Munich-based startup brings AI-powered business tools to African small businesses
Knowlix AI, a Munich-based artificial intelligence startup, has launched an AI-powered business platform designed to help small businesses across 29 African countries and other global markets manage customer relations, invoicing, inventory, projects, and other operational processes. The company said the product combines business software, intelligent automation, and AI-driven execution to help businesses spend less time on administrative tasks and more time building their businesses. The launch comes amid growing optimism about AI’s economic potential in Africa. A report by the GSM Association (GSMA) suggests that AI could increase Africa’s economy by $2.9 trillion by 2030, driven by greater access to data, computing infrastructure, and digital skills. While Knowlix AI does not yet have customers on the continent, it has launched with support for 29 African countries, including Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, and Egypt. The company said businesses in those markets can operate on the platform from launch rather than wait for localisation to be introduced later. Knowlix AI is launching globally with a free trial and paid plans starting at $24.90 monthly. For African markets, Knowlix AI said it has built support for local tax configurations, currencies, accounting standards, and legal requirements. “For decades, the software that runs a company was built for the largest companies on earth. Not because small owners didn’t need it, but because they could never afford to set it up,” said Francesco Wiedemann, co-founder and CEO of Knowlix AI. “Knowlix AI sets itself up and runs the back office, so a small business can operate like a Fortune 500.” Founded by Peter Meie and Wiedemann in 2021, Knowlix AI is built on an open-source software foundation, which the company said enables it to support localisations in multiple jurisdictions. At the core of its platform is what the company calls an AI Teammate, an assistant that can draft quotations and invoices, convert meeting notes into tasks, prepare inventory reorders, and automate routine business processes. The AI Teammate operates within predefined guardrails, with business owners retaining final approval over critical actions before they are executed. The company said the assistant learns how a business operates over time, adapting to its workflows, communication style, and preferences. “Knowlix AI adapts to how each business actually works, rather than forcing a standardised workflow,” Wiedemann said. “It learns the language and working style of each business individually, so whether you’re automating customer emails or marketing campaigns, it follows your guidelines rather than a fixed template.” The startup enters a market with existing productivity and business-management software providers, including global players such as Odoo, Zoho, HubSpot, and Microsoft, alongside African startups building software for SMEs, such as Moniebook, Orda Africa, and Trembi. Knowlix AI is betting that integrating AI directly into everyday business operations, rather than standalone tools, will appeal to small businesses looking to automate routine operations.
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Why Opera-backed MiniPay wants Africans to spend stablecoins
When MiniPay launched in 2023, it had a simple pitch: help users access and move stablecoins cheaply. Three years later, the Opera-backed stablecoin app has a new priority: making those stablecoin balances more useful. On Tuesday, the company launched a Visa debit card in partnership with payments giant Visa and Gnosis Pay, the stablecoin payments platform developed by blockchain company Gnosis, allowing users in emerging markets and Africa—where it operates in major markets such as Nigeria and Kenya—to spend stablecoin balances anywhere Visa is accepted. The move signals how the stablecoin market is evolving. After years spent helping users acquire, hold, and transfer digital currencies, companies are now focusing on making those balances spendable in everyday commerce. For MiniPay, the card is an attempt to move beyond being a wallet and become part of how users pay. “The clearest signal is user demand. A card has been one of the most consistent requests from MiniPay users because it solves a problem that local payment options alone cannot fully solve,” a MiniPay spokesperson told TechCabal. Several startups, including Bitnob, Juicyway—which plans to launch a stablecoin-linked card—and Onboard Global, have launched card products that connect multi-currency balances, including dollar stablecoins, to traditional payment networks. Others, such as Rach Finance, are building infrastructure to enable consumers and businesses to spend and accept stablecoins easily. MiniPay was among the earliest stablecoin products to gain traction in Africa. After launching as a mini-app in the Opera browser, it later expanded into a standalone product, integrating with local payment rails such as M-PESA in Kenya and OPay in Nigeria. Yet, the company said local payment rails solve only part of the problem. “Local rails are important, but they are fragmented by country and provider,” the Opera spokesperson said. “Cards are different. They travel better. They work online, across borders, and in many real-world spending contexts where local payment methods may not.” With MiniPay stablecoin-linked cards, users can directly spend their stablecoins at local retail stores or online e-commerce checkouts, without needing to convert those funds to fiat currencies using M-PESA or OPay. MiniPay has now surpassed 16 million activated wallets, according to Opera, up from 15 million reported in Q1 2026. In May, Murray Spark, Opera’s senior director of business development, told TechCabal that the majority of MiniPay’s users are concentrated in African markets. Across Africa, stablecoins are being integrated into mainstream financial use cases, including remittances, freelance payments, savings, and cross-border transfers. A report by YouGov, a UK-based research firm, and BVNK, a UK-headquartered stablecoin payments company, that surveyed 4,658 crypto users across 15 countries, found that Africa had the world’s highest stablecoin ownership rate. Among crypto users surveyed in Nigeria and South Africa, 79% held stablecoins, while 71% said they were interested in using a stablecoin-linked debit card. This backs Opera’s thesis. The company said its MiniPay users already spend stablecoins through Mini Apps to buy airtime, data bundles, rewards, and gifts. The company noted that MiniPay has processed over 500 million transactions since it launched. “MiniPay was built to make stablecoins useful in everyday life, not just to hold or send, but to spend,” Jørgen Arnesen, Opera’s executive vice president for mobile, said. “What makes this launch especially meaningful is that it helps connect users in high-growth markets to global commerce through a simple, reliable dollar-based card.” The partnership also gives Visa a foothold in one of the fastest-growing segments of Africa’s payments market. As stablecoins gain traction for retail use, global payment networks are racing to connect those digital‑dollar balances to existing merchant infrastructure. Globally, the broader crypto card market, driven by stablecoin-denominated spending, has scaled rapidly, with monthly transaction volumes rising from about $100 million in 2023 to $1.5 billion by 2025, according to US-based analytics firm Artemis. That is an annualised run-rate of about $18 billion. Visa controls an estimated 90% of that crypto card market, Artemis noted, beating competitors such as Mastercard. The global payments giant has deployed a partnership-led strategy, where it plugs into leading stablecoin exchanges and wallets, co-brands cards, and routes spending through its existing merchant and issuer network. “Visa is focused on expanding the utility of digital currencies through familiar and secure payment networks,” Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s head of crypto, said. “By connecting MiniPay’s stablecoin ecosystem with Visa’s global merchant footprint, we are helping give users in high-growth markets a practical way to participate in global commerce.” Africa, compared to Western markets where crypto- and stablecoin-linked cards have achieved deeper mainstream penetration, is still in an early build-out phase. That gives Visa an early-stage advantage. By partnering with high-volume stablecoin venues, it can push more of these cards to last-mile users, driving distribution and everyday adoption. For African partners, the upside depends on whether the unit economics work. Interchange, foreign exchange (FX), and on- and off-ramp costs must leave enough margin for issuers and platforms, not just global networks. With the launch, MiniPay is signalling that the next phase of competition will not be dominated by platforms that enable users to buy, convert, or transfer stablecoins, but by those that make these digital assets useful at retail stores. 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.
Read MoreAbimbola Bajomo found product management while solving a workplace problem
Abimbola Bajomo grew up around money. Not the kind of children tucked into piggy banks, but the kind discussed over dinner tables by adults responsible for moving them. Her mother worked in banking operations. Her uncle was a banker. So is her brother. Conversations about cheque clearing and customer complaints were normal in the house. “From when I was a child, I have literally known nothing more than money,” Bajomo says. “I remember going to the bank and watching how they used to manage it. It was fascinating.” Yet for years, she resisted the gravitational pull of finance. As a teenager, she wanted to be a lawyer and applied to study Law at the University of Lagos, one of Nigeria’s most sought-after universities. After failing to gain admission, she enrolled in Redeemer’s University, a private Christian university in Ede, Osun State, southwest Nigeria, to study Sociology in 2011. She graduated in 2015. “I just picked sociology because it seemed like something close to law,” she says. “I really didn’t know what the course was about. I just picked it, and I got in.” During her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Nigeria’s mandatory one-year service programme for graduates, in 2015, she was posted to the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER) in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State in southwest Nigeria. There, she assisted a professor researching Nigeria’s school feeding programme. Her work involved everything from nutrition and health outcomes to religious considerations and implementation strategies. The work demanded a level of rigour she had not encountered before. “You would write something, and they would tell you to go back because you hadn’t gone deep enough,” she recalls. Over time, she came to appreciate the discipline, a lesson in attention to detail she still relies on today. In the same year, her mother encouraged her to apply for banking jobs. She sat for recruitment tests for banks, including Access Bank and First Bank, two of Nigeria’s largest commercial banks. “I dreaded it,” she says. “Everybody in my family was a banker.” But when the offer from ESQ Trainings Limited, a Lagos-based legal training organisation, came in, she took it. She had always wanted to carve her own path, and working in a legal organisation felt like the right way to do it. After NYSC, she joined ESQ in 2016 as a Learning and Development Specialist. The firm ran professional programmes for lawyers and the ESQ Nigerian Legal Awards, an annual event that recognises outstanding achievements across Nigeria’s legal profession. The role brought her closer to the legal profession she had once hoped to join. Reviewing legal briefs and regulatory documents became a regular part of her work, a skill that would later prove valuable in the heavily regulated payments industry. But something else was already forming. She found herself constantly asking how processes could be improved, whether she was organising programmes or managing submissions. The accidental product manager The ESQ Nigerian Legal Awards, she says, was a lot of work. Law firms submitted lengthy briefs detailing their work and achievements, and judges reviewed the entries before deciding the winners. The process was largely manual. Submissions arrived through email. Documents moved back and forth between organisers and judges. Tracking everything required significant coordination. Bajomo began wondering if there was a better way. “The first digital submission platform that the organisation had was designed by me,” she says. “I used PowerPoint to design what it should look like.” At the time, she thought she was simply helping to solve an operational problem. Then somebody she met told her that what she was doing was product management. For the first time, Bajomo had a name for what she had been doing instinctively. Until then, she had assumed careers in the tech sector were reserved for computer science graduates. Curious, she began researching product management. The more she learned about the discipline, the more it appealed to her. In 2017, she attended her first product management training, organised by Product Folks, an Indian product community, virtually. The sessions introduced her to concepts she had never encountered before. Determined to learn more, she says she started teaching herself. Money was tight, so she relied heavily on free resources. A friend who worked in cybersecurity regularly sent her courses and learning materials. She enrolled in programmes from Product School, completed courses on LinkedIn Learning and Google. When a designer repeatedly delayed marketing materials for the firm’s learning programmes, Bajomo says she taught herself Canva and began creating the designs. She also became increasingly involved in the firm’s digital transformation efforts, helping to automate internal processes and designing an e-learning platform for its training programmes. By the time she left ESQ in 2019, she says she had become “a full-blown product manager.” When payments found her In 2020, Bajomo joined TrainQuarters, a Lagos-based e-learning platform, as a product manager. The company helped creators, businesses, and organisations sell digital products, including ebooks and video courses. As the platform expanded, many of its customers wanted to sell to audiences outside Nigeria. That meant integrating payment solutions capable of processing transactions across different countries. Bajomo says she worked on integrating payment providers, including Paystack, Flutterwave, PayPal and later Stripe, to enable those transactions. “It was mind-blowing,” she says. “It was beautiful.” The role marked her first deep exposure to payments, introducing her to international transactions, card systems, and encryption. “That was how the growth kicked up, and the whole thing just kicked in,” she says. In 2022, after she left TrainQuarters, she joined Gokada, a Lagos-based logistics company, as a product manager. There, she worked across both the customer-facing app and Geops, the company’s internal operations platform. “My experience in Gokada allowed me to understand operations,” she says. “I gained a lot of operational knowledge that exposed me to how settlements worked and the spending processes within organisations.” In May 2023, Bajomo said she left Gokada and joined Remita Payment Services, a Nigerian payment technology platform, as a
Read MoreAlliance-backed fintech Daya raises $2.4 million to build stablecoin payment rails
Daya, a Nigerian startup building stablecoin-powered payment infrastructure for African businesses, has raised a $2.4 million pre-seed round to expand its cross-border payments network and deepen its stablecoin-based financial services. Hivemind Capital, a New York-based digital asset investment firm, led the round with participation from Lattice Fund, a crypto-focused venture capital firm; Alliance DAO, a New York-based crypto accelerator; Aptos Foundation, an independent entity that supports the US-based Aptos blockchain network by issuing builder grants and developer resources; and Globelink Investment, a Singapore-based investment company. “The round was oversubscribed,” Tomiwa “Aleph” Lasebikan, Daya’s co-founder, told TechCabal. “Right now, we’re heads down focused on building and shipping for our users and delivering on the promises we made to our investors and early backers.” The funding comes seven months after Daya emerged from the Alliance DAO ALL15 cohort and positions the startup among a growing group of Africa-focused fintechs, including Yellow Card and Juicyway, betting that stablecoins can become a mainstream rail for cross-border business payments. Founded in October 2025 by Lasebikan and Paul Joe, Daya helps businesses receive dollar payments, settle transactions using stablecoins, and move funds across borders through a combination of regulated banking partners and blockchain-based settlement infrastructure. The funding also shows investor conviction in African stablecoin-based fintechs like Daya. It is part of a broader shift in financial services as stablecoins move beyond their origins in cryptocurrency trading and find adoption in business payments, treasury management, and international commerce. According to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, stablecoins settled about $28 trillion in transaction value globally in 2025, with much of that activity tied to economic use cases such as payments and remittances. For African businesses, it enables them to settle international payments without routing through correspondent banks, which can cause delays and increase costs. Stablecoin-based infrastructure aims to reduce some of that friction by using blockchain networks as settlement rails while relying on regulated financial institutions for fiat onboarding and withdrawals. Daya’s platform allows businesses to receive payments through dollar-denominated accounts provided by banking partners, settle those funds in stablecoins, and either hold them, make international payments, or convert them into local currency. The startup has been building partnerships around that model. In June, Daya partnered with Aptos Foundation and Dubai-based crypto exchange HashKey MENA to pilot a stablecoin settlement corridor connecting businesses in Africa and the Middle East. The partnership enables African businesses to settle transactions with counterparties in the Middle East using stablecoins, while receiving and paying out funds in local currencies at either end of the transaction. Businesses can access virtual US dollar (USD), Hong Kong dollar (HKD), and Chinese yuan (CNY) accounts, convert local currencies into dollar liquidity, hold funds in stablecoins, and manage payments and treasury operations on the same platform, according to Daya. The startup said it has been growing more than 40% month-on-month in 2026. According to Lasebikan, several businesses now use its platform for cross-border payments and treasury management, although he did not specify how many businesses the startup currently serves. “We’re focused on iterating with our products and continuing to learn,” Lasebikan said. “We already partner with a core group of businesses and are helping them simplify their cross-border payments and treasury processes. The pre-seed enables us to learn faster and serve our users more broadly.” Investors are betting that businesses across Africa need a simpler way to access global financial infrastructure. “Many teams still stitch together local banks, domiciliary accounts, FX desks, OTC [over-the-counter] relationships, crypto ramps, payment processors, spreadsheets, and manual approval flows,” Lattice Fund wrote in a June 24 statement announcing the raise. “The result is delayed settlement, opaque FX [forex exchange], trapped working capital, compliance drag, and limited visibility into where money is at any point in the transaction lifecycle.” With the funding, Daya plans to expand its payment corridors, compliance infrastructure, and partnerships with local and global financial institutions as it seeks to build what it describes as a financial operating layer for African businesses moving money across borders.
Read MoreGoogle Pixel 11: Release date, price, and specs for every model
Table of contents When is the Pixel 11 coming out Google Pixel 11 specs Google Pixel 11 Pro specs Google Pixel 11 Pro XL specs Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold specs What’s new in AI What is Pixel Glow How much will the Pixel 11 cost What’s still up in the air Google’s Pixel 11 lineup is on the way, and the leaks have been piling up since March. You can expect four phones this time: the Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro XL, and Pixel 11 Pro Fold. All of this comes from leaks for now, since Google hasn’t sent an event invite or confirmed a single spec yet. The sources behind most of this information have a strong track record, so this outlines what each model is expected to offer, along with price and release date estimates so far. When is the Pixel 11 coming out Google hasn’t picked a date yet, at least not publicly. But the pattern from the last two years points to August. Pixel 9: announced August 13, 2024 Pixel 10: announced August 20, 2025 Both events were called Made by Google. If Google keeps the same rhythm, expect invites to go out in late June or July, with the event itself landing sometime between mid- and late August 2026. Expect the regular Pixel 11 and both Pro-sized models to be announced together, with the Pro Fold following later. Last year’s foldable shipped weeks after the rest of the lineup, and the same gap is expected again, pushing the Pro Fold’s release closer to October 2026. Google Pixel 11 specs The standard Pixel 11 is shaping up to be a smaller step up than the Pro models, but it still gets a few meaningful hardware changes. Display: 6.3-inch OLED screen, 120Hz refresh rate, peak brightness up to 2,200 nits Chip: Tensor G6, Google’s first chip built on a 2nm process Modem: a new MediaTek modem, replacing the Samsung modems Google has used for years RAM and storage: leaks point to 8GB or 12GB of RAM, with 128GB or 256GB of storage. This would be a drop from the Pixel 10’s flat 12GB, and it’s the spec drawing the most pushback online Camera: a new 50MP main sensor paired with an ultrawide lens Battery: rated around 4,840mAh Colors: black, green, pink, and purple It’s still unclear if the base Pixel 11 gets Pixel Glow, the new light feature on the back of the phone. More on that further down. Google Pixel 11 Pro specs Step up to the Pixel 11 Pro and the upgrades get more interesting. Display: 6.3-inch OLED, smooth 1 to 120Hz refresh rate, brightness up to 2,450 nits Chip and modem: the same Tensor G6 and MediaTek modem as the base model RAM: rumours split this into 12GB and 16GB options, down from a flat 16GB on last year’s Pro Camera: new main and telephoto sensors, carrying the codenames Bastet and Barghest Pixel Glow: yes, this one gets the new RGB light array built into the camera bar, replacing the temperature sensor Battery: rated around 4,707mAh, smaller than the Pixel 10 Pro Face unlock: the under-display face scanner Google has been working on reportedly isn’t ready yet, so you’ll still rely on the fingerprint sensor For reference, the Pixel 10 Pro launched at $999. Google Pixel 11 Pro XL specs Display: 6.8-inch OLED, 1 to 120Hz refresh rate, brightness up to 2,450 nits Chip and modem: identical to the Pro RAM: 12GB or 16GB Camera: the same upgraded sensors as the Pro Pixel Glow: included Battery: rated around 5,000mAh, the largest in the lineup Charging: 25W wireless charging, the fastest of the four phones The Pixel 10 Pro XL started at $1,199. Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold specs The Pixel 11 Pro Fold usually arrives later than the rest, and this year looks no different. Release: expected around October 2026, weeks after the other three phones Thickness: 10.1mm folded and 4.8mm unfolded, both thinner than the Pixel 10 Pro Fold Inner screen: about 8 inches, with a 120Hz refresh rate Outer screen: about 6.4 inches, useful for quick tasks without opening the phone Camera: a redesigned camera bump with the flash and microphone now built into the cutout Chip and modem: the same Tensor G6 and MediaTek modem as the rest of the lineup Battery: rated around 4,658mAh, smaller than last year’s model Colors: a green option and a darker shade, based on leaked wallpapers The Pixel 10 Pro Fold launched at $1,799. Some reports suggest the Pixel 11 Pro Fold could land anywhere from $1,699 to nearly $2,000, especially with memory chip prices climbing this year. What’s new in AI Google confirmed Gemini Intelligence back in May. It’s the headline AI feature for this generation, built to handle tasks across several steps on its own, like booking something or building a shopping list from a note. To run it, your phone needs a flagship chip, at least 12GB of RAM, Gemini Nano version 3 or higher, and several years of guaranteed software support. That last requirement creates an odd problem. If the base Pixel 11 really does ship with 8GB of RAM, it would fall short of Google’s own minimum for its AI feature. Either that leak is wrong, or Google’s newest phone won’t be able to run its newest AI tool out of the box. Beyond Gemini Intelligence, leaks point to a few camera features for the new lineup: Speak-to-Tweak, which lets you edit photos by talking to your phone instead of tapping through menus Sketch-to-Image, for turning rough drawings into images Cinematic Blur at 4K and 30 frames per second Better low-light video, even in near-dark conditions None of these are confirmed for the Pixel 11 specifically yet, and some may require the same 12GB of RAM and Gemini Nano v3 that Gemini Intelligence uses. What is Pixel Glow Pixel Glow is the most talked-about new feature this cycle. It’s a small array of RGB lights
Read MoreWhy South Africa’s banks are becoming telecom companies
South Africa’s banks are no longer competing only for deposits, loans and payments. Increasingly, they are battling over something less visible but more valuable: the digital infrastructure that powers customers’ everyday lives. Over the past decade, lenders including FNB, Capitec, Standard Bank and Nedbank have quietly built mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) businesses. Absa is now preparing to join them, accelerating a shift that is reshaping what it means to be a bank in South Africa’s saturated financial market. The expansion marks a significant shift in strategy. South Africa’s biggest banks increasingly see connectivity as a way to win a larger share of customers’ daily digital lives, using mobile services to acquire users, deepen engagement and create new revenue streams in a slowing banking market. With South Africa’s MVNO market projected to more than triple from 4.4 million active SIMs in 2025 to 14.4 million by 2030, driven largely by banking MVNOs, the country’s experiment with ecosystem-led banking could offer an early blueprint for how banks across Africa deepen customer loyalty and grow beyond traditional financial services. The shift raises a bigger question. Why are banks suddenly behaving like telecom companies? Digital lives For FNB Connect, the bank’s MVNO, telecom has moved far beyond selling airtime and data bundles. “FNB Connect has evolved from a value-led MVNO focused squarely on providing access to connectivity into a trusted, customer-centric value driver that innovates within FNB’s broader ecosystem,” Sashin Sookroo, CEO of FNB Connect, told TechCabal. Today, the bank views its MVNO as a customer engagement platform, a data-driven business and a contributor to non-interest revenue. Sookroo said connectivity now sits at the centre of how the bank attracts and retains customers. “FNB Connect plays a dual role within the ecosystem: as a customer acquisition channel, attracting customers seeking affordable access to the latest devices and integrated banking benefits, and as a relationship deepening tool,” he said. According to Sookroo, FNB data consumption on its network grew 98% year-on-year between July 2025 and May 2026, with customers using more than 40 petabytes during the period. Device sales exceeded R600 million ($36 million). More importantly, he revealed that customers who use both banking and telecom services are significantly stickier. “Multi-product customers show higher retention, lower propensity to switch and greater lifetime value,” stated Sookroo. Across the industry, a similar pattern is emerging that shows connectivity is no longer an add-on. It is becoming embedded infrastructure for banking itself. Banking infrastructure Absa’s planned entry into the MVNO market is a testament to how far the sector has shifted. While the bank has not announced a launch date, its move will effectively complete the circle among South Africa’s major retail banks. Nick Nkosi, Managing Executive for Transactional and Deposits in Personal and Private Banking at Absa, told TechCabal the lender is actively evaluating how connectivity fits into its broader ecosystem strategy. “As part of our broader Value-Added Services, we are assessing models in the MVNO space to understand how this could enhance our value proposition and strengthen everyday banking experiences for our customers,” he said. The rationale is straightforward: as banking shifts to mobile-first channels, connectivity becomes inseparable from the product experience. Controlling that layer creates more frequent customer interactions and opens additional distribution channels for financial services. FNB echoes this thinking. Sookroo said the bank increasingly sees itself as a platform rather than a traditional financial institution. “FNB is embedded in customers’ everyday digital interactions, blending financial, telecoms, retail and digital commerce services,” he said. The model allows the bank “to produce, aggregate and distribute value across ecosystems.” Nedbank is pursuing a similar direction. Dayalan Govender, managing executive for product, design and innovation at Nedbank, told TechCabal that connectivity is now viewed as an extension of its ecosystem rather than a standalone revenue stream. “We recognised the high cost of data in South Africa as a critical need to address for our clients,” Govender said. “By integrating connectivity with our broader ecosystem, including Greenbacks rewards and digital banking channels, we are enhancing everyday value for clients while deepening relationships and supporting their digital lives.” He added that competition in the MVNO space will not be defined by pricing alone. “Differentiation will come from offering a holistic, integrated ecosystem that connects financial and non-financial services, rather than competing purely on mobile pricing or standalone offerings,” he told TechCabal. Standard Bank has also repositioned connectivity as a core infrastructure. Kartik Mistry, executive head of Standard Bank Connect, told TechCabal that the bank no longer treats connectivity as a peripheral product. “The way customers engage with financial services has fundamentally changed,” he said. “Today, banking is increasingly digital, and digital banking depends on reliable connectivity.” Mistry said banking, telecoms and digital services are converging into a single customer experience. “We see a natural convergence between banking, connectivity and digital services, as customers increasingly expect seamless, integrated digital experiences,” he said. Taken together, the banks’ positions point to a broader swing: they are no longer competing only against each other, but are also taking on telecom operators, retailers and digital platforms for control of customers’ attention. Structural edge Africa Analysis, a marketing research company that has done an extensive report on South African MVNOs, say banks possess structural advantages that make them unusually well-positioned to succeed in telecom. “The first thing is that they have a brand and they have a customer base,” Andre Willis, managing director at Africa Analysis, told TechCabal. “More importantly, they understand that customer base because they already have the financial history of customers on file.” Willis said MVNO success depends on four pillars: brand, customer base, distribution and customer operations. “Banks tick all four boxes,” he said. Retailers, by contrast, typically fall short on service infrastructure. “If you have a problem with your bank account, you know exactly who to call,” Willis said. “Retailers don’t always have that same customer support capability, which gives banks a significant advantage in the MVNO market.” That advantage extends to product bundling. Banks can combine handset
Read MoreSamsung Galaxy M47 is coming: Here’s what to expect
Table of contents When is the Galaxy M47 launching? Galaxy M47 specs Galaxy M47 vs Galaxy M36: what’s changed Should you buy the Galaxy M47 Samsung is set to launch the Galaxy M47 5G in India on June 29, 2026. The company confirmed the date on its own website, along with several of the phone’s biggest features. The Galaxy M47 brings back the M4x name in Samsung’s M series, a name the brand had not used since the Galaxy M44 in 2023. Samsung wants this phone to stand out with a strong display, a tough build, fast charging, and a software plan that lasts for years. Here is what you need to know about the Galaxy M47 before it launches. When is the Galaxy M47 launching? Samsung confirmed the launch date directly on its own India website. The page shows June 29, 2026, as the launch date, right at the top. This is about as reliable a source as it gets, since it comes straight from Samsung rather than a leak or a retailer listing. The phone will launch as an Amazon exclusive in India. You will also be able to find it on Samsung’s own website once it goes live. Samsung has not shared any launch plans outside India yet. The M series mostly stays in India and other emerging markets, and Samsung has not sold an M series phone in the UK or Europe since 2022. If you live in the US, UK, South Africa, or anywhere else in Africa, you should not expect an official launch for this phone. Your only way to get it right now would be through a grey-market import, and that comes with its own risks regarding warranty and network bands. Galaxy M47 specs Samsung has already shared a good number of details about the Galaxy M47, but a few key specs are still missing. Here is everything broken down, so you know what’s official and what’s still a leak. What Samsung has confirmed A 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection, rated for 4x scratch resistance and a 2.0 meter fall endurance Dust and water resistance A Snapdragon processor, though Samsung has not named the exact model LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 3.1 storage, with the exact capacity still unannounced A triple rear camera setup: a 50MP main camera with OIS, a 5MP ultrawide, and a 2MP macro lens A 12MP front camera, with 4K video recording on both the front and rear cameras 45W fast charging, plus bypass charging for long gaming sessions A large battery, though Samsung has not given an exact number yet One UI 8.5 running on Android 16 Six years of OS upgrades and six years of security updates Two colors: Rogue Red and Blaze Blue Samsung is also adding AI features such as Circle to Search and Galaxy AI photo-editing tools. There’s also Just Tap & Pay for quick payments. What’s still a leak A few important details have not come directly from Samsung. These come from benchmark listings and certification filings instead, so treat them as likely rather than confirmed. The chip is rumored to be a Snapdragon 6 Gen 3, based on a Geekbench listing RAM is expected to be 8GB, with 128GB of storage that can expand using a microSD card up to 1TB The battery size is still unclear. Some reports point to 5,000mAh, while others say 6,000mAh Price leaks suggest the base model could cost around $242.70, which would put it under $263.64 The phone also passed BIS certification in India on May 15, 2026. This confirms the phone is close to launch and will support dual SIM. Galaxy M47 vs Galaxy M36: what’s changed The Galaxy M47 follows the Galaxy M36 5G, which launched in India in June 2025. Here’s how the two compare based on everything we know right now. The M47 brings a few clear upgrades over its predecessor. It moves from Exynos to Snapdragon, and charging speed nearly doubles from 25W to 45W. The software also moves up a generation, from Android 15 to Android 16. A few things also went down. The ultrawide camera drops from 8MP to 5MP, and the front camera drops slightly from 13MP to 12MP. You’ll see if the M47 makes up for this once full reviews come in. Should you buy the Galaxy M47? Samsung is aiming for the sub-$263.64 price range with the Galaxy M47. The exact price will only be confirmed at the June 29 launch. The Galaxy M47’s biggest strengths are its display, build quality, software support, and faster charging. Six years of updates are rare at this price, and the jump to 45W charging is a solid improvement. Performance might be the weak spot. Early Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 benchmarks suggest decent but unremarkable gaming performance, especially next to rivals running stronger chips. A few phones in this price range are worth comparing against the M47 once pricing is out: CMF Phone 2 Pro, which uses a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro and sells for around $242.54 iQOO Z10, which comes with a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, a 7,300mAh battery, and 90W charging Realme P-series phones, which often pack bigger batteries at similar prices vivo T-series phones, which also tend to offer faster charging at similar prices If you live outside India, here is where things stand. There is no confirmed launch for the Galaxy M47 in your market, and Samsung has given no signal that one is coming soon. Your best option right now is to wait and see if Samsung brings similar hardware to your region under a different name, since that has happened before with the M series. Grey-market imports are possible too, but you will want to check warranty coverage and network band support first. The Galaxy M47 is shaping up to be a strong mid-range phone. It offers a good display, a tough build, fast charging, and a software promise that goes well beyond what most phones
Read MoreLender Baobab becomes Beltone’s biggest business three months after acquisition
In February, Beltone Holding, an Egypt-headquartered financial services group with operations in investment banking and asset management, spent $227.13 million (€197.6 million) to acquire Baobab Group. Three months later, the lender generated more revenue than all of Beltone’s other businesses combined. Baobab contributed 53% of Beltone’s EGP6.8 billion ($136.68 million) operating revenue in the first quarter of 2026, making it the group’s single largest business line, according to the company’s financial results. Its gross lending portfolio grew by 236% year-on-year to EGP101.1 billion ($2.03 billion) in the first quarter. Baobab alone contributed EGP60.9 billion ($1.22 billion), meaning roughly six out of every ten pounds lent by the group now originates from the acquired business. Beltone’s first-quarter results show how its bet on cross-border growth is paying off. Rather than expand market by market, the company acquired Baobab, a pan-African lender with operations across seven countries. Within three months of completing the deal, Baobab had become Beltone’s largest source of revenue and lending activity, offering an early indication that the company’s next phase of growth could come from outside Egypt. The strategy mirrors a broader trend across Africa’s tech ecosystem, where companies are increasingly buying capabilities instead of building them. In March, Moniepoint, a Visa-backed Nigerian fintech unicorn, acquired restaurant management platform Orda to deepen its merchant ecosystem. Baobab’s acquisition expanded Beltone’s geographic footprint across seven African countries and expanded its balance sheet. Baobab brought EGP37.3 billion ($749.75 million) in deposits into the group. Nigeria continues to play an important role in the group. Baobab Nigeria, which operates 38 branches across 15 states and the country’s capital, contributed EGP3.3 billion ($66.33 million) to Beltone’s portfolio and held EGP3.3 billion ($66.33 million) in customer deposits during the quarter. Beyond Baobab, Beltone’s legacy businesses continue to grow. Beltone Asset Management maintained its leading position as Egypt’s largest non-bank-affiliated asset manager, with assets under management reaching a new record high of EGP49.0 billion ($984.95 million) during Q1, 2026. Overall, the group’s net operating profit grew to EGP1.3 billion ($26.13 million) in Q1, 2026, and profit after tax and minority interest fell by 1% to EGP695 million ($13.97 million). The company said profitability was impacted by one-off expenses associated with expansions, ongoing strategic initiatives, and platform scaling efforts. “Furthermore, SG&A expenses increased compared to the same period last year, reflecting the costs associated with the integration of Baobab, alongside continued investments in talent acquisition, infrastructure, technology, and business expansions to support future growth across various businesses,” it said in its results.
Read MoreGalaxy Watch 8 vs Galaxy Watch 9: Should you upgrade or wait?
Table of contents Galaxy Watch 8 vs Galaxy Watch 9 at a Glance Galaxy Watch 8 vs Galaxy Watch 9: Feature by feature Price Release date Should you upgrade? Samsung has not announced the Galaxy Watch 9 yet, but there is enough information to already compare it to the Galaxy Watch 8. This article separates what Samsung and its suppliers have confirmed from what remains speculation, so you know exactly what to trust before deciding whether to upgrade. Based on available information so far, the design and the display look will be similar to the Watch 8. The 44mm battery and the charging speed look unchanged too. The bigger story is the chip. Samsung’s longtime chip partner is being replaced by Qualcomm on at least one model in the new lineup, and that single change could shape how useful the AI features in your watch turn out to be. Two questions are still open and worth keeping in mind as you read. The first is which chip the standard Watch 9 actually uses. The second is whether a Watch 9 Classic with the rotating bezel makes a comeback this year. There is also a wider reason Samsung needs the Watch 9 to land well. Counterpoint Research data reported in June 2026 showed that Galaxy Watch shipments fell 28% year over year in the first quarter of 2026, pushing Samsung’s global smartwatch share down from 7% to 5%, even as the overall market grew and Apple gained ground. That puts pressure on Samsung to make the Watch 9 worth your money against the Pixel Watch and the Apple Watch. Below, you will find a full spec comparison table, a feature-by-feature breakdown, a price comparison, a release date estimate, and a final verdict on whether you should upgrade now or wait. Galaxy Watch 8 vs Galaxy Watch 9 at a Glance Here is how the two watches compare side by side, based on what Samsung has confirmed and what has leaked so far. Galaxy Watch 8 vs Galaxy Watch 9: Feature by feature Now let’s go deeper into each part of the watch, comparing what Samsung has confirmed for the Watch 8 with what has leaked or remains unconfirmed for the Watch 9. 1. Design The Galaxy Watch 8 confirmed a new “cushion” shaped case, sometimes called a squircle, that blends square and round lines. It is 11% slimmer than the Watch 7. It weighs 30 grams in the 40mm size and 34 grams in the 44mm size, and uses an aluminum frame with sapphire crystal on top. And it also introduced the Dynamic Lug band system, which lets you swap straps without tools. The Watch 8 Classic uses a stainless steel case instead of aluminum and retains the rotating bezel. It also adds a third button called the Quick Button. It comes in one size, 46mm, and weighs about 63.5 grams. Leaks point to the same squircle design returning to the standard Watch 9, with one tipster describing it as even more squared-off than before. New band designs are expected across the lineup. The bigger redesign appears to be reserved for the Watch Ultra 2, which leaks describe with a boxier chassis and thinner bezels. Color leaks mention Black and Silver for the Watch 9. A Beige option has also leaked, though it is not yet clear if Beige applies to the standard Watch 9, the Ultra 2, or both. 2. Display The Galaxy Watch 8 confirmed a 1.34-inch screen on the 40mm model and a 1.47-inch screen on the 44mm model, both reaching 3,000-nit peak brightness with a sapphire crystal cover. Resolution comes in at 438 by 438 pixels on the smaller size and 480 by 480 pixels on the larger one. The Watch 9 display has not leaked. Outlets that track Samsung wearables expect the same screen sizes and a similar 3,000-nit peak brightness to carry over, simply because nothing has surfaced to suggest otherwise. Treat this as an assumption rather than a leak. 3. Performance and chip The Galaxy Watch 8 runs on Samsung’s own Exynos W1000 chip, built on a 3-nanometer process with 2GB of RAM. Storage sits at 32GB on the standard model and doubles to 64GB on the Classic. This is the same chip Samsung used in the Watch 7 and the 2024 Watch Ultra. At MWC 2026, Qualcomm announced a new smartwatch chip, the Snapdragon Wear Elite, built on a 3-nanometer process. Samsung’s own technology strategy lead backed the announcement, saying the new chip would help the next Galaxy Watch become a more complete wellness companion. Qualcomm never named the Watch 9 directly. It only referred to the next-generation Galaxy Watch. Every model-specific claim you read elsewhere is the outlet’s own guess, not Qualcomm’s words. This has created a genuine split among outlets, and it stays unresolved as of this writing. One camp believes the standard Watch 9 keeps the Exynos W1000, and only the Watch Ultra 2 moves to the Snapdragon. A second camp believes both watches make the switch. A few outlets, including this one, simply say the question is open until Samsung confirms it. Why does this matter to you? The Snapdragon Wear Elite carries a dedicated AI processor that Qualcomm says can run large on-device models quickly. Wear OS 7’s headline Gemini features depend on that processor. If the standard Watch 9 keeps the older Exynos chip, it would miss out on the on-device AI features that the Ultra 2 gets. Qualcomm’s own numbers claim up to 5 times faster CPU performance and up to 7 times faster graphics compared with the previous wearable chip. The company also claims up to 30% longer battery life per charge. These are the manufacturer’s own claims, made under controlled testing, so treat them as a ceiling rather than a guarantee until reviewers test the watch themselves. Some industry voices are already managing expectations. One outlet covering the chip change in March 2026 noted that big jumps in daily battery life are unlikely
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Ride-hailing was just the entry point. Yango had bigger plans.
In a side room at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, on May 15, Yango Group Chief Business Officer Adeniyi Adebayo shared a brief history of the company’s expansion with an audience of business executives and investors. “The name Yango was actually coined in Ghana after a local word that means ‘let’s go,’” he said. “When we showed up in 2018 to set up this business, the first thing we recognised is that we have to be a local brand. Today, that story has grown across 35 markets. I started with a group of six other people building this business. We built multiple products; generally, we have got over 70 different product lines.” Yango Group is a Dubai-headquartered technology company that operates the Yango ride-hailing platform, one of the fastest-growing mobility services in Africa, with operations spanning markets including Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Cameroon, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company says it has completed 340 million rides across Africa and has over 500,000 drivers on its platform across the continent. It also operates delivery, entertainment, and e-commerce services, and is pushing into mapping, logistics routing, and cloud infrastructure. However, the ride-hailing label has stuck, even as the business says it has moved well beyond it. That tension, between what Yango is known as and what it is trying to become, was the subtext of everything Adebayo discussed in Kigali. On May 18, three days after those conversations, Yango Group formally announced the launch of Yango Tech in Africa: a business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) technology arm that packages AI consulting, smart city infrastructure, healthcare digitisation, and financial services platforms for businesses and governments across the continent. The city thesis To understand Yango Tech, you first have to understand how Yango Group thinks about markets. The company’s framework is not built around countries, but cities. “There is a fundamental belief, and this is actually very personal to me, that cities are the engines of growth on the continent,” Adebayo, who is also CEO Africa at Yango Group, told me during a wide-ranging interview on the sidelines of the forum. The argument he makes is statistical. Cote d’Ivoire has a population of roughly 34 million, but its economic activities are overwhelmingly concentrated in Abidjan, its capital city of 6.3 million people. No other city in the country has more than one million residents. Abidjan remains Côte d’Ivoire’s dominant economic hub, with the city’s port accounting for around 60% of national gross domestic product (GDP), according to the World Bank. “If Abidjan is producing, say, half the GDP, understandably, it means that the GDP per capita of Abidjan is not the GDP per capita of Côte d’Ivoire,” Adebayo said. “And that completely flips what is possible in terms of what are the needs and the demand of the people.” A vehicle branded with the Yango logo. Image source: Yango. The implication, for Yango, is that city dwellers in Abidjan are not poor-country consumers. In terms of their consumption behaviour and service expectations, they are closer, in Adebayo’s view, to residents of Dubai than to fellow Ivoirians in rural areas. “They are in the same country, but they are completely different spaces,” he said. That thinking informs Yango’s investment thesis. According to Adebayo, the company’s entry strategy in any market begins with identifying the densest node of commercial activity, building profitability there, and then using that anchor to subsidise expansion into secondary and tertiary cities. “If you don’t build a business that becomes profitable in Lusaka, you will not be able to build a sustainable business for the Copperbelt,” he said, using Zambia as an illustration. “So, for us, the idea is basically your beachhead market always has to start from where can I build density fast, and I can build a very profitable pool, and then that profitable pool becomes what subsidises the rest of the country.” The model, he acknowledged, is not without tension. Urban-first investment risks leaving rural populations behind, at least in the near term. But Adebayo’s counterargument is that the alternative, spreading capital thinly across an entire country from the start, usually produces an unprofitable business that eventually serves nobody. Perception arbitrage In 2018, most global tech companies expanding into Africa followed a familiar route: Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt. The four markets dominated investor attention and served as the continent’s largest digital economies. Uber was already established across several of them, while Bolt was expanding aggressively. Yango took a different path. It launched in Côte d’Ivoire. “Nigeria was the first market we visited,” Adebayo said. “Every person that came into the continent then all went to Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, but we were also in Nigeria. But we thought then the value proposition that we had and the opportunity that was there in Côte d’Ivoire was a lot more promising and enticing than Nigeria, but you couldn’t have taken that choice sitting at a desk in Dubai.” The phrase he uses to describe this is “perception arbitrage.” The idea is that received wisdom about African markets, which countries are promising, which are too risky, which are too small, lags reality by years. “I always say our game is a perception arbitrage game,” he said. “The problem with that perception arbitrage is, if I tell you that the cafeteria is closed, typically, you are not going to double-check me. You just take it as a fact. The cafeteria is closed. I told you, and it’s the same thing across all African markets. People have certain stories that have been said and repeated.” The example he cited was Ethiopia. Yango entered in 2023, before the current wave of institutional interest in the country. Since then, the government has accelerated efforts to liberalise the economy, culminating in the launch of the Ethiopian Securities Exchange, which attracted 48 local and foreign institutional investors and raised more than twice its target in 2024. “We’ve been in Ethiopia for almost three years now; everybody’s opening up to
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