- April 15 2025
- BM
Morocco is betting big on tech, and GITEX Africa is its global stage
Marrakech smells like jasmine, spice, and ambition. That’s the best way I can describe the energy at GITEX Africa 2025, which kicked off on Monday with over 1,450 exhibitors, 350 global investors, and 650 speakers from 130 countries. Now in its third edition, GITEX Africa—now solidified as the continent’s biggest tech and startup show—has positioned Morocco as a continental tech hub, thanks to serious government backing and a growing appetite for innovation. Thousands of people swarm around the sprawling Place Bab Jdid, Bd Al Yarmouk, a venue so massive you could easily miss your way (full disclosure: I got lost thrice). Booths buzzed with product demos and investor pitches, while the stages hosted deep conversations on everything from renewable energy, the future of finance to telecom infrastructure. Notably, Flutterwave CEO Gbenga Agboola spoke to TechCrunch’s Tage Kene-Okafor about the company’s growth from local disruptor to a global fintech powerhouse. Image Source: TechCabal. “GITEX is no longer just an occasion to showcase the latest innovations, but has become a strategic place to strengthen digital inclusion between African countries, to build bridges of cooperation with our international partners, and to accelerate the pace of sustainable digital transformation,” said Mohammed Drissi Melyani, Director General of the Digital Development Agency. That ambition is visible on the ground. Morocco has attracted foreign direct investment into tech and innovation. In 2024, the Northern African country ranked fifth on the continent after raising $70 million, according to funding tracker Africa: The Big Deal. At the opening ceremony, Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni, Morocco’s Minister of Digital Transition and Administration Reform, reminded us that the digital economy now contributes 15% of global GDP. “Aware of the challenges of this digital revolution, the Kingdom of Morocco is actively committed to building a future where digitalization, and through it AI, constitutes a lever for progress, for the benefit of all,” she said. This year’s GITEX isn’t just bigger, but broader. New country pavilions popped up from Gabon, Uzbekistan, Belgium, and Niger. Beyond the typical focus on AI and cybersecurity, the agenda now covers sports tech, energy transition, and edtech. I spotted the Nigerian pavilion, where the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) brought 12 promising startups to showcase innovations from fintech to agritech. One of these startups, Flowdiary, is teaching digital skills such as digital marketing, graphic design, and cybersecurity in Hausa. Ibrahim Auwal, the company’s senior technology officer, told me that the platform has grown to 13,000 users since its inception in 2022. Image Source: NITDA. At the 10X stage, I moderated a fireside chat titled “The Future of Education, Technology, and Investment: Driving Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Africa.” My panelists, Melvyn Lubega, Founding Executive at Go1 and Partner at Breega, and Yassine Laghzioui, CEO of UM6P Ventures, did not hold back. Both panelists stressed the need for more local capital and more collaboration between government and startups, especially in the light of the changing geopolitical landscape with USAID funding cuts and U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war. “I see a great opportunity for Africa in the current market conditions,” an optimistic Laghzioui told our audience. “This is the best time for investors to come to Africa.” I will be speaking with three investors later on Wednesday on how African startups can continue to unlock venture capital from the U.S in the current market conditions. I hope to find more answers. Walking through the exhibitor booths, I stopped by Visa’s setup, right opposite the Future of Finance stage, and yes, I couldn’t resist taking a picture with the AFCON trophy on display. I hope the Super Eagles bring it home this time. Moments like that remind you that this isn’t just about tech, it’s about culture, pride, and continental ambition. Image Source: TechCabal. Trixie LohMirmand, CEO of KAOUN International, the show’s organiser, summed it up best: “This event has evolved into a powerful platform driving Africa’s digital future… connecting African innovators and talent with global markets, and empowering the next generation to build, revolutionise, and lead the AI economy.” If you ask me, I’d say GITEX Africa is Morocco’s diplomatic and economic bet on technology and innovation. The North African nation is making a bold bid to become the continent’s innovation capital, and it’s doing so with scale and purpose.
Read More- April 15 2025
- BM
NMG shareholders miss out on dividends after record $1.9 million loss
Nation Media Group (NMG), Kenya’s largest independent media outlet, has reported a record $1.9 million (KES254.4 million) loss for 2024, hit by falling advertising revenues and a costly restructuring process. The loss is a 27% increase from 2023’s $1.5 million (KES 205.7 million) loss despite an 11% growth in online subscriptions. The company’s board has opted not to declare a dividend for 2024 because of the loss. “Considering the prevailing economic environment and the Group’s investment plans, the Board of Directors does not recommend payment of a dividend for the year 2024,” NMG said in a statement. The company’s revenues dropped by 12.5% to $48 million (KES 6.229 billion), which it attributed to a “challenging macroeconomic environment” marked by high inflation, reduced consumer spending, and a general slowdown in business activity. The drop represents the steepest annual decline in over a decade for the NSE-listed media group, whose flagship brands include Daily Nation, Business Daily, and NTV. Reduced consumer spending cut revenue streams for media houses relying on consumer-facing brands like newspapers and discretionary advertising budgets. In the last quarter of 2024, Kenya’s inflation averaged 7.9%, which saw prices of key consumer staples such as maize flour and electricity increase by over 20%. Despite the difficulties, NMG’s digital business posted an 11% year-on-year revenue growth on the back of an increase in online users to 62.4 million, up from 60.2 million in 2023. The company’s pivot to digital has accelerated in recent years, with the group rolling out revamped online platforms, paywall experiments, and data-driven content strategies. “We are repositioning technology as an enabler to accelerate the transformation of the business into a digital-first media house, serving relevant and impactful content to our audiences,” NMG said. “The group will continue to invest in the delivery of its content through increased customer touchpoints to increase our audience reach while maintaining a strong presence in commercially viable print.” The growth partially offset sharp declines in traditional print and broadcast revenue segments, which have been under pressure from shifting consumer habits and shrinking advertiser budgets. Kenya’s most prominent media outlets, like NMG and Standard Group, face shrinking newspaper circulation as audiences move online, declining ad spending by major brands, and increasing newsprint and distribution costs. This has been made worse by the country’s ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
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- April 15 2025
- BM
TechCabal Daily – Access granted
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Good morning! So that didn’t take long. In yesterday’s TechCabal Daily, we asked if Lesotho would cave under the one-two punch of Elon Musk’s Starlink and US trade pressure. Today, the answer arrived faster than we imagined. Lesotho’s government has granted Starlink a licence to operate, essentially sidestepping the proud Basotho rule (the law that demands 30% local ownership in any foreign company). The decision came much sooner than anyone expected. Sometimes, holding out makes you look strong. Other times, it just makes you look like you’re waiting for Elon to sweeten the deal. Let’s dive into today’s edition. Access Bank close to finalising NBK buyout Elon Musk’s Starlink enters Somalia and Lesotho South Africans turn to energy trading Equinix’s $140 million solution to Nigeria’s internet problems World Wide Web 3 Opportunities Banking Access Bank close to finalising NBK buyout Image Source: Zikoko Memes/TechCabal If you were Access Bank, and you’d been chasing a buyout deal for the National Bank of Kenya (NBK) for as long as it has, even the tiniest steps in the regulatory approval process would send tingles down your spine. This must be the feeling at Access Bank, Nigeria’s largest commercial bank by assets, which has now received approval from both the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and the country’s Treasury to acquire the struggling Kenyan lender. The deal’s not yet inked—Nigerian regulators still have to sign off—but this is the closest Access has been to sealing the deal since it first whispered sweet acquisition nothings in KCB’s ear to acquire its NBK subsidiary over a year ago. So why the clingy courtship? NBK might be struggling, but it comes with prime real estate: a wide branch network (85 branches), name recognition, and a seat at the table in East Africa’s biggest economy. This would be Access Bank’s second Kenyan swoop, after acquiring Transnational Bank in 2020. Clearly, Access Bank is focused on building serious muscle in East Africa, especially after its 2022 attempt to buy Sidian Bank fell through due to unmet waiver conditions that were never made public. Despite what promised land the NBK looks like for Access Bank, the smaller bank has been struggling with high loan defaults and consistent revenue losses. As of 2024, NBK’s non-performing loans (NPLs) were as high as 18.6%, above the banking industry’s 16.4%—which means that for every $100 the bank gave out as loan, $18.60 was at risk of not being repaid on time or at all. This was primarily driven by defaults in corporate and manufacturing sectors, which together accounted for a significant share of the bank’s bad loans. While NBK staged a recovery in 2024 after posting a profit after tax of KES 1.06 billion ($8.2 million), the bank’s profitability has historically struggled; in 2023, it lost KES 3.3 billion ($25.5 million), driven by its high loan defaults and macro challenges. Yet, buying NBK could give the Nigerian bank a solid springboard to achieve its five-year plan and take on big local Kenyan players like KCB and Equity to establish a market stronghold, especially if it injects fresh capital from its group company to stabilise the NBK brand. 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. 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
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- April 14 2025
- BM
Axel Peyriere’s guide to angel investing in Africa
After spending a decade travelling across developing countries in Asia and Africa, Axel Peyriere, the CEO of Auto24, a used car marketplace, started investing in African startups as an angel investor in 2011. In the fourteen years since he started cutting cheques for African startups, he has backed over 30 startups including Julaya, Bumpa, Monaco, Curacel, Termii, Grey, Remedial Health, and several others. “Angel investing came naturally—as a founder myself, I wanted to give back, support other entrepreneurs, and keep learning by investing in people tackling problems I understood firsthand,” Axel Peyriere told TechCabal via email. Founders becoming angel investors is an essential part of any tech ecosystem. When successful founders become angel investors, they bring firsthand lessons, as they understand the pain points of early-stage startups. Outside of fintech—which offers some of the highest returns in Africa— Axel Peyriere has primarily invested in sectors where he is most active as a founder: marketplaces, e-commerce, and mobility. 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 <!– Next Wave –> <!– Entering Tech –> Subscribe “As co-founder and CEO of AUTO24 and an entrepreneur myself, I see massive potential in the mobility space—from car ownership models to EV adoption to digital infrastructure for vehicle sales and financing,” he said. “There’s a huge play in this field, especially in markets where mobility access is still informal or inefficient. Founders also tend to be more empathetic and generous with terms as investors, making the early funding environment less predatory and more founder-first, creating a cycle of reinvestment and mentorship that is crucial for the growth of young ecosystems. TechCabal spoke to Axel Peyriere to understand his investment process and why he’s backing African startups. Looking back, was there a particular moment—or opportunity—that convinced you to start writing cheques on the continent? There wasn’t one specific moment. It was more of a natural progression. I started investing in Asia, and over time, I became more involved in the African tech ecosystem. Being an entrepreneur, I saw investing as a way to give back, share what I had learnt, and also gain fresh perspectives from the next generation of builders. What defines the Axel Peyriere investment thesis today? At the early stage, it’s all about the founders and the team. I invest in people solving real, tangible problems in large, underserved markets. I look for local insights, execution capabilities, and resilience. I’m especially drawn to tech-enabled models in fragmented sectors like logistics, fintech, e-commerce, and mobility. Do you have a preferred stage and cheque size when investing? Why have you chosen to focus on that range? Naturally, I invest at the early stage—pre-seed and seed. The cheque size can vary significantly depending on whether I invest solo or through a syndicate, SPV, or club deal. I like being flexible and adapting to the opportunity and who else is around the table. How do you typically discover new opportunities? At first, I scouted deals actively. Over time, as you build a track record, opportunities come to you—through founders, other angels, VCs, or platforms. Now it’s a mix of inbound and strategic sourcing. Are there specific signals or metrics you look for before taking a meeting? Strong founding teams, obsession with the problem, and some form of execution—even if scrappy. I like to see clarity of thought and an understanding of the market realities. Traction is good, but grit and local knowledge matter more at this stage. Which investment are
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- April 14 2025
- BM
PricePally bets on grocery exports and AI after B2B slump
PricePally, a Nigerian online grocery start-up known for group-buying, is testing grocery exports to drive revenue growth after a slump in its B2B segment. Its B2B procurement service, which contributed a quarter of revenue, shrank to 10% in 2024 after a sharp naira devaluation and food inflation. Founded in 2019, PricePally built a following among millennials with bulk-buying deals, enabling users to make group purchases of staples like rice, yam, tomatoes, etc. In 2021, it expanded its services to B2B procurement for hotels and restaurants, reaching 25% of revenue by 2023, according to chief executive officer Luther Lawoyin. However, due to the economic turmoil, many restaurants were paying very late, Lawoyin said in an interview. Late payment cycles are a persistent challenge in B2B e-commerce platforms, Lawoyin acknowledged. Those cycles which were typically 2 weeks, stretched into three months for some businesses. Procurement start-ups like Vendease have turned these cash flow challenges into revenue opportunities. Vendease, which recently laid off staff to extend its runway, has evolved to capitalise on its financing model, now charging daily interest rates, instead of flat interest rates, on the value of goods bought on credit. PricePally paused B2B operations, resuming them in 2025 as conditions improved. “The economy looks much better than last year,” he noted. Image source: PricePally Still, this economic uncertainty motivated PricePally’s export push. Exports now target diaspora demand, shipping bi-monthly non-perishables like ogbono and crayfish, via air and sea. US tariffs, many of which were tightened under President Donald Trump, will increase landing costs, yet Lawoyin sees an edge: “Some Nigerian stores abroad, often run by Pakistanis, face high overheads.” PricePally’s direct-from-farmer sourcing cuts prices, undercutting competitors in those countries. He says this was not always on Pricepally’s roadmap, but last year’s turbulence and demand from users who migrated was a big incentive. “We believe African food has a place on the world stage, and Pricepally will help take it there.” 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 <!– Next Wave –> <!– Entering Tech –> Subscribe The company is also working on a chatbot, April, that will enable in-WhatsApp orders and facilitate budget-based fractional purchases, moving the start-up beyond bulk orders to drive growth. This can also increase access to the company’s e-commerce platform; approximately 51 million people in Nigeria use WhatsApp. This bot is a significant improvement to a 2022 USSD version which did not catch on at the time. “Typing commands was probably hard for users,” Lawoyin said, explaining the low uptake in 2022. Set for a 2024 rollout, April uses natural language processing to initiate and complete orders. It also introduces ‘fractional commerce’, as Lawoyin puts it; letting users buy fractions of bulk orders they would have bought with a group of users. “This way, they can buy like ₦5,000 of a ₦20,000 rice sack,” Lawoyin explained. “They can also simply tell the bot what they need to buy and how much they have, and it will create [a cart] for them based on their budget.” April is also capable of image recognition; it converts handwritten lists into digital carts, reducing errors. For its growing B2B clients, April will eventually be able to automate phone orders, trimming the costs of running those tasks through human staff. Lawoyin ruled out layoffs: “We’ll redeploy staff as we scale.” Challenges persist—April’s responses can stray—but Pricepally is refining it. Notably, the startup is also using YarnGPT, a local language model that trains
Read More- April 14 2025
- BM
Nigeria’s SEC cites due diligence delays in crypto licence freeze
Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has delayed issuing new provisional licences to crypto startups under its Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme (ARIP), citing an additional layer of due diligence, its director general, Emomotimi Agama, said. The delay marks a setback for digital asset startups hoping for faster approval following the SEC’s December 2024 promise to speed up licencing. Speaking at a virtual stakeholder engagement hosted by the FinTech Association of Nigeria (FintechNGR) on Monday, Agama admitted to the slow pace and apologised to applicants. “Work has been going on underground. From the first batch of provisional licences [issued in August 2024], we have observed important issues we need to take care of,” Agama said. “Additional level of due diligence—what I call Level 3 due diligence—needs to happen before we can come out with the next set of provisional licences.” Agama, however, did not provide a new timeline for when licences would resume. He noted that gaps and challenges in the startup due diligence process still exist. The regulatory oversight of Nigeria’s crypto sector does not lie solely with the SEC. The commission is working closely with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA)—agencies with independent processes that the SEC “does not control,” according to Agama. Since issuing provisional licences to exchanges Quidax and Busha in August 2024, the SEC has not approved any new applicants. Scores of startups that submitted applications under ARIP in June 2024 are still working with the regulator to better understand compliance requirements and develop consumer protection safeguards in a sector often likened to the financial “Wild West.” The multi-agency co-ordination required for crypto regulation has significantly slowed the issuance of provisional licences, leaving many startups, particularly those awaiting the reopening of ARIP applications, stuck in regulatory limbo. These startups are expected to register with the SEC to legally operate within Nigeria’s digital asset space, yet the pathway remains unclear. While the need for tighter scrutiny to curb money laundering and terrorist financing is justified, there is also an urgency for the regulator to move faster. Agama said the collaboration is a value the SEC wants to adopt more fully to provide a solid crypto regulatory framework. But for now, crypto startups may be in for a long wait before achieving the regulatory clarity they seek. With the recent passage of the Investment and Securities Act (2025), signed into law by President Bola Tinubu—formally recognising cryptocurrencies as securities under the SEC’s jurisdiction—the groundwork for a more structured crypto ecosystem may finally be taking shape.
Read More- April 14 2025
- BM
Ghana’s Affinity Africa wants you to carry a full-fledged bank in your pocket
Mobile money is so ubiquitous in Ghana people have little to no need for traditional banks. With a mobile money account—every major telecom player offers a ‘MoMo’ service—you can send and receive money, withdraw cash at vendor or agent outlets, even receive some interest if you leave your money in your wallet long enough, and run a small business comfortably. Kofi Dotse, a Ghanaian serial entrepreneur, told me he hasn’t entered a banking hall in several years. Dotse runs advertising and event agencies as well as a clothing line, and carries out or routes business transactions primarily through his mobile money accounts. A couple of weeks before our interview, he had to visit a bank branch in order to clear a car at the port. He spent about two hours in the banking hall. “There are a lot of people in Ghana today who don’t have bank accounts,” Dotse said, citing long queues and the snail pace of traditional banking services as a few reasons why. For a small subset of the population, the time cost of visiting a bank branch to open an account or carry out a transaction is negligible, but for many, “it is an opportunity cost,” said Tarek Mouganie, founder of Ghana-based Affinity Africa. “So every time they leave their place of work as a sole proprietor, revenue goes to zero.” Yet, while mobile money can ease the drudgery of traditional banking, Mouganie argues that, like traditional banks, it has its limitations: to open and verify an account might be less tedious but still requires physical presence at a mobile money outlet; there’s a 5,000 cedis (~$320) daily transaction limit for customers as a result of the licenses under which most operate; and customers pay transactions fees and levies when they use these services. Mouganie, who spoke to me from the UK where he’d just arrived to begin a much needed vacation from work, launched Affinity Africa to address these limitations and more. With its savings and loans license—the first to be granted by the Bank of Ghana in over ten years—the digital bank offers full-fledged banking services to its customers in Ghana. “We cover everything,” he said. “We have accounts on one end and we lend on the other end, and that’s how our business operates.” Leapfrogging doesn’t solve everything Half Ghanaian, Mouganie grew up in Kumasi, roughly 270 km from Ghana’s capital, Accra. He moved to the UK at 12 to study, and upon his return 13 years ago, found the difference in available and accessible financial services in both countries glaring. “What I noticed basically [was] that the banking system is broken,” Mouganie said. To fix its challenges, a lot of tech solutions have materialised over the years, but Mouganie said he found these solutions to be very siloed: here, payments; there, digital lenders or other fintech services, who take on one aspect of the broken system to try and fix. Mouganie said he wanted to build a holistic solution “not to just provide accessible products to customers but very importantly, affordable banking” to its customers. Around 2013, before it became Affinity Africa, the startup was first a microfinance bank, operating with a microfinance institution license, which, though it had its limitations, allowed Mouganie and his team to better understand who they were trying to serve. Before obtaining this license, Mouganie said he was trying to acquire a greenfield license, which would have enabled Affinity “build (its) operations from scratch.” But after fundraising from friends and family, the Ghana banking crisis of 2017 resulted in major regulatory changes that caused him to lose that license bid. Mouganie said he sold his four-bedroom house, raised more from friends, family, and former bosses to buy and launch the microfinance institution, then called PayFlex. The licensing process, which came to an end in 2020, took about four years, an effect of significant regulatory and supervisory measures the Bank of Ghana was instituting to strengthen the sector and protect consumers amidst volatile macroeconomic dynamics. Just before the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns ensued, Mouganie said with pre-seed funding, they started to look into upgrading to a savings and loans license which would allow Affinity to manage any kind of transactions except FX-related ones. Mouganie said the process was “really rigorous” because, beyond its tech products, the regulator was trying to understand how the company was structuring its services to serve especially important demographics like micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The savings and loans license was formally granted in March 2022 after COVID-19-related pauses were lifted, the first the Bank of Ghana has dispensed in over ten years, Mouganie said. “That’s when Affinity as a brand existed in the market for the first time.” The company obtained permission to launch its agency banking app in October 2022 and approval for electronic Know Your Customer (KYC), which enables fully digital online account opening via its mobile app, was granted at the end of December 2023, after another round of rigorous regulatory checks including for fail-proof fraud prevention and Anti-Money Laundering risk assessment. 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
Read More- April 14 2025
- BM
Ex-Interswitch and Microsoft employees are building AI-powered sales assistants for Africa
In Africa’s B2B sales ecosystem, where teams are more likely to manage deals with spreadsheets than sophisticated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, a new player is emerging. Revwit, a sales assistant designed specifically for African teams. Founded by Chinedu Ossai, Dayo Adekanmbi, and Damilola Aluede—former employees of Interswitch, Bolt, Microsoft, and the London Stock Exchange Group—Revwit is setting out to solve a familiar problem: B2B sales tools built for Western markets simply don’t work for African businesses. “If you’ve ever tried running a B2B sales team in Africa using spreadsheets or traditional CRMs, you already know the pain,” said Ossai, CEO of the company. “They weren’t built for how we sell, how our teams work, or the challenges we face.” Although local CRM companies like Simpu and Jamborow offer similar solutions, Ossai stated that Revwit—backed by venture capital firm Norrsken and Moses Sule, former VP at Flutterwave—is the only one specifically designed to help B2B sales teams streamline the entire process of finding, managing, and closing deals. With firsthand experience leading B2B sales efforts, Ossai and Aluede have together closed over $10 million in deals as both frontline sellers and sales leaders. Their journey has shown them how capable African sales professionals are, yet how often they’re hindered by bloated, expensive tools that fail to reflect local realities. Unlike traditional CRMs that require weeks of onboarding and hefty subscriptions priced in US dollars, Revwit is lightweight, easy to set up, and priced in local currencies—starting with Nigeria’s naira and soon adding support for Kenya’s KES, South Africa’s ZAR, and Ghana’s GHS. Revwit acts like an AI-powered assistant rather than a traditional CRM. Sales teams simply sign up and connect their email. From there, the platform automatically imports contacts and sales conversations, organizing them into a trackable, customizable pipeline. The tool pulls lead data directly from forms, calendar invites, and emails—eliminating the hours that sales reps typically spend manually entering information. Then, using AI, Revwit enriches that data, tapping into a global dataset of over 200 million contacts and 20 million companies. This type of smart automation has long been available in developed markets through tools like Zoho and Salesforce. However, it’s rarely accessible to African teams without relying on costly consultants or complex integrations. For example, setting up Zoho in Nigeria typically requires hiring technical experts, which can be expensive and may take several weeks. 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The company launched a minimum viable product (MVP) in November 2024, and over 200 startups and professional service teams in Nigeria, around Africa, the US, and Canada already use the tool, managing over $800 million in active deals. Napa Onwusah, CEO of Placidcode, whose company was among the first to test Revwit, said they are able to update leads automatically, freeing up time to focus on customers. “Revwit is perfect for where we are as a company,” said Onwusah. “We used to track deals in spreadsheets, but switching to Revwit has improved pipeline management. Now, we have full visibility and better insight,” Nadine, Pre-Sales Manager at Woodcore, which also tested the product, said. The platform also supports personalized bulk email outreach directly within the system. This allows reps to maintain relevance and context in their messaging without the usual time-sink of writing emails from scratch. Beyond just lead capture and email outreach, Revwit combines all the
Read More- April 14 2025
- BM
Equinix to invest $140 million to expand internet access in Southern Nigeria
Equinix, the global data center provider that acquired Nigeria’s MainOne, will invest $140 million to expand digital infrastructure across southern Nigeria over the next two years, the company noted in a blog post shared with TechCabal. The investment includes a new data center in Port Harcourt and an expansion of its third data center in Lagos, marking a significant step toward decentralising the country’s internet capacity beyond Lagos. The move comes five months after Equinix completed the post-acquisition integration of MainOne following its $320 million acquisition in 2022. Now, the company is deepening its footprint in Nigeria, where 70% of subsea cable landings and data infrastructure remain concentrated in Lagos. This pattern has reinforced a long-standing digital divide. As part of the expansion, Equinix will launch PR1, its first data center in Port Harcourt, which will also serve as the first Nigerian landing station for Meta’s 2Africa submarine cable. The move is expected to dramatically increase bandwidth capacity in the region and reduce over-reliance on Lagos. Equinix will also scale LG3, its third Lagos facility, to support growing enterprise and cloud demand. From GSM to global connectivity Nigeria’s digital infrastructure has evolved rapidly in the last two decades. Since the auction of GSM licenses in 2001, mobile subscribers have grown from zero to over 140 million. Infrastructure matured further with the rise of tower companies in 2012 and later with investments in data centers and fiber-optic networks. Yet, until recently, local data infrastructure was limited, serving only basic connectivity needs. That changed in 2020 when major global investors like Equinix began entering the market, signaling Nigeria’s integration into the broader digital economy. Today, Equinix operates over 260 International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers in 74 metropolitan areas globally. These centers are interconnected through Equinix Fabric, a software-defined platform enabling secure, high-performance connectivity between data centers, cloud services, and enterprise networks. Building resilience with subsea cables Nigeria now hosts eight submarine cable landings, including two of the world’s most advanced systems—Google’s Equiano and Meta’s 2Africa. Both cables offer design capacities exceeding 100 Tbps, representing a major leap forward in connectivity. However, the benefits of this expansion remain vulnerable without robust infrastructure redundancy. Equinix plans to address this challenge. “We’re routing traffic over multiple cables in West Africa on an active/active basis,” said Wole Abu, Managing Director of Equinix West Africa, in the blog post. “The next time a cable fails, our goal is for customers not to notice.” This proactive strategy introduces critical resilience into the region’s digital infrastructure. Closing Nigeria’s digital divide Despite significant progress in international connectivity, a key bottleneck persists: the middle-mile infrastructure linking coastal landing stations to inland users. While cities like Lagos, Accra, and Abidjan benefit from relatively strong connectivity, many interior regions remain underserved. Nigeria’s National Broadband Plan (2020–2025) targets 70% broadband penetration by 2025. Yet, as of January 2025, penetration remains at just 45%. The World Bank estimates that Nigeria needs an additional 95,000 kilometers of fiber to achieve full nationwide coverage—up from 35,000 kilometers. To address this gap, the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy recently launched a Broadband Alliance to develop a national fiber backbone. Private sector players like Equinix are seen as critical to achieving that vision. “Our vendor-neutral platform and robust interconnection capabilities can help industry ecosystems form in West Africa and collaborate to grow the region’s digital economy,” said Abu. The launch of Equinix PR1 in Port Harcourt will enhance Southern Nigeria’s internet capacity and contribute to the geographic diversification of digital infrastructure. By breaking Lagos’ near-monopoly on bandwidth and cable access, the project could open up new digital growth corridors in the region. Global data center provider Equinix has announced a $140 million investment to strengthen internet connectivity across southern Nigeria over the next two years. The move builds on the company’s $320 million acquisition of MainOne in 2022, which marked Equinix’s entry into the West African market. The goal for Equinix is to address the unequal distribution of digital infrastructure in Nigeria, where Lagos has long dominated development. The investments will include the launch of Equinix PR1, its first data center in Port Harcourt, and the expansion of Equinix LG3, its third data center in Lagos. Notably, the Port Harcourt facility will also serve as the first Nigerian landing station for Meta’s 2Africa submarine cable, dramatically increasing bandwidth capacity in the region and breaking Lagos’ longstanding monopoly on cable landings. This is especially significant for southern Nigeria, which is not only home to a fast-growing population but also forms the economic core of the country’s oil industry. From GSM to global connectivity Nigeria’s digital journey has evolved rapidly. Since the auction of GSM licenses in 2001, mobile subscribers have grown from zero to over 140 million. The rise of tower companies in 2012 enabled operators to scale by outsourcing tower maintenance, while the arrival of fiber-optic and data center infrastructure further expanded the digital ecosystem. Early data centers served basic connectivity needs. The real shift came around 2020 with the arrival of major foreign investors. Equinix’s acquisition of MainOne represented a milestone—connecting Nigeria to a global platform and laying the groundwork for scalable digital growth. Today, Equinix operates more than 260 International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers in 74 metropolitan areas globally. These centers are interconnected through Equinix Fabric, a software-defined platform enabling secure, high-performance connectivity between data centers, cloud services, and enterprise networks. Nigeria now hosts eight submarine cable landings, including two of the world’s most advanced systems—Google’s Equiano and Meta’s 2Africa. Both cables offer design capacities exceeding 100 Tbps, representing a major leap forward in connectivity. However, the benefits of this expansion remain vulnerable without robust infrastructure redundancy. Equinix has been actively working to address this challenge. “We’re routing traffic over multiple cables in West Africa on an active/active basis,” said Wole Abu, Managing Director of Equinix West Africa, in a recent blog post. “The next time a cable fails, our goal is for customers not to notice.” This proactive strategy introduces
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- April 14 2025
- BM
Next Wave: What African startups need to win in the future
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 First published 13 April, 2025 What African startups need to win in the future Image: Pixbay A year ago, African founders were cautiously optimistic. Tech was cooling, but optimism still lingered in the wake of post-COVID digital acceleration. Fast forward to 2025, and reality has reset the narrative. Tariff wars between major global powers triggered by President Donald Trump’s return to office, a sharp contraction in venture funding, persistent currency devaluations, and a regional economic slowdown have reshaped what it means to build a startup on the continent. Add to that an evolving regulatory landscape and a volatile political season—over a dozen African countries will go to the polls between 2025 and 2028—and the terrain looks even more uncertain. But amid the uncertainty, a quiet but significant transformation is underway. A new generation of African startups is learning to build for long-term resilience, not for the hype cycle. So, what does it take to win the future as an African startup? The VC pullback 2024 dropped to $2.2 billion, marking a 25% decrease from the previous year and nearly 53% from 2022. Only 385 ideas received VC backing, down from 600 in 2022. Worse still, cheques were smaller, and the bigger, growth-stage rounds nearly vanished. This is not just a case of investors being risk-averse. It’s a function of shifting priorities. The era of fast and loose capital is over. Global VCs are looking for more than potential; they want proof—proof of revenue, proof of grit, proof that founders can stretch every dollar—or every shilling or naira—and still build something that matters. In today’s capital markets, flashy doesn’t cut it. What wins is substance. Next Wave continues after this ad. Nigeria Startup Ecosystem Report 2024 is Here! Nigeria’s startup ecosystem continues to show resilience and progress despite global and local economic shifts. The latest edition of the Nigeria Startup Ecosystem Report, developed by JICA in partnership with TechCabal Insights, offers a deep dive into the trends driving innovation across the country, covering everything from funding trends and policy shifts to major funding trends in Nigeria’s startup ecosystem. Get access to the report! Rethinking pricing and ops If you’re building a startup in Africa right now, chances are you’re also moonlighting as a part-time currency analyst. And not by choice. The past two years have been relentless for local currencies. Nigeria’s naira has tumbled, losing over half its value in just 24 months. The Kenyan shilling has fallen over 25%, its steepest drop in decades. Ghana’s cedi and Egypt’s pound continue their slow slide, eroding the purchasing power of businesses that rely on imports, cloud services, or any product priced in dollars. For founders, the consequences are immediate and painful. Imagine watching your AWS bill double—not because you used more cloud storage, but because your currency collapsed overnight. Salaries, software licences, and even basic hardware get more expensive when you’re pegged to the dollar but earn in local currency. That’s the reality African startups have been navigating all year. And it’s forcing some to adapt in creative and deliberate ways. Take Instabug, a leading Egyptian SaaS startup that builds bug-reporting tools for developers. They serve a global market, but their home base is rooted in a currency that has been under pressure for months. Rather than pass on higher costs to users or lose ground to competitors, they adjusted. The team localised pricing for emerging market customers, offering more affordable tiers while protecting their margins. That simple shift helped them retain users who might otherwise have abandoned their services due to affordability issues. Other startups are thinking longer-term. Some are experimenting with hedging strategies, locking future currency exchange rates to reduce uncertainty. Others prepay essential services like cloud hosting in hard currency, insulating against future rate shocks. Then, some tackle the root problem by reshaping how they operate altogether. Look at Wasoko, the B2B e-commerce giant operating in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and beyond. Their model depends on moving fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) across the region. But with currency fluctuations and import costs eating into margins, they’ve doubled down on regional warehousing and local supply chain networks. Instead of relying heavily on imports, they’ve begun sourcing more products locally and building infrastructure that allows them to fulfill orders faster, cheaper, and in a way that’s less vulnerable to currency shocks. Founders on the continent have no choice but to become macroeconomic students. And in doing so, they’re building leaner, smarter, and ultimately stronger companies. Next Wave continues after this ad. Celebrate yourself and other women at Hertitude, the ultimate girls’ night out. Get tickets for yourself, your wife, your colleague, sister, or niece at 20% off when you use the code TECHSIS25. Get your tickets here. Building with governments Governments across the continent are becoming more assertive, especially in sectors like fintech, mobility, and artificial intelligence. On the surface, this is another hurdle for already-strapped founders. But look a little closer, and a more nuanced picture emerges: startups that lean into regulation—not just tolerate it—are discovering new paths to scale and build long-term defensibility. Nigeria’s fintech boom collided with the Central Bank’s stricter oversight in 2023 and 2024 as the regulator tightened controls and paused licensing new providers. For most startups, it led to product slowdowns. But fintechs like Moniepoint bucked the trend, building operations and internal compliance teams that rival traditional banks. That groundwork might be paying off—Moniepoint processes over $13 billion in transactions, serving over 2 million businesses. To earn the trust of both customers and governments, African startups should make regulatory discipline more than just a box to check. Across the borders in Kenya, mobility startup BasiGo has
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