SASSA SRD grant payment dates for May 2026 explained
Table of contents What is the SASSA SRD R370 grant? SASSA SRD R370 payment dates for May 2026 How to check your SRD payment status What to do if your application is declined Common reasons for payment delays and how to fix them If you receive the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) Social Relief of Distress (SRD) R370 ($22.59) grant, you already know that your payment does not arrive on the same day as the older persons or disability grants. The SRD runs on its own schedule, and May 2026 is no different. SASSA has confirmed that SRD payments for May 2026 will be processed between Saturday, May 24 and Saturday, May 30, 2026. Since SASSA only processes payments on business days, most beneficiaries will see their money between Monday, May 25 and Friday, May 29. Your personal payment date within that window depends on when your monthly verification clears. The quickest way to find your exact date is to log into srd.sassa.gov.za with your South African ID number and the cellphone number you used when you applied. What is the SASSA SRD R370 grant? The SRD grant is a monthly cash payment from SASSA for unemployed people who have no other source of income or government support. It pays R370($22.59) every month and is the last in the payment queue, always processed after all permanent grants have gone out. Unlike grants such as the Older Persons or Child Support Grant, the SRD does not have a permanent approval. SASSA reassesses every application each month against government databases before releasing any payment. This is why your payment date is different from your neighbour’s, and why the same person can be approved one month and declined the next. To qualify for the SRD R370 grant, you must: Be a South African citizen, permanent resident, refugee, or asylum seeker with a valid Section 22 permit Be between 18 and 59 years old Have no income above R624($38.09) monthly in any bank account linked to your ID Not be receiving any other SASSA grant, UIF payments, or NSFAS funding Not be living in a state-funded institution such as a prison or care facility A single deposit that pushes your account balance above R624 ($38.09) in a given month, even from a family member or a refund, can trigger an automatic decline for that month. This is one of the most common reasons people get declined, even when they have no regular income. The SRD grant was first introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been extended several times since. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana confirmed in the November 2025 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) that the grant will run until March 31, 2027, and is backed by an additional R36.4 billion($2.22 billion) in Treasury allocation. The government has signalled it may be replaced by a more permanent income-support arrangement after March 2027, but no final design has been published yet. SASSA SRD R370 payment dates for May 2026 SASSA confirmed the May 2026 SRD payment window as May 24 to May 30, 2026. The table below shows the full payment schedule for all grants this month. Since May 24 is a Sunday and May 30 is a Saturday, actual processing will happen on business days within that range. SASSA does not process payments on weekends, so plan around Monday, May 25, through Friday, May 29. Your personal date within that window depends on when your monthly means test clears. SASSA cross-checks your application against records from SARS, UIF, Home Affairs, NSFAS, and your bank before assigning your payment day. Once that check is complete, your date will appear on your status page at srd.sassa.gov.za. Banks and retailers also process at different speeds. If your payment shows as released by SASSA, allow one to three business days for it to reflect in your account, depending on your bank or payment channel. How to check your SRD payment status There are four ways to check your status. The online portal is the most reliable because it shows your month-by-month history and your personal payment date once assigned. Option 1: Online at srd.sassa.gov.za (most reliable) Open a browser and go to srd.sassa.gov.za. Make sure the address ends in .gov.za. Click “Check Your Status” or “Application Status.” Enter your 13-digit South African ID number. Enter the cellphone number you used when you applied. Submit. Your month-by-month result and, where available, your personal payment date will appear. Option 2: WhatsApp at 082 046 8553 Save 082 046 8553 as a contact and open WhatsApp. Send “Hi” or “Status” to start the chat. Follow the menu prompts and enter your ID number when asked. The chatbot will return your current grant status. Option 3: USSD by dialling *120*3210# (no data needed) Dial *120*3210# from any cellphone. Select “SASSA R370 Status” or “Status Check” from the menu. Enter your ID number. Your status will appear on screen. If *120*3210# fails, try the legacy code *134*7737#. Option 4: Toll-free call centre at 0800 60 10 11 Available Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 16:00. Have your ID number and your registered cellphone number ready before you call. An agent will read your latest status aloud. What your status result means What to do if your application is declined A declined status does not always mean the end of the road. SASSA gives you 90 days from the date of the decline to request a reconsideration. This process is free, and you do not need a lawyer. The most common reasons SASSA declines SRD applications are: A bank deposit pushed your account above R624 ($38.09) in the assessed month, even if it was a once-off transfer from a family member or a refund UIF payments or an active UIF registration were detected NSFAS funding was found linked to your ID Your identity details do not match what Home Affairs has on record You were found to be receiving another SASSA grant Your age is recorded as being outside the 18 to 59
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Digital Nomads: Olayinka Oke saves $368 monthly to live in three countries a year
Olayinka Oke has travelled to 23 of Nigeria’s 36 states, exploring her nomadic curiosities from humble beginnings before she began branching out of the country and, eventually, Africa. Before Ghana, Malta, Sierra Leone, and Kenya, there were shorter trips across Nigeria. She would wait for a public holiday, take two extra leave days, book a hotel or Airbnb, and disappear for four days. Sometimes, it was a quick weekend stop in Ekiti, in southwestern Nigeria. Other times, Kano, in the far north. At the time, international travel still felt distant for Oke. But in 2017, she crossed Nigeria’s borders for Accra, Ghana, for the first time. That trip changed something. “Even though Ghana is a lot similar to Nigeria, there was—I don’t know the word for it—but my eyes just opened to the fact that there’s actually a lot more to life than the country where you live,” said Oke. Now, she saves a little over ₦500,000 ($368) every month into a travel fund to finance the frequent travel lifestyle she describes as requiring “meticulous planning.” In March, she was in Kenya for the month, working remotely from different high‑brow parts of Nairobi and taking a side trip to Lamu, off Kenya’s coast. Later this year, she plans to visit several European countries and at least one Asian country, preferably Thailand, she said. Oke, a chemical engineering graduate from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) in Ogbomosho, Oyo State, leads data management and governance at Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), one of the country’s biggest gas producers. She said her urge to travel came from a restless dislike for routine and a desire to keep experiencing new places instead of staying in one environment long enough to get bored. “There’s always the point of wanting to be in a saner clime,” Oke said. “Every time you run into a low‑quality problem in Nigeria, you tell yourself that, ‘if I were living outside Nigeria, this wouldn’t be a problem.’” Her full‑time job is based in Nigeria, but over the last few years, she has steadily built a life that assumes she will live in at least three other countries every year, one month at a time. Get The Best African Tech Newsletters In Your Inbox Select your country Nigeria Ghana Kenya South Africa Egypt Morocco Tunisia Algeria Libya Sudan Ethiopia Somalia Djibouti Eritrea Uganda Tanzania Rwanda Burundi Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Central African Republic Chad Cameroon Gabon Equatorial Guinea São Tomé and Príncipe Angola Zambia Zimbabwe Botswana Namibia Lesotho Eswatini Mozambique Madagascar Mauritius Seychelles Comoros Cape Verde Guinea-Bissau Senegal The Gambia Guinea Sierra Leone Liberia Côte d’Ivoire Burkina Faso Mali Niger Benin Togo Other Select your gender Male Female Others TC Daily TC Events Next wave Entering Tech Subscribe Oke, the traveller Oke first worked in the oil and gas sector, including a stint at Halliburton, the multinational oilfield services firm with operations in Nigeria, between 2014 and 2016. She then moved into banking as a data professional at tier-2 lender, Union Bank, from 2016 to 2021, before transitioning fully into the energy side of data, first at Easy Solar and now at NLNG. Oke traces her deliberate nomadic life to two moments: that first Ghana trip and later, a job that pushed her to move to Sierra Leone. For a while, the change showed up mainly as tourism. She travelled when she could afford it, mostly for short stays. The shift from tourist to temporary resident came in 2022, when she got an offer from Easy Solar. The company sells renewable energy products to last‑mile users on a pay‑as‑you‑go (PAYG) basis in Sierra Leone and Liberia. She said she started as a commercial data analyst, working remotely at first, but the role came with a condition: at some point, she would have to move to Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone. “I eventually moved to Sierra Leone in 2023,” she said. “Sierra Leone is not like Europe, which is a lot more developed; in fact, I would say Sierra Leone is a bit less developed than Nigeria, but the way things were just different was very interesting to me.” Oke poses for a photo at the ‘I Love Salone’ sign in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Image Source: Olayinka Oke While she spent about a year in Sierra Leone, the stay was long enough for daily details to matter more than the idea of “moving abroad.” The first shock came from housing and groceries. Rents in the parts of Freetown where expatriates and professionals clustered were quoted in dollars, and her two‑bedroom apartment, shared with a flatmate, cost about $600 a month. Groceries, too, were often more expensive than she expected, partly because many products were imported, she said. Food and convenience became the biggest pressure points. In Lagos, Oke prefers to order almost everything online and can go weeks without leaving her house when working remotely. Oke hiking the Leicester Peak, a mountain in Sierra Leone’s Western area. Image Source: Olayinka Oke In Freetown, that setup simply did not exist. There were restaurants with Instagram pages, but no central food‑delivery platforms, she said. She had to ask colleagues how people managed. Eventually, she settled into the local workaround: finding a trusted bike rider who acted as a personal dispatch, buying items from different places, and bringing them over. The Malta cameo, sacrifice, and returning home In the middle of her Sierra Leone stint in 2023, she applied on LinkedIn for a data analyst role at a Malta-based gaming company. She got the offer while she was still with Easy Solar, and kept working for the company as the Malta process moved ahead. Oke left Sierra Leone around June and returned to Lagos, continuing to work remotely for Easy Solar until it was time to travel. In September, she flew to Malta to start the in‑country stages of her new role. She said the gaming company sponsored her visa, paid for her flight, and put her
Read MoreNigeria now Airtel Africa’s second-largest market by revenue per subscriber
Nigeria is now Airtel Africa’s second-biggest market by revenue earned from each subscriber, as higher telecom tariffs boosted earnings in the company’s largest African market. Airtel Africa, which operates in 14 countries, grew its average revenue per user (ARPU) in Nigeria by 41.18% for the financial year ended March 2026, according to the company’s financial results released on Friday. ARPU measures how much telecom operators earn per subscriber and is a key indicator of whether revenue is sufficient to cover operating costs and fund network investments. Money The ARPU Gap: Value vs. Velocity Francophone Africa still extracts the most revenue per user, but Nigeria’s recent 50% tariff hike has triggered explosive year-over-year growth. Source: Airtel Africa plc FY’26 Financial Results. Bar length represents actual Average Revenue Per User (ARPU). Badges represent YoY growth.
Read MoreOpera-backed stablecoin app MiniPay rides Africa demand to 15 million wallets
MiniPay, the Opera-backed stablecoin wallet and payments app that operates in seven African markets, has crossed 15 million activated wallets, more than double from the previous year. The 123% year-on-year jump extends the app’s growth after it crossed 13 million wallets by the end of 2025, according to Opera’s Q1 2026 report. Launched in Nigeria in September 2023 as part of the Opera Mini browser before becoming a standalone app last year, MiniPay has emerged as one of the most widely used stablecoin payment products focused on emerging markets, with the majority of its users in Africa, according to Opera. It underscores how Africa has become one of the world’s most active testing grounds for crypto payments and dollar savings products. Apps like MiniPay, Bitget Wallet, and UglyCash are betting that users in countries with volatile currencies and costly banking infrastructure will embrace dollar-denominated digital money for everyday use. “MiniPay launched first in Nigeria in 2023 and expanded first across Kenya and other key African markets before going global in 2025,” Murray Spark, Senior Director Business Development at Opera, told TechCabal in an email response on Tuesday. “We don’t go into country-level detail, but it’s fair to say our earliest markets in Sub-Saharan Africa are where we’re seeing the most traction. This reflects where our most engaged users are, and we expect the geographic mix to evolve as we expand.” Opera reported that MiniPay users completed 290 million peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions worth over $300 million by the third quarter of 2025. That figure climbed to 360 million completed transactions by year-end. Opera declined to disclose average transaction sizes for MiniPay, but said activity on the app is concentrated around “everyday financial activities that traditional banking infrastructure either ignores or makes too expensive to bother with,” including peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers, airtime and data purchases, bill purchases, merchant payments, and universal basic income (UBI) disbursements. The app runs on the Celo blockchain and is heavily centred on USDT, the dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by El Salvador-based firm Tether. According to Spark, USDT remains “by far the dominant asset” held in MiniPay wallets and is primarily used for everyday transactions. Opera is also leaning into tokenised gold products—digital assets backed by physical gold—as a savings tool for users in emerging markets. “On-chain data shows that over 91% of XAUT0 holders [holders of Tether Gold, a digital product that tracks the price of gold] are on Celo. Virtually all of those are MiniPay wallets,” Spark said. “What that means is that MiniPay has become the single largest platform for Tether Gold holders in the world.” While MiniPay’s growth has become prominent in Opera’s shareholder communications, the Oslo-based company has yet to disclose revenue generated directly from the wallet business. Opera said its primary revenue drivers remain advertising and search, while describing MiniPay as part of its “broader ecosystem.” In recent earnings reports, Opera has increasingly highlighted MiniPay alongside its AI browser ambitions, framing the wallet as a strategic product for emerging markets. In its Q4 2025 earnings released in February, CEO Lin Song said Opera’s partnership with Tether, the Salvador-based issuer of the USDT stablecoin and Tether Gold, was helping provide “seamless financial access and innovative digital utility to emerging markets globally.” MiniPay’s expansion is also moving beyond Africa. In November 2025, Opera rolled out a “Pay Like a Local” feature in Latin America that allows users to spend stablecoin balances directly through Mercado Pago and Brazil’s PIX payment system. Opera said it already supports bank and mobile money integrations across Africa and plans to continue expanding local payment rails as adoption grows. To deepen engagement, MiniPay offers incentives such as daily login rewards, crypto-earning games, and miniapps, and is also planning to launch virtual cards.
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WayaWaya founder Teddy Ogallo lived a sheltered life, then had to rebuild everything
By the time Teddy Ogallo sits down at Artcaffe Westgate Mall in Nairobi’s Westlands, he already has a mental list running. Not talking points for this interview, but customer problems, things that broke overnight, features that need reworking, small frictions that, if fixed, might bring him the next hundred users. He orders a latte. I go for Kenyan tea, non-spiced. He’s present, but you can tell his mind is never far from the build. Ask him who he is—especially on days he’s tired of the startup label—and he doesn’t hesitate. “I’m a builder,” he says. It comes out effortlessly during our chat, as if it’s almost a default setting, something that predates his journey at WayaWaya, a Kenyan startup that provides conversational banking tools via WhatsApp and mobile apps. He traces it back to his childhood in the barracks in Eldoret—a city in Western Kenya—a contained, almost ideal world. Good housing, a supermarket, a hospital, a proper school, everything in place, little reason to step outside. “You had no reason to leave,” he says. Then, at 17, that world fell apart. His father lost his job, and the transition into what he calls “real-life Kenya” was abrupt. Suddenly, the cushioning was gone, replaced by scarcity, but with awareness of how most people actually live and get by. That contrast—comfort, then lack—sits beneath how he sees things now. It shows up in how he talks about systems that don’t work, about people forced to find their own way around them, and about why he builds at all. He tells me he doesn’t just want to solve problems, but leave a legacy that holds up under pressure. Our conversation moves between those personal aspirations and what it takes to build something that lasts. For Ogallo, the two are not separate. They rarely are. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. How do you usually introduce yourself when you’re tired of talking about startups? I know it’s cliché, but I’m a builder. I’ve always been a builder since I was four years old—building drones, building things. I’m an innovator and a builder. I’ve always been that character who thinks differently. I started building, then I started asking myself: How do I create value out of everything I’ve built? That’s why my entrepreneurship journey started very, very early in life. Because I’m this innovative builder, looking at problems, thinking of solutions, and actually building a workable solution. If we weren’t doing this interview over coffee, where would you rather be right now? I have this list. I usually make a list of customer requests and customer feedback. I’m a tech founder, so I’m involved with the daily build, finding solutions. So I plan how to solve this list of problems for our customers, then plan to iterate on that process and use it to get even more customers. I’d be scaling and maintaining the customers we’ve already set up on our platform. What’s been your most recent small win that had nothing to do with WayaWaya? When you’re an entrepreneur, the startup becomes your life. Everything else is peripheral. I finished a small build project. Once I’m successful with WayaWaya, I’ll be able to build something bigger. I’ve been building a prototype of that technology solution, more hardware-oriented. I finished a prototype, and it worked. It’s at that point where you start thinking of getting a Chinese company to print the boards. That’s a success. What’s something you’ve changed your mind about in the last year? I used to believe in changing people, changing mindsets. But I’ve gotten tough lessons. Human beings, by the time someone has become an adult, have these rigid frames they live inside. You can’t really change those fundamental bits, character, aspiration. Those are the basics that most people can’t change. That’s why in business, you have to develop a skill. Even as a founder, when you’re looking for team members, you look at their motivations, the things that drive them. Those are usually very hard to change in an adult. I spent a significant part of my life trying to change that in people. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks… Exactly. That’s something I’ve learned. Teddy Ogallo at a past Housing Finance event. Image source: WayaWaya Where did you grow up? What did it teach you about money, trust, and financial systems? I was born in Eldoret [Western Kenya], in a sheltered setup. My dad was in the military, posted at one of the best-built barracks in Kenya, a flagship. This barracks had a supermarket, a good hospital, and a really good school. You had no reason to leave. Bungalows. Everyone had their own room. Perfect, sheltered life. We only ventured out once every two months to town. Eldoret has more cushioning, more civil servant jobs, and more middle class than comparable towns. We didn’t know some of the struggles Kenyans go through. Then life happened. My dad lost his job. We had to move when I was about 17. That was my welcome to real-life Kenya. I saw people buy milk in plastic containers; there was poverty. And then there was that drive. You could see people really pushing to escape that place. So, I’m a teenager, the firstborn, wanting to pull my entire family out of that. That’s where I saw Kenyan resilience. Put a typical Kenyan in a tough situation, and you get stories of guys who started in places like Kawangware and are now somewhere out there in the world. Kenyans just don’t settle. That contrast—shelter to crash course—taught me Kenyans are resilient and aggressive by nature. On financial systems: at that point, the system was not built for the reality on the ground. We have one of the highest poverty rates—even as a middle-income country, our poverty rate is higher than most neighbors. Our financial system is built for the ministers. That’s why micro-lending apps are prospering in Kenya. I discovered quickly how it was built to fail. That’s
Read MorePaga enters crypto through partnership with blockchain network Sui
Paga, one of Africa’s oldest fintechs, has partnered with Sui, the blockchain network built by US-based Mysten Labs, as it pushes into crypto payments, stablecoin yields, and asset tokenisation. The partnership was announced at the Sui Live event in Miami, the United States, on Thursday. It marks Paga’s first formal move into crypto since Tayo Oviosu transitioned to Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in April. Oviosu said the partnership will help Paga build financial rails that help Africans hedge against currency instability that erodes wealth, unlock opportunity in global commerce, fix cross-border payments, and expand access to alternative financial products. “These are the walls of the cage, and until we tear them down, financial freedom on this continent is incomplete,” Oviosu said during a presentation at Sui Live. “Tearing down these walls is not a job we can do on our own; it requires the right rails, the right partner, the right technology that is fast enough, cheap enough and global enough to serve 1 billion people. We found that partner—Paga and Sui.” The partnership will cover four things: high-yield USD accounts backed by USDsui, Sui’s newly launched dollar stablecoin; crypto on-ramps and off-ramps across Paga’s markets; tokenised real-world assets (RWAs), including real estate, bonds, and solar projects; and cross-border payment rails for businesses and consumers. Paga users could soon hold a dollar account that earns interest automatically, convert between local currency and crypto without friction, invest in assets like property or green energy projects that were previously out of reach, and send or receive money across borders as easily and cheaply as sending an email, said Oviosu. Paga’s move comes as African fintechs increasingly explore crypto and digital currency infrastructure for payments, settlement, and treasury operations. In October 2025, Flutterwave partnered with blockchain firm Polygon to build out its stablecoin payment infrastructure. Stripe-owned Paystack reorganised into The Stack Group (TSG) in January to deepen research in emerging technologies within fintech. Both companies were admitted into the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) anti-money laundering supervisory programme for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) on March 31. “57% of African adults don’t have a bank account,” Oviosu said. “When people hear that number, they see a problem. I see something different; I see an Africa that is the single largest financial greenfield market in the world, and that is the opportunity we’re going after.” Paga currently processes $1.5 billion in monthly payments. In 2025, it processed $11 billion from 169 million transactions, Oviosu said. Since its founding in 2009, the company has processed $42 billion in total payment volume (TPV) from 653 million transactions, a scale that gives the Sui partnership immediate reach rather than a standing start. “$42 billion are school fees paid, salaries received, grandmother receiving money from her son in the city, instantly, safely, and at a fraction of the cost of what it used to [be],” Oviosu said. “This is what the infrastructure was built for and we’re just getting started.” Sui launched USDsui, a US dollar-backed stablecoin, on its network on Monday, entering a stablecoin market dominated by Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC. Unlike those two stablecoins, USDsui is yield-bearing, allowing users to earn interest by holding the digital dollar in their accounts, putting it in competition with similar products such as DAI. The launch marks the second currency developed within the Sui ecosystem after the blockchain introduced its native SUI token in 2023. Blockchain networks often create native tokens to drive adoption and utility across payments, lending, and decentralised application ecosystems. Bridge, the US crypto infrastructure firm Stripe acquired for $1.1 billion in 2025, will issue the USDsui stablecoin on the Sui blockchain.
Read MoreSafaricom is pushing M-PESA deeper into Kenya’s retail investing market
Safaricom, Kenya’s largest telecom operator, is expanding M-PESA’s presence in retail investing after assets in its money market fund more than doubled. Assets under management in Ziidi fund sold through M-PESA more than doubled to KES 18.7 billion ($145 million) in the year ended March 2026. Total wealth assets on the platform rose to KES 21 billion ($162 million), according to results released on Thursday. The expansion pushes Safaricom deeper into businesses long dominated by banks, fund managers, and brokerage firms. After building Kenya’s largest mobile payments platform, the company is now trying to keep more of its customers’ savings, investments, and financial activity within M-PESA. In February, Safaricom launched Ziidi Trader, a new service that allows customers to buy and sell listed securities on their mobile phones, further extending M-PESA into retail investing. The expansion points to M-PESA’s move from a transaction platform to a broader financial services business. Kenya’s mobile money market is already mature, with person-to-person transfers and merchant payments deeply embedded in daily commerce. M-PESA processed KES 41.7 trillion ($323 billion) in transactions during the year and now serves nearly 41 million active users across payments, transfers, and merchant services M-PESA revenue rose 13.4% to KES 182.7 billion ($1.41 billion) during the year, accounting for 45.6% of Safaricom Kenya’s service revenue, up from 44.2% a year earlier. Transaction volumes rose 25.1% to 46.4 billion, while transaction values increased 8.9% to KES 41.7 trillion ($323 billion). The strategy also signals a shift in financial habits among younger consumers, many of whom are increasingly saving, borrowing, and investing through mobile platforms rather than bank branches. Retail investing in Kenya remains limited, with access largely restricted to institutional and wealthier investors, leaving room for platforms with mass distribution and low entry barriers. Safaricom’s scale gives it an advantage few financial institutions can match. Merchant numbers on M-PESA rose 71% to 3.1 million, helped by growth in Pochi la Biashara, a payment product targeting small businesses and informal traders. Safaricom said it plans to introduce more savings, investment, insurance, and international money transfer services in the coming financial year, increasing pressure on Kenyan banks already competing with M-PESA for deposits, payments, and consumer lending. “In FY27, we will accelerate growth by deepening customer value through more personalised, affordable, and integrated propositions, while scaling M-PESA’s next frontier across merchant solutions, credit, savings, insurance, wealth, and cross-border payments,” Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said on Thursday.
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Will H1 2026 cross the $1B mark? Funding hits $887M despite deal slump
This article was originally published on TechCabal Insights and was written by Joseph Oloyede, Analyst at TechCabal Insights. Four months into 2026, the startup funding data points to a market choosing quality over quantity. At TechCabal Insights, we compared January – April 2026 data with the same period in 2025, and the results are fascinating. The 2026 paradox: More money, fewer handshakes The first four months of 2026 have seen a total of $887 million raised, slightly outpacing the $803 million tracked during the same window last year. However, this capital is coming from far fewer deals. There were 173 as of this time in 2025, but 2026 has recorded only 84 transactions so far. Investors are moving away from small bets and concentrating their capital into much larger rounds, specifically within the $10M–$49M and $50M–$99M brackets. While we have not seen any Mega Deals (over $100M) so far in 2026, this shift is fueled by capital-intensive Energy and Fintech Debt deals. So far this year, in the first four months of 2026, we have tracked 105 deals. While 84 are disclosed, the remaining 21 we have tracked this year remain undisclosed. Can H1 2026 cross the $1 billion milestone? In H1 2025, Africa’s ecosystem raised $1.42 billion in total funding. With $887 million already in the bag and two months left in the half, the possibility of crossing the billion-dollar mark is high. If May and June deliver just $113 million, we hit the billion-dollar milestone. To beat last year’s performance, however, we will need a significant surge in late-stage rounds before July. Debt Financing is the Engine The data from January to April paints a clear picture of how companies are scaling. While equity remains vital, debt financing is driving the biggest numbers, especially in February when debt alone accounted for $235 million. February saw debt outpace equity by nearly double, confirming that Africa’s climatetech and fintech leaders are now mature enough to access large-scale credit. The March Leaderboard: Waste management shines March saw a healthy spread across sectors, with Sistema.bio leading the charge with a $53M raise in waste management, proving that investors are looking beyond just solar energy for high-impact opportunities. Fintech remained a heavy hitter in March with Taurex raising $40M, while Zeno and Starsight Energy kept the momentum in the energy sector. The April leaderboard: Egypt and energy Lead In April, fintech and energy reclaimed their spots at the top of the pyramid. Egypt’s MNT-Halan secured $41.3 million, closely followed by CrossBoundary Energy at $40 million. These sectors remain the safest harbors for large-scale capital as the market reaches a new level of maturity. The big question Will the H1 2026 funding totals surpass the $1.42 billion we saw last year? The race is on, and the data is shifting every day. You will find the definitive answer in our upcoming State of Tech in Africa H1 2026 report. We are currently open for strategic partnerships to bring this intelligence to the ecosystem.
Read MoreSamsung One UI 8.5 now available: What Galaxy users should know
Table of contents What is One UI 8.5? What is new in One UI 8.5 Which Samsung Galaxy phones are getting One UI 8.5 When will your phone get the update How to check for the One UI 8.5 update Samsung began rolling out One UI 8.5 on Wednesday, May 6, starting in South Korea. The update had been in beta testing since December 2025, going through 10 beta builds before Samsung made it available to everyone, making it the longest One UI beta cycle Samsung has run to date. The stable rollout started with the Galaxy S25 series and foldables, and the wider global wave kicks off on May 11, 2026, covering Europe, India, North America, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. If you own a Galaxy phone released in the last three to four years, One UI 8.5 is most likely coming to your device. This article breaks down what is actually new in the update, which phones are getting it, and when you can expect the notification to show up. What is One UI 8.5? One UI 8.5 is built on Android 16, the same Android version as One UI 8.0. This is not a new Android release. It is Samsung’s mid-cycle feature update, sitting between One UI 8.0 and the upcoming One UI 9, which is expected to launch later in 2026 with the Galaxy Z Fold 8. One UI 8.0 launched with the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 in late 2025 and received mixed feedback for the little visual change c. One UI 8.5 is where Samsung addresses that. It brings a full visual redesign, a meaningful Galaxy AI upgrade, and new cross-platform sharing features. The update first shipped pre-installed on the Galaxy S26 series when it launched on March 11, 2026. Other Galaxy devices are now receiving it via the stable rollout that began on May 6. What is new in One UI 8.5 1. Galaxy AI Most of the new AI features in One UI 8.5 were exclusive to the Galaxy S26 series at launch. With this update, they now support the Galaxy S25, S24, and older devices. Call Screening: When an unknown number calls you, Bixby can pick up the call on your behalf, ask the caller who they are and why they are calling, and show you a live transcript on screen. You decide whether to join the call or ignore it. You can set it to screen unknown numbers automatically and review the transcript later. To turn it on: Phone app > Settings > Call screening. Agentic AI/Smarter Bixby: Bixby can now handle multi-step tasks that span multiple apps using plain language. You can say “find a recent photo of my dog and email it to Amara”, and it handles the full task. Bixby also keeps a conversation history, so you can pick up where you left off, and it understands loose phrasing instead of requiring exact commands. Creative Studio: A dedicated app now on your Apps screen (not buried inside Gallery) that lets you generate wallpapers, stickers, profile images, and greeting cards from a photo, sketch, or text prompt. It is an expanded version of the older Drawing Assist feature. Now Nudge: An AI layer that sits inside the Samsung Keyboard toolbar and surfaces suggestions based on what is on your screen. If you are chatting about dinner plans, it can suggest scheduling it directly. If someone shares a number, it can prompt you to save it. Note: Now Nudge only works if you use the Samsung Keyboard. It will not appear if you use Gboard. Audio Eraser (system-wide): Audio Eraser previously only worked on videos you had already recorded inside the Gallery app. It now works in real time across third-party apps, including YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Netflix. A Voice Focus toggle and a strength slider sit in your Quick Panel. Photo Assist (text-prompt editing): You can now describe edits in plain language, and Galaxy AI applies them. Tell it to remove an object, change a colour, add something to a photo, or combine elements from two different images. It also lets you apply style filters to any photo, not just pictures of people or pets, and generates images continuously so you can compare and pick your favourite without saving every version. 2. Camera Document scanning: Point your camera at a document, and a scan button appears automatically. You can capture multiple pages into a single PDF, and the Remove tool automatically cleans up stray fingers, folded corners, and unwanted patterns. Dual recording: Tap the dual recording icon in Video mode to record from both the front and rear cameras simultaneously. Useful for reaction content or capturing yourself alongside whatever you are filming. Real-time Log video previews: If you shoot in Log format (the flat colour profile used in professional video editing), you can now apply a colour grade preview while you record. You see roughly how the final footage will look before you open an editor. Auto Motion Photos: When set to Auto, your camera only saves a motion photo if it detects movement in the scene. If nothing is moving, it saves a still image instead, saving storage space. 3. Design and interface New visual design (Ambient Design / Liquid Glass): Transparent blur effects, pill-shaped controls, floating navigation bars, and softer depth now appear across Settings, Dialer, Gallery, Calculator, Samsung Browser, Samsung Notes, and Samsung Messages. Search bars in most Samsung apps have also moved to the bottom of the screen for easier one-handed use. Customisable Quick Panel: You can now add, remove, move, resize, and reorient any tile or slider in the Quick Panel. Brightness and volume controls can switch between horizontal and vertical layouts. You have full control over what appears there. Lock screen updates: Wallpapers now auto-position to prevent the subject from overlapping the clock or widgets. New features include three additional clock styles, finer control over font weights, downloadable interactive wallpapers, and AI Weather Effects that
Read MoreSafaricom’s mobile data business is now bigger than voice calls
Safaricom’s mobile data business overtook voice calls for the first time, a milestone for Kenya’s biggest telecom operator as consumers shift spending from airtime and SMS toward streaming, social media, and mobile internet services. Mobile data accounted for 42.1% of the telco’s connectivity revenue in the year ended March 2026, edging past voice at 41.3%, according to Safaricom’s financial results released on Thursday. Data revenue rose 14.4% to KES 83.4 billion ($646 million), compared with a 1.3% increase in voice revenue to KES 81.8 billion ($634 million). The change reflects changing consumer habits in Kenya, as spending on streaming, mobile banking, social media, and online commerce grows faster than traditional calling. The results also show Safaricom is compensating for lower data prices with heavier internet usage, helping sustain growth as voice revenues flatten. Messaging revenue fell 11.8% to KES 11 billion ($85 million) during the year as users continued migrating to WhatsApp, Telegram, and other internet-based platforms. Customers consuming more than 1 GB of mobile data monthly rose 22.4% to 14.5 million, while average monthly usage per subscriber climbed 16.6% to 4.92 GB. “Messaging revenue declined by 11.8% YoY, driven by structural changes in customer behaviour as usage continues to migrate toward IP-based and over-the-top messaging platforms, in line with global industry trends,” Safaricom said in its financial statement. The company is counting on wider 4G and 5G coverage, alongside cheaper smartphones, to accelerate internet adoption further. Smartphones connected to Safaricom’s network rose 21.2% to 33.2 million during the year, while active 5G devices jumped 55.5% to 1.64 million. Safaricom also leaned on lower pricing to drive higher consumption. Average rates per megabyte declined 12.1% during the year as the company expanded promotions and targeted data offers. Increased usage more than compensated for lower pricing, helping mobile data emerge as one of Safaricom’s fastest-growing business lines alongside M-PESA. The figures underline pressure facing telecom operators across Africa to replace slowing voice revenues with higher-growth internet and digital services as younger consumers spend more time online. The transition is also intensifying competition between telecom operators and broadband providers chasing demand for mobile internet, home fibre, and digital financial services. Connectivity revenue remained Safaricom Kenya’s largest business at KES 197.9 billion ($1.53 billion), narrowly ahead of M-PESA’s KES 182.7 billion ($1.41 billion). Net income rose 24.7% to KES 119.1 billion ($922 million)
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