Author: Insider Editor

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…

When Caine Wanjau and Thuku wa Thuku co-founded DigiTax in 2022, they weren’t just launching another software company, they were responding to a continental shift. Across Africa, governments are tightening tax regulations, and businesses are scrambling to comply with a wave of new e-invoicing mandates. The Kenyan startup provides e-invoicing software that connects directly to tax authority systems, allowing businesses to issue compliant invoices digitally and in real time. With mandates like Kenya’s electronic Tax Invoice Management System (eTIMS) and similar systems emerging across the continent, companies are under pressure to digitize or risk steep penalties. DigiTax positions itself as…

A payment infrastructure provider serving remittance companies and businesses FINCRA, has obtained a Third Party Payments Provider (TPPP) licence in South Africa. This licence enables Fincra to process key local payment methods including debit and credit card transactions, electronic funds transfers (EFTs), real-time clearing (RTC), and rapid payments. The licence supports Fincra’s goal to expand its cross-border payment infrastructure and deepen its presence across Africa through multiple payment channels. In South Africa, Fincra competes with fintech startups like Yoco, Ozow, and Peach Payments, offering similar payment services. “Securing the TPPP licence in South Africa is a major milestone toward building…

Africa Delivery Technologies Holding, the Dutch parent company of Nigerian last-mile delivery platform Kwik, was declared bankrupt and placed under administration by an Amsterdam court following a legal dispute with a former executive to whom the company owes about $50,000. Despite the bankruptcy filing, Kwik’s CEO, Romain Peroit-Lellig, insists the company is financially sound and that the ruling does not affect its Nigerian operations. Kwik currently serves over 300,000 merchants in Nigeria and recently secured $1 million in fresh funding. This case marks the second notable bankruptcy involving a Nigerian logistics startup this year. In January, Gokada, another last-mile delivery…