Only 26 African startups raised $174 million in January. Here’s what it signals
African startups raised $174 million in January 2026, trailing last year’s tally by $102 million and well below the 12-month monthly average of $263 million, according to Africa: The Big Deal, a monthly funding tracker. While a month-on-month dip from December to January is routine in African venture capital (VC), what stands out this January is how few startups raised money, with only 26 startups raising above $100,000, just over half the recent monthly average and the lowest January tally since at least 2020. The data reveals how narrow Africa’s VC funnel has become and how unforgiving the path ahead may be for African startup funding. Over a third of the month’s funding went to Egypt’s lending startup, valU, which raised $63 million in debt from a local bank. Nigeria’s MAX, a vehicle financing startup, followed with $24 million in a mix of equity and asset-backed financing. The two transactions accounted for half of all capital deployed in January. Neither deal reflects risk-seeking venture capital, as they are structured around lending books, assets, and predictable cash flows. Instead, they emphasise a pattern of investor comfort with revenue and collateral and a clear unease with uncertainty, the very condition that defines early-stage startups and venture capital. “After a decade of asset-light evangelism, 2026 will mark the return of the balance sheet as a competitive advantage,” Olivia Gao, a principal at Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV), a growth-stage VC firm, told TechCabal. “Startups that own or finance productive assets—vehicles, devices, and equipment—will outcompete pure marketplaces by controlling supply, monetising financing margins, and unlocking private credit partnerships,” she added. Nearly 40% of African startup funding now comes from local investors What does this mean for African startup funding If you strip out those two rounds, January looks very different. There was very limited equity activity, few first-time raises, and almost no early-stage momentum. The month reflects a deeper problem in African VC as the industry drifts toward safety. In the search for predictable returns, many firms are backing proven, familiar business models, with little appetite for riskier bets. African startup funding is beginning to look more like credit underwriting than long-term experimentation. This shift compounds an existing funnel problem in African tech. Many early-stage startups are already stuck in a capital valley, unable to raise growth-stage funding. If risk aversion now seeps further downstream, into pre-seed and seed investing, the damage will surface in 18 to 36 months. Fewer companies will have been funded, even fewer will reach Series A readiness, and exits will become scarcer, shrinking the ecosystem over time. As capital becomes more conservative, founders will be forced to optimise for early cash generation and focus on smaller, local markets, where expansion costs are lower. While this may produce leaner, more disciplined, and more profitable businesses, it also narrows the pool of venture-scale bets that deliver outsized outcomes and define a thriving startup ecosystem. It can be tempting to frame this shift as rational adaptation. Inflation is high, exits are scarce, and as the life cycle of funds ends, limited partners are demanding returns. Some African investors can argue that investing in asset-backed, cash-flow-driven models is a rational adaptation to these macro conditions and not a failure of imagination, but that thinking goes against what venture capital is. If this safety approach were prevalent during the boom of the early 2020s, startups like Paystack, Wave, and Moniepoint would likely never have raised their earliest institutional rounds. When safety becomes the organising principle of an emerging-markets risk capital, improvement at scale does not happen.
Read MoreCBN, NCC propose 24-hour refunds for airtime and data sent to wrong numbers
Nigeria’s telecom and financial regulators are moving to mandate 24-hour refunds for everyday airtime and data mistakes, from over-purchases to wrong-number transfers. The joint exposure draft released on Monday, by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), seeks to fix long-standing consumer pain points around mistaken airtime and data purchases by replacing non-existent refund practices with clear rules, legal thresholds, and standardised timelines. For the first time, mobile network operators (MNOs), NCC-authorised licencees, and banks would be formally accountable for consumer errors such as wrong-number transfers and mistaken value purchases. Under the framework, the overpurchase of airtime and data by a subscriber will be reversed within 24 hours after a complaint is lodged. For airtime or data sent to the wrong phone number, the framework introduces value-based thresholds. Transactions of ₦20,000 ($14.64) and above will require an affidavit of indemnity or a notarised indemnity letter before reversal is processed, while smaller transactions between ₦1,000 ($0.73) and ₦20,000 ($14.64) will depend on recipient consent, to be facilitated by the mobile network operators. The recovery timeline is set at 24 hours. In January, TechCabal reported that the CBN and NCC will introduce a new consumer protection framework that mandates near-instant refunds for failed airtime and data transactions, from March 1, 2026. The regulators, in a statement at the time, said subscribers who are debited without receiving value would be entitled to a refund within 30 seconds, a move aimed at addressing one of the most persistent complaints in Nigeria’s digital services ecosystem. The draft framework released on Monday expands on these efforts, which aim to address mistaken purchases and tackle rising consumer complaints around failed airtime and data transactions. “This development buttresses the need for the proposed framework to institutionalise clear accountability, standardise resolution timelines, and ensure a sustainable, coordinated approach to consumer redress across the financial and telecommunications ecosystems,” said Aisha Isa-Olatinwo, director, consumer protection and financial inclusion. If adopted, subscribers will be able to lodge complaints with either their bank or mobile network operator for refunds when they are debited without service delivery, wrong value purchases, or send airtime/data to the wrong number. The framework mandates banks and MNOs to create formal dispute resolution processes, document all claims, and process them within defined service-level timelines. For oversight, the regulators plan to introduce a central monitoring dashboard for tracking reversals, SLA breaches, and customer complaints. “This will facilitate the establishment of a real-time national “Failed Transactions Dashboard” with uniform error code, with end-to-end visibility across the value chain,” the document read. When disputes remain unresolved after five working days, subscribers can escalate them to the CBN and NCC. If adopted, the framework would expand consumer rights for millions of Nigerians who rely on digital channels for airtime and data purchases.
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Digital Nomads: How 67 countries shaped this risk analyst’s view of African tech
Driving through the Egyptian desert along the Red Sea, hotspotting a MacBook while typing reports in the back seat because being offline for a three-hour flight is a luxury that a risk analyst cannot afford. Other times, it’s realising that Kizomba, a dance you once learned in the vibrant streets of Dakar, Senegal, somehow exists in different forms across the continent and is a gateway to connecting with people in communities as you travel. This is the life of Maya Hautefeuille. In one decade, she’s a photojournalist in the Middle East, documenting the Syrian revolution and the aftermath of the Arab Spring. In the next, she is a senior analyst, uncovering the intersection of politics and economics within African countries for 14 NORTH, a company providing insights and business intelligence for Africa’s frontier and emerging markets. Staying close to communities in what Hautefeuille labels as being ‘on the ground’ has helped her realise that places that are very misunderstood from the outside. “I like to make sense of places [and] help people make better decisions ultimately,” she said. “Maybe that came across in how I was raised, and I grew up a bit mixed and all over the world.” Building bridges from Japanese classrooms to French social movements Born to an American-Japanese mother and a French father, Hautefeuille spent most of the first decade of her life in Japan, shaped by education from a school built to overcome the trauma of the Second World War, and under a curriculum imbued with peacemaking philosophies. According to Hautefeuille, the learning emphasis leaned towards students being good global citizens, as opposed to a strong micro-focus on being nationalistic to their respective countries. “There’s nowhere else on earth where they taught [me] those things and made it as though it should be your life mission to be a good citizen of wherever you are and build your bridges,” she said. Hautefeuille would later live out what it meant to be a global citizen, moving to the United States when she was 10, then a year later to France, and eventually Australia and across Asia. She spent her late teens in her home country, France, where she observed the country punctuated by social movements and protests. “I was very into politics and questions of power…and inspired by movements that claimed to be about liberation,” she said. Being ‘on the ground’ in France also fuelled Hautefeuille’s interest in Africa and the Middle East, specifically due to France’s historical relationship with North Africa, and post-colonial movements that had taken place in Africa. “If I hadn’t gone to France,” she admitted, “I wouldn’t have been able to see these things at a closer level.” And so, in 2007, Hautefeuille pursued a Bachelor’s in African studies at Columbia University in New York. She was only there for a year, but it was a turning point for how she viewed the world. Relearning power with Mahmood Mamdani Studying under professors like Mahmood Mamdani, an Indo-Ugandan anthropologist, academic, and political commentator, with whom she resonated because of his multicultural background, Hautefeuille was introduced to new ways of thinking about power and history. “I had one teacher who really impressed upon me,” she recalled. “The way he taught his theories is very different, and because he always brought an identity element [to his teachings], being an Indian-African and part of liberation movements.” However, in search of a school that she felt encompassed African studies more holistically, she transferred to the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London the next year. At SOAS, she learned Swahili and Arabic, regarding language as the crucial infrastructure for understanding the Indian Ocean trade, which linked East African city-states to Middle Eastern countries such as Arabia and Persia. Before her master’s program, between 2008 and 2009, Hautefeuille had hitchhiked without public transportation or a personal vehicle from France to Touba, the spiritual capital of Senegal, travelling through Spain, Morocco and Mauritania. That early, gritty immersion to study the Mouridiya Sufi brotherhood, an Islamic order, served as her first experience with the country, and it was not an easy journey. “[I stayed] with Senegal families whose life revolved around that holy city, the mosque, the rituals, the sharing of food, the cooking of the food, the greeting of the marabus. It was like a very regulated lifestyle around the mosque.” After completing her studies in 2011, she began her master’s at the same school in the same year till 2012, but this time in Middle Eastern studies. While her degree was within the Middle Eastern studies department, her focus remained firmly on West Africa. Hautefeuille was drawn to the program for a very specific reason: the study of Senegalese religious movements. Her field ‘’Anthropology/Sociology of Religions’’ was hosted in that department, and she intended to study Senegalese Sufi movements through that lens. After she completed her master’s, Hautefeuille moved to East Jerusalem for a post-graduate research internship in a British/Palestinian studies centre. It was a period in the Middle East that marked the beginning of her photojournalism. Hautefeuille in East Jerusalem. Image Source: Maya Hautefeuille From late 2013 to 2018, Hautefeuille was based on the Turkish-Syrian border, sometimes in Palestine, in Lebanon, where she strengthened her command of Arabic, all the while documenting migration and hospital bombings as a freelance photojournalist and advocate. Hautefeuille photographed for Al Jazeera and Danwatch. Her interest in photojournalism stemmed from the urge to document and understand the relationship between power, people, and identity. “In conflict, you’re seeing really impactful things, and I had had an urge to document that,” she said. “So I started with journalism.” But as December 2018 closed in, while Hautefeuille continued advocacy work on Syria, she began feeling professional fatigue as the conflict stalled. And soon, she was yearning for the life she had once experienced in Senegal once more. Trading rituals of the Touba for the rhythm of Dakar By April 2019, Hautefeuille returned to Senegal. But this time, to Dakar. Where she
Read MoreFintechs lead Africa’s digital maturity, but insurers post strongest gains in 2025
African insurers have recorded the continent’s fastest digital maturity progress over the past year, narrowing the gap with fintech as the financial sector shifts focus from rapid expansion to operational efficiency and profitability, according to the African Financial Industry Report released by Deloitte, a leading global consulting and professional services firm, and the Africa Financial Summit (AFIS). The report, based on interviews with senior executives from more than 70 financial institutions across Africa, shows that more than half of institutions now consider themselves digitally mature, with 54% reporting advanced digital capabilities, up from 48% in 2024. The growing focus on digital maturity signals that African financial institutions are moving beyond digital experimentation, treating technology as essential infrastructure for profitability, risk control, and regulatory compliance, as rising costs, cybersecurity threats, and tighter funding conditions push the sector toward more disciplined and efficient operations. This shift mirrors broader changes across Africa’s financial technology ecosystem, where the era of growth-at-all-costs has given way to sustainability and risk management. Fintech funding fell sharply from $863 million in the first half of 2023 to about $185 million in the same period in 2024, as global financial conditions tightened and investors pushed companies to prioritise profitability and operational discipline over rapid expansion. At the same time, rising fraud losses have underscored the risks tied to digital scale, with Nigeria’s Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) reporting ₦52.26 billion ($38.3 million) lost to fraud in 2024, much of it through digital channels. Across the banking sector, growing cyber threats and the high cost of integrating AI and cloud infrastructure are also pushing institutions to treat digital systems less as competitive differentiation and more as core infrastructure required to manage risk, comply with regulation, and sustain margins in a more constrained operating environment. Ambroise Depouilly, managing partner at Deloitte Francophone Africa, said the sector’s transition reflects consolidation rather than slowdown. “The African financial sector has entered a phase of maturity,” he said. “Confidence is high, fundamentals are strengthening, and continental integration is becoming a reality.” Whilst fintechs remain the most digitally mature institutions, with 67% classified as digital leaders, insurers recorded the biggest year-on-year progress. Some 59% of insurance companies now occupy advanced digital positions, including 12% in the leaders category, marking a 19-point increase from 2024 and reflecting a strategic focus on building digital foundations to reach underserved markets. Banks, however, show a two-speed transformation, with 45% considering themselves advanced in digital technology, whilst 35% rank themselves as followers, compared to 15% in 2024, revealing disparities based on investment capacity. Illustrating this disparity, six major Nigerian banks, including Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), Zenith, and UBA, spent ₦268.7 billion ($171.5 million) in technology infrastructure in 2024, a 74.5% increase from 2023. As institutions strengthen their digital foundations, they are deploying technology across key operational areas. Some 81% of respondents cited digital transformation as a key lever for improving financial performance and customer experience, though the focus is shifting from launching new digital products to strengthening existing processes and controls. Central to this transformation is artificial intelligence, which is emerging as a core tool across the sector. Executives expect AI to have a strong or transformative impact across key functions, with 77% citing fraud detection as a major use case, whilst 70% pointed to operational process optimisation. Credit risk analysis and personalisation of financial products were also identified among the leading AI applications, with 72% citing personalisation and 68% pointing to chatbots as having a significant impact. However, most AI deployments are currently focused on strengthening existing risk management and operational processes rather than launching entirely new business models. Institutions are prioritising use cases with immediate returns on investment, particularly in fraud detection and credit scoring, as cybersecurity concerns intensify. On the cybersecurity front, threats are becoming more pressing. Cybersecurity was ranked as the main concern by 51% of respondents, up from 39% in 2024, with 58% reporting high or very high exposure to cyber risks. Strategic risk exposure also increased significantly to 40%, whilst regulatory risk exposure rose to 35%. Rising costs linked to talent, technology investments, and regulatory compliance are putting pressure on operational efficiency, pushing institutions to rely more heavily on automation and data-driven systems. These mounting security challenges are driving regulatory changes across the continent. Across key markets, regulators are tightening oversight around cybersecurity, digital identity, and financial crime prevention as digital financial services scale. Nigeria’s central bank has strengthened risk management and cybersecurity requirements for financial institutions, while Kenya and Ghana have expanded digital identity and e-KYC frameworks to improve traceability in financial transactions. Regulators across multiple markets have also introduced updated fintech licensing and anti–money laundering guidelines, reflecting growing pressure to align with global compliance standards and reduce systemic vulnerabilities as cross-border digital payments increase. Despite these challenges, confidence in the sector has reached its highest level, with executives rating their organisations’ three-year economic prospects at 8 out of 10 in 2025, and 74% expressing optimism, supported by easing inflation and improved operational visibility. Fintechs, however, have adjusted their expectations downward, rating their outlook at 8.33 out of 10, compared to 9.25 in 2024, as they enter a phase of demonstrating economic viability.
Read MoreBrastorne, the startup bringing rural Africans online, is expanding to Ivory Coast
Brastorne Enterprises, a Botswana-based startup that transforms feature phones into Internet-enabled devices for rural Africans, plans to begin operations in Côte d’Ivoire by the end of the first quarter of 2026 as it rolls out a lightweight web platform designed for farmers using entry-level smartphones, the company told TechCabal. The expansion will be done through a partnership with mobile network operator Orange, a long-time partner of the company, as it continues to scale services aimed at users without reliable internet access or high-end devices. Brastorne’s expansion comes as agritech platforms across Africa increasingly adopt hybrid models that combine USSD services with web and smartphone platforms in response to uneven connectivity across the continent. Smartphone adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa remains below 55%, with gaps most pronounced in rural areas where the majority of smallholder farmers live. Platforms such as Kenya’s DigiFarm, M-Kulima, and Farm.io have built services around USSD and SMS to reach farmers using basic phones while gradually introducing online platforms as internet access improves, reflecting a broader shift in African agritech toward moving users online while maintaining access for farmers who still depend on low-bandwidth channels for information, market access, and advisory services. Founded in 2013 by Martin Stimela and Naledi Magowe, Brastorne operates in Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Guinea, and Zambia, with nearly six million users. The company targets Africans without smartphones or reliable internet access, a population it estimates at about 760 million, and has partnered with organisations including Heifer International in Zambia as well as mobile operators Orange, Mascom, and MTN across its markets. The platform currently runs three core services: mAgri, which provides farmers with market information, trading opportunities, and agricultural advice; Mpotsa, an interactive voice and SMS service delivering localised content on health, education, and employment; and Vuka, a social communication service designed for feature-phone users. Brastorne co-founder Naledi Magowe said the company will keep its USSD services for feature-phone users even as it introduces a lightweight web platform for smartphone users as connectivity improves. “We chose a web app instead of an app because when we look at the farmers that we’re reaching, they do have smartphones, but entry-level smartphones where space becomes an issue,” Magowe said. “If you’re coming with an application, it’s going to be uninstalled very quickly because they want to save space.” The new web platform will allow farmers to ask questions in local languages through text, voice, or images, with responses generated by an AI system trained on agricultural data, weather information, and market intelligence. If the system cannot resolve a query, it escalates the request to a human agronomist. “We want the farmer to be able to, for example, if they’re noticing some kind of pest or disease on their plants, just take a picture, upload it on the web app, and the AI gives diagnostic information and links them to an expert,” Magowe said. According to the company, the platform integrates live weather data, pest and disease surveillance, and market pricing information to provide context-specific recommendations. It will also include training modules, certification programmes through university partnerships, farmer-to-farmer video content, and a digital marketplace where users can list and view products. Magowe said artificial intelligence (AI) will increasingly be used to personalise user experiences and improve efficiency, although the company is still building technical capacity. “We’re still looking for talent that can help us solidify our AI operation,” she said, noting that specialised AI expertise remains limited across the continent. Get The Best African Tech Newsletters In Your Inbox Select your country Nigeria Ghana Kenya South Africa Egypt Morocco Tunisia Algeria Libya Sudan Ethiopia Somalia Djibouti Eritrea Uganda Tanzania Rwanda Burundi Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Central African Republic Chad Cameroon Gabon Equatorial Guinea São Tomé and Príncipe Angola Zambia Zimbabwe Botswana Namibia Lesotho Eswatini Mozambique Madagascar Mauritius Seychelles Comoros Cape Verde Guinea-Bissau Senegal The Gambia Guinea Sierra Leone Liberia Côte d’Ivoire Burkina Faso Mali Niger Benin Togo Other Select your gender Male Female Others TC Daily TC Events TC Scoop Subscribe Brastorne also plans to introduce financial services such as credit and insurance for smallholder farmers through partnerships with mobile money platforms, including Orange Money and MTN MoMo. Magowe said localisation will be central to the Côte d’Ivoire launch, a factor she described as key to Brastorne’s success across multiple African markets. “Every country is very unique. What’s being farmed is different, the climate is different, even livestock priorities are different,” she said. “We work with local content partners to ensure the right translations, the right content, and that our products are tailored to the needs of farmers in each market.” While partnerships with mobile network operators have enabled scale, they have also slowed expansion timelines, a challenge the company is trying to mitigate. “Just to get things situated in Botswana, it took us about three years. And then the next market we went into was DRC. That took almost two years. Then the next market took about a year,” Magowe said. “So it does reduce over time. However, it’s not as fast as we need it to be because we’re also a business and we need to grow and we have a team and we still have to operate.” Despite the challenge, the company is proceeding with its Côte d’Ivoire launch as it accelerates its shift from USSD to AI-driven platforms across new markets. As Brastorne prepares to enter Côte d’Ivoire, it is also exploring expansion into Burkina Faso, Benin, Sierra Leone, and Ghana, with the long-term goal of operating in at least 19 African countries and reaching over 45 million users, helping to narrow the continent’s connectivity gap.
Read More“In 2026, with fraud no longer a major distraction, fintechs will return to massive growth and innovation.” – Adedeji Olowe
Prediction With fraud no longer a major distraction following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s strict regulatory interventions and consumer trust being rebuilt, fintechs will return to massive growth and innovation. The market could double this year alone. Supporting Evidence CBN has already shown it will use enforcement to force compliance. The fines on Moniepoint and OPay in 2024 signalled a tougher posture toward large platforms. The CBN’s own fintech reporting and ecosystem survey positioning emphasise trust frameworks, consumer protection, and a more orderly market structure. Underlying payment rails are still compounding fast, meaning the demand side is there if trust improves. Payment data shows large yearly increases in instant payment value and strong growth in mobile transfers. Large Nigerian consumer fintechs have reached massive scale (users and merchants), which makes them unusually capable of converting renewed trust into higher engagement, cross-selling, and new launches. Risk Factors Compliance costs, licensing constraints, and operational restrictions can slow experimentation even if it helps incumbents. The CBN’s own survey shows the ecosystem is split on whether regulation is supportive or constraining. A major platform outage, high-profile scam, or enforcement action can reset consumer sentiment quickly, especially in a market where many users are newly banked and trust is still thin. Who is Adedeji Olowe? Adedeji Olowe is a Nigerian technology entrepreneur and financial services professional with deep experience across banking and fintech. He previously worked in the Nigerian banking sector, where he was involved in building and managing large-scale financial systems before transitioning into technology entrepreneurship. He is the founder of Lendsqr, a fintech infrastructure company that provides tools for lenders and financial institutions to build, manage, and scale digital credit products across Africa. Olowe is also the Chairman of the Board at Paystack, where he supports the company’s long-term governance and strategic direction.
Read MoreUS-backed Zipline partners with Rwanda for drone delivery of medicines
Rwanda has signed an expansion agreement with US-based drone logistics company Zipline to scale autonomous medical delivery systems, under a $150 million “pay-for-performance” funding from the US Department of State. The deal triggers the release of US funding designed to scale Zipline’s AI-driven medical delivery infrastructure across Africa, after the company secured national expansion commitments from governments on the continent. The development, which was announced in a statement on Thursday, marks the first milestone in a US experiment to push African governments to adopt drone logistics as permanent national infrastructure rather than donor-funded pilot projects. This now positions Rwanda as the first country in the world with nationwide autonomous logistics coverage and the first in Africa to deploy Zipline’s urban delivery system and an autonomous delivery testing centre. The agreement aims to cut delivery times for vaccines, blood, and essential medicines, potentially strengthening health outcomes and national healthcare systems. “Rwanda and Zipline have been working together for years to harness technology for the good of our people. We have witnessed the extraordinary impact of drone delivery — saving time, saving money, and saving lives,” said Paula Ingabire, Rwanda’s Minister of ICT and Innovation. Under the agreement, Rwanda will introduce Zipline’s urban delivery system, Platform 2 (P2), in Kigali, where about 40%of the country’s healthcare demand is concentrated. The system enables fast, quiet, and precise deliveries in dense urban areas. Rwanda will also add a new long-range distribution hub in Karongi District, complementing existing hubs in Muhanga and Kayonza, and expand service coverage to more than 11 million people. “Today, Rwanda is doing it again. This is a global first — not because the technology exists, but because the leadership exists,” Caitlin Burton, CEO of Zipline Africa, said, adding that the partnership sets a new global standard for deploying innovation. The US government will provide upfront infrastructure funding, while the Rwandan government will pay for ongoing operations. Zipline will also establish its first overseas AI and robotics testing facility in Rwanda to support aircraft testing, safety systems, and next-generation logistics software development. Since launching operations in Rwanda in 2016, Zipline has partnered with national governments to supply blood and essential medicines to more than 5,000 hospitals and health facilities. After its expansion in Rwanda, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, and Nigeria are expected to follow.
Read MoreeTranzact beats Q4 revenue forecast but misses 2025 profit target
eTranzact International Plc, a Nigerian payments and switching company, failed to hit its 2025 profit target despite posting a slight revenue increase, according to its unaudited results. The company’s profit after tax fell by 15.68% to ₦2.97 billion ($2.14 million) in 2025. Revenue for 2025 rose marginally by 1.08% to ₦29.82 billion (21.45 million), while gross profit climbed 24.48%. In an email to TechCabal, the company said, “Major projects/mandates that were set to commence in Q4 2025, these projects are major drivers of the projected Q4 2025 revenue/earnings forecast, and drive revenue significantly during the quarter, were stalled due to some external dependencies.” Cost of sales dropped 13.62%, suggesting an improvement in unit economics. But a 50.08% increase in administrative expenses to ₦9.24 billion ($6.65 million) wiped out those gains, dragging full-year profit below 2024 levels. Money Vertical FY 2025: Annual Efficiency vs. Operational Friction A comparative look at eTranzact’s pivot success and its administrative cost challenges. FY 2024 (BASE) The baseline performance before the shift to high-margin revenue lines. FY 2025 (SHIFT) Shows the 13.8% drop in Cost of Sales alongside the 50% admin cost surge. The company explained that key drivers of this increase include a rise in depreciation based on the acquisition of assets, and investment in the company’s manpower to meet business needs and drive business growth. eTranzact’s results reveal a company growing top line, but struggling to convert that growth into profit as costs surge amid a shift away from its major revenue line, airtime sales. While the company is yet to reveal the full breakdown of its revenue line, it told TechCabal, “The percentage of mobile airtime revenue to total gross revenue reduced in 2025. Further disclosures will be available in the 2025 audited financial statements.” The company beat its fourth quarter 2025 revenue forecast, but a jump in cost of sales and overheads crushed margins, leaving it far short of its full-year profit projection. In October 2025, the company projected ₦8.19 billion ($5.89 million) in Q4 2025, and ₦1.87 billion ($1.35 million) in profit after tax. This would have taken its full-year revenue to ₦28.30 billion ($20.35 million) and profit to ₦4.28 billion ($3.08 million). Instead, eTranzact beat its fourth-quarter revenue target, posting ₦9.86 billion ($7.09 million) in revenue, but profits fell sharply. Costs surged well beyond projections, compressing margins and dragging profit after tax down to just over ₦561.66 million ($403.97 million), far below the company’s expectations. Money Vertical Composition of 2025 Financial Projections A breakdown of how eTranzact arrived at its full-year targets. 9 Months Actual Q4 Projected “The increase in cost of sales is mainly because of an increase in technology cost and the direct impact of an increase in revenue lines with high direct cost components/low margins,” the company said “The actual revenue achieved for those lines exceeded what was projected, and this increased the direct cost accordingly. Major drivers of the Q4 revenue were high-margin revenue lines with little to no direct cost components.” The company told TechCabal in October that its projections reflected a strategic shift away from airtime sales, historically one of its biggest but lowest-margin revenue lines. Over the years, a significant part of eTranzact’s revenue has been value-added services such as airtime, which it describes as very low margin. eTranzact noted at the time that it was prioritising other business lines, such as switching, which includes funds transfer, bill payments, payment gateway, and its financial inclusion business. The company operates across switching, merchant acquiring, and consumer solutions, offering products including PocketMoni, a fintech app, Corporate Pay, for salary disbursements, PayOutlet, for merchant payments, SwitchIT, for transaction processing, and Credo, a social commerce payment gateway. Despite the profit miss, eTranzact’s cash position improved over the period, pointing to stronger operating momentum. Cash receipts from customers rose by 0.62%, and cash paid to suppliers and employees fell by 82.80%, leaving a net positive cash movement of ₦23.78 billion ($17.10 million). Money Vertical Corrected Cash Flow Dynamics (2024–2025) A precise breakdown of eTranzact’s shift from a ₦4.46B deficit to a ₦23.78B surplus. Metric (Billions ₦) 2024 (Actual) 2025 (Unaudited) Change (%) Customer Receipts 29.42 29.60 +0.61% Supplier/Emp. Payments 33.88 5.83 -82.79% Net Operating Cash Flow -4.46 23.78 +633.18% In its forecast for Q1, 2026, eTranzact expects revenue to fall by 42.69%, and an 18.98% drop in profit to ₦672.72 million ($483,846). The company expects airtime’s contribution to continue shrinking as it doubles down on digital payments and enterprise platforms. It is also betting on growth from its approval by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to support Nigeria’s e-invoicing rollout, a government initiative aimed at digitising tax and business processes.
Read MoreEverything you need to know about 2026 UTME registration
Table of contents How to register for the 2026 UTME online How to register for the 2026 UTME offline Comprehensive 2026 UTME/DE registration and examination timeline Important things to know before and after you register Registration for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) began with the sale of e-PINS on Monday, January 19, 2026. Full registration opened on Monday, January 26, 2026 and will end on Saturday, February 28, 2026. The five-week window covers nearly two million candidates who must create online profiles and complete biometric capture at accredited computer-based test (CBT) centres. Several new rules apply to this year’s exercise under the “No Vision, No Registration” policy introduced by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Registrar, Professor Is-haq Oloyede. Every computer-based test centre must livestream all registration activities to the board’s headquarters in Abuja, a measure aimed at curbing extortion, impersonation, and data breaches. Candidates must also be at least 16 years old by September 30, 2026, to qualify for university admission, a requirement which JAMB says helps ensure students are ready for higher education. Here is everything you need to know about registering for the 2026 UTME. How to register for the 2026 UTME online You can start your 2026 UTME registration online before going to any CBT centre. This step links your identity, phone number, and NIN to JAMB. What to check before you start Your details on the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) database must be correct, including your name, date of birth, gender, and state of origin JAMB pulls this data directly, so you cannot change it at a CBT centre Use your own phone number You must use one personal number for the whole process This number receives your profile code, your ePIN, and all JAMB messages Get your profile code Send your 11-digit NIN by SMS to 55019 or 66019 Use this format: NIN 00123456789 You will get a 10-character profile code by SMS If you used UTME before, send RESEND to 55019 or 66019 to reactivate your old code Choose your exam and pay Pick UTME with mock, UTME without mock, or Direct Entry The cost is N8,700 for UTME with mock, N7,200 for UTME without mock, and N5,700 for Direct Entry Pay through bank apps, POS, or fintech apps like OPay, PalmPay, or Kuda You can also use BuyCard with your profile code Get your e PIN After payment, JAMB sends your ePIN by SMS to your phone If you lose it, send UTMEPIN or DEPIN to 55019 or 66019 Keep your SIM active If you bought a new SIM, ask your network to activate the Keep My Number service This keeps your number active for up to three years Set up your email Create a personal email address You will use it for your JAMB e-facility account, exam slips, and CAPS admission checks How to register for the 2026 UTME offline You must go to a JAMB-approved CBT centre to finish your 2026 UTME registration. This is where your biometrics and exam choices are confirmed in person. Where to go Visit only JAMB-approved CBT centres, professional registration centres, or JAMB state and zonal offices Do not use private cybercafés or unapproved places because your registration can be canceled What to take Your 10-character profile code Your e PIN You do not pay any extra fees at the centre because it is already included in the e PIN What you will do at the centre Fill a paper template with your first, second, third, and fourth choices of schools and courses Give your fingerprints for all ten fingers to stop impersonation Take a live photo using approved Microsoft or Digitech cameras, which links to the NIMC database Your centre must stream this live to JAMB under the No Vision policy Upload and exam location If you have WAEC or NECO results, the operator uploads them If your result is not ready, choose Awaiting Result and upload later Choose your exam town, and JAMB will place you in a centre within that zone Final checks Use the dual screen to see everything being typed Check your name and subject choices before you approve Confirm with your thumbprint After registration You will get a printed registration slip with your details and subject combination Collection of Mandatory Reading Materials: After successful registration, you are entitled to collect the prescribed reading text, “The Lekki Headmaster” by Kabir Alabi Garba and the JAMB CD containing the brochure and syllabus Comprehensive 2026 UTME/DE registration and examination timeline The table below shows the key dates for the 2026 cycle. You must follow these dates because the system will shut down vending and registration at the end of each period. Important things to know before and after you register The 2026 UTME is strict, and small mistakes can prevent you from gaining admission, even if your score is high. You need to get your details right from the start and check your JAMB account regularly after you register. What you must have before you register Your 11-digit NIN that matches the NIMC database One personal phone number that no other candidate has used Your O Level results with grades and dates, or for Direct Entry, your previous matric number and school details Money to pay for the ePIN, because once you buy it, JAMB does not give refunds Common mistakes that cause problems Using henna or laali on your fingers, which can stop the scanner from reading your fingerprints and get you blocked from the exam Picking the wrong subject combination, such as leaving out Mathematics for Science or Technology courses Using more than one NIN to create multiple profiles, which the JAMB software will detect and cancel Having different names on your NIN and O Level result, which schools can reject unless you fix it at NIMC before getting your profile code What to do after you register Print your exam slip seven to ten days before the exam to see your date, time, and
Read MoreAGOA extension buys time for Kenya’s digital export economy as US tightens rules
The United States (US) government has renewed the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a trade agreement that offers duty-free access to the US market for selected goods. The renewal will run through December 31, 2026, extending access to the American market for eligible African exports and offering a political lifeline to countries betting on digital trade for jobs and growth. Kenyan officials and industry groups had warned that more than 66,000 export processing zone (EPZ) jobs and as many as 800,000 livelihoods, including 3,000 to 7,000 tech‑related roles tied to export processing, could have been hit after US President Donald Trump signalled that AGOA could be scrapped as part of a wider tariff move. That prospect raised the stakes had the trade deal lapsed without renewal. But the renewal lands in a world where the real test for hubs like Kenya will be whether digital exports, including call centre work, software development, and AI data labelling, can still create stable and well‑paid jobs even as Washington sharpens scrutiny of cross‑border data flows and digital services. Kenya has spent years cultivating its “Silicon Savannah” brand, building an IT‑enabled services sector that ranges from business process outsourcing (BPO) to niche AI annotation outfits serving large global tech firms. Information and communication technology (ICT) export earnings fell from KES 227.0 million ($1.76 million) in October 2025 to KES 208.1 million ($1.61 million) in November, according to data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). ICT imports grew from KES 4.4 billion ($34.1 million) to KES 5.1 billion ($39.5 million) over the same period, widening the trade gap and underscoring the growing weight of digital payments and the labour market. That concentration makes the jobs pipeline highly sensitive to policy signals from the US. A tariff on specific digital services or a new data‑localisation rule can prompt large clients to shift contracts overnight, leaving Kenyan firms scrambling to fill capacity and workers watching their shifts disappear. Kenya’s official unemployment rate of about 5.6% obscures an economy in which more than four in five non‑farm workers operate without formal contracts or social protection. For those workers, fewer US‑facing contracts mean weaker earnings and thinner remittance flows to their families. Industry lobby group Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) said on Tuesday that the extension helps firms avoid supply chain disruption and order cancellations that had started to weigh on export planning in late 2025. “The United States of America is one of Kenya’s most important trading partners, accounting for about 9% of our external market. Kenya’s exports to the USA stood at $788.6 million in 2025, compared to imports of $930.8 million,” Tobias Alando, the CEO of KAM, said. AGOA’s renewal keeps Kenya among countries with preferential access to the United States market, buying time for exporters, but it does little to slow the shift towards tighter checks on digital trade tied to national security and data privacy.
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