Inside Airtel’s AI bet to tackle SMS scams at scale
In Nigeria, where mobile phones remain a critical means of personal and financial communication, SMS scams have become a full-blown crisis. New figures from Airtel Nigeria shed light on how serious the threat has become and how artificial intelligence is being used to fight it. Between March 13 and May 20, 2025, Airtel’s AI-powered Spam Alert Service flagged over 9.6 million suspected spam messages. More than 9.1 million originated from other networks (off-net), while over 528,000 were sent from Airtel numbers (on-net). These numbers represent just two months of monitoring, reflecting the alarming volume of scam attempts circulating across Nigeria’s mobile networks. The scale underscores a long-standing problem. According to a 2024 consumer protection survey of digital financial services users in 24 states, 58% of respondents had received a scam SMS or phone call asking for sensitive information, and 23% reported receiving such attempts in the past year. One in five had been targeted within the last month. While only 6% of respondents lost money to fraud, the widespread nature of these scams shows how common “smishing”—scam messages sent via SMS—has become. Airtel’s CEO, Dinesh Balsingh, told TechCabal that the surge in SMS scams, coupled with Africa’s rising smartphone penetration, made the introduction of the AI Spam Alert Service not only necessary but urgent. “As digital adoption increases, so does the sophistication of cyber threats,” he said. “This solution is part of our proactive strategy to protect subscribers and reinforce trust in our network.” How Airtel’s AI works The AI Spam Alert Service doesn’t read the message content. Instead, it analyses over 250 behavioural parameters of SMS senders, such as how frequently they switch SIM cards, the number and geographic spread of recipients, and whether the sender only sends messages without receiving any. This behavioural profiling helps the AI identify anomalies typical of spam operations. Numbers already flagged by users or linked to previous scam attempts are also fed into the system. According to Airtel, the AI scans over 1.5 billion messages in two milliseconds, using a dual-layer approach: one at the network level and another within the IT systems. The service, free and automatically available to all Airtel users, whether on smartphones or feature phones, sends real-time alerts when suspicious activity is detected. The result is greater protection without intrusive surveillance, Airtel claims. Why this matters now Despite the rise of internet-based messaging, SMS remains essential in Nigeria. In 2023 alone, the telecom sector processed 22.97 billion SMS messages, with Nigerians spending an estimated ₦44.7 billion ($29.8 million) sending texts. SMS is still the primary channel for banking alerts, government updates, and OTPs (one-time passwords) for millions who may not have access to smartphones or consistent mobile data. Scam messages often impersonate banks, telecom operators, or payment platforms, requesting passwords or transfers under pretenses. While many scams target low amounts, typically under $25, others have resulted in losses of over $100 per victim. These may seem modest, but across millions of attempts, the cumulative effect on trust, security, and financial well-being is substantial. Strong privacy, weak enforcement Airtel claims its AI does not read or store SMS content, and all data is encrypted and processed according to industry standards. The company adds that strict internal controls and regulatory audits are in place to prevent misuse. However, spam detection technology alone won’t address the broader challenges. In Nigeria, weak enforcement and limited prosecution remain significant obstacles. Scam messages are rarely reported by recipients due to a lack of education, and even when they are, follow-up action is rare. This lack of accountability emboldens fraudsters and shifts the burden of protection onto telecom operators, who are often the first and only line of defense. “By providing users with greater control over their communication channels, we help cultivate a more manageable and enjoyable digital environment, ensuring that our subscribers can navigate their connections without the burden of unwanted distractions,” said Balsingh. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) oversees spam regulation in the country and is backed by national privacy and consumer protection laws. Businesses must get prior consent for promotional SMS and provide opt-out options like replying “STOP.” Users can also block unsolicited messages entirely via the Do-Not-Disturb (DND) code 2442. In July, the NCC introduced stricter rules: all bulk SMS sender IDs must be registered and approved; promotional messages are banned between 8 PM and 8 AM unless explicitly authorized; and any organization offering bulk SMS services must now secure a ₦10 million ($6,540) licence valid for five years. While Airtel assures users that its AI system is designed not to interfere with legitimate communication or block website access—a concern some subscribers have voiced—the broader cybersecurity resilience of Nigeria’s telecom industry continues to face scrutiny. As threats evolve, so must the collaboration between telcos, regulators, and law enforcement to protect millions of mobile users from digital exploitation. 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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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily–Nigeria’s taxman wants a peek
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Good morning How was your weekend? (We’re 30 weekends deep into 2025, with 22 more to go before the calendar flips again.) Over the weekend, Lewis Hamilton, one of my favorite F1 driver Lewis Hamilton pulled off an incredible comeback. He started the Grand Prix in 18th place. Eighteenth. By the time the checkered flag waved, he’d climbed up to seventh. Moral of the story? The race isn’t over. There’s still time this year to recalibrate, refocus, and go full throttle toward your goals. With that bit of motivation, let’s get into today’s dispatch. FIRS to track bank transactions for VAT Google invests $37 million in African AI InkBlot and Filmhouse launch new streaming platform, Kava World Wide Web 3 Opportunities Companies FIRS to start monitoring bank transactions for VAT deductions Image Source: Google Nigeria’s taxman wants to view your VAT payments in real-time Here’s what’s happened: The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria’s tax agency, has rolled out a real-time portal that forces card networks, banks, fintechs, and payment service providers to upload every VAT-eligible transaction to its dashboard. The new transaction monitoring system is the taxman’s most aggressive step yet at closing tax gaps in the country’s booming digital economy. How it works: Institutions will connect to the portal through APIs, transmitting each VAT-eligible payment to FIRS before it is completed. These financial institutions must send each payment’s gross value, VAT amount, and merchant info to the portal. If VAT wasn’t collected upfront, providers must calculate it on the transaction value and deduct it. The portal then groups and logs entries, giving FIRS live visibility on what’s taxable, and enabling the tax body to reconcile invoices, monitor compliance, and standardise records across millions of microtransactions. Here’s why it matters: Before now, FIRS was unable to monitor the taxes deducted on VAT-eligible transactions—what the agency describes as the single biggest leakage point for consumption taxes. By deploying this technology, the agency plugs a hole in this leak. . What will this mean? Users will see stricter VAT deductions on even the smallest online payments. Platforms and fintechs face tighter scrutiny, higher compliance costs, and daily penalties for delays, while the government gains stronger oversight and less tolerance for unreported or ‘grey area’ transactions. . This rollout is a decisive shift in Nigeria’s tax enforcement. Whether it builds trust or fuels resistance will depend on how seamlessly the system runs and how openly FIRS addresses public concerns. Paying 2% or more on every transaction adds up fast. For businesses in e-commerce, logistics, travel, fintech, and more, every naira counts. Fincra helps you save more with 1% NGN fees capped at ₦300. Ideal for high-value or high-volume transactions. Get started for free with just your email address! Artificial Intelligence Google announces $37million investment for AI in Africa Image Source: Zikoko Memes On Thursday, Google committed $37 million for AI research, talent development, and infrastructure needed to advance the continent’s AI future. This announcement coincided with the launch of an AI Community Centre in Accra, a hub for training and collaboration among stakeholders interested in exploring how AI can address Africa’s unique needs. Why does it matter? Delays in Africa’s AI progress are often attributed to infrastructure and funding gaps External funding is a crucial step in overcoming some of these funding gaps. Before this $37 million funding announcement, Google also launched an accelerator program in June for 15 startups driving AI innovation for African problems. These investments signal Google’s long-term strategy to combine philanthropy and commercial tools needed to support AI solutions built in Africa for African issues. There’s more: The funding includes $25 million to support researchers and nonprofits developing AI tools that enhance food security on the continent, as well as a $3 million fund for the Masakhane African Languages AI hub to expand research to include over 40 African languages in datasets and voice AI technologies. In Ghana, Google will also offer 100,000 fully funded, self-paced programs to train students in tertiary education on AI and Prompting Essentials, Cybersecurity, and Data Analytics. Additionally, Google will award $1 million in research funding each to two research institutions in South Africa to support local research capacities. Big Picture: Beyond altruism, Big Tech is investing early in the race for founders, research projects, and infrastructure that could shape the continent’s AI trajectory. In June, Meta also recently concluded a call for African startups developing locally relevant AI applications that address key sectors, including education, healthcare, and agriculture.These investments are crucial to securing Africa’s AI market, which is expected to be worth $4.92 billion this year. eventually exited Nigeria Paga Engine powers the boldest ideas in Africa “Across various use cases and industries, Paga Engine provides reliable rails for your business needs to run smoothly and grow sustainably.” – Tayo Oviosu. Read the full article. Streaming InkBlot and Filmhouse launch new streaming platform, Kava Image Source: TechCabal InkBlot Studios, a Nigerian filmmaking company, and Filmhouse Group, West Africa’s largest cinema chain, are joining forces to launch Kava, a streaming platform focused on African stories. The team plans to launch in August 2025 with over 30 premium titles and weekly releases. Why are they doing this? Streaming is now central to Nollywood’s future. In Nigeria, the over-the-top video market is projected to reach $1.22 billion in 2025. As global interest in Nigerian content continues to rise, investors are betting big on African entertainment by backing films directly. In 2023, VC firm Voltron Capital reportedly achieved up to 3x returns on projects like The Black Book and Gangs of Lagos. And then there is TalentX Africa, a film-financing marketplace, which has invested close to $1 million in Nollywood. Filmhouse and InkBlot want to capture that demand and build a platform that scales African films. Kava is not the first to do this: IrokoTV, raised up to $35 million over the first ten years of its launch, but eventually exited Nigeria after years of
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Network outages worsen as Nigerian telcos report 445 vandalism incidents since May
Vandalism of telecom infrastructure in Nigeria has more than doubled since May 2025, rising from an average of two to five incidents per day, according to data compiled by the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON). This sharp increase, amounting to 445 cases over 88 days, has led to widespread network outages, affecting voice calls, internet access, SMS, and USSD services across all major mobile network operators. Gbenga Adebayo, President of ALTON, told TechCabal that the attacks have grown increasingly aggressive. “In many cases, the vandals now confront site engineers directly and demand ransom before releasing stolen cables,” Adebayo said, highlighting the escalating threat to telecom operations. The highest number of vandalism incidents has been recorded in states such as Delta, Rivers, Cross Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Ogun, Ondo, Edo, Lagos, Kogi, FCT, Kaduna, Nigeria, Osun, Kwara, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. Vandalism against telecom infrastructure in Nigeria has been most severe in states like Delta, Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Ondo, Edo, Kwara, and Kaduna. The impact peaked in May 2025, with 88 network outages linked to fibre cuts, equipment theft, and power failures. That number declined to 71 in June and 27 in July, but the threat remains persistent. Telecom operators in Nigeria face rising challenges beyond theft and vandalism of assets like copper cables and diesel. In many cases, local communities demand compensation before allowing repairs, delaying service restoration, and increasing operational costs. In June, the Nigerian government issued the Designation and Protection of Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) Order, which recognises telecommunications as critical infrastructure and makes its deliberate damage a criminal offence. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is leading the rollout of the CNII framework, supported by security agencies: the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) coordinates overall strategy; the Inspector General of Police leads enforcement; the Department of State Services (DSS) provides intelligence on emerging threats; and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) is charged with protecting telecom infrastructure on the ground. Industry stakeholders say implementation has fallen short. Despite the rise in vandalism, there have been no reported arrests or prosecutions. The NCC declined to comment on the matter. “We appeal to every Nigerian to please join us in the fight against the vandalisation of telecom infrastructure,” said Adebayo. “These assets power our banks, emergency services, education, healthcare, security systems, and daily communication. Attacking them is an attack on our economy and national stability.” 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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Kenya’s 12 highest-paid CEOs at the Nairobi Securities Exchange
In 2024, the pay gap between Kenya’s corporate boardrooms and ordinary workers widened further. Bank executives continued to dominate the top of the earnings pyramid, with the country’s highest-paid CEOs taking home hundreds of millions of dollars in salaries, bonuses, stock options, and benefits, even as many companies trimmed staff or froze junior pay to preserve profits amid high interest rates, sluggish credit growth, and mounting economic uncertainty. An analysis by TechCabal of the 12 highest-paid CEOs in Kenya’s listed companies shows just how lucrative corporate leadership remains. It also reflects how banks—buying government securities and cutting lending to the real economy—have stayed highly profitable and richly rewarding for their top management. Financial sector chiefs took home Kenya’s lion’s share of corporate pay. Bank CEOs pocketed nearly KES1.2 billion ($9.3 million), led by Paul Russo, John Gachora, and Gideon Muriuki. Safaricom’s Peter Ndegwa, however, out-earned them all, further cementing the telecom giant’s dominance of the East African market. The earnings packages, disclosed in annual reports, come amid a growing mismatch between executive compensation and economic performance. While the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) warned repeatedly that banks were not directing credit to the productive economy, compensation for senior bank leaders continued to rise sharply, in some cases by over 40%. Kenya’s banking sector recorded KES262.3 billion ($2 billion) in pre-tax profits in 2024. Yet much of that came from locking into high-yield government securities rather than lending to the real economy. 1. Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom — KES 294.2 million ($2,284,516) Safaricom’s chief executive, Peter Ndegwa, is the highest-paid CEO in corporate Kenya for the fiscal year ending March 2025, earning KES 294.2 million in total compensation, a 17% increase from the previous year. His pay package included KES 98.7 million ($766,423) in salary, a bonus of KES 116.7 million ($906,200), non-cash benefits valued at KES 33.5 million ($260,133), and KES 45.3 million ($351,700) in performance shares under the company’s Executive Performance Share Award Plan (EPSAP). The payout came as the telecoms giant returned to growth, reporting an 11% rise in net profit to KES 69.8 billion ($542 million), driven by strong performances in mobile money, data services, and narrowing losses in its Ethiopia operations. Safaricom remains East Africa’s most profitable company and one of its most generous boardrooms. 2. Paul Russo, KCB Group — KES 250.2 million ($1,942,850) KCB Group CEO Paul Russo’s total compensation soared by 40.8% in 2024, making him the highest-paid bank executive in the country. His KES 250.2 million payout came in a year when KCB reported KES 60 billion ($466 million) record profits, primarily from risk-free lending to the government through Treasury instruments. The bank, however, also raised its loan-loss provisions to buffer against rising defaults, a nod to the financial strain facing many households and SMEs. Despite Russo’s windfall, KCB cut its directors’ compensation by 20%, a rare move in an otherwise lucrative boardroom year. 3. John Gachora, NCBA Group — KES 208.4 million ($1,618,264) NCBA Group CEO John Gachora earned KES 208.4 million in 2024—a 25.7% increase from the previous year. While his pay placed him third among NSE-listed executives, NCBA’s boardroom was the most expensive, with directors pocketing a record KES 660.2 million ($5,126,883)— up 54.4%. The bank’s KES 22 billion ($171 million) profitability was primarily driven by investments in Treasury bills and bonds, with cautious private-sector lending still in play. 4. Gideon Muriuki, Co-operative Bank — KES 172.5 million ($1,339,509) Gideon Muriuki, Co-operative Bank’s long-serving CEO, took home KES 172.5 million in 2024, a 11.7% increase from 2023. The lender’s profitability remained strong, reporting KES 25.4 billion ($197 million) in 2024, giving directors a 28.1% jump in total remuneration to KES 473.4 million ($3,676,036). But the windfall at the top contrasted sharply with a freeze in junior staff salaries and an ongoing push to reduce operating costs by migrating services to digital channels. 5. Kariuki Ngari, Standard Chartered Kenya — KES 174.4 million ($1,354,250) Standard Chartered CEO Kariuki Ngari saw one of the steepest pay raises among banking bosses — a 43.5% jump — after the bank posted KES 28.2 billion ($219 million) record earnings in 2024. His KES 174.4 million package stood out in a year when the bank continued restructuring through attrition and digitisation. Directors’ compensation also rose 17.4% to KES 378 million ($2,935,100), reinforcing the perception that executive and boardroom rewards remain insulated from broader belt-tightening. 6. James Mwangi, Equity Group — KES 166.3 million ($1,291,350) James Mwangi, the long-time CEO of Equity Bank, saw his compensation rise modestly by 4.7% to KES 166.3 million. Despite the slower growth in its pay, Equity remains Kenya’s second most profitable bank and a major player in the regional financial sector. In 2024, Equity reported a 10.8% increase in net profit to KES 46.5 billion ($361 million). He holds a direct stake of about 3.38% in the bank, making him one of its top individual shareholders, further linking his wealth to the group’s fortunes. 7. Abdi Mohammed, Absa Bank Kenya — KES 109.8 million ($852,555) Absa Bank Kenya CEO Abdi Mohammed earned KES 109.8 million ($852,555) in 2024, marking a substantial 39.8% increase in pay. The bank saw strong growth in both interest and non-interest income, allowing it to reward its top brass handsomely. At the same time, Absa has quietly trimmed operational expenses, suggesting an efficiency drive underpinning its performance. 8. Patrick Mweheire, Stanbic Bank Kenya — KES 95.5 million ($741,600) Stanbic Bank CEO Patrick Mweheire earned KES 95.5 million ($741,600) in 2024, a 12.8% increase from the year before. Like many of his peers, Mweheire presided over a year of cautious lending, focusing on blue-chip clients and government securities. The bank’s board also saw its pay rise by 17.4%, adding to an industry-wide pattern of reward concentration at the top. 9. Jane Karuku, EABL — KES 83.49 million ($648,323) EABL managing director Jane Karuku earned KES 83.49 million ($648,323) in 2024, with her salary accounting for nearly 66% of the total. The rest comprised bonuses and stock options.
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Next Wave: Money is coming back to African startups; we need a better story to make it stay
Cet article est aussi disponible en français <!– In partnership with –> <!–TopBanner Join us for TechCabal Battlefield, Moonshot’s startup competition where you can showcase your startup idea to a global audience and an esteemed panel of judges and stand a chance to win up to 2.5 million naira in funding for your business! Click to register for TC Battlefield 27 July, 2025 After consecutive steep drops in the amount of venture capital funding made out to startups in both halves of 2023 and 2024, the first half of 2025 has been a collective sigh of relief for stakeholders across Africa’s technology landscape. But make no mistake, the uptick in startup fundraising is only part of a larger trend towards revising the case for investing in an African startup. I find that more people—fund managers, founders and other enablers are asking hard questions about what it means to build commercially viable businesses on the continent. And the 166% growth in the concentration of fundraising into fintech reflects an unspoken consensus that investors are clustering around what has been proven to work under the current “Africa opportunity narrative” versus where innovation meets deeper risk. But, unlike mature technology business ecosystems, where concentrated investor interest in large language artificial intelligence models is the driving force behind the resurgence in startup investing, concentration narratives like the simplistic “fintech for inclusion” story is showing signs that it is near its structural limit. Even fintech-focused firms are modulating this story in their communications. It tells me that: Our startup and capital archetypes are evolving. The overarching story of startup and tech in Africa is losing its compelling power. An overarching narrative is a set of stylised facts that explain something. It is the foundational set of generally accepted and simplified realities or idealized patterns that theories are constructed around to advance capital and entrepreneurial utility. Next Wave continues after this ad. Join Us in Paris for the Bridge & Value Trade Mission: Sept 22–26, 2025. This trade mission offers unparalleled access for Nigerian businesses seeking strategic partnerships, market entry support, and visibility across the European economic landscape. It is an exceptional opportunity for forward-thinking companies ready to scale, partner, and expand to Europe. Register here! For us in Africa, the major narratives oscillated between Africa’s demographic expansion and the implied market opportunity it represented. And the opportunity to create, shape and capture market share in some of the fastest-growing economies globally by deploying new technology to leapfrog institutional gaps and market failures. Sectorally, “financial inclusion,” for example, drove financing flows and policy reform that fueled fintech ventures. That ship has lost steam today. Solar-based micro-grids, for example, drove financing to the models that produced the M-KOPAs of this world. That story has evolved into more complex models today, just as climate adaptation is driving funding to smallholder farm improvement technologies. While many of the underlying stylised facts remain mostly true, the collision of the grand narrative with market realities and global capital flows has damaged the prevailing story. Unfortunately, most investors and even founders are still caught on the wrong side of a compelling non-moralistic narrative about building and investing in startups. In this sense, the current rebound in startup fundraising is a positive surprise. Thus, while it’s easy to call the rebound in startup funding a “flight to quality,” it sounds and looks more like a “flight to safety” to me. It tells me that the big story that drove building and investing in startups is due for an upgrade. Next Wave continues after this ad. The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) is proud to announce the 11th edition of the ICTEL Expo, set for July 29–30, 2025, at the Lagos Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island. Under the theme “Leveraging Technology for Innovation and Development in Africa,” the event aims to further position ICTEL as a premier platform for digital transformation, regional collaboration, and economic progress Join us! Billions of dollars were raised and deployed based on the existing stories. Unicorns were created, new fund managers joined the VC gravy train, and growth in startup hiring created work opportunities for thousands of brilliant young talent. But when the private startup capital market broke down from 2023 onwards, it became clear to anyone paying attention that the stories that turned on the capital spigot were not enough to keep the taps flowing. And most importantly, those stories probably worked because of cheap global money, and not always because of their commercial soundness. We now need stories that are less correlated to the global state of capital, and this applies whether your capital is local or not, because all capital is universal, if not geographically, then in terms of opportunity cost. Next Wave continues after this ad. Join Africa’s builders at Termii Elevate 4.0 on August 2 – where AI, APIs, and digital infrastructure take center stage. With Iyin Aboyeji, Wetech, and other top voices. Free to attend: Get your ticker here! The State of Tech in Africa H1 2025 is a brilliant snapshot of the numbers and context behind a 6-quarter record haul in startup funding, startup layoffs, shutdowns, M&A, and deal count. It is one thing to read a report about technology startups in Africa and focus on the headline numbers. But a better way for the reader to parse this compilation is to test where the reported numbers improve or disprove your set of stylised facts on building or investing in African startups. And this applies regardless of what your story was, e.g. demographic opportunity, leapfrogging, or even the failings of the VC model. Next Wave continues after this ad. Africa’s tech ecosystem is alive with ambition, and Moonshot 2025 is catalysing it into unstoppable momentum. Our theme, “Building Momentum,” honours past builders and calls for doubling down on systems, capital, policies, and partnerships. Expect new formats, deeper conversations, and broader voices. This is where vision becomes action. If you’re building, funding, or enabling Africa’s innovation economy, join us October 15–16
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Digital Nomads: The 60-day race to find another UK work visa, or be deported
Living and working in the UK on a Skilled Worker visa is like sleeping with one eye open. In a blink, migrants can lose access to their livelihoods and face a 60-day ultimatum to find another job or be deported back to their home countries. A Skilled Worker visa can only be sponsored by an authorised company in the UK, few as they are. Things can quickly unravel once an employment is terminated. What follows is a frantic race against time where every rejection, delay or dead-end carries the risk of being forced to leave the country. I spoke with a UK-based tech worker who experienced this distress firsthand. After leaving college in 2021, he worked as a tech creative in Rwanda but soon landed an opportunity to work at a global tech firm. He worked briefly as an intern and then, after becoming a full-time staff, came to the UK through the Skilled Worker visa program. But just as he was settling into his new life and career, a company-wide layoff left him in the lurch. This is the story of the tech worker, who asked to remain anonymous for job security reasons, as told to TechCabal. Welcome to the UK I attended a session early in 2021 where volunteers were invited to get feedback on their portfolios. I signed up immediately. During that session, I met one of the panel reviewers, a recruiter working at a global tech company. She liked my drive. So, we connected on LinkedIn and kept in touch casually. By the summer of 2021, she reached out again. There was an internship opportunity at the company—ideal for new graduates. I didn’t need convincing. I applied, went through interviews, and got the position. It was a remote role with the tech company, during a time when the world was still recovering from the 2020 global pandemic. I was based in Rwanda at the time and worked with a team spread across Europe. 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At the company, I met experienced creatives like myself, widened my network, and committed to a singular goal: to get a full-time offer. I networked, refined my portfolio, and ensured my performance was strong enough and visible to my employer. When the internship ended, there was a performance evaluation. Fortunately, the company did a headcount and found out that it needed new employees in one of its creative departments. With help from the recruiter, I went through the internal hiring process and secured a full-time offer. Once I got the offer, the company started discussions to relocate me to the UK. It partnered with an accounting firm to handle everything about my visa paperwork to a temporary accommodation in the UK. When I arrived, they advised me on neighbourhoods to live in, sorting taxes, healthcare, and more. The process [to get my visa] took over two months. Despite corporate support, I still had to undergo health screenings, a tuberculosis test, and provide documents such as a police report and affidavits explaining discrepancies in my surname. But it was the waiting part that was the hardest: I went weeks without updates, unsure if I should plan or panic. It took a while. But by 2022, I finally relocated to the UK on the Skilled Worker visa, sponsored
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“It started as an embarrassment.”: Day 1-1000 of Advantage Health Africa
You can order hot jollof on Chowdeck and have it at your door before the steam fades. You can order fresh tomatoes on GoLemon without stepping outside. But if your mother needs hypertension medication at 5 p.m. in Bayelsa? That question—why the convenience economy stopped short of healthcare—haunted Abimbola Adebakin. A pharmacist with years of experience in organisational strategy and consulting, she’d spent her career building systems behind the scenes. One day, trying and failing to help a family friend find a basic drug after visiting nine pharmacies, she was jolted into a personal embarrassment that refused to let go. So she built a solution. In 2017, Adebakin launched Advantage Health Africa (AHA) to make accessing quality, affordable medication as seamless as ordering dinner. Through its flagship platform, MyMedicines, AHA delivers prescriptions across Nigeria—even to remote areas—while supplying clinics and pharmacies through a growing B2B distribution network. Today, the company serves over 30 HMOs, moves thousands of orders monthly, and powers an increasingly digitised ecosystem through its proprietary inventory visibility platform, The Advantage. The road to relevance was anything but linear. Failed products. Broken tech. Layoffs. A near-collapse of their pharmacy network. On today’s edition of Day 1 to 1000, AHA’s founder and CEO, Abimbola Adebakin, walks me through how she built a healthtech company out of frustration, scaled it through a pandemic, and learned when to pivot, when to let go, and when to keep the faith. This is the story of Advantage Health Africa, as told to TechCabal. Day 1-1000: From consulting gigs to a tech-enabled pharmacy network Advantage Health Africa didn’t start with a grand strategy. It started with shame. A family friend needed a drug. I offered to help. I’m a pharmacist—how hard could it be? I went to a pharmacy. They didn’t have it. I went to another. And another. I visited nine pharmacies across Lagos that day and still came up empty-handed. I was embarrassed. What kind of system was this? What kind of pharmacist was I if I couldn’t find a basic drug? That moment stayed with me. It opened my eyes to something we all quietly endure: a broken distribution system that forces sick people to wander from pharmacy to pharmacy, hoping to get lucky. I thought: we can’t keep working around this. We have to fix it. When I started Advantage Health Africa in 2017, we launched with services: consulting, training, anything to keep the lights on while we figured out the bigger thing. We built relationships. We worked with pharmacy associations and regulators. We mapped the territory. Nine months later, on October 1st, we launched MyMedicines, a direct-to-consumer service that lets people order drugs and get them delivered. That first year, the traction was slow but steady. Then COVID hit. Suddenly, what we were offering wasn’t a convenience, it was essential. People couldn’t leave their homes. Clinics wouldn’t take non-critical patients. HMOs that previously ignored us came running. “Can your pharmacies deliver?” they asked. “Yes,” we said, because we could. Revenue jumped 10x. Word of mouth exploded. People abroad were ordering drugs for their parents in Bayelsa, Onitsha, places we could reach in 24 hours. CNN called. The world noticed. And we knew: we’d hit product-market fit. We pivoted, failed, restructured, and kept going Before COVID, we’d also tried building a pharmacy franchise called MyPharmacy. But the timing was off. The tech was shaky. COVID made everything harder. We raised some money for it, but within 12 months, we shut it down. Before COVID, we’d tried to launch a pharmacy franchise called MyPharmacy. We’d raised money. We’d built out tech. We even onboarded pharmacies. But the timing was wrong. Twelve months in, we shut it down. Still, the name stuck. People began to refer to us as “MyPharmacy” even after it was gone. And we kept the spirit of the network alive, just not in the format we started with. That was hard. Letting go of the vision—and letting go of people. But we did it properly. We flew in our field staff, sat them down, and paid two months’ salary. Helped them reposition. Some of them came back later when we were ready to rebuild. We also tried wholesaling to pharmacies but quickly realised that wasn’t scalable. The margins were brutal. The scale wasn’t there. It was our board that pushed me to switch to selective distribution. They were right. That arm took off once we brought in a seasoned MD with experience in sales and marketing. I had to admit what I didn’t know and hire someone for it. Our branded generics—GT Plus, Real C Brazil, and others—are now thriving in the market. I come from an organisational development background. Even in chaos, I knew we needed structure: operating models, culture, systems. We got ISO-certified early on. We let people go when we had to, humanely, and hired back some of them later. 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Utility, not hype, will drive stablecoin growth in Africa
Stablecoins have become one of the most discussed financial technologies on the continent recently, and for good reason. Their utility drives their growth in Africa; they already account for 43% of the continent’s crypto transaction volume and are increasing foreign remittance volumes in countries like Nigeria, where they facilitated $22 billion within a year. Although scepticism remains among African observers, corporations, and governments regarding the viability of stablecoins, considerable evidence suggests that they can open up the continent to international businesses and enhance intra-African trade, which still stands at a modest 14.9%. The utility of stablecoins as an access mechanism and technology offers a compelling opportunity for the continent that cannot be ignored. While in other parts of the world, crypto and stablecoins are nice-to-haves, in Africa, they solve real problems for individuals and businesses whose demand will only increase in the coming years. African consumers want access Stablecoins, digital currencies collateralised by fiat like the dollar or euro, are popular in Africa due to accessibility challenges. For instance, converting foreign currencies to Naira might necessitate visiting several banks. Businesses contend with extensive paperwork for cross-currency and cross-border transactions, enduring lengthy queues in banking halls over multiple days for limited and slow transactions. According to the $1 trillion payment giant, Stripe, since January 2025, stablecoin transaction volume on Stripe has grown steadily at 30% month-over-month, close to the 38% that Stripe-wide transactions achieved throughout 2024. From its vantage point, this indicates that customers without access to traditional banking or who pay with methods unsupported by international retailers are eager to use stablecoins. This description fits people in developing nations, including Africa, who cannot receive money via PayPal or risk having their WorldRemit accounts suddenly deleted when sending money home. On the continent, these challenges are exacerbated by local currency restrictions such as caps on foreign currency transaction limits, suspension of local debit cards for international transactions, and even the arrest of parallel market traders. In contrast, stablecoins offer a compelling alternative, providing 24/7, low-cost, and instant transfers, proving to be a viable option even amidst the growing presence of remittance fintechs in Africa. Using stablecoins for $200 remittances from Sub-Saharan Africa cuts costs by roughly 60% compared to traditional fiat methods. A solution to Africa’s currency problem A mixture of this shortage and the rapid depreciation of local currencies across Africa has significantly increased consumer and business appetite for foreign-denominated savings. For instance, Nigeria’s naira has lost approximately 80% of its value against the dollar since 2020. Chainalysis reported a rise in stablecoin volume in countries like Nigeria and Ethiopia as their currencies depreciated. Following the Nigerian government’s 2023 devaluation of the naira, many Nigerian startups earning in naira after raising capital in U.S. dollars faced financial strain. It’s no wonder that many African businesses are adopting stablecoins for treasury management. Yellow Card, Africa’s most funded crypto exchange, saw its annual transaction volume from businesses using its platform for cross-border payments and treasury management more than double from $1.3 billion in 2023 to $3 billion in 2024. Africa’s currency landscape is also highly fragmented. With 42 different currencies and 861 intra-African payment corridors, a lack of seamless interoperability forces a reliance on scarce foreign currencies. For example, a Ghanaian merchant sending money to an Ivorian supplier typically sees funds converted from Cedis to dollars, then to CFA franc. This process, involving multiple exchange rate fees and inefficiencies, costs multinational corporations $5 billion annually. Due to this, cross-border solution startups are experiencing significant growth in payment transaction volumes. For instance, Conduit, a payment gateway serving import-export businesses in Africa and Latin America, doubled its annualised payment transaction volume (PTV) from $5 billion to $10 billion. The stealth remittance product Juicyway has processed a total payment volume of $1.3 billion. Similarly, a newly designed intra-Africa payment platform developed by PAPSS and supported by the African Union—featuring 15 African central banks and 12 payment switches on its network—will enable real-time cross-border settlements across Africa using local currency stablecoins. It is expected to integrate cNGN, a live stablecoin pegged to the Nigerian Naira, and eventually support other African currencies or central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). For Africa’s 400 million young people, stablecoins, by enabling global payouts, offer an opportunity to tap into the global economy. Zach Abraham, CEO of Bridge (a stablecoins company acquired by Stripe), observed, “Almost all of our product market fit is outside the US,” highlighting that some of the most compelling use cases his company observes involve global payouts, treasury management, and global card products. While some critics warn of over-dependence on the dollar, dollar-pegged stablecoins can serve as a crucial starting point to harmonising trade on the continent. They can help African countries connect their small businesses with others across the continent, paving the way for eventual replacement with local currency stablecoins or CBDCs. ________ Sultan Quadri currently serves as senior content strategist at TechPR Africa, a leading comms company. He has six years of experience reporting on technology’s impact in sub-Saharan Africa for TechCabal, Al Jazeera, Semafor, Rest of the World, Quartz Africa, and Deutsche Welle, with a strong focus on emerging technologies. 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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FIRS wants banks and fintechs to share transaction data for VAT monitoring
Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has developed a real-time portal to track all VAT-eligible electronic transactions and is mandating integration from banks, card schemes, fintechs, and payment service providers, according to an internal presentation seen by TechCabal, part of an aggressive push to plug tax leakages in the fast-growing digital economy. “This system represents a transformative leap in transaction visibility. By monitoring VAT-eligible activities in real time, we are fostering a fair and transparent digital marketplace for all stakeholders,” Zacch Adedeji, the executive chairman of FIRS, said in a statement. Called the ‘Transaction Monitoring System,’ the portal requires financial institutions to route transactions through it, giving FIRS real-time visibility into VAT-eligible payments and where deductions may apply. The move marks a major shift in how the tax agency enforces compliance in the financial services industry. Integrating with the portal will enable FIRS to automatically assess taxpayer thresholds and reconcile invoices. While the agency will not collect taxes directly through the portal, it will use it to monitor transactions in real time through a centralised dashboard. “Nigeria’s digital economy has experienced exponential growth, transforming how businesses operate and process transactions,” FIRS said in the statement. “However, this expansion has outpaced traditional tax monitoring methods, creating gaps in transaction visibility and compliance.” The agency built the “platform (to) focus on real-time data collection, monitoring and ensuring complete transparency in the digital world,” the statement added. FIRS also claims that it is using “encryption and AI-driven validation to maintain transaction integrity.” Financial institutions are being asked to connect to the portal because they can accurately document taxes on millions of micro-transactions, as banks must only report transactions above ₦5 million ($3,200). By plugging the institutions in, the tax agency captures the single biggest leakage point for consumption taxes and can audit tax declarations against bank records. The agency can also standardise all information on taxable transactions. In June 2025, President Bol Tinubu’s administration enacted new tax laws that empower the tax agency to automate tax processes. Under Section 71 of the Tax Administration Act, the agency can now deploy technology to handle tax assessment, collection, accounting, and data gathering. The law also imposes steep penalties for non-compliance under Section 103. ₦1 million ($652) for the first day of failure to grant system access and ₦10,000 ($6.5) for each additional day of default. But those laws will take effect in January 2026, so the agency is relying on Section 25(4) of the FIRS Act, which gives it the same power with a 30-day notice to the taxpayer. While collecting transaction data to improve tax compliance is legal, that data is not a definitive indicator of tax liability. Before relying on financial data, the tax agency cross-checks it against self-assessments, where individuals and businesses can claim deductions. If someone earns ₦5 million ($3,265) annually, they are not taxed on the entire amount, as eligible deductions reduce the taxable income. How does it work? During several Zoom meetings with financial institutions, FIRS officials presented the agency’s plan and roadmap for integrating the Transaction Monitoring System into their digital infrastructure, according to one person who attended the meetings. To onboard, institutions must register directly on the portal and integrate via APIs before activating their dashboard. In a typical transaction flow, once a payment is received, financial institutions must first share the transaction data via API with FIRS’ VAT Rev Assure system, the agency’s tech-enabled tool to ensure all VAT is accurately calculated and promptly remitted, before sending it to the portal. For payment service providers (PSPs) like Paystack and Flutterwave, if VAT is not collected at checkout, they must calculate VAT on the total transaction value. If VAT is included at checkout, PSPs are required to submit either the merchant’s VAT or the PSP’s VAT amount alongside the transaction data. All institutions must record both the VAT amount and the gross payment value for consumer payments. To facilitate this, PSPs will log in to a secure admin portal to share real-time transaction data, including the VAT component, for both merchants and customers. The data is then grouped accordingly and pushed to the Transaction Monitoring System. A streamlined support channel is available for handling refunds. 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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“I asked ChatGPT for a hug”: Nigerians are turning to AI for emotional support
At 1 a.m., 23-year-old Tomi* was lying on her bed, exhausted and overwhelmed. She had just finished pouring her heart out, ranting about everything from unrequited love to the suffocating weight of underachievement. Her fingers hovered over her phone screen briefly before she typed: “I just want a hug.” Messages of reassurance came just about a second later: “You’re safe here. You matter. And you’re not alone. ” This exchange didn’t take place in a therapy session or with a friend. It was happening on ChatGPT, a general-purpose artificial intelligence assistant best known for summarising and writing better emails, drafting reports, and explaining complex ideas. Conversation between Tomi* and ChatGPT; Source: Tomi* Tomi isn’t alone. Across Nigeria and even globally, users are turning to AI tools like ChatGPT for more than productivity. They are asking chatbots if they are good people, if they should leave their partners, or how to make sense of childhood trauma. For many, AI tools are standing in for friends who didn’t pick up a call or therapists they cannot afford. Twenty-three-year-old Favour* started using ChatGPT as a study companion for her final-year project. When she returned to using the tool again, post-graduation uncertainty had set in. The chatbot allowed her to unpack the weight of the previous year, the terrors of job hunting, and the long wait for NYSC. “It’s not like I couldn’t talk to anyone,” she said. “I just wanted to rant.” Before ChatGPT, she would make private voice notes to get things off her chest, but once, a reply from the chatbot caught her off guard. “It told me, ‘I want you to breathe. Just breathe.’” That “felt really personal,” she said. Since then, she has returned to ChatGPT in moments of doubt, after an argument, while applying for jobs, or wondering whether she should’ve responded better in a confrontation. Can AI really care? Chatbots are built on statistical prediction engines trained with massive datasets like books, online conversations, magazines, and more, to produce responses that sound human. But when a bot tells you, “you’re not alone,” is it truly being kind or simply mimicking kindness? According to AI researcher and medical doctor, Jeffery Otoibhi, designing an AI chatbot that responds empathetically involves modelling three layers of empathy: cognitive empathy, where the bot recognises and validates a user’s feelings; emotional empathy, where it feels with you; and motivational empathy, where it offers a solution, advice, or encouragement. He explains that the chatbots are strong at cognitive and motivational empathy, but empathy remains elusive, because at its core, AI responses are “based on the statistical patterns they’ve (AI bots) picked out from their training data. The training data cannot provide emotional empathy.” 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 There is a tension between what users feel and what bots are designed to offer. Chatbots like ChatGPT often include disclaimers in their responses, reminding users that they are not licensed professionals and should not be used as a substitute for therapy. In many cases, users either don’t read the fine print or simply don’t care. “Sometimes, I’ve thought about the fact that ChatGPT may use this info in another way. But I don’t care. Let me just get it out,” says Favour. “I see them (disclaimers). I just quickly look away,” Tomi says about the app’s terms and conditions. Otoibhi also highlights the possibility
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