Author: Insider Editor

Nigeria has become Airtel Africa’s second-largest market by revenue earned per subscriber, underscoring how recent telecom tariff increases are reshaping the economics of the country’s telecom sector. The telecom group, which operates across 14 African countries, said average revenue per user (ARPU) in Nigeria rose 41.18% in the financial year ended March 2026, according to results released on Friday. ARPU, a key industry metric that measures how much operators earn from each subscriber, is closely watched as an indicator of profitability and network sustainability. The increase marks a major turnaround for Airtel in Nigeria after years of currency depreciation eroded…

Safaricom is expanding M-PESA deeper into Kenya’s retail investment market as demand for mobile-based wealth products continues to grow. The telecom giant said assets under management in Ziidi, the money market fund distributed through M-PESA, more than doubled to KES 18.7 billion ($145 million) in the year ended March 2026. Total wealth assets on the platform climbed to KES 21 billion ($162 million), according to financial results released on Thursday. The growth highlights Safaricom’s increasing push beyond payments and transfers into areas traditionally controlled by banks, asset managers, and brokerage firms. After dominating Kenya’s mobile money market for years, the…

Paga is making its first major push into crypto through a partnership with Sui, the blockchain platform developed by Mysten Labs. The partnership, announced on Thursday at the Sui Live in Miami, signals a new direction for Paga as it expands beyond traditional payments into crypto infrastructure, stablecoin-based financial products, and tokenised assets. It is also the company’s first formal crypto initiative since founder Tayo Oviosu became Group CEO in April. Speaking at the event, Oviosu said the partnership is aimed at solving some of Africa’s biggest financial challenges, including currency instability, limited access to global commerce, and the high…

Nigeria’s power story is being rewritten in real time, and the direction is becoming clearer: consumers are no longer satisfied with simply coping through blackouts. The demand is shifting toward control, reliability, and smarter alternatives to an unstable grid. That shift was on full display at the Power and Water Exhibition 2026, where itel Energy introduced a lineup of solutions designed for today’s energy reality. The showcase included hybrid inverters, lithium-ion batteries, solar panels, and all-in-one solar systems products built to make clean, independent power more practical for homes and businesses. At the heart of the company’s positioning is a…

A Nigerian contactless payments infrastructure startup, CashAfrica has entered a strategic partnership with ChamsSwitch, a licensed switching and electronic payments processor, in a move aimed at clearing long-standing compliance hurdles that have slowed the rollout of its tap-to-pay system. At the centre of the partnership is a clear division of roles. CashAfrica will power the customer-facing contactless experience handling transactions when users tap a phone or contactless card on a point-of-sale terminal while ChamsSwitch will process the backend switching, routing payments between banks and updating account balances in real time. For CashAfrica, the deal is less about expansion and more…

Village Capital has invested $350,000 in two Ghanaian startups through its latest Africa-focused fund, signalling continued investor interest in early-stage companies building critical services across the continent. The funding marks the first set of investments from the Africa Ecosystem Catalysts Facility (AECF), a $4 million investment vehicle launched in July 2025 in partnership with the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. The fund was created to support African startups tackling challenges around economic mobility and climate resilience. The investments come at a time when funding from development finance institutions, long considered a major driver of Africa’s startup…

As African fintech Fincra races to strengthen their regulatory footprint across the continent, Fincra has secured a Payment Service Provider Licence (Enhanced Category) from the Bank of Ghana, giving the Nigerian startup approval to process local transactions and facilitate payments within Ghana. The licence allows Fincra to collect payments locally, process transactions in Ghanaian cedis, and support inbound transfers into the country, expanding its presence in one of Africa’s fastest-growing digital payments markets. The approval comes just two months after the company obtained a similar payments licence in Canada, further advancing its strategy of building regulated financial infrastructure for cross-border…

Bellatrix Investment Managers has launched the Ndjaba Seed Fund, a new $10 million venture capital fund aimed at backing early-stage startups across Southern Africa, as founders in the region continue to struggle with limited access to funding. The fund, unveiled on Wednesday, will invest in between 35 and 50 startups over the next decade, targeting sectors such as fintech, agritech, healthtech, education, clean energy, e-commerce, and enterprise software. Its name, “Ndjaba,” is derived from the Oshiwambo word for “elephant,” symbolising strength and long-term growth. The launch comes amid growing concerns over the funding gap facing startups outside Africa’s largest tech…

Grey, a cross-border payments startup backed by Y Combinator, has taken a step deeper into North America, registering as a payment service provider in Canada under the country’s new payments law. The approval, granted under the Retail Payment Activities Act (RPAA), allows the fintech to operate more directly within Canada’s financial system, rather than relying solely on partners. It builds on Grey’s earlier integration with Interac, which already lets users send Canadian dollars straight to local bank accounts. With regulatory backing now in place, the company is positioning itself to play a bigger role in cross-border transactions between Canada and…

Apotierioluwa Owoade couldn’t shake the problem. It lingered long after his stint at Aforevo, a Lagos-based streaming and dubbing company, where he worked between 2022 and 2023. There, he saw up close just how expensive and imperfect film dubbing could be. Translating a full-length production into another language could cost upwards of $500,000, far beyond the reach of many African filmmakers. But for Owoade, the cost wasn’t even the most frustrating part. What bothered him more was what got lost in translation. Dialogue stripped of cultural nuance. Emotions flattened. Voice actors often overstretched and underpaid reduced powerful scenes to something…