Two wheels, one city: my life as a Glovo rider in Abuja
When we talk about technology, our minds often jump to the developers and the big companies building the platforms. But the true power of tech shines brightest in the lives of everyday users. Last month, I handed over the column to John Adoyi, a blind journalist, who wrote about how he uses technology to navigate the world without sight. This week, you’ll meet Christian, a delivery rider with Glovo, one of Nigeria’s top food delivery apps. He went from being a job seeker, so strapped for options he had to return to his village, to a courier earning nearly a million naira every month. Here’s Christian’s story, as told to TechCabal, and heavily edited for clarity, narrative flow, and structure. The sun has only just risen when my phone’s alarm pierces the silence of my room in Abuja. It’s 7:00 a.m., the first of six alarms I’ve set: 7:10, 7:30, 8:00, 8:10, 8:30, to ensure I don’t sleep through my morning. I’m the kind of person who could sleep for 24 hours straight, especially when nestling in the quiet of my own space. But the rhythm of my life as a Glovo delivery rider demands otherwise. Time is money in this job, and time waits for no one. So I roll out of bed, shake off the grogginess, and prepare to claim my slot for the day: a 13-hour stretch from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., during which I’ll drive through Abuja’s streets, delivering food and parcels to customers who place orders on the Glovo app. My name is Christian Ogbu, and I’m a Lagosian by birth, though Abuja has been my home since late 2020. I spent my first two decades in Lagos. Like any man born to a low-income family, I had to quickly try my hand at informal trade. As an Igbo man, I took up an apprenticeship in a pharmacy. When that didn’t work out after four or five years, I returned to my father’s village in Nsukka, Enugu, where I hoped to recalibrate and find opportunities to settle. But that was short-lived. I’m not a village boy; I’m wired for movement, for the bustle of a city. So, towards the end of 2020, I left for Anambra State, where I chased work that never materialised. I didn’t want to return to Lagos, where I would have to rely on my mum. Instead, I left Anambra for Abuja, where an uncle offered me a place to stay. It was a chance to start over, to find my own “greener pasture”, as I told myself. Abuja was unkind at first. I took a job as a security guard, arranged by my uncle, but the pay was meagre: hand-to-mouth, barely enough to keep me afloat. Frustration gnawed at me. I wasn’t raised to live in someone else’s shadow, least of all my mother’s, so I refused to return to Lagos. Instead, I struck out on my own, submitting CVs to companies, hoping for something better. My uncle’s refusal to support my job search, denying me his signature and his ID, left me feeling stranded. I was sleeping in someone’s house, but I had no one to lean on. I often took to the streets looking tattered and hungry in search of a job. That’s when I stumbled into dispatch work. 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Kenya’s Leta enters Ghana after $5 million seed round
Leta, a Kenyan software startup that builds logistics software for businesses, has expanded into Ghana, its seventh market, after a $5 million seed round in March 2025. The company already operates in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Mauritius. Founded in 2021 by Nick Joshi, Leta is a software development company that creates supply chain and logistics solutions to enable the efficient and automated movement of goods. Its platform helps businesses manage fleet operations, optimise delivery routes, and reduce transportation costs using AI-powered tools. “We are officially live in Accra with our first customer on the ground: Simbisa Brands Limited, one of Africa’s largest quick service restaurant groups, with over 600 outlets in 11 countries,” Joshi announced on his LinkedIn on Wednesday. Leta’s entry into Ghana is the latest sign of its pan-African ambition to become a go-to logistics software provider. As more businesses look for ways to move goods efficiently in tough operating environments, the startup bets that better software—not just more trucks—can help solve delivery challenges. Leta has raised over $8 million in two rounds, including its most recent in March 2025, led by Speedinvest with participation from Google’s Africa Investment Fund and Equator. The capital is aimed at scaling its AI-powered platform, which helps businesses optimise delivery routes and cut transportation costs across the continent. “Our investors’ backing validates our vision and progress. With this capital, we’re looking to refine our product to empower more businesses with a cost-effective, data-driven supply chain,” Joshi said in March. Since its pre-seed round in 2022, Leta claims it has posted 5X revenue growth, handled 4.5 million deliveries, moved 150,000 tonnes of goods, and managed over 7,400 vehicles. It supports major clients like KFC, East African Breweries Limited (EABL), Wells Fargo Courier, and Gilani’s in cutting costs and improving logistics efficiency. 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
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Inside the eight-hour-long cyberattack that tried to cripple MTN Nigeria
On August 2, 2023, MTN Nigeria, the country’s largest telecom operator, became the target of one of the most extensive Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks ever recorded against a corporate entity in West Africa. The cyberattack, claimed by the notorious hacktivist group Anonymous Sudan, tested the company’s cybersecurity infrastructure and highlighted the growing threat of coordinated digital assaults across the continent. This was not an isolated event. Days earlier, on July 27 and 28, Kenya had been rocked by a wave of DDoS attacks that crippled public and private systems: the government’s eCitizen portal went offline, Kenya Power and Lighting’s prepaid token system was disrupted, and access to banks, hospitals, and even M-Pesa, East Africa’s dominant mobile money service, was severely compromised. Tanzania and other nations soon followed. A pattern was forming, and MTN Nigeria knew they might be next. Shoyinka Shodunke, MTN Nigeria’s Chief Information Officer, recalled the warning signs. “It was not just limited to Nigeria. There had been attacks going on in Kenya, Tanzania, and a whole lot of other African countries,” he told TechCabal in an interview. “We predicted they might shift to Nigeria.” Anonymous Sudan also launched similar DDoS attacks in Uganda on February 6, 2024, targeting Airtel, MTN, and Uganda Telecom. With early warning indicators in sight, MTN Nigeria activated its internal security protocols. While the company did not disclose specific details, the telecom industry’s best practices for defending against Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks typically involve a multi-layered, defense-in-depth strategy. This approach combines proactive monitoring, intelligent traffic filtering, and automated mitigation systems. It begins with constant network traffic surveillance, leveraging AI and machine learning tools to detect anomalies—such as sudden traffic spikes or irregular patterns—that could signal an attack. Upon detection, operators often scale up bandwidth to absorb the surge, apply rate limiting and access control lists (ACLs) to block suspicious traffic, and deploy cloud-based DDoS mitigation services to filter out malicious data before it reaches core systems. “DDoS is like the low-hanging fruit for most organisations if they are not prepared,” said Peter Obadare, a Professor of Practice in Cybersecurity, Miva Open University. “ The truth is, if hackers can’t get in, they use a DDoS attack. They flood your system or network with overwhelming traffic from multiple sources, making it difficult to distinguish between legitimate and malicious requests. The goal is to exhaust the system’s resources, making it unavailable to users. As part of its coordinated response, MTN Nigeria promptly alerted key government and industry stakeholders, including the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, about the imminent threat. However, before full defensive measures could be deployed across the ecosystem, the first signs of network disruption began to surface. What is a DDoS attack? A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack occurs when malicious actors flood a server or network with excessive traffic from multiple sources, often hijacked computers known as “zombies” or “botnets,” to the point where legitimate users are unable to access the service. It’s the digital equivalent of hundreds of thousands of people trying to enter a building at once, overwhelming the entrances until even employees can’t get inside. These attacks are rarely random. They are often motivated by geopolitical tension, cyber extortion, or attempts to send political messages. In the case of MTN Nigeria, it was likely a continuation of the same state-linked cyber attack that had paralysed East African infrastructure just a week before. Eight hours under siege The DDoS attack, which lasted nearly eight hours, sought to overwhelm MTN’s voice and data services by flooding its network with malicious traffic from compromised computers across the globe. “The actors were targeting high-profile institutions to draw attention and demonstrate their capabilities,” said Gideon Adekile, MTN Nigeria’s General Manager for Information Security. These distributed attack networks or botnets—a network of privately owned computers secretly infected with malware and remotely controlled without their owners’ knowledge—launched a massive flood of malicious data packets targeting MTN Nigeria’s network. The goal was to overwhelm and disrupt services relied upon by more than 80 million subscribers nationwide. The assault lasted nearly eight hours, with attackers constantly adapting their tactics in real-time to evade MTN’s defenses—a hallmark of a sophisticated DDoS campaign. This approach involves actively monitoring the attack’s impact and adjusting methods on the fly, such as switching from high-volume traffic floods to targeted application-layer strikes, randomising patterns to avoid detection, spoofing IP addresses, or mimicking legitimate user behavior. Despite these evolving tactics, MTN was prepared, according to Adekile. “We had our support partners and internal teams on alert,” he said. “We identified and dropped suspicious packets, optimised our firewalls, and contained the attack. When it became clear they couldn’t bring us down, they moved on.” Apart from disrupting services during the duration of the attacks, MTN claimed no subscriber data was lost. An expensive threat While MTN successfully defended itself, DDoS attacks are a multi-billion-dollar problem globally. According to cybersecurity firm Cloudflare, the average cost of a successful DDoS attack can range from $20,000 to over $1 million, depending on the sector and severity. For telcos like MTN, the stakes are higher, given their role in national connectivity. In many DDoS attacks, cybercriminals turn to extortion, demanding ransom payments with the threat of prolonging or escalating the assault. Faced with potential service outages and reputational damage, some companies choose to comply. Telecommunications and critical infrastructure providers across Africa have increasingly become prime targets. In early 2025, South Africa’s CO.ZA domain registry was hit, taking thousands of websites offline. Around the same time, Cameroon’s national power utility, Eneo, had to suspend parts of its operations after a major cyberattack, exposing the fragility of essential services across the continent. Each successful incident emboldens attackers and fuels a cycle of repeated assaults. “They can keep you offline for weeks,” said Shodunke, referencing recent East African cases where entire digital ecosystems were crippled for nearly two months. “Then they start making
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Stitch acquires Efficacy Payments to become a direct card processor in South Africa
Stitch, the South Africa-based payments infrastructure company, has acquired Efficacy Payments, a digital payments startup with direct access to the national clearing system. The acquisition gives Stitch control over every layer of the card payment stack, making it one of the first fintechs in South Africa to offer end-to-end card-acquiring services without relying on banks or third-party processors. The deal, Stitch’s second major strategic acquisition, strengthens the company’s play for dominance in South Africa’s digital payments sector at a time when the market is booming. According to GlobalData, the South African card payments market is expected to hit R2.9 trillion ($159 billion) in 2025. Founded in 2016, Efficacy Payments became a Designated Clearing System Participant (DCSP) in 2021, becoming the second fintech in South Africa licensed to clear card payments directly. Stitch will now assume that role, enabling it to process in-store and online card payments on behalf of merchants with fewer intermediaries. “Card processing is an essential requirement for businesses in South Africa, and we have seen a lot of room for improvement when it comes to conversion, recon capabilities, and access to the latest technology. We are excited to see the impact this will have on the way our merchants collect card payments from their customers,” said Junaid Dadan, President and Co-founder at Stitch. The move follows Stitch’s earlier acquisition of ExiPay, which expanded its reach into point-of-sale infrastructure. Together, the deals allow Stitch to offer a comprehensive suite of digital and in-person payment services, including gateway, switching, and now acquiring, under one roof. With this integration, Stitch clients, which include leading South African enterprises such as Takealot, Mr. D, MTN, Vodacom, Hollywoodbets, and Standard Bank’s Shyft, can expect faster settlements, real-time transaction visibility, and fewer reconciliation headaches. Founded in 2021, Stitch has raised $107 million to date, including a $55 million Series B round in April 2025. 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
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Would’ve. Kuda’ve. Just might
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Happy mid-week. How has your week been? If you think you can escape capitalism, ask Rishi Sunak, the former prime minister of the United Kingdom, who just took a job as a senior adviser at Goldman Sachs after serving as prime minister for about two years. Yeah, even prime ministers have LinkedIn updates. Capitalism always wins! Kuda relaunches remittance product Roqqu expands into Kenya with Flitaa acquisition Temu sets up a warehouse in South Africa CompCom strikes a deal with Maziv and Vodacom World Wide Web 3 Opportunities Fintech Kuda is back in the remittance game after processing $9.3 billion in Q1 2025 Image Source: Kuda Three years after shoving its remittance product, Kuda is giving it another chance. The new version of its remittance product is a multi-currency wallet built within the app that allows for users outside Nigeria to send money home—no third parties. It’s the kind of infrastructure you build when you have enough volume to justify it. And Kuda does. In Q1 2025, the company processed over 300 million transactions worth $9.3 billion and issued $10.7 million in overdrafts—a 43% growth from last time. It raised $20 million at a $500 million valuation and now pulls in enough volume from both retail and business users to support more ambitious plays. ICYMI: Kuda first tried out remittances in 2022 and relied heavily on intermediaries, which weakened their margins. Even though the neobank is still taking hits on some products, Kuda is operating with a positive net margin between 3% and 7%. Relaunching remittances now is a signal that the economics finally work. Still, the remittance market has only gotten more crowded. LemFi, Nala, Moniepoint and even legacy players like Western Union and WorldRemit are fighting for the same diaspora wallets. Kuda’s bet? One app, fewer taps and a clean UX. Zoom out: Now that it has another shot, Kuda has no intermediaries to blame and no margin excuses to lean on. The infrastructure is in place, the users are still here and they hope that this time, the silence after the launch better not be another quiet exit. Paying 2% or more on every transaction adds up fast. For businesses in e-commerce, logistics, travel, fintech, and more, every naira counts. Fincra helps you save more with 1% NGN fees capped at ₦300. Ideal for high-value or high-volume transactions. Get started for free with just your email address! 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 Cryptocurrency Roqqu acquires crypto startup Flitaa, marking its entry into East Africa Image Source: Roqqu Consolidations are rare in Africa’s tech ecosystem. In the crypto sector, it’s worse; it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. Why? Crypto in Africa, like most growth sectors, is still an emerging market. So when rare consolidation deals happen, we turn our heads to ask if it is the maturity sign we’ve been looking for. The Roqqu deal made us ask that question again. On July 8, we reported that Roqqu, a Nigerian crypto company, acquired Flitaa, another startup with majority of its operations in Kenya, in what was the first publicly disclosed intra-African consolidation. With Flitaa, Roqqu will enter its first East African market, expanding its footprint on the continent. Under the hood, Roqqu is acquiring a startup that has gained some traction in Kenya and
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South African-born AI infrastructure startup Cerebrium raises $8.5 million
Cerebrium, a South African-born startup that helps developers run AI apps without worrying about the tech setup, has raised an $8.5 million seed round to hire more engineers, grow the core platform, and scale operations to meet rising enterprise demand. Graident, Google’s AI venture fund, led the round, with participation from Y Combinator, Authentic Ventures, and several strategic angel investors and operators. Cerebrium was founded in 2021 by Michael Louis and Jonathan Irwin, who previously held roles as CTO and lead engineer at OneCart, a South African online grocery delivery platform, acquired by MassMart, a major retail and wholesale group, the same year. Frustrated by the fragmented tooling and long development cycles they encountered while building AI-driven products, the duo launched Cerebrium to streamline the process for others. “We built Cerebrium so engineers can focus on building AI products that users love with real business impact, instead of hiring an infrastructure team, racking up six-figure cloud bills, or worrying about security and compliance, “ said Louis. The global market for companies like Cerebrium is estimated to exceed $197 billion in 2030, driven by demand for real-time AI applications, generative models, and multimodal systems. Developer-first platforms are gaining traction as companies seek faster deployment and lower overhead. AI that can handle voice, video, and text all at once—called multimodal AI—is growing fast, and Cerebrium is built for this kind of real-time performance. Tech like GPU-as-a-service (renting powerful chips instead of owning them) makes it easier for startups and smaller companies in this space to compete. As part of a fast-growing company building infrastructure for AI, Cerebrium says its focus is on performance, security, and tools that work in multiple regions, including Africa, the U.S., and Europe. “We are betting on the next wave of AI applications being real-time, multimodal, and deeply integrated into customer experiences,” said Louis. This means that the system needs to be quick, easy to use, and built for developers—without all the hassle of setting up hardware or dealing with complicated tech. “AI adoption is accelerating across industries, and we are focused on building a robust, secure, and scalable foundation that can support that growth — especially for real-time, latency-sensitive use cases,” said Louis. “Real-time AI will become central to how customers interact with products,” says Eylul Kayin, Partner at Gradient. “Cerebrium’s tech scales elastically, and that’s going to matter more and more.” What Cerebrium Does Cerebrium makes running powerful AI chatbots, voice assistants, and smart video tools easier and cheaper without complicated setups or expensive servers. It’s serverless, meaning companies only pay for what they use, and the system scales up or down automatically. Platforms based in the U.S. and Europe with a global presence, such as Tavus (an AI video avatar creator), Deepgram ( an instant speech-to-text platform), and Vapi (which builds voice assistants for automated customer support) already use Cerebrium to run fast, real-time AI systems that respond instantly, a growing demand as businesses look to build smarter, more responsive experiences. “We run a lot of audio and video models in real time,” says Roey Paz-Priel, a machine learning engineer at Tavus. “Cerebrium gives us the speed and stability we need — even when things scale up quickly.” At the backend, Cerebrium claims that its building tools handle everything from fast startup times to secure code execution and better monitoring for developers. Some upgrades include reducing loading time for AI models; improving memory and the part of the computer that handles images, videos, and visual tasks for faster processing; creating secure containers so developers can run untrusted code safely; and making it easier to monitor performance and troubleshoot issues. Cerebrium is also building features to let companies deploy in specific regions, helpful for meeting local data rules and reducing latency. Cerebrium’s long-term goal is to become the go-to platform for AI-native applications. That means helping businesses build entire products powered by AI, not just single tools or models. “From sales agents to onboarding flows to healthcare support, we want Cerebrium to be the infrastructure behind it all,” Louis said. 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
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After processing $9.3 billion in Q1, Kuda relaunches remittance product for non-Nigerian users
Three years after shelving its initial cross-border remittance plans, Nigerian neobank Kuda Technologies has relaunched with a multi-currency wallet that allows Kuda users outside Nigeria to send money directly to Nigerian bank accounts. “The first time, we did not quite get it right, but now we have figured it out,” Nosakhare Oyegun, Kuda’s senior vice president for business banking, told journalists at a media parley on Monday. Babs Ogundeyi, Kuda’s CEO, and Oyegun were part of the Kuda staff who spoke to journalists in a rare meeting with the media. Besides sharing details of Kuda’s Q1 financial performance, Ogundeyi disclosed that the company raised $20 million at a $500 million valuation in 2024, sharing the numbers behind its previously undisclosed round. Why Kuda is going after remittances Kuda initially paused remittances due to its reliance on intermediaries for remittance transactions, which dampened margins, and the need to build the product in-house with Kuda’s core banking application. Its new attempt is built in-house and entirely in Kuda’s wallet, which helps Kuda deepen the customer offering in its ecosystem. The wallet is currently unavailable to Nigerian users due to regulatory restrictions on microfinance banks from processing foreign transactions. For now, it supports the British pound and the euro, with plans to add the U.S. and Canadian dollars within the next six months, Oyegun said. After realising that many Nigerian users who relocated abroad continued to use Kuda’s app, the neobank is re-entering the remittance market as a way to improve the remittance experience of those users. “I have gone through that myself. It’s not ideal from a user experience standpoint,” Oyegun said. These users often sent money to their Kuda accounts or used the app when visiting home, but sending money through multiple banks was expensive and cumbersome. With its new multi-currency wallet, Kuda aims to simplify cross-border transfers for its users. In 2024, Nigeria’s personal remittance market rebounded from a slight dip in 2023, rising by 8.9% to $20.9 billion. Much of this growth was because inflows through International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) grew sharply by 43.5%, reaching $4.73 billion, up from $3.30 billion the previous year. With the Central Bank of Nigeria’s recent FX policies, remittance growth is expected to continue. Startups like Lemfi, Nala, and Moniepoint are increasingly competing with incumbents such as Western Union and WorldRemit in Nigeria’s crowded remittance market. As it enters the fray, Kuda is betting on its app’s convenience and user-centric design to attract new users. “Remittance is a highly competitive space, but we’re focused on convenience. It’s frustrating to have to jump between three or four apps just to make one transaction,” Oyegun said.” Putting everything into a single app that people already use—that’s the real value.” Kuda’s Q1 Performance Kuda’s remittance attempt is a way to improve the experience of a segment of its users, which continually increases the volume and value of transactions with Kuda. In Q1 2025, Kuda processed over 300 million transactions totalling ₦14.3 trillion ($9.3 billion) across its retail and business banking arms. Retail banking accounted for ₦8.5 trillion ($5.5 billion), while business users processed ₦5.8 trillion ($3.7 billion). Despite launching its business arm in 2022, three years after Kuda’s launch as a no-fee digital bank, it contributes 40% of Kuda’s total transaction value, a clear sign of how commercially rewarding it is to serve Nigerian businesses. However, due to Kuda’s business model, which is built around frequency, the margins on serving retail users who perform smaller transactions but in far greater volume mean more revenue. The fintech also issued ₦16.4 billion ($10.7 million) in overdrafts in Q1 2025 (a 43% growth compared to the previous quarter), which was issued profitably, according to Kuda. While Kuda does suffer losses with its credit product like other financial institutions, its net margin remains positive and ranges between 3% and 7% depending on the month. “We want to be able to give credit to anyone,” said Babs Ogundeyi, Kuda’s CEO. “ Risk-based pricing is the model. The better your profile, the cheaper your rate. But even if your profile is riskier, we should still be able to offer credit, just at a higher rate.” Kuda users can not apply for loans from the bank but are offered loans based on how active they are on the bank’s app. If Kuda continues at the same pace till the end of 2025, the neobank will process ₦57.2 trillion ($37.2 billion) and 1.2 billion transactions, more than the ₦55.8 trillion it processed in its first five years. 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
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Roqqu acquires Kenya-based Flitaa to enter East Africa’s crypto market
In a rare intra-African crypto acquisition, Nigerian crypto startup Roqqu has acquired Flitaa, another crypto exchange with operations in Nigeria and Kenya, marking its entry into East Africa’s growing digital asset market. The company did not disclose the value of the all-cash deal. The acquisition, which Roqqu claims has received regulatory approval, allows the company to bypass Kenya’s slow-moving crypto licencing process and sidestep the hurdles that competitors like Busha and Luno have faced. It also signals a strategic shift as Roqqu deepens its African footprint beyond Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa, and builds a case for crypto consolidation across the continent. “We’re not just building to expand to Europe,” Ayo Shonibare, Roqqu’s chief marketing officer, said. “We also want to expand into our home base [Africa], so it only makes sense that in our quest for this expansion, we also expand into our own home territory.” As part of the acquisition, Flitaa will continue to operate independently using Roqqu’s infrastructure, but its leadership and staff have exited the company, with severance packages provided. Great Onomor, a director at Roqqu, will head Flitaa’s operations and serve as its CEO. The integration gives Flitaa users access to Roqqu’s broader services while stabilising the Kenyan startup’s operations, which had suffered from limited funding, weak infrastructure, and a narrow product offering. The combined entity now positions Roqqu for deeper expansion into Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania. “We want to stabilise the operations of Flitaa and make sure they are as strong as Roqqu’s,” said Shonibare. “Our goal is to ensure that existing and new users enjoy the same experience across both platforms.” Flitaa’s existing groundwork in Kenya made the acquisition valuable for Roqqu. The crypto startup had already set up local operations, giving Roqqu an immediate entry into the Kenyan market without the friction of building from scratch. Shonibare noted that Flitaa had fulfilled Kenya’s regulatory requirements before the acquisition. “Flitaa had already figured it out in Kenya,” he explained. “Rather than go through the entire hassle of setting up from scratch, we saw value in their groundwork, especially their plans to expand into Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania. They had already set up the operational processes in these countries.” Founded in 2021, Flitaa built its presence by listing lesser-traded cryptocurrency tokens. The startup grew to 72,544 users—with most of its operations in Kenya—and processed around 560,000 transactions monthly, according to internal figures. Its key advantage lay in its deep M-PESA integration and local traction in Kenya’s $100 million crypto market. This M-PESA integration allowed customers to easily buy, sell, and convert their crypto assets to Kenyan Shillings. Joseph Mutati served as Flitaa’s country manager in Kenya, helping to deepen the startup’s traction in the country. He also led the startup’s engagement with regulators and local partners. While Flitaa lacked intellectual property (IP) and regulatory licences and suffered poor app reviews, its user base and compliance posture made it a valuable off-ramp for Roqqu. M-PESA access is particularly important in Kenya, where banks are currently barred from providing services to crypto companies. Two investment analysts who spoke to TechCabal estimated the value of the deal to be between $85,000 and $350,000, citing Flitaa’s small user base and the limited spending power of its African customers, which kept its revenue potential low. Joseph Mutati did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the valuation. Roqqu declined to disclose the value of the deal. 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Former Land Rover engineer joins handful of Africa’s electric vehicle manufacturers
Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy with over 200 million people, has a nascent electric vehicle (EV) market. Only 15,000 to 20,000 EVs are currently on its roads, representing a mere 0.5% to 1% of the total vehicle fleet. While this shows progress from 5,000 EVs five years ago, it falls well short of government targets: 7.5% electric vehicle adoption by 2025 and 40% by 2050. High costs present a significant barrier, with a new electric vehicle averaging $25,000, several times Nigeria’s median annual income. Unreliable electricity, limited charging infrastructure, and underdeveloped transport and manufacturing systems further hinder progress. This challenge extends across Africa. Despite ambitious government targets for cleaner transport, supported by tax incentives and import duty waivers, older, imported petrol vehicles still dominate urban centres. A wave of innovative startups is emerging to bridge this gap. In Kenya, BasiGo deploys electric buses in Nairobi using a pay-as-you-drive model. Rwanda’s Ampersand pioneers electric motorcycles and battery-swapping networks, while Ghana’s SolarTaxi assembles EVs and tricycles with integrated solar charging. Another such startup is Kemet Automotive, co-founded by Nissi Ogulu and Rui Mendes Da Silva. Before Kemet, Da Silva had worked at companies providing electric mobility solutions, while Ogulu was building luxury cars at Jaguar. Having progressed from an intern to a critical role on the Range Rover project at Jaguar, the pandemic and its existential uncertainties encouraged her to leave behind her 9-5 for entrepreneurship. “Our mortality was laid bare [during the pandemic], forcing us to prioritise what truly matters,” she said. “I realised that the skills and position I had gained were tools I wanted to bring back to the continent for greater impact.” Kemet Automotive’s ambitious plans centre on its vehicle lineup: the Gezo tricycle, Nandi compact SUV, and Mansa premium SUV. According to Ogulu, the company is actively developing regional and global supply chains and establishing production facilities with a 2027 launch in mind. Nissi Ogulu and Rui Mendes Da Silva, co-founders of Kemet. Image source: Google Overcoming obstacles The journey, however, is fraught with challenges. Electric vehicle manufacturers face high costs, limited infrastructure, and consumer scepticism. Ogulu is frank about the hurdles: “It’s highly capital-intensive and time-consuming, with no instant gratification. The infrastructural demands and high capital expenditure create a steep barrier to entry.” She added that a fundamental issue is having to “build a system that does not exist.” A 2023 African Development Bank (AfDB) report underscores these difficulties, noting that Africa accounts for just 1% of global vehicle production. Supply chains rely heavily on imports due to underdeveloped regional networks, a process Ogulu estimates will take five to seven years to mature. Currently, Kemet has completed the design and prototype phases of six concept vehicles, including the Gezo tricycle, Nandi compact SUV, and Mansa premium SUV. The company is still in the manufacturing stage. Kemet’s strategy is to spread its manufacturing footprint across three specific geographical locations on the continent. A 2023 Mail & Guardian article reported Kemet’s plans to establish plants in Senegal and Ghana, with a primary facility in Côte d’Ivoire. However, Ogulu told TechCabal that Nigeria, her home country, will serve as a secondary site due to its market potential, despite infrastructural limitations. She declined to disclose the other two manufacturing locations, citing ongoing negotiations. According to her, Kemet selects its manufacturing site based on a few criteria: adoption readiness, progressive policies, favourable incentives, and proximity to market demand, as well as the ability to nurture the business in that environment. “We are in the development phase of our manufacturing structures,” Ogulu said. “We’ve done all the work with regards to the design phase, development of prototypes, et cetera. So it’s now down to creating your production chain and building your supply chain both regionally and internationally, and fully just understanding how you handle the arrival and dispersal of your supply chain management and the setup of the manufacturing plant.” The company is targeting a 2027 launch for its first fleet. Consumer readiness and affordability In Nigeria, fuel prices, which shot up by 40% in 2024, are driving curiosity about EVs. “People are researching what it means to own an electric vehicle,” Ogulu observed, citing the presence of Tesla Cybertrucks in Lagos. She noted that while there’s still education needed, “there is now the curiosity which is always the first step.” Kemet’s pricing strategy is designed to match what Nigerians already spend on vehicles. The company benchmarks its base models against popular brands like Toyota, targeting a price range of $20,000 to $25,000. For lower-income segments, Kemet is developing micromobility solutions, such as compact, affordable tricycles. Ogulu emphasises the importance of affordability: “It’s about ensuring that the amount of money people are spending today on vehicles is not surpassed when they need to buy ours and we offer solutions that can cater to a local market because of the fact that we will be locally manufacturing as well. So, it’s a convenient approach to purchasing as opposed to importing or going with dilapidated vehicles that are secondhand and just pollute everywhere.” Charging, range, and innovation Charging infrastructure remains a major bottleneck. Nigeria has fewer than 200 public charging stations, mostly concentrated in Lagos and Abuja. Across Africa, the number of charging points is growing but remains far below demand. South Africa leads with over 300 stations, while Kenya, Ghana, and Rwanda are rapidly expanding their networks. Kemet is addressing this through various approaches. “We’ve created varying systems that can cater to all the varying conditions,” Ogulu explains. They have partnerships with charging station companies in Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Benin, and Kenya, to whom they cater their technology. Kemet and one of their partners have also installed a few stations in Victoria Island, Lagos, acknowledging the current sparsity of charging points in Nigeria. The company is also exploring portable and supercharging solutions, aiming for vehicles with a range of up to 800 km per charge—enough for a trip from Lagos to Port Harcourt. Ogulu noted that they are developing their swapping stations, which will
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Only one in 100 internet users in Nigeria uses 9mobile. Can roaming turn things around?
Once a formidable player in Nigeria’s internet market, 9mobile now holds just over 1% of the internet subscriber base, raising questions about its future in a market where data has become the lifeblood of telecom operators. From a peak of 15.5 million internet subscribers in September 2015, the telco has plunged to 1.45 million as of May 2025, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) data. In a market of over 141 million internet users, only one in every hundred Nigerians chooses 9mobile. The decline comes at a time when internet services have become the primary growth driver for telecom operators. Rivals MTN and Airtel have aggressively invested in nationwide fibre, spectrum acquisitions, and 4G/5G expansion to consolidate their dominance. 9mobile, meanwhile, has struggled with infrastructure gaps, network quality complaints, and years of stagnant innovation. Now, the company is betting on a national roaming deal with MTN Nigeria to claw its way back into relevance. Roaming: A lifeline or a stopgap? In July 2025, 9mobile signed a three-year roaming agreement with MTN, allowing it to use MTN’s radio infrastructure in areas where it lacks coverage. The move gives 9mobile near-nationwide reach without the capital-intensive burden of building new towers—an arrangement it hopes will stabilise its shrinking internet user base. “We’re not freeloading,” said 9mobile CEO Obafemi Banigbe at the joint press briefing. “It’s a commercial agreement. Both parties are paying for what they use. It’s a win-win.” For years, poor coverage and inconsistent data speeds have plagued 9mobile’s service, driving internet users to competitors. The MTN deal addresses that weakness, but only partially. 9mobile hopes to retain existing internet users, attract new ones, and buy time to execute a deeper recovery strategy. Real recovery, analysts say, will depend on 9mobile’s ability to improve user experience and market itself as a credible alternative. “They are too far behind to build infrastructure,” said Ladi Okuneye, CEO of UniCloud Africa. “Their cash is best used for building on quality of service and a good user experience. I don’t think they will have enough cash to do both.” Can roaming lead to a comeback? The roaming agreement is part of a broader four-phase transformation plan, including infrastructure upgrades, core network overhaul, billing system modernisation, and a refreshed product suite. Banigbe also revealed that the company has secured investor commitments worth $3 billion for network transformation over the next four years. Whether the strategy is enough remains uncertain. Though there are precedents for network-sharing turnarounds—such as South Africa’s Cell C using MTN’s virtualised RAN to revive its prepaid business—the scale of 9mobile’s decline, and the intensity of Nigeria’s data wars, make this a much tougher climb. Rival operators like Airtel and Glo have not only secured scale but also brand trust and deep penetration in underserved areas. Meanwhile, Starlink, Spectranet, and other broadband challengers are offering alternatives in the fixed-wireless space. Okuneye believes the best recovery strategy will be for 9mobile to consider operating like a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) instead of investing in new infrastructure. “If they make it, they will need to renew the roaming deal (after three years) and probably sign others,” Okuneye said. “They essentially need to look at themselves as an MVNO. It is best they leverage someone else’s infrastructure.” What’s at stake Beyond commercial competition, 9mobile’s recovery—or lack thereof—has broader economic implications. The telecom sector is one of Nigeria’s biggest contributors to GDP and tax revenue. A weak or failing player reduces the sector’s resilience and limits customer choice. Regulators have long pushed for infrastructure sharing to lower costs, improve rural coverage, and boost digital inclusion. Speaking at the roaming sharing partnership announcement, MTN Nigeria’s CEO, Karl Toriola, said this is the first deal of its kind in West, East, and Central Africa. “This is not just a technical integration. It’s a shift in how we think about competition—towards collaboration,” he said. 9mobile’s roaming deal could become a model for how struggling telecom operators survive in the age of data. But the real test will be execution. Can 9mobile upgrade fast enough? Can it offer value that convinces users to return? Can it grow from 1% to 5%, or even 10%, of the market? These are questions only time and customers can answer. But one thing is clear: without a significant turnaround in its internet business, 9mobile’s future as a telecom operator in Nigeria remains uncertain. And in a country where data is increasingly synonymous with opportunity, relevance, and growth, staying small is no longer an option. 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
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