Author: Insider Editor

Novastar Ventures has officially closed its third fund, the Novastar Ventures Africa People and Planet Fund III (NVIII), securing $147 million to accelerate investments in climate-focused and impact-driven startups across Africa. The fund attracted a mix of returning and new limited partners, with strong backing from Japanese investors, including SBI Holdings, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Development finance institutions such as Norfund, Swedfund, Proparco, and British International Investment (BII) also participated, underscoring continued confidence in Novastar’s long-standing impact-focused investment thesis. With NVIII, Novastar is broadening both its geographic…

Cascador, a Nigeria-based entrepreneur support organisation, has opened applications for its 2026 ScaleUp Programme, targeting growth-stage founders across both the tech ecosystem and the broader real economy. The 12-week programme will admit 12 founders, offering them the tools, insights, and networks needed to scale sustainably. At a time when African startups are grappling with tighter funding conditions and shifting investor priorities, initiatives like this are increasingly positioned as a bridge between early traction and long-term growth. “Entrepreneurs are the engines of change. At Cascador, our goal is to accelerate growth-stage founders. Those we see as multipliers, building businesses that transform…

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is stepping up oversight of the country’s fast-growing virtual asset space, launching a pilot programme focused on anti-money laundering and financial crime compliance among selected industry players. In a directive issued on March 31, the apex bank announced the commencement of an Anti-Money Laundering, Counter-Financing of Terrorism, and Counter-Proliferation Financing (AML/CFT/CPF) supervision pilot. The initiative, it said, is part of a broader risk-based supervisory approach aimed at strengthening financial system stability and improving oversight of virtual asset activities within its remit. The CBN was clear that the pilot does not replace or override existing…

A South Africa-based Bitcoin treasury and SME-finance firm Africa Bitcoin Corporation (ABC), now holds 5.0246 BTC in its corporate treasury, according to its real-time analytics dashboard. The company has set an ambitious 2030 target of 21,000 BTC, which would make it the largest African-listed firm holding Bitcoin on its balance sheet. At its current level, ABC has achieved just 0.02% of its long-term goal, highlighting how early the company is in its treasury strategy. Despite the small starting point, ABC is positioning itself to offer shareholders regulated stock-exchange exposure to Bitcoin across South Africa, Namibia, the US, and Germany. Listed…

Hamilton Labs, a blockchain startup focused on digital payments, has received strategic backing from AXIAN to scale its dollar stablecoin infrastructure across Africa. The investment will enable Hamilton Labs to expand its platform, improve transaction efficiency, and support wider adoption of digital currencies in the region. The funding will support the launch of Hamilton’s flagship stablecoin, USDh, and its integration with fintech platforms, enabling African consumers and businesses to access dollar-denominated savings and payment tools. USDh is a dollar-pegged stablecoin backed by USD-denominated government bonds, with the returns from those bonds embedded into the digital dollar. This allows users to…

Co-founder of blockchain infrastructure firm Mysten Labs,Adeniyi Abiodun and his wife, Gloria Abiodun, have launched a $1.3 million endowment fund aimed at training African software engineers, tackling a critical talent shortage in the region’s tech ecosystem. The five-year fund, managed by the Inurere Foundation, will offer student loans to aspiring software engineers enrolled in the Techpreneurship programme run by Semicolon Africa, a Nigerian workforce development company. Participants will gain hands-on experience in advanced programming languages, including Move, which is used for smart contract development. Fintech company Meedl Africa will facilitate the loans. Each student loan will provide roughly ₦5 million…

Getting an academic transcript in Liberia has long been a slow and frustrating process, often involving physical visits, back-and-forth emails, and weeks or even months of waiting. The reliance on manual systems has also raised concerns about the authenticity and security of academic records. TranscriptDove, a new platform developed by EdNova Group, is looking to change that. Launched as part of a broader push to digitise education systems across Africa, the platform provides a centralised system for requesting, processing, delivering, and verifying transcripts. It replaces paper-based workflows with a secure, traceable digital process designed to reduce delays and limit fraud.…

Kenya’s largest banks are entering a new phase of competition, one where growth is no longer driven by bringing customers online but by generating more revenue from those already there. I&M Group’s latest disclosures show just how far the digital shift has gone. The lender says 98% of its customers now transact through digital channels, a figure that signals the industry may have largely exhausted the pool of new digital users. With more than 727,000 customers across five markets and assets of KES 668.9 billion ($5.2 billion), I&M’s numbers offer a clear read on the wider market, particularly among top-tier…

Kenya is moving to bring its fast-growing crypto sector under closer scrutiny, with new draft rules that set out strict requirements for stablecoin issuers and tokenised asset platforms. The proposals, released by the National Treasury on March 19, introduce detailed standards around reserves, disclosures, and operational controls for firms issuing stablecoins digital currencies pegged to fiat or tokenised real-world assets (RWAs), such as property or debt traded in digital form. At their core, the rules aim to formalise oversight of virtual asset businesses and help Kenya exit the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list. Regulators are also responding to…

Vitel Wireless has deepened its presence in Nigeria’s telecom market with the launch of a non-expiring data service, designed to address long-standing consumer frustrations around data loss and pricing fairness. The new offering, dubbed “Data Wey No Dey Expire”, allows subscribers to retain purchased data until fully consumed, eliminating the time restrictions that typically apply to internet bundles in the country. Speaking at the launch in Lagos, Vitel Wireless Chairman and CEO, Engr. Kenneth Emeka Nwabueze, said the initiative aims to give Nigerians greater flexibility and value amid ongoing economic pressures. “Once users pay for data, they should be able…