33 banks raise ₦3.37 trillion from Nigerians as CBN ends recapitalisation
Nigeria’s banking sector has wrapped up one of its biggest capital-raising exercises in recent history, with lenders pulling in a combined ₦4.65 trillion to meet new regulatory thresholds set by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The capital raise drew heavily from local investors, who accounted for 72.55% (₦3.37 trillion) of the total, while foreign investors contributed 27.45% (₦1.28 trillion), a split the CBN says signals sustained confidence in Nigeria’s banking system despite macroeconomic headwinds. In a press statement on Wednesday, the regulator said the over 24-month recapitalisation programme, which began in March 2024, has now been concluded, strengthening banks’ balance sheets and positioning the sector to better absorb shocks and fund economic growth. “The recapitalisation programme has strengthened the capital base of Nigerian banks,” said CBN governor, Olayemi Cardoso. “Reinforcing the resilience of the financial system and ensuring it is well-positioned to support economic growth and withstand domestic and external shocks.” The recapitalisation exercise, first announced in 2024, was meant to strengthen banks’ balance sheets amid rising inflation, currency volatility, and growing credit risks, while positioning lenders to finance Nigeria’s long-term ambition of becoming a $1 trillion economy. Under the new regime, banks must meet minimum paid-up capital based on their operating licences: international banks to ₦500 billion ($370.58 million), national banks to ₦200 billion ($148.23 million), regional banks to ₦50 billion ($37.06 million), merchant banks to ₦50 billion ($37.06 million), non-interest banks with national authorisation to ₦20 billion ($14.82 million), and non-interest banks with regional authorisation to ₦10 billion ($7.41 million). Most banks clear the bar According to the CBN, 33 banks have met the revised minimum capital requirements. A handful of institutions remain entangled in regulatory and judicial processes, which are being addressed through established supervisory and legal frameworks. The regulator stressed that all banks are still fully operational. With the recapitalisation phase now closed, the CBN is shifting focus to supervision. Banks are now required to run regular stress tests and maintain capital buffers under a strengthened risk-based framework. The regulator also signalled that prudential guidelines and supervisory rules will be reviewed periodically to keep pace with evolving risks. The CBN noted that banking services remained uninterrupted throughout the capital raise, preserving access for individuals and businesses, a critical factor in a period of economic adjustment. According to the apex bank, the successful completion of the programme establishes a stronger and more resilient banking system, better positioned to support lending, mobilise savings, and withstand domestic and global shocks.
Read MoreTechCabal: Four-point-oh
How we’re thinking about 2026 and beyond. Here’s the thing about two speeds. Over the last few years, the African tech ecosystem has been moving at a pace that feels almost contradictory: consolidation at the centre and new ideas flickering relentlessly at the edges. Capital tightened, regulation grew heavier. Scale began pooling around fewer, stronger players. Meanwhile, out past the headlines, new ideas continued to form — quieter now, less theatrical, yet persistent. If you’re only watching one speed, you’re half-blind. Technology stopped being a standalone sector. These shifts are showing up everywhere — in how people work, move money, access services, and navigate daily life, often far from anything labelled ‘tech’. In moments like this, the signals that matter most are easy to miss if you’re only watching the surface. TechCabal has lived through multiple cycles of this ecosystem, which is why we recognise this moment for what it is. And it’s why Q1 looked the way it did. We launched Headlines By TC A weekly newsroom conversation that interrogates the most important technology headlines and explains what they actually mean for people living and working in Africa. The tone is casual; the journalism is rigorous. It’s not a recap show. It surfaces the non-obvious insight and resolves confusion. We also shipped TC Predictions 2026 An annual outlook collecting evidence-based predictions from industry leaders across African tech. Not gut feelings. Theses grounded in data, explicit in their claims, and specific enough to be evaluated at year-end. Both are early signals of what we’re building toward. That direction has a name now: Four-Point-Oh. Shaped by experience. Guided by judgment. Focused — more deliberately than ever — on helping you see beyond what’s trending to what’s happening, and what it means. In practice, this means investing in our newsmaking system: our ability to tell you what happened, fast, when it matters. A fintech acquires a competitor, a policy drops, a platform goes dark, a founder raises a round — we want to get it to you first. Speed still counts, but with context. The analysis, the features, the profiles, the deep dives—they follow, building on the headline to show you what it actually means and where it leads. We’ve organised our coverage around four verticals, each designed to track specific forces shaping the ecosystem: Startups tracks who’s building and what new technologies emerge before they’re obvious; Money follows how capital moves; Enterprise & Policy covers what regulators and platforms decide; and Life & Work captures how all of it shows up in everyday life. Over the next few weeks, you’ll see this reflected more visibly on the site and across our platforms. Four-Point-Oh What’s Happening. What It Means. + Startups Who’s Building, How, Why? + Money Capital, Funding, Returns + Enterprise & Policy Regulation, Infrastructure + Life & Work People, Platforms, Access Founders, Products AI, Hardware, Crypto New Frontiers Growth Signals Venture Rounds Revenue Models Transaction Economics Who Profits, How Telcos, Government Platform Decisions Regulatory Shifts Ecosystem Ripple Effects Work Culture Service Access Digital Daily Life Human Stories Signals Over Surface. · Context Over Speed. All of Four-Point-Oh will be anchored by a registration layer — signing up to get unlimited access to all of TechCabal’s reporting, for FREE. Beyond access, it marks the beginning of a deeper relationship: early access to events, from mixers and roundtables to Moonshot in October. The ability to contribute your perspective to our reporting — through tips, feedback, and direct input into the stories we tell. And where relevant, your work could get featured for what you’re building inside the ecosystem. It’s started out as a busy year, and it’ll only get busier. But here’s the commitment: we’ll be paying attention, asking the questions as the answers become less obvious.
Read MoreThe $600 million asset manager that tracked a startup for three years before investing $1.2 million
Angola is not a market that often comes up in African venture capital conversations. It does not appear in the funding trackers or the ecosystem rankings, nor is it typically represented on the conference panels. BFA Asset Management is trying to change that. The Luanda-based firm, a spin-off from Banco de Fomento Angola (BFA)—the country’s second-largest private bank by assets—manages $600 million across public and private markets. Last year, BFA’s parent completed a $239 million IPO on the local stock exchange, the largest in Angolan history, drawing demand five times the shares available. In 2024, Angola’s sovereign wealth fund, FSDEA, anchored the firm’s Kimbo Fund with a $5 million commitment, making it Angola’s first private credit vehicle focused on small and mid-market companies. The fund’s first deployment went into FoodCare, an agri-food processor exporting to Europe and North America. Its second, announced this month, is a $1.2 million investment in Anda, a mobility startup that has raised $3.4 million from Breega, Speedinvest, and 4DX Ventures to formalise Angola’s motorcycle taxi market through a drive-to-own financing model. Rui Oliveira, the firm’s chief executive officer (CEO) and co-chief investment officer, does not call Kimbo a venture fund, despite seeking venture-scale returns. Its due diligence on Anda took three years as it went through bank statements transaction by transaction, interviewed suppliers and employees, and then cross-referenced its findings with Anda’s international investors. Some of them, Oliveira says, had not looked at the things his team had, an advantage of local context. In our conversation, Oliveira and Pascoa Faria, the fund’s alternative investment analyst, lay out why they believe Angola’s information asymmetry is an opportunity rather than an obstacle, why they track companies for years before writing a cheque, and why international investors who want to deploy capital in Angola cannot do it alone. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. How does a bank invest in startups? We are not your traditional private equity or venture capital firm. We play in both public and private markets. Kimbo Fund is just part of our alternative strategies. We have been in business since 2016. We have raised over $600 million since then. Our investor base ranges from institutional clients to high-net-worth individuals. Since last year, we have expanded to include wealth management services and other capital solutions strategies. Kimbo Fund is our private equity vehicle. We are not the first private equity fund manager in Angola, but we are the first to deploy, at least the way we are doing it. Nobody has done it before. Anda is our second deal. Our first was last year with Foodcare, a mid-size food processing company. For us, this fund is more out of love because we truly believe in what we are trying to achieve here: supporting where the actual growth is locally in the mid-market and growth-market segments. Angola barely receives any startup funding, and $1.28 million is a meaningful cheque in Angola, but outside of that, in larger ecosystems like Nairobi, it’s not that much. Is this a function of where Angolan startups are in their lifecycle, or a reflection of how much risk Kimbo is willing to take? This is a reflection of a market that is just appearing. We are opening up a new pathway, and this is unprecedented for the country. We were the first to actually deploy. Then, last year, another private equity firm deployed. We are the first to deploy at this level, with the way that we are structuring the deals. The short answer is it’s a function of the market and the stage of the market, not a function of our limitations as a fund. You describe Kimbo as a “private impact fund.” When many hear the word “impact,” they automatically think lower return expectations. What type of return profile are you targeting? We are not looking at lower returns. The reason we call it impact is that we are not just writing cheques for these companies. We are supporting them all along the way. As soon as we write a cheque, we put them in touch with the different networks we have. With Anda specifically, we are going to provide support in building their impact strategy and impact measurements, including impact accounting standards. With our first deal last year, we are doing a lot more. We are recruiting people for them, reviewing their accounts, improving how they report their numbers, and helping them expand their business. There is a lot that goes into the work we do beyond writing cheques. The sole reason we call it impact is that we are not just providing capital—we are directly impacting the business, not just with money. In terms of returns, for a deal like this, we are looking at the 20s. Not even the mid-teens. These are high returns, not lower returns. What other types of support do you give startups apart from what you just mentioned? One of the things we are working on now is helping startups get ready for investment. We partner with local accelerators (not in an official sense) and participate in workshop sessions where we interact with startups and the ecosystem to give them a sense of what is necessary to be ready to receive investment, whether it’s local, regional, or international. We try to clarify that our investment is not pre-seed or seed. It is for the next stage, which I would say is growth. A big focus for us is market development and preparing startups in our ecosystem to attract the right investment for their stage. The Angolan tech ecosystem is really young. How do you think about helping these startups move from the early stage to the growth stage? When we were building the strategy for this fund, we realised our commitment should not be passive. When we are writing a cheque, we want a company that has a lot of intrinsic value but has not yet realised that value. And then, is that company neglected, not just
Read MoreNiger State replaces tech ministry with new agency to cut bottlenecks
Niger State, in Nigeria’s north-central region, has introduced a major shift in its tech governance structure, replacing its Ministry of Communications Technology and Digital Economy with a new agency tasked with driving digital initiatives more efficiently. The move signals a push by Nigeria’s largest state by land mass to cut through entrenched civil service bottlenecks and accelerate the execution of its technology and digital economy agenda. The overhaul means the state has replaced the position of the ministry’s commissioner with a director-general of the newly minted Niger State Information Technology and Digital Economy Agency (NSITDEA). Sulaiman Isah, the former commissioner of the ministry, will lead the agency as Director–General. “We decided not to go the ministry route because it wasn’t working for tech, given the bureaucracy and bottlenecks,” Isah told TechCabal in a telephone conversation on Friday, March 27, 2026. The move reflects a broader shift among governments toward more agile structures for driving digital transformation. Several states have already adopted this approach. Anambra State Information Communication Technology (ICT) Agency, established in 2019, leads Anambra’s “Everything Technology, Technology Everywhere” vision, while Kaduna State Information Technology Development Agency focuses primarily on expanding digital literacy in Kaduna State. Niger State’s own journey with ICT governance dates back to 2006, according to additional information shared by Isah, when it operated under the Planning, Research, and Statistics Department within the Ministry of Science and Technology. At the time, its role was largely administrative, limited to basic data processing, record-keeping, and minimal automation, positioning technology as a support function rather than a strategic driver. Today, those responsibilities remain fragmented across multiple ministries, including tertiary education and science and technology. The creation of the Ministry of Communications Technology and Digital Economy in August 2023 marked a turning point, signalling that ICT had grown too significant to remain embedded as a sub-unit within a broader ministry. Now, by transitioning from a ministry-led model to an agency structure, Niger State is betting on a more agile system, one designed to move faster, operate with greater flexibility, and better respond to the demands of an evolving digital landscape. Isah noted that at the core of the new agency’s mandate is the responsibility to shape and execute the state’s digital agenda. It will develop policies, strategies, and standards across information technology, innovation, and the broader digital economy, while also overseeing their implementation—positioning it as both policymaker and executor. Its enabling law, the Niger State Information Technology and Digital Economy Agency Law (2025), establishes it as an independent statutory body with a governing board and a director general appointed by the governor for a renewable four-year term. The law also creates a dedicated funding structure that draws on a levy on internally generated revenue, as well as donations and loans, ensuring the agency operates with a degree of financial autonomy. Beyond policy, Isah also noted that the agency will take on regulatory functions, including licensing and monitoring digital service providers and ICT operators within the state, in line with federal laws. This gives it significant oversight over the local tech ecosystem, from startups to established service providers, and signals a more structured approach to managing digital growth. He also highlighted infrastructure development as another key focus. The agency is expected to promote the deployment of secure, inclusive digital infrastructure across Niger State and lead efforts to improve digital literacy and skills. This includes coordinating training programs for citizens, public servants, and businesses, a move aimed at ensuring that the benefits of digital transformation are widely distributed. To support innovation, the agency will facilitate the creation of hubs, technology parks, and incubation centres, and maintain a startup and innovation registry aligned with the Nigeria Start-up Act. This could help position Niger State as a more attractive destination for tech entrepreneurs and improve the ease of doing business for ICT-related ventures, according to Isah. The agency will also play a central role in modernising public service delivery. It is tasked with developing e-government platforms, digital service portals, and interoperable systems that can streamline how citizens interact with the government. In parallel, it will provide technical support to ministries, departments, and agencies, helping them adopt digital tools and improve internal processes. Cybersecurity and data governance are also part of the agency’s mandate, according to Isah. The agency will promote awareness around cyber risks and encourage best practices across both public and private sectors, while advising the state government on investment priorities and potential partnerships. Importantly, the new structure gives the agency powers that go beyond coordination. It can issue regulations and guidelines, enter into partnerships, and enforce compliance through administrative sanctions where necessary. This combination of operational and regulatory authority is designed to give it the tools needed to deliver on its objectives. For Niger State, the shift represents more than an administrative change. It is an attempt to rethink how the government engages with technology, moving from a slower, policy-heavy ministry model to a more execution-focused institution. Isah said the state legislature is working on a legal framework to formally establish the agency as a statutory body backed by law.
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Travelling is the easy part, finding shelter is where hell breaks loose. Coliving hubs are fixing this.
Being a digital nomad, not simply in name only, can feel like a dream. Barring the cost and effort it takes to plan, prepare, and travel on short notice, frequent trips offer plenty of chance encounters, but they also test your tolerance for misadventures. Shelter is where fantasy usually collides with reality. According to three digital nomads and frequent travellers I spoke to, accommodation regularly eats between 40 to 50% of a travel budget. Beyond the cost, Yinka Oke, a Nigerian nomad, said the hardest part of planning for housing in a country where you know nobody is how unpredictable it is. Unlike flights, there is no single accommodation fare you can lock in and forget. Amaka Amaku, a nomad who has now travelled to 30 countries, said when she goes somewhere she has friends, accommodation might take up to 20% of her travelling budget. When she lands in a city where she knows no one, that share can quickly climb to 50%. “I don’t think about accommodation as a percentage of the budget,” said Oghenerukevwe Odjugo, an equity analyst at Schroders Australia and a nomadic traveller. “I think about what is a reasonable dollar amount I can pay for the quality of accommodation I am comfortable with. The cost of shelter is a major factor when travelling, so I rent whatever makes the most sense.” For most nomads, that decision often narrows to three options: a hotel room, a short‑term rental on platforms like Airbnb, or a third path, coliving hubs. Many long‑term travellers I spoke with preferred Airbnbs or coliving for multi‑week stays and kept hotels for quick stopovers. This piece is about that third option. What are coliving hubs in Africa actually selling, how do they work as a business, and are they really worth swapping for a one‑bed in Nairobi or Cape Town? Get The Best African Tech Newsletters In Your Inbox Select your country Nigeria Ghana Kenya South Africa Egypt Morocco Tunisia Algeria Libya Sudan Ethiopia Somalia Djibouti Eritrea Uganda Tanzania Rwanda Burundi Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Central African Republic Chad Cameroon Gabon Equatorial Guinea São Tomé and Príncipe Angola Zambia Zimbabwe Botswana Namibia Lesotho Eswatini Mozambique Madagascar Mauritius Seychelles Comoros Cape Verde Guinea-Bissau Senegal The Gambia Guinea Sierra Leone Liberia Côte d’Ivoire Burkina Faso Mali Niger Benin Togo Other Select your gender Male Female Others TC Daily TC Events Next wave Entering Tech Subscribe What coliving hubs are, and how they make money Coliving, at its simplest, is shared housing with services built around people who work remotely. Instead of renting an entire flat, you take a room in a larger home or compound and pay for a package that usually combines accommodation, utilities, cleaning, internet, and a measure of community programming. Globally, the coliving market was worth nearly $8 billion in 2024, according to Grand View Research, a research firm, and is projected to at least double over the coming decade, helped by rising urban housing costs and the growth of remote work. In South Africa’s advanced coliving market, that figure sits around $79 million. In Africa, coliving is still young but spreading. Nairobi, Kenya, appears in many guides as one of the continent’s emerging hubs for remote workers, with neighbourhoods like Kilimani, Lavington, Karen, and Kileleshwa now home to a mix of coworking spaces, serviced apartments, and shared houses that market themselves directly to nomads. Cape Town, Windhoek, and parts of Morocco host similar experiments, from beachside houses for surfers in Blouberg to retreat‑style compounds in Namibia’s capital. Alejandra Wolf, co‑founder of AfricaNomads, a community-based coliving hub for digital nomads, has spent the past few years building coliving stays across East and Southern Africa. She describes coliving as “the difference between just having a place to stay and having a place to belong.” For guests, the idea is that you land in a home that is already ready for work, with a built‑in community and a curated experience of the destination. Planning, discovery, and the trial‑and‑error of figuring out where to live, who to trust, and what is worth your time are outsourced to the operator. Structurally, many African coliving outfits run a hybrid model. Wolf says her company both operates its own homes and partners with local hosts, boutique properties, and families, but keeps tight control over the experience. That control covers how the space is set up, the daily rhythm of the stay, the rules of the house, and the programming that brings people together. In some locations, the founders actually live in the houses alongside guests. Rather than acting as an open marketplace like Airbnb, they see themselves as curators and hosts. The non‑negotiables are predictable but demanding: reliable Internet with backups, comfortable workspaces, power solutions where public supply is unstable, and locations that feel plugged into daily life rather than sealed off in high‑rise blocks. Many operators avoid anonymous tower blocks and look instead for compounds or houses with greenery, shared kitchens, and layouts that make it easy to bump into people to truly lean into the philosophy of experiencing a new place. How the numbers compare in Nairobi The cost picture between short-term rentals, like Airbnb, and coliving arrangements is less obvious than it looks at the booking stage. Take Nairobi, which has become one of the most comfortable cities in sub‑Saharan Africa for expatriates and remote workers, thanks to solid infrastructure, strong schools and hospitals, and a growing startup ecosystem around what many call the Silicon Savannah. In upscale residential areas such as Lavington, a one‑bedroom Airbnb for a single guest typically ranges between $34 and $72 per night, depending on the season. In Karen, another lush city in Nairobi, prices start from $23 and climb to around $131. Kileleshwa tends to sit between $37 and $58, while Kilimani often ranges from $37 to $50 a night. In Kitsuru, where United Nations (UN) staff and other international officials often prefer to live because of its security, greenery, and easy access
Read MoreAfrica Bitcoin Corporation crosses 5 BTC mark as treasury strategy takes shape
Africa Bitcoin Corporation (ABC), the South Africa-based Bitcoin treasury and SME-finance company, now holds 5.0246 BTC in its corporate treasury, according to its real-time analytics dashboard. The SME lender and advisory firm has set an ambitious 2030 target of holding 21,000 BTC. Its 2030 target would make it the largest African-listed company holding Bitcoin on its balance sheet. At its current holding of 5.0246 BTC, the firm has only covered 0.02% of that goal. The gap between a growing yet limited stash and a sweeping long-term goal underlines how early ABC remains in this strategy, even as it pitches shareholders on gaining regulated stock-exchange exposure to Bitcoin across South Africa, Namibia, the US, and Germany. The company, which is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), has accumulated its Bitcoin holdings at a weighted average purchase price of $100,574 per coin across seven transactions since 2024. Its cumulative Bitcoin yield—a metric that tracks the percentage growth in Bitcoin holdings over time—has reached 207%, driven largely by accelerated accumulation in the final quarter of 2025. The company’s Bitcoin net asset value (BTC NAV), which represents the total market value of all the Bitcoin it holds on its balance sheet, now stands at $359,140. Its market-to-net asset value multiple (mNAV), which compares the company’s enterprise value to the value of its Bitcoin holdings, stands at 46.29x. The figure underscores how small ABC’s Bitcoin treasury remains relative to the total value of its business. Africa Bitcoin Corporation remains one of the few crypto-focused firms publicly listed on a regulated stock exchange anywhere on the continent. It currently trades on the JSE and A2X Markets in South Africa, the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX), the OTCQB Venture Market in the US, and Germany’s Börse Frankfurt (Deutsche Börse), including the Tradegate and Lang & Schwarz retail trading platforms. The company is continuing its multi-exchange expansion plans, broadening its African investor base and attracting pension funds and family offices seeking regulated, indirect exposure to Bitcoin.
Read More5 Nigerian companies that have cut staff in Q1 2026
Table of contents Nigerian companies that cut staff in Q1 2026 Global restructuring affecting Nigeria Why is this happening? What this means for Q2 and beyond Q1 2026 is drawing to a close, and the Nigerian job market has had a rough three months. Across the banking sector, the startup world, and the crypto industry, companies have been laying off staff, in some cases quietly and in others more publicly. Two things drove most of these decisions. The first is local: the Central Bank of Nigeria set a March 31, 2026, deadline for banks to meet new minimum capital requirements. Banks that could not raise enough capital on their own had to merge with others, and mergers almost always bring job losses. The second is global: AI tools are increasingly being used to replace or reduce teams, particularly in customer support, marketing, and operations. This piece covers five Nigerian companies with confirmed staff cuts in Q1 2026, followed by three global companies whose restructuring plans are relevant to Nigeria. Nigerian companies that cut staff in Q1 2026 1. Zap Africa When it happened: February 2026 Number of staff affected: 8 roles eliminated, bringing the company from 18 employees to 10. That is a 44% cut in total headcount. Why they cut staff: Zap Africa is a Nigerian crypto startup that lets users buy and sell digital assets. As crypto trading volumes dropped sharply, retail activity on the platform slowed. The company responded by replacing human roles with an AI tool called Martha AI, which now handles first-line customer support. The cuts hit the design, operations, marketing, and support teams. What the company officially said: Co-founder and CTO Moore Dagogo-Hart told TechCabal: “Zap Africa intentionally moved from 18 to 10 as part of an AI-driven efficiency shift. What occurred was a targeted internal restructuring as part of our ongoing effort to improve operational efficiency and align the team with our current product and growth priorities.” Source: TechCabal, February 28, 2026 Martha AI, the tool Zap Africa used to replace its customer support team, is a product built by the CTO’s other company, Cognito Systems. The broader market gives context to the timing. Since October 2025, the global crypto market has shed nearly $2 trillion in value. For a startup whose revenue moves directly with trading activity, such a downturn typically forces cost-cutting as companies try to extend their runway. 2. Quidax When it happened: March 2, 2026 Number of staff affected: The exact number was not disclosed. Quidax did not respond to TechCabal’s questions about how many people were let go. Employees say the company has over 100 staff, but the count of those cut in 2026 is unconfirmed. The cuts hit the sales, design, and operations teams. Why they cut staff: During a company-wide all-hands meeting, Quidax announced it was cutting roles for performance-related reasons, using data from an internal tracking app to identify who would go. The company is also shifting away from retail crypto trading toward B2B infrastructure and enterprise crypto payments. It shut down its peer-to-peer trading feature in January 2026 and partnered with blockchain company Lisk in February 2026. What the company officially said: Quidax did not respond to TechCabal’s requests for comment. According to affected staff, the reason given at the meeting was performance. One person told TechCabal: “There were no clear metrics. It was something about numbers from an internal performance tracking app. All of it is confusing. There was not a lot of information for us to go by beyond that; just a verbal notice in the morning, and that was it.” Source: TechCabal, March 26, 2026 Taken together, these moves suggest a pattern: Quidax shut down P2P trading in January, partnered with a blockchain infrastructure company in February, and cut retail-facing roles in March. The company appears to be shifting from a consumer app towards B2B products. Such shifts often result in redundancies in teams aligned with the previous focus. 3. Kuda Bank When it happened: March 25, 2026 Number of staff affected: At least one hundred, across multiple departments. In the marketing department alone, 19 out of 40 employees were let go, according to two affected staff who spoke to TechCabal. Why they cut staff: Kuda said the cuts are part of a company-wide restructuring following a strategic review of future operational priorities and industry benchmarking. Executives were said to have told staff during an all-hands video call on March 25 that the decision was about shifting operational priorities, not financial pressure or individual performance. The internal notice obtained by TechCabal read: “Following a strategic review of future operational priorities, industry benchmarking, and long-term direction, the Company has identified the need to restructure and reorganise certain departments.” What the company officially said: A Kuda spokesperson told TechCabal: “Kuda is evolving how the organisation is structured to support the next phase of our growth and scale. This is not a decision driven by financial pressure, but part of the natural evolution of a company at our stage, aligning with industry benchmarks. We are supporting those affected with enhanced severance packages and practical transition support.” Severance: Affected staff were offered packages that vary by role and tenure. Some expect up to seven months’ pay. The company is also offering an enhanced exit option tied to a legal settlement agreement. Source: TechCabal, March 27, 2026 Kuda has been narrowing its losses steadily. According to BusinessDay, its losses dropped from $35.11 million in 2023 to $5.83 million in 2024, driven by its Nigerian subsidiary, which nearly doubled its naira revenue to N21.2 billion. The bank last raised external funding in 2024, bringing in $20 million at a $500 million valuation. The job cuts suggest that even a neobank nearing profitability may be rethinking its cost structure. The marketing cuts in particular may indicate a pullback in aggressive customer acquisition spending in favour of a leaner, more sustainable growth model. 4. Unity Bank (Providus Bank Merger) When it happened: January 1, 2026 Number of staff
Read MoreScale partners with Mastercard to simplify card issuance across five African markets
Scale, a South African card‑issuing startup, has partnered with Mastercard, a global payments company, to simplify card products for businesses in Senegal, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Across many African markets, companies offering card payment must coordinate with several parties, including issuing banks, payment networks, and Bank Identification Number (BIN) sponsors, leading to slow product launches and increasing operational complexity. Mastercard and Scale say their one-integration model streamlines onboarding, processing, and compliance so businesses can focus on building products for customers while the platform handles the operational heavy lifting. In Kenya, where mobile money is already big and card usage is growing for e-commerce and higher-value transactions, the partnership mainly cuts complexity and time-to-market for existing fintech players. In markets like Senegal, Ivory Coast, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, where cards are less common and cash or mobile wallets still dominate, the focus is on enabling new use cases such as companion wallet cards, small and medium enterprises, corporate spending cards, payout cards for governments and non-profit organisations. Through the partnership, Scale, founded in 2022 by Barbara Woollams and Miranda Naidoo, provides the issuing infrastructure, customer onboarding tools, and regulatory support while Mastercard brings its global payments network, bank partnerships and market expertise. “Across Africa, innovators are creating powerful solutions, yet many are slowed down by the complex steps required to issue cards, which has a significant impact on their business, the market, and their growth,” said Miranda Naidoo, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Scale. “This collaboration with Mastercard removes those hurdles by giving businesses one clear, efficient way to enter the market and scale.” This partnership builds on Scale’s earlier momentum, which included raising $700,000 in October 2024 to grow its card‑issuing platform across Africa. Additionally, it follows the surging demand for digital payments. McKinsey projected that Africa’s financial‑services revenues could reach around $230 billion in 2025, while globally, modern card‑issuing platforms are expected to issue about 35% of all payment cards by 2029. “By simplifying the issuing journey, we are supporting fintechs and non-financial institutions as they expand access to digital financial services and bring more consumers and businesses into the formal economy,” said Mete Guney, Executive Vice President, Market Development for Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at Mastercard. The partnership gives Scale the network and credibility to move faster across five markets. The harder question is whether Scale has the operational depth to match that ambition, particularly in markets where mobile money already works well, and regulatory frameworks vary significantly. The next twelve months will be telling.
Read MoreNigeria’s Moniepoint enters Kenya with 78% stake in Sumac microfinance
Moniepoint Inc., a Nigerian business-banking unicorn, has completed its acquisition of a 78% stake in Kenya’s Sumac Microfinance Bank, ending a multi-year effort by the Nigerian fintech to secure a foothold in East Africa’s largest economy. The deal was finalised on Thursday as executives gathered for a reception in Nairobi’s Westlands area. It provides Moniepoint with a deposit-taking licence, an essential requirement for its credit-led expansion strategy. After a previous attempt to enter the market via payments firm Kopo Kopo stalled, the acquisition of Sumac allows Moniepoint to bypass the Central Bank of Kenya’s (CBK) long-standing freeze on new licences and compete with incumbents such as Safaricom and Equity Group. The transaction reflects a broader shift in the African fintech landscape: from pure-play payments to licensed banking and consolidation. By securing a majority stake in a 20-year-old institution, Moniepoint gains the regulatory infrastructure needed to deploy its high-velocity lending model to Kenya’s small and medium -sized enterprises (SMEs). The move also signals the company’s ambition to build a cross-border ecosystem that captures the entire merchant value chain, rather than solely on transaction fees. Moniepoint’s entry into Kenya follows its acquisition of Orda, a cloud-based restaurant software provider, earlier this week. The company plans to export its business-in-a-box strategy—which integrates inventory management, payroll, and working capital—into a market where digital lending is undergoing increased regulatory scrutiny. This will be achieved by combining Orda’s vertical SaaS capabilities with Sumac’s banking infrastructure. Moniepoint, which processed more than $294 billion in annualised transaction value in 2025, is likely betting that its experience in Nigeria’s fragmented retail sector will translate effectively to Kenya. While Sumac is a tier-three lender, its existing branch network and regulatory standing offer Moniepoint one of the ways to scale in a region increasingly shaped by digital-first credit.
Read MoreOnly one in 20 Nigerians earns above N1m monthly – PiggyVest
One in 20 Nigerians now earns above ₦1 million ($723.26) monthly, according to data from savings platform Piggyvest’s new savings report. The share of those earning ₦1 million ($723.26) or more monthly rose to 5% in 2025, from 2% in 2024. The report, which surveyed over 25,000 Nigerians, shows that while income levels are improving across several brackets, inflation, especially on food, is widening the gap between earning more and living better. This reflects a broader economic reality in Nigeria, where income growth is struggling to keep pace with inflation and currency weakness. As prices rise faster than wages, higher earnings are doing little to improve living standards, leaving many households financially stretched despite nominal gains. Middle-income brackets, people earning between ₦250,000 ($180.82) and ₦499,999 ($361.63) rose to 10%, and the ₦100,000 ($72.33) to ₦249,999 ($180.81) band increased to 23%. Overall, nearly three in five Nigerians still report earning below ₦100,000 ($72.33) monthly or having no income at all. The illusion of income growth Incomes are rising, but purchasing power is falling. Nigeria’s median monthly income stands at about ₦200,225 ($146.55), according to Risevest, a Nigerian fintech that allows users to invest in dollar-denominated assets. But with inflation peaking above 33% in 2024 and still at 15.06% as of February 2026, those earnings buy significantly less. “People are earning more and affording less,” said Piggyvest co-founder Odun Eweniyi. The pressure is uneven across demographics. Gen Z Nigerians are the most likely to earn below ₦100,000 ($72.33) or have no income, while millennials are more evenly spread across income brackets, with greater representation in higher bands. At the same time, income diversification remains limited. Nearly two-thirds of working Nigerians still rely on a single source of income, leaving them more exposed to economic shocks. Food is swallowing up everything For most Nigerians (72%), food now dominates monthly spending. Clothing and personal upkeep (39%), transport (33%), rent (31%), and utilities (38%) follow. Food inflation hit a 28-year high of 41% in May 2024, forcing the government to temporarily remove import duties on key items. Although it is currently at 12.12%, food inflation remains elevated, accounting for a significant share of household expenses. Most respondents reported spending less than ₦200,000 ($144.65) monthly, but even within that range, essentials are crowding out everything else, particularly savings. Only 40% of Nigerians say they save consistently, or only when they have money left over after expenses. More than half, 53%, do not save at all. This stood at 43% in 2024. “What we are seeing at scale is that even people with the discipline and intent to save are being forced to redirect those funds towards the basics,” Eweniyi said. “Food, fuel, rent, school fees. These aren’t discretionary expenses you can cut.” The trend aligns with earlier data from Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA), which found that 78% of Nigerian adults would struggle to raise emergency funds within seven days, while only 16% are considered financially healthy. Among those who still manage to save, the priorities are emergency funds (30%), children’s needs (29%), and business investment (24%). Low savings, low debt Despite the pressure, relatively few Nigerians report being in debt. Only one in five respondents said they owe money. Nearly 70% of the one in five owe less than ₦200,000 ($144.65). Rather than excessive borrowing, the data points to constrained consumption. “Most debt is driven by timing, not irresponsible spending,” said Joshua Chibueze, chief marketing officer and co-founder of Piggyvest. Among borrowers, 32% rely on savings to repay loans, while 17% turn to friends and family. Overall, the report underscores that even though income growth is happening through salary adjustments, side hustles, and a small expansion of higher earners, inflation, particularly in food, is absorbing those gains almost entirely.
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