Fuliza is Safaricom’s M-PESA overdraft service allowing users to complete a payment, send money, buy airtime or pay a bill even when their M-PESA balance is low, up to a limit they have been approved for. Fuliza is provided with Safaricom’s partner banks, NCBA Bank Kenya and KCB Bank Kenya, which ca
Zipline has raised $1.5 billion at a post-money valuation of $21.5 billion as the drone delivery company moves to build a nationwide delivery network in the United States, expand manufacturing capacity and accelerate hiring. The funding round was led by Paradigm, WCM Investment Management and Layer
Helium Health has secured funding from Google.org to deploy artificial intelligence models across primary maternal healthcare services in Nigeria, targeting 1.9 million additional women over three years. The Nigerian health technology company was selected as one of 15 global recipients of the $30 mi
Latitude59 Kenya’s 2026 Pitch Competition has attracted a record 509 applications from startups across 25 countries, nearly doubling last year’s submissions as the technology and investment conference expands its reach across Africa. The competition will select 10 finalists to pitch at the Latitude5
The Nairobi International Financial Centre (NIFC) plans to establish a Sh65 billion ($500 million) Kenya startup fund to finance technology businesses, artificial intelligence (AI) companies and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as it seeks to attract more international investment into the
The new rules underscore the CBN’s push to tighten its grip on crypto trading, giving the regulator greater visibility into who moves money through P2P platforms.
ChamaBox, a Nairobi-based fintech startup founded by David Esabwa Makotsi, is building a digital platform to help Kenya’s savings groups, investment clubs and table-banking associations manage their money, loans and membership without relying on paper records and spreadsheets. The platform brings to
The framework draws a clearer regulatory boundary for crypto businesses that combine trading with payments, requiring companies operating across both markets to secure authorisation from each regulator. It also raises compliance costs, prohibiting firms from counting the same capital toward their CB
Nigeria is reviewing its cybersecurity laws to counter mounting threats as artificial intelligence (AI) makes fraud, digital deception, and attacks on critical infrastructure harder to detect.
Qatar is offering foreign tech startups up to $5.5 million in funding, alongside residency and relocation support, as it seeks to attract entrepreneurs to Doha. African founders could benefit from the programme, but accessing the funding comes with conditions, and Qatar's startup ecosystem is still
Egyptian payment orchestration startup MoneyHash is powering the payments infrastructure of crypto and investment platform Luno, helping it launch local payment options faster and recover deposits that would otherwise have failed. Founded in 2021 by Nader Abdelrazik and Mustafa Eid, MoneyHash has de
A bank outage, a gold crash and a startup claiming alchemy, all on the same date a year apart. Andile Masuku on why scarcity and liquidity are only as solid as the people enforcing them.
Circle Internet Group, the US financial technology company behind the USDC dollar-backed stablecoin, has appointed Ghanaian fintech executive Gillian Darko as Vice President and Head of Africa, as it steps up efforts to expand its digital dollar business across the continent. Darko joins Circle from
Rise of Fearless, an African-owned mobile gaming company inspired by African history and culture, has raised $1 million from Mauritius-based investment and advisory firm Epic Edges Capital to expand its development capabilities and pursue international markets. The investment, structured as a Simple
Latitude59 Kenya’s 2026 Pitch Competition has attracted a record 509 applications from startups across 25 countries, nearly doubling last year’s submissions as the technology and investment conference expands its reach across Africa. The competition will select 10 finalists to pitch at the Latitude5
OPay's October 9 Initial Public Offering (IPO) prospectus suggested that the company did not expect to require approval from Chinese regulators to list on the New York Stock Exchange. But a last-minute regulatory inquiry from China, shortly before its planned $304 million public offering, has raised
Uzoma Dozie, CEO of Sparkle MFB, says Nigerian banks must rethink collateral requirements and use transaction data and AI to expand lending to small businesses, lower borrowing costs, and improve financial inclusion.
Nigeria’s central bank has introduced new licencing rules requiring foreign-currency stablecoin issuers to maintain at least ₦15 billion ($11.16 million) in paid-up capital and establish local entities.
After seven years of training blockchain developers, Web3Bridge is expanding into startup incubation with a paid founder residency programme, as shrinking grants and tighter Web3 funding reshape its business model.
Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, chairman of Nigerian tier-1 lender Access Bank Group and financial services holding company Coronation Group, argues that African financial institutions must move beyond financial stability to productive finance, unlock capital tied up in commercial transactions and build ban
