Best Google Gemini features to use for free in Nigeria right now
Table of contents What Gemini features can Nigerians use for free? Free Gemini vs paid Gemini: What is the difference? What do Google AI Plus, Pro and Ultra give you in Nigeria? Which Gemini plan should you use? Not every Gemini feature is available in Nigeria Bottom line Google Gemini is available in Nigeria, and you do not need to pay for a Google AI subscription to start using many of its most useful features. The free version can do far more than answer questions or help you write an email. You can use it to research complex topics, analyse documents, hold voice conversations, generate and edit images, create study materials and even work on projects inside a dedicated workspace. That does not mean the free and paid versions are identical. Google AI subscriptions, including Google AI Plus, Pro and Ultra, generally give users higher usage limits, greater access to advanced models and some additional capabilities. But if you are wondering what you can actually do with Gemini in Nigeria without paying, there is already plenty to explore. This article breaks down the best free Google Gemini features available in Nigeria right now, what they do, and when it might make sense to consider a paid plan. What Gemini features can Nigerians use for free? Gemini is available through its web and mobile apps in Nigeria. Many of its core features can be used with a standard Google account, although some have daily or monthly usage limits. Google Gemini free features in Nigeria at a glance Here are some of the most useful ones. 1. Ask Gemini questions and get help with everyday tasks The most basic way to use Gemini is still one of the most useful. You can ask questions, request explanations, brainstorm ideas, write and edit text, plan tasks, and get help working through problems. For example, you could ask Gemini to: Explain a difficult concept in simple terms Help you write an email or cover letter Brainstorm story ideas Create a travel or study plan Summarise a topic Help you think through a problem Gemini can also handle follow-up questions, so you do not always have to start a new conversation when you want to go deeper into a topic. For everyday use, this is where most people will probably spend most of their time. The difference with paid plans is largely about how much access you get to Google’s more advanced models and how often you can use them before reaching a limit. 2. Research complex topics with Deep Research Deep Research is one of Gemini’s most useful features, particularly if you are working on a topic that requires more than a quick answer. Instead of simply responding to a prompt, Gemini can research a subject, work through multiple sources and produce a more detailed report. It can also show you a research plan before beginning and allow you to ask follow-up questions after the report is complete. This could be useful for: Researching a company or industry Understanding a complicated policy issue Comparing products or services Preparing for an interview Exploring an unfamiliar topic Building background knowledge for a project The important thing here is that Deep Research is not entirely locked behind a paid subscription. Free users can access it, although usage limits apply. Paid Google AI plans offer higher limits and additional access to Google’s more capable models for research. For anyone who regularly needs to dig into unfamiliar subjects, the free version is worth trying before deciding whether a subscription is necessary. 3. Upload and analyse files You can also upload supported files to Gemini and ask questions about them. That means you can give Gemini a document, spreadsheet, image or other supported file and ask it to help you understand what is inside. For example, you could upload: A long PDF and ask for a summary A spreadsheet and ask Gemini to identify patterns A report and ask for the key findings A document and ask specific questions about it An image and ask Gemini to describe or analyse what it shows This can save a significant amount of time when you are dealing with long or complicated material. The free version comes with usage limits, particularly when working with larger files or analysing video and audio. Paid plans increase those limits. Still, for occasional document analysis, the free tier may be enough. 4. Talk to Gemini with Gemini Live If you do not feel like typing, Gemini Live allows you to have a spoken conversation with the AI. Instead of giving one prompt, waiting for a response and typing another, you can speak more naturally and continue the conversation as you would with another person. You can interrupt Gemini, change your mind or ask it to explain something differently. On supported devices, Gemini Live can also use your camera or screen during a conversation. For example, you could point your camera at something and ask Gemini about what you are seeing, or share what is on your screen while discussing a problem. This could be useful when: You want to practise an interview You are trying to understand something you can see You need help working through a problem You prefer speaking to typing You want a more natural back-and-forth conversation Availability can depend on your device, account, and software requirements, so not every Gemini Live capability will necessarily work on every phone. But for supported users, it is one of the more interesting ways to interact with Gemini for free. 5. Generate and edit images Gemini is not limited to text. You can use it to generate images from a written description and, in supported cases, edit existing images by telling Gemini what you want to change. For example, you could ask it to: Create an illustration for a presentation Generate a concept image Change parts of an existing image Create social media visuals Experiment with different creative ideas Google’s current Gemini image tools give free users
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South Africa’s Cell C finds growth beyond its own subscribers
Cell C, South Africa’s third-largest mobile operator, sees its next wave of growth coming not just from its own subscribers, but from the businesses selling mobile services through its network. Cell C’s latest financial results, released on Friday, show that its wholesale and Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) business is becoming a key growth engine. Wholesale revenue grew 20% year on year, while 5.7 million subscribers were using services provided by other brands on Cell C’s network by the end of May 2026. The company expects double-digit growth to continue in FY27. The growth marks a change in Cell C’s business beyond selling mobile services directly to consumers. The company uses its network to support other brands that want to offer mobile services without building their own infrastructure, making wholesale and MVNOs an important part of its growth strategy. An MVNO allows a company to offer mobile services without operating its own radio network. Cell C provides the underlying connectivity and infrastructure, while partner businesses can market mobile services to their own customers. Its wholesale business effectively provides the network capacity and services these partners need, allowing Cell C to earn revenue from companies that use its infrastructure to serve their own customers. Cell C said its wholesale business generated R1.8 billion ($111.8 million) in revenue in FY26 and accounted for 80% to 85% of South Africa’s MVNO market. The telco ended the year with 8.9 million direct subscribers, up 17.1% year on year, alongside the 5.7 million MVNO subscribers using its platform. Cell C reported total revenue of R12.64 billion ($785.2 million), up 13.5%, while adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) increased 16.9% to R2.4 billion ($147.8 million). Cell C says its asset-light, partnership-led model is supporting growth, with its wholesale and MVNO businesses becoming an important part of the strategy. Group chief executive officer (CEO) Jorge Mendes said the company had moved from recovery towards growth after completing its restructuring and listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in November 2025. “Wholesale remained a standout performer and continues to validate our platform strategy, with sustained momentum in our MVNO business demonstrating the strength and scalability of Cell C’s partner-led model,” Mendes said in the results statement. The results show that providing network services to MVNOs and other partners is becoming an important part of Cell C’s growth strategy. Cell C said the number of subscribers using MVNO services on its network rose 27.3% to 5.7 million from 4.5 million a year earlier. The company’s consumer businesses also recorded growth. Prepaid revenue increased 9.7% to about R5.8 billion ($360.2 million), supported by a recovery in the customer base, with prepaid subscribers increasing by 1.3 million during the year. Postpaid service revenue gained 1.2% to R2.3 billion ($142.9 million), while average revenue per user rose to R242 ($15.03) from R225 ($13.98) after the company cleaned up its subscriber base. Data traffic shot up 47% year on year, while voice traffic fell 4%. Mendes noted that wholesale is central to the company’s growth plans. “Wholesale remains a key growth driver, and we expect double-digit revenue growth to continue supported by the continued strong performance of our MVNO business,” he stated. Cell C enters FY27 with a stronger balance sheet after net debt fell to R2.02 billion ($125.5 million) from R5.7 billion ($353.4 million) a year earlier. The telco expects overall revenue growth in the upper-single-digit range in FY27. It warned, however, that data rollover regulations due to take effect in January 2027 and lower mobile termination rates will put pressure on some revenue streams. Cell C also expects its postpaid business to improve following the integration of Comm Equipment Company (CEC), a telecommunications equipment and services business it acquired in August 2025. True scale demands moving beyond surface-level integrations to robust execution. We’ve filtered the noise out of Moonshot 2026, optimising the conference strictly for high-calibre connections between startup founders, global financial operators, enterprise leaders and individuals rewiring Africa’s technical frameworks. Get 20% off Early Bird tickets for a limited time.
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Nigeria’s Central Bank wants to monitor your stablecoin transactions. Can the plan actually work?
In its Payments System Vision 2028 (PSV 2028), unveiled on June 1, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it intends to run observer nodes on blockchain networks that operate approved stablecoins, enabling the regulator to see stablecoin transactions in real time. A blockchain network is a shared ledger: instead of one company keeping the only copy of transaction records, many computers maintain copies and keep them in sync. An observer node is a computer connected to the network that keeps a copy of the blockchain and monitors activity on it. It does not validate or submit transactions to the network; its job is to observe. Running observer nodes on blockchains would give the CBN a direct view of how those tokens are created, moved, or destroyed, rather than making it depend entirely on reports prepared by the companies issuing them. It marks the regulator’s attempt to bring stablecoins into Nigeria’s regulated payments system without giving up visibility over how money moves across it. Stablecoins are digital currencies built on blockchain technology and designed to maintain a 1:1 peg to real-world currencies, such as the US dollar or naira. If a stablecoin is backed by the naira one-to-one, its issuer—usually private companies—must hold an equivalent amount or more in reserves with banks and other financial institutions, and keep those reserves available when customers buy or redeem the stablecoin. Nigerians use stablecoins for remittances and as a hedge against naira volatility, the CBN said in its PSV 2028 document. Much of that activity is informal or peer-to-peer (P2P), as further noted. The central bank now wants to regulate the stablecoins it approves, require them to hold reserves, and build infrastructure that lets it see their activity directly. Nigeria is not an isolated case. On June 30, 2026, Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) issued a tender for virtual asset blockchain analytics providers, asking bidders to provide KES 900,000 ($7,000) in tender security, signalling the regulator’s readiness to work with managed services providers to gain greater oversight into how virtual assets operate on blockchains. Regulators want greater visibility into how digital assets—especially stablecoins and their role in payments—move on blockchains as they seek to manage risks to monetary sovereignty. However, running observer nodes could increase compliance costs for stablecoin issuers, who may need to hire managed services providers to meet the CBN’s proposed technical requirements. Stablecoins are no longer fringe experiments Between July 2024 and June 2025, digital currencies, including stablecoins, accounted for an estimated $205 billion in transaction flows in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. The company said remittances, retail payments, and business-to-business (B2B) cross-border transactions using digital currencies have become increasingly common, especially in countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Ethiopia. Another report by Hashed Emergent, an India-based venture capital firm that invests in early-stage Web3 firms including African startups, noted that Nigeria had the highest 24-hour stablecoin P2P transfer volume on centralised exchanges in Sub-Saharan Africa, reaching $48.2 million in 2025, underscoring how deeply embedded those channels have become in moving money in the country and cementing the CBN’s case for tighter oversight of the sector. The CBN is also building a regulatory framework around stablecoins. It has opened a second cohort of its regulatory sandbox, which now includes stablecoin issuers and other virtual asset service providers. Under its PSV 2028, the regulator plans to licence fiat-backed stablecoins and require a minimum percentage of reserves backing foreign-currency stablecoins, such as the US dollar, to be domiciled in Nigeria with approved custodians (banks). For the regulator, the next question is visibility. The key benefit of running observer nodes is independence: the central bank can read the stablecoin-issued blockchain network to obtain high-level information about the digital currency’s supply and circulation, without relying on the issuer to tell it what happened. Blockchains, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, are already public on permissionless networks, allowing anyone to run these nodes without needing approval from a central authority. The attraction is that the regulator would no longer have to take an issuer’s word for what happened on the chain. “The practical value is not like the observer node [will] magically reveal new categories of truth,” Derek Degbe, a senior blockchain analytics engineer, told TechCabal in an interview. “The value is that they give the CBN an independent, more continuous, and evidence-based view of the on-chain side of the stablecoin system.” Licenced stablecoin issuers would be required to build features into their smart contracts—the code on which the stablecoin is built—that link reserve information to the blockchain and provide the CBN with access to relevant data. Observer nodes would allow the central bank to continuously monitor the blockchains on which approved stablecoins operate and see transactions in real time, rather than relying solely on reports from issuers, banks, independent auditors attesting to stablecoin reserves, and other regulated institutions. While it is technically possible to run observer nodes on permissionless blockchains, the harder part is deciding exactly what the CBN will monitor, how many blockchains it will support, and what happens to everything the blockchain cannot tell it. What CBN actually wants to build Beyond running nodes on blockchains, Nigeria’s central bank has also proposed licencing fiat-backed stablecoins and requiring issuers to keep reserves fully segregated, audited, and attested to daily. The CBN is evaluating a “RegTech Node” that would give it direct, real-time visibility into approved stablecoins. The node would be read-only, allowing the bank to watch the blockchain without changing transactions. For this to work, the CBN wants each licenced issuer to build four things into its stablecoin. First, smart contract transparency hooks, which would record every mint, burn, and redemption, so the CBN can see when tokens are created, destroyed, or redeemed. Second, regulator access addresses, allowing the CBN to read relevant data without interfering with transactions. Third, a link to reserves. Approved custodians would publish cryptographically signed proofs of reserves to the blockchain, allowing the CBN to compare reserves with tokens in circulation. Fourth, source code
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – FAAN’s new pickup line
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية TGIFWAW! The Naira Life Conference is almost here! We’re down to the final days. Tomorrow, professionals, entrepreneurs, investors, and creators will gather at The Jewel Aeida, Lekki, Lagos, for a full day of honest conversations about making, growing, and protecting money. Want to earn more, build wealth, or grow a business? Learn how to increase your market value, get practical advice on stocks, mutual funds, and cryptocurrencies, build your first portfolio, and discover what it really takes to turn a hustle into a wealth engine. The room only has a few seats left. Don’t wait until it’s too late to secure a ticket. Get your Naira Life Conference ticket. Become smarter about tech and commerce in Francophone Africa, and the policies shaping them. Read previous editions here first and subscribe below. Subscribe Quizzes Uber, Bolt aren’t banned from Nigerian airports—yet Comsol is building a wholesale 5G network for SA Who secured the bag? World Wide Web 3 Events Economy Uber and Bolt aren’t banned from Nigerian airports, yet Image Source: Tenor Have you ever tried ordering a ride after landing at Nigeria’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) and watched the little car icons on your app multiply until it looked like a huge pile-up? FAAN wants to bring some order to that chaos. What happened? The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the regulator that manages Nigeria’s commercial airports, has said it is speaking to ride-hailing companies, including Bolt and Uber, about a framework that would allow them to pick up passengers at airports while meeting the authority’s safety and operational requirements. FAAN added that until those agreements are signed, Uber and Bolt do not have formal approval to pick up passengers from Nigerian airport terminals. Explain like I’m new here: This is all part of FAAN’s master plan to digitise airport access systems and turn airport transport into something it can manage. In March, it fully activated its cashless policy at airport access points, where airport users were required to obtain a FAAN electronic payment card that must be scanned at entry points. In June, it launched the Airport Car Hire Rank Management System (ACHRAMS) at MMIA to register and track airport car-hire operators. So what does FAAN want and why? It wants control and visibility over commercial transport operating on airport property. FAAN said it has received complaints about touting and passenger solicitation around airports and wants commercial transport providers operating on its turf to be identifiable and accountable. Where does that leave you? For now, don’t delete Uber or Bolt. FAAN has said that ACHRAMS is not an e-hailing app designed to compete with ride-sharing platforms, but until agreements are completed, Uber, Bolt, and other ride-hailing platforms don’t have formal approval to pick up passengers from Nigerian airport terminals. Every business owner needs to watch this. The business questions you Google, answered by experts. Watch for free. Telecoms Network access provider Comsol is building a wholesale 5G network for South Africa Image Source: Tenor South Africa is getting another 5G network, but this one has a slightly different plan. Comsol, a South African telecom company, is building the network and selling access to other businesses. What happened? Comsol has started selling wholesale access to a national 5G network built specifically for home broadband. The network will be available to Internet service providers (ISPs), mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), and other resellers, while Comsol stays behind the scenes handling the infrastructure. Explain like I’m new here: Normally, a telecom company builds the network and sells the internet service directly to customers. Comsol, however, builds and operates the 5G network that an ISP or MVNO can use to create a home broadband package, decide what to charge, and sell it under its own brand. What’s interesting: South Africa already has a mature 5G market. MTN and Vodacom launched the country’s first 5G networks in 2020, while Telkom and Rain have also built 5G offerings. In 2022, MTN had the fastest median 5G download speed, according to GSMA. Comsol wants to become the network that other businesses can use to compete with these heavyweights. We’ve seen this before: Ghana’s Next-Gen InfraCo (NGIC) launched in 2024 as a shared 4G/5G infrastructure company and commenced operations in March, with the idea that mobile operators and Internet providers could use one national network instead of each building everything themselves. Comsol is doing something similar, although its network is focused on 5G home broadband rather than being a shared mobile network for the whole country. What does this mean for you? An interesting thing to look out for will be the price. Comsol hasn’t disclosed what it will charge its wholesale partners, and those partners will still have to add their own costs and margins. A wholesale network could make connectivity cheaper by spreading infrastructure costs across providers, but it doesn’t guarantee cheaper Internet for you. Naira Life 2026 is here! The Naira Life Conference 2026 is bringing together Nigeria’s top finance minds, industry leaders, creators, and business strategists for a full-day of specialised sessions and masterclasses designed for ambitious Nigerians who want to make, keep, grow, and pass on real wealth. Happening on August 22 at the Jewel Aeida, Lekki, Lagos. Secure a seat in the room. Insights Funding Tracker Image Source: Success Sotonwa for TechCabal Insights Terra Industries, a Nigerian defence-tech startup, raised $18 million in seed funding. The investment came from existing investors 8VC, Silent Ventures, Nova Global, Belief Capital, and SV Angel, alongside new investors Norleo Space Investments and angel investor Grant Gordon. (Aug 17) Here are the other deals for the week: Pouchers, a Nigerian stablecoin-powered payments platform, raised $500,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by Stack Directory LLC, a Dubai-based internet investment company, with participation from other strategic angel investors. (Aug 17) Jem, a South African workforce management startup, raised $8.4 million in Series A funding led by Quona Capital, with participation from University Technology Fund,
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Nigeria’s SEC wants crypto firms to share transaction data
Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed new rules that would allow it to approve new digital and virtual asset operators, set governance requirements, and gain deeper visibility into transactions, wallets, and the movement of digital assets in and out of the country. The proposed rules, issued on Thursday, would mandate cryptocurrency businesses targeting Nigerian users to register with the SEC, even if they operate from outside the country. The rules cover exchanges, custodians, and virtual asset service providers (VASPs), as well as tokenisation and digital-asset offering platforms. It marks a significant expansion of the SEC’s approach to regulating crypto in Nigeria, shifting the focus from simply bringing virtual asset businesses into its sandbox framework to issuing operating rules to closely supervise how they operate, move customer assets, and interact with the wider financial system. The proposal underscores one of the key areas where Nigeria’s virtual asset regulation lies: transaction monitoring. Several virtual asset businesses now face re-enforced costs of operating in the digital asset sector. Exchanges and digital asset custodians would each need ₦2 billion ($1.5 million) in minimum capital, while VASPs would require ₦200 million ($148,400). Digital asset platform operators (DAPOs) such as token issuers, digital asset offering platforms (DAOPs)—including companies that provide platforms for token issuance—and real-world asset tokenisation platforms (RATOPs) must all maintain minimum capital requirements of ₦500 million ($371,000). Notably, ancillary virtual asset providers (AVASPs), which provide technological infrastructure for virtual asset businesses, are no longer included in the proposed rules. The category previously carried a minimum capital requirement of ₦300 million ($222,600) under the SEC’s revised guidelines issued in March. Digital asset exchanges would pay a ₦30 million ($22,270) registration fee, while VASPs would pay ₦15 million ($11,130). But the bigger change may be how much information crypto companies would have to make available to the regulator. The SEC could require regulated firms to provide application programming interface (API)-based or other electronic access to operational, transactional, financial, wallet, custody, and settlement data. Digital asset firms would also have to identify and report transactions involving Nigerian residents and cross-border flows, including wallet addresses, transaction values, timestamps, and counterparty information. “The Commission may refuse to register an applicant where the Commission is not satisfied with the applicant’s information, governance, ownership, financial condition, operational model, technology, risk controls, compliance arrangements, regulatory status or ability to comply with these rules,” the SEC said in the proposed rules. Exchange operators face additional requirements. Customer assets cannot be freely mixed with company funds, while related-party custody arrangements would require a separately incorporated and regulated custodian. The SEC is also seeking to pull more of crypto’s newer business models into its regulatory perimeter. Staking, lending, yield products, liquidity pools, peer-to-peer (P2P) and over-the-counter (OTC) trading, and non-custodial wallet services are explicitly addressed in the proposed framework. The proposal follows the SEC’s recent push to bring more virtual asset companies into its Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme (ARIP), with 12 firms admitted since July and on track to receive approvals-in-principle. The pace marks an acceleration from 2025, when new admissions slowed. The SEC said under the new framework, ARIP approval-in-principle would last two years, but would not amount to full registration and would come with restricted operating scopes and enhanced supervision. True scale demands moving beyond surface-level integrations to robust execution. We’ve filtered the noise out of Moonshot 2026, optimising the conference strictly for high-calibre connections between startup founders, global financial operators, enterprise leaders and individuals rewiring Africa’s technical frameworks. Get 20% off Early Bird tickets for a limited time.
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Google is giving Nigerian students a year of free AI access
Google is giving students at accredited Nigerian universities, polytechnics and colleges of education 12 months of its AI Plus plan for free, bringing its premium AI tools to a generation increasingly using them for schoolwork. Google said the subscription, worth ₦92,400 ($68.56), gives students access to Gemini Study Notebooks, Gemini Live, Deep Research, interactive 3D visualisations and Google Lens Homework Helper, among other AI-powered learning tools. The offer is Google’s latest effort to bring its AI tools into education in Africa. In October 2025, the tech giant offered university students in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, South Africa and Zimbabwe 12 months of free access to Google AI Pro, giving them access to its premium AI tools for research, creativity and learning. In November, it committed $2.1 million through its philanthropic arm, Google.org, to five Nigerian organisations to accelerate advanced AI skilling and push innovation. The project aimed to support at least 10 higher institutions, train 50 lecturers, 50 teaching assistants, and reach over 11,000 students in two to three years. “AI is the defining technological shift of our generation, and for Nigeria, with one of the youngest and most entrepreneurial populations in the world, it is an immediate leapfrog opportunity,” said Olumide Balogun, director, West & East Africa at Google. “By offering 12 months of free Google AI Plus for the second consecutive year, we are removing financial barriers so that Nigerian students can master complex subjects, build in-demand digital skills, and compete confidently in the global economy.” To qualify for the offer, eligible students must verify their enrolment through SheerID, a data platform. Students who claimed the offer last academic year can renew it for another 12 months by verifying their student status again, according to Google. Once activated, Google AI Plus gives students higher usage limits on Gemini and access to more advanced AI features. They can use Gemini Live for real-time voice conversations, Deep Research to work through long-form research, and custom practice quizzes to study for exams. Students also get unlimited file uploads, alongside 400 gigabytes (GB) of Google storage. Google noted that its Guided Learning feature is designed to help students understand a topic rather than simply giving them an answer. Google DeepMind tested the approach in June with 1,763 students in West Africa in an eight-week study. According to the study, students who used Guided Learning recorded learning gains equivalent to 1.2 to 1.7 years of typical progress. According to Google, Nigeria is one of 27 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa where the student offer is now available. True scale demands moving beyond surface-level integrations to robust execution. We’ve filtered the noise out of Moonshot 2026, optimising the conference strictly for high-calibre connections between startup founders, global financial operators, enterprise leaders and individuals rewiring Africa’s technical frameworks. Get 20% off Early Bird tickets for a limited time.
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AI is making Africa’s cheapest smartphones harder to afford
Africans planning to buy a new smartphone this year may have to spend more as rising AI demand makes the cheap devices that helped millions get online more expensive to produce. Africa’s smartphone market is heading for its first annual slowdown in three years as rising device prices squeeze consumers, with global technology market research firm Omdia forecasting a 26% decline in shipments in 2026. The research firm said on Thursday that smartphone shipments across the continent fell 7% year-on-year to 17.8 million units in the second quarter of 2026. The decline was particularly pronounced at the lower end of the market, which is crucial to expanding connectivity across the continent. Shipments of smartphones priced below $100 fell 34% year-on-year, representing a decline of nearly three million devices. Rising memory and semiconductor costs, partly linked to the boom in artificial intelligence infrastructure, are squeezing manufacturers, making the cheapest devices harder to produce profitably and pushing vendors towards more expensive phones. For consumers, this means fewer options at the bottom of the market and a bigger bill when it is time to replace their phones. The average selling price of smartphones in Africa increased by $41 year-on-year to $202, reflecting both higher device prices and a shift towards more expensive phones. Smartphones already cost an average of 24% of monthly income in the region. “We’re witnessing a forced upward shift in the African market,” said Manish Pravinkumar, principal analyst at Omdia. “Vendors can no longer profitably manufacture $75 smartphones, while consumers who need connectivity are increasingly having to stretch their budgets towards $200-plus devices.” Why smartphones are getting more expensive Smartphone manufacturers are facing higher costs for the components that go into their devices as demand for memory and semiconductors grows. The AI boom is pushing technology companies to buy large quantities of chips and memory for AI infrastructure, increasing competition for some of the same components used in smartphones. In December 2025, Micron Technology, an American multinational semiconductor company, exited its consumer-focused crucial business to concentrate on areas where demand was growing faster, including memory and storage for data centres. “The AI-driven growth in the data center has led to a surge in demand for memory and storage. Micron has made the difficult decision to exit the Crucial consumer business in order to improve supply and support for our larger, strategic customers in faster-growing segments,” said Sumit Sadana, executive vice president and Chief Business Officer at Micron Technology. In May, BT, the British multinational telecommunications company, said smartphone prices could rise as technology companies buy up semiconductor chips amid the AI boom. Apple in June raised prices of MacBooks and iPads as it passed the rising cost of memory to consumers. Sunil Taldar, Airtel Africa’s chief executive officer, also admitted to investors on July 23 that global chipset pricing was putting pressure on the cost of some of its devices. The result is a difficult choice for smartphone manufacturers. Raising prices risks pushing consumers away, but maintaining ultra-cheap devices is becoming less profitable. Pravinkumar said vendors can no longer profitably manufacture smartphones priced around $75, forcing the market towards devices costing $200 or more. What this means for buyers More than four in every five smartphones sold in Nigeria and across Africa in 2025 were priced below $200. Affordability is the biggest barrier to internet access in the region. “Handset affordability has emerged as the single largest barrier to mobile internet adoption across Africa,” GSMA, the industry body for telecom operators, said in a new report on Africa. “Despite mobile broadband coverage now reaching the majority of the continent’s population, 63% of Africans remain offline – not because of a lack of network coverage, but because of the cost of devices, services and sector-specific levies.” As these cheaper phones become harder to produce, consumers who would previously have bought an entry-level smartphone may have to delay their purchase, buy a more expensive device, or settle for a less capable one. Nigeria’s smartphone market declined 11% in Q2 as higher device prices led consumers to delay purchases, according to Omdia. TechCabal reported in June that smartphone prices in Nigeria would rise by up to 30% in 2026, threatening affordability for millions who rely on mobile phones to get online. A $100 smartphone in Nigeria currently costs about ₦135,041, or 92.92% more than the country’s minimum wage of ₦70,000 ($51.84). Nigeria has an estimated 96.27 million smartphone users, compared with a population of more than 200 million. According to GSMA, an entry-level smartphone still consumes nearly half of a low-income earner’s monthly income, keeping millions of Nigerians reliant on older 3G and 4G handsets. Six in ten Nigerians were offline in 2025 because they cannot afford smartphones. Higher prices could widen that gap. People who already own smartphones may delay replacing them, while those who do not own one may have to wait even longer to afford one. Beyond Nigeria, Egypt’s smartphone market contracted 26% as manufacturers implemented significant mid-quarter price increases in response to a 50% increase in local production input costs since January. Kenya’s smartphone market fell 15%, driven by rising device prices, particularly in the sub-$150 segment where demand remained concentrated. South Africa was the exception among the markets tracked by Omdia. Smartphone shipments grew 17% year-on-year as consumers continued moving towards 5G devices and higher-priced smartphones, the research firm said. How phone makers are responding Faced with unavoidable price increases, Pravinkumar argues that vendors are adjusting product portfolios, inventory, financing and pricing, and operational execution to defend market share and profitability. “Rather than passing the full impact of higher component costs on to consumers, vendors are carefully rebalancing specifications to maintain a strong value proposition at existing price points,” he said. “This may mean prioritising features that matter most to buyers—such as battery life, display quality, storage and camera performance—while optimising less visible components to manage costs.” In other words, a $100 smartphone in 2026 may not look the same as one from previous years, even if
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Absa, but make it Nigerian
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Good morning. The Naira Life Conference is almost here! We’re down to the final days. On August 22, professionals, entrepreneurs, investors, and creators will gather at The Jewel Aeida, Lekki, Lagos, for a full day of honest conversations about making, growing, and protecting money. Want to earn more, build wealth, or grow a business? Learn how to increase your market value, get practical advice on stocks, mutual funds, and cryptocurrencies, build your first portfolio, and discover what it really takes to turn a hustle into a wealth engine. The room only has a few seats left. Don’t leave it too late to secure a ticket. Get your Naira Life Conference ticket. Become smarter about tech and commerce in Francophone Africa, and the policies shaping them. Read previous editions here first and subscribe below. Subscribe Absa eyes Nigerian entry Terra Industries taps former SpaceX executive DStv adds sports channel WhatsApp Business is no longer free in SA World Wide Web 3 Events banking Absa wants a bigger piece of Nigeria’s banking market Image Source: Tenor You’re probably used to seeing Nigerian banks announce their next African expansion every other month. This time, a South African bank is looking in the opposite direction. What happened? Absa Group, South Africa’s third-largest lender by assets, is considering turning its Nigerian representative office into a merchant bank, which could give it a larger role in financing Nigerian businesses. Absa will be able to receive corporate deposits, provide loans, and offer investment banking and project finance. Explain like I’m new here: Absa already has a presence in Nigeria, but it currently operates through a representative office and separate subsidiaries covering capital markets and securities. Its Nigerian operations offer trade finance, investment banking, and market products. Absa’s chief executive officer Kenny Fihla said the group is exploring converting the representative office into a merchant banking operation. A big fish entering a busy ocean: Absa is not exactly a small player testing the waters. The group operates across Africa, with banking operations in markets including South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania, Botswana, Mozambique, Mauritius, and Seychelles. It serves more than 13.4 million customers and reported R58.79 billion ($3.61 billion) in total income for the six months to June 2026. Between the lines: Nigeria’s banking sector has grown, with its market capitalisation reaching ₦10.5 trillion ($7.7 billion) in 2025. Absa would be entering a market already crowded with tier-1 Nigerian banks such as Access Holdings, Zenith Bank, and First Bank, while also facing South African rivals Standard Bank and FirstRand. The playbook: South Africa, Kenya, and Ghana generated more than 80% of Absa’s profit in the first half of 2026. Nigeria gives it another large corporate and financial market to tap into. Merchant banking is a separately licenced business in Nigeria, so Absa would need regulatory approval before it can start taking deposits and offer loans as a merchant bank. For Absa, this is bigger than changing the sign outside its office in Ikoyi, Lagos. Every business owner needs to watch this. The business questions you Google, answered by experts. Watch for free. startups Terra Industries taps ex-SpaceX executive to help expand into new markets Image Source: Tenor When you have just raised a huge pile of money, there will be signs. For Terra Industries, the Nigerian defence-tech startup, one of those signs is hiring a former SpaceX executive to help take its defence technology into more countries. What happened? Terra has appointed Ben MacWilliams as vice president of strategy. MacWilliams joins from SpaceX, the Elon Musk-owned space-tech company, where he led Starlink’s market-access efforts across Africa. At Terra, he will lead market entry, licensing strategy, and government partnerships. Explain like I’m new here: At SpaceX, MacWilliams’ job was getting governments to say yes to Starlink. That meant working through licencing requirements, regulators, ministries, and government officials in countries where Starlink wanted to operate. MacWilliams helped navigate that process across Africa and previously worked on market access in the Middle East and Central Eurasia. His remit covered all 54 African markets, and he helped launch Starlink in more than 20 of them. What is Terra building and why does it need MacWilliams? Terra develops autonomous systems that help governments and infrastructure operators monitor critical assets, such as power plants and mines. Its products include long- and mid-range autonomous drones, interceptor drones, sentry towers, and unmanned ground vehicles. The company closed $52 million in seed funding this week, opened a London office, and is building a manufacturing facility in Ghana. Terra said it plans to extend its manufacturing footprint across the Gulf, South America, and South Asia. MacWilliams has likely spent years dealing with the sort of bureaucracy Terra will encounter, including negotiating with regulators and governments, securing drone-operating licences, and navigating other market-entry rules. He will now contribute to the company/s next growth and expansion drive. Naira Life 2026 is here! The Naira Life Conference 2026 is bringing together Nigeria’s top finance minds, industry leaders, creators, and business strategists for a full-day of specialised sessions and masterclasses designed for ambitious Nigerians who want to make, keep, grow, and pass on real wealth. Happening on August 22 at the Jewel Aeida, Lekki, Lagos. Secure a seat in the room. companies DStv launches another sports channel Image Source: Tenor MultiChoice, Africa’s largest pay-TV company, is aggressively clearing out the dusty corners of its linear TV library to build a bigger moat around its crown jewel: live sport. The Canal+-owned operator isoverhauling its channel line-up, cutting underperforming entertainment slots, including local content channels, to make more room for a sports-first future. What happened? On Wednesday, MultiChoice launchedSuperSport Extra 2 (channel 217) to handle overflow sports events, while rebranding generic Variety slots into sport-specific homes likeSuperSport Football Plus and SuperSport KickOff. However, the expansion comes at a cost to general entertainment: DStv isshutting down four channels on September 16, including M-Net Movies 1 and Mzansi Bioskop, bringing its total channel cuts
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Nigeria has taught entrepreneurship for years. Is it actually converting?
How do you prepare millions of young people for an economy that cannot provide enough salaried jobs? Over the past two decades, university enrolment in Nigeria has risen from roughly 448,000 students in the 1999/2000 academic session to more than 2.15 million in 2019. For generations, higher education has been viewed as a pathway to better economic prospects. A degree could open the door to professional, white-collar and salaried employment and, ultimately, a more stable middle-class life. But Nigeria’s labour market cannot absorb most workers into formal, salaried employment. In Q1 2024, 92.7% of employed Nigerians were in informal employment and about 84% were self-employed, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. That reality changes what higher education has to prepare young people for. A university education cannot be built only around the expectation that graduates will find salaried employment. Young people also need the ability to identify economic opportunities, build and sustain ventures, adapt to changing markets and, where possible, create jobs for themselves and others. Nigeria’s higher-education regulators have embedded entrepreneurship education within tertiary curricula, with universities and other tertiary institutions developing entrepreneurship centres, innovation hubs, and incubators. According to the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Landscape Within Higher Education Institutions in Nigeria report by EyeCity Africa and the National Universities Commission (NUC), 45% of surveyed institutions have supported entrepreneurship education for six to ten years, while another 40% have been doing so for more than ten years. Only 15% have been doing so for less than five years. In other words, 85% of the institutions surveyed have had at least six years to build, implement and refine their entrepreneurship programmes. Unfortunately, compliance does not tell the full story of effectiveness. Despite the high rate of adoption, concerns remain about the quality and practical impact of entrepreneurship education. What is preventing entrepreneurship education from translating into viable ventures? The first challenge is the gap between being taught entrepreneurship and being able to practise it. The report finds that while entrepreneurship education is widespread in Nigerian universities, most programmes provide research and training, with only 31.58% providing hands-on support for developing and testing early-stage research or innovation ideas. To learn and apply, students need the opportunity to test ideas, build prototypes, work with customers, fail, iterate, and understand what it takes to move an idea beyond the four walls of a classroom. The same challenge appears further down the pipeline. Innovation hubs are becoming more widespread, with about 70% of institutions surveyed reporting that they have one. However, some hubs are primarily physical spaces with limited curricular integration and student engagement. 55% of surveyed institutions reported incubating fewer than five student enterprises. And even incubation does not necessarily mean commercialisation. The report found that only one institution reported student enterprises being formally registered as businesses. Many ventures remained at the prototype stage, became small-scale self-employment activities, or stalled during early development. The idea-to-market pipeline is strained at every stage. Education does not automatically become the ability to build, building does not immediately convert to venture creation, and venture creation does not automatically become a marketable business. What would it take to make entrepreneurship education convert? If Nigeria has already spent nearly two decades embedding entrepreneurship into higher education, the next phase should be about strengthening the systems that move students and researchers from ideas to economic outcomes. Research incentives need to move beyond publication. Publications should not be the only meaningful outcome of research. The report finds that among the institutions surveyed, a lot of the research in Nigerian higher education institutions is publication-driven. Universities need to start recognising a broader range of outputs—including patents, prototypes, industry partnerships, licencing agreements and successfully commercialised research—within their research and promotion systems. This way, there would be stronger incentives for research to move beyond academia and into industry. Nigeria has invested in entrepreneurship centres, innovation hubs and research infrastructure, but the report shows that the harder problem is often what happens after an idea is generated. There needs to be dedicated support for prototype development, including prototype grants, shared facilities, access to technical expertise and industry validation. This way, funding can have greater leverage and support the transition from idea to commercialisation. If students are expected to create economic opportunities, they need more than a compulsory entrepreneurship course. They need support through the stages that determine whether an idea survives. The next frontier for the Nigerian higher education system is measuring how effectively students can turn the knowledge they have gathered from studying entrepreneurship into real-world entrepreneurial solutions, and the support that can be given to them to achieve this effectively. About the report: The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Landscape Within Higher Education Institutions in Nigeria report, produced by EyeCity Africa and the National Universities Commission, draws on quantitative survey data from 20 higher education institutions (HEIs) across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, alongside interviews and focus group discussions with industry, policy and HEI stakeholders. For further insights into the state of innovation and entrepreneurship across Nigerian HEIs, access the full report here. True scale demands moving beyond surface-level integrations to robust execution. We’ve filtered the noise out of Moonshot 2026, optimising the conference strictly for high-calibre connections between startup founders, global financial operators, enterprise leaders and individuals rewiring Africa’s technical frameworks. Get 20% off Early Bird tickets for a limited time.
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These Kenyan startups raised $500 million before shutting down. Where are the founders now?
Kenya’s startup boom has produced celebrated founders, billion-shilling valuations, and hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital. It has also produced some spectacular failures. Over the past five years, startups across logistics, e-commerce, agriculture, fintech, food delivery, clean energy, AI, and auto manufacturing have shut down, entered administration, or abandoned their core businesses. The 10 companies on this list raised more than $500 million combined. Copia raised $123 million, Gro Intelligence more than $117 million, and KOKO Networks over $100 million. Others, including Sendy, MarketForce, and Lipa Later, raised tens of millions before running into trouble. But what happens to founders after their startups collapse? TechCabal traced the founders of 10 Kenyan startups that collapsed in the past five years, using public records including regulatory and corporate filings, social media posts, LinkedIn profiles, and speaker engagements. Some have started new companies. Others have become investors, moved into real estate, or returned to old businesses. A few have largely disappeared from public view. Here is where they are now. Sendy Sendy founders in this undated photo. Image source: Sendy Sendy looked like it might become one of Kenya’s great startup success stories. Founded in 2015 by Mesh Alloys, Evanson Biwott, Don Okoth, and Malaika Judd, the company began by connecting businesses needing deliveries with motorcycle riders and drivers. It later grew into a much bigger logistics operation, expanding beyond Kenya and moving into fulfillment and e-commerce. Investors bought into the ambition. Sendy raised at least $26.5 million in disclosed investor funding, including from Toyota Tsusho, Atlantica Ventures, Enza Capital, and Sunu Capital. At one point, it was valued at more than $80 million. By 2023, things had become desperate. Sendy tried raising money at a lower valuation, but a key investor pulled out. In August that year, it announced it was shutting down and seeking buyers for its assets. So, what happened to the four people who started it? Mesh Alloys Mesh Alloys. Image source: Sendy Alloys was Sendy’s most visible founder and its CEO through its rise and eventual collapse. After Sendy, Alloys became involved with Boya—the Kenyan expense-management startup he founded in 2021 while still at Sendy—as the chairman. He also works at Enza Capital, a venture capital firm, as an entrepreneur-in-residence. In December 2024, he founded tabb, a startup that allows banks to give businesses revolving credit lines that can be used instantly across a network of suppliers. The startup does not lend the money itself. It connects banks, suppliers, and businesses, allowing suppliers to be paid immediately while buyers get longer to settle their purchases. Evanson Biwott Evanson Biwott. Image source: Sendy Biwott was Sendy’s technical brain, serving as co-founder and chief technology officer. He has largely remained a builder since Sendy. In 2024, he co-founded AfroQuality, a retail and distribution platform focused on helping African brands. His co-founder, Saint Doe-Tamakloe, announced in a post in November 2025 that the platform is present in Kenya, Rwanda, and Ghana, coming just one month after it launched a store in Nairobi. Don Okoth Don Okoth. Image source: Sendy Okoth, who led parts of Sendy’s operations and freight business, has become a serial founder. In November 2023, only months after Sendy shut down, Okoth founded RTM Africa, a tech-enabled logistics and courier business. By July 2024, he was trying something different. Okoth co-founded Wavu, an aquaculture startup based in Kisumu that works with fish farmers through cage and pond farming, aggregation and improved access to feed. The startup has since participated in programmes run by E4Impact, Village Capital and Hatch Blue. A month later, Okoth joined Antler as an entrepreneur-in-residence. That stint produced his next company, Revazi, an Antler-backed circular fashion startup he founded in 2025. There has also been a reunion with his former co-founder at Sendy. In January 2026, Okoth joined Mesh Alloys’ tabb as a director, advising its mobility business on infrastructure, suppliers and expansion in East Africa. Malaika Judd Malaika Judd. Image source: Reuters Judd took a different route. The entrepreneur, who joined Alloys, Biwott and Okoth as Sendy’s fourth co-founder, eventually moved to Ireland. She is now managing director of the National Development and Research Centre (NDRC), Ireland’s national startup accelerator. She first joined NDRC in February 2024 as an entrepreneur-in-residence. Judd also serves on the board of Africa Originals, a Kenyan alcoholic beverage maker. iProcure Founded in 2013 by Stefano Carcoforo, Nicole Galletta, Patrick Wanjohi and Bernard Maingi, iProcure built a supply-chain platform that helped agro-dealers source products such as fertiliser and seeds from manufacturers while digitising their inventory and distribution. The model attracted investors including Novastar Ventures, British International Investment and Safaricom’s Spark Fund. Over ten funding rounds, iProcure raised $17.2 million. Its biggest raise came in 2022, when it secured $10.2 million in Series B equity and debt to fund expansion across East Africa. On April 26, 2024, iProcure entered administration, with KPMG taking control of its business and assets. Carcoforo told a Nairobi court that the company could no longer pay its debts as they fell due. More than two years later, the company remains under administration—but its founders have moved on. Stefano Carcoforo Stefano at a past event. Courtesy image Carcoforo did not take long to start again. In May 2024, around the same time iProcure entered administration, he co-founded OnSpace Technologies, an enterprise software startup with John Paul Mwirigi. Since May 2024, he has also served as a board member, investor and consultant at CultivaPro, a Kenyan agritech using drones and AI to help commercial growers monitor crops, meet export and traceability requirements, and apply farm inputs precisely. Patrick Wanjohi Image source: LinkedIn/Patrick Wanjohi Wanjohi, who spent a decade as iProcure’s chief technology officer, is now CTO of iPOS, a new company built around the point-of-sale technology originally developed by iProcure. The company’s administrators acquired the technology in November 2024 and relaunched it under a new company run by Mahia-John Mahiaini. iPOS has since expanded into inventory ordering, financing, and other tools for agricultural retailers across Kenya,
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