👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Tax banana
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Good morning. Okay, somebody needs to stop NVIDIA. After pouring $5 billion into Intel shares last week in a move resembling consolidation to compete with TSMC and AMD, the chipmaker is at it again. On Monday, the three-trillion-dollar company announced plans for a massive data centre buildout with Sam Altman’s OpenAI, investing $100 billion into the startup. The deal will allow OpenAI to build and deploy at least 10 gigawatts of NVIDIA systems for its artificial intelligence data centres to train and run its next generation of models. Global tech companies are firmly in pursuit of superintelligence, and every player wants a finger in the pie. Let’s get into today’s dispatch. Safaricom completes M-PESA upgrade Kenyans pay more taxes than Nigerians Malawi has a new tech to fight corruption New CEO for Canal+ ahead of MultiChoice takeover Cool Suff World Wide Web 3 Events companies Safaricom completes M-PESA’s biggest upgrade yet Image source: M-PESA Safaricom, Kenya’s largest telco, has completed the biggest M-PESA upgrade since launching the mobile money platform over a decade ago. In the early hours of Monday, the telco restored services after a three-hour cutover that shifted its mobile money service to a new cloud-native system named Fintech 2.0 Out with the old. Fintech 2.0 was built to handle Africa’s busiest payments rail. The old setup was built to process a maximum of 5,000 transactions per second, and was already near its ceiling at 4,500. It was running out of room to grow. This new architecture starts at 6,000 transactions per second, with room to double as demand rises. More importantly, it allows Safaricom engineers to upgrade or fix components of the platform without shutting the whole thing down. Safaricom is betting that the new system might bring more partnerships and plugins. Whether that gamble pays is left for us to find out, but Fintech 2.0 gives it a good shot. Why should M-PESA users care? For a platform that processes more than 21 billion transactions a year, a sturdier and more flexible core means faster transactions, fewer outages, faster rollouts of new features, and smoother connections for banks, fintechs, and developers. For competitors already eating into M-PESA’s market share, Fintech 2.0 is a reset button that could reassert its dominance in Africa’s digital payments race. eCommerce Without Borders: Get Paid Faster Worldwide Whether you sell in Lagos or Nairobi, customers want local ways to pay. Let shoppers check out in their local currency, using cards, bank transfers, or mobile money. Set up seamless payments for your global online store with Fincra today. tax Kenya collects more taxes than Nigeria despite being four times smaller Image Source: Meme Kenya collects around $20 billion in taxes annually, while Nigeria plans to collect only $12 billion next year, despite Nigeria’s economy being $56 billion larger and having four times the population. The difference? Kenya gets 15% of its GDP from taxes while Nigeria barely manages 7%. State of play: Kenya’s revenue authority has gone full detective mode. The taxman now scans social media to see if people’s flashy lifestyles match their tax returns. In 2024, they flagged 460 wealthy individuals. Its systems are also plugged directly into M-PESA and banks to track money flows. And on the ground, 1,400 paramilitary-trained agents are deployed to enforce compliance and crack down on evasion. Why does this matter? Nigeria has relied on oil money for decades, but prices are becoming unstable. Now, the government needs regular people and businesses to start paying taxes. The problem is that only 10% of Nigerians pay tax, and just 9% of companies comply properly. Nigeria’s tax authority now wants to double down on tracking all electronic transactions so it can secure its fair share. Zoom out: Nigeria just launched new tax reforms, raised corporate tax to 30%, and aims for 18% tax-to-GDP in two years. But will these new reforms just end up creating more creative tax dodgers? Shop anywhere with Paga’s physical prepaid card Own every checkout with Paga’s Physical Prepaid Card. Suitable for all your security and speed needs. Just fund, shop, and pay anywhere with confidence. Get yours today. policy Malawi now has an app to report corruption Image source: Pixbay Malawi’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has launched the ACB Connect App, a mobile and web tool that lets citizens report corruption safely and anonymously. The aim: to make whistleblowing easier and less risky. Malawi is rife with corruption. Transparency International’s corruption perception index, the most widely used measure of corruption across the world, scored Malawi 34 out of 100. This index measures corruption on a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 indicates the worst or highly corrupt and 100 means corruption-free. Malawi has been implementing many anti-corruption initiatives and policies since 1994, with the Corruption Practices Act. Its vice president and the Judiciary have faced probes for alleged corrupt practices. Now, an app allows citizens to make reports on suspected corruption. Power to the people. It’s not the first time Africa has gone digital in the fight against corruption. In 2021, Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) launched a whistleblower app named The Eagle Eye. In 2024, the Integrity Watch Liberia (IWL) launched the Talkay App that enables citizens to report corruption in real time. These initiatives seemed like big wins when released, but months after Nigeria’s “Eagle Eye” launched, adoption stalled, and users alleged data theft. Malawi will need to learn from that. Here’s the catch. Internet penetration in Malawi is at 18%. Although mobile penetration is much higher at 60.3%, the low connectivity could limit how many people actually use ACB Connect. That’s why the bureau is pairing the launch with digital outreach to build awareness and trust. Turn your hustle into an online store with Paystack! Anyone can sell online. With Paystack Storefront, you can create a sleek online store, share your link, and accept payments. No code
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Why Kenyan remittance startup Bonto is shutting down after two years
Bonto Kenya, a Nairobi-based remittance fintech, is shutting down two years after launching, and less than eight months after securing a licence from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). Bonto founder and CEO Yoann Copreaux announced on Monday that the company, which specialised in remittances and foreign exchange services, stopped processing transactions on August 15 and later asked the CBK to revoke its licence. The regulator confirmed the revocation last week. “It is notified for the information of the general public that pursuant to Regulation 44 (2) of the money remittance regulations 2013, the Central Bank of Kenya has revoked the license of Bonto Kenya Money Transfer Limited,” CBK governor Kamau Thugge wrote in a notice. Bonto’s exit reveals the uneasy reality facing fintechs in Kenya, where regulatory approval no longer guarantees a path to survival. In a market where foreign exchange spreads have narrowed, remittance fees are being driven to zero, and compliance costs keep climbing, only established players with deep client relationships can withstand the squeeze. For Bonto, the timing proved wrong. In a candid note on LinkedIn, Copreaux said the shutdown was due to collapsing FX margins, thin remittance fees, and rising compliance costs that made it impossible to scale profitably. Unlike older money remittance providers (MRPs) that can lean on legacy clients, Bonto was “trying to build in the desert.” “FX margins collapsed, breakeven scale became unrealistic,” Copreaux said. Bonto considered selling its licence, reaching out to more than 50 fintechs and securing five offers. But none proved viable once CBK approval timelines and ongoing monthly losses were factored in. “It was emotionally tough, but closing was the only rational decision by a wide margin,” Yoann wrote. The team behind Bonto will now wind down operations fully, with Copreaux hinting at a reset before pursuing new ventures. Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15–16! Meet and learn from Africa’s top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Get your tickets now: moonshot.techcabal.com
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Why Fincra is teaming up with Reap to speed up Africa–Asia transactions
Fincra, a payments infrastructure provider for businesses in and beyond Africa, has partnered with Reap, a global stablecoin-enabled infrastructure provider, to expand card services and cross-border transactions for businesses across Africa and Asia. The partnership will see both firms develop Card-as-a-Service offerings, programmable spend controls, and new financial tools for African fintechs and SMEs. Marking Reap’s first strategic alliance in Africa, this deal combines Fincra’s local payment infrastructure with Reap’s stablecoin-enabled rails to speed up the payments corridor between Africa and Asia. “Stablecoin rails are something we are trying to leverage on because they provide more speed, reliability, and capabilities where the traditional banking rails don’t,” said Kevin Kang, Reap’s co-founder. Sub-Saharan Africa has become a global leader in stablecoin adoption, accounting for 43% of all transactions in 2024. At the same time, moving money in and out of Africa is expensive. In the second quarter of 2024, the World Bank put Sub-Saharan Africa’s average cost of remittances at 8.37%, the highest in the world. Stablecoins are starting to change that dynamic, giving businesses alternatives that move faster and cheaper. “This collaboration will give African businesses across the continent the flexibility to spend and scale with ease,” Wole Ayodele, CEO, Fincra, added The partnership comes four months after Fincra obtained a Third Party Payments Provider (TPPP) licence in South Africa, which will allow the company to process key local payment methods, including debit and credit card transactions, electronic funds transfers (EFTs), and rapid payments. As Reap grows its stablecoin-enabled services, Fincra will support with the infrastructure needed to connect local businesses to global markets. Reap plans to expand across Africa, starting with the market with the most demand. “Fincra is in over 15 countries in Africa. If this works, we will expand across all jurisdictions there,” said Emmanuel Babalola, the company’s Chief Commercial and Growth Officer. Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15–16! Join Africa’s top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Early bird tickets now 20% off—don’t snooze! moonshot.techcabal.com
Read MoreDigital Nomads: What keeps Africa’s talent at home?
There is no digital nomad economy without talent. And in Africa, that talent is not in short supply. Yet infrastructure gaps, visa restrictions, and patchy pay systems, means that for many Africans, being part of that nomad economy requires making the impossible decision between a rock and a hard place. On the surface, it is easy to imagine that Africa’s digital workers remain because of choice. In truth, choice is part of the story, but rarely the whole. In addition to infrastructure shortages that complicate even the most basic aspects of living, securing visas that guarantee global mobility with an African passport is not only extremely challenging but expensive. Leke Ariyo, who works at a global firm, said it took him three years of steady work before he could finally afford to relocate to the UK. According to data published by Nigerian fintech Piggyvest, “japa,” the colloquial word for leaving the country, is consistently one of the reasons people save money. 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 TC Scoop <!– Next Wave –> <!– Entering Tech –> Subscribe The foreign link, Trump, and remote work If infrastructure and visa bureaucracies closed doors, foreign companies have opened new ones. With the rise of distributed work teams, from entry-level developers to senior product managers, Africans are now hired remotely by firms across Europe, North America, and Asia. Some of these firms go on to sponsor talent on skilled worker visas. Digital Nomads: The 60-day race to find another UK work visa, or be deported But that merry cycle could get punctured after the US President Donald Trump, who has been vocal about limiting work visas to prevent companies from hiring abroad and undercutting American talent, issued an executive order to hike application fees for skilled worker visas. On September 19, Trump signed the order to increase the fee for applying to the H1-B non-immigrant visa by $100,000 to curb overuse. Foreigners will also pay $1 million to secure a “gold card” for US residency and companies will pay $2 million for a “corporate gold card” to sponsor one or more foreign employees. The H1-B is a skilled worker visa widely used in Silicon Valley to attract foreign talents. Created in 1990, Americans have argued over the years that these visas undercut local employees. Digital Nomads: A superbike accident was the breaking point for Oluwaleke Fakorede The signed order means it will now become more expensive for US companies to sponsor foreign talent; with this constraint, employers will only want to spend to relocate the absolute best. “We’re going to be able to keep people in our country that are going to be very productive people,” said Trump. “And in many cases these companies are going to pay a lot of money for that and they’re very happy about it.” This Trump move could inadvertently stem the brain drain for talent in other countries. For example, India is known widely as one of the talent factories for Silicon Valley employers. With sponsorship becoming expensive, it could curb relocation of foreign talent, even across African countries. What Indian governments couldn’t do for so long, Trump accomplished with a one stroke of the pen. Stopped Indian brain drain by raising the H1B visa price to $100,000. pic.twitter.com/n5kSRuoOmC — Darab Farooqui (@darab_farooqui) September 20, 2025 On the other hand, the new regulation could force more US employers to turn their attention back to remote hiring to the
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“The point of building for Africa is to make sure Africans can afford it” – Day 1-1000 of Axia Africa
Some startups are born out of a grand desire to change the world, some are born out of a desire to change people. Axia Africa is both. An edtech company whose mission is to equip Africans with skills that make them employable, Axia Africa was born out of a desire to solve the talent problem that continues to plague the African tech ecosystem. Olawale Samuel started out teaching people on his social media following how to design, then expanded into an edtech platform with thousands of students. But this journey wasn’t without its challenges. On this episode of Day 1-1000, Samuel tells me the journey of taking Axia Africa from only 45 students in its early days, to organising Africa’s largest training bootcamp. This is the story of Axia Africa as told to TechCabal. Day 1: From music tutor to tech talent I’ve always had a passion for impacting people, not just in tech. At one point, I taught music and how to play instruments. So when I started off Axia Africa, I just wanted to teach a few people. I started off teaching product design for free. After about five or six months, somebody decided to pay me to teach, and I realised it all made sense now. I realised that many people wanted to pursue not just product design, but also other tech fields like development and data analytics. My co-founder (a developer) and I found each other on X (formerly Twitter). We hosted a free boot camp and also asked people if they wanted to volunteer to teach. When the bootcamp was over and we decided to make it more structured, we went back to the same set of people to be our first set of paid mentors. Day 300: From 45 students to 4,000-student cohort Before Axia Africa became known, we faced a period of immense struggle. Despite feeling like we were doing everything right, there were times when we barely had students, maybe 45 enrolling at a time. It was depressing. I remember having to use the money for my rent to pay salaries for my team. We weren’t funded, and it was a really trying time. The first sign that the dog days were over was when we had our first 300-student cohort. After that, everyone just kept talking about our program on X. It became a huge tool for us. If people ask for testimonials, I just tell them to search for Axia Africa on X, and they’ll see someone talking about us. We went from 300 to 1,000, then to 2,000, and now to over 4,000 students in a single cohort. We hold two serious records: the largest boot camp in Africa with 20,000 participants from 82 countries, and the largest number of students in a single cohort, with 4,000. Going from having too few students to having the largest bootcamp makes the early days look like a bad dream. 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 TC Scoop <!– Next Wave –> <!– Entering Tech –> Subscribe Day 500: Feeling and seeing the problem that needs solving In the process of building for Africans, I learned a fundamental truth: if you’re building for Africa, you have to be passionate about Africans. You need to see and feel their problems, and one of the biggest is money. We have to consider the economy and make our services affordable for them. The whole point of
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M-PESA is upgrading its platform on Sept. 22; here’s what customers can expect after
Safaricom, Kenya’s biggest telco, will execute its most significant M-PESA overhaul since bringing the service to the country in 2015, migrating the platform to a new core known as Fintech 2.0. The upgrade, scheduled on September 22, will affect over 50 million M-PESA customers across Africa and is designed to process more transactions, reduce outages, and shorten the time needed to roll out new features. More than 210 engineers in Kenya, supported by over 100 specialists from abroad, are managing the migration to limit service disruption during the cutover. Safaricom says the three-hour upgrade window is enough time to move customer data to the new system, run live tests, and bring services back online before peak morning activity. M-PESA services, including payments and airtime purchases, will be offline during that time. The move to Fintech 2.0 replaces a core that has been running near its design limits. The current system processes about 4,500 transactions per second, but was built for a maximum of 5,000. The new platform is cloud-native, uses microservices, and can process 6,000 transactions per second at launch, with the ability to scale to 12,000 as demand grows, Felix Rop, head of financial services technology, said on Friday, Sept. 19. This should help M-PESA handle peak loads without downtime. 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 TC Scoop <!– Next Wave –> <!– Entering Tech –> Subscribe Safaricom has built the new M-PESA cloud locally, Rop told TechCabal, addressing a long-standing demand to keep customer data in the country. The telco migrated M-PESA from data centres in Germany to Kenya in 2015 under the “bring M-PESA home” project. Today, M-PESA’s core runs on Huawei Cloud, processing 21 billion transactions yearly. Fintech 2.0 adds a second layer, hosted on a local cloud agnostic setup with active-active architecture across multiple sites to guarantee higher service availability. The upgrade is also part of a wider partnership with Microsoft and Vodafone. Microsoft is hosting M-PESA workloads on Azure to support the launch of new applications. It provides AI tools to improve fraud detection and predict network issues before they impact users. Vodafone is investing $1.5 billion over the next decade in AI solutions that will be used across M-PESA markets. The shift to microservices means Safaricom can now update single components without taking the whole system offline, Esther Waititu, chief financial services officer, said. For users, this should mean fewer interruptions during upgrades and better response times when things go wrong. Safaricom says the upgrade keeps M-PESA relevant for the next decade as more services move to digital. Today, M-PESA powers payments, credit, savings, remittances, insurance, and e-commerce across several African markets. The migration is a high-stakes exercise. Even a short disruption affects millions of people and businesses that rely on M-PESA daily. Safaricom hopes to keep the impact small while laying the foundation for its next growth phase by scheduling the work overnight. “As much as we have tested several times, we still do a full migration test before we go live to ensure the system can handle the actual traffic,” he said. “This gives us confidence that once we switch on, customers will not see a difference except faster response times.” Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15–16! Meet and learn from Africa’s top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Get your tickets now: moonshot.techcabal.com
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Crypto project used Kenya’s ex-prime minister to promote token in deepfake scandal
On September 18, the verified X account of former Kenyan prime minister Raila Odinga briefly posted a promotion for a new cryptocurrency called the Kenya Token ($KENYA). The post, which was quickly deleted, claimed the token would soon launch and position Kenya at the centre of Africa’s crypto revolution. It was accompanied by a video that appeared to show Odinga endorsing the project. “We are pleased to announce that [Kenya] token will soon launch. Kenya is stepping up to lead Africa into the crypto revolution, embracing digital finance and shaping a more crypto-friendly future,” wrote Odinga in the now-deleted post. Odinga has not issued a direct statement, but accounts suggest that the post did not originate from him and that the video was a fabrication. Critics remain divided about the post’s true origins. The episode exposes the growing nexus of deepfake media, compromised accounts, and opportunistic crypto projects seeking quick legitimacy. It also highlights how high-profile figures can be weaponised to lend credibility to fragile or fraudulent schemes. 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 TC Scoop <!– Next Wave –> <!– Entering Tech –> Subscribe A similar case played out in February 2025 in Tanzania when billionaire Mohammed Dewji’s X account was hacked and used to promote a fake token called $Tanzania. In that instance, a deepfake video showed Dewji apparently endorsing the token; by the time the account was reclaimed and warnings issued, the scammers had already raised nearly $1.48 million. Trails followed by TechCabal show that the creators of the Kenya Token launched a first version of their website on Thursday, branding the token as the “official digital token” of Kenya. The site promised staking opportunities, where investors could buy and hold the token to earn interest. The project’s Telegram channel currently has about 1,620 members, but since it has not launched yet, there is no contract address, and adoption cannot be tracked. Kenya Token’s Telegram channel retrieved on September 19, 2025 Several critics have labelled it a scam, noting that the project had no history before September 17, suggesting it was cobbled together at the last minute with no elaborate planning. Yet it remains unclear whether the actors behind the token still have access to Odinga’s X account and could further exploit public perception. The episode mirrors global trends. In 2024, high-yield investment promises were one of the most common tactics to lure victims in crypto scams, according to a report from analysis firm Chainalysis. Nearly half of the scams came from projects offering unrealistic rewards without real utility. Other major fraud types included pig-butchering scams and rug pulls. Kenya has already seen controversy around another project with a strikingly similar name. On July 11, a group of anonymous developers launched the Kenya Digital Token (KDT), or $KDT, marketing it as a tool for civic participation and a way for citizens to “buy into Kenyan heritage.” The launch immediately drew scepticism as it went live without a white paper or pre-sale, tools that investors typically rely on to test the project’s fundamentals. “In July, when it first came out, there were obvious red flags such as the lack of a white paper and the presence of bots,” said one source who asked to remain anonymous to speak freely. “Members of the crypto community pointed these issues out, and since then, the creators have been present in forums, slowly making adjustments to appear more legitimate.” The KDT team later
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Africa holds just 1% of global AI talent. Japan wants to change that
Every Thursday, Delve Into AI will provide nuanced insights on how the continent’s AI trajectory is shaping up. In this column, we examine how AI influences culture, policy, businesses, and vice versa. Read to get smarter about the people, projects, and questions shaping Africa’s AI future. Let us know your thoughts on the column through this form. Africa’s AI market is projected to hit $16 billion in five years. But the continent holds only 1% of global AI talent, leaving a widening skills gap as industries from farming to finance rush to adopt the technology. At this year’s Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in August, the Japanese prime minister, Ishiba Shigeru, made a bold pledge: The country will help develop 30,000 AI industry personnel in Africa over the next three years. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the government’s overseas development arm, is tasked with delivering this goal. Why talent? When it comes to the AI race, African countries face two interrelated challenges: the lack of infrastructure and the shortage of skilled professionals able to turn the continent’s digital ambitions into reality. At first glance, infrastructure might seem most urgent; data centres, computational resources, and reliable connectivity are all critical. Africa still has less than 1% of the global data centre capacity, despite our growing population. But without the talent, it is difficult to reap the benefits of the needed infrastructure. In a recent interview, Nigeria’s minister of communications, digital economy, and innovation, Dr. Bosun Tijani, said: “We may not have the compute and infrastructure, but we do have the talent.” Officials at JICA also have a similar view. “We believe that talent is a key point to create value for the society and economy,” says Ryosuke Myashita, deputy director for digital transformation at JICA. “Without talent, we can’t create infrastructure, we can’t create a strategy.” This informs the thinking behind the nation’s pledge. Computational resources matter, but without the engineers, researchers, and analysts to apply them, even the most advanced facilities risk lying idle and underused. The idea is to develop the human expertise that can power the continent’s growing AI ecosystem. Access to infrastructure remains a problem that cannot be overlooked. Only 5% of Africa’s AI talent has access to the computational power and resources needed for complex research tasks. The development agency is hoping to expand its efforts to promote AI development beyond the talent space. “Resource permitting, we would also like to work on other components, together with our partners,” says Atsushi Yamanaka, senior advisor for digital transformation at JICA in an interview with TechCabal. 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 TC Scoop <!– Next Wave –> <!– Entering Tech –> Subscribe The broader goals In an August report on Africa’s AI talent, JICA notes that it is “not merely supporting Africa’s AI journey — it is building foundational systems to scale it.” JICA’s plan has two broad goals: build a deep AI talent pool by supporting African universities and regional research networks, and expand bilateral cooperation with Japanese firms through internships, exchanges, and joint academic programs. Training will extend beyond computer science students to include policymakers and non-STEM faculty, embedding AI literacy across sectors. Collaborative projects will tackle pressing challenges in health, manufacturing, agriculture, and education, while hackathons provide practical outlets to apply learnt skills. For Japan, the talent development program could also help out with its growing shortfall— around 450,000 IT professionals by 2030.
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Bonny Island is known for crude oil. This organisation wants it known for tech
Nestled off the coast of Rivers State in southern Nigeria, Bonny Island presents striking contrasts. The 215-square-kilometre island, home to nearly 300,000 people, hosts oil giants like the Nigeria LNG (NLNG) plant, which has invested over $30 billion in infrastructure alongside other oil companies on the island. As a result, Bonny enjoys amenities like round-the-clock electricity, something that many Nigerian towns can only dream of. For decades, the island’s youth had just one clear path to success: landing a coveted job with the oil companies whose smokestacks dominate the skyline. With limited openings and fierce competition, many young people remain underemployed, waiting for opportunities that never come. “The average young person in Bonny is always looking forward to working with the multinational companies like NLNG, Shell, now Renaissance and the others,” says Richard Pepple, founder of Technoville, a grassroots initiative building a tech ecosystem on the island. “But not everybody can work there because they can’t employ everybody. There are so many smart young people here who just need other opportunities.” A trip that changed everything Before 2017, Pepple’s relationship with technology was casual at best. After finishing secondary school in 2013, he met Steve, a web developer, who taught him how to code. Though he once built a simple website using WebNode, he didn’t see tech as a real career path. That changed when Pepple travelled from Bonny to Lagos for Techpoint Inspired 2017. During a Q&A session at the conference, an eight-year-old developer stood up and confidently asked a technical question about coding. “I was shocked,” Pepple recalls. “I learnt how to code when I was maybe 15 or 16. How is this 8-year-old going to understand all the languages that were very difficult for me at the time?” It wasn’t just the boy’s brilliance that struck him. It was the realisation that followed: “In Bonny, we have 24-hour uninterrupted power supply and almost every teenager I know has a smartphone. So what are we doing? I don’t know any 10- or 15-year-old person in Bonny who is coding or building something with technology.” 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 TC Scoop <!– Next Wave –> <!– Entering Tech –> Subscribe Starting small, dreaming big When Pepple returned to Bonny, he was inspired but unsure where to start. He decided to begin small. He approached the island’s Youth Research Centre, which provided library services and had a computer lab, and volunteered to teach coding classes. They accepted. Between 2017 and 2018, Pepple taught coding there, motivated by the image of that young Lagos developer and a burning question about why Bonny couldn’t produce its own tech prodigies. But he soon realised training a handful of people wasn’t enough. “I thought, what if we organise a conference like the one I attended in Lagos, but here in Bonny?” From vision to Technoville In 2018, Pepple gathered four friends in a small room and pitched an idea: a movement to put Bonny Island on Nigeria’s tech map. Guided by Andela’s mantra, “Brilliance is evenly distributed, opportunity is not,” they launched Technoville, determined to create those missing opportunities for Bonny’s youth. “That was the beginning of Technoville,” he recalls. “Finding out that there’s a problem for us to solve and everybody agreeing that it’s one worthy of solving.” Today, Technoville operates multiple programmes designed to build a comprehensive tech ecosystem. The flagship Bonny Digital Literacy Initiative trains 100 young people annually. The
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Kenya’s central bank blames hackers for mobile banking fraud, but insiders may be the real threat
The money had just hit Sylvia Wanjiru’s account when her phone rang. It was a million-shilling ($7,773) payment from a client, and the caller claimed to be from her bank’s customer service. He spoke confidently, offering to “help confirm the transaction.” “At first I thought it was just a coincidence,” Wanjiru recalls. But when the same thing happened again, she realised someone was watching her transactions and reported it to the bank. Her parents were not so fortunate. Pension payments of KES 34,000 ($263) and KES 2,500 ($19) from a mobile money wallet disappeared after they called a number that texted: “*** BANK. Dear Customer, your account has been SUSPENDED. Please contact 010****366 within 24 hours.” The money was long gone by the time they rushed to the bank and mobile money provider. Wanjiru’s experience is one among many others. Across Kenya, customers report similar encounters, including calls moments after cash deposits or transfers and text messages disguised as official alerts followed by withdrawals. The speed and timing point to a possibility that the fraudsters work hand in glove with bank staff and mobile money agents with access to customer information. Rising cyber-threats The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), in its Financial Sector Stability Report 2025, in August reports cases of cyber fraud in the banking sector more than doubled in 2024, rising from 153 to 353, with the amount exposed increasing to KES 1.9 billion ($14.7 million) and losses nearly quadrupling to KES 1.5 billion ($11.6 million). The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) reported 7.9 billion cyber threats in the first eight months of 2025, double the figure for 2024. CBK said attacks rose from 7.7 million in 2016 to billions due to Kenya’s economy’s rapid digitisation. The regulator insists that despite rising risks, Kenya’s banking sector remains “resilient,” able to withstand shocks from successful cyber-attacks. However, accounts from victims, bank staff, and law enforcement suggest that most losses of funds are inside jobs. A former compliance officer described a shadow industry in Nairobi neighbourhoods like Utawala and Ruiru, which thrives on mobile banking fraud. The setups look like call centre outsourcing hubs with rows of desks, computers, and phones. “There are bank staff who monitor accounts, tip off the fraudsters, and within minutes, money is pushed into mule accounts,” says one ex-risk and compliance at a major bank. The cash is laundered through mobile money wallets and withdrawn at agents, or some are pushed to crypto wallets. With 67% youth unemployment, workers are recruited through job ads for “customer service” roles, only to discover that the scripts involve impersonating bank officials or mobile money agents. And because it’s quick cash, many stay. Pay is per successful hit, which means the more money they steal from customers, the more they earn. Corrupt police officers, according to the former compliance officer, are paid to protect operations, tip off the syndicates before raids, or frustrate investigations. “It’s a big operation, more than you can imagine,” the former officer says. “The real people behind these schemes are known to some in Kenya Police’s serious crimes division.” Targets the biggest banks The people behind the schemes design them for scale, according to an investigations officer at Banking Fraud Investigations Unit (BFIU)—a unit under the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI)—who has handled such cases and asked not to be named. They target banks with vast retail business like Equity Bank, KCB Group, and Co-operative Bank— Kenya’s biggest retail lenders with a combined customer base of over 50 million. With such big operations, the fraudsters hide in the noise of millions of daily transactions. Rural pensioners, urban traders, and salaried workers with predictable income streams make easy prey. “It’s a numbers game,” says the BFIU officer. “The bigger the bank, the more likely someone will slip.” Most of these frauds are not violent, but sometimes they turn deadly. In April, a teacher in Mumias was trailed and killed after withdrawing KES 285,000 ($206). Detectives believe two bank tellers may have passed on the information to robbers, pointing to insider collusion with criminals. There are numerous reports of customers being trailed after withdrawing or depositing large sums at banks and mobile money agents across the country. In 2024, Equity Bank reported it lost KES 1.5 billion ($11.6 million) in what was initially described by news outlets as a sophisticated hacking attack. However, investigators later alleged that bank staff colluded with property developers and lawyers to siphon off the bank’s money from the salary suspense account in thousands of small, salary-like transfers to avoid detection. Deeper rot On social media, many Kenyans brush off mobile banking fraud as the work of prisoners with smuggled phones when they are operations run by people living among them. While some operations enjoy corrupt officials’ backing, the BFIU officer concedes that the regulators are overstretched. “Mobile money and banks process millions of payments daily, and that’s why some of the cases even go unnoticed,” says the officer. However, faced with mounting fraud, most Kenyan banks have begun housecleaning to restore customer confidence. KCB Group, NCBA, Absa, and Co-operative Bank are some lenders that have recently fired staff over misconduct. In May, Equity Group took a bolder step, announcing publicly that it was firing 1,500 staff to protect the bank’s image and its customers. “The moment of reckoning has come,” Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi said in May. “It doesn’t matter how many I will lose. I don’t even care. I will protect the customers and the bank. I will be ruthless.” The bank has since extended the exercise to its subsidiary in Uganda, which has also suffered staff-linked fraud in the past two years. Blurring of lines The lines between cyber fraud, insider theft, and organised crime are blurred. According to the BFIU officer, most victims never report, whether from embarrassment, the small sums involved, or the hassle of filing a complaint with the police, making the CBK’s figure of KES1.5 billion an understatement. The BFIU investigator says the schemes
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