Techstars-backed fintech Chimoney shuts down, to refund customer balances
Chimoney, a Nigerian-founded fintech that built cross-border payment infrastructure for businesses, has shut down, citing a lack of capital to sustain operations. In a May 1 email seen by TechCabal, the Canada-based startup told customers it had stopped processing new transactions and integrations and had begun refunding customer balances. “As of May 1, 2026, Chimoney has ceased all new transactions and integrations,” the email read. “No balance on file: No action needed on your end. This is our final operational email.” Businesses that relied on Chimoney’s payment rails will now have to find alternatives, exposing the fragility of building on startup infrastructure: when the provider goes down, so does the payment rail. Founded in 2022 by Uchi Uchibeke, Chimoney enabled businesses to pay freelancers and vendors in 41 currencies across Africa, North America, and Latin America. The startup provided businesses with a single API for cross-border payments, supporting bank transfers, mobile money, airtime, gift cards, and stablecoin rails for off-ramps. In 2023, it joined the Techstars Toronto accelerator. Chimoney raised $280,000 in total funding, according to startup directory Crunchbase, excluding undisclosed grants. Uchibeke said this figure was closer to $1 million. “Under $1 million is too thin for a venture-scale fintech across multiple jurisdictions,” Uchibeke said in an emailed response to TechCabal. “I should have either raised meaningfully more or bootstrapped properly with a profitable beachhead. Trying to operate at venture scale on bootstrap capital was the wrong strategy.” Chimoney notified investors of its planned wind-down in February 2026 and clients in April, according to Uchibeke. The company also published migration guides for developers before halting transactions on April 30. Uchibeke noted that client wallet balances are being refunded through a self-service dashboard that will remain open until August 31, 2026. Clients can select their preferred payment method, submit account details, and complete two-factor authentication. Chimoney said refunds are being processed within seven to 14 business days. Uchibeke added that unclaimed balances after August 2026 will be transferred to the relevant provincial unclaimed property offices, in line with Canada’s framework for dormant and unclaimed balances. “When revenue stayed flat, and there was no clear path to additional capital, the responsible decision was to wind down while we could still return every client dollar and meet every regulatory obligation,” he said. Chimoney processed tens of thousands of transactions for hundreds of business and enterprise clients, according to Uchibeke, although he declined to disclose exact figures. He said the company never solved distribution at scale, partly because too much focus was placed on product development over customer acquisition. The company had positioned itself as an early mover in API-first cross-border payouts and said it was one of the first production Interledger payment providers globally. In 2025, it attempted to reposition itself around AI agent payment infrastructure, allowing AI agents to hold wallets and move money under policy controls. “The thinking was that the convergence of agentic AI, stablecoins, and our existing infrastructure (Interledger wallets, multi-chain support, licenced rails, identity layer) put us in a defensible position,” Uchibeke said. “We shipped it, [but] it did not generate enough traction in time. The distribution and customer acquisition didn’t move fast enough on the runway we had left.” The pivot coincided with Chimoney securing a Payment Service Provider (PSP) licence under the Bank of Canada’s Retail Payment Activities Act (RPAA) in November 2025, allowing it to hold end-user funds. Despite the shutdown, Uchibeke said Chimoney’s parent entity, Chi Technologies Inc., will remain active and retain its PSP licence under dormant status. Chimoney is the latest venture Uchibeke has wound down, following the closure of AfricaHacks in 2023, a developer-focused community platform that later evolved into the World Innovation League (WII), a Canadian non-profit focused on digital skills and workforce development. He has also built several other products, including Oruly, a hybrid AI-and-human task outsourcing platform, and Food Waste Log, a food-waste tracking tool for restaurants. Uchibeke is now building APort, a separate product that requires AI agents to request and receive authorisation before they move money, change data, or trigger other sensitive actions on behalf of businesses. He said the new company is independent from Chimoney and carries none of its customer balances or regulatory obligations.
Read MoreTelecom subscribers may feel impact as IHS Towers slows infrastructure projects
IHS Towers is slowing infrastructure spending as rising costs across African markets force telecom companies to rethink expansion plans, a move that could also slow efforts to improve network quality for millions of mobile subscribers. On Tuesday, the tower company reported capital spending of $41.4 million in the first quarter of 2026, a 5.3% drop compared to the same period last year. IHS attributed the decline to “phasing” of some of its discretionary spending, meaning it is spreading out or delaying non-essential growth projects. At the same time, the company’s cost of sales rose to $183.6 million, up 5.64% from the previous year. The slowdown in capital spending could have direct implications for telecom subscribers. Tower companies like IHS provide the infrastructure used by operators such as MTN, Airtel, and 9mobile to deliver mobile and internet services. When expansion spending slows, the rollout of new towers, network upgrades, and fibre infrastructure may also slow, especially in rural and underserved areas. IHS is slowing down or postponing some expansion work, such as building new towers, upgrading power systems, or expanding fibre networks, while focusing more on projects that can deliver quicker returns. For subscribers, the impact could mean slower improvements in network quality, weaker coverage in crowded urban areas, and delays in the expansion of 4G and 5G services. Data demand across Nigeria continues to rise as more people rely on video streaming, fintech apps, social media, and remote work. According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the country had more than 153 million active internet subscriptions as of March 2026. Slower infrastructure expansion could make it harder for telecom operators to keep up with that growing demand. The cautious spending reflects a wider shift across Africa’s telecom industry, where tower companies are focusing more on efficiency than rapid expansion. Rising energy prices, inflation, and foreign exchange pressures have increased the cost of building and maintaining telecom infrastructure, pushing operators to prioritise projects that can generate faster returns. In Nigeria, IHS Towers’ biggest market, rising diesel prices and higher maintenance costs have made network expansion more expensive. Even so, the company increased spending in the country to $16.4 million in the first quarter of 2026, up from $11.2 million during the same period last year, according to its financial statements. The spending slowdown in overall spending also comes at a time of major strategic change for the company. In February 2026, IHS Towers announced plans to sell its Latin American tower business to Macquarie Asset Management and its 51% stake in I-Systems to TIM S.A. It is also preparing for a proposed $2.2 billion acquisition by MTN Group, expected to be completed later in 2026. Even though the company spent less on expansion, it still performed better financially in the quarter. Revenue from its ongoing operations went up by 6% to $415.4 million. Profit from core operations, measured as adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation (EBITDA), also rose by 6.4% to $268.7 million. Cash flow increased further, rising 15.8% to $173.5 million, mainly because the company paid less interest on its debt. Sam Darwish, chairman and chief executive officer of IHS Towers, said the results reflected “disciplined execution and continued commercial momentum across the business.” The company’s tower portfolio also continued to shift. Total tower count fell by 1,571 year-on-year to 37,641 towers, mainly due to the disposal of its Rwanda operations in late 2025. Tenant numbers also declined, partly because of the exit of Nigerian telecom operator T2, formerly known as 9mobile, from some sites under a restructuring agreement. “It was agreed that T2 (former 9mobile) would vacate our sites in exchange for a contractual commitment to settle portions of its historic overdue balances through July, 2027,” the company noted in its Q1 2026 report. “As a result, the total number of tenants was 54,854 at the end of the first quarter.” Still, IHS Towers said the underlying demand for telecom infrastructure remains steady. Excluding the impact of the Rwanda disposal and tenant exits, the company added 865 net new tenants over the past year. Lease amendments, which reflect additional services and equipment installed on towers, rose by 5,593 year-on-year. The company’s decision to slow capital spending mirrors actions taken by other telecom operators and infrastructure firms across the continent. Airtel Africa recently warned that rising energy costs linked to geopolitical tensions were affecting margins, while MTN Rwanda said it was maintaining stricter discipline around infrastructure spending.
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Sony Xperia 1 VIII just launched: Here’s everything you need to know
Table of contents Features of the Sony Xperia 1 VIII Sony Xperia 1 VIII price Sony Xperia 1 VIII vs. Sony Xperia 1 VII Sony today announced the Xperia 1 VIII, its flagship Android phone for the year. Pre-orders opened the same day across Europe and select Asian markets, with shipments set to begin on June 26, 2026. The phone is built for creators. Sony has kept the features that fans of the Xperia line have always relied on, including the 3.5 mm headphone jack, a microSD card slot, a dedicated two-stage shutter button, and front-firing stereo speakers. On top of that, it brings a larger telephoto sensor, a new design, the latest Qualcomm chip, and an AI camera tool that Sony calls the AI Camera Assistant. If you have been following Sony’s Xperia line, this is the most significant upgrade in a few years. Here is everything you need to know. Features of the Sony Xperia 1 VIII Image source: Sony | Xperia on YouTube 1. Display The Xperia 1 VIII uses a 6.5-inch LTPO OLED panel with a 1080 x 2340 (FHD+) resolution, a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, and a 120 Hz adaptive refresh rate. It supports one billion colours with HDR coverage across the BT.2020 wide-gamut standard, and the screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. Peak brightness sits at around 1,510 nits according to GSMArena’s lab measurements, a slight step up from the 1,475 nits recorded on the Xperia 1 VII. The bezels are slim and symmetrical, with no punch-hole cutout. The front camera sits in the top bezel, as it has on every Xperia 1 before this one. 2. Chipset and performance The Xperia 1 VIII is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (SM8850-AC, 3 nm), with an octa-core CPU comprising two 4.6 GHz Oryon V3 Phoenix L cores and six 3.62 GHz Oryon V3 Phoenix M cores, paired with the Adreno 840 GPU. Sony says the chip delivers about 20% better processing performance than the previous generation, with improved power efficiency across everyday tasks such as gaming, app launches, and content creation. Early benchmark numbers from GSMArena put the AnTuTu 10 score at around 2,312,684 and the Geekbench 6 score at 9,278. The chip’s NPU handles on-device AI tasks under Sony’s Xperia Intelligence branding, which powers the AI Camera Assistant and the new Processing Optimisation feature for battery efficiency. 3. Camera system The cameras are the headline story of this generation. All three rear cameras use Zeiss optics with the Zeiss T* anti-reflective coating, and Sony has extended RAW multi-frame processing to every lens for the first time. That means the ultrawide and telephoto now benefit from the same dynamic range boost and low-light noise reduction that previously only applied to the main camera. Here is how the three rear cameras break down: Main (24 mm): 48 MP, 1/1.35-inch Exmor T sensor, f/1.9, dual-pixel PDAF, OIS. This is unchanged from the Xperia 1 VII. Telephoto (70 mm): 48 MP, 1/1.56-inch sensor, f/2.8, dual-pixel PDAF, OIS, 2.9x optical magnification, minimum focus distance of 15 cm. This is the biggest hardware upgrade on the phone. Ultrawide (16 mm): 48 MP, 1/1.56-inch sensor, f/2.0, PDAF. Front: 12 MP, 1/2.9-inch, f/2.0, 24 mm equivalent. The telephoto is where Sony made the boldest call. The 1/1.56-inch sensor is roughly four times larger than the telephoto sensor in the Xperia 1 VII, which means significantly better low-light performance and more natural background blur. Sony has dropped the continuous optical zoom lens, a defining feature of the Xperia 1 line, from the Mark III to the Mark VII. The new 70 mm lens is fixed, and the phone uses sensor cropping for a longer reach. That is a real trade-off. You lose the 170 mm reach and the 4 cm super-macro capability that the Xperia 1 VII had. What you get in return is a much larger sensor that performs better in low light and gives you cleaner crops at medium zoom distances. Sony says all three rear cameras deliver low-light performance comparable to a full-frame camera, particularly in noise reduction and dynamic range at Light Value 2 or lower. That is a qualified claim; it applies only to still images, but the sensor specs back it up more convincingly than they did for previous models. Video recording goes up to 4K at 24, 30, 60, and 120 fps with HDR, plus 1080p at up to 120 fps. Five-axis gyro-EIS works alongside OIS for stabilisation. The phone also retains native Sony Alpha camera support, so you can pair it with an Alpha body to use it as a wireless monitor and remote control. 4. AI Camera Assistant The AI Camera Assistant is new to this generation and runs on Xperia Intelligence, Sony’s on-device AI platform. When you point the camera at a scene, the assistant reads the subject, the environment, and the conditions, including the weather, then suggests adjustments such as switching lenses, changing colour tone, or adjusting bokeh intensity. The suggestions draw on Sony’s Creative Look profiles, which are available in the Alpha camera line. You can tap to apply a suggestion or ignore it and shoot manually. Sony notes the feature is not available during continuous shooting or RAW capture. This is Sony’s first real step toward the kind of scene-aware computational photography that Pixel, Galaxy, and iPhone flagships have offered for years. The key difference is that Sony has kept it optional. If you know what you are doing, you can turn it off entirely. 5. Design The Xperia 1 VIII has the biggest design change the line has seen in a long time. The vertical, traffic-light camera strip that Sony has used since the original Xperia 1 is gone. In its place is a square camera island in the upper-left of the rear panel, with the Sony logo sitting on the module itself. Sony calls the new look the ‘ORE’ design, named for the rough stone texture applied to the frame and
Read MoreEverything Google announced at the Android Show: I/O Edition 2026
On Tuesday, Google held the Android Show: I/O Edition 2026, highlighting what the tech giant describes as an intelligence system. The event explored the integration of Gemini Intelligence across several devices, including the newly unveiled Googlebook. In the keynote, Sameer Samat, the President of the Android Ecosystem, highlighted the massive scale of Android. “There are now 2.5 billion Rich Communication Services (RCS) messages sent every single day. The number of group chats across platforms has increased 116%,” Samat said. Gemini Intelligence Mandy Brooks, Vice President, Product Management and User Experience, Android Platform, introduced Gemini Intelligence as a seamless experience spanning phones, watches, cars, and glasses. Brooks said “Gemini intelligence brings the best of Gemini to our most advanced Android devices.” The system is designed to work proactively throughout the day to automate tedious tasks while keeping the user in control. During the presentation, Brooks demonstrated how the system could process complex requests, such as extracting information from a class syllabus and populating a shopping cart with required books. “We’ve been gathering feedback through a few hand selected food and rideshare apps,” Brooks said, discussing the expansion of these features to the Samsung Galaxy S26 and Pixel 10. Intelligent operations and personalisation Dieter Bohn, Director, Product Operations, detailed how Gemini Intelligence would solve the universal hassle of filling out complex forms. The system can populate text boxes with a single tap by securely pulling information from photos or emails, such as passport details. Bohn also introduced Rambler, a feature within Gboard that converts natural, fragmented speech into polished text. He showcased the Generative User Interface through a feature called ‘Create My Widget’ that allows users to build bespoke widgets using natural language prompts, such as a high-protein meal prep tracker. Bohn noted that the feature organises the specific bits of information that matter most to an individual user. Android 17 and creator tools Gabby Williams, Product Marketing, Android, unveiled the core updates coming to Android 17. A major highlight included a partnership with Meta to optimise Instagram for Android flagship devices. Williams confirmed that side-by-side tests show video captured on these devices now “score the same or better than the leading competitor.” New creative features such as Screen Reactions and Smart Enhance were introduced, alongside Sound Separation, which allows users to strip away wind noise from recorded audio. She also announced a significant visual update to the emoji library, noting that they have “hand refined nearly 4000 emoji to be richer, more delightful and more true to how you actually express yourself.” Digital well-being and connectivity Addressing the issue of “autopilot” phone usage, Williams introduced Pause Point, a digital well-being tool that enforces a ten-second delay when opening distracting apps. This encourages intentional usage rather than mindless scrolling. To assist those switching from an iPhone to an Android phone, the iPhone Operating System (iOS) to Android migration helps to wirelessly move all their data to the new device. Connectivity improvements were also featured, including the compatibility of Quick Share on WhatsApp for Android users. Williams explained that this feature is for users who want to share files with iPhone users through the app. These updates aim to ensure that sharing high-quality media, like wedding videos, is no longer hindered by the type of phone a person owns. Innovations in Android Auto Guemmy Kim, Senior Director, Android for Cars, presented the next generation of Android Auto. The update includes a redesigned Google Maps experience, which was described as “one of the major updates to Google Maps in over a decade.” It features 3D visuals and live lane guidance that utilises the car’s front-facing camera. The system now supports widgets on the car dashboard and a premium entertainment experience, allowing for 60fps High Definition (HD) video playback when parked. Kim highlighted that the deep integration of Gemini Intelligence within the vehicle allows for tailored answers about dashboard symbols or trunk dimensions. The arrival of the Googlebook The event also introduced the Googlebook, a new category of laptop. Alexander Kuscher, Senior Director, Laptops and Tablets, explained that these devices combine the best of the Android operating system and ChromeOS. “Googlebooks are the first laptops designed for Gemini intelligence from the ground up,” he noted. A standout feature is the Magic Pointer, which brings the cursor to life when wiggled to provide contextual suggestions. Kuscher demonstrated how Magic Pointer could visualise furniture in a photo of a room without the need for manual uploads to a chatbot. He said because users can access it by wiggling the cursor, “it’s easy to go from idea to ‘I’m done’ in an instant.” Hardware partnerships and availability Kuscher noted that Google is partnering with manufacturers, including HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, and ASUS, to produce Googlebook models in various shapes and sizes. These laptops will feature a unique glowbar lighting effect and allow users to access their phone apps directly on the screen without a wireless download. A Quick Access feature will also bridge the file systems of phones and laptops. Closing the event, Samat reiterated that the major updates to the ecosystem would begin rolling out this summer. The new features for Android 17 and the first wave of Googlebook hardware are expected to be available later this year.
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Android 17 and the biggest Android updates in 2026
Table of contents Android phone updates Android Auto updates Googlebook What about Chromebook? Google held The Android Show: I/O Edition today, one week before its annual Google I/O developer conference. The event was a preview of what Android has planned for 2026, and it covered a lot of ground. Google’s central message was that Android is moving from being an operating system to what it calls an “intelligent system.” The show had three clear acts: a batch of phone features built around a new AI layer called Gemini Intelligence, a big update to Android Auto, and a surprise announcement of a brand-new laptop category called Googlebook. More on each of those below. Android phone updates Most of what Google announced for phones falls under the Gemini Intelligence umbrella. Here is a breakdown of each feature. 1. Gemini Intelligence Image source: Google This is Google’s new name for a set of AI features that let Gemini do things for you across apps, not just answer questions inside a chat window. With Gemini Intelligence, you can long-press the power button over a grocery list on your screen and ask Gemini to build a delivery cart from it. You can also snap a photo of a travel brochure and ask Gemini to find and book a similar tour. The visual design has been updated, too, with new animations that signal when Gemini is working in the background rather than waiting for your next prompt. Gemini Intelligence is rolling out first on the Samsung Galaxy S26 series and the Google Pixel 10 series this summer, and expanding to watches, cars, and laptops later in 2026. 2. Rambler Rambler is a new feature inside Gboard, Android’s keyboard app. It upgrades the existing voice-to-text tool so you can speak naturally without worrying about getting the words exactly right. When you turn Rambler on, you can ramble, repeat yourself, say “um” and “like,” or change your mind mid-sentence. Rambler listens to everything and turns your spoken thoughts into a clean, concise message before you send it. Your audio is used only for real-time transcription and is not stored or saved. Works across multiple languages in a single message You review the output before sending anything Part of the first Gemini Intelligence wave on Pixel 10 and Galaxy S26 this summer 3. Create My Widget Create My Widget lets you build custom home screen widgets just by describing what you want. You type a prompt like “Suggest three high-protein meal-prep recipes every week” or “show me wind speed and rain for cyclists,” and Android builds a working widget from it. The same feature also creates custom Wear OS watch face tiles and desktop widgets on the new Googlebook laptops. It is coming to Pixel 10 and Galaxy S26 first this summer, with Wear OS and Googlebook support arriving later in 2026. 4. Gemini in Chrome for Android Chrome on Android is getting a set of Gemini-powered features that were previously only available on desktop. Starting in late June 2026, you will be able to: Get page summaries and quick comparisons while browsing Use Gemini to help fill out complex forms by pulling relevant info from your connected apps like Gmail and Calendar Let Chrome auto-browse on your behalf, handling things like booking a parking spot or re-ordering from a restaurant Gemini in Chrome also includes Nano Banana, an image tool that lets you create new images or customise ones you find on a webpage, directly inside the browser without switching to another app. The auto-browse feature is available to Gemini Pro and Ultra subscribers. You will need a phone running Android 12 or higher with at least 4 GB of RAM. 5. Pause Point Image source: Google Pause Point is a new Digital Wellbeing tool that adds a 10-second pause screen when you open an app you’ve flagged as distracting. During that pause, you can choose to do a breathing exercise, set a timer in the app, look at a favourite photo, or open an alternative, such as an audiobook. The intentional friction is baked in: turning Pause Point off requires a phone restart. It is part of Android 17, and Google says it is the beginning of a larger set of wellbeing tools that will come later in 2026. 6. Screen Reactions Screen Reactions is a native Android tool for recording reaction videos. It captures your screen and front camera simultaneously, so you get the reaction overlay without needing a green screen, a second app, or any post-production editing. It works with videos and images. Screen Reactions is coming to Pixel phones first this summer via Android 17, with no confirmed date yet for other Android phones. 7. 3D emoji Google is redesigning all 4,000-plus Android emoji with a new 3D look, which Google is calling Noto 3D. The update gives the emoji more depth and visual weight, moving away from the flat style Android has used for years. Pixel phones are getting them first, with a wider rollout across Google products coming later in 2026. 8. Adobe Premiere for Android Adobe Premiere is finally coming to Android. The mobile version of Premiere has been available on iPhone since September 2025, and Google confirmed at The Android Show that the Android version will arrive this summer. It includes exclusive templates and effects built specifically for YouTube Shorts. Support for the Advanced Professional Video (APV) format is also expanding. It currently works on the Galaxy S26 Ultra and the vivo X300 Ultra, with more Snapdragon 8 Elite devices to follow. 9. Instagram for Android upgrades Meta and Google announced a set of Android-specific improvements for Instagram. These include: Ultra HDR photo and video capture and playback Night Sight integration for better low-light shots Built-in video stabilisation An improved upload pipeline so your photos and videos do not lose quality when you post them A properly optimised Instagram tablet UI for Android tablets is also part of the update. These features are rolling out through 2026 on Android
Read MoreOmniRetail, M-KOPA, Sabi, TymeBank make FT’s Africa fastest-growing companies list
OmniRetail, M-KOPA, Thndr, Termii and 26 other African startups made the Financial Times’ 2026 ranking of Africa’s Fastest-Growing Companies, an annual list that features 130 high-growth businesses across the continent. The FT list, produced in partnership with research company Statista, identified African companies with a minimal compound annual growth in revenues (CAGR) of 9.27% between 2021 and 2024. Selected companies must have generated revenue of at least $100,000 generated in 2021 and at least $1.5 million in 2024, and be headquartered in an African country. In 2025, six Nigerian startups, Moniepoint, OmniRetail, PalmPay, Termii, Remedial Health, and Paga, and nine other African startups made the ranking, compared to this year’s 30 startups. The list featured companies across fintech, healthtech, logistics, e-commerce, clean energy, hospitality, and enterprise software, although the fintech, IT, and software sectors continued to dominate the ranking, accounting for nearly 40% of the companies featured. Egypt produced the top-ranked company for the first time with investment platform Thndr, while Kenya edged ahead of Nigeria in total company representation, with 17 companies compared to Nigeria’s 16. South Africa remained the most represented country overall with 52 companies on the list, continuing its long-standing dominance in the ranking. Below are the 30 startups that made this year’s ranking. Nigeria Sabi Launched in 2021 by Anu Adedoyin Adasolum and Ademola Adesina, Sabi is a B2B digital commerce company that helps informal retail merchants to digitise their operations, streamline inventory management, access logistics services, and connect with suppliers. The company started as an offshoot of Rensource, a power distribution venture for informal markets, repurposing its internal logistics and payment tools to help merchants stay afloat, and then evolved into an operating system for African merchants. In 2025, Sabi said it will double down on its Technology Rails for African Commodities Exchange (TRACE) product, which enables it to manage mineral and agricultural commodities businesses. The company saw its revenue grow from $1.52 million in 2021 to $46.50 million in 2024, according to the FT ranking. Haul247 Founded in 2020 by Sehinde Afolayan, Haul247 is a logistics and trucking marketplace digitising freight movement across Nigeria. The startup connects manufacturers and large cargo owners with truck operators through a digital platform to fulfil their logistics needs across Nigeria. In 2023, the startup raised $3 million in seed funding to expand its presence in Nigeria and develop its technology. The company saw its revenue grow from $0.10 million in 2021 to $1.93 million in 2024, according to the FT ranking. OmniRetail Launched in June 2019, OmniRetail is a B2B e-commerce platform that operates in Nigeria, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire. The company, which led the FT rankings in 2025, enables retailers to order fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) from manufacturers and distributors using mobile apps, with logistics and embedded financing. In April 2025, OmniRetail closed a $20 million Series A round and said it has visibility into over 500,000 FMCG orders worth ₦250 billion ($182 million) monthly, across 10,000 distributors and 100,000 retailers. The company saw its revenue grow from $40.26 million in 2021 to $54.24 million in 2024, according to the FT ranking. Remedial Health Founded in 2021 by Samuel Okwuada and Victor Benjamin, Remedial Health is a healthtech startup that digitises how medicines move across Nigeria’s pharmaceutical retail market. Its platform allows pharmacies to order verified drugs directly from manufacturers and also helps in managing inventory and procurement. In 2023, the healthtech startup raised $12 million in Series A funding, a mix of debt and equity, to deepen its services across Nigeria. The company saw its revenue grow from $0.84 million in 2021 to $12.53 million in 2024, according to the FT ranking. Africhange Africhange, founded in 2020, is a remittance and cross-border payments startup focused on helping Africans in the diaspora send money home at lower costs. The company operates across Nigeria, the UK, Canada, and Australia remittance corridor and has expanded into other international payment routes, including cryptocurrency services. The company saw its revenue grow from $0.22 million in 2021 to $2.30 million in 2024, according to the FT ranking. Rank Capital Formerly known as Moni, YC-backed Rank Capital is a Nigerian fintech offering community banking services. In 2025, the startup acquired AjoMoney, a group savings platform, and Zazzau Microfinance Bank (MFB), to offer more financial services beyond savings. The company disclosed that it had disbursed nearly $46.62 million in loans to over 20,000 businesses and achieved a 96% repayment rate in 2023. The company saw its revenue grow from $0.40 million in 2021 to $4.65 million in 2024, according to the FT ranking. Termii Returning to the ranking for a second consecutive year, Termii enables African businesses to engage with customers using SMS, voice, email, and other digital channels through its communication infrastructure. Launched in 2017 by Emmanuel Gbolade, Ayomide Awe, and Atinuke Idowu, the startup revealed in 2024 that it had processed over 1 billion customer transactions across SMS, voice, and WhatsApp, and facilitated wallet transactions totalling 11 billion. The company saw its revenue grow from $1.29 million in 2021 to $2.53 million in 2024, according to the FT ranking. Redtech Redtech is a fintech company, backed by another ranked company, Heirs Holdings, that provides payment solutions that allow businesses to collect, manage, and track all their financial transactions. The company noted that it processed over ₦12 trillion ($10 billion) in payment transactions in 2024 and launched its flagship payment platform, RedPay, in 2025. The company saw its revenue grow from $3.48 million in 2021 to $4.47 million in 2024, according to the FT ranking. Fairmoney Microfinance Bank Founded in 2017, FairMoney is a Nigerian consumer-focused lending fintech that grew its gross revenue by 62% in 2024 and offers transfers, savings, bill payments, debit cards, and loans to users. The company saw its revenue grow from $73.54 million in 2021 to $75.73 million in 2024, according to the FT ranking. South Africa Future Forex Founded in 2020 by Harry Scherzer and Josh Kotlowitz, Future Forex is a South African fintech company
Read MoreE-commerce platform Jiji acquires Bangladesh’s Bikroy in first deal outside Africa
Jiji, the Lagos-headquartered classifieds marketplace, has acquired Bikroy, Bangladesh’s largest online classifieds platform, thirteen months after entering the South Asian market as Bikroy’s direct competitor, its first market outside Africa. Anton Volianskyi, Jiji’s chief executive officer, declined to comment on the transaction value, but shared that the company used “internal resources and shareholder support” for the deal. The acquisition is Jiji’s first outside Africa and the second time in four years that the company has bought a marketplace from Sweden-based Saltside Technologies. In 2022, it acquired Saltside’s Ghanaian platform Tonaton after years of competing in the same market. The Bikroy deal is the third time Jiji has acquired a competitor in six years, and it marks a continuation of Jiji’s compete-then-buy playbook: enter a market, compete with the largest player, then buy it. In 2019, it acquired OLX Africa’s operations in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, and Tanzania, ending years of head-to-head competition with the Naspers-owned platform. The transaction pushed Jiji’s monthly audience above eight million users and made it the dominant classifieds player on the continent. The second was Tonaton in 2022. “This is a deliberate strategy, and we are direct about it,” Volianskyi noted in an email to TechCabal. “In each case, the sequence is the same: enter organically to validate the opportunity, build a competitive position on the ground, and then evaluate whether organic scaling or consolidation gets us to category leadership faster.” When Jiji launched in Bangladesh in March 2025, the company described the move as a long-term play against incumbents Bikroy, Daraz, and Ajkerdeal, but 13 months later, it had acquired its largest competitor. “This was a calculated, deliberately phased approach,” Volianskyi said. “We launched jiji-bd.com to test our playbook on the ground in Bangladesh, build operational presence, and put real competitive pressure on the market. Within months, the dynamics had shifted significantly, and consolidation became the most efficient path forward for both sides.” Volianskyi was careful, however, to distinguish the strategy from any deliberate targeting of Saltside as a counterparty. The Swedish group, which is backed by Kinnevik, Hillhouse Capital, and Brummer & Partners, has raised approximately $65 million across its lifetime and built three operating platforms—Tonaton, Bikroy, and Ikman—in Ghana, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, respectively. Jiji has now acquired two of them. “They [Saltside] have done remarkable work over many years, building two genuinely strong brands in Tonaton and Bikroy, and establishing leadership positions in markets that are notoriously difficult to operate in,” Volianskyi noted. “The fact that two of our transactions involved Saltside assets reflects the reality that they built operations in markets that fit our thesis,” he added. “It is not about targeting a specific counterparty; it is about disciplined market selection that has occasionally aligned with theirs.” With Bikroy sold to Jiji and Tonaton already divested in 2022, Saltside’s remaining major operating asset is Ikman in Sri Lanka. “Beyond our core six African markets, we look at opportunities where the market has the right structural fundamentals and where we believe our operating model can deliver category leadership,” Volianskyi noted. “Bangladesh fits that profile, and Bikroy is the right asset in that market. We are not announcing a broader Asian expansion programme; each market gets evaluated on its own merits.” At the time of its entry into Bangladesh in March 2025, the company told the Bangladeshi publication The Business Standard that it planned “further expansion in Asia in the coming days”, without naming specific markets. Why Jiji went outside Africa Jiji’s expansion outside Africa marks a sharp pivot from how the company itself framed its options as recently as 2021. When Jiji acquired Cars45 that year, co-founder Vladimir Mnogoletniy told TechCabal that the African classifieds market was already largely consolidated. “We are already a leader in Africa, so I think there’s very limited space for whom to acquire,” he said at the time, framing future deals as either adjacent business models or competitor consolidation. The Bangladesh entry, and now the Bikroy deal, are indicative of Jiji’s response to running out of acquisition targets in Africa as it expands its geographic presence outside the continent. At the group level, the pivot appears to be paying off. In November 2024, Volianskyi told TechCabal that Jiji had over six million active listings worth more than $10 billion, drove annual transaction volumes “in the range of $10-20 billion,” welcomed 12 million unique visitors monthly, and operated in eight African countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire. In response to questions on the latest deal, the company provided substantially larger figures. It now describes itself as serving “over 90 million annual users” and processing “$70 billion in annual GMV across the platform,” and operating in six “core” African markets where it holds the leading position. What changes for Bikroy The Bikroy brand will survive the transaction, and Volianskyi was emphatic that preserving it is “central to the investment thesis.” According to figures provided by Jiji, Bikroy has more than 10 million app downloads since its 2012 launch, serves over 400,000 monthly buyers and more than 100,000 monthly sellers, processes more than $3 billion in annual gross merchandise value (GMV), and reaches roughly three million unique visitors a month in a country of 175 million people. The GMV is concentrated in high-value categories like real estate and vehicles, mirroring Jiji’s core categories in its African markets, where vehicles and property together account for the bulk of the platform’s $10 billion-plus listing value. “That kind of brand equity and category leadership takes more than a decade to build, and replacing it would destroy meaningful value,” Volianskyi said. What changes, the company said, come down to four things: the platform itself, the monetisation model, marketing investment, and the seller package architecture. Bikroy is moving onto Jiji’s technology, which Volianskyi described as built for small businesses and professional sellers. The way sellers pay is also changing. Instead of flat fees, sellers will bid to appear higher on the platform and pay only when shoppers click on
Read MoreAI is becoming part of everyday journalism in Nigerian newsrooms, report says
Nigerian journalists are integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into their daily work, but many newsrooms still lack editorial policies to govern its use, according to a new practitioner intelligence report by Carpe Diem Solutions, a Lagos-based strategic communications agency. The report, titled The Future of Media & PR Collaboration in Nigeria, found that journalists now rate AI’s impact on their daily work between seven and eight out of ten, showing how deeply AI tools like ChatGPT and automated transcription software have become embedded in newsroom operations. The findings come as newsrooms globally grapple with how generative AI is reshaping journalism production and audience trust. According to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, only 12% of audiences globally say they are comfortable consuming news produced entirely by AI. Drawing on responses from journalists and media practitioners across 17 organisations—including national newspapers, broadcasters, digital outlets, and independent media platforms—the report found that AI tools are primarily used for research, transcription, editing, and writing assistance. The report also highlighted growing concerns about the lack of editorial frameworks to manage that adoption, particularly regarding verification, transparency, and accountability. “That is not a criticism of the journalists adopting these tools,” said Edward Israel-Ayide, founder and CEO of Carpe Diem Solutions. “It is a reflection of the conditions they work under: under-resourced, under pressure, and expected to do more with less, while the platforms that capture their audiences return very little to the ecosystem that produces the content.” In Nigeria, where misinformation already poses a major challenge online, the report argues that the lack of newsroom policies leaves journalists in an exposed position. It notes that 84% of audiences in the country already struggle to distinguish real information from fake content online. Journalists surveyed for the report expressed mixed feelings about the growing use of AI in media. A journalist covering entertainment said their primary concern was the risk AI poses to originality and the laziness it enables when used indiscriminately. A technology editor warned that AI would eliminate unique individual voices and make all media outlets similar in context and tone. Another entertainment reporter with over six years of experience noted that AI tools lack the contextual understanding of journalists reporting directly from the field. “The concern,” the report states, “is not that AI will replace journalists, but that it will be used to justify replacing the time and resources that quality journalism requires.” The report argues that AI risk is especially acute in Nigeria’s fragile media economy, where many organisations rely heavily on politically exposed advertisers and government relationships to remain financially viable. Despite Nigeria having more than 107 million internet users—one of Africa’s largest digital audiences—many media companies continue to struggle to generate sustainable revenue as social media platforms increasingly dominate news distribution and advertising flows. That economic strain is also affecting editorial independence. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), in its World Trends Report 2022–2025, found that self-censorship among journalists globally has increased by more than 60%, driven by online harassment, judicial intimidation, economic pressure, and fear of reprisals. Still, the report points to examples of AI being used to strengthen journalism rather than to reduce newsroom costs. Dubawa, a Nigerian fact-checking and verification organisation, has developed Dubawa.ai, a fact-checking chatbot designed to verify information and combat misinformation, while Dataphyte, a research and data analytics company, has built Nubia, a tool that helps journalists analyse complex datasets for data-driven reporting.
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Apple releases iOS 26.5: Here is everything that changed on your iPhone
Table of contents What’s new in iOS 26.5 What Apple did not include in iOS 26.5 What’s coming next Which iPhones can run iOS 26.5 Should you update now? Apple dropped iOS 26.5 today, and your iPhone can pick it up right now. Head to Settings, tap General, then Software Update, and the download will be waiting for you. The update is about 14+ GB, so you need Wi-Fi connection before you start. Image source: Iphone 15 pro screenshot This is the last major update in the iOS 26 lineup. Apple’s next big software reveal happens at WWDC on June 8, 2026, where the company is expected to show off iOS 27. Until then, iOS 26.5 is what you get, and it brings a handful of changes worth knowing about. What’s new in iOS 26.5 Image source: @theapplehub on X (formerly Twitter) 1. End-to-end encrypted RCS messaging The biggest change in this update is encrypted messaging between iPhones and Android phones. For a long time, texts sent from an iPhone to an Android device were not encrypted, which meant they could be read by your carrier or anyone intercepting the connection. iOS 26.5 changes that, at least in part. Apple has built support for RCS Universal Profile 3.0, which uses the Messaging Layer Security (MLS) protocol to encrypt your conversations. Encryption is enabled by default. You can check the status by going to Settings> Apps> Messages> RCS Messaging, where you’ll see an “End-to-End Encryption (Beta)” toggle. When a conversation is encrypted, you’ll see a lock icon and the word “Encrypted” in your Messages thread. Google Messages on Android shows the same label, so both sides of the conversation will know the protection is active. There’s an important catch, though. The encryption only works if your carrier and the other person’s carrier both support RCS Universal Profile 3.0. If one side doesn’t, your messages will still go through as unencrypted RCS or plain SMS. Apple hasn’t published a full list of which carriers support it yet. For iPhone users in Nigeria, this feature will likely not be active right away. Apple’s Africa carrier page currently lists MTN, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile as partners for basic iPhone features like eSIM and LTE, but RCS is not listed as supported by any of them. Until those carriers upgrade their networks to support the new standard, iPhone-to-Android chats in Nigeria will continue to work as they do today. If you need encrypted messaging now, Signal and WhatsApp both provide it without depending on your carrier. 2. Suggested Places in Apple Maps Open Apple Maps and tap the search bar. You’ll now see two recommended places appear above your recent searches. Apple says the suggestions are based on what’s trending nearby and your past activity in the app. The privacy note Apple includes in the app states that advertising information from these suggestions is not linked to your Apple Account and that data is not shared with third parties. That said, there is no way to turn this off. The suggestions will always be there when you search. This feature also sets the stage for paid ads in Apple Maps, which Apple has confirmed will launch in the US and Canada later this summer. Those ads will appear in the same space, labelled as “Ad.” There’s no opt-out for those either. If you don’t want to see sponsored results in your map searches, switching to Google Maps is your main option. 3. Pride Luminance wallpaper iOS 26.5 includes a new wallpaper called Pride Luminance. It refracts colours dynamically as the light and angle on your screen shifts. The wallpaper comes with 11 preset colour options and a custom mode that lets you pick between 1 and 12 colours. It matches a new Apple Watch face and Sport Loop of the same name that Apple is also releasing. 4. Magic Keyboard and accessory pairing improvement If you use a Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, or Magic Trackpad with your iPhone or iPad, iOS 26.5 makes pairing easier. Connecting one of those accessories via USB-C will now automatically pair it over Bluetooth. Once you unplug the cable, the Bluetooth connection stays active. You won’t need to go into Settings to pair it manually anymore. This is how those accessories already work on Mac, and Apple has now brought the same behaviour to iPhone and iPad. 5. Other changes under the hood Beyond the main features, iOS 26.5 includes several smaller updates: App Store subscriptions get a new billing option. Developers can now offer monthly pricing with a 12-month commitment, so you get a lower monthly rate but agree to pay for the full year. This is available in most markets outside the US and Singapore. The Reminders app now shows specific times when you snooze a reminder. Instead of “This Afternoon,” you’ll see “Remind Me at 3:00 PM,” which is more useful at a glance. Transferring data from an iPhone to an Android phone now includes new options for how long to keep message attachments, with choices ranging from 30 days to everything. EU users get additional interoperability features, including proximity pairing for third-party earbuds and Live Activities support on non-Apple accessories. These are exclusive to the European Union due to the Digital Markets Act. What Apple did not include in iOS 26.5 The most talked-about missing feature is the upgraded Siri. Apple promised a more capable version of Siri starting with the iPhone 16 launch in 2024. The features in question include: Personal context: Siri reading your emails, messages, and calendar to answer questions like “When is my friend’s birthday?” On-screen awareness: Siri understanding what you’re currently looking at on your screen In-app and cross-app actions: Siri completing tasks across multiple apps without you having to switch between them A new on-device AI model to power all of the above None of this shipped in iOS 26.5. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, internal testing encountered accuracy and speed issues, which is why the features keep getting
Read MoreABAN says Africa’s startup funding recovery is “more grounded” than previous peaks
After three years of decline from the 2021 peak, African startups raised $3.4 billion in 2025, a 32% rebound from the previous year. But beneath that headline lies a less-discussed shift. Angel participation has recovered after two years of caution, and deals below $1 million, one of the few segments of the market that has expanded steadily since 2019, continue to grow. For the African Business Angel Network (ABAN), an industry body representing angel investors across the continent, the growth validates a decade of work to organise Africa’s local angel base. Since 2015, ABAN has served as a bridge for the continent’s angel investment ecosystem and now links more than 5,000 angel investors through 75-plus member networks across 37 African countries and the diaspora. Its 2025 Angel Investment Survey Report, released this month in partnership with the United Nations and Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is the closest thing the ecosystem has to an audit of how early-stage capital moves on the continent. The report found that 62 angel networks deployed at least $4.4 million in disclosed funding in 2025, with 65% of the startups they backed securing follow-on capital. Over 90% of individual angels are now writing cheques below $25,000, up from 76% in 2024, a compression that reflects both shifting risk appetite and the depreciating currencies most of these angels operate in. What makes the findings worthy of discussion now, rather than at any other point in the past three years, is the structural question underlying the rebound. International capital is retreating, and the cheap-money era that fuelled 2021 and 2022 is no longer today’s reality. If the early-stage layer of the African ecosystem is to hold, it will be because local and diaspora angels, organised through networks like ABAN’s, can move faster and write more cheques than they have historically. For this week’s Ask an Investor, I spoke to Favour Ubaka, one of the report’s creators and a stakeholder engagement officer at ABAN, to understand why angel deal participation rebounded in 2025 after a two-year decline, and what a $5,000–$10,000 cheque actually buys a founder in a market where the naira has lost more than 70% of its dollar value since 2022. This interview has been edited lightly for clarity and length. Data shows angel deal participation rebounded in 2025 after declining in 2023 and 2024. What’s driving it? First, we are seeing early-stage funding become active again after a period of caution across the ecosystem. Many investors became more conservative in 2023 and 2024 because of global economic uncertainty, currency pressures, and the broader venture capital slowdown. But in 2025, there was renewed confidence around early-stage innovation, particularly around startups that could demonstrate traction and real market demand. Second, local and diaspora investors are stepping in more intentionally. One of the strongest signals from the report is that angel investing in Africa is no longer being driven only by external capital. We are seeing more African founders, operators, executives, and diaspora professionals participating in angel investing. These investors understand local markets better and are often more willing to take early bets on African founders. Third, the ecosystem itself is becoming more organised. Angel networks are more structured today than they were a few years ago. We now have stronger syndication models, matching funds like Catalytic Africa, investor education programmes, and vehicles like ABAN helping angels invest across borders more efficiently. All of this reduces friction and gives investors more confidence to participate in deals. What is also interesting is that the rebound is not only happening in the traditional “Big Four” markets anymore. We are increasingly seeing activity in ecosystems like Zambia, Ghana, Senegal, Uganda, and Tanzania. This tells us the ecosystem is slowly becoming broader and more distributed across the continent. African tech funding rose 32% to $3.8 billion in 2025, but the report notes deals below $1 million have been expanding steadily since 2019. What share of 2025’s $3.8B actually went to sub-$1M rounds, and how does that compare to other time periods? What we are seeing is a bit of a split story. The $3.8 billion headline is still largely driven by bigger, later-stage rounds. But underneath that, sub-$1 million deals have been quietly growing and becoming more consistent since 2019. So while they don’t dominate the total capital deployed, they make up a significant share of deal activity. In simple terms, most of the money is concentrated at the top, but most of the activity is happening at the early stage. And compared to earlier periods like 2021 and 2022, the market leaned more towards larger rounds. What we are seeing now is a stronger, more active early-stage layer, with angels and angel networks continuing to fund that first cheque. That is really what sustains the pipeline. The report frames 2025 as an “uptick.” How fragile is that uptick given macro headwinds? I would not describe the uptick as fragile, but I would say it is still early and very dependent on how the ecosystem continues to respond to current conditions. What we are seeing in 2025 is not just a rebound driven by external capital coming back in. In many ways, it is being supported by a stronger foundation, particularly local investors, diaspora participation, and more organised angel networks stepping in at the early stage. At the same time, the macro headwinds are real. We have seen reduced activity from some international funding sources, tighter global liquidity, and broader economic uncertainty. Those factors have not gone away. But what is interesting is how the ecosystem is adjusting. Early-stage activity, especially below $1 million, has remained active and continues to grow. Angels are still writing those first cheques, and in many cases, they are filling gaps where larger capital has pulled back. So rather than fragile, I would describe this as a more grounded recovery. It may not be as fast or as headline-heavy as previous peaks, but it is being built on more consistent early-stage activity and stronger local participation.
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