Author: Insider Editor

Visa has teamed up with Yellow Card, a pan-African stablecoin infrastructure company, to enable cross-border payments using stablecoins across countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA), where Yellow Card currently operates. The partnership will pilot the integration of stablecoins with Visa Direct, Visa’s real-time push payments platform that allows funds to be sent directly to bank accounts or payment cards. With this collaboration, businesses will be able to hold U.S. dollars in stablecoins and seamlessly transfer funds across borders, streamlining settlement and reducing friction in international transactions. The initiative aligns with Visa’s broader strategy to…

The layoffs, which affected multiple departments, come as part of a broader strategic shift by the company to streamline operations and double down on areas showing the strongest market demand. Founded in 2021, Sabi initially set out to digitise informal trade by providing merchants with tools for logistics, inventory management, and financing. But in recent months, the company has scaled back several offerings to prioritise its TRACE platform. TRACE, developed in collaboration with blockchain firm Minespider, enables the digital tracking of minerals and agricultural goods throughout the supply chain. Using blockchain-based “digital passports,” the platform records environmental, social, and governance…

Semicolon is known for training software engineers, is teaming up with Abiola Ajimobi Technical University (Tech-U) in Oyo State to offer its alumni a new academic path, a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science in just two years. The partnership introduces a credit transfer system that recognises Semicolon’s intensive training and industry-relevant curriculum, enabling graduates to complete a traditionally four-year degree in half the time. It’s a move aimed at addressing the longstanding gap between Nigeria’s academic institutions and the fast-evolving demands of the tech workforce. “This isn’t about replacing universities, it’s about complementing them,” said Semicolon CEO Sam Immanuel. “Africa’s…

The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) is seeking legal amendments that would allow it to freeze the bank accounts of more than 316,000 former university students who have yet to repay their loans a debt load now topping KES 35 billion ($270 million). Appearing before Parliament’s Public Investments Committee, HELB CEO Geoffrey Monari urged lawmakers to revise the HELB Act to give the agency powers similar to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), which can freeze business accounts to recover unpaid taxes. “We’re calling for legal backing that lets us lock accounts of former students with steady incomes who refuse to…

In the heart of Cross River State, a quiet climate revolution is unfolding. Releaf Earth, a Nigerian climate-agritech startup, has launched the country’s first operational industrial biochar facility, a project that blends carbon removal with agricultural regeneration. At its Iwuru plant, the company uses palm kernel shells once discarded as waste to produce biochar, a charcoal-like substance that enriches soil and locks carbon away for centuries. The shells are processed by Releaf’s proprietary Kraken machine, which separates the nut from the shell. While the kernel heads into food supply chains, the carbon-rich shells are fed into a pyrolyser that turns…

In a bold step to capitalise on Africa’s surging digital finance sector, MTN is spinning off its mobile money operations in Uganda into a standalone fintech company marking a strategic shift in how the telecom giant approaches its fast-growing financial services arm. The planned restructuring will see MTN Mobile Money Uganda merged into a new entity owned by MTN Group Fintech Holdings B.V. and a trust representing minority shareholders. The move, still subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals, is expected to be decided at an extraordinary general meeting scheduled for July 2. If approved, the spin-off will officially end MTN…

African-focused private investment firm Silverbacks Holdings has partially exited its stake in Nigerian B2B e-commerce startup OmniRetail, earning a 5x return on its original investment. The move marks Silverbacks’ ninth profitable exit just one month after it secured a 29x return from its exit in LemFi. The deal follows OmniRetail’s $20 million Series A round, which attracted strategic backers including Flour Mills of Nigeria, a 64-year-old manufacturing heavyweight. Founded in 2019, OmniRetail connects over 150,000 retailers to 5,800 distributors and FMCG manufacturers via its digital platform. Twice named Africa’s fastest-growing business, the company has seen exponential growth, with revenue climbing…

Telkom is gaining ground in South Africa’s telecom space, with mobile service revenue jumping 10.2%, a key driver behind its 3.3% increase in group revenue for the year ending March 31, 2025. The growth came on the back of a surging subscriber base, with nearly 3 million new users joining the network. Telkom now serves over 23 million mobile customers, thanks largely to a 15.4% rise in prepaid users. Mobile data demand also soared, pushing data subscribers up 19.5% to 15.2 million. “Our mobile business continues to lead the way,” said Group CEO Serame Taukobong, crediting the results to subscriber…

Kenya’s government is once again seeking to give the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) sweeping access to personal and customer financial data just months after a similar move sparked public outcry and mass protests. In the proposed 2025 Finance Bill, the National Treasury is pushing to delete a legal safeguard—Section 59A(1B) of the Tax Procedures Act that currently prevents the KRA from demanding trade secrets or sensitive personal data held by businesses on behalf of their customers. The proposed change is straightforward but consequential: “Section 59A of the Tax Procedures Act is amended by deleting subsection (1B),” the draft bill reads.…

Nigerian fintech giant Moniepoint has received the green light from the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) to acquire a 78% stake in Sumac Microfinance Bank, marking a significant step in its push into East Africa’s tightly regulated banking sector. The move follows a failed bid to acquire local payments company KopoKopo just five months ago. While the deal still awaits final approval from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), it positions Moniepoint to tap into Kenya’s massive mobile payments market, which is valued at an estimated $67.3 billion (KES 8.7 trillion). By acquiring a licensed institution like Sumac, Moniepoint may…