Alliance-backed Daya wants to help businesses manage money using stablecoins
A Nigerian business can send an email to a supplier in China in seconds. But paying that supplier can take days. Tomiwa “Aleph” Lasebikan encountered that disconnect repeatedly as the head of product at Y Combinator-backed crypto startup Helicarrier, which he co-founded after leaving Microsoft in 2018. Customers who came to the company for crypto services often had a more practical problem: receiving dollars, paying overseas suppliers, and moving money across borders. Now Lasebikan is betting stablecoins can help solve it. His new startup, Daya, is building a payments platform that helps businesses access dollar liquidity, settle international transactions, and move money across borders using dollar-backed digital currencies. It raised $350,000 from Alliance DAO, a US-based crypto accelerator, in 2025. The startup is part of a growing list of companies building financial infrastructure around stablecoins, arguing that blockchain-based settlement can do for cross-border payments what the Internet did for communication: help businesses move money more quickly across borders. Stablecoin as an alternative rail for businesses Stablecoins as a financial rail for businesses are gaining traction. In 2024, stablecoins settled $15.6 trillion in transactions globally, according to US-based investment manager Ark Invest, a volume comparable to Visa’s and nearly double Mastercard’s. By 2025, that figure grew 79% to $28 trillion, according to blockchain research firm Chainalysis. Most of the transaction activities driving stablecoin use cases are economic, including business-to-business (B2B) payments, treasury management, and remittances, according to Chainalysis. Daya is building a business-focused payments platform that connects traditional banking systems with blockchain networks. It provides businesses with dollar-denominated accounts, converts incoming payments into stablecoins for settlement, and allows firms to move funds across borders or convert them into local currency for withdrawal in Nigeria. Founded by Lasebikan and Paul Joe in October 2025, Daya is seeking to capture a share in the global commercial B2B payments market. In 2024, the global B2B cross-border payments market was worth $31.7 trillion and was projected to reach $47.8 trillion by 2032, according to US-based research firm FXC Intelligence, dwarfing consumer remittances. By comparison, consumer remittances totalled $905 billion globally in 2024, according to the World Bank. Businesses move far more money than individuals, yet much of that activity still depends on correspondent banking infrastructure. “The world we’re born into is one where communication across borders is incredibly fast,” Lasebikan said. “But sending money across borders is horrendous.” How Daya’s model works When a business signs up on Daya, it completes know-your-customer (KYC) and know-your-business (KYB) checks, including director-level verification and validation against Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) registry, according to the startup. Once approved, the business receives a dollar-denominated account provided through regulated financial partners in the United States. When a customer abroad sends dollars to that account, the funds are converted into stablecoins and credited to the business’s Daya wallet. From there, businesses can hold stablecoins as dollar-equivalent balances, pay international suppliers, or convert funds into Naira for withdrawal into local bank accounts. To handle currency conversion, Daya aggregates a network of professional over-the-counter (OTC) traders under anti-money laundering (AML)-compliant terms, rather than relying on a single off-ramp partner. The startup charges 0.1%–0.3% per transaction, according to Lasebikan. The model relies on stablecoins as a settlement layer, while regulated banks and payment partners handle fiat onboarding and withdrawals. “The USD account is an account in the US,” Lasebikan said. “Whoever wants to send you money sends funds into this account managed by our partners—reputable, licenced partners in the US. They settle us in stablecoins. So now the user has stablecoins: this is your global money, so to speak. Businesses can hold the stablecoins or convert them to Naira straight into their bank account.” According to Lasebikan, the company is positioning stablecoins as backend infrastructure, with customers primarily focused on receiving payments, accessing dollar accounts, or moving money across borders rather than interacting directly with blockchain technology. Similar approaches are already being used in global payments infrastructure. Bridge, the stablecoin company Stripe acquired in 2025, has built banking-linked settlement rails using stablecoins. Stripe, the payments giant, said in its 2025 annual letter that Bridge’s transaction volume grew more than fourfold. Visa and Mastercard have also expanded stablecoin settlement pilots; companies such as BVNK, the UK-based stablecoin neobank that Mastercard agreed to acquire, are building payment infrastructure around stablecoin rails globally. In Africa, players including Yellow Card, Juicyway, and Conduit are building similar infrastructure for businesses, focusing on cross-border payments and treasury flows. Daya operates in this same category: infrastructure for business payments using stablecoins. A problem older than crypto African banks have historically relied on correspondent banking relationships (CBRs), partnerships that allow local institutions to access the global financial system, clear international payments, and settle foreign currency transactions. But those relationships have been shrinking for years. A 2016 International Finance Corporation (IFC) report warned that African financial institutions were losing correspondent banking relationships as global banks withdrew from markets perceived as higher risk. Compliance costs, anti-money laundering (AML) requirements, and regulatory scrutiny made many relationships economically unattractive. For businesses, the effects are often indirect but significant. Fewer correspondent banking relationships mean fewer payment corridors, more intermediaries, longer settlement times, and higher costs. International transfers that appear simple on the surface often move through multiple institutions before reaching their destination. Since then, the decline of correspondent banking networks has persisted across emerging markets. Stablecoins, especially dollar-backed digital currencies, are increasingly being pitched to fill that gap for businesses in that region, especially in Africa. Why Daya is betting on stablecoin infrastructure For Lasebikan, Daya reflects how much the infrastructure layer around crypto has changed since his first foray into building his former startup and personal projects. He said that early attempts to build crypto products in Africa often meant assembling large parts of the technical stack manually while building in unclear regulatory markets and fragmented banking access. That has shifted. When Lasebikan first entered crypto, startups often had to build large portions of the underlying infrastructure themselves, from blockchain integrations to custody systems. Today,
Read MoreAI is now a geopolitical asset. African presidents are racing to catch up.
When African leaders gathered in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, on May 12 for the Africa Forward Summit, artificial intelligence (AI) took centre stage, alongside energy, agriculture and international finance for the first time. That alone marked a change. Only a few years ago, AI policy on the continent revolved around ethics, digital literacy and startup incubation. Now governments are discussing cloud infrastructure, sovereign data, regional computing capacity and local language models, subjects once confined to engineers and Silicon Valley executives. In the past two years, Kenya has unveiled a National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, Nigeria has launched its National AI Strategy, Rwanda has established a Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution to shape AI governance, South Africa has stepped up work on a national AI policy, while the African Union adopted its Continental AI Strategy calling for African-owned data, compute infrastructure and language models. The shift reflects a growing recognition that artificial intelligence is becoming a geopolitical asset. Just as countries once competed over natural resources and shipping lanes, they are now competing over semiconductors, data centres and computing power. But Africa enters that race from an uncomfortable position. Critical minerals The continent produces many of the minerals that power modern computing and generates some of the world’s fastest-growing volumes of digital data through mobile money, e-commerce and government digitisation. Yet the infrastructure that turns those inputs into economic value largely sits elsewhere. That dependence appears to have informed Section 6 of the Africa Forward Declaration, adopted by African and French leaders in Nairobi. The declaration, signed by 30 heads of state, documents calls for investment in data centres, cloud computing, trusted data systems, broadband infrastructure, and African-led ownership of data and AI systems. “Digital transformation and artificial intelligence are reshaping economies, public services, knowledge systems, security, creative industries, and global competitiveness,” said the declaration, “Africa’s participation in the AI age requires investment across the full digital and AI stack.” Despite accounting for nearly 20% of the world’s population and some of its fastest-growing internet markets, the continent still hosts less than 1% of global data-centre capacity, according to industry estimates. Mobile data consumption is growing at roughly 40% annually—almost twice the global average—but the infrastructure needed to process and store that information remains severely constrained. A decade ago, African startups could build globally competitive products using rented cloud services and relatively modest computing resources. Generative AI has changed the economics entirely. Training and deploying frontier models requires thousands of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), sophisticated cooling systems, and uninterrupted electricity supplies. African governments’ investment in AI infrastructure is still low, with most commitments coming from the private sector and development finance institutions (DFIs). In April, the International Finance Corporation committed $100 million to regional data-centre operator Raxio Group, its largest investment in African digital infrastructure, backing facilities from Ethiopia to Angola as demand for cloud services and AI workloads accelerates. The World Bank’s investment reflects a growing recognition that digital infrastructure has become as important to economic development as roads and ports. Private investments Cassava Technologies, founded by Zimbabwean telecoms billionaire Strive Masiyiwa, announced in July 2025 plans to deploy Nvidia-powered AI infrastructure across Africa through a $700 million investment programme, positioning itself as one of the continent’s first large-scale AI compute providers. In 2024, Microsoft and Abu Dhabi-based AI company G42 unveiled an ambitious $1 billion AI data centre in Kenya, powered by geothermal energy. The project has since been put on hold. Some of these investments, like the Kenyan one, illustrate the continent’s infrastructure constraints. Negotiations have stalled over electricity requirements and financing arrangements, with Kenyan officials acknowledging that the original proposal would require more power capacity than the country can currently dedicate to a single data centre. Discussions continue, but they show that computing power requires supporting infrastructure, which the continent currently struggles to provide. It is forcing policymakers to rethink AI as much an infrastructure question as a technology one. The Nairobi Declaration referred to this, shifting debates on AI investments to the centre of the continent’s economic policy. “We commit to mobilise public and private investment in resilient digital infrastructure and AI infrastructure, including broadband connectivity, regional data centres, cloud and compute capacity, clean energy and trusted data systems,” African heads of state declared. The implications stretch far beyond data centres. For much of the past decade, Africa’s digital ambitions have been defined by rising smartphone adoption, the spread of fintech, and the emergence of startup hubs from Lagos and Nairobi to Cape Town. Artificial intelligence is changing that conversation. The focus is shifting away from consumer applications and towards the infrastructure that enables them. The same shift is taking place around the world. In the US, AI leadership has become intertwined with national security, with the Trump administration accelerating investment in AI infrastructure and treating advanced AI capabilities as a strategic asset in geopolitical competition with China. Washington has issued executive orders to accelerate data centre construction and strengthen America’s AI technology stack, while officials have described AI as critical to maintaining economic and military leadership. Gulf states are deploying sovereign wealth to finance hyperscale data centres and semiconductor partnerships. Europe, meanwhile, increasingly frames AI through the lens of technological sovereignty rather than simply innovation policy. Africa is beginning to adopt a similar approach. The Nairobi declaration repeatedly emphasises digital sovereignty, African ownership of data and the development of local AI ecosystems. It also calls for African language models, locally generated datasets and open-weight AI systems, reflecting a growing recognition among policymakers that AI is not just another software industry but a strategic asset that could shape future economic growth. Technological sovereignty comes with a substantial price tag, which the continent might not marshal soon. Building a competitive AI ecosystem requires far more than skilled engineers. It depends on reliable electricity, fibre networks, advanced chips, research capacity and billions of dollars in patient capital. For many African governments already facing fiscal constraints and competing development priorities, those investments remain difficult to finance. But the declaration’s
Read MoreKenya’s Family Bank secures approval for long-awaited NSE listing
Family Bank, a Kenyan bank with assets worth KES 230.3 billion ($1.78 billion), has received the Capital Markets Authority’s approval to list on the Nairobi Securities Exchange on June 23. The listing will allow existing shareholders to trade their shares on the NSE without raising new capital. It comes after Family Bank raised KES 8 billion ($61.8 million) in a 2025 private placement, exceeding its KES 6.09 billion ($47.1 million) target. The move ends the lender’s five-year-long push to go public and comes at a time when the NSE is seeking to attract new listings after a prolonged bear run. Most recent market activity has been driven by secondary share sales, bond issues and rights offers rather than initial public offerings (IPOs). “The decision for the Bank to list follows years of strategic preparation to ensure we list from a position of strength,” Family Bank Managing Director Nancy Njau said in a statement on Thursday. Family Bank will now join publicly listed banks including KCB Group, Equity Group, NCBA and DTB Group. The stocks are among the most traded on the NSE, driven by the sector’s strong performance over the past five years, according to NSE data. The listing will provide a public market valuation for Family Bank, founded in 1984 as Family Finance Building Society. It secured a commercial banking licence in 2007 and has grown into one of Kenya’s largest tier-two lenders. Family Bank said in the statement that it does not need additional capital to support the listing, citing its capital position and balance sheet strength. The lender’s shareholders include founder Titus Muya and his family, as well as the Kenya Tea Development Agency, one of its largest institutional investors. “Through the capital raising initiatives, we have strengthened our balance sheet and remain confident in our strategy, our capital position, and our ability to deliver sustainable growth and long-term value. The bank is well positioned for growth as per our 2025 – 2029 strategic plan anchored on being The Preferred Bank for Biashara,” said Njau. The bank is entering the public market after posting its strongest financial performance on record. Profit after tax rose 52.6% to KES 1.6 billion ($12.4 million) in the first quarter ended March 2026, while total assets grew 32.3% to KES 230.3 billion ($1.78 billion). Customer deposits increased to KES 168.2 billion ($1.30 billion) and net loans rose 12.6% to KES 108.4 billion ($838 million). Standard Investment Bank is the lead transaction adviser, while PwC Kenya is the reporting accountant and Mboya Wangong’u & Waiyaki Advocates is the legal adviser.
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – MTN eyes fintech licences
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Happy pre-TGIF. Nigeria’s healthtech startups have raised $271 million across 128 companies, but funding alone has not fixed the country’s healthcare challenges. From low electronic medical record adoption to uneven access and fragile business models, the sector still faces hurdles to lasting impact. TechCabal Insights’ new State of Healthtech in Nigeria (2026) report goes beyond the numbers to map what it will take to build sustainable, scalable healthtech businesses in Africa’s largest market. Download and read the report. ICYMI: Kim Tran, chief executive officer and co-founder of Trenderz, is rebuilding how creator recommendations turn into real bookings in Africa. Get smarter about Francophone Africa with our newsletter, Francophone Weekly—the startups, tech policies, and institutions building the pipelines for ecosystem growth. Subscribe MTN eyes fintech licences Kenyans lose $835 to online fraud South Africa proposes new EV incentives SA formalises rules for e-hailing World Wide Web 3 Events telecoms MTN wants a bigger piece of Africa’s credit market Image Source: Guillem Sartorio/Bloomberg Africa’s largest telecom operator wants to do more than connect phone calls and process payments. It wants to lend money too. What happened? MTN Group said on Wednesday that it plans to expand further into lending across key African markets, including Nigeria, as it seeks additional fintech licences. The telecom operator already helps facilitate loans through partners, with more than one million people accessing credit through its platforms every day. Now, it wants the regulatory approvals that would allow it to lend directly from its own balance sheet. Why this matters: Telecom companies have spent years building the ingredients needed for lending businesses: millions of users, transaction histories, merchant networks, and mobile wallets. MTN says only 4%–5% of adults across Africa have access to formal credit, leaving a massive market underserved by traditional banks. The opportunity is enormous. In Nigeria alone, nearly 80% of MSMEs lack access to formal credit, while the sector faces a $236 billion funding gap. For MTN, lending is becoming the next logical step after payments. The company already serves more than 70 million active MoMo users, works with over 2 million merchants, and processed more than $500 billion in transaction value in 2025. Zoom out: For years, African telcos have competed with banks on payments. MTN’s latest push suggests the next battleground could be lending. If regulators approve the licences it is seeking, the company would move from helping customers find loans to becoming the lender itself. We Have Secured the Bank of Ghana EPSP Licence. Fincra has officially secured its Enhanced Payment Service Provider licence. This regulatory milestone authorizes Fincra to directly collect, process, and settle payments in Ghanaian Cedis, offering a highly streamlined financial pipeline for businesses operating within the region. Start here. reports Digital scams cost Kenyans more than other Africans, says report Image: IFEC In 2025, the average Kenyan lost about KES 296 ($2.29) to online scams, according to a report by TransUnion, a consumer credit reporting and fraud prevention company. The figure might not sound alarming at first, but it points to a broader reality: as more Kenyans move their lives online, fraudsters are finding new ways to follow. Kenya recorded the highest median loss from digital fraud among African countries surveyed by TransUnion, with victims reporting losses of KES 108,132 ($835). Between the lines: The biggest culprit was not fake websites or suspicious links. Nearly four in ten victims said they were scammed by third-party sellers operating on legitimate e-commerce platforms, showing how fraud is creeping into places consumers already trust. The findings show the uncomfortable trade-off of digital growth. Kenya has become one of Africa’s most connected economies, with e-commerce penetration crossing 53%, meaning that more than half of the Kenyan population buy items online. Expanding mobile money uptake, online shopping, and digital payments have contributed to its strong growth. Growth at what cost? But the same systems making transactions easier are also creating new opportunities for criminals. From account takeovers and identity theft to phishing and social engineering scams, fraudsters are becoming more sophisticated, targeting digital identities before targeting wallets, according to the report. The lesson is becoming harder to ignore: The faster a digital economy grows, the more attractive it becomes to scammers. Kenya’s experience suggests that building digital infrastructure is only half the job; protecting users is just as important. Naira Life 2026 is here! The theme for this year’s Naira Life Conference by Zikoko is “All About Wealth.”Join 2,000+ in Lagos on August 22 for a day of practical money conversations and workshops designed to move you from simply earning an income to building lasting wealth. Get 15% off early bird tickets. policy South Africa proposes new incentives to boost local EV manufacturing Image source: Inside EVs The International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC), a government body responsible for trade policy, is proposing changes to its automotive incentive programme that would extend government support to minerals used in manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles (EVs). The EV transition is forcing a rethink: In the first quarter of 2026, battery-electric vehicle (BEV) sales rose 96% year on year. The country’s automotive industry contributes roughly 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) and supports over 600,000 jobs directly and indirectly. The current incentive programme already rewards manufacturers that use locally sourced materials, but not those critical in EV battery production. With these proposed rules, materials such as rare earths, iron, lithium, graphite, copper, and cobalt could qualify for incentives if sourced and processed within Southern Africa. Why the batteries matter: South Africa is estimated to have the world’s fifth-largest mining sector in terms of gross domestic product value. Yet, much of that value creation happens elsewhere. Countries mine the minerals, ship them abroad, and then buy back the higher-value products later. The new proposal is an attempt to keep more of that value chain closer to home. What could this change? If the incentives work, they could help attract battery manufacturers, reduce production costs
Read MoreMTN targets Nigeria’s lending market as it seeks fintech licences
MTN plans to expand into lending across key African markets, including Nigeria, as Africa’s biggest telco seeks regulatory approvals that would allow its fintech arm to offer a broader suite of financial services. “We’ve expanded access to credit for more people, but we also want to move further up the lending value chain,” Serigne Dioum, MTN Group Fintech CEO, said at the company’s capital market event on Wednesday. “Where appropriate, we will seek licences that allow us not only to facilitate loans but also to lend directly to customers and deploy our own balance sheet.” MTN’s strategy underscores its ambition to capture a larger share of Africa’s underserved credit market, where access to formal lending remains limited despite growing demand. According to a 2025 report by the National Credit Guarantee Company (NCGC), nearly 80% of Nigerian Macro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) lack access to formal credit, while a Stears report estimates the sector faces a $236 billion funding gap. The challenge extends beyond Nigeria. According to Dioum, only 4% to 5% of adults across Africa currently have access to formal credit, leaving a vast market largely untapped by traditional financial institutions. Nigeria sits at the heart of MTN’s expansion plans. MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita said the company is pursuing additional licences in Nigeria and other markets to deepen its financial services offerings, declining to disclose the specific licences being sought. “We are pursuing additional licences that will allow us to offer a broader suite of financial products and services to customers,” Mupita said. “Nigeria is a key market in this regard, but the opportunity extends across several of our markets.” The move comes as MTN continues to build out its fintech business, which has become one of the group’s fastest-growing divisions. In 2025, MTN Fintech generated approximately $2.8 billion in revenue, processed more than $500 billion in transaction value, and handled over 23 billion transactions across its markets, according to the company. The company says it now serves more than 70 million active MoMo users, works with over 2 million merchants, and supports an agent network of more than 1.4 million people across Africa. For MTN, lending represents the next major growth frontier. The company already facilitates access to credit through partnerships in several markets. According to Dioum, more than one million people access loans through MTN’s platforms every day, using them to finance small businesses, purchase inventory, or cover urgent expenses such as healthcare costs. However, moving from a facilitator role to becoming a direct lender could significantly increase MTN’s revenue opportunities while giving it greater control over the customer experience. The push also aligns with the group’s broader assessment of Africa’s fintech opportunity. MTN estimates that the continent’s fintech revenue pool could expand as much as 13-fold over the next five years, driven by the continued digitisation of financial services. Despite rapid fintech growth across Africa, more than 90% of transactions remain cash-based, according to the company. That presents opportunities not only in lending but also in payments and remittances. “Together, payments, remittances and lending will be the key drivers of fintech growth over the next five years,” Dioum said. In Nigeria, MTN has already begun laying the groundwork for a broader fintech play. In November 2024, MTN Nigeria applied for Payment Solution Service Provider (PSSP) and Payment Terminal Service Provider (PTSP) licences through its fintech subsidiary, MoMo PSB. Ralph said on Wednesday the licence process is still ongoing. The move reflected the company’s growing interest in controlling more of the payments value chain. The PSSP licence would allow MoMo PSB to offer payment gateway services, merchant aggregation, payment processing, and other financial technology solutions. It would also reduce MTN’s reliance on third-party payment processors. The PTSP licence would allow MoMo PSB to deploy and service POS terminals, develop POS applications, and offer training and support to merchants, agents, and users on the MoMo PSB platform. Beyond licencing, MTN is also awaiting regulatory approval for the structural separation of its fintech business in Nigeria. Mupita said shareholders have already approved the separation, with the process currently undergoing regulatory review by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). “These separations are complex,” Mupita said. “In Nigeria, the structure is relatively novel, and regulators are carefully assessing it to ensure it is completed in the most tax-efficient manner possible.”
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Everything you need to know about the just-launched OnePlus Turbo 6X and 6X Pro
Table of contents What is in the Turbo 6X series OnePlus Turbo 6X specs OnePlus Turbo 6X Pro specs The OnePlus Turbo 6X and Turbo 6X Pro price Availability OnePlus launched two new phones in China on Wednesday: the Turbo 6X and the Turbo 6X Pro. Both phones are built around one idea: big batteries, long-lasting performance, and displays that are easy on your eyes. If you have been looking for a mid-range phone that can last all day on a single charge, these two are worth your attention. The smartphones are only available in China for now, with sales opening on June 15, 2026, via the official Oppo online store. There is no confirmed global launch date yet, but this isn’t OnePlus first time. The Turbo 6 later launched globally as the Nord 6, and the Turbo 6V became the Nord CE 6. What is in the Turbo 6X series The series has two phones. The standard Turbo 6X is the more affordable option with a 7,000mAh battery and an LCD display. The Turbo 6X Pro steps things up with a bigger 8,000mAh battery, a sharper AMOLED display, faster charging, and stronger water resistance. Both run on Android 16 with ColorOS 16 on top, and both come with NFC, an IR blaster, and stereo speakers. OnePlus Turbo 6X specs Here is what you get with the standard Turbo 6X: Display: 6.72-inch FHD+ (2400×1080) LCD, 144Hz refresh rate, 1,000 nits peak brightness, hardware-level DC dimming Chipset: MediaTek Dimensity 7360 Super (4nm) RAM and storage: 8GB/128GB, 8GB/256GB, or 12GB/256GB; supports microSD card expansion up to 2TB Battery and charging: 7,000mAh, 45W SuperVOOC wired charging, plus reverse wired charging Cameras: 50MP main (OmniVision OV50D) + 2MP secondary on the back; 8MP front camera Durability: IP64 rated; military-grade durability Dimensions and weight: 165.85 x 75.85 x 8.55mm, 208g; plastic frame Colors: Black, Green, and White Fingerprint: Side-mounted, integrated in the power button Other: NFC, IR blaster, stereo speakers, USB-C OnePlus Turbo 6X Pro specs Image source: IZ TECH on YouTube The Pro model upgrades almost everything. Here is what you get: Display: 6.78-inch 1.5K (1,272×2,772) Samsung AMOLED, 144Hz refresh rate, 6,500 nits peak brightness, full-range DC dimming, co-developed eye-protection tech Chipset: MediaTek Dimensity 7400 Super (4nm), 360-degree surround antenna design RAM and storage: 8GB/128GB, 8GB/256GB, or 12GB/256GB; no microSD slot Battery and charging: 8,000mAh silicon-carbon battery, 80W SuperVOOC wired (up to 55W with third-party chargers), plus reverse wired charging. OnePlus claims up to 29 hours of video playback, 17 hours of navigation, or 8 hours of gaming on a single charge Cameras: 50MP main with OIS + 8MP ultrawide on the back; 16MP front camera. Features include Live Photo, Soft Light Portrait, and film filters OS: ColorOS 16 on Android 16; OnePlus promises six years of smooth operation and six-year battery health Durability: IP66, IP68, IP69, and IP69K rated; passed seven military-grade endurance tests Dimensions and weight: approx. 162.6 x 77.6 x 8.8 mm, 213 g Colors: Black and Orange Fingerprint: In-display optical sensor Other: NFC, IR blaster, stereo speakers, AI writing and translation tools, gaming features OnePlus Turbo 6X and Turbo 6X Pro price Every variant of both phones comes in under CNY 2,400 (~$354). Here is the full breakdown: Turbo 6X: 8GB + 128GB: CNY 1,899 (~$280) 8GB + 256GB: CNY 1,999 (~$295) 12GB + 256GB: CNY 2,299 (~$340) Turbo 6X Pro: 8GB + 128GB: CNY 1,999 (~$295) 8GB + 256GB: CNY 2,099 (~$309) 12GB + 256GB: CNY 2,399 (~$354) One thing worth noting: the base Turbo 6X Pro (8GB/128GB) starts at CNY 1,999, just CNY 100 more than the standard Turbo 6X at the same storage tier. For that small difference, you get AMOLED over LCD, 80W charging over 45W, a bigger battery, and much stronger water resistance. The Pro is hard to ignore at that gap. Availability Both phones are China-only for now. Pre-orders are live through the official Oppo online store in China, with open sales and deliveries starting June 15, 2026. A global launch under the OnePlus Nord name is expected but not officially confirmed. OnePlus followed this same path with the Turbo 6, which launched globally as the Nord 6, and the Turbo 6V, which became the Nord CE 6 in India and other markets. If that pattern holds, you can expect a rebranded version of the Turbo 6X series to arrive globally in the coming months, running OxygenOS instead of ColorOS. Until OnePlus makes an official announcement, any pricing estimates for India or other global markets are speculative.
Read MoreNigeria’s Roqqu joins race to bring tokenised US stocks to retail investors
Roqqu, a Nigerian cryptocurrency exchange, has partnered with Ondo Finance, a US-based tokenised asset manager, to offer blockchain-based versions of US stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to retail investors. The product is expected to launch at the end of June, according to Roqqu. For Nigerian retail investors, the product offers access to US stocks without going through traditional brokers. “We have set the end of June as the launch date; we’re looking at June 29 to roll this product out so it can be available to all users,” Emmanuel Peter, Roqqu’s head of trading and markets, told TechCabal in an interview. “We’re in the final phase of testing and ensuring it meets the standards required for public use.” The move underscores a growing shift towards tokenisation in Nigeria’s digital asset sector. Several crypto platforms, including Luno Nigeria, the subsidiary of the UK-based exchange, and Blockchain.com, introduced tokenised stocks in 2025 as they race to bring traditional financial assets onto blockchain networks. The partnership also marks Ondo Finance’s first direct collaboration with a Nigerian cryptocurrency exchange. The company previously integrated with Blockchain.com in October 2025, extending access to its tokenised stocks and ETFs across more than 100 markets where it operates, including Nigeria. Tokenised stocks allow investors to buy exposure to shares of publicly traded companies through digital tokens. They are typically backed one-for-one by the underlying shares held by a custodian, but can be traded and transferred using blockchain technology. Tokenised stocks enable trades to settle faster, even outside of traditional market hours. Ondo Finance is one of the world’s largest issuers of tokenised real-world assets, with about $2.72 billion worth of tokenised assets on its platform, according to data from US-based tracking platform RWA.xyz. Over 18,000 users currently hold tokenised assets issued by Ondo Finance, including dollar-yield products, stocks, and ETFs. “Expanding access to tokenised real-world assets across emerging markets is a key priority for us, and partnerships like this one with Roqqu are part of how we’re making that happen,” Min Lin, managing director of global business development at Ondo Finance, said. “We look forward to bringing Ondo tokenised stocks and ETFs to their users and growing participation in the tokenised economy.” For investors in markets such as Nigeria, where access to foreign securities can be restricted by geography, regulation and foreign exchange (FX) constraints, these companies are pitching tokenised assets as a simpler route into global markets. “Before now, access to the world’s best financial products has been limited by geography, infrastructure and regulation; tokenisation is changing that,” Benjamin Onomor, chief executive officer of Roqqu, said. “We have entered a new era where financial assets can move with the speed of the Internet, settle around the clock, and become more accessible to investors globally.” Yet, the industry’s emphasis on faster settlement comes as traditional exchanges are also modernising their post-trade infrastructure. Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has shortened the capital market settlement cycle twice in the past seven months, moving from T+3 to T+2 in November 2025 and, from June 1, to T+1, allowing equity trades to be completed one business day after execution. While the initial rollout will focus on US equities, Peter said the company ultimately hopes to support tokenised assets issued across African markets, including Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana, subject to regulatory approval. The global scale of tokenisation is gaining momentum. Over $360 billion worth of real-world assets have now been tokenised on blockchain networks, including stocks, asset-backed credit, and real estate, according to data from RWA.xyz. For crypto firms, the next challenge is extending that growth beyond developed markets and bringing blockchain-based versions of traditional financial assets to a wider pool of investors.
Read MoreBeyond financial inclusion, Nigeria’s central bank is chasing regional payments leadership
In the first half of 2007, Nigerians processed ₦946.22 million ($695,469) in point-of-sale (PoS) transactions. In the first quarter of 2025, that figure grew to ₦10.51 trillion ($7.73 billion). The growth was the product of a series of policy decisions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which has spent nearly two decades trying to reduce the country’s reliance on cash and build a digital payments ecosystem through successive Payment System Vision (PSV) frameworks. The first of those frameworks, (PSV) 2020, was launched in 2007 and focused on expanding electronic payments and modernising the country’s payment infrastructure. A second iteration, PSV 2025, followed in 2022, with a much stronger emphasis on financial inclusion, agent banking, interoperability, and the rails needed to support a digital economy. PSV 2025 pushed formal financial inclusion to 64% from 56% in 2020. According to the CBN, agent banking networks expanded to more than two million agents nationwide, and electronic payment value has jumped by 203.51% since 2022 to ₦1.2 quadrillion ($880.51 billion) in 2025. The Bank Verification Number (BVN) system has also become a foundational digital identity layer with over 66 million unique IDs, the CBN noted. However, approximately 26% of bankable adults remain financially excluded, and many Nigerians lack the know-how and confidence to use digital payment tools safely and effectively, the CBN said in the new PSV document. Despite the growth in electronic transactions, only 52% of adults actively use digital payments. Those shortcomings partly formed the basis of PSV 2028, launched on June 1. It seeks to push financial inclusion to 95%, and also reveals a regulator increasingly focused on positioning Nigeria as a regional payments infrastructure hub, connecting African markets, supporting cross-border trade, deploying emerging technologies such as stablecoins and artificial intelligence, and strengthening cyber resilience across an increasingly interconnected financial ecosystem. The strategy rests on five pillars: infrastructure, interconnectivity and interoperability; digital financial inclusion, consumer protection and financial literacy; innovation, digital assets and emerging technologies; cross-border payments and central bank digital currency integration; and regulation, risk management and cybersecurity. Together, they offer a clear picture of how the CBN sees the future of payments in Nigeria. TechCabal Tools CBN PSV 2028 Impact Simulator Interact with the data to see how the central bank’s new policy targets shape cash, cross-border flows, and tech access. Remittances Startup TAM Cyber Security Sub-Saharan Africa has some of the world’s highest remittance costs, averaging 8.46%. PSV 2028 aims to deploy stablecoins, eNaira corridors, and PAPSS to bring costs down to ≤ 5%. Transfer Amount (USD): $500 Current Cost (8.46%) $42.30 2028 Target Cost (5.00%) $25.00 System Insight: This policy shift would retain $17.30 per transaction inside the local economy rather than losing it to correspondent banking fees. Currently, 52% of adults actively use digital payments. The CBN wants to push formal financial inclusion to 95% by 2028. Here is how that expands a startup’s Total Addressable Market (TAM). If your app captures this % of the market: 1.0% Your User Base Today (at 52% inclusion) ~676,000 users Your User Base in 2028 (at 95% inclusion) ~1,235,000 users *Calculations based on an estimated bankable adult population of 130 million. As open banking and CBDCs expand the attack surface, fraud becomes a systemic risk. The CBN is aiming for a 70% drop in fraud losses by 2028 through an AI-powered National Payment SOC. 2024 Actual Loss ₦52.27 Billion 2025 Base Year ₦25.85 Billion 2028 Target Cap ??? Simulate AI SOC Impact System Insight: Hitting this target requires banks to adopt common API standards and real-time biometric tracking to catch bad actors across interconnected networks. Data Sources: CBN PSV 2028 Document, Chainalysis TechCabal.com Nigeria’s next payment opportunity is outside Previous payment visions were largely domestic. The priorities were expanding electronic payments, increasing financial inclusion, reducing cash usage, and improving local payment infrastructure. “CBN reforms (National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2022, eNaira, Open Banking, Regulatory Sandbox, and PSV 2025) have modernised domestic payments and interoperability, while Nigerian Fintech firms have expanded digital solutions across Africa,” the CBN said. The regulator noted that the regional integration for payments remains limited. The PSV 2028 repeatedly highlights the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), regional interoperability, cross-border settlements, CBDC corridors, regional liquidity pools, settlement banks, and digital trade infrastructure. It proposes strengthening Nigeria’s integration with African payment systems while reducing dependence on foreign settlement currencies in regional trade. “Cross-Border Settlements and PSV 2028 set out to close these gaps by harmonising regulatory standards within ECOWAS/AU, advancing bilateral CBDC corridors, upgrading digital infrastructure for secure real-time settlement, and deepening partnerships,” the CBN said. “By aligning NIBSS and the eNaira with PAPSS and AfCFTA and leveraging over $20 billion in annual diaspora remittances, Nigeria can emerge as a core regional hub for trade settlement and remittances.” Nigeria already possesses one of Africa’s most sophisticated payment ecosystems. Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Instant Payments processes billions of transactions annually, fintech adoption is among the highest on the continent, and digital payments have become deeply embedded in everyday commerce. At the same time, Africa’s cross-border payments market remains fragmented, expensive, and heavily dependent on correspondent banking relationships outside the continent. Businesses trading across African markets often face multiple currency conversions, lengthy settlement times, and high transaction costs. By positioning Nigerian infrastructure alongside PAPSS and AfCFTA initiatives, the CBN appears to be pursuing a role for Nigeria that goes beyond being Africa’s largest payments market. The CBN intends to leverage stablecoins and CBDCs to navigate the currency hurdles. Because dollar-backed stablecoins such as USDT are pegged to the U.S. dollar, they can serve as a common settlement asset between countries with different currencies. Instead of routing payments through multiple correspondent banks and foreign exchange conversions, participants can convert local currency into a stablecoin, transfer the value across borders almost instantly, and convert it into the recipient’s local currency. According to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, stablecoins accounted for 43% of all crypto transaction volume in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2024. Many fintech companies,
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All Apple Intelligence features you should expect in iOS 27
Table of contents Siri AI: Apple’s rebuilt assistant Apple Intelligence: All the new features in iOS 27 Other Apple Intelligence features in iOS 27 Which features come to iPadOS 27 and macOS 27 Which iPhones get Apple Intelligence in iOS 27 When iOS 27 arrives Apple used WWDC 2026 to lay out what iOS 27 will look like when it arrives this fall. The update comes with a rebuilt Siri, bigger AI tools across your apps, and a long list of upgrades to Photos, Messages, Wallet, and more. This article covers everything Apple announced, split into two parts: the new Siri AI and the broader Apple Intelligence platform. Siri AI: Apple’s rebuilt assistant Siri AI is Apple’s most significant change to the feature since it launched in 2011. Apple describes it as an entirely new version of Siri, built from the ground up with AI at its core. The company built it in partnership with Google, using the technology behind Google’s Gemini models to power a new generation of Apple Foundation Models. The result is an assistant that can hold natural back-and-forth conversations, take multi-step actions across apps, and answer open-ended questions. Apple says it is designed to compete directly with ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. What Siri AI can do Personal context: Siri AI can read your messages, emails, photos, and notes to give you answers based on your actual life. You can ask it to find the restaurant a friend mentioned last week, pull up a hotel booking from an old email, or surface photos from a specific trip. Personal context also works with some third-party apps when developers build support for it. On-screen awareness: Siri AI can see what is on your screen and respond to it. If you are reading a message about a potluck, you can ask Siri to brainstorm what to bring and then add a recipe directly to Notes, all without switching apps. Conversational follow-ups: You can extend almost any Siri AI response into a longer conversation and ask follow-up questions. You do not have to restart from scratch each time. Writing help: Siri AI can write, edit, and proofread across your apps, including most third-party apps. In Mail and Messages, it matches the tone you normally use with each person. If you usually send your manager short bullet points, Siri will draft in that style. If you write casually to friends, it adjusts accordingly. Siri also proactively checks your spelling and grammar as you type. The new Siri app iOS 27 adds a dedicated Siri app that stores your conversation history and lets you pick up where you left off. Your conversations sync across your iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro via iCloud, so switching devices does not break the flow. On iPhone, you can open Siri using the wake phrase, the side button, or a swipe down from the Dynamic Island. New voices and dictation On iPhones with Apple’s most advanced on-device model, Siri AI offers more expressive voices, with options to adjust pace and tone. Systemwide dictation also gets a significant accuracy boost on these devices. The devices that qualify for these advanced features are: iPhone Air iPhone 17 Pro iPhone 17 Pro Max iPad M4 and newer, and Mac M3 and newer with at least 12GB of unified memory also qualify, along with Apple Vision Pro M5. Which iPhones get Siri AI Siri AI requires Apple Intelligence hardware. Here is how the tiers break down: Baseline Siri AI: iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and all iPhone 16 and 17 models Advanced Siri AI features (expressive voices, better dictation): iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max only iOS 27 with no Siri AI or Apple Intelligence: iPhone 11 through iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus have a different chip from the Pro models, which is why they miss out on Apple Intelligence despite running iOS 27. Privacy Apple processes simple requests on your device. More complex tasks go through its Private Cloud Compute servers, where Apple says your data is not stored or shared with anyone, including Apple. For the heaviest requests, a Gemini-powered cloud model handles the work. Apple says outside experts can verify its privacy promises at any time. Availability Siri AI launches in English first as a waitlisted beta. You can join the waitlist by going to Settings and opening Apple Intelligence. More languages will follow after the initial rollout. Siri AI is blocked on iPhone and iPad in the EU at launch for regulatory reasons and is unavailable in China. EU users on Mac and Vision Pro can access it. watchOS 27 also does not include Siri AI in the EU because it requires a paired iPhone to enable the feature. Apple Intelligence: All the new features in iOS 27 Apple Intelligence is the broader AI platform that powers everything from photo editing to smart shortcuts. Here is what is new in iOS 27. 1. Photos Photos gets four AI-powered editing tools: Spatial Reframing lets you shift the perspective of a photo after you have taken it, as if you moved the camera. You drag to adjust, and the app generates only what is needed to fill the new angle. It works on old photos too, not just new ones. Image source: @theapplehub on X Extend: expands the edges of a photo to give subjects more room, straighten a crooked horizon, or change the aspect ratio. The AI fills in whatever is missing. Reframe: the in-app button name for Spatial Reframing, found under Edit, then Tools. Clean Up (upgraded) removes objects from photos with more realistic results, even in complex scenes. Every photo you edit with Apple Intelligence will automatically carry a hidden SynthID watermark, a technology developed by Google DeepMind. The watermark is invisible to the eye and is designed to identify the image as AI-edited. Apple has not confirmed whether the watermark survives screenshots, social media compression, or exports to other
Read MoreThe eNaira struggled as a wallet. Now the CBN wants it to power payments.
When the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) launched the eNaira in October 2021, it presented the project as a landmark step in Nigeria’s push towards a cashless economy. As Africa’s first central bank digital currency (CBDC) designed for everyday use, it was expected to make payments easier, reduce remittance costs, expand financial inclusion, and support economic growth. Nearly five years later, those ambitions remain largely unrealised. The eNaira struggled to gain widespread adoption because it offered little that existing bank apps, fintech wallets, and mobile money platforms were not already providing more conveniently. In its Payments System Vision (PSV) 2028 strategy, unveiled on June 1, the CBN signals a major rethink of the eNaira’s role. Rather than positioning it as a standalone digital wallet competing with banks, fintechs, and mobile money providers, the central bank wants the eNaira to become part of the infrastructure that underpins Nigeria’s digital payments ecosystem. The strategy places the CBDC alongside initiatives such as open banking, digital identity, cross-border payments, and emerging financial technologies. The shift reflects lessons from the eNaira’s slow adoption since its launch in 2021. As a consumer-facing payment product, it struggled to offer a compelling alternative to existing digital payment options. The eNaira’s early challenges are well documented. Access initially required a Bank Verification Number (BVN) or National Identification Number (NIN), making it difficult for many unbanked Nigerians to participate. Like most central bank digital currencies, the eNaira was designed with strict identity verification requirements to help prevent fraud, money laundering, and other illicit financial activities. However, those requirements also created barriers for many Nigerians who lacked formal identification or did not have bank accounts, limiting the CBDC’s reach among the very populations it was meant to include. For users who could access it, the platform offered few advantages over existing alternatives such as bank apps, USSD services, mobile money platforms, and fintech wallets that were already widely used and trusted. As a result, adoption remained limited. Despite subsequent efforts to introduce USSD access, merchant payment tools, and government-payment pilots, the eNaira accounted for only a small fraction of digital transactions. Its limited role during Nigeria’s 2023 cash shortage also raised questions about its practical value. Over time, the project became one of several examples frequently cited in discussions about CBDCs struggling to achieve mainstream adoption. The CBN acknowledges many of these shortcomings in PSV 2028. According to the document, the eNaira currently has “millions of wallets” and has processed about ₦22 billion ($16.02 million) in transactions. “Adoption has been slow, barriers include limited stakeholder engagement and buy-in in design and implementation, limited adoption and integration drive, limited resources and capacities for retail CBDC implementation, undertook awareness creation, onboarding, use case development, which are not core CBN functions, etc.,” the regulator stated in the document. Moving from product to infrastructure One of the clearest signals in PSV 2028 is that the CBN increasingly views payment systems as interconnected infrastructure rather than standalone products. Throughout the document, there is a strong emphasis on interoperability, digital identity, open banking, real-time payments, and regulatory innovation. The document identifies cross-border payments and CBDC integration as strategic priorities and calls for deeper collaboration with regional and global payment networks. Although the document does not provide a comprehensive roadmap for taking the eNaira beyond Nigeria, it indicates that future development of the digital currency will likely focus on supporting regional payments, remittance flows, and cross-border commerce. PSV 2028 also recognises that technology alone will not determine the eNaira’s success. Consumer trust, security, interoperability, and ease of use remain critical challenges. The strategy proposes stronger consumer-protection mechanisms, improved cybersecurity frameworks, enhanced fraud monitoring, and greater coordination across the payments ecosystem. These initiatives are intended to strengthen confidence in digital payments more broadly, creating an environment in which innovations such as the eNaira can gain greater acceptance. Whether the strategy succeeds remains uncertain. What is clear, however, is that the CBN is no longer treating the eNaira as a standalone experiment. Under PSV 2028, the digital currency is being repositioned as one element of a much larger effort to build a more connected, secure, and interoperable financial system. For a project that many had written off as a missed opportunity, that shift may offer the eNaira a second lifeline.
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