Next Wave: Neobanks are coming for small banks, not big ones
Cet article est aussi disponible en français <!– In partnership with –> <!–TopBanner Join us for TechCabal Battlefield, Moonshot’s startup competition where you can showcase your startup idea to a global audience and an esteemed panel of judges and stand a chance to win up to 2.5 million naira in funding for your business! Click to register for TC Battlefield First published 15 June, 2025 Neobanks are coming for small banks, not big ones Africa’s neobanks are not “challenging” the big banks. That war never started, and likely never will. Standard Bank, Ecobank, KCB, GTBank, and the National Bank of Egypt — these institutions are too entrenched. They’re politically connected, well-capitalised, and integral to state economies. They handle government salaries, disburse donor funds, and sit at the centre of domestic clearing and cross-border payments. No neobank, however well-funded or ambitious, is coming for their lunch, at least not yet. But something far more urgent and disruptive is happening beneath that top tier. Across the continent, the base of Africa’s financial ecosystem — microfinance banks, credit-only lenders, SACCOs, and Tier 3 and 4 commercial banks — is quietly slumping. This underlayer has long been the primary interface between formal finance and the informal economy. And as it breaks down, it creates a vacuum that neobanks are now racing to fill. This is not a story of fintech versus banks. It’s a story of systemic transition — a slow-motion implosion at the bottom of the banking pyramid and the scramble to build something better in its place. A broken business model Let’s start with the fundamentals: about 50% of Africa’s formal financial institutions are no longer viable at scale. Across East Africa, average non-performing loan (NPL) ratios at microfinance institutions (MFIs) now exceed 30%. In Kenya, the Central Bank’s latest Banking Sector Report notes that some licensed MFIs and Tier II and III banks have NPLs as high as 20%, with some undercapitalised and technically insolvent. In Uganda, the situation is similar — Tier 4 institutions report average portfolio-at-risk (PAR), the percentage of loans overdue in a period, figures above 25%. These are not temporary shocks but structural failures. The economics of traditional microfinance are breaking down. These institutions rely heavily on physical branches, manual credit assessments, and paper-heavy customer onboarding. That means higher cost-to-income ratios and poor scalability, especially when serving low-ticket borrowers. Some Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs), for example, spend upwards of 60% of their revenue just to maintain their physical infrastructure and staff. Next Wave continues after this ad. The 2nd Edition of the Uganda Investor Summit is here! Are you an entrepreneur looking to take your startup to the next level? Are you ready to rub minds with industry experts, policy makers, key players and investors? Or are you an investor seeking promising opportunities, or an operator looking to connect with Uganda’s booming economy? Then the Uganda Investor Summit is for you! Join us as we champion the theme “Made in Uganda: Innovation to Market.” through high-impact discussions, deal-making, and exclusive insights into science-driven ventures across East Africa. Register here! Regulators are also piling on compliance costs, enforcing banking-grade reporting requirements on institutions still operating with off-the-shelf core banking software and Excel spreadsheets. Most of these lenders lack robust APIs or cloud infrastructure. Few can support instant payments, embedded finance, or mobile onboarding. The gap between what the informal economy needs and what the formal sector can deliver is growing daily. Regulators are stretched thin Compounding the problem is regulatory fatigue. Many African central banks do not have the capacity or tools to monitor hundreds of small financial institutions effectively. In Kenya, the Central Bank (CBK) regulates licensed commercial and microfinance banks and payment service providers (PSPs). Meanwhile, the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA) — which lacks the technical capacity — oversees more than 1,000 SACCOs and dozens of digital lenders, many of which submit only quarterly reports, often in Excel spreadsheets. There’s little room for proactive supervision, let alone innovation. The result is a foundational collapse of the institutions most responsible for reaching Africa’s underbanked populations. Demand has shifted While small legacy lenders scramble, the informal economy, which makes up more than 85% of Africa’s workforce, is modernising from the bottom up. Today’s traders, farmers, logistics riders, or gig workers don’t want to queue at a branch. They want mobile-first accounts, instant disbursements, seamless payments, and transparent credit scoring. They want to save, borrow, and insure using the same app they use to shop or order a ride. Most small traditional lenders can’t offer that. And that’s exactly where neobanks are stepping in. Neobanks as the new base Neobanks like Moniepoint (Nigeria), Kuda, Umba, Finclusion, and Carbon are not fighting for elite customers in boardrooms and golf courses. They are building infrastructure to serve the next 100 million financially active Africans — the street vendors, informal traders, kiosk owners, and smallholder farmers abandoned by failing MFIs and SACCOs. Take Moniepoint’s recent bid to acquire Kenya’s Sumac Microfinance Bank — a small, Nairobi-based lender with roughly 30,000 customers and a branch-heavy legacy model. The deal, approved by Kenya’s competition authority and now awaiting Central Bank clearance, is not about expanding into traditional banking. It’s about retooling the inclusion infrastructure. Next Wave continues after this ad. The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) is proud to announce the 11th edition of the ICTEL Expo, set for July 29–30, 2025, at the Lagos Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island. Under the theme “Leveraging Technology for Innovation and Development in Africa,” the event aims to further position ICTEL as a premier platform for digital transformation, regional collaboration, and economic progress Register now! Moniepoint already serves over 2 million businesses in Nigeria, providing them with payment terminals, working capital loans, and business accounts through an all-digital platform. Its move into Kenya via Sumac is a bet that the future of microfinance is digital-first, mobile-native, and API-driven. It’s not alone. Umba, a Kenyan neobank, acquired Kenya’s Daraja Microfinance Bank in 2022. The
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Yellow Visa
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية TGIF! It’s Friday! We made it. How will you be spending your weekend? If you’re yet to subscribe to our Francophone newsletter, please do. Also, if you know anyone who is looking to get smarter about tech innovation, policy, culture, and economy as it unfolds in Francophone Africa, please tell them to sign up to the newsletter. Visa and Yellow Card want businesses to use stablecoins Chpter expands to 11 African countries Nigeria teams up with China for direct-to-device (D2D) satellite connectivity Funding Tracker World Wide Web 3 Events Cryptocurrency Visa and Yellow Card want businesses in emerging markets to use stablecoins Stablecoins/Image Source: TechCabal If you thought the stablecoin hype was dying down, we’ve got news for you: it’s not. Visa has partnered with Yellow Card, a crypto company that has processed $6 billion in transactions (mostly in USDT and USDC), to bring stablecoin payments to emerging markets. Both companies are testing a new integration on Visa Direct that will allow businesses and individuals to send and receive stablecoins. While Visa is no newcomer to experimenting with stablecoins, its latest move comes just weeks after Stripe made a big internet splash by launching stablecoin payments in 101 countries, including several markets in Africa. Everybody is gung ho about stablecoins because they help businesses solve FX liquidity crunch. Stablecoins are digital versions of fiat money. They are digital tokens backed 1:1 by fiat reserves (like the US dollar), so they keep circulating as long as those reserves hold. That makes it easier and cheaper for businesses in cash-strapped markets to move money without waiting on slow, expensive bank rails. Regulatory clarity is also making companies take a second look. Countries like Japan, the UK, and Brazil are laying down legal frameworks for stablecoins. The US also passed a recent bill to govern stablecoin issuance and oversight. With more corridors easing up on stablecoins, the legal clarity is giving traditional finance players room to move. What used to feel like crypto’s wild west now has rules, and with the nimbleness of stablecoins, businesses can expand their services faster. With more traditional finance players committing to the script, stablecoins are starting to look like finance’s next infrastructure layer. Save more on every NGN transaction with Fincra Stop overpaying for NGN payments. Fincra’s fees are more affordable than other payment platforms for collections & payouts. The bigger the transaction, the more you save. Create a free account in 3 minutes and start saving today. Get the best African tech newsletters in your inbox Country Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Antarctic Territory British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Canton and Enderbury Islands Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos [Keeling] Islands Colombia Comoros Congo – Brazzaville Congo – Kinshasa Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Côte d’Ivoire Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Dronning Maud Land East Germany Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories French Southern and Antarctic Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong SAR China Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Johnston Island Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau SAR China Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Metropolitan France Mexico Micronesia Midway Islands Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar [Burma] Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles Neutral Zone New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island North Korea North Vietnam Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pacific Islands Trust Territory Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Panama Canal Zone Papua New Guinea Paraguay People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen Peru Philippines Pitcairn Islands Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Réunion Saint Barthélemy Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria São Tomé and Príncipe Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu U.S. Minor Outlying Islands U.S. Miscellaneous Pacific Islands U.S. Virgin Islands Uganda Ukraine Union of Soviet Socialist Republics United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Unknown or Invalid Region Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Wake Island Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Åland Islands ?> Gender Male Female Others TC Daily Events TC Scoop <!– Next Wave –> <!– Entering Tech –> Subscribe Ecommerce Chpter expands to 11 African countries in Flutterwave deal Image Source: Google Chpter opens a new chapter for social commerce in Africa Kenyan startup, Chpter, which helps businesses sell on chat apps like WhatsApp and Instagram, has expanded into 11 new African markets through a deal with fintech company Flutterwave. This expansion to new African markets including Ghana, Egypt, Uganda, and Rwanda, is building on the startup’s presence in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. Merchants in these countries will have access to Chpters social commerce infrastructure, enabling them to accept payments in local currencies or USD through mobile money, cards, and bank transfers, while Flutterwave will process and settle the transactions on the backend. Why this matters: Africa’s commerce is moving into DMs. With the number of WhatsApp users in Africa projected
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Sabi cuts staff as it narrows its focus to commodities’ trade
Nigerian B2B e-commerce startup Sabi laid off roughly 50 staff members, about 20% of its workforce, in a broad restructuring to pivot to traceability services in Africa’s minerals and agricultural commodities market. In recent months, the company, founded in 2021 to provide digital tools for logistics and financing to merchants, has scaled back certain products to focus on its TRACE platform, which tracks minerals and agricultural goods for global buyers. Sabi’s narrower focus rendered some roles redundant, driving the job cuts. The layoffs, spanning multiple departments, are typical of businesses when they recalibrate strategies. “We’re doubling down on the part of our business seeing the most demand, built on the strong foundation we’ve laid since 2021, by supporting African merchants and their growth,” a company spokesperson wrote in an email to TechCabal. Sabi’s pivot centres on its TRACE platform, developed in partnership with Minespider, which leverages blockchain technology to create digital passports to trace the sourcing and shipment of mineral and agricultural goods. These passports track environmental, social, and governance data, as well as quality certifications, providing end-to-end transparency for buyers in Europe, Asia, and beyond. TRACE aims to standardise small- and medium-scale mining operations to ensure commodities meet international standards, a service that has become more essential as global scrutiny of ethical sourcing intensifies. Sabi, founded in 2021 by Ademola Adesina and Anu Adedoyin Adasolum, has been scaling rapidly to serve over 300,000 merchants and facilitating more than $1 billion in annualised gross merchandise value, per reports. The company has raised nearly $60 million to scale the business. The latest round, a $38 million Series B round in 2024, valued Sabi at $300 million, underscored investor enthusiasm for platforms digitising Africa’s trade economy. “While tough, this shift positions us for long-term success and ensures we remain focused on building scalable, responsible supply chains,” the company said in an email to TechCabal. “Our mission remains the same, and we’re more committed than ever to transforming how the world sources from Africa.” Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15–16! Join Africa’s top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Early bird tickets now 20% off—don’t snooze! moonshot.techcabal.com
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MTN, Airtel, others will now deduct USSD charges from airtime, as banks clear ₦180bn debt
Nigerian telecom operators have officially begun migrating banks to a new billing system that allows customers to make short codes or Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) transactions directly from their airtime balance. In the past, banks deducted USSD fees from customers’ bank accounts but often failed to remit payments to telecom providers. The new billing comes into place following the payment of a long-standing ₦180 billion debt owed by 13 banks to operators. According to Gbenga Adebayo, president of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), three banks still in debt have opted for instalment payments which are nearing completion. “I would say 95% of the USSD debt has been paid pre-API,” Adebayo said, noting that the repayment has enabled the gradual rollout of end-user billing, where customers will now be charged from their airtime after each successful USSD session. The migration started with one bank; the rest of the banks will be migrated as soon as a Service Level Agreement (SLA) is signed. Get the best African tech newsletters in your inbox Country Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Antarctic Territory British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Canton and Enderbury Islands Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos [Keeling] Islands Colombia Comoros Congo – Brazzaville Congo – Kinshasa Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Côte d’Ivoire Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Dronning Maud Land East Germany Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories French Southern and Antarctic Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong SAR China Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Johnston Island Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau SAR China Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Metropolitan France Mexico Micronesia Midway Islands Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar [Burma] Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles Neutral Zone New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island North Korea North Vietnam Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pacific Islands Trust Territory Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Panama Canal Zone Papua New Guinea Paraguay People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen Peru Philippines Pitcairn Islands Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Réunion Saint Barthélemy Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria São Tomé and Príncipe Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu U.S. Minor Outlying Islands U.S. Miscellaneous Pacific Islands U.S. Virgin Islands Uganda Ukraine Union of Soviet Socialist Republics United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Unknown or Invalid Region Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Wake Island Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Åland Islands ?> Gender Male Female Others TC Daily Events TC Scoop <!– Next Wave –> <!– Entering Tech –> Subscribe For over five years, telecom providers had extended USSD infrastructure to banks, enabling millions of Nigerians—especially in underserved regions—to perform simple banking transactions such as checking balances, transferring funds, and buying airtime using feature phones. However, a deep financial rift emerged when banks, despite billing customers for these transactions, stopped remitting payments to telecoms for the use of their infrastructure. By 2024, the debt had ballooned to over ₦250 billion ($166.67 million at ₦1,500/$). Originally, USSD services were priced comparably to SMS rates. Banks used this to push mobile financial access to millions, and within a year of rollout, over 20 million new users were added to the formal financial system, according to Adebayo. However, as usage grew, banks saw a business opportunity. They lobbied regulators—the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)—to zero-rate USSD services to promote financial inclusion. Yet, customers continued to pay for their transactions, creating a mismatch: banks earned revenue from a service they claimed had “no cost,” but refused to pay telecoms for the infrastructure they used. Despite a 2020 joint public circular mandating that banks pay ₦6.98 per USSD session, compliance remained low. One revealing incident in Abuja saw a bank executive deny that his bank charged for USSD, only for a live demo to expose that charges were indeed deducted from a user’s account moments after a transaction. How end-user billing works To resolve this financial gridlock, the CBN and NCC introduced a new model: instead of banks deducting USSD fees from customer accounts and remitting them to telecoms (which they failed to do), telecoms will now charge customers directly via airtime. At the heart of end-user billing is a system designed to improve transparency, accountability, and consistency in how USSD charges are applied to subscribers. Transparency is enhanced by a new prompt that appears before each transaction. Customers will now receive a clear message informing them of the ₦6.98 fee and asking for their consent to proceed. This ensures users are fully aware of the charges and can choose whether or not to continue with the transaction. Accountability is built into the process. Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) can only deduct the fee after the customer’s bank confirms it is ready to process the transaction. This safeguard helps reduce failed sessions and eliminates the risk of customers being
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Visa, Yellow Card partner to allow businesses send and receive stablecoins in 90 countries
Visa has partnered with Yellow Card, a pan-African stablecoin infrastructure company, to bring cross-border stablecoin payments to over 90 countries across Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA). The partnership will allow both companies to test stablecoin integration on Visa Direct, a service which lets businesses send money directly to customers’ bank accounts or to the accounts linked to their debit or credit cards. With this move, businesses will be able to hold dollars in stablecoins and send money easily across borders. The partnership fits into Visa’s broader strategy to modernise payment systems across the CEMEA region. The focus is on making money transfers faster, cheaper, and available every day of the year by integrating stablecoins into its existing infrastructure. Businesses, particularly in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) where stablecoin adoption has shown strong potential, stand to benefit most from this partnership. Between June 2022 and July 2024, the SSA region received at least $500 billion in stablecoin remittances each month. In Ethiopia, businesses have adopted stablecoins for cross-border payments, leading to a 180% year-over-year increase in low-value transfers. In Nigeria, stablecoins like USDT are now among the most traded currencies on crypto exchanges, often used to hedge against currency instability. “Traditional payment companies continue to question not ‘if’ they need a stablecoin strategy, but how quickly they can deploy one,” said Chris Maurice, CEO and co-founder of Yellow Card. “We are thrilled to partner with Visa to help realise the potential of stablecoins technology in emerging economies.” Quidax, Yellow Card, Busha bet on B2B crypto payments to grow market share Visa’s interest in stablecoins started in 2021, when it launched a pilot with Singapore-based crypto firm, Crypto.com, to settle transactions using USDC. This marked one of the first times a major payments network used a stablecoin for settlement. Since then, Visa has expanded to support other blockchains like Solana and opened up these services to more financial institutions. By 2023, Visa allowed clients to settle obligations in USDC and has since processed over $225 million in stablecoin transactions. Globally, interest in stablecoins continues to grow, as the digital asset is currently experiencing an adoption boom. In the past month alone, stablecoin transactions hit $4.1 trillion, eclipsing even what Visa processes quarterly. Shopify has introduced stablecoin payments with Circle, the USDC stablecoin issuer, and Coinbase, a US crypto firm. Stripe is also testing stablecoin payments in 101 countries. Walmart and Amazon are mulling plans to introduce their own platform-native stablecoins, per Wall Street Journal. In Africa, the naira-backed cNGN stablecoin now has ₦165.4 million in circulation and is listed on crypto platforms like Busha and Quidax. Amid this surge, Visa sees an opportunity to expand its role in institutional payments through strategic bets. “In 2025, we believe that every institution that moves money will need a stablecoin strategy,” said Godfrey Sullivan, Visa’s senior vice president and head of product for CEMEA. “As more players explore this new technology, Visa is ready to support them with the tools and experience they need to succeed.” Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15–16! Join Africa’s top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Early bird tickets now 20% off—don’t snooze! moonshot.techcabal.com
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Mukuru customers face balance errors after technical glitch
On the morning of June 19, thousands of Mukuru customers in South Africa woke up to missing funds from their accounts. Some found their balances down by thousands of rand or to zero. Mukuru blamed a technical glitch for the error adding that it is only how balances are shown that has been affected not the actual funds in users’ accounts. “All funds are safe and the issue only impacted how balances were shown, not the actual funds,” Mukuru told TechCabal. Nevertheless, the glitch has caused panic for users, especially Zimbabwean migrants, who rely on the platform for daily financial transactions and cross-border remittances. User Bekinkosi Goromondo said his wife received an early morning call from a friend urging her to check her Mukuru account. “She found her balance short by R4,000 (over $200). She called me, and I saw R200 (over $11) missing from mine. When I called Mukuru, customer service confirmed a technical glitch and promised it would be fixed by the end of the day,” he said. Ntombi Dube, who discovered her account was R1,300 (about $74) short around midday, immediately withdrew the remaining funds out of fear. “With panic, I removed the remaining balance as I was saving it for something important,” she said. Get the best African tech newsletters in your inbox Country Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Antarctic Territory British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Canton and Enderbury Islands Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos [Keeling] Islands Colombia Comoros Congo – Brazzaville Congo – Kinshasa Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Côte d’Ivoire Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Dronning Maud Land East Germany Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories French Southern and Antarctic Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong SAR China Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Johnston Island Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau SAR China Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Metropolitan France Mexico Micronesia Midway Islands Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar [Burma] Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles Neutral Zone New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island North Korea North Vietnam Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pacific Islands Trust Territory Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Panama Canal Zone Papua New Guinea Paraguay People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen Peru Philippines Pitcairn Islands Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Réunion Saint Barthélemy Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria São Tomé and Príncipe Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu U.S. Minor Outlying Islands U.S. Miscellaneous Pacific Islands U.S. Virgin Islands Uganda Ukraine Union of Soviet Socialist Republics United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Unknown or Invalid Region Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Wake Island Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Åland Islands ?> Gender Male Female Others TC Daily Events TC Scoop <!– Next Wave –> <!– Entering Tech –> Subscribe On social media, especially Facebook, users voiced their frustration, demanding urgent resolution. Many remain worried about the safety of their funds. Mukuru is one of Africa’s largest money transfer and financial services platforms, with over 16 million customers and more than 150 info centres across South Africa. The company’s South African user base is predominantly composed of Zimbabwean migrants, the largest migrant group in the country, who rely on Mukuru to send money home. This incident comes against a backdrop of heightened scrutiny over the platform’s digital security. In Zimbabwe, two employees were charged with stealing US$100,000 using fraudulent accounts on the platform. In South Africa, the platform uncovered a sophisticated fraud ring involving SIM swaps totalling over R18 million (nearly $1 million), more a factor of customer vulnerabilities than a breach of Mukuru’s security systems. This episode also comes as South Africa tightens electronic funds transfer (EFT) regulations, requiring greater due diligence and enhanced fraud protections for cross-border transactions. These regulatory shifts aim to bolster the security of digital payments, especially for the region’s large migrant and remittance-dependent communities. For now, Mukuru says the technical issue has not compromised customer funds and is working to restore account balances to normal. Customers have been notified about the glitch and are encouraged to monitor their accounts and contact Mukuru support for any unresolved issues. This is a developing story. Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15–16! Join Africa’s top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Early bird tickets now 20% off—don’t snooze! moonshot.techcabal.com
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Tecno Pop 9 review: What phone sellers and users think about it in 2025
If you’re in Nigeria and looking for a smartphone that won’t drain your pocket, chances are the Tecno Pop 9 has already caught your eye. In 2025, the prices of nearly everything, from food to basic items, keep going up. And with the Naira still struggling, it’s no surprise that many people are turning to budget-friendly phones that simply get the job done. In this review, you’ll find everything you need to know, official specs, what everyday users are saying, and even insights from phone sellers who know what sells and why. So if you’re wondering if the Pop 9 is worth your money in 2025, let’s break it down, simply and clearly. Image source: FRED’S TECH HUB on YouTube Tecno Pop 9: Specs and features First, a quick heads-up: there are two Tecno Pop 9 models, one supports 4G, the other 5G. The 5G version offers a 48MP camera, NFC, and faster charging. However, in Nigeria, the 4G model is what is widely available. That’s our focus here; it comes with a 13MP camera and more modest specs. 1. Display The Pop 9 features a 6.6–6.67″ HD+ screen. It’s not Full HD, but sharp enough for browsing, watching videos, and reading. A standout feature is its smooth 120Hz refresh rate (some versions have a 90Hz refresh rate), which makes scrolling feel fluid. With up to 480 nits brightness, it stays visible under sunlight. 2. Performance Powered by a Unisoc T615 processor, the phone handles everyday tasks like browsing, messaging, and light gaming fairly well. You can choose between 3GB or 4GB of RAM, paired with 64GB or 128GB of storage. “Extended RAM” adds a slight performance boost. It runs Android 14 Go Edition, optimised for lower RAM. While most users find it smooth, some report occasional lag, particularly with heavier usage or multiple apps open. 3. Battery Life This is one of the Pop 9’s strongest points. The 5000mAh battery can last a full day or more, with Tecno claiming up to 60 days on standby. Charging speed varies: some models support 15W fast charging, while others are limited to 10W, which can take approximately 2.5 hours, slower than the 18W charging speed on the older Pop 8. 4. Camera The rear camera is 13MP with dual flash; the front is 8MP, also with flash. You’ll find basic modes like beauty, portrait, and wide-angle selfie, with video capped at 1080p, 30fps. For daylight photos or social media, the quality is decent. Just don’t expect stunning night shots or pro-level detail. Many users expected more, especially considering the capable T615 chip. 5. Design & Extras With a glass front and plastic back, the Pop 9 feels lightweight (189g) and sleek; some users say it gives iPhone vibes. It’s IP54-rated (dust/splash resistant), and includes a side fingerprint scanner, an IR remote, and Tecno’s “Wet & Oily Touch Control” for better screen response in humid conditions. However, several users miss features like split-screen, screenshot gestures, and innovative tools that were present in earlier models. 6. Connectivity & Sound You get dual SIM slots, 4G LTE/4.5G (LTE-A), USB-C, a 3.5mm headphone jack, FM radio, and GPS. There’s no NFC on this version. The DTS dual speakers offer surprisingly decent sound for the price. Best Tecno phone in Nigeria (2025): specs, & prices What Nigerians told us about using the Tecno Pop 9 To get a real feel for how the Tecno Pop 9 performs, we decided to go straight to the source, the people using it daily. We spoke to Tecno Pop 9 users across Nigeria, asking them what they honestly think about the phone. From casual users to mobile gamers and small business owners, here’s what they told us. 1. The general vibe: Mostly happy, but not without flaws When we asked users how they’d describe the Pop 9 in one word, the most common responses were “good,” “reliable,” and “cool.” Several people even called it the best in the Pop series so far. Overall, most folks using it for everyday stuff like messaging, browsing, and light multitasking are satisfied. 2. Performance: Smooth for some, laggy for others Here’s where things got interesting. Some users said the phone is “fast,” “runs WhatsApp and Facebook without stress,” and even handles light gaming like Call of Duty Mobile. But a few others gave us a reality check: one user said the phone sometimes “freezes during calls,” while another mentioned a “20-second delay before it picks up.” A few also noticed it gets warm after gaming. So while Tecno promises a four-year smooth performance, the real-world experience depends on how you use the phone. If you stick to light apps and casual use, it performs well. But if you’re a power user, you might start to see some slowdowns. 3. Battery life: One of the best things about it When we asked what they loved most about the phone, almost everyone mentioned the battery. One university student told us, “It lasts me from morning classes to late-night browsing.” Another user said they easily get up to two days with light use. Even heavy users who stream videos and use mobile data all day said the battery “holds up better than expected.” The 5000mAh battery is one of the Pop 9’s best features. 4. Camera: Okay for socials, but don’t expect magic We asked people how they felt about the camera, and the general response was, “It’s okay.” For everyday photos and short social clips, most users say it does the job, especially in good lighting. But when it comes to video quality or low-light shots, people weren’t impressed. One user simply called it “meh,” while another said, “Videos come out blurry at night.” In short, it’s not a content creator’s dream, but it works for casual use. The bottom line from users If you’re looking for a reliable budget smartphone that handles daily tasks and doesn’t constantly need charging, the Tecno Pop 9 is a strong pick. It’s not perfect, especially if you’re into
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Exclusive: Chpter’s Flutterwave deal opens 11 new markets for WhatsApp-based selling
Chpter, the Kenyan software startup building infrastructure for social commerce, has expanded into 11 more African countries through a deal with fintech company Flutterwave. The new markets are Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Egypt, Burkina Faso, Malawi and Zambia, expanding its presence in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. The deal allows Chpter customers to accept payments using mobile money, cards and bank transfers. Merchants in the new countries can collect payments in local currencies or USD. Flutterwave will process and settle the transactions in the background. The partnership also signals Chpter’s shift to an AI-first product approach, considering the company has introduced sales and customer service AI agents and restructured its team to support that direction. It’s also testing the idea that Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) can work at scale in Africa if pricing and product design match local conditions. Chpter also recently launched Pluto, its WhatsApp API suite aimed at helping developers and businesses build full customer journeys on WhatsApp. “To give you a sense of the momentum, it took us 14 months to acquire our first 1,000 merchants. This year alone, we’ve acquired 1,500 more in under 4 months,” Tesh Mbaabu, co-founder and president at Chpter told TechCabal. He declined to share the company’s current customer count. About 45% of Chpter’s customer interactions are handled by AI, Mbaabu added. “We see a future where over 80% of engagements will be handled by AI as our capabilities improve and trust increases.” Chpter provides businesses with tools to sell directly through chat apps like WhatsApp and Instagram. It lets merchants manage orders, accept payments, automate messages and run marketing campaigns from one dashboard. Chpter is also a Meta Business Partner, which grants it access to features such as product catalogues for in-chat checkout, marketing campaign tools, and a dashboard that consolidates conversations from different platforms. WhatsApp and Instagram now account for up to 60% of inbound traffic for the businesses using Chpter, CEO Mark Kiarie said. “We have been onboarding dozens of new businesses every week, and many of these businesses are coming from markets such as Senegal and Tanzania, despite us not having done any direct outreach there yet. This partnership means these businesses can now go live on Chpter and start accepting payments directly via WhatsApp and Instagram.” Chpter raised $1.2 million in pre-seed funding in September 2024. The round was led by Pani, the investment firm co-founded by former Cellulant CEO Ken Njoroge. Other backers include Techstars, Norrsken, Renew Capital and several angel investors. Chpter has also participated in accelerator programmes run by Norrsken and Safaricom. The company operates on a subscription model, with fees ranging from $50 to $550 per month, depending on business size. It also earns revenue from paid messaging and AI-based customer interactions on Meta platforms. Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15–16! Join Africa’s top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Early bird tickets now 20% off—don’t snooze! moonshot.techcabal.com
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Starlink sets up shop in Guinea-Bissau
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Happy pre-TGIF. We start today’s newsletter on a grim note. A day before a deadly attack wiped out the people of Yelwata in Benue State, a severed fibre optic cable plunged the area into silence. What followed was a tragedy no one could stop because no one could speak. Frank has the full story in the third blurb of today’s dispatch. Starlink touches down in Guinea-Bissau Kenya tightens anti-money laundering rules A massacre in Yelwata reveals the deadly cost of Nigeria’s digital divide Nigerian telecom companies to start deducting USSD fees from airtime on June 18 World Wide Web 3 Events Internet Starlink touches down in Guinea-Bissau Image Source: Tenor In a post made on X, SpaceX’s Starlink has announced the launch of its high-speed internet service in Guinea-Bissau. The announcement makes it Starlink’s 23rd African country. Their rollout pace is giving Usain Bolt. Starlink’s availability map, now shows regions like Bissau, Buba, and Gabú, as “available” zones, while other areas are tagged “Waitlist” or “Coming Soon.,” This is a big deal for Guinea-Bissau, where only 35.2% of the population has internet access. The country’s connectivity is hindered by poor infrastructure, with internet speeds reaching 150 Mbps. But why is Starlink spreading so fast? The ISP’s launch in Guinea-Bissau comes a few weeks after it launched in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and a few months after its expansion to Somalia and Lesotho. Beyond having active operations in 23 African countries, the company is in active negotiations with regulators in at least 10 African nations, including Ethiopia and Senegal. These negotiations often involve securing regulatory licences and addressing local content requirements. Despite its progress, the firm faces resistance in markets like South Africa. Still, the addition of 10 countries could push Starlink’s African presence to over 30 nations, operating in over 60% of the continent’s 54 countries. A question in everyone’s mind: Why is Starlink spreading so fast? Is Starlink chasing market share, power, or presence, betting on Africa’s 950 million-plus offline population before anyone else does? A map of their spread in the continent reveals their playbook: Starlink is aggregating small, high-value pockets across the continent. The company doesn’t have the local penetration to compete with mobile telcos head-on. But by stitching together niche markets across dozens of countries, it can achieve reach and profitability without ever becoming dominant. Save more on every NGN transaction with Fincra Stop overpaying for NGN payments. Fincra’s fees are more affordable than other payment platforms for collections & payouts. The bigger the transaction, the more you save. Create a free account in 3 minutes and start saving today. 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That announcement must have rattled President Ruto’s finance cabinet, because the UK-Kenya corridor is one of the country’s top remittance sources. As we explained in this newsletter, the greylisting would have meant that if you’re Kenyan, your relatives abroad—especially in Europe—would be having headaches trying to send you money through SWIFT and other traditional payment methods. Thankfully, the government has acted swiftly (see what we did there ) to control the situation.
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In Benue, fragile telecoms infrastructure makes an unsafe state even deadlier
On the night of June 13, 2025, nearly 200 residents of Yelwata, a rural community in Benue State, were slaughtered in their sleep. Terrorists armed with machetes and fuel stormed homes, setting them ablaze in a brutal attack that unfolded without warning. Beyond the element of surprise, the killers’ advantage was a culmination of multiple failures: chronic insecurity left unchecked, ineffective government intervention in persistent communal tensions, inadequate local emergency response, and vulnerable telecom infrastructure. A day before the attack, a severed telecom fibre line had plunged parts of the state into a total communication blackout. In a state already devastated by continuous violence, this kind of vulnerability can be fatal. This digital vulnerability is unfolding in tandem with a relentless wave of violence. Between January 2023 and February 2024, Benue State recorded at least 135 armed attacks—primarily by suspected herdsmen—resulting in more than 2,600 deaths, including children, women, and the elderly. Over 50 communities were affected, with widespread reports of displacement, sexual violence, kidnappings, and the destruction of homes and farmland. In 2023 alone, the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi documented 119 such attacks, leading to at least 414 deaths and hundreds of injuries and abductions. This violence has only intensified. Amnesty International reports that between May 29, 2023, and May 2025, at least 6,896 people were killed in similar attacks across Benue. These numbers are staggering, but no event in recent memory has highlighted the scale of the crisis in emergency response and the widening security vacuum as clearly as the June 2025 attack on Yelwata. Yelwata is guarded by a police station and at least three joint security checkpoints. In a statement on June 14, 2025, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed that two military officers and one civil defence officer were killed trying to repel the attackers. With no functional ambulance service, first aid is usually administered by poorly equipped local clinics or chemists. Government agencies, such as the Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), typically arrive long after the fact—if at all—often meeting survivors only at Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps where they’ve taken refuge. According to multiple eyewitnesses who spoke to TechCabal, no centralised or well-coordinated emergency response systems exist in the state concerning these attacks. First responders are typically locals themselves, often aided by neighbouring communities that send volunteer vigilantes or police officers from nearby checkpoints. A Frontline location to kill for Located along the Benue–Nasarawa–Abuja highway in Guma Local Government Area and predominantly inhabited by the Tiv ethnic group, Yelwata was both a bustling commercial hub and a vulnerable frontline. To many Tiv residents, Yelwata was considered more of a town than a village due to its central market, Catholic parish, divisional police post, and concentration of schools and other social infrastructure. Catholic Bishop of Gboko, +Avenya, standing where the mother of a priest and four of his relatives were killed in cold blood at Yelwata. Image Credit: Diocesan social communication department. Culturally, Tiv communities have long avoided fencing their homes, as openness is deeply valued. “A Tiv person wants to sit under a mango tree to eat and invite anyone passing by. Fences would prevent that,” explained Johnstone Kpilaakaa, a Tiv-born journalist with HumAngle who has covered Yelwata and similar communities. “Fenced houses are more typical in larger towns like Makurdi, Gboko, Katsina-Ala, or Otukpo.” Jairus Awo, a journalist based in Makurdi who has also reported extensively on the Benue conflict, affirmed this cultural norm. “When you fence your house and lock the gate, it keeps people out—friends, neighbours, even your children’s playmates. Until now, rural people didn’t feel a need to secure themselves from others,” he said. But that openness made them easy targets. When the attackers struck around 11 p.m., the community was unprepared. Armed with machetes and petrol, the assailants torched homes and killed residents in their sleep. “It’s hard to imagine anyone calling for help or posting to social media when they’re asleep and not expecting an attack,” Awo added. While eyewitnesses say the attackers were Fulani herdsmen, it has been difficult to determine the motivation for the attackers. In the past, violence had erupted because of disagreements between the farmers in the community and nomadic herdsmen whose cows destroyed crops on the farms. The attack in Yelwata did not happen as a result of these disagreements. “There is no provocation for the recent one, at least none that many people know about in recent times,” said Awo, who has been visiting families affected by the attack in Yelwata. “And if so, it could be concentrated on a community, but it is going round the state. The attackers are taking turns.” In the aftermath of the Yelwata attack, more than 6,500 people from 1,069 households were displaced. Many are now waiting for space at the overcrowded, under-resourced IDP camp at Makurdi International Market. Of Yelwata’s estimated 10,000 residents, only a few have remained—either to care for wounded relatives, protect what’s left of their homes, or seek refuge with extended family elsewhere. Some families are still searching for missing loved ones, unsure who survived. A cycle of violence, a deepening digital gap The cycle of violence in Benue is further exacerbated by the fragility of its telecom infrastructure. Between May and June 16, 2025, the state experienced at least 16 major network outages. While most fibre cuts were eventually repaired, the standard fix—fibre cable splicing—does not restore the cable’s original performance. Each splice results in minor signal degradation and creates new points of vulnerability, especially in volatile, high-risk areas. Although MTN, Airtel, and Globacom dominate telecom coverage in Benue, 9mobile relies heavily on leased infrastructure from MTN, resulting in slow and, in many cases, indefinite service restoration in crisis-affected zones due to persistent security threats. Restoring connectivity in rural conflict zones like Yelwata is not only dangerous but also prohibitively expensive. In Nigeria, the average cost to repair one kilometre of fibre optic cable is about ₦4.44 million (approximately $3,000 at ₦1,480/$1), based on figures from operators
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