Why freelancers, influencers can’t escape Nigeria’s new tax rules
From January 2026, Nigeria’s new tax laws will require remote workers and freelancers to pay personal income tax, just like traditional employees. The tax rate will be capped at 25%. During a media briefing on Friday, Taiwo Oyedele, chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, explained how the government plans to monitor and collect taxes from freelancers and digital creators. “You are supposed to report yourself, calculate your tax, and pay if your income is above the threshold,” Oyedele said. Nigeria signed new tax reforms into law in June 2025 as part of its renewed effort to raise more revenue. The country aims to lift its tax-to-GDP ratio to 18% by 2027, from less than 10% today. Freelancers and influencers are a big part of that plan. Under the new law, self-employed individuals must self-declare their annual income. Failure to do so attracts penalties ranging from ₦50,000 ($34.11) for minor offences to ₦1 million ($682.28) or three years in prison for more serious violations. The tax authority is not stopping at these measures. According to Oyedele, when freelancers or influencers fail to self-report, the tax authority will rely on a system validation process to uncover unreported income. “If freelancers do not self-report, there is a system validation that has been created that pieces information together, including information that is available internationally,” he said. “In fact, two weeks ago, Nigeria got approval for an international tax code that aligns us with the rest of the world.” Nigeria also now has information exchange agreements with over 100 countries, allowing it to track offshore income. The government also plans to collaborate with global platforms like Google and Meta to identify payments made to Nigerians. “We already have information about what many Nigerians are doing abroad,” Oyedele said. “If you earn money online, the number of platforms paying you isn’t many—Google, Facebook, and a few more. We can go to them for income reports, just like they already collect VAT for us in Nigeria.” TechCabal reported in mid-September that Nigeria plans to grow tax and customs revenues to at least ₦17.85 trillion ($12.18 billion) in 2026, with technology playing a key role. Since 2021, the government has relied on platforms like TaxPro Max, to enable taxpayers to register, file, pay, and download tax clearance certificates online. “Leveraging technology, such as the automated tax administration system (TaxPro Max and E-services) to further simplify tax processes, drive voluntary tax compliance, increase revenue collection, and create a tax environment that is conducive for taxpayers to fulfil their tax obligations,” the government explained in a policy paper. To further enforce compliance, the FIRS plans to link its database with other agencies, including the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), allowing for real-time, third-party intelligence gathering. Note: exchange rate used: ₦1,465.68/$ 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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EchoVC ran a $2.5 million climate-tech experiment. Here’s how it went.
One of the most persistent (and often valid) criticisms of Africa’s venture capital ecosystem is that investors rarely publish case studies, reports, or essays outlining their thesis or track record. The result is an ecosystem where data beyond funding amounts is scarce, making it nearly impossible to track investor performance, portfolio impact, or sector-level learnings over time. But, EchoVC, a venture capital firm which counts Shuttlers and Cellulant among its portfolio companies, went against the norm. In September, it released a report that details the performance of its $2.5 million climate tech fund, which includes the fact that most climate tech startups do not need to raise equity capital, as a combination of equity, grants, and assets represent their best chance of achieving scale. Launched in 2023, the EchoVC Eco Pilot Fund was raised in partnership with Shell Foundation and UKAid as an experimental fund designed to back African founders building climate and climate-adjacent solutions, especially those serving smallholder farmers, transporters, and microentrepreneurs (MEs). The fund had two main objectives: write the first institutional cheques into founder-led African climate startups and test flexible financing and support structures for under-represented founders and underfunded sectors. The fund was intentionally designed as an experiment, each investment becoming “a small, high-learning, thoughtful experiment” with limited downside and significant upside. Two years later, it has backed 15 startups across sectors like energy storage, clean cooking, renewables, smart mini-grids, waste management, cooling, mobility, and the circular economy. For this week’s Ask an Investor, I spoke with Eghosa Omoigui, the managing partner of EchoVC, to understand why his firm prefers microfunds, his thoughts on how much funds should be raised, why equity does not work for climate tech startups, the missing middle in early-stage startup financing, and why development finance should be rethought for Africa. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Why does EchoVC mostly use microfunds? It’s something I have been curious about since I noticed that’s your fund’s strategy. We just think that they’re just better for the ecosystem. They meet the market where it is. When you raise a large fund, you want to write a $10 million cheque, but the challenge is that once you raise a fund that size, you start making very different deployment decisions. Eventually—where the market really needs a lot of help, which is under a million dollars—it just doesn’t make sense for you to write that size of cheque. We realised that the small-footprint vehicles are just better suited for the market. When there’s a small footprint, there are a few other things that come alongside that. One is that you are writing smaller cheques. Two is that you’re actually giving people permission to fail. With the bigger cheques, then you get all kinds of incentives coming into the equation—behaviours trying to preserve the look—whereas with smaller cheques, you fail, you fail. The final thing: in terms of how you drive liquidity—small cheques, low valuations—which means you can get lower-priced outcomes that are still really good. If you are writing a $5 million cheque out of a $100 million fund at, let’s say, a $25 million post-money valuation, you own 20% of the business. If the company exits at $100 million, your return is 4X—$20 million—which is really good. The problem is you have to return the fund, and when you look at traditional portfolio construction, only a handful of the companies in the portfolio will be able to do that. You’re still struggling to figure out how you’re going to return the fund. If you get some of these international investors to come in who are playing a different game, then expectations go from $100 million to a billion. That means you’re going to really need to work very hard because you’re going to get diluted. Over the years, we’ve realised that the smaller funds are just better suited for this market. 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From Bamboo to Trove: Where Nigerians are investing their money in 2025
Table of contents Bamboo Risevest Trove Piggyvest Optimus by Afrinvest MERITRADE by Meristem How can you invest in the Nigerian stock market? What investment can you start with ₦10,000? How can you make ₦1,000 a month investing? How can you invest with ₦100? Nigeria is an economy primarily driven by cash, with a limited range of credit facilities. And with this comes questions on how to generate, build, and sustain wealth, investments being one of them. However, there is no single path to investing, and the options are vast. Such as mutual funds, fixed income securities, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), and so on. “Beginners usually start with the goal to become financially free and independent, but they don’t break it down to what it means for them,” said Tijesunimi Oresanya, Manager, Solution Architecture (CEMEA) at Visa. “They should define their goals from the start. For example, I want to invest long-term or short-term. This will determine your risk tolerance and the type of investments appropriate for you.” For those considering different investment instruments and investment platforms, Oresanya highlights the need to pay attention to the details, especially the brokerage fees: “Sometimes investments come with some fees. The platform brokering for you may require a percentage for their service; beginners usually don’t factor this in when analysing an opportunity. A 1% fee over a long time can be very significant.” What are some Nigerian investment platforms? From conversations with financial advisors to recommendations from long-standing users, I pooled a list of apps you can explore if you are considering investing in the Nigerian stock market. So, whether you opt for a digital wealth manager or brokerage apps through which you can begin trading directly, here are a few you can consider in no particular order. 1. Bamboo Bamboo offers opportunities to invest and training resources for beginners and seasoned investors seeking to learn about the investment landscape. With 3.5k+ stocks to choose from and over 500,000 users, the app leverages AI-driven market insights to alert users on investment opportunities. The investment app also allows you to begin trading with zero paperwork, requiring only your contact details and National Identification Number (NIN). With Bamboo, you can trade stocks and ETFs, invest directly in Nigerian and US stocks, and manage your investments, all within the app. Its fixed income allows for up to 8% annual returns in USD and up to 21.4% annual returns on Naira savings. The investment app offers the option to invest with low minimums, starting as low as $1. Bamboo’s mobile app is available to download on the App Store and the Play Store. TL;DR: Invest in U.S and Nigerian stocks No Paperwork, just your NIN and contact details Invest with as low as $1 2. Risevest Risevest allows you to make dollar-dominated investments in Global and U.S markets, including U.S real estate. These investments can yield returns ranging from 8% to 15%. However, Rise is not a brokerage app, but functions as a digital wealth or asset manager. It does not offer direct trading. But rather curates and presents portfolios in US stocks, US real estate, and global fixed income assets, to balance risk and reward, while you choose how much you want to invest. Along with curating the stocks with long-term payoffs, Rise has investment experts and professionals to manage these investments on behalf of users. Compared to other platforms, Risevest. Risevest and its subsidiary, Chaka, accumulate a customer base of 620,000 users. The app is accessible on your smartphone on the Play Store or App Store. TL;DR: Invest in dollar-denominated assets Users cannot trade directly, but have their assets managed by Risevest experts Invest in US stocks, real estate, or global fixed income portfolios 3. Trove Along with providing a platform to invest in over 4,000 US and Nigerian assets, Trove also offers learning resources through its product, Trove University, where you can learn about investing and earn points. You can then use your points to redeem rewards such as airtime or data, and trading fee credits. Through microinvesting, Trove also allows you to gift shares to others, such as family and loved ones. Through leveraging the community, the app allows for social investing, where you can connect with friends within the app and explore other investors’ holdings. Trove shows breakdowns of others’ investment portfolios, including their bonds, stocks, and track records. The app has no minimum investment amount, and yields up to 20% annual returns on Nigerian savings and 5.5% on U.S. dollar savings. The app aggregates a customer base of over 400,000 registered users. Trove is available as a mobile app on the App Store and the Play Store. TL;DR: Social investing tools to connect with friends and seasoned investors Offers investment education for users to earn points and redeem rewards Allows low minimums to invest with as little as $1 4. Piggyvest Originally a savings app, Piggyvest presents an array of investment options within a 6-12 month timeframe, and up to 35% returns. With their product, Investify, you can purchase ‘Corporate Debt Notes’, backed by companies with as little as ₦5,000. Or you can purchase ‘Sovereign Debt Notes’, backed by the government, with about ₦12,000 to ₦ 19,000, and are short to medium term. Piggyvest also offers pre-vetted opportunities to invest in real estate, agriculture, and even transportation. However, some of these opportunities are available periodically and sell out quickly, so you will have to be on the lookout. Nearly 6 million people have used the app’s savings and investing platform. You can invest through the web app or the mobile app available on the App Store or the Play Store. TL;DR: Can invest with as little as ₦5,000 Investments are within a 6-12 month timeframe Pre-vetted opportunities in real estate, agriculture, and transportation 5. Optimus by Afrinvest Through Afrinvest Asset Management Limited, a portfolio manager licensed by the SEC, you can invest in US and Nigerian stocks, mutual funds, fixed deposits, and other high-yield options. With Optimus by Afrinvest, you can
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The “anti-HR” HR firm where employees come first: Day 1-1000 of CareerBuddy
When people think of HR, they think of a department that is there to further the company’s interests. “HR is not your friend,” employees claim. But for Abraham Iyiola, this was the very problem he needed to solve. After leading recruitment at Jumia and seeing the disconnect between companies and their employees firsthand, he became obsessed with a simple, radical idea: what if a recruitment firm acted, not as a corporate gatekeeper, but as a genuine friend to the job seeker? He started by doing favours for friends, helping them fill roles in their companies. From those accidental beginnings, he built CareerBuddy – a company that would rather walk away from a paying client than place a candidate in a toxic work situation, and one that has chosen to bootstrap its way in the market to prove that in the business of people, values can be a sustainable competitive advantage. Day 1: The accidental company Abraham Iyiola was burnt out and didn’t want to be a recruiter anymore. After two years as Head of Recruiting at Jumia, where he hired over 1,200 people, he was done. He had seen the disconnect firsthand: the way the company casually spoke about firing staff, the employees just going through the motions. He wanted a break, so he left. The idea for CareerBuddy seeded around the time; a company that would be a “friend” to job seekers, balancing the scales in a system that often favoured the employer, but he was “dilly-dallying.” He thought, “I need more research, I need to understand the market,” and even took another job. Then, the first client came. Not through a pitch, but a favour. A friend from his Jumia days, Anu, founder of Sabi Africa, was building Rensource Energy at the time and needed to hire. “Look, you’re the best recruiter I know. I need people that I can trust,” she told him. His response was, “I’m not really interested in that.” She insisted, offering to provide whatever resources he needed to make the hire. So, he went in search of the hire the company needed. “It started like her and a few other people just saying, ‘Can you help me find someone? Can you help me find someone?’” Iyiola recalls. There was no business plan, no grand launch. Just a founder, his network, and a growing pile of requests from friends who refused to let his talent go to waste. {newsletter} Days 10-500: Referrals and a reality check In the beginning, the “company” was just Iyiola, operating on the side. He’d connect people he knew from his Jumia network with the founders who were now asking for his help. The first placement was a senior customer operations executive for Rensource Energy. “I’m not even sure that counts as day one,” he says, “because it was like I’m doing it for a friend.” But a pattern emerged. “People started coming based on referrals and word of mouth.” The demand became undeniable. He was getting “swamped.” The turning point from side hustle to real company was the day he hired his first employee, someone who knew nothing about recruiting, trained from scratch, just to manage the inflow. This organic, referral-only growth was validating. “We never had a period where we felt like, okay it wasn’t going to work, because the moment I was clear that we want[ed] to do this… it became a life mission,” Iyiola says. Feedback from placed candidates cemented the feeling that CareerBuddy was a company the world needed. But the grind of bootstrapping brought a stark moment of truth. There was a period when “clients didn’t pay us on time,” Iyiola says. The financial pressure mounted, threatening the company’s survival. In a move that defies the typical startup narrative, it was a client, not an investor, who intervened. “One of our clients literally said, ‘You know what? How much do you need to survive for the next six months? I’m going to give you that,’” Iyiola recounts. The client proposed deducting the advance from future recruitment fees. For Iyiola, this was the ultimate proof of concept. “That’s when I knew personally, okay, this is a thing that needs to be done, and I need to continue to make sure it gets done no matter what.” Days 500-1000: Crystallising the ‘Anti-HR’ ethos With survival assured, CareerBuddy’s culture hardened into its core differentiator. Iyiola made an intentional, defining choice: they would not raise venture capital. “I personally wanted to have control over the people that we hire, how we build the company culture,” he states. They wanted to prove the business could thrive on the value it delivered alone. This independence allowed them to fully embrace their identity as the “anti-HR” HR firm. Their North Star became the candidate experience, even when it hurt the bottom line. “If we are dealing with a client and a candidate and we know the client is treating the candidate badly, we take the side of the candidate even though we’re going to lose money,” Iyiola says. They built systems for “over-communication,” ensuring no candidate was left in the dark, and began vetting clients, walking away from companies with toxic cultures. This philosophy was tested when a founder wanted to fire a new hire whom Iyiola had placed. Instead of accepting the loss, CareerBuddy intervened. “We sat with the candidate to work out a plan… and we then told the founder, ‘Look, this person is good, they’re having some challenge adjusting to the pace.’” They created a performance plan, the employee succeeded, and stayed with the company long-term. For Iyiola, this was the human-centric approach in action, the core of their work that no algorithm could ever replace. CareerBuddy went from a one-person initiative to a full fledged recruitment startup that puts employee interest first. Image Source: CareerBuddy Day 1000+ Looking back, Iyiola sees a personal transformation. A self-professed short-term thinker who “get(s) bored easily,” he has found a life’s work in CareerBuddy’s “persistent problems.” His vision is no
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“50% of startups in our portfolio have raised follow-on funding” – Brenton Naicker, Crypto Valley VC
Crypto Valley VC (CV VC)’s Africa Blockchain Fund has invested in 13 startups across five countries—Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, and Ghana—since it began deploying capital in 2022. The $20 million fund, managed by the Swiss blockchain-focused VC firm but deploying capital in Africa, is one of the few investors writing early-stage cheques into Web3 companies on the continent. The fund started with a commitment of $125,000 for a 7% convertible note. After seeing the realities of building in African markets, CV VC adjusted its model to $150,000 for a 6% note. African early-stage founders often face high costs from poor internet access, unreliable electricity, and limited developer resources, according to Brenton Naicker, CV VC Principal and Head of Growth. The revised approach was designed to give teams more room to grow while keeping the terms attractive to both sides. Naicker said the progress so far has been encouraging. “We are in a very privileged position to have had approximately 50% of the startups in our portfolio go on to raise further funding,” said Naicker. “Beyond that, our companies are serving tier-one clients across the continent, such as Standard Bank and Visa, and their work has been recognised globally.” 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 fintech-heavy portfolio More than half of the fund’s Web3 investments are in fintech, with the rest spread across agritech, travel, and other sectors. Naicker said the weight of activity in fintech is consistent with where venture money flows more broadly across Africa. “In the traditional space, roughly half of all venture dollars on the continent go to fintech, and we see the same in blockchain,” said Naicker. “It is the most mature vertical, with startups that show the strongest traction and scalability.” The firm’s portfolio includes companies like Ivorypay, a Nigerian startup which helps small businesses accept crypto payments. The startup has processed more than $100 million in total payment volume (TPV) and raised follow-on capital. In South Africa, Altify, an alternative investment platform, has attracted over 70,000 users and manages over $20 million in assets. In July, CV VC added TurnStay, a South African tourism and travel payments company, which closed a $2 million seed round, in the latest disclosed addition to its portfolio. CV VC has also backed Shamba Records, a regenerative agritech startup in Kenya already recognised in the media for its impact work. Though exits remain rare in Africa’s Web3 ecosystem, Naicker said CV VC expects most deals to come through acquisitions by global firms seeking licences, payments infrastructure and local expertise, especially as more markets move toward regulatory clarity. 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
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Faith Koki built Silo Africa to take on a $4 billion post-harvest challenge
In Kenya, harvest season is bittersweet for farming communities. They work the land for months, but within weeks of harvest, nearly half of their crops are gone, lost to pests and diseases like weevils and mould. Across Africa, this crisis swallows over 40% of all harvested grain every year, food worth more than $4 billion. In Kenya alone, the loss reaches $720 million annually, keeping smallholder families trapped in poverty. For Faith Koki, these were not abstract statistics. She grew up in a farming family and remembers the heartbreak of watching food rot before it could be eaten or sold. “For me, it became personal when I realised that post-harvest losses were forcing people into debt cycles. I wanted to build something that gave farmers control and dignity over their harvest.” That conviction became Silo Africa, a social agritech enterprise now transforming how smallholder farmers store, trade, and profit from their crops. Today, the company has reached more than 3,200 households and empowered 4,260 women. This work earned Koki the Bayer Foundation Women Empowerment Award, placing her among Africa’s boldest women innovators. Image Source: Bayer Foundation From workshop prototypes to SmartSilo At its core, Silo Africa is about transforming how smallholder farmers store and protect crops. Its flagship product, SmartSilo is a solar-powered, airtight system that eliminates the need for chemical preservatives. Sensors, known as SiloSense, track moisture, temperature, carbon dioxide, and stock levels in real time, alerting farmers to early signs of spoilage. “Farmers get this data via a mobile app or SMS. If CO₂ spikes, it signals insect activity; if humidity rises, they act before mould spreads. It turns storage from guesswork into science,” Koki explains. Early prototypes were rough, pieced together with the help of local welders. “The first versions weren’t perfect, but farmers gave us constant feedback,” Koki recalls. “We tested in the field, improved sealing systems, added solar, and simplified the user interface. It was an iterative process.” The decision to make SmartSilo solar-powered was driven by necessity. “Rural areas often lack grid power, so solar was the only reliable choice,” Koki notes. The result is a system that keeps grain safe from insects and mould for even years without chemicals, powered reliably even in off-grid areas. “Just as mobile money revolutionised access to finance, I believed Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled storage could revolutionise grain preservation,” says Koki. “The science behind hermetic storage already worked—technology simply made it accessible, transparent, and scalable.” Connectivity challenges in rural Africa also shaped the design. “We built it for ‘offline-first,’” Koki explains. “Data is stored locally and synced when connectivity returns. Farmers can still get critical alerts via SMS, which works even in low-network areas. That way, grain protection doesn’t depend on perfect connectivity.” A SmartSilo costs between $800 and $1,200 to produce depending on size, far out of reach for most smallholder farmers. To close that gap, Silo Africa introduced flexible financing, including pay-as-you-store, lease-to-own, and seasonal repayment cycles aligned with harvest times. “We safeguard repayment by working with groups and cooperatives—peer accountability reduces defaults. The goal is access without debt pressure.” The business model is carefully structured for sustainability. “We combine direct sales, lease-to-own financing, and subscription fees for IoT and cloud services,” Koki details. “The Kuza Trading Hub and Warehouse Receipts also generate transaction fees. This hybrid model keeps us sustainable while lowering barriers for farmers.” 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
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Pesalink wants to be Kenya’s “digital payments rail.” Can it pull it off?
Sending money in Kenya is still more complicated than it looks. A payment that starts in a bank account often transfers through a mobile wallet before reaching a merchant, with each leg taking a fee, and each system jealously guarding its own rails. Commercial banks’ answer has been Pesalink, an instant transfer platform that promises to cut out those detours. But eight years after launch, its ability to simplify Kenya’s payments landscape depends less on technology than on politics. Wider ambition? When the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) launched Pesalink in 2017, the aim was to enable customers to transfer money between banks instantly, without the delays and charges associated with traditional interbank transfers. At the time, the only way to move money digitally between financial institutions was through electronic funds transfer (EFT) or real-time gross settlement (RTGS)—systems that were clunky, slow, and unsuitable for retail use. “Before PesaLink came about, the only ways you could move money between banks digitally were EFT or RTGS — neither of which are real-time,” recalls Gituku Kirika, CEO of Integrated Payments Services Ltd (IPSL), the company that owns and runs Pesalink. Since its launch, Pesalink has worked largely as a back-office convenience, a utility for the banking sector rather than a household name. But the payments landscape around it has shifted rapidly. M-Pesa has become Kenya’s dominant channel, processing an estimated KES 8 trillion ($61.9 billion) a year, while Airtel Money, Telkom’s T-Kash, and a growing roster of fintech wallets are racing to claw out niches. As of 2024, Kenya had 73 million registered mobile money accounts — and a deeply fragmented ecosystem. Banks, fintechs, and Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) each maintain their own networks, agents are duplicated, and merchants must juggle multiple systems. “You go to a pharmacy in Nairobi and you find they’ve been signed up by five different entities,” says Kirika. “That’s duplication of effort, duplication of technology, and time-consuming for the owner. One shared agent infrastructure would cut those inefficiencies.” Kirika says Pesalink’s leadership is pushing to reposition the platform as the shared infrastructure that links banks, mobile money wallets, SACCOs, and fintechs into one interoperable payment ecosystem. “Our role is to reduce friction in payments,” he says. “That means building rails that everyone can ride on — not just banks.” Global trends Globally, the trend is toward open, centralised rails. India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has become the benchmark of a government-backed platform. In August, it processed over 12 billion transactions, surpassing the total volume of card payments in the US for that same month. Nigeria’s NIBSS Instant Payments (NIP) now underpins over 90% of bank-to-bank transfers in Africa’s fourth biggest economy. Both systems have scaled by offering a single integration point for all players and reducing transaction costs through sheer volume. Kirika believes Kenya’s version of UPI or NIBSS could be Pesalink. The comparisons flatter Pesalink but also expose its weaknesses. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has outlined a National Payments Strategy and consulted on a fast payments system. But unlike India or Nigeria, it has stopped short of mandating a single national switch. Pesalink is still wholly owned by the KBA. “World over, the rule is that the governance — that’s the decision-making, the shareholding — should be representative of the payment participants,” Kirika explains. “It’s something we would definitely need to look into.” That governance gap shapes perceptions. Fintechs and other wallets worry about plugging into a system run by their competitors. The regulator, meanwhile, is balancing the desire for lower costs and interoperability with concerns about competition from a bank-dominated switch. Kirika says IPSL is in “constant” dialogue with the CBK as it reviews the National Payments System Act and rolls out its consumer protection framework. Hop-step-jump Pesalink aims to streamline the payment process for the majority of users with multiple accounts, eliminating the need for multiple layers. Because transactions do not have to “hop” from bank to mobile wallet to merchant, fees can be lower. “Today, for example, you find wallet providers where if you need to move money to a bank, it moves from the wallet provider to the mobile money wallet, from there to the bank. That’s a hop. There’s a cost to it,” Kirika says. “By opening up ecosystems, we reduce the costs that have been passed on to payment participants. You’d hope then that would translate to lower costs for consumers.” Each hop adds friction for businesses and consumers. The company promises fewer hops and lower wholesale costs, which could in turn drive down retail fees. But it does not set consumer pricing — that is left to banks and wallets. Much will depend on whether they see volume growth as worth lowering their margins. In theory, the economics are compelling for most small players. Today, a fintech launching in Kenya must negotiate separately with banks and telcos, each integration carrying technical and commercial costs. By offering a one-stop gateway, Pesalink cuts entry barriers, which can be passed to consumers as lower fees. Pesalink already connects 80 service providers, including all major banks and several SACCOs. Talks are underway with Safaricom and Airtel to bring their wallets fully on board. However, if the platform can prove itself at the merchant and agent level, it could gain real traction. While CBK has been discussing agent interoperability, little progress has been made as dominant players have pushed back. This would allow one agent to serve all the banks on a single system rather than each bank or telco recruiting the same chemist or kiosk multiple times. If successful, the prize could be a seamless system where a customer can walk into any agent — bank, telco, or SACCO — and transact without worrying whose sign hangs above the door. Other African markets are experimenting along similar lines. Uganda’s banks formed the Agent Banking Company in 2018, creating a shared agent network now numbering over 20,000 outlets. In Ghana, the GhIPSS (Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems) switch enables wallet-to-bank
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Car washers in South Africa’s biggest cities can now receive instant digital payments
Street Wallet, a South African cashless payment fintech, has partnered with Plush Car Wash, a popular car care brand, to introduce digital payments to informal car washers in Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg. Through this partnership, Street Wallet will embed its payment system into Plush’s network of informal car washers, many of whom are unbanked or underbanked, a way to receive instant device-free payments. In South Africa, where over 40% of working-age citizens are unemployed or discouraged from seeking work, the streets have become the country’s largest informal economy hub. For thousands of workers who survive on car washing and other street-level services, this partnership signals a shift that cash-heavy, insecure transactions are giving way to digital payments that do not require smartphones or bank accounts. Using Street Wallet’s QR code payment, mobile washers wear a card around their neck, customers scan it using familiar platforms like SnapScan, Zapper, Apple Pay, or Samsung Pay, and vendors receive earnings via Standard Bank Instant Money Vouchers, redeemable at ATMs or retailers. Unlike SnapScan or Ozow, Street Wallet does not require vendors to own a smartphone or bank account. That’s a game-changer for car guards, dry washers, and other informal workers operating in high-footfall zones. “Our teams operate in high-footfall zones where speed and ease matter. Street Wallet gives us a flexible, secure system that benefits both staff and customers,” said Plush CEO Neil Meyerowitz. While Street Wallet already has a strong footprint in Cape Town and Durban, this partnership strengthens the Johannesburg market, a city with the highest concentration and proportion of informal workers after Durban. “This partnership shows how digital convenience can meet everyday services, securely, simply, and inclusively,” said Street Wallet CEO Kosta Scholiadis. The partnership follows Street Wallet’s $350,000 raise in August at a $2 million valuation, aimed at scaling its reach across South Africa’s informal economy. The startup also acquired Digitip, a QR code payment digital tipping startup, to consolidate its tech stack and accelerate merchant onboarding. Scholiadis noted that Street Wallet is betting that the future of fintech lies not just in apps, but in accessible, device-free solutions that meet people where they are. 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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Pesalink eyes premium payments market with Cellulant integration
Pesalink, Kenya’s interbank money transfer platform, is linking its network with Cellulant, a pan-African fintech, through Tingg, its digital payments platform for businesses. The link will make it easier for online merchants to accept high-value customer-to-business (C2B) payments. The alliance immediately expands Pesalink’s reach into the digital commerce sector by providing merchants direct access to millions of bank customers while addressing critical reconciliation and delay friction points in digital transactions. It is a decisive strategic manoeuvre by Pesalink to capture a larger share of Kenya’s digital commerce market, an area historically dominated by mobile money ecosystems. Pesalink is also positioning itself as the preferred, high-value infrastructure for real-time transactions by taking advantage of Cellulant’s established merchant base. Under the new arrangement, consumers purchasing from Cellulant merchants can make instant payments up to KES 999,999 ($7,700) per transaction directly from their bank accounts. This high cap exceeds the typical mobile money limit of KES 500,000 ($3,900), positioning the partnership to capture larger commerce volumes. A core benefit for businesses is improved operational efficiency because every payment carries a reliable reference number for instant reconciliation and faster settlement. The service is already live for businesses in the airline and travel sectors. This renewed strategic focus signals the banking sector’s intent to reinforce its existing infrastructure. The strategy counters earlier proposals from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to build an entirely new fast payment system, a plan opposed by banks who favour upgrading the existing Pesalink system. Pesalink has previously faced limitations integrating with mobile money wallets, a structural weakness it is actively addressing through recent partnerships, including a focus on enhancing bulk payments for small enterprises. It recently extended this integration with M-PESA and TendePay. Kenya’s digital payments market is projected to reach $9.36 billion by 2025, according to industry estimates. The tie-up positions Pesalink and Cellulant to compete for a larger slice of those flows, especially in high-value segments where banks see an edge over mobile money. 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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What developers, startups, and users will gain with Base and Solana bridge
On September 15, Base, the layer-2 (L2) blockchain owned by US crypto firm Coinbase, announced an open-source bridge that connects its network to Solana, the layer-1 (L1) network. The bridge, which is currently being tested and will be live in a “few weeks,” will allow crypto tokens to move directly between the two blockchains without routing through an exchange, reducing the risk of lost funds and expanding access for users and startups. Base has grown rapidly in 2025, with total value locked (TVL) reaching $5 billion and a stablecoin supply of $4.5 billion. Solana remains one of the largest blockchain networks in crypto, recording 2.2 million daily active wallets in Q1 2025, up 60% year-over-year (YoY), and a peak of 120 million monthly active addresses in 2024. Between them, Base and Solana handle more than $220 billion in crypto trades every month, driven by Solana’s high throughput and dominance in trading and Base’s growing on-chain activity. A bridge between the two blockchains will expand liquidity access, making it easier for users, traders, and developers to move crypto assets and participate in markets across both networks. 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But sending tokens directly across the two blockchains without a bridge—for example, transferring USDC from a Solana wallet straight to a Base address—would result in permanent loss of funds. The bridge solves that problem by locking assets on one side and issuing equivalent assets on the other. The process ensures asset transfers between Solana and Base become homogeneous. David Salami, CTO of Hyperbridge, a blockchain interoperability protocol built by Polytope Labs, said the move also highlights a deeper issue in bridging systems. “Trusted bridges like LayerZero and Wormhole rely on multisignatures or custodians, which means users must depend on a third party for security,” said Salami. “In a highly adversarial environment like crypto, that model does not scale. Coinbase [Base] built its own bridge because it did not want to entrust user funds to someone else’s system.” It remains unclear whether Base’s new bridge will be fully trustless, meaning one that verifies transactions directly on-chain without relying on third-party custodians or multisignature signers. Base has not released full technical details, and the code is still in testnet. That leaves open the question of how much users will need to trust intermediaries in the bridge’s design. What changes for startups and users Liquidity is the immediate prize. Liquidity refers to the pool of money in the system. Larger pools lead to steadier prices and lower costs for trading. By connecting Base and Solana, the bridge combines two markets, making it easier for exchanges, traders, and market makers to operate at scale. Cross-chain transaction volume surged from $18.6 billion in September 2024 to $50 billion by November 2024, a 188% increase, and has remained steady in 2025. Average fees on existing trusted third-party Solana bridges, including Base’s, cost up to 0.2% per transaction, but well below traditional exchange costs. “Base wants Solana traders to be able to trade on Base too,” said Divinegift Soetan, founder of Importa, a Nigerian social commerce platform built on Base. “That brings liquidity into Base. It matters most for products
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