How Ruth Ikegah went from Microbiologist to leading open source advocacy in Africa
In April 2021, 21-year-old Ruth Ikegah was a fresh microbiology graduate from the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) just one month away from relocating to Lagos for her National Youth Service (NYSC). She was scraping by on a one-off management gig that earned her ₦70,000 ($170*). Her fortunes changed in a flash, by way of a technical writing job that paid $5,000 a month (over ₦2 million). She recalls letting out a scream during the hiring call. “It came at the lowest point of my life,” she said in our virtual interview. Today, Lagos-based Ikegah has built an award-winning career and earns over $70,000 annually. She is a leading advocate for African participation in open source initiatives that seek to promote and protect open-source software. Her work has taken her to 14 countries and led to a 2024 United Nations speaking engagement. Trained as a developer, she rarely writes code. In an industry where non-coding roles are often dismissed as lightweight, Ikegah proves that success belongs to those bold enough to rewrite the rules. Ruth Ikegah at a UN Conference in 2024 Seeds of curiosity Ikegah grew up in a broken home, with separated parents and a stepmother whose discipline bordered on cruelty. Her childhood was marked by sadness and self-doubt, she recalls. “It was so overwhelming that I shrank into myself and became extremely introverted,” she said. Boarding school jolted her awake—watching public displays of affection between her classmates and their parents made her realise her circumstances weren’t normal. “It made me think I could dream bigger and have a different life,” she said. This paradigm of self-reinvention followed her into her undergraduate studies at UNIPORT, where she struggled academically. “If I failed, I’d just think, ‘I won’t kill myself over this,’” she admitted. That changed when a friend joked that her flunking grades might end their relationship. It was a wake-up call, Ikegah told me. She read tens of pages of lecture notes, condensing them into bite-sized summaries, and even formed a reading group. Two friends from the group, Peace Ojemeh and Alabo Briggs, soon caught her attention. “They weren’t stressing over classes, yet they had expensive things. I often wondered how they afforded them,” she recalled. When she asked, Ojemeh explained she was a designer volunteering for open source organisations in exchange for stipends, often paid in dollars. She resolved to join them after graduation. In early 2020, when the COVID-19 lockdown delayed her NYSC service, she turned to her friends, who encouraged her to pursue tech-related skills she found personally appealing. She chose data analysis with Python. She recalls spending a lot of time at a Rivers State digital hub—a state government initiative for tech literacy where free electricity and internet allowed her to study for months. She took tutorials on platforms like DataCamp and DevCareer and even joined Twitter, where she encountered like-minded enthusiasts like Samson Goddy and Adaora Nwodo, and tech communities like She Code Africa. Soon she began volunteering for open source projects, including those by Linux, an open source operating system that serves as the foundation for many servers, desktops, and embedded systems worldwide. A volunteer spirit takes root Despite being unpaid, Ikegah jumped at several volunteer opportunities, including an open-source challenge organised by Open Source Community Africa (OSCA) and She Code Africa (SCA). These experiences accelerated her learning, enabled community building, and provided opportunities to develop her resume without traditional work experience. In addition, through SCA’s 2020 mentorship programme, Ikegah was paired with a mentor. The mentorship programme included weekly check-ins and challenges that also required technical writing. “I started producing articles weekly or biweekly,” she said, realising she enjoyed explaining complex topics far more than writing code. “I realised coding wasn’t my passion—I didn’t enjoy it.” Ikegah Ruth and one of her GitHub Stars Recognition and reward Months after taking her friend’s advice, Ikegah became the first African woman to win a GitHub Star award. The recognition was a turning point, bringing both job and speaking opportunities her way including the technical writing role at U.S.-based Animalz, that came with a $5,000 monthly salary. Earning that first paycheque changed everything, but it came with a heavy workload, and after 11 months, she left the role with over $10,000 in savings and an optimism that she could redefine her career. “It was tough to leave, but necessary as I have learnt to not overthink or overstay in situations that do not work for me,’ she said. “But first I took a three-month break, including a trip to Dubai—my first real holiday.” Advocating for open source for Africa After Animalz, Ikegah determined that supporting developers through documentation and community management aligned best with her interests and skills. So she transitioned into open source programme management full-time. Despite researching the field and upskilling, Ikegah found that living outside the U.S. posed a barrier to landing a full-time role and went back to volunteering. Some volunteering roles came with monetary rewards while others did not, but they positioned her as a thought leader in promoting inclusivity and diversity in open source. Despite growing awareness of open source in Africa, sustained contributions remain a challenge. Many African developers view it as an unpaid stepping stone to better job prospects rather than a long-term commitment, one of several things she hopes to change through her advocacy work. Ruth Ikegah with some of the Namibian students she mentors. Her biggest breakthrough came with the CHAOSS Project under the Linux Foundation. When she started contributing in 2020, African participation was minimal. Ikegah increased African participation in the Chaos Project by advocating for more developers to join, helping new contributors find meaningful roles, effectively communicating the project’s value to a wider audience, and conducting diversity and inclusion audits. Her efforts didn’t go unnoticed. The project’s co-founder invited her to lead a regional chapter, which she continues to lead today. Beyond community-building, Ikegah consults for African companies who want to monetise open source software through support services, subscriptions, or enterprise solutions, models
Read MoreMTN and Airtel drive 57% of IHS Towers’ revenue in 2024
MTN Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria accounted for 57% of IHS Towers’ revenue in 2024, highlighting its heavy reliance on a handful of key customers in its largest market. Nigeria, which contributed 58.3% of IHS Towers’ total earnings, remains the dominant revenue driver for the world’s fifth-largest multinational tower company. IHS Towers’ revenue fell to $1.7 billion in 2024 from $2.1 billion in 2023, with a staggering 98.5% of its earnings tied to just three mobile network operators: MTN Nigeria, Airtel Africa, and MTN South Africa Any downturn affecting these key customers—including economic instability, currency devaluation, or regulatory changes—could substantially negatively impact IHS Towers’ financial performance. Nigeria’s economic challenges, particularly the sharp devaluation of the naira since 2023, have intensified inflation and increased financial uncertainty for tower businesses operating in the country. With 58.3% of IHS Towers’ revenue tied to its Nigerian operations, further economic deterioration could hinder its growth and profitability. The company has acknowledged these risks particularly the potential impact on its key customers’ ability to meet lease obligations and sustain demand for tower infrastructure. IHS Towers is grappling with rising operating costs, driven mainly by rising fuel expenses, site maintenance, and security. Power generation remains its largest expense, making up 39.2% of the company’s cost of sales in 2024, up from 33.5% in 2023. The company spent $348 million on power generation in 2024 compared to $396 million in 2023. To save costs, the company has invested in hybrid energy solutions, combining diesel generators with solar and battery systems. As of December 2024, 41% of its sites ran on hybrid power, 33% used grid electricity with backup generators, and 18% relied solely on generators. The remaining 8% operated on direct grid connections or alternative energy sources like solar power “We, or third-party contractors we have engaged for certain sites, are responsible for monitoring the diesel levels of our generator tanks and scheduling diesel deliveries,” IHS said in its financial report. “ Given the importance of diesel for the operation of our sites in many of our African markets, we may purchase diesel in large quantities, which is then stored at our facilities.” Beyond energy costs, the financial burden of expanding its network remains significant. As of December 2024, the cost of building a new tower ranged between $50,000 and $100,000 in Africa, while in Latin America, it ranged from $40,000 to $80,000. These high costs pose a challenge for further expansion, especially in an economic environment where access to financing and foreign exchange remains restricted. Despite securing long-term Master Lease Agreements (MLAs) that typically last five to ten years, IHS Towers’ revenue remains highly dependent on the financial health of its key customers. Many of these mobile network operators rely on substantial debt or external funding to sustain operations. If they struggle to secure financing, they may cut back on infrastructure investments, reducing demand for IHS Towers’ services and impacting its revenue. However, CEO Sam Darwish remains optimistic about growth opportunities, particularly in Nigeria. The recent approval of a tariff increase by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), now being implemented by major operators like MTN Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria, is expected to boost investments in telecom infrastructure. “We are extremely bullish on Nigeria at the moment,” Darwish said, expressing confidence that the tariff adjustments will positively impact the industry in 2025 as telcos expand their networks to enhance service delivery. IHS Towers continues to maintain its Africa dominance in the telecom infrastructure industry, managing 39,229 towers across six African and two Latin American countries as of December 2024.It is the largest independent tower operator in six of its eight markets and the only independent scale operator in four. While its market leadership is undisputed, the company’s heavy reliance on Nigeria and a narrow customer base means it will need more than just towering ambitions to weather the storms ahead.
Read MoreHow to build a credit score in South Africa, the Pokkit way
In South Africa, borrowing money has traditionally been the primary way to build a good credit score. But a startup called Pokkit Score (Pokkit), founded in 2023, is providing a new way. Instead of relying on debt, Pokkit helps people improve their credit scores using their savings. This approach seeks to address the pressing financial inclusion challenge in a society with widespread income inequality and limited access to credit. In South Africa’s mainstream banking, building a good credit score requires borrowing money, often at very high interest rates. This approach does not work well for millions of low-income earners in a country where 63% of people live below the upper-middle-income poverty line as stated by the World Bank. South Africa’s banking sector is dominated by five major banks, which together hold 77% of the market. Despite this, about 7 million South Africans lack adequate access to credit, while 21 million have no credit access whatsoever, according to the TransUnion report. This means millions of South Africans do not have a credit score – ratings that show how likely they are to repay loans. This limits access to essential loans for homes, vehicles, or even education. “We believe that it is wrong that people first need to incur debt to get a credit score,” says Pokkit’s CEO, Johan Koornhof. “By enabling savings to serve as a pathway to credit, unlike traditional methods, this system encourages financial discipline and avoids the potential pitfalls of high-interest debt.” Instead of incurring debt, Pokkit allows customers to purchase savings vouchers, ranging between $5.55 and $220.60, which are redeemable after a set period. These contributions are securely invested in the Allan Gray Money Market Fund (MMF) and customers receive 100% of the interest earned, currently at 8.16% per annum. Pokkit shares customers’ savings behavior with credit bureaus, allowing them to establish or improve credit scores. With Pokkit, if a customer saves $220.60 every month for 24 months at the current Allan Gray MMF interest rate of 8.16% per annum (as of March 14, 2025), they would have saved about $5292.61 and earned $474.23 in interest bringing the total value at the end of 24 months to $5 766.84. Customers also benefit from low monthly fees and a money-back guarantee if no improvement in their score is observed within a year “Monthly fees range between $0.25 and $0.41 and if your credit score does not improve within 12 months (assuming all else remains constant), we will refund all fees. While early redemptions incur higher fees, customers can access their savings after three months for a flat fee of $0.50,” notes Koornhof.. Pokkit measures its success through the tangible financial empowerment of its users. “The best number is that 100% of customers without credit scores get one within two to five months; 80% of customers with low credit scores start improving within 5 months of regular payments,” says Koornhof.. Beyond addressing South Africa’s financial inclusion gaps, Pokkit has set its sights on expansion across the African continent, where credit scoring systems often fail to reflect the true financial behavior of consumers and credit bureaus operate dismally. . Koornhof notes that one of the challenges Pokkit faced was gaining the trust of individuals without access to credit. The company has overcome this challenge by reliable reporting and efficient management of payments and payouts. Technology plays a crucial role in Pokkit’s operations. “Our entire system is housed on AWS powering a sophisticated dashboard that handles registration, transactions and reconciliations entirely online with savings contributions directly linked to credit score updates,” says Koornhof. Pokkit collects personal data voluntarily for financial services, credit assessments, and personalised offers. Koornhof notes that all data is protected through secure storage, incorporating encryption and strict access controls, while ensuring compliance POPIA (Protection of Personal Information Act) and other relevant laws. In the long term, Pokkit envisions becoming a “leading data aggregator, that also reports alternative data – payments that are not being reported currently,” says Koornhof.
Read MoreQuidax joins Busha to list SEC-regulated cNGN stablecoin amid crypto push
Quidax, the Nigerian crypto startup that received a provisional licence in August 2024, has listed cNGN, the country’s first regulated stablecoin pegged to the naira. The move, which comes a month after another provisionally-licenced crypto startup Busha listed the cNGN, underscores Nigeria’s evolving approach to crypto regulation, balancing oversight with the growing adoption of digital currencies. The March 12 listing will allow Quidax users to send and receive cNGN between wallets with the potential for wider use in payments, transfers, and digital currency exchanges. With Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) overseeing cNGN’s rollout, the government seems focused on integrating crypto into the financial system rather than restricting it. Quidax declined to comment. After three years of development, the African Stablecoin Consortium (ASC), comprising Convexity, Alpha Geek Technologies, Digital Currency Coalition, and Interstellar, launched the cNGN stablecoin in February 2024. When the SEC opened the Regulatory Incubation (RI) programme in June 2024, the consortium applied under “WrappedCBDC Ltd,” a joint venture created for blockchain-based digital currency projects and received approval in principle in August 2024. Convexity did not immediately respond to a request for comments. Digital Currency Coalition did not immediately respond to a request for comments. Interstellar did not immediately respond to a request for comments. Since its launch, the cNGN stablecoin has seen a gradual increase in adoption, with its website reporting 121.3 million tokens in circulation and 127 holders. Initially listed on Busha, the addition of Quidax expands its reach. WrappedCBDC vets exchanges seeking to list cNGN, assessing their reserve management capabilities to maintain supply stability. A ₦100,000 verification fee is also required to cover third-party service costs. However, some crypto users have questioned the necessity of cNGN, arguing that the Naira is already widely available on major crypto platforms. “There’s already fiat Naira existing in the crypto ecosystem,” said Chibunna Kingsley, a Lagos-based crypto trader. “So it is hard to see why traders need the cNGN.” Yet there is an opportunity for the cNGN to allow decentralised platforms that have previously delisted the Naira to adopt the stablecoin, allowing more Nigerians to trade on larger exchanges. The ASC aims to get the stablecoin listed on more crypto exchanges to solidify its case as a remittance tool. The real battleground will be user adoption, with cNGN’s fate resting on whether it can outpace existing Naira integrations and prove its distinct value proposition.
Read More“Transfers will be the future”: GTCO’s HabariPay expands fintech push with new licences
When fintechs like Paystack and Flutterwave gained prominence between 2016 and 2019 to disrupt Nigeria’s financial sector, traditional banks had to innovate—or risk falling behind. GTCO, one of Nigeria’s most profitable banks with a market capitalization of ₦2.07 trillion, was among the first to respond to the fintech disruption. In 2018, it launched Habari, a super-app that combined digital banking with lifestyle services like music streaming, e-commerce, social networking, and financial transactions. However, the platform struggled to carve out a niche in any category. Its all-in-one approach lacked a standout feature, making it difficult to attract and retain users. In 2022, GTCO pivoted the fintech business to launch HabariPay Limited a fintech subsidiary offering payments and digital financial services. Since its launch, GTCO has been working to establish HabariPay as a key player in Nigeria’s fintech sector, competing against well-funded giants like Paystack and Flutterwave and digital banks like Moniepoint and OPay. Despite the tough competition, HabariPay Limited contributed ₦4.926 billion in profits to GTCO between 2022 and H1 2024. HabariPay’s overall contribution to GTCO remains modest. In H1 2024, the fintech subsidiary reported a profit after tax of ₦1.7 billion, accounting for just 0.17% of GTCO’s total profit before tax. While CEO Eduofon Japhet acknowledges the company’s growth, she said HabariPay must scale further to solidify its position within GTCO’s portfolio. The company has acquired multiple payments and switched licences to focus on expanding POS terminal services for merchants and ensuring that mobile transfers are as seamless as card payments. TechCabal spoke to Eduofon Japhet in Abeokuta where the company held the second edition of Squad Hackathon teams on Saturday, March 15, 2025, to understand the company’s payment expansion plans in 2025. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. What has the journey been so far for HabariPay since launching as a fintech business under a major bank? We entered a market that seemed saturated and we needed to find a place for ourselves. We needed to find a product that was market-driven where we could add value—looking back at that journey. We wanted to focus on building local infrastructure that could support micro-payments because we saw many solutions that large companies could afford. The reason we didn’t see a lot of financial inclusion was that cash was still easier and more affordable for the bottom of the pyramid to transact in. That’s something we tried to address. We launched an NFC-based Point-of-Sale solution that allows people to tap and turn their phones into POS terminals. We launched our switch, which allowed us to process low-ticket transactions at what we felt was an affordable rate, produce those rails ourselves, and provide those rails to the fintech and payment ecosystem as a whole. Why did HabariPay take a different approach from competitors that relied on agency banking and POS terminals to reach the unbanked? It is how we looked at the market and where we wanted to add value. Like I said, that space was saturated. You had Moniepoint and OPay. They have flooded the market with cheap terminals. I don’t think it would have been the best idea for us to bring 3 million additional terminals. Maybe that’s not what the market needed at the time. We had to find a niche for ourselves where we could succeed and we could dominate. That’s why we took a different approach. How are you addressing financial inclusion, knowing that millions of unbanked people don’t have connectivity and your solutions are digital-based? We’re on a journey. We did two things: acquired two sets of licences from the Central Bank of Nigeria, the switching and processing licence, and the Value Added Service licence from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). It made us think that we were going to build those rails from scratch and to build those rails, we needed to have one foot into wherever connectivity was coming from. Whether it was USSD, internet, or whatever it was that would drive the payments and then begin to build our infrastructure. We built a switch. We have about 12 to 13 banks connected as well as major fintech companies. That creates a foundation for us to then begin to tackle what we think is at the lower end of the market. Today, if you tackle the problem with very expensive card transactions, it is hard to scale downwards. We are going to begin to build solutions. What will happen is we have placed ourselves in the role of an enabler. We are also enabling a lot of people-building solutions. I think that’s going to be a critical piece of what we do. Every fintech company out there is trying to solve financial inclusion but it never gets solved. Banks think it is expensive to bank the unbanked. What do you think is the most sustainable way to solve the problem? How do you make it less affordable? I always think that you can’t do financial inclusion without some kind of economic inclusion. Why people aren’t using digital systems, isn’t because they don’t want to. Sometimes they don’t have the money — there is no point. There are two ways we can tackle financial inclusion. Part of what I think agency banking did for us is that it created a new kind of business and gave some people new revenue streams and livelihood. That grew off the back of people saying “If I get that POS terminal, I can service my community. I can digitally include them and I can make money off it.” As we continue to find niches like that, I’ve seen companies that are going into the whole farming sector and are trying to digitalise that space by connecting them to the financial grid. We want to be able to support those kinds of initiatives. As long as there is a model that creates value for everybody participating in that initiative, then we’ll begin to see those numbers. What is HabariPay’s outlook for the payment market? What is
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TechCabal Daily – Vendease puts payroll on a diet
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Happy mid-week! Remember the two astronauts, Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, who got stuck in space last year? It’s been nine gruelling months of waiting after their Boeing Starliner test flight went awry. They’ve been stuck at the International Space Station (ISS) since, but they’re home now. On Tuesday evening, the pair landed off the coast of Florida with two other astronauts, after the SpaceX capsule they were aboard set its course for Earth earlier that day. On a lighter note, it sucks to get used to gravity all over again. Telkom to increase telecom prices for South Africans Vendease restructures employee salaries Starlink becomes Kenya’s 7th largest ISP MultiChoice announce price increases in South Africa World Wide Web 3 Opportunities Telecoms MTN Nigeria loses top spot as telco’s highest revenue generator Image Source: Telkom South Africans are getting a double whammy from large government corporations. First, Eskom, the state-owned power company, is increasing tariffs again on April 1, 2025. Likewise, Telkom, the majority government-owned telecom operator, will also increase tariffs for its mobile subscribers by—you guessed it—April 1, 2025. Telkom will hike tariffs for its telephone and mobile internet services for both businesses and consumers by 12%. Customers will also see a 6% tariff increase for fibre services and voice plans. Telkom cited “increasing operational costs and external economic pressures” as a major problem. South Africa’s inflation has quickened by 40 basis points since October 2024 but remains within the Central Bank’s expectation. The telecom tariff hike, coupled with the electricity tariff increase, will add more pressure to the pockets of 24 million subscribers who use Telkom. South Africans are no strangers to tariff increases from Telkom. It has raised prices several times in the past, often in response to economic conditions. Other telecom providers, including MTN and Vodacom, have also made adjustments in previous years, and it remains to be seen whether they will follow Telkom’s lead this time. Given the economic climate, they might feel forced to—even if it risks customer dissatisfaction. For consumers, the new prices mean higher bills. A 50Mbps (megabytes per second) fibre plan that currently costs R629 ($35) will rise to R665 ($37), while a 100Mbps package will go from R909 ($50) to R965 ($53). These hikes will add up for businesses and households already struggling with rising costs. While Eskom’s price increases have pushed more South Africans toward solar energy, there is little alternative to Telkom’s services. However, competitors might see this as an opportunity to attract cost-conscious customers by stabilising their prices. There is an opportunity for internet service providers like Afrihost, Herotel, and MWEB—known for its affordability—to crash Telkom’s party. But how low can they go? Are you a freelancer or a remote worker? Fincra wants to understand the challenges and opportunities related to cross-border work payments for freelancers and remote workers in Nigeria. Please take just a few minutes to complete this survey. Startups Vendease restructures employee salaries Image Source: Vendease After two rounds of layoffs in five months, Vendease, a Y Combinator-backed Nigerian food procurement startup, is replacing traditional employee compensation with a performance-based pay system. Its new compensation model will see all its employees first receive equal salaries that will be increased overtime after performance reviews lasting five phases. The first increasing by 30% of their former salaries by May 2025. Employees will only start earning back 90% of their former salaries by November 2025, with the unpaid parts of their salaries converted to equity options. The stock option plan is enticing because if the startup grows in value, employees could cash out at a higher value when they sell their shares. In February 2025, Vendease paid ₦140,000 ($90) to all employees—about 150 of them left—regardless of what they previously earned, according to TechCrunch. It is unclear whether this new structure also affects company executives. The jury is still out on whether the new plan will work as intended or lead to a high employee turnover. While it is easy to make a case for non-loyalty, the cost-of-living crisis is squeezing pockets, and for many of the employees, it could be hard to reconcile that they’ll part with a significant sum of their salaries for most of the year. There could also be downsides to the equity stock options experiment. In the past, companies like Bolt WeWork have experimented with similar models during financial crunches, leaving angry workers disappointed that their stocks became worthless when they left the company. Yet, if it works, Vendease will succeed in improving employee productivity while keeping runway and re-investing in the operational areas of its business that roll in revenue. Despite tripling its revenue in naira terms since its 2022 Series A, currency depreciation and inflation have eroded gains in dollar terms. The startup is looking for fresh capital. You can now integrate Paystack with Stub Stub makes it easy to manage your business with features like invoices and financial reports. With Paystack integration, you can securely accept payments online and track them in real time. Learn more here → Internet Starlink becomes Kenya’s 7th largest ISP Image Source: Starlink Elon Musk’s Starlink continues to shake up Kenya’s internet market. The satellite broadband provider is now the seventh-largest internet service provider (ISP), overtaking local heavyweights like Dimension Data and Liquid Telecommunications Kenya—just six months after cracking the country’s top ten. According to Kenya’s Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), Starlink grew its customer base to 19,146 users by December 2024 to secure 1.1% market share. While that’s still light-years behind Safaricom’s 36.1% and Jamii Telecommunications’ 23.6%, it’s a significant leap for a satellite provider in a fibre-dominated space. And it’s not just about the numbers, Starlink’s growth is also expanding satellite internet adoption. For context, its rivals including Viasat and Indigo Telecom serve a combined total of 257 customers. But rapid growth comes with a price: regulatory pushback. Kenyan telcos aren’t thrilled about Starlink’s rise. Safaricom and Airtel Kenya argue that
Read MoreFootball fans hit hardest as MultiChoice raises prices, Showmax Premier League up by 43.5%
MultiChoice Group is increasing prices across its DStv satellite and Showmax streaming platforms in 2025, with football fans facing the steepest hikes. While most DStv satellite packages will increase slightly, staying around or below the inflation rate, some Showmax plans will rise sharply. The biggest change is the 43.5% price increase for the Showmax Premier League package, which will now cost around $5.45 per month instead of $3.80, marking the most significant increase as the company seeks to balance rising operational costs with consumer affordability. MultiChoice’s price adjustments come as the company faces increased competition in the streaming market while maintaining its dominance in the African pay-TV sector. Other Showmax streaming plans are also getting different price changes. Showmax Entertainment Mobile: Up 11.1%, from $2.48 to R2.75. Showmax Entertainment Mobile and Premier League: Up 21.2%, from $5.45 to $6.61. Showmax Entertainment and Premier League: Up 7.1%, from $7.71 to R8.26. Showmax: No price change. The DStv Access package is also seeing a rise, with its price going up by 7.9% to $8.26 per month instead of $7.66. This is the biggest percentage increase among all the DStv satellite packages. Other key DStv satellite price changes include: DStv Compact Plus: Up 6.5%, from $34.12 to $36.33. DStv Premium: Up 5.4%, from $51.21 to $53.97. DStv access fee: Up 4.2%, from $6.61 to $6.89. DStv EasyView: Up 3.4%, from $1.59 to $1.65. DStv Family: Up 3%, from $18.13 to $18.68. DStv Compact: Up 2.1%, from $25.85 to $26.40. DStv Stream packages: No price changes. MultiChoice South Africa CEO Byron du Plessis said the company is mindful of the financial pressures on South African households. He highlighted that DStv Stream packages, Box Office movies, and Showmax Entertainment will see no price increases. The Add Movies premium has been reduced to $2.70/month, a 38% decrease. Du Plessis also announced added value for Compact subscribers, including SuperSport Action, Africa Magic Showcase, CBS Justice, Curiosity, and the History Channel. The new SuperSport channel will feature mixed martial arts, international and local boxing, WWE, Adrenaline Sports, and UCI Cycling. It expands DStv Compact’s sports lineup, which already includes six SuperSport and two ESPN channels. With streaming rivals circling and fans feeling the pinch, MultiChoice will need more than just price hikes to keep viewers tuned in.
Read MorePayless Africa: On aggressive marketing, licences, and Gen Z
Billboards splashed across Nairobi. Social media ads with cheeky jabs at rivals. Open criticism of unfair business practices. Viral posts driving conversations online. Over the last six months, Payless Africa, a Nairobi-based fintech-cum-neobank, has been trying to grab attention in Kenya’s crowded fintech space. Founded in 2024 by Kev Muley, the company wants to grow fast, betting that visibility and aggressive marketing will help it carve out market share. Many startups use this playbook: grow first, chase profitability later. Kenya’s fintech market is dominated by M-PESA, a mobile money product that has long defined how people send and receive money. Over 200 licenced fintech players also target the same young, urban customers. Yet, despite its scale, M-PESA and similar services often treat payments and financial health as separate experiences. Payless claims to position itself differently to merge these functions in a way that feels more relevant to Generation Z, anyone born between 1995 and 2010. But what exactly does Payless do? Payless has built a digital platform to help young Kenyans move money, save, and make payments. The startup blends basic wallet services with savings tools and financial literacy features. It creates an experience that feels easy to use, even for those less familiar with formal banking products. Neobanks like Payless pitch themselves as a cheaper, more flexible alternative to traditional banks. They thrive on low overheads and tech-driven services and are better suited to the fast-changing demands of younger users. Payless’ strategy focuses on young people. These users are digital-first, socially connected, and expect services that understand their behaviour. But Payless is careful to frame its product as accessible beyond tech-savvy audiences. Simplicity, low costs, and relatable tools are meant to draw in users who may be new to digital finance but share common frustrations around expensive or fragmented financial services. “While Gen Z is tech-savvy and forms our core target audience, Payless has broader appeal because it addresses universal pain points in money management,” Derrick Gakuu, Product and Innovation Head, told TechCabal. The licencing headache Kenya’s regulators are tough on fintech and banks, which makes licences difficult to get. Gakuu told TechCabal that Payless does not yet hold a direct licence from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). Instead, it operates under the regulatory cover of Webtribe (Jambopay), a licenced Payment Service Provider (PSP). This structure was designed to reduce barriers to market entry to allow Payless to focus on validating its model while relying on Webtribe for compliance, onboarding standards, and anti-money laundering checks. Still, operating under another company’s licence introduces dependency risk. Any regulatory issue, suspension, or compliance failure at Webtribe could expose Payless to service disruptions or indirect penalties, especially as Kenya tightens fintech oversight. “The Central Bank of Kenya recommended this approach to accelerate market entry, achieve critical mass, and validate the business model before pursuing direct licensing,” Gakuu said. However, Payless controls product design, customer acquisition, and service delivery. Its partnership with Webtribe enables scale without the immediate pressure of securing a licence, though the company plans to approach regulators directly as it grows. Working with traditional banks Beyond this, Payless has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with three banks, which Payless did not disclose. These partnerships are not just about ticking regulatory boxes but also about co-developing products that align with Gen Z’s financial behaviours. “Regarding our banking partners, we cannot disclose specific names at this stage, but we are working with established local and regional banks to bring these innovations to life,” Gakuu said. The collaboration will introduce savings tools, investment products, card services, international money transfers, and credit offerings like overdrafts. Per Payless, the goal is to embed these services inside the Payless app and make them part of daily transactions rather than standalone products. How does Payless make money? Payless earns revenue primarily from transaction fees. The neobank keeps costs deliberately low but is not entirely free. Free peer-to-peer transactions are offered to users under 24 and on transfers below KES 1,000 ($8). This is meant to encourage engagement and habit-building early in a user’s financial journey. But this raises a familiar question for digital-first banks: is this revenue model sustainable in the long term? Global neobanks often struggle to convert high user activity into profit. Payless is betting that future products will offset these thin margins, though this remains risky. Over time, Payless expects new revenue from financial services like Payless Y and Payless Z, merchant products such as the Woza Merchant App, and digital marketplaces for services like ticketing and bookings. Payless Y handles daily money tasks like chat-to-pay, automated bills, and group cost-sharing in everyday conversations. Payless Z adds savings, investments, and insurance. Users can access phone protection and experience-based cover and save towards goals through partner banks. These additions will bring commissions, interest earnings, and other transactional income to strengthen its business model. Kenya has no shortage of neobanks Competition in this space is intense. Safaricom’s M-PESA remains dominant, while newer entrants like NCBA LOOP, Ecobank-backed Fingo, Branch, and Umba push digital-first banking experiences. Payless sees its advantage in understanding how Gen Z interacts with money by focusing less on traditional banking and more on flexibility. Payless acknowledges the limits of its model. It does not plan to move into complex corporate or investment banking, since its strength lies in offering embedded financial services that support everyday decisions by helping users save, borrow, insure, and spend without shifting between platforms. “While our primary focus is on embedded financial services for individuals—savings, cards, insurance, and investments—we see immense value in strategic collaborations,” Gakuu added. Eyeing venture capital funding Payless has grown through founder bootstrapping, partnerships with sister companies in media (NRG Radio), events, and influencer marketing to build early traction. Per Gakuu, this allowed the company to test demand, refine its product, and stay in control. Still, scaling in fintech requires more than organic growth. Payless has not raised angel or VC funding but plans to engage investors in 2025. The focus is to raise
Read MoreStarlink becomes Kenya’s 7th largest ISP, eyes direct-to-mobile satellites
Elon Musk’s Starlink has become Kenya’s seventh-largest internet service provider (ISP), overtaking established local rivals like Dimension Data and Liquid Telecommunications Kenya just six months after breaking into the country’s top ten. The satellite broadband provider now has 19,146 users—up from 16,786 three months earlier—capturing 1.1% of Kenya’s internet market, according to the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) data. While still trailing far behind market leaders Safaricom and Jamii Telecommunications, Starlink’s rapid growth signals a shift in Kenya’s competitive broadband market as satellite services gain traction in areas where traditional fibre and fixed wireless networks struggle to reach. Starlink’s rapid growth has also boosted satellite internet adoption in Kenya. Other satellite providers—including Viasat, Indigo Telecom, and NTvsat—serve a combined total of just 257 customers. Starlink’s rise has intensified regulatory scrutiny. Local ISPs, including Safaricom and Airtel Kenya, argue that Starlink’s expansion threatens to distort competition. In response, the CA plans to increase satellite licence fees from $12,302 to $115,331 and impose a 0.4% levy on annual turnover—measures that could slow the company’s momentum. Despite the pushback, Starlink is deepening its foothold with local infrastructure and aggressive pricing. In December 2024, the company launched a Nairobi ground station, cutting latency from 120 to 26 milliseconds. The company also slashed installation kit prices during a 30-day promotion, launched a $10 50GB data plan, and introduced hardware rentals. By 2025, it aims to deploy satellites that connect directly to mobile devices, bypassing hardware kits and intensifying competition with traditional telcos. Yet, Starlink is far from being a market leader. It holds a tiny 1.1% market share, trailing well behind Safaricom’s 36.1% and Jamii Telecommunications’ 23.6%. To seriously challenge Kenya’s internet giants, Starlink will do more.
Read MoreTuraco’s bet on M-KOPA’s smartphones expands insurance reach to over 1 million customers
Turaco, a Kenyan insurtech company, has spent six years disrupting the underpenetrated insurance market with less than $2 premiums. However, its latest partnership with M-KOPA–a pay-as-you-go financing startup–marks its biggest move yet. By embedding microinsurance into M-KOPA’s smartphone offerings, the company has bet on a tech-driven approach to tackling Kenya’s low insurance penetration. On Tuesday, Turaco told Techcabal that its embedded insurance offering on M-KOPA’s locally assembled smartphones has provided coverage to over one million customers in Kenya. The achievement follows M-KOPA’s sale of more than 1.5 million smartphones from its Nairobi assembly plant, which accounted for 20% of all new devices sold in the country in 2024, according to data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA). “This product is built on our belief that insurance should be accessible, affordable, and impactful,” Turaco co-founder Ted Pantone said. “By embedding health cover into M-KOPA smartphones, we’ve made health insurance available to underserved families in a way that is simple and easy to use.” Traditional insurance in Kenya has struggled to gain traction, with only 3.1% of the population covered outside the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), according to the Insurance Regulatory Authority. High premiums, complex onboarding processes, and slow claims processes have kept millions uninsured. Turaco’s expansion into M-KOPA’s low-budget smartphones is aimed at reaching the underserved market, which is comprised mainly of low-income earners and the rural population. The push appears to be working by embedding a free inpatient insurance cover into smartphones, eliminating tedious insurance sign-ups. For M-KOPA and its investors, the deal has been an opportunity to provide phones with other financial solutions, including insurance and affordable credit. The bet could be one of Kenya’s tech industry’s most successful partnerships. “By embedding health insurance into our smartphones through our “More Than a Phone” offering, we’ve transformed how everyday earners access financial protection,” said Martin Kingori, M-KOPA Kenya general manager. Kingori said the product was first tested as a cover for the company’s sales agents in Kenya before being rolled out. According to M-KOPA, the bunding model has proved effective, as 75% of its customers were previously uninsured. In 2024, 50% of underwriters used their payouts for medical expenses, while others reinvested the funds in businesses or for household needs. The integration of insurance into everyday financial tools could be the solution to Kenya’s low insurance penetration. In Kenya, Turaco, M-Tek, and Pula Advisors are tech startups that have embedded insurance in their offerings to boost uptake.
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