Nigeria’s Legend Internet revenue drops 19% as costs surge sharply
Legend Internet Plc, Nigeria’s first listed internet service provider, reported a sharp decline in half-year revenue thanks to rising operating costs, weaker broadband sales, and growing debt pressures. Revenue fell 18.8% to ₦505.36 million ($368,000) in the six months ended January 2026, down from ₦622.64 million ($453,400) in the corresponding period in the previous year, according to the company’s financial results. The downturn marks a reversal from the growth momentum surrounding its April 2025 listing on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX). The company’s financial performance highlights the mounting pressure on smaller broadband providers in Nigeria’s internet market, where rising operating costs, aggressive competition from telecom operators, and the growing presence of satellite internet provider Starlink are squeezing margins. The revenue decline was driven largely by weaker performance in Legend Fibre, the company’s core broadband business. Revenue from the segment dropped to ₦198.3 million ($144,401) from ₦318.15 million ($231,676) in the previous year. Inside Legend’s Overhead Explosion Tap below to see how surging administrative and personnel costs wiped out profitability. H1 2025 (Previous) H1 2026 (Current) Total Admin Expenses+174.4% ₦166.77M Personnel Expensesx2 (Doubled) ₦76.75M Professional Fees>8x Surge ₦9.93M Net Impact ₦239.85M (Profit) The Insight: A year ago, overhead costs were manageable, allowing the company to retain a healthy ₦239.85 million in net profit. Source: Legend Internet Plc Financial Results While revenue declined, operating costs moved in the opposite direction. Legend’s administrative expenses rose 174.4% year-on-year to ₦457.62 million ($333,238). Personnel expenses doubled to ₦153.5 million ($111,778), while professional fees increased more than eightfold to ₦79.45 million ($57,855). The rising overheads sharply eroded profitability. Gross profit fell by 21.48%, while the company swung from a profit after tax of ₦239.85 million in the previous year to a net loss of ₦99.34 million ($72,339). The decline comes after a relatively stronger 2025 financial year, when Legend reported a 4% increase in revenue to ₦1.19 billion ($866,557) and a 44% rise in profit after tax to ₦172.7 million ($125,760). However, quarterly filings had already shown slowing revenue growth alongside rising spending on personnel and marketing. Those pressures appear to have intensified in the first half of 2026. The company’s balance sheet also points to increasing reliance on debt financing to support operations. Cash and cash equivalents rose sharply from ₦21.02 million ($15,306) in July 2025 to ₦269.13 million ($195,980) by January 2026. However, the improvement was largely funded through borrowing rather than operational performance. The additional borrowing has helped preserve short-term liquidity but has also increased financial risk. Cash flow data paints a similarly challenging picture. Legend recorded a negative operating cash flow of ₦237.48 million ($172,932), a significant deterioration from the positive ₦18.43 million ($13,420) reported previously. The company spent more on prepayments, infrastructure-related costs, and general operations than it generated from broadband services. Without external financing, the company would have faced severe liquidity pressure. Net cash from financing activities reached ₦382.04 million ($278,194), largely driven by commercial paper proceeds and other borrowings. The company has also kept broadband pricing relatively stable despite inflation and currency pressures, a strategy aimed at retaining subscribers but one that has further compressed margins. Spectranet merger may offer a lifeline The company’s proposed merger with Spectranet has become increasingly important. Announced in March 2026, the deal would create what the companies describe as Nigeria’s largest ISP. The merger is designed to combine Legend’s fibre infrastructure with Spectranet’s established wireless broadband customer base, creating a larger platform capable of generating economies of scale. For Legend, the transaction could provide a path out of its current financial challenges. The merger offers opportunities to increase utilisation of its ₦2.45 billion ($1.78 million) fibre infrastructure assets, expand revenue through cross-selling, reduce duplicated administrative costs, and strengthen its balance sheet. However, analysts expect integration costs and regulatory approvals to weigh on earnings in the near term, even if the combined entity gains a stronger position in Nigeria’s increasingly competitive broadband market.
Read MoreEsca Finance taps Tether-backed MANSA for same-day African payment settlements
Esca Finance, a Nigerian-founded foreign exchange (FX) sourcing and treasury management startup, has partnered with MANSA, a Tether-backed stablecoin settlement provider, to enable same-day settlements across key African payment corridors, including Nigeria, Ghana, and Francophone West and Central African markets. The partnership combines Esca’s FX, banking, and local payout infrastructure with MANSA’s stablecoin-backed settlement rails, allowing payment companies and remittance providers to complete transactions faster without tying up capital across multiple markets. Cross-border payment companies often have to pre-fund accounts in destination countries before processing transactions. That means keeping money parked across several markets in advance, tying up working capital, and making expansion more expensive. Esca said MANSA’s infrastructure provides liquidity when transactions are initiated, reducing the need for businesses to hold large balances in multiple countries. The move underscores how FX infrastructure providers are using stablecoins to offer faster settlement to businesses seeking alternatives to conventional correspondent banking systems, which can be slow and costly in many African markets. Stablecoin-based settlement infrastructure has emerged as an option for cross-border money movement while improving access to dollar liquidity. The partnership will enable Esca’s customers to move money across Nigerian, Ghanaian, XAF, and XOF corridors with same-day settlement, rather than waiting for funds to move through traditional banking networks. Esca said transactions routed through MANSA’s infrastructure are expected to account for 10%–20% of its monthly payment volume over the next 12 months. “MANSA’s settlement-first USDT rails have strengthened our ability to deliver same-day settlements across key African corridors, helping Esca scale more efficiently with tier-one remittance players,” Shalom Osiadi, chief executive officer of Esca Finance, said. Founded in 2023, Esca Finance helps businesses manage foreign exchange exposure across emerging markets. The company says it processes between $75 million and $120 million in monthly transaction volume and serves customers ranging from remittance firms and fintechs to exporters and multinational businesses. It lists MoneyGram and Bridge, the Stripe-owned stablecoin infrastructure company, among clients. The deal supports Esca’s broader expansion across the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). The company said it is already live through partner rails in Burundi, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, and plans to expand into additional markets, including Seychelles and Djibouti, in 2026. “Esca has built deep capabilities in local execution and banking relationships across African markets, while MANSA provides the settlement liquidity layer,” Mouloukou Sanoh, chief executive officer and co-founder of MANSA, said. The partnership will initially focus on markets where both companies already operate, with plans to expand as Esca grows its African network and MANSA adds new settlement corridors.
Read MoreBright Okereke didn’t choose product management. A missing grade did.
Bright Okereke didn’t plan to become a product manager. A missing biology exam changed everything. In 2013, Okereke, fresh out of secondary school, was hoping to study Electrical and Electronics (Computer) Engineering at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) in southeastern Nigeria’s Imo State. He had spent most of his teenage years obsessed with computers. “I got access to computers as a kid; I was enrolled into a computer training centre immediately after my primary school,” he says. “I was able to pick up very quickly and during my secondary school days, I could type at over 100 words per minute.” Computers fascinated him, and engineering felt like a natural path. But when admission season came, things did not go as planned. Okereke, who grew up in Aba, the commercial city in southeastern Nigeria’s Abia State, failed to secure admission to study engineering. He had listed Agricultural Extension as a backup course. “I loved agriculture,” he recalls. “ My dad had a farm, and I used to join him.” Then another problem surfaced. A university staff member informed him that he could not switch into Agricultural Extension because he had not taken Biology in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), Nigeria’s university entrance exam. Instead, she suggested something else: Project Management. “I did [choose Project Management] because I didn’t even know what else to do then,” he admits. At first, the course sounded random. Then curiosity kicked in. Okereke began researching what project management actually meant. Somewhere in that search, he realised the field sat surprisingly close to technology, operations, and systems building. “I found out [project management] was actually a very big thing,” he recalls. “It was also a tech career that I could pursue.” That accidental pivot would quietly shape the rest of his career. By the time he graduated from FUTO in 2018 with a degree in Project Management, he had already started teaching himself how software worked. Between 2016 and 2017, he spent late nights learning to code through platforms like W3Schools and Lynda.com. But graduating into Nigeria’s job market was less inspiring. Nigeria produces over 600,000 university graduates a year, many of whom struggle to find formal employment. Like many young Nigerians trying to stay afloat, Okereke took whatever work he could find. For a while, he worked in a bakery mixing dough and baking bread, while waiting to participate in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Nigeria’s mandatory one-year program for graduates. In 2020, he was posted to Atisbo Local Government Area in Oyo State, hundreds of kilometres away from home. He taught Mathematics at Baptist Secondary School during the week and spent weekends travelling to Ogun State to freelance for MaxOrg Homes and Properties, a real estate company, generating leads and managing prospective clients. The role paid, but it drained him. “It let me know that [marketing] was not my calling, [and] that I needed to move into something else,” he says. Reserved by nature, he found the constant social interaction exhausting. But the experience taught him something useful: communication mattered, even for quiet people. After concluding his NYSC in 2021, his friend recommended him for a role at Clever Realty, a Lagos-based real estate company, as an executive assistant and project manager. He got the role. It was not yet tech, but the experience would help him in his future tech roles. “I learned planning and executing goals across an organisation,” he says. “As a reserved person, it trained me as well to be able to speak up to people,” he says. “Imagine following your boss to client meetings, and seeing the way he addresses the clients.” The long road to the right role The transition into tech arrived properly in late 2021. Okereke interned at Mentortribes, a remote startup that provides practical learning and internship opportunities for aspiring technology professionals. There, he worked with scrum teams and helped manage product development processes for software products, including a digital savings application inspired by ajo, the community-based rotating savings system common across Nigeria. “My role was to manage the scrum team,” he says. “It served as a learning curve for me to practice agile product management within a SaaS team.” For the first time, the theories he had studied started connecting to real products. At the same time, he was taking online courses in product and project management through Coursera, building the foundation for what would become his career. Then crypto arrived In December 2021, while still interning at Mentortribes, Okereke joined Blocklo Technologies, a Nigerian blockchain and cryptocurrency company, initially writing articles about cryptocurrency and Web3. “I was able to start picking up a bit of interest in crypto while still in school,” he says. “There was a lot of buzz around Bitcoin [and] Ethereum.” By then, crypto adoption in Nigeria was exploding. Bitcoin and Ethereum had become part of mainstream online conversation, particularly among young Nigerians looking for alternative financial systems. Nearly one in three Nigerians had used or owned crypto assets, making Nigeria a leading country for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency adoption globally. Okereke saw an opening inside the company. “One day, I told my CEO that I also had project management experience,” he recalls. “We were looking for a project manager at the time.” The CEO agreed. In March 2022, he officially transitioned into product management, working on a crypto wallet and NFT marketplace. The role deepened his understanding of how digital products are built under pressure: coordinating engineers, balancing timelines, handling stakeholder expectations, and shipping products across distributed teams working in different countries and time zones. “Blocklo technologies helped me understand product development in the crypto and Web3 space,” he says. “I also understood how to collaborate across multiple time zones which helped me excel in further roles down the line”. That operational depth became increasingly valuable. In 2023, he joined Wazobia Technologies, a UK-based software development company that builds digital products and technology solutions for businesses, working remotely as a hybrid project and product manager until
Read MoreSouth Africa’s AI skills gap is widening faster than universities can keep up
The skills needed to work with artificial intelligence are changing faster than South Africa’s education system can adapt, leaving employers scrambling for talent as AI adoption accelerates across the economy. Ana Alonso, Salesforce Senior Vice President and General Manager for Eastern Mediterranean, Israel and Africa, a global cloud-based software company with offices in Johannesburg and Morocco, warned about the gap between what businesses need and what universities are teaching. “The gap is widening as AI technologies continue to evolve faster than traditional education systems can respond,” Alonso told TechCabal on the sidelines of the Agentforce World Tour Johannesburg event on Tuesday. South African businesses are embracing AI faster than ever, but the country’s education system remains constrained by slow curriculum cycles and outdated qualification frameworks. As demand grows for AI specialists, cloud developers and automation experts, the skills gap will require closer collaboration between universities, government and the private sector. Alonso noted that organisations are increasingly facing a mismatch between rapidly changing AI job requirements and qualification systems that can take years to update. “South Africa is a big growth engine for us in Africa,” she stated. “The companies here are adopting cloud technologies very fast, and when we look at our customer base, most of them are already trying to use AI. They are using AI mainly to improve the way they relate with their customers.” The challenge is becoming one of the most important questions facing Africa’s future workforce. While businesses across banking, telecommunications, retail and technology are rushing to deploy AI tools, they are competing for talent with skills that often did not exist when many employees completed their degrees. As AI capabilities evolve every few months, employers are placing greater value on practical skills, micro-credentials and continuous learning. It raises concerns that universities and training institutions may struggle to keep graduates relevant in an AI-driven economy. While much of the global AI conversation has focused on productivity gains, Alonso believes that the real value lies in helping businesses deliver better customer experiences. “There has been a lot of conversation about how AI is going to help companies be more efficient, and that is true. But really the value is about how companies are going to be able to serve customers in a better way,” she said. Dr Rowen Govender, Head of the School of AI at Regenesys Business School, said the talent shortfall between AI adoption and workforce readiness presents both a challenge and an opportunity for South Africa. “Without investment in AI education and skills development, South Africa risks falling behind in the global digital economy. However, with the right interventions, AI has the potential to drive economic growth, improve productivity and create new career opportunities across sectors,” said. Salesforce Senior Talent Program Manager Ursula Fear centred the challenge on South Africa’s qualification frameworks that typically operate on five-year cycles, while AI technologies and associated skills are changing in a matter of months. “Learning in the flow of work has become critical. People need to dedicate time every week to continuously build new skills,” she said. Fear said organisations are increasingly looking beyond formal qualifications and focusing on demonstrable capabilities. Salesforce’s Trailhead learning platform, which provides access to AI and cloud-related training, is the company’s effort to bridge that gap. She also highlighted shortages in specialist areas such as marketing automation, AI implementation, cloud development and AI-enabled customer experience design. The urgency is particularly acute in a country where youth unemployment remains among the highest in the world. South Africa’s official unemployment rate stands above 32%, while unemployment among people aged 15 to 24 exceeds 60%. Alonso believes AI could become an opportunity rather than a threat if governments, universities and businesses work together.
Read MoreSmartphone prices in Nigeria could jump 30% this year, hitting entry-level buyers
Nigeria’s smartphone market grew 8% year-on-year in Q1 2026, supported by demand for affordable 4G and 5G smartphones in the $200 to $299 segment, according to Omdia, a global technology market research firm. But that growth was smaller than the 25% recorded in Q4 2025, when the sub-$200 segment dominated. This will further worsen in 2026, with smartphone prices forecasted to rise by up to 30%, threatening affordability for millions who rely on mobile phones to get online. Rising global component and memory costs will drive this increase as manufacturers pass higher production expenses into retail pricing, according to Manish Pravinkumar, Principal Analyst at Omdia. “Pricing pressure also appears far from fully reflected at retail: with component and memory costs rising, Nigeria could still see another 15 to 30% upward pricing adjustment through the remainder of the year, particularly in the mass market,” Pravinkumar told TechCabal in an email. “Premium demand should remain comparatively resilient because the affordability impact is concentrated at the entry and lower-mid tiers.” BT, the British multinational telecommunications company, said in May that smartphone costs could rise as technology firms competing in the artificial intelligence race buy up semiconductor chips, adding pressure to already strained supply chains. The country is particularly exposed to supply chain pressures because it relies heavily on imported devices. Roughly 90% of smartphone volumes sold in the country are imported, according to Pravinkumar. Smartphones enabled 153.15 million mobile Internet subscriptions in Nigeria in March 2026. Local assembly, operator-backed financing, and telco-led device subsidies remain limited compared to some African markets. Phones priced below $150 account for more than 60% of smartphone volumes in the country, according to data from Omdia. Four in five smartphones sold in Nigeria and across Africa were priced below $200. The average smartphone selling price in the country rose to $134 in Q1 2026, up 2% year-on-year, according to Pravinkumar. “This leaves the market highly exposed to even modest pricing adjustments,” Pravinkumar said. With inflation eroding purchasing power and naira volatility raising import costs, higher global device prices could further strain household budgets. The most vulnerable segment is the $80–$150 price band. Pravinkumar said price increases in this category could push some consumers toward slightly higher tiers, supported by device financing where available, while others delay upgrades until late 2026 or even Q1 2027. “This creates a difficult near-term environment for vendors as replacement demand softens while first-time smartphone conversion also becomes more price sensitive,” Pravinkumar said. Nigeria is not alone. Across Africa, the affordable smartphones that have powered much of the continent’s digital growth are becoming harder to sustain commercially. Smartphone shipments across Africa grew 3% year-on-year to 19.9 million units in Q1 2026, according to Omdia, but the market is expected to face increasing pressure through the rest of the year. “Africa’s ultra-affordable smartphone market is entering a structurally more challenging phase in 2026 as margin compression strains entry-tier device economics to a breaking point,” Pravinkumar said. On a per-manufacturer basis, Nigeria remains one of Transsion Holdings’ most important global markets, but it is also among the most exposed to entry-level pricing pressure. The Chinese manufacturer, whose brands include Tecno, Infinix, and itel, grew shipments by 26% year-on-year in Q1 2026, outperforming the broader market, according to data from Omdia. Yet its dominance in affordable devices could also make it more vulnerable if consumer demand weakens at the lower end of the market. “While Transsion’s unmatched nationwide distribution, deep retail relationships and strong after-sales infrastructure continue to provide a major competitive advantage, its category leadership also makes it most vulnerable to affordability-led demand weakness,” the principal analyst at Omdia said. As margins tighten, market attention could increasingly shift toward vendors with stronger supply-chain advantages. Pravinkumar expects Samsung to be better positioned because of its scale in component sourcing and memory integration. With vendors already scaling back aggressive discounting and marketing spending, device financing may become an increasingly important competitive tool for boosting smartphone sales. “Nigeria remains one of Africa’s largest smartphone opportunities, but near-term growth will increasingly depend on how effectively brands manage affordability,” Pravinkumar added.
Read MoreSpectranet, Starlink, and FibreOne control nearly 70% of Nigeria’s internet market
Spectranet, Starlink, and FibreOne now control nearly 70% of Nigeria’s internet service provider (ISP) market, highlighting the growing dominance of a handful of large operators as smaller providers struggle with rising costs and intense competition. According to the latest ISP subscriber statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigeria recorded 352,006 active ISP subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2025. Of that figure, Spectranet, Starlink, and FibreOne accounted for a combined 244,929 subscribers, representing 69.58% of the market. Spectranet remained the market leader with 108,525 active subscribers, followed by Starlink with 91,991 and FibreOne with 44,413. The figures reflect a market becoming increasingly concentrated around a handful of providers despite the presence of more than 200 licenced ISPs in the country. The trend has been building throughout 2025. NCC data for the first half of the year showed that Nigeria had 313,713 active ISP subscribers by the end of June 2025, up 9.84% from 285,605 users recorded at the end of December 2024. Even then, the market was dominated by the same three players. Spectranet, Starlink, and FibreOne accounted for roughly 65% of all ISP users in the country. The latest figures suggest the dominance of the trio has only deepened, with their combined market share rising to almost 70% by the end of 2025. Starlink has emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of this market shift. Official NCC data showed the satellite internet provider had 66,523 subscribers at the end of the first half of 2025. By the fourth quarter, that figure had jumped to 91,991 subscribers, reflecting strong demand for Although the NCC maintains a registry of more than 220 licensed internet providers, only 133 operators were active enough to submit performance reports during the second quarter of 2025. This suggests that a significant number of licensed providers have either become dormant or operate at a very limited scale. Industry operators have long cited high bandwidth costs, expensive right-of-way charges imposed by state governments, foreign exchange pressures, and rising diesel prices as major obstacles to growth. Competition from mobile network operators has further intensified the pressure. Throughout 2025, telecom companies such as MTN and Airtel expanded their 5G networks and fibre-to-the-home offerings, attracting enterprise customers and households that traditionally relied on independent ISPs. Their larger scale, nationwide infrastructure, and ability to offer bundled services have made it increasingly difficult for smaller providers to compete. The result has been a steady consolidation of Nigeria’s ISP market. While overall subscriber numbers continue to grow, much of that growth is being captured by a few dominant players.
Read MoreUganda’s central bank caps cash withdrawals in digital payments push
Uganda’s central bank has imposed new limits on over-the-counter cash withdrawals and slashed cheque transaction thresholds in a sweeping push to accelerate the country’s transition to a cashless economy. In a May 29 circular sent to commercial banks, credit institutions, and microfinance deposit-taking institutions, the Bank of Uganda (BoU) said individual customers will only be allowed to withdraw up to UGX50 million ($13,700) daily and UGX250 million ($68,500) weekly in cash over the counter. The new rules will take effect from January 1, 2027. Businesses and corporate customers will face daily withdrawal caps of UGX500 million ($137,000) and weekly limits of UGX2.5 billion ($685,000). The measures mark the clearest signal that Uganda’s financial regulators want to reduce the economy’s reliance on cash and move transactions onto digital payment rails such as mobile money, internet banking, and real-time settlement systems. “These interventions align with our strategic commitment to fostering a modern, digital-first financial landscape by encouraging a shift from traditional paper- based instruments to secure electronic channels,” BoU said in the circular. “During this six-month transition period, the Bank of Uganda shall, in collaboration with all stakeholders, conduct comprehensive public awareness and information dissemination campaigns.” The central bank is also tightening cheque usage limits, further discouraging paper-based payments. Under the new rules, the maximum value for Uganda shilling-denominated cheques has been reduced from UGX10 million ($2,740) to UGX5 million ($1,370). US dollar cheque limits have been cut from $2,750 to $1,375, while euro cheque limits will fall from €2,250 to €1,125. Pound sterling cheque limits have similarly been reduced from £2,200 to £1,100, and Kenyan shilling cheque limits from KES 300,000 to KES 150,000. The restrictions come as digital payments continue to expand in the country. According to Bank of Uganda data, electronic money transactions grew 28% in 2025 to UGX366 trillion ($100.3 billion), while transaction volumes increased 17.3% to 9.1 billion transactions. In 2025, mobile money transaction volumes rose 21.1% to 301.1 million transactions, while transaction values surged 40% to UGX66.1 trillion ($18.1 billion). The number of active mobile money customers climbed to 36.3 million, supported by an agent network that expanded 27.5% to more than 1.16 million agents nationwide.
Read MoreMultiChoice offers $4.25 DStv Stream deal to former Showmax users in Kenya
MultiChoice is offering former Showmax subscribers in Kenya access to DStv Stream Compact at a heavily discounted KES 550 ($4.25) monthly rate for one year, as the pay-TV company works to retain streaming customers following Showmax’s shutdown in April. Eligible former Showmax users will pay KES 550 ($4.25) monthly for 12 months before the package reverts to its standard KES 4,200 ($32.50) monthly price, according to a MultiChoice statement seen by TechCabal. The discount reflects MultiChoice’s attempt to migrate streaming users into its broader DStv ecosystem after discontinuing Showmax on April 30, a move that consolidates live television, sports, movies, and original streaming content onto a single platform. The strategy also gives the company a way to retain lower-cost streaming users while gradually introducing them to DStv’s higher-priced subscription tiers. The transition began in May with eligible customers receiving free access to DStv Stream Compact through the end of the month before being moved onto the discounted plan. The offer applies to direct Showmax subscribers, including Showmax Premier League users, provided they maintain active subscriptions and keep payments up to date. Existing DStv customers are excluded because they already receive Showmax content through their packages. The promotion gives MultiChoice a pathway to move former Showmax customers onto its flagship streaming platform while exposing them to a broader package that includes live television channels, movies, series and SuperSport programming. “Our priority is to ensure customers continue to have a home for the stories they love,” said Nzola Miranda, Managing Director, MultiChoice Kenya. Showmax, which became MultiChoice’s flagship streaming platform in recent years, has been folded into DStv Stream following Canal+’s acquisition of the pay-TV broadcaster. Its original productions for the Kenyan market, including Single Kiasi and Adulting, are now available through a dedicated Showmax section within the DStv Stream app. The change also expands access to sports content. While Showmax Premier League was available only on mobile devices, DStv Stream subscribers can watch Premier League matches and other SuperSport content on smart TVs and connected devices. Former Showmax customers must create new DStv Stream accounts to access the service because subscriptions were not transferred automatically. Customers who opted not to migrate were eligible for refunds on unused portions of their Showmax subscriptions.
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The Next wave: We seem to miss the point about African tech conferences
Cet article est aussi disponible en français <!– In partnership with –> First published 31 May, 2026 It is not every day you watch very smart people deliberately contradict themselves, but if you were at the 3i Africa Summit in Accra earlier this month, you might have seen it happen. Premier Oiwoh is the chief executive officer of the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), Nigeria’s largest payment switch, which moves almost every naira between Nigerian banks. On the second day of the summit, which the Bank of Ghana convenes each year, he said something you rarely hear from someone in his position. He had grown tired, he said, of conferences like this one. They promise solutions that never arrive. Panels at conferences are essentially formulaic in this sense: organisers put four or five decision-makers on stage, add a respected field moderator, and, for 30 or 40 minutes, work through a series of questions. Then the session ends, the room applauds, and little appears to change. Oiwoh’s panel was about stitching African countries into a single financial bloc, modelled on how money moves across the European Union. Africans have tried and are still trying. PAPSS, the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, already exists, but a borderless African payment rail still feels as distant as it did five years ago. Yet Oiwoh still boarded a flight to Accra. He cleared space in a calendar most people would fight for. He travelled across the continent to attend another conference and another panel discussing a problem that remains unsolved. Why? The answer has little to do with the stage, but who else is in the building. Get smarter about Francophone Africa with our newsletter, Francophone Weekly—the startups, tech policies, and institutions building the pipelines for ecosystem growth. Subscribe Oiwoh did not travel to Accra for the panel. He came for the people the conference gathered in one place at one time. Other central bankers. Regulators from a dozen markets. Operators he might otherwise spend months trying to reach. Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, who runs Flutterwave, arrived at a similar conclusion. We spoke shortly before lunch on one of the summit days, and he was direct about it. He attended with his chief legal officer and chief compliance officer because they could not afford to miss the opportunity to be in the same room as regulators from across the continent. For a payments company that depends on regulatory approval and partnerships in every market, that room matters more than any panel discussion. It is also why I went to Accra. It was my second time at the summit and my first as a speaker. The opportunity to meet new sources, founders, regulators, and industry operators, and to share a bit about the work that I do, outweighed everything else. For decision-makers like Oiwoh and GB, the chance to spend a few days with regulators, customers, partners, and peers is what makes the fifth or sixth conference worth attending. What you should actually expect If a conference is a product, we should be clear about what it contains, because it is not the same for everyone. For a founder, the room holds capital and customers. Take Moonshot by TechCabal, for example. More than $5 billion in capital is represented by attending investors, and one in seven attendees is a funder, investor, or ecosystem enabler. A ten-minute conversation with a fund partner can achieve more than a cold email. Meeting a potential enterprise client can shorten a sales cycle by months. For a regulator, the room holds the people they govern in a setting relaxed enough for formalities to fall away. A central banker can often learn more about where the market is heading from conversations with executives than from a stack of filings. For companies like Flutterwave, a conference compresses months of travel into a few days. Instead of chasing regulators across multiple capitals, they can meet many of them under one roof. For reporters, the room holds the one thing the job depends on: people willing to talk. A source met in person at a conference is more likely to answer your call six months later. A regulator who recognises your face is more likely to reply to your email. Next Wave continues after this ad. We’re thrilled to announce the official theme for Moonshot 2026: “Courage & Conviction: Building for a New World.” This year, we’re calling on the African tech scene to back bold ideas and dig deep to build an ecosystem that solves African problems on a global scale. The continent’s most ambitious founders, investors, LPs, operators, creatives, and policymakers will converge at Moonshot 2026 to chart Africa’s next era. You don’t want to be left out. Secure Your Spot! There is, of course, a limitation. The room is not open to everyone. The people who gain the most from these gatherings are often those who already possess capital, influence, or titles that secure invitations. Conferences can project inclusion through diverse panels and ambitious themes, while much of the practical value circulates among people who can afford the ticket, flight, and hotel bill. That criticism is fair. But it is not the whole story. Conferences also create opportunities for people outside the executive ranks. Of the more than 12,650 people who attended the last three Moonshot editions, most were not founders, investors, or chief executives. Many still found customers, collaborators, mentors, employers, employees, and new professional relationships. Panels need to be re-worked At this point, it helps to be honest about why the stage cannot deliver what many people expect (and this does not diminish the value of panels in any way.). A panel is a performance, and everyone on it understands the limits. Nobody is going to solve Africa’s cross-border payment problem under stage lights. Nobody is going to make a concession that costs their organisation money while cameras are recording. Problems that have persisted for years cannot be resolved in forty minutes (but it helps to talk about them so
Read MoreSouth Africa unveils plan to commercialise $1.8 billion research spending
South Africa has unveiled a new strategy to commercialise more of its R30 billion (US$1.8 billion) annual research and development spending, as the government pushes to turn research into businesses, jobs and new industries. The Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), a government-backed innovation fund under the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, on Tuesday launched TIA 2.0, a new commercialisation-focused strategy designed to help more locally developed technologies survive the so-called “Valley of Death”—the gap where promising research fails to reach the market. “South Africa is spending about R30 billion on research and development every year. Unfortunately, much of this investment goes into what is called the Valley of Death,” TIA chief executive officer Titus Mathe said at the launch event. TIA 2.0 represents a structural overhaul of South Africa’s innovation system, shifting the agency from a project funder to a commercialisation catalyst. The agency is deploying capital into strategic sectors such as AI, electric vehicles, climate tech and critical minerals, while targeting the country’s R30 billion ($1.8 billion) annual research spend that too often fails to reach the market. “How can we capitalise on this investment and take research that is promising and commercialise it? That was really the main idea behind the formation of TIA,” Mathe said. He stressed that under TIA 2.0, the agency is shifting from funding individual projects to supporting large-scale innovation programmes capable of creating industries and driving economic growth. “We are moving away from just managing projects to managing programmes that deliver high impact,” he said. The strategy is backed by a significant financial boost following TIA’s receipt of R1.2 billion ($73 million) from a successful biotechnology investment made nearly two decades ago. The agency invested R24 million ($1.4 million) in Kapa Biosystems around 20 years ago and recently realised a $73 million return after the company commercialised its technology. “The payout is one of the government’s biggest innovation investment success stories and a model for future technology investments,” said Mathe. A key pillar of the programme is black empowerment and transformation within South Africa’s venture capital ecosystem. TIA has earmarked R473 million ($27.8 million) for venture capital and innovation funds, including investments into black-owned and women-led fund managers that often struggle to access institutional capital despite being closer to underserved entrepreneurs. Among the beneficiaries is Mamor Capital, a women-led investment firm focused on digital connectivity and financial inclusion. Founder Mamokete Ramathe said the R40 million ($2.3 million) TIA’s backing helped the fund reach a critical fundraising milestone after a difficult three-year capital-raising journey. “We believe technology-enabled businesses have the potential not only to create commercial value, but also opportunities for millions of South Africans that continue to be left outside of the digital economy,” she said. “Mamor Capital can now support entrepreneurs tackling digital exclusion and financial access challenges.” Another beneficiary, Aions Ventures, said TIA’s intervention demonstrates how ecosystem collaboration can unlock innovation. “TIA today is a trailblazer in demonstrating what ecosystem collaboration looks like in practice,” said Karabo Makete, Principal Investment Officer. Mathe added that TIA is also investing approximately R62 million ($3.6 million) into sovereign AI initiatives, including support for Mzansi Mindz, a locally developed large language model aimed at reducing South Africa’s dependence on foreign AI platforms. “We want to develop our own locally developed large language models,” Mathe said. “AI is here to stay. We have to embrace it, but we cannot be left behind.”
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