Author: Insider Editor

South African startup Littlefish is building a financial infrastructure for small businesses, has raised $9.5 million in a Series A round to scale its merchant operating system and expand across Africa. The raise reflects a growing trend in the continent’s fintech ecosystem, where startups increasingly focus on building infrastructure for financial institutions rather than competing with them directly. Founded in Johannesburg in 2021, littlefish positions itself as a foundational layer for how financial institutions serve small businesses. Its platform combines point-of-sale applications, back-office CRM, merchant portals, payments, and APIs into a unified system that allows merchants to run their operations…

KOKO Networks’ UK carbon trading arm collapsed just weeks after reporting a sharp revenue increase, after a regulatory hurdle in Kenya blocked access to the higher-value compliance carbon markets central to its business. Financial statements for KOKO Networks (UK) Ltd, signed on February 5, 2026, show revenue jumped to £39.8 million ($50.5 million) in 2024, up from £1.8 million ($2.3 million) the previous year. Despite the surge, the company posted a £14.0 million ($17.8 million) loss and carried accumulated deficits of £104.6 million ($132.8 million), with liabilities outweighing assets. The UK unit, which trades carbon credits from its parent group’s…

Legend Internet Plc is moving to merge with Spectranet in a deal that could reshape Nigeria’s broadband market, as rising costs and tougher competition push internet service providers toward consolidation. The proposed transaction, disclosed in a filing to the Nigerian Exchange on Monday, will see both companies combine under a single corporate structure. It is still subject to regulatory approvals from the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and the Nigerian Communications Commission, with completion expected in the second quarter of 2026. The merger brings together two long-time rivals that have competed for the same urban broadband customers. It also…

The Visa-backed Nigerian fintech unicorn Moniepoint, has acquired Orda, a cloud-based restaurant management platform, as part of its push to embed payments directly into the daily operations of merchants. Orda will be rebranded as Moniebook for Restaurants and integrated into Moniepoint’s broader business management platform, Moniebook. The company will continue to operate as a standalone business until full integration is completed in the coming months. The acquisition reflects Moniepoint’s ambition to evolve from a payments processor into a full-stack operating system for African businesses, handling everything from sales and inventory to payments and financial services. It also underscores a trend…

Rwanda is positioning itself as Africa’s premier destination for structuring and domiciling investment capital. The Kigali International Finance Centre (KIFC), launched in 2020, was designed to attract investors setting up holding companies, funds, trusts, and foundations to deploy capital across the continent. Today, Kigali ranks third among Africa’s international financial centres, behind only Casablanca and Mauritius, demonstrating that predictability and stability can outweigh market size. Investors are drawn to Kigali for its investor-friendly policies. The city offers a 3% corporate income tax rate, zero withholding tax on dividends, royalties, and interest, no capital gains tax, and fast registration sometimes as…

Kenya’s largest telecom operator Safaricom, plans to extend data minimisation across its mobile money platform, M-PESA, by late 2026. The move will limit how much of customers’ phone numbers are exposed in transactions with merchants and banks. Esther Waititu, Safaricom’s Chief Financial Services Officer, said the rollout will cover both merchant payments and bank transfers. “Later in the year, we will work with banks to ensure data is masked across all channels,” she said, emphasizing the need for consistent protection. The update addresses a major privacy concern in Kenya’s payments system: phone numbers shared in transaction alerts are often reused…

The founders of Nigeria’s next billion-dollar fintech companies are already building. They are writing code, raising seed rounds, and designing products for a market of 220 million people, most of whom still lack reliable access to credit, insurance, or savings tools. The opportunity has always been clear. What was missing, until now, was a regulatory environment that matched the pace and scale of their ambition. That is starting to change. The counterintuitive argument is this: the era of building despite regulatory ambiguity is ending. The companies that will capture markets across Africa will be those that can grow within clear,…

Luno is expanding beyond basic crypto trading, starting with the launch of prediction markets in South Africa and Nigeria, two of its key African markets. The feature, developed in partnership with Limitless, allows users to place short-term bets on whether major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana will rise above or fall below a set price within 24 hours. Users who predict correctly earn a payout, while those who don’t lose their stake. This launch marks the first step in Luno’s broader push into derivatives and its ambition to become an all-in-one investment platform. It builds on earlier offerings like…

Kenya is set to criminalise the use of “high-risk” artificial intelligence (AI) systems without state approval, a move that could slow product launches and raise legal stakes for startups. The proposed rules would cover AI tools used in credit scoring, biometrics, health diagnostics, and other applications that directly affect access to money, jobs, and services. A draft Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026, sponsored by Senator Karen Nyamu, states that “a person shall not develop, deploy or operate a high-risk artificial intelligence system without the approval of the commission.” Violations could result in fines of up to KES 5 million ($38,000) or…

Ride-hailing company Uber has partnered with Ghanaian fintech Fido to provide instant loans to drivers on its platform, in a move aimed at easing the financial pressure many face on the job. Through the partnership, eligible drivers can access loans of up to GH₵10,000 ($920) via Fido’s digital platform, without collateral or extensive paperwork. The process is designed to be fast, giving drivers quick access to funds for daily operational needs. The initiative comes as ride-hailing drivers in Ghana continue to grapple with rising costs. Fuel prices, vehicle maintenance, and platform commissions have steadily reduced take-home earnings, leaving many drivers…