2023. The math By TechCabal’s calculations, Nigeria’s monthly internet spend rose to ₦721.18 billion in July 2025, based on an average cost of ₦637.5 per GB. Two years earlier, it stood at ₦176.87 billion when 1 GB averaged ₦287.5. This calculation was based on findings that revealed the average cost of 1GB in the country (using prices on the telcos’ websites). 1GB on Airtel was ₦350, ₦200 on MTN, ₦300 on Glo, and ₦300 on 9mobile, bringing the average cost of 1GB to ₦287.5 in 2023. In July 2025, 1GB on Airtel was ₦800, ₦500 on MTN, ₦750 on Glo (for 1.1GB), and ₦500 on 9mobile, bringing the average cost of 1GB to ₦637.5 in 2025. Average monthly data consumption per subscriber has risen to 8.15 GB in July 2025 (with 138.75m subscriptions), from 3.86 GB in July 2023 (with 159.54m internet subscriptions). Win for telcos MTN’s data revenue has risen by 379.63% since 2020 to ₦1.59 trillion in 2024, and stood at ₦1.23 trillion in the first half of 2025. Airtel’s data revenues are up 50.35% since 2020, hitting $654 million as of its fiscal year ended March 2024. Airtel’s average data usage per customer has jumped 232.14% since March 2021, hitting 9.3 GB in June 2025, while MTN’s rose by 53.49% since December 2023 to 13.2 GB per customer in June 2025. This surge has pushed Nigeria above the regional average for internet usage, with around 29% of the population using it 85% of Nigerians on the mobile internet use it to make or receive video calls, 75% use it to watch free-to-access online videos, and 54% use it to stream free music, according to GSMA. YouTube takes the screen YouTube has been one of the biggest winners. Aside from being the primary streaming platform of choice for many religious leaders, it has become a home for Nollywood movies. Watch time in Nigeria grew more than 55% year-on-year as of October 2024, with more than 2 million Nigerians now watching YouTube on connected TVs at home, the company disclosed at its TV/Film Day in Lagos in August. The number of Nigerian channels making eight figures in revenue grew by 100% in 2024. “As filmmakers, the screen no longer means only the cinema or television set,” said Nollywood producer Bolaji Ogunmola at YouTube’s event. “For many Nigerians, YouTube is the new TV.” Tarek Amin, director for YouTube in the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey, added, “The old gates are coming down. We are in the midst of an ever-evolving media landscape, and Nigerian creators are at the heart of it.” Drawbacks As the internet becomes more central to everyday life, costs are also biting harder. In January, telcos implemented a 50% tariff hike after a decade of price stability, citing rising operational costs. Adebiyi told TechCabal that his monthly data bill has tripled since January from about ₦10,000 to close to ₦30,000. Temiloluwa Toluwase, a digital marketer, now spends no less than ₦20,000 monthly from ₦10,000. Adeolu Ogunbanjo, president of the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS), said the hike has imposed untold hardship on many Nigerians. “Some people were forced to cut back on use.” Affordability and digital literacy remain the biggest barriers to broader adoption, GSMA noted. Internet subscriptions have already fallen by 3.41 million since January, dropping to 138.75 million by July 2025. Complaints about data depletion have also risen, with many subscribers accusing telcos of overbilling. According to the NCC, much of this usage is down to background app updates and heavy screen time. “It is important that telecom subscribers are equipped with the knowledge of how to monitor, control, and optimise the usage of their mobile data bundle allowance, be it daily, weekly, or monthly plans,” Freda Bruce-Bennett, director of Consumer Affairs Bureau at the NCC, said during a media briefing in August. Even with rising consumption, broadband penetration — availability of high-speed internet access — remains below 50%. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) estimates that only 38% of Nigerians (and Africans) used the internet in 2024, far below the global average of 68%. About 20 million Nigerians remain completely unconnected, according to Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy. Lack of internet usage cuts many from digital technologies, which are crucial for economic growth, innovation, job creation, and inclusion, according to Andrew Dabalen, World Bank Chief Economist for Africa. To close some of these gaps, Nigeria is rolling out 90,000 km more of fibre optic cables at $2billion. Despite these challenges, internet usage is expected to grow in the country, with 32 million new unique mobile internet subscribers expected in the country between 2025 and 2030. Karl Toriola, the CEO of MTN Nigeria, captured this in a TV interview in January 2025: “We are positioning ourselves to capture the opportunities of growth for the next 10 years. The demand for
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