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  • Lagos, Nigeria
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  • May 13 2025
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👨🏿‍🚀TechCabal Daily – A for Access. B for Bank. C for consequence

In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Howdy! How much do you know about technology in Francophone Africa? What are the region’s most important startups or crucial policy developments around tech innovation? We’re excited to partner with Lina Kacyem, Investment Manager, Launch Africa Ventures to introduce a web-only newsletter about tech in Francophone Africa.  Lina has almost twenty years of experience in various sectors of the financial industry and is the co-founder of the angel network, Next Millennia Angels. As an investment manager, Lina leads investments in Francophone Africa and will bring decades of first-hand experience, insider insights and analysis of the region’s technology landscape into curating a newsletter that will help you and our wider audience learn about the tech innovation, policy, culture, and economy as it unfolds in Francophone Africa.  Expect a dispatch every two Tuesdays, beginning later today. Access Bank Kenya and ABC in regulator crosshairs MTN Group grew its revenue by 10.4% in Q1 2025 IHS shares hit 20-month high Egypt’s Nawy raises $75 million World Wide Web 3 Opportunities Banking Access Bank Kenya and ABC could get fined by the CBK over non-compliance on loan rate cuts Image Source: Zikoko Memes/TechCabal Bank ABC and Access Bank Kenya—the subsidiary owned by Nigeria’s largest bank by assets—could get fined by the regulator, Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), for refusing to comply with the loan rate cuts. The two banks top a list of five lenders that raised lending rates in March, despite warnings from the Central Bank of Kenya. Access Bank pushed its average rate to 20.5%, up from 20.39%, while ABC moved from 17.42% to 17.54%. Others—DIB, Kingdom, and Guardian Bank—also nudged their rates higher, putting them in the regulator’s crosshairs. This showdown has been brewing for months. Since August 2024, the CBK has been cutting its benchmark policy rate to make loans cheaper. But some banks, rather than follow suit, have held firm—or raised rates altogether. Frustrated, the CBK now plans to start fining non-compliant lenders from June: KES 20 million ($155 million) upfront or three times the gain, plus daily penalties. Bank executives, too, could be personally fined. So why the standoff?Banks argue that the CBK’s new pricing formula—pegging rates to its benchmark rate plus a lending margin—is too rigid. They prefer using the interbank rate, which they say reflects market realities better. Yet, Kenya is not an isolated case, even in Africa. In 2018, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and commercial banks in the country went through the same dance. The BoG had cut its key rate by 550 basis points to 20% for nearly two years, but banks didn’t pass on the lower rates to borrowers—largely due to a high volume of bad loans. Elsewhere, in South Africa and Morocco, regulators have also struggled with banks to rein in lending rates, as lenders remain wary of credit risk. What the CBK has going for it is the Supreme Court’s June 2024 ruling, which stated that banks must seek approval from the Cabinet Secretary before raising interest rates on loans. This decision cleared the path for the CBK’s push to enforce compliance with rate cuts. And it seems determined to win this one. Whether through fines, pressure, or more inspections, it wants rates to come down—and fast. Because if credit doesn’t flow, the economy won’t either. In this tug-of-war, it’s borrowers who are still paying the price. Seamless Global Payments With Fincra. Issue accounts in NGN, KES, EUR, USD & more with one integration. Send & receive funds seamlessly across borders; no more banking hassles or complex conversions. Create an account for free & go global today. Companies MTN Group grew its revenue by 10.4% in Q1 2025 as fintech drives growth for the company MTN head office/Image Source: TechCentral On May 12, MTN Group, Africa’s largest homegrown telecom operator, reported a 10.4% year-on-year (YoY) increase in Q1 2025 revenue—from R42.90 billion ($2.34 billion) to R47.37 billion ($2.6 billion)—accounting for the currency devaluations across several of its markets. Nigeria reclaimed its title as MTN’s top-earning country—after Q4 2024’s slump. The country generated R13 billion ($710 million) in revenue, slightly ahead of South Africa’s R10.7 billion ($584 million).  Regionally, the group’s’s West and Central Africa (WECA) operations led the charge, raking in a combined R15 billion ($819 million) to become MTN’s most profitable region this quarter. Data revenue increased by 17.9% as the demand for data reached 5,677 petabytes in the quarter. However, voice, which has historically been a top money-spinner for MTN, surprisingly fell, declining by 0.1%. Fintech was the standout performer. MTN’s mobile money platform (MoMo) handled $95.3 billion in transaction value—up 48.9% from $72.7 billion. The number of transactions also rose from 4.8 billion to 5.5 billion, with an average transaction size of $17.3. Put plainly: users transacted more often, and with fatter wallets. This high-octane activity helped fintech revenue climb from R4.9 billion ($268 million) to R6.2 billion ($339 million)—a 25.2% increase in constant currency terms.  Uganda remained the fintech crown jewel, driving the lion’s share of growth. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s MoMo user numbers continued to decline, likely affected by delayed regulatory approvals and licence bottlenecks. MTN’s Q1 shows a company leaning heavily—and smartly—into digital services, driven by the increasing appetite for data services among subscribers. High data purchases lead to more smartphone use; more smartphone use exposes users to fintech adoption, which MTN plays in. The telecom operator benefits on both ends. It already has partnerships with satellite companies Lynk Global, Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb, and AST & Science in different markets as it plans to strengthen its broadband reach. MTN’s digital bets are what’s keeping the engine humming—and shareholders smiling. Or at least, not frowning. Power Your Business With Paga Engine Join businesses already building smarter with Paga Engine. Get started today. Telecoms IHS shares hit 20-month high as Nigerian telcos bounce back Image Source: Google What is good for the goose is good for the gander.  As Nigeria’s telecom operators—MTN and Airtel—bounce back from a

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