Why a South African fintech chose the UK before the rest of Africa
Float, a South African payments startup, is taking a card-linked instalment product developed at home to one of the world’s most sophisticated fintech markets, with the belief that innovation built for Africa can compete globally. The Johannesburg-founded payments company, which enables shoppers to split purchases made on existing credit cards into interest-free instalments, has expanded into the United Kingdom (UK). Rather than viewing Britain as a market to learn from, Float believes the constraints of building in South Africa have given it a competitive advantage in one of the world’s most sophisticated fintech ecosystems. The move reflects a broader shift in African fintech, in which homegrown payment infrastructure and business models are being exported to developed markets rather than simply imported from them. “We think it’s a broader story than just Float,” founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Alex Forsyth-Thompson told TechCabal in an interview. “South Africa has built genuinely world-class payments and fintech capabilities. On a relative basis, South Africa is as, if not more, competitive than the UK.” Founded in 2021, Float is a card-linked instalment platform that allows consumers to convert purchases made with their existing Visa or Mastercard credit cards into interest- and fee-free monthly instalments of up to 24 months. Unlike traditional buy now, pay later (BNPL) providers, Float does not issue new credit or require customers to apply for another loan. Instead, it works within the customer’s existing credit card facility, with merchants paying Float a fee for the service. The company says it has signed more than 2,200 merchants in South Africa, including Samsung, iStore, The North Face, Cycle Lab and Tiger Wheel & Tyre. According to Forsyth-Thompson, Float has also raised more than R280 million ($17.1 million) in equity and debt funding from investors including Standard Bank, Invenfin, Platform Investment Partners and Saad Investment Holdings. He said the company’s expansion into Britain is supported by the UK Government’s Global Entrepreneur Programme, an initiative designed to attract high-growth international companies to the country. Float’s choice of Britain over another African market may appear surprising at a time when many fintechs are chasing continental expansion. Fintechs such as Moniepoint, Mukuru, and Yellow Card have steadily grown their footprints across Africa. That regional strategy has become the default playbook for many startups seeking scale, making Float’s decision to enter the UK before pursuing broader African expansion a notable departure from the norm. But Forsyth-Thompson argues that the company’s technology depends on markets with mature credit card ecosystems. “The UK has over 55 million credit cards in circulation, with over £70 billion ($93.8 million) in credit card balances that are incurring interest,” he said. “At the same time, there is roughly £250 billion ($335 million) sitting unused on these cards. These shoppers don’t need more credit; they need more time.” Rather than competing directly with BNPL providers such as Klarna and Clearpay, Float believes it serves a different segment of the market. “Similar to African BNPL players, Klarna and Clearpay focus on issuing new loans to shoppers at checkout,” Forsyth-Thompson said. “We are serving people who already have a credit card with room on it, don’t want new loans, and don’t want another sign-up process and app download standing between them and checkout.” The distinction also shapes Float’s regulatory positioning. As a company that operates on top of existing bank-issued credit facilities rather than extending new loans, it leverages credit assessments already completed by banks while allowing consumers to spread repayments over a longer period. Building the technology for multiple markets presented its own challenges. While the platform already runs on global card networks, Float had to redesign its infrastructure to support multiple territories and payment processing environments. “Our technology platform required significant build to enable us to run a multi-territory architecture and cater for processing payments in different markets,” Forsyth-Thompson said. “Now that this build is complete, we are able to expand markets and product sets with more speed.” Perhaps the biggest lesson from Float’s expansion is that Africa’s difficult operating environment can become an advantage rather than a handicap. South Africa’s fintech market is crowded with banks, payment providers, and alternative payment methods competing for merchants, forcing startups to become efficient long before they consider international growth. “Because we have such strong proof points with global brands in South Africa, as well as some great operational experience, merchant take-up in the UK has moved faster than in our early days in South Africa,” Forsyth-Thompson said. “Having built here in a more cost-conscious and capital-constrained environment turned out to be very good preparation for a mature, competitive market like the UK.” 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 Pixel 11 release date and everything you should know
Google has locked in a date for its next Pixel launch. The Made by Google 2026 event will take place on August 12, 2026, and will bring the Pixel 11 series into the spotlight. Here is everything confirmed so far, so you know what to expect before the big reveal. At a glance Event: Made by Google 2026 Date: Wednesday, August 12, 2026 Time: 6 PM ET (11 PM WAT) Location: New York City Expected devices: Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro XL, Pixel 11 Pro Fold, and Pixel Watch 5 Storage: the 128GB tier is reportedly dropped, with 256GB as the new base Price: increases are expected across most models Chip: Tensor G6, built on a 2nm process Google confirms Pixel 11 release date and event details Google sent out official press invites on July 7, 2026, confirming the date, time, and location of its next hardware event. This is the confirmed part of the story. The invite mentions “the next generation of Pixel” and shows a gold metal frame with a horizontal camera bar, but it does not name any device directly. Google has not published an official event page yet, nor is there a blog post, social media teaser, or livestream link. The confirmation so far comes only from the press invite, which outlets like 9to5Google and The Verge received directly. How does this year compare to last year? Pixel 10 launched on August 20, 2025, and Pixel 9 launched on August 13, 2024. This year’s Pixel 11 arrives on August 12, 2026, eight days earlier than last year’s event. The event also starts later than usual. Instead of Google’s typical early afternoon keynote, this year’s show starts at 6 PM ET, moving into the evening hours. Analysts believe this earlier date and later time give Android buyers a longer window to decide before Apple’s expected September announcement. How to watch Google usually streams its Made by Google events through its official website, the Google Store, and YouTube. Google has not shared a direct stream link yet, so keep watching those channels as August 12 gets closer. Expected lineup Google is expected to unveil four phones alongside a new smartwatch. Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro Pixel 11 Pro XL and Pixel 11 Pro Fold Pixel Watch 5, expected in two sizes New Pixel Buds Pro, though no details have leaked yet The Pixel 11 Pro Fold is expected to arrive later than the rest of the lineup, likely around October 2026. This matches how Google released the Pixel 10 Pro Fold last year, so foldable fans should plan for a longer wait. The Pixel Watch 5 is rumoured to come in 41mm and 45mm sizes, each with Wi-Fi and LTE options. Leaks point to a design close to the Pixel Watch 4, with the same health sensors carried over. Pricing leaks suggest a $50 increase across the board, with prices ranging from $399 to $529 depending on size and connectivity. Price and storage One of the biggest changes rumoured for this year is the removal of the 128GB storage option. If this leak holds up, every Pixel 11 model will start at 256GB, with 512GB and 1TB options available on higher tiers. European and UK pricing has leaked from Dealabs, a source with a strong track record on pre-order pricing. Based on these leaks, the base Pixel 11 could start around €999, with the Pro, Pro XL, and Pro Fold priced higher. US pricing has not leaked yet. Some outlets estimate the base Pixel 11 could land around $899, up from last year’s $799, but this is only an estimate at this stage. Google may not confirm final US pricing until closer to the event. Why prices might go up The tech industry is dealing with a global memory chip shortage. RAM and storage prices have climbed sharply over the past year, and companies like Samsung and Apple have already cited this shortage as a reason for higher prices on their devices. If Google follows the same pattern, a price increase on the Pixel 11 would not come as a surprise. Design and colours Google tends to redesign the Pixel every two to three years, and last year’s Pixel 10 was that redesign. This means the Pixel 11 is expected to bring smaller changes rather than a full overhaul. Leaked renders show a similar body shape to the Pixel 10, with slightly slimmer bezels and a thinner build. The camera bar is expected to switch to an all-glass, all-dark finish instead of the two-tone look used on the Pixel 10. One of the most talked-about rumoured features is something called “Pixel Glow.” This would be a small LED light on the back of the phone that lights up when the phone is face down, such as during an important call or notification. Code found in Android 17 points to this feature, but it is still unconfirmed whether it will appear on the base Pixel 11 or only the Pro models. Leaked colour options include: Pixel 11: Light Sterling, Midnight Haze, Fuchsia, and Moss Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL: Light Fog, Midnight Haze, Dune, and Pine Pixel 11 Pro Fold: Midnight Haze and Pine 1TB versions of any model: Midnight Haze only Specs to expect Everything below comes from leaks, not from Google directly. Chip: The Pixel 11 series is expected to run on Google’s new Tensor G6 chip, built using a 2nm process for the first time. This chip is also rumoured to include a new MediaTek modem, replacing the Samsung modem used in past models. This change alone could improve connectivity and battery life, since past Pixels have struggled with signal issues and battery drain. Battery: Leaks suggest the battery capacities may be smaller than those of the Pixel 10, which is unusual. Google is expected to rely on the new chip’s efficiency to compensate for smaller batteries, though it is too early to know how this will affect everyday use.
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Kelvin Obasuyi learned entrepreneurship by failing at almost everything first
Kelvin Obasuyi says his mother used to tell him that there is dignity in labour. It is a piece of advice that has guided him through years of work that rarely looked dignified from the outside: a chocolate popcorn business that folded within a year, selling varsity jackets, and freelance data analysis for anyone willing to pay. “I was [doing] anything I could do for money,” he says. Years later, as an entrepreneur, his mother’s words stopped being about his own survival and became about everyone else’s. “People [who] work for me are depending on the business to feed families,” he says. “That gave me a different idea about what entrepreneurship means to me.” Today, that idea runs through two companies. Obasuyi is the co-founder at 56 Capital, a finance firm lending to informal African businesses, and chief executive of Vector Innovations, a cross-border fintech company. None of it was mapped out when he had just graduated from the university. ChopChat and economies of scale In July 2013, Obasuyi graduated with an Economics degree from Covenant University, a private university in Ogun State, southwestern Nigeria. In November of the same year, Obasuyi began his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Nigeria’s mandatory one-year post-graduation programme. To make ends meet during the period, he launched his first business venture. “It was a very difficult time for me,” he says, “So, I wanted to make more money”. The venture he pursued was ChopChat, a chocolate-flavoured popcorn business. “This [venture] also made me love business,” he recalls. “We sold [ChopChat] stands at Iyana Ipaja Bus Stop [in Lagos], and we sold at some plazas.” Broke and living in Lagos with a group of friends, Obasuyi realised their combined savings could cover a popcorn machine and ingredients. The business, however, folded in 2014. “As demand grew, we simply weren’t equipped to produce 500 packs a day by hand from a single machine,” he reveals. “Our labour was a handful of friends who later took up jobs and could no longer help, and we had no access to finance to invest in bigger equipment or more hands”. In the same year, Obasuyi rounded up his NYSC, but was unable to get a job. “Even though I finished from Covenant University, a top school, it was still very difficult to land some jobs,” he says. “And I think I was also very picky [about] what I wanted to do” He says he wanted to land a banking job. When he could not get the roles, what followed, between 2014 and 2017, was a stretch of freelance work. He says he sold varsity jackets, marketed American career-guidance software to secondary schools, and ran data analytics jobs. Looking back, he says the period taught him the value of grit. Theory alone, he learned, does not survive contact with the real business world. It also sharpened his emotional intelligence: reading what people are not saying out loud to close a sale. “Vocal communication is less than a third of what’s actually being communicated,” he says. “The rest you have to read.” He also credits the stretch with teaching him how to keep moving without the structure of a salary, and how to keep evolving in tough terrain. “If you don’t, competition simply wipes you out,” he says. “Those are lessons the comfort of a bank job could never have given me.” Learning banking from the inside Obasuyi says in 2017, he joined Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), one of Nigeria’s leading commercial banks, in a marketing role. He spent two years there. “[Working at GTBank] taught me grit,” he says. “People have this funny idea that when you go to a private school, you are a bit lily-livered, but GTBank exposed me to toughness”. He recalls joining the marketing team at the time when the bank’s goal was to capture the youth population. “We had ambitious targets given to us,” he recalls. “They didn’t mind what school you went to; you just had to get the job done.” He also recognises his time there as a period that taught him market segmentation— that not every market can be served the same way. “I realised that the banks couldn’t serve the unstructured financial markets, even though the unstructured financial markets are making a lot of money,” he says. It was at GTBank, watching customers get turned away for lacking formal financial records, that the seed of an idea began to form. In February 2018, while at GTBank, he says he recalls a woman who came in seeking a loan to fund her laundry business but lacked the formal documentation the bank required. She was turned down. “It was right to refuse because the bank was a structured organisation,” he says. That experience stayed with him and made him think about starting his own business that catered to unstructured businesses. But the idea would take years to take shape. First, there was more banking left to learn. Obasuyi says that in 2019, he joined Stanbic IBTC Bank, another commercial bank, as a business analyst. “Stanbic, being a global bank, strengthened my understanding of financial instruments, financial markets, and corporate businesses,” he says. At Stanbic, he also learned what it meant to work within a system that was “bureaucratic” for a reason. People would often complain about how long it took to get anything done, but he says he came to understand the delays were rooted in compliance, not rigidity for its own sake. “I learned how to guard operational systems, business systems, and systems thinking,” he adds. In 2020, Obasuyi left Stanbic IBTC to join First Bank of Nigeria, the country’s oldest bank, as a Product Manager. He was in charge of robotics process automation (RPA), which uses automation technologies to perform repetitive office tasks of human workers, such as extracting data, filling in forms, moving files, and more. “I learned what it means to do a corporate turnaround,” he recalls. “How do you convince an old, established bank that you can employ
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Nothing Ear 3a: Price, release date and full specs
Table of contents Release date Price Full specs Nothing Ear 3a vs Nothing Ear a Where you can buy it Who should buy the Nothing Ear 3a Nothing has launched the Ear 3a, the newest earbuds in its affordable lineup. The earbuds went official on July 7, 2026, alongside the Nothing Phone 4b. If you want Nothing’s design and sound at a budget price, here is everything confirmed about the Nothing Ear 3a, from price and release date to full specs and how it compares to the Ear a. Release date Nothing confirmed the global launch of the Ear 3a on July 7, 2026, through a livestream event held alongside the Phone 4b reveal. The earbuds went on sale the same day in several regions. UK, Europe, and Switzerland: available immediately on July 7, 2026, through nothing.tech. Germany: also available in stores such as MediaMarkt, Amazon, and Otto starting July 8, 2026. Nothing has not confirmed a release date for India yet. There is also no official word on when or if the earbuds will reach Nigeria. Price Here is what Nothing has confirmed on pricing so far: US, UK, and Europe: $99, £99, and €99. Switzerland: 89 CHF. India: no official price yet, though early trackers estimate it could land around ₹9,999. Nigeria: no official price or availability yet. This price matches the Ear a, which also launched at $99, £99, and €99 back in 2024. Despite rising costs elsewhere, Nothing kept the price of the Ear 3a the same. Full specs Here is a full breakdown of what the Nothing Ear 3a offers. 1. Drivers and sound Driver size: 12mm dynamic driver Frequency response: 20Hz to 40,000Hz Codecs supported: LDAC, AAC, and SBC Extra: Hi-Res Wireless certification and Static Spatial Audio 2. Active noise cancellation ANC strength: up to 45dB, adaptive Coverage: wider noise blocking, especially in the range where everyday noise sits Voice clarity: better suppression in the human voice range Extra: Transparency Mode included 3. Battery and charging Buds alone, ANC off: up to 10 hours Buds alone, ANC on: up to 6 hours Buds and case, ANC off: up to 42 hours Buds and case, ANC on: up to 25 hours A 5-minute charge gives you up to 1 hour of playback, and a full charge takes around 70 minutes. Charging is via USB-C only, with no wireless charging option. 4. Connectivity Bluetooth version: 6.0 Multipoint: connect to two devices at once Pairing: Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair Extra: Low Latency mode 5. Design and build Build: signature transparent design with a small, rounded case Protection: IP54 rating on both the buds and the case Ear tips: four sizes, including a new extra small size Weight: each bud weighs 4.53 grams, and the case weighs 40.92 grams 6. Controls and app features The standout new feature is on-device recording. Each earbud has 16 MB of storage, for a total of 32 MB. Pinch both buds together to capture up to 1 minute of audio from what you are listening to, including a few seconds before you pinch. You can also record calls directly from the earbuds for up to two hours. Both recordings sync to the Nothing X app, where you can play, edit, and even get a written transcript. Controls: customizable pinch and touch controls through the Nothing X app Sound: four EQ presets plus a full 8-band advanced EQ you can adjust yourself Sharing: you can share your sound profile with others using a QR code Compatibility: works with Android 8.0 and above, and iOS 13 and above Nothing Ear 3a vs Nothing Ear a Here is how the Ear 3a compares to Nothing’s own Ear a. The Ear 3a costs the same as the Ear a but gives you more. You get a bigger driver, wider ANC coverage, longer battery life per bud, a full advanced EQ, and on-device recording that the Ear a never had. Nothing built the 3a to replace the Ear a, not just sit beside it. Where you can buy it Right now, the Nothing Ear 3a is confirmed for the UK, Europe, Switzerland, and the US. UK, Europe, and Switzerland: on sale now through nothing.tech, with Germany also stocking it at MediaMarkt, Amazon, and Otto. US: on sale now through nothing.tech, with Amazon expected to carry it soon. India: no confirmed price or sale date yet. Nigeria: no confirmed price or availability yet, though Nothing products are sold locally through resellers like the Nothing store in Lagos and Jumia. Who should buy the Nothing Ear 3a The Ear 3a is built for buyers who want good sound and Nothing’s design without paying flagship prices. You get a bigger driver, stronger noise cancellation, and a genuinely useful new way to record audio and calls, all at the same price as the earbuds it replaces. If on-device recording and a full EQ matter to you, this is one of the better budget picks out there. Rivals like the Google Pixel Buds 2a, the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE, the CMF Buds 2 Plus, and the OnePlus Buds sit in the same price range and are worth comparing before you decide. Buy the Ear 3a if you want strong ANC and long battery life for your money. Skip it if wireless charging is a must, since the case only supports USB-C. 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’s Intelligent Eyewear vs Ray-Ban Meta glasses: Key differences explained
Smart glasses are now in high demand. Meta and EssilorLuxottica sold over seven million AI glasses in 2025, more than triple sales for 2023 and 2024. What used to be a camera bolted onto a pair of sunglasses can now give you turn-by-turn directions, translate a conversation as it happens, or let you reply to a WhatsApp message with a flick of your wrist. Meta has already put its Ray-Ban Display glasses in customers’ hands. Google is now moving to challenge that dominance with Google Intelligent Eyewear, its own eyewear line, built in partnership with Samsung. If you’re trying to choose which smart glasses to get, this article is your guide. It breaks down the features of Google’s intelligent eyewear and Ray-Ban Meta glasses, and which is actually worth your money. What is Google’s intelligent eyewear? Image source: Google Google unveiled its plans at I/O 2026, branding the category “intelligent eyewear” rather than smart glasses. There are two types: audio glasses and display glasses. Audio glasses have built-in microphones and over-ear speakers to deliver help directly to your ear and a front-facing camera. Display glasses that show information in the lens when needed. The audio glasses launch first in September 2026. Both the audio and display glasses are built on Android extended reality (Android XR), the platform Google developed with Samsung and Qualcomm. Both glass types also run on Gemini, Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) assistant. A pair of Google smart glasses. Image source: Google Users can activate Gemini by saying “Hey Google” or tapping the frame, then ask questions about their surroundings or have the assistant carry out tasks on their behalf. The hardware runs on Gemini 2.5 Pro paired with the Project Astra vision system, which enables real-time object recognition and contextual memory, so the glasses can recall where an object was last seen. Google is not manufacturing the frames itself. The audio glasses are being built with eyewear brands Gentle Monster and Warby Parker, chosen for their design credentials rather than a tech-first aesthetic. What are Meta Ray-Ban glasses? A pair of Ray-Ban Meta glasses. Image source: Meta Meta Ray-Ban Display launched in September 2025, priced at $799. The glasses use a 600 by 600 pixel monocular display in the right lens, which offers a 20-degree field of view at 42 pixels per degree. The glasses are controlled largely through the wrist rather than touch or voice alone. The Meta Neural Band reads electrical signals from the wearer’s wrist muscles, allowing them to scroll, select, and type using subtle hand movements rather than tapping the frame. Meta has since added a teleprompter feature and neural handwriting, which lets users send WhatsApp and Messenger messages by writing with a finger on any surface. The camera captures 12-megapixel photos with 3x digital zoom, and the display doubles as a viewfinder. Battery life runs to roughly six hours of mixed use and up to 30 hours with the collapsible charging case. Beyond the flagship Display model, Meta’s wider 2026 lineup spans four product lines from $299 to $799, covering casual users, athletes and content creators. Differences in hardware design and display Meta has built its glasses around the Ray-Ban Wayfarer silhouette, a shape closely tied to sunglasses and lifestyle wear. Google, by contrast, is positioning its eyewear as a stand-in for prescription glasses, not just a fashion accessory worn outdoors. A pair of Ray-Ban Meta glasses. Image source: Meta One industry view is that Meta pigeonholed itself into the sunglasses market with the Ray-Ban partnership, whereas Google’s glasses are meant to appeal even to people without prescription lenses. That distinction matters for everyday wearability, particularly for people who already wear corrective lenses and are unlikely to swap them for a sunglasses-first product. Another difference between the two brands is the display. Apart from the Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses, Ray-Ban Meta glasses typically do not have an in-lens screen. Google, however, is actively working on a version of these glasses that integrates a small in-lens display. These will beam visual information, map routes, and display translated text directly into a user’s line of sight. AI and software ecosystem Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses are deeply integrated with the WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram platforms. Meta’s AI lets users stream directly to social media and use hands-free Meta AI for visual search and translation. Google’s Gemini AI powers Google’s intelligent eyewear. These glasses leverage Google’s pre-existing ecosystem across Google Photos, Gmail, Google Maps, and Google Calendar. The in-lens display lets you read texts, view snap photos, and use real-time automatic language translation directly on the glass. Software ecosystem and phone dependency Both products lean on a smartphone for full functionality, but the depth of that dependency differs. Google’s audio glasses pair with both Android and iOS phones and can tap into apps like Uber and Mondly using voice commands routed through the connected phone. That cross-platform support is notable, since Android XR’s deeper display features are widely expected to favour Android handsets first. Meta’s glasses similarly require a companion app. Users need a compatible smartphone with the Meta AI app installed, a Meta account, and an internet connection to access translation and other cloud-enabled features. Differences in pricing and availability Meta’s pricing is public, and the product is already in stores. Meta Ray-Ban Display is currently limited to select US retailers including Best Buy, LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut, Ray-Ban stores, and Meta Lab. Google, on the other hand, is set to launch its intelligent eyewear in Fall 2026. Final thoughts The smart glasses you should pick depend on what you need the glasses to do and how long you’re willing to wait to get them. If you want something you can wear today, Ray-Ban Meta glasses are the practical choice, since Google’s intelligent eyewear is not yet on shelves. If you already wear prescription lenses and want a device built to replace your everyday glasses rather than sit on top of sunglasses, Google’s approach is closer to what you’re after, once it ships. If your
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When every call leaves a trail: Why can’t Nigeria still find kidnappers?
On the morning of October 23, 2025, Gbolahan Olaniyi was settling into what seemed like another routine day on the farm he manages at Oke Ako Village at Ikole Local Government, Ekiti State, southwestern Nigeria. From his small office, he worked through reports from the previous day’s harvest while, outside, more than 250 hectares of maize, soybeans, and cassava stretched toward the horizon. Workers moved across the fields, tractors rumbled along dusty tracks, as the harvest season was in full swing. Then a tractor operator failed to return. At first, it seemed like a minor delay. Olaniyi tried calling him, but the call would not connect. Concerned, he climbed onto his office-assigned motorcycle and headed into the fields to find out. What he found was unsettling. The tractor stood at an odd angle, half-turned into the bush, as though it had been abandoned in a hurry. Olaniyi got off his bike, picked up a cutlass, and walked toward it. He called the driver’s name once. Then again. Silence. A whistle suddenly pierced the stillness. Seven armed men emerged from the trees on either side of the path, AK-47 rifles in hand. The tractor driver had already been captured. He had been shot in the hand and tied to a tree. The abandoned tractor was bait. Olaniyi had walked straight into an ambush. “The kidnappers took everything from me—my phone, face cap, nose mask and even my customised farm boots,” Olaniyi recalled. The boots, supplied through a state government programme, carried identifying marks. “They cut out the markings before wearing them themselves.” Within minutes, the two men were being marched deeper into the forest. “There were about 15 local vigilantes and security personnel assigned to the farm, yet the kidnappers still took us into the bush,” he said. Escape from kidnapper’s den Day: Left Picture -Olaniyi Gbolahan Emmanuel at Ifaki-Ikole-Omuo Road, Ikole, Ekiti at 09:12AM, December 2; Right Picture: At Federal Road F215 Owo-Tegina, Yagba, Kogi State, Nigeria, AT 06:13 PM, December 2, 2026. Image source: Gbolahan Olaniyi. What followed was a 42-day ordeal through remote forests spanning multiple states. Olaniyi and other captives were forced to trek for hours, sleep in makeshift camps, and endure constant threats and the instant execution of four kidnapped victims who tried to run away from the heavily armed kidnappers. In one case, Olaniyi said he was forced to dig a shallow grave to bury one of the victims. Throughout the ordeal, one thing stood out: the men holding them captive relied heavily on mobile phones. They beat hostages while forcing them to speak to their families on video calls, using the scenes of violence to pressure relatives into paying ransoms. In one conversation with Olaniyi’s employer, the gang demanded ₦100 million ($73,566) for his release. They constantly requested airtime and mobile data to keep their phones active. At one point, a kidnapper handed Olaniyi a phone and instructed him to buy ₦10,000 ($7.36) worth of data for two mobile numbers. For a fleeting moment, Olaniyi held something investigators often struggle to obtain: a direct line to one of the men holding him captive. Yet even with phone numbers, calls, and other digital footprints, the kidnappers remained beyond the reach of authorities. No rescue came for Olaniyi or the other captives. Gbolahan’s mother and relations were forced to pay ₦30 million ($21,955) in ransom on the pretense of his release. After the ransom arrived in cash, the kidnappers refused and demanded more money. Their freedom only arrived on December 2, 2025, when Olaniyi said he and four others escaped after a dispute over ransom proceeds prompted their guards to abandon their post. “Once we were free, we avoided the front of the camp, where the kidnappers were sleeping, and slipped out through the back of the hill instead. Then we ran into the forest,” Olaniyi said. “We were incredibly fortunate that night because there was a bright full moon. It was December 2, and the moonlight helped us find our way as we escaped through the bush.” That contradiction lies at the heart of one of Nigeria’s most enduring security puzzles. Kidnappers rely heavily on telecommunications networks to run their operations. They call victims’ families, negotiate ransoms, send messages, make video calls, buy airtime, and increasingly use digital payment channels. Each interaction generates data. Every call leaves a trace. Yet despite this growing digital footprint, hundreds of kidnappings occur every year, and relatively few perpetrators are identified or prosecuted through telecommunications evidence alone. Research firm SBM Intelligence recorded 7,568 people abducted in 1,130 kidnapping incidents between July 2023 and June 2024. The report estimated that kidnappers demanded about ₦10.9 billion ($7.98 million) in ransom during the period. For many Nigerians, that reality is difficult to reconcile. In a country where SIM cards are linked to National Identification Numbers (NINs), telecom operators collect extensive subscriber data, and many people believe that security agencies have legal authority to access call records and location information, tracking kidnappers should seem straightforward. The gap between what technology can theoretically enable and what happens on the ground is often far wider than it appears. “Effective tracking relies heavily on seamless coordination between military intelligence, civil security agencies, and telecommunication providers, which can introduce bureaucratic or technical delays when time is of the essence,” Edward Buba, former Director of Defence Military Operations at Defence Headquarters, told TechCabal on the telephone. The myth of the instantly traceable phone call Image source: Wunmi Eunice/TechCabal When kidnappers call victims’ families, many Nigerians assume security agencies can simply trace the number and locate them within minutes. Popular movies, crime dramas, and years of telecom expansion have reinforced the belief that every phone call leaves an immediate digital trail leading directly to a suspect’s location. The reality is far more complicated. TechCabal Toolmaker The Tracking Circle Simulator See exactly why a kidnapper’s phone call doesn’t hand security forces a neat GPS pin. Lagos (Dense City) Zamfara (Sparse Forest) The Decoy Trick Initiate Trace Awaiting operator input.
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Koko Networks administrators begin sale of collapsed clean cooking startup’s assets
Administrators have begun marketing the assets of Koko Networks, the clean cooking startup that served more than one million Kenyan households, in the first major step toward winding down the company after its collapse in January. The sale advances Koko’s insolvency after the company shut down operations and laid off more than 700 employees when the Kenyan government declined to approve a Letter of Authorisation needed to unlock carbon credit revenues. Administrators are seeking buyers capable of transactions exceeding $15 million, signalling a preference for a strategic sale of the business rather than a breakup of individual assets. An insolvency notice seen by TechCabal invites expressions of interest by July 17 for Koko’s integrated ethanol cooking technology and manufacturing platform. PwC, which is overseeing the administration of Koko Networks Limited, is expected to shortlist bidders after the deadline. The assets include the company’s intellectual property portfolio, comprising patents, hardware designs and software technologies developed over more than a decade. They also include Koko’s stove and canister manufacturing plant in Sanand, Gujarat, India, and the fuel distribution and retail platform that supported more than 3,000 automated fuel stations across Kenya. While PwC is administering Koko Networks Limited, affiliated Indian entities Saarus Innovations Pvt Ltd and Koko Networks Pvt Ltd are being wound up through voluntary liquidation. Prospective buyers must demonstrate the financial capacity to complete deals exceeding $15 million before receiving detailed sale documents, according to the notice. The sale follows Koko’s collapse after the Kenyan government rejected the Letter of Authorisation required for the company to sell carbon credits internationally. Without that approval, Koko lost access to the revenue stream that subsidised ethanol fuel prices for more than one million households using its smart cooking system. Founded in 2013 by Gregg Murray, Koko was backed by undisclosed equity and debt rounds from investors including Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, Mirova, Verod-Kepple, and Rand Merchant Bank. The World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) also backed the business with a $179.6 million guarantee. 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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Starlink pauses new subscriptions in parts of Kenya after demand surges
Starlink has stopped accepting new customers in seven Kenyan counties after demand outstripped available network capacity, a sign of the strains facing the satellite internet provider as it expands faster than its infrastructure can support. New customers in Nairobi, Kiambu, Mombasa, Machakos, Murang’a, Kirinyaga, and Kwale are now redirected to a waiting list instead of being allowed to complete orders. “Starlink service is currently at capacity in your area,” the company tells customers attempting to subscribe. “You can still place a deposit now to reserve your spot on the waitlist. We cannot provide an estimated timeframe for service availability, but our teams are working as quickly as possible to add more capacity.” Screenshot showing a Starlink message informing a customer that the service is at capacity in Kenya. The waiting lists suggest that demand in some of Kenya’s largest population centres has overtaken the network capacity that the company has allocated to the country, presenting Starlink with a new challenge as it seeks to sustain its growth. The suspension comes after a year of rapid subscriber growth fuelled by lower equipment prices and cheaper service plans. Communications Authority (CA) data shows Starlink had 24,999 subscribers at the end of March, more than three times the 8,063 customers it reported nine months earlier. Although that represents less than 1% of Kenya’s fixed internet market, it is one of the fastest growth rates among licenced internet service providers. The company has steadily reduced the cost of joining its network since launching in Kenya in July 2023. Hardware that initially cost KES 89,000 ($688.8) now sells for KES 49,900 ($386), while customers can rent the equipment for KES 1,950 ($15) monthly instead of buying it outright. It has also introduced lower-priced broadband packages, including a 50GB monthly plan costing KES 1,300 ($10), widening its appeal beyond affluent early adopters. Those price cuts have helped Starlink gain customers in rural areas where fibre networks remain scarce, while also attracting households and small businesses in cities looking for an alternative to terrestrial broadband providers. 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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How state tech agency became South Africa’s biggest digital transformation bottleneck
South Africa’s digital transformation is stalling because the government agency responsible for buying and delivering technology is struggling to do its own job. Findings of a Public Service Commission (PSC) investigation, released on Monday, have revealed systemic failures at the State Information Technology Agency (SITA), the country’s digital backbone, where procurement delays and leadership instability have slowed the delivery of critical Information and Communications Technology (ICT) systems across government. The probe, commissioned by Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi in December 2024, paints a picture of an institution whose operational failures have become a national digital transformation risk. While more than R2 billion ($123 million) in irregular expenditure over four audited financial years has attracted attention, the report revealed that the bigger problem is an organisation unable to consistently procure, manage and deliver technology for the government. “This report is difficult reading, but it is necessary reading,” Malatsi said on Monday when releasing the findings alongside PSC chairperson Professor Somadoda Fikeni. “SITA is the state’s central ICT engine. When SITA fails, departments wait longer for the systems they need, budgets are placed under pressure, and citizens ultimately experience the consequences through poorer public services.” The damning report concludes that SITA’s problems extend far beyond financial irregularities. Instead, it identifies a systemic failure of execution in which governance, procurement, and human resource frameworks existed on paper but repeatedly failed in practice. “The overall consolidated finding is that SITA maintained formal governance, procurement, human-capital, ethics, risk and oversight frameworks during the period under review, but that these frameworks were not consistently implemented, enforced or monitored in practice,” the report noted. That implementation gap has become a bottleneck for South Africa’s digital state. The PSC found that of the 1,443 procurement processes reviewed, one in four never resulted in an award. A total of 278 tenders were withdrawn, 52 cancelled, and another 34 closed without any recorded reason, resulting in a procurement attrition rate of 25.2%. The delays were equally severe. The investigation found 529 procurement matters still sitting in the pipeline, while 203 procurement processes took longer than a year to move from work order to completion. Some contracts remained stuck in adjudication and contracting for more than 400 days. According to the report, procurement backlogs have affected the government’s ability to acquire critical ICT infrastructure and digital services, forcing departments including the South African Police Service, the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to seek exemptions from SITA procurement processes to meet operational requirements. The report concluded that procurement delays “affected client departments, service continuity, project delivery, budget utilisation and confidence in SITA’s role as a central ICT procurement and service-delivery entity.” Beyond procurement, investigators found SITA lacked a reliable, integrated, and automated contract management system. Contract expiry dates were tracked manually, supplier performance monitoring was fragmented, and the agency could not consistently demonstrate value for money across technology procurement. “The evidence does not support a finding that SITA maintained a fully reliable, integrated and automated central contract repository,” the report stated. For an organisation responsible for enabling digital government, investigators found an institution still heavily dependent on manual processes, fragmented records and incomplete automation. The findings also link procurement failures to years of leadership instability. Between 2020 and 2025, repeated changes in ministers, board leadership, managing directors and executive teams weakened institutional memory, accountability and decision-making. “The evidence indicates that leadership instability was a central driver of institutional weakness,” the report said. “Repeated leadership changes disrupted implementation cycles and made sustained corrective action difficult.” Rather than treating the findings as isolated governance failures, the PSC concludes they represent interconnected weaknesses that threaten the government’s broader digital transformation agenda. “SITA’s weaknesses affect more than internal governance compliance,” the report noted. “They bear directly on SITA’s ability to perform its public-sector ICT role with credibility, efficiency, accountability and service-delivery reliability.” Malatsi said the PSC’s findings provide the government with a practical roadmap rather than simply documenting institutional failures. “The value of this report is that it does not leave us with vague concerns. It gives us a clear diagnosis, a set of practical reforms and hard deadlines,” he said. The minister and the PSC have given SITA’s board 30 business days to submit a board-approved stabilisation and recovery plan, including a verified procurement backlog baseline. 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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Wahala App thinks public safety deserves its own app
If you are Nigerian and on social media, your timeline this week is probably flooded with videos of car rooftops barely visible above floodwater stretching for blocks, or of someone’s living room overtaken by flowing brown water. Keep scrolling, and you will probably find someone warning others to avoid a route because of traffic congestion. Whether it’s flooding in Lagos, election violence, a car accident, a building collapse, or a fuel tanker explosion, social media has become the country’s unofficial public alert system. Three young Nigerian founders believe that this behaviour deserves its own platform. Oriekaose Agholor, Adetunji Adewoye, and Kosi Kabiri launched the Wahala App in April 2026, a public incident-reporting mobile and web platform where users can report and receive real-time incident alerts about crime, flooding, election irregularities, and infrastructure failures. “What we wanted to put in the hands of people is simply an ability to report anything in real time,” Agholor, the startup’s chief executive officer, told TechCabal in a June interview. “Not just crime. It could be infrastructure or issues about elections… basically report data in real time so that everybody has access.” Wahala App joins a crop of civic technology platforms that use software to solve public-facing problems, including Citizens’ Gavel, which improves access to justice; BudgIT, which makes public budgets easier to understand; and Tracka, which allows communities to monitor public projects. It is betting that the same instinct that sends Nigerians to X during emergencies can power a platform built specifically for public incident reporting. How the Wahala App works Wahala App offers a live incident map that has robberies, fire incidents, road accidents, and other reported incidents appearing as scattered pins. According to the founders, users can narrow the incidents they see by distance or timeframe, filtering reports from within a kilometre of their location or expanding their view to incidents across the country. Wahala App incident mapping feature. Image source: TechCabal “Within the app, when you (users) create a report, people within that vicinity, a 1km or 5km radius, they all get real-time alerts,” said Agholor. “If everybody knows there’s a big pothole, or there’s flooding taking place in Lagos, people know they can avoid that route.” Reports on the platform are generated from two sources. According to the founders, users can make reports by uploading photos, videos, and a description of the incident. The report could also originate from Wahala AI, the platform’s in-house tool that scrapes reputable news sources for incidents and publishes them on the map. Such reports are tagged as AI-generated posts and include links to their sources. Wahala App also allows users to update a report submitted by other users with additional evidence to confirm details of the report or dispute what happened, and change how severe they believe the incident is. The founders described this as a consensus algorithm designed to improve the accuracy of reports over time. “We want everybody to have a say in what is going on,” Adewoye said. “But because anybody can say anything, we want to be sure everybody is getting the most accurate piece of data.” Wahala App alerts feature. Image source: TechCabal Behind the scenes, the consensus system is supported by an algorithm that works alongside the app’s update and dispute features, Kabiri noted. He explained that the algorithm averages how different users rate an incident’s severity before adjusting the final score displayed on the platform. Wahala App also allows individuals to subscribe to hashtags tied to specific issues, such as terrorism or elections, according to the founders. Subscribers receive alerts whenever a new report carries that tag, regardless of where it happened in the country. “There are situations where you want to pay attention to a particular issue,” Kabiri said. “Maybe terrorism. It doesn’t matter whether it happens close to you or far away. Once you subscribe to that hashtag, you keep getting that information.” The platform also includes an SOS feature that allows users to notify pre-selected emergency contacts and dial emergency services. For now, emergency contacts must be registered on the Wahala App to receive those alerts; however, the founders noted that they intend to expand the feature to integrate SMS and phone call notifications. Wahala App emergency number feature. Image source: TechCabal Under the hood Wahala App is free for individual users, and its founders intend to keep it that way. Instead, they plan to monetise the platform through partnerships with organisations that embed it into their operations. The initial target is community development associations and estates, which they believe could use the Wahala App to coordinate incident reporting and respond to emergencies more efficiently. They also intend to partner with vigilante groups, security bodies, emergency responders, and eventually government agencies. Since its launch in April, the platform has crossed the 100-user mark, the founders said. They envision the Wahala App being used to document real-time voter intimidation and electoral malpractices during the upcoming elections in the country. Wahala App is bound to face the challenge of convincing people to change their habit of sharing real-time information about incidents on social media platforms. The founders acknowledged that challenge, but argued they are not trying to replace social media. They see Wahala App as a platform built to organise information scattered across timelines and social media platforms into a database of public incidents. For now, Wahala App’s vision is being financed by the founding trio, who continue to work their full-time jobs while pooling their salaries to fund development and keep the platform running. “We’re running at a loss, but we don’t care. We believe in the vision; we believe that this is something that needs to be done,” said Agholor. 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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