M-PESA Kadogo’s zero-rated transactions have reached a major milestone, hitting 17.1 billion transactions in the 2025/2026 financial year and accounting for 58% of all activity on Safaricom’s mobile money platform. The surge underscores how deeply low-value, everyday digital payments have become emb
French development finance institution Proparco has invested $2 million in Guinea-founded fintech Cauridor as part of a broader Series A funding round aimed at scaling cross-border payment infrastructure across Africa. The investment, announced during the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, brings Cau
Riyadh-based fintech Stitch has raised $25 million in a Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), marking the Silicon Valley firm’s first investment in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the company said on Wednesday. The round, which brings Stitch’s total funding to $35 million, al
Twenty-five years ago today, on May 16, 2001, a signal crackled across a base station in Lagos and a call was placed, the first ever on a GSM network in Nigeria. The caller was not a government official or a billionaire, but the moment was seismic. Nigeria had just 400,000 fixed telephone lines for
On Techpoint Digest, we discuss Jumia cutting 200 jobs and betting big on AI, Ghana ending its 5G monopoly experiment, and Kenya recently targeting M-Pesa with a new 16% VAT.
Jiji.ng, the Nigerian-based online marketplace, has announced its first acquisition outside Africa with the purchase of Bangladesh’s classifieds platform Bikroy. The move marks a significant milestone in the company’s strategy, signaling a broader shift among African tech startups toward global expa
ASUS will participate at the first edition of GITEX Kenya, taking place in Nairobi from May 19-21, 2026 and will showcase its portfolio of AI PCs designed to support the country’s national digital economy agenda. “We’re excited to be a part of the inaugural edition of GITEX Kenya. The country plays
Africa-focused startups spanning fintech, mobility, healthtech, creator economy, climate tech, AI and travel infrastructure have been selected to pitch investors at the 10th edition of Africa Tech Summit London 2026, set for May 29 at the London Stock Exchange. The summit, regarded as one of the lea
Saudi fintech startup Stream has secured a $5.2 million seed extension led by BECO Capital, bringing its total seed funding to $9.2 million as the company positions itself as a core financial infrastructure provider for businesses across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The round also drew p
A district court in the United States has sentenced a Nigerian man, Charles Nnamdi Emesim, to 115 months in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering linked to a decade-long romance and internet fraud scheme that defrauded at least 23 victims of more than $700,000. The sentence was handed dow
Chimoney’s shutdown reads less like the collapse of a single startup and more like a stress test on the layer many founders quietly depend on but rarely control. The Nigerian-founded, Canada-based fintech built its pitch around abstraction. One API, multiple payment rails, spanning bank transfers, m
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and Members of the Monetary Policy Committee have warned that rising political and election-related spending ahead of the 2027 general elections could undermine the country’s disinflation gains and trigger fresh inflationary pressures. The warnings were co
On Techpoint Digest, we discuss KRA pursuing cryptocurrency transaction records, Bolt Kenya raising fares by 6% as fuel prices rise, and MTN reversing a decade-long asset-light strategy in a $2.2 billion move.
