As the fastest-growing startup industry in Africa, African fintech raised over $1,3 billion in 2021 alone, the success of fintech companies is being fuelled by several trends, including increasing smartphone ownership, declining internet costs, expanded network coverage, and a young, fast-growing, and rapidly urbanizing population.

African fintech has a significant impact on day-to-day life on the continent and with its current upward trend it can be perfectly poised to rapidly advance Africa’s global competitiveness with an increase in the exporting of fintech...

To support universal and affordable broadband access in Africa, and the opportunities that come with increased connectivity, IFC announced a loan to Airtel Africa to help connect millions of new subscribers to mobile internet in six African countries.

IFC will provide six of Airtel Africa's subsidiaries with a mix of local currency and USD loans totaling $194 million. The new financing facility is in line with Airtel's Africa strategy to increase debt within its operating companies. According to...

Copia Global, the B2C e-commerce platform providing e-commerce solutions for the rapidly growing 800 million middle to low-income African consumers, has announced a partnership with Cellulant, a Pan-African Payments technology company to simplify payments for its diaspora and urban customers.

This partnership enables Copia’s diaspora and urban customers to conveniently initiate transactions and purchases for their loved ones in rural areas in Kenya using the Cellulant network. This provides greater choice, affordability, and...

Nigeria’s mobility fintech startup Moove has raised $30 million to expand its electric vehicle fleet in the MENA region. The funding was raised from a debut sukuk issuance arranged by Franklin Templeton Investments (ME) Ltd.

The successful completion of this debut sukuk will allow Moove to tap into the wealth of Islamic investors who are particularly interested in environmentally and socially responsible investments and will undoubtedly open up further avenues for financing Moove's ambitious expansion plans. The issuance...

E-commerce has; up until fairly recently, represented the latest iteration of digital-enabled shopping, revolutionising the way customers shop and interact with retail brands.

However, most recently, more widespread and rapidly expanding mobile penetration has led to the rise of mobile commerce – browsing and buying goods and services online using a mobile device. Mobile commerce puts buying power in the hands of consumers, serving the increased demand for absolute convenience and ease of access. Kenya is a key...

As internet penetration in Kenya continues to increase, the demand for data centres is also booming. Customers in the country are increasingly using data centres to access public cloud-based services from hosts like Google, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft and others.

Carrier-neutral data centre infrastructure provider iColo expects this demand to go up in the coming years.  iColo CEO Ranjith Cherickel while speaking during a recent media tour of the firm’s recently opened Mombasa (MBA2) data centre...

Ukheshe International, the UK-headquartered division of digital-first, Banking as a Service (“BAAS”) enabler Ukheshe Group, has announced the conclusion of an investment agreement that will help accelerate its international expansion.

The investment will be led by ADP III, a fund advised by Development Partners International (“DPI”), a premier, Africa-focused investment firm with $3bn in assets under management and co-investment, alongside funds advised by Fireball Capital, a South African venture capital firm...

Verified.Africa, the pioneer of ID verification, document verification and digital KYC compliance solutions, announced it has launched in Kenya.

With this launch, businesses in Kenya that use Verified.Africa’s onboarding platform will able to verify identities in real-time, thus preventing the risk associated with identity theft and fraud. It is going also to help businesses build a trustworthy brand because they know who their customers are. Through the Verification Platform, businesses can easily verify the...

Nigerian survey data also shows that 34% of IT decision makers in Nigeria are planning to move to a new region and 33% into a new country; 58% of IT decision makers in Nigeria view a shortage of personnel with IT skills as one of the main threats to their business; Equinix completed the acquisition of Nigeria’s MainOne earlier this year

As part of the Equinix 2022 Global Tech Trends Survey, 100 business leaders in Nigeria were interviewed about the opportunities and challenges their organizations are facing – and their plans for the future. As Equinix’s survey data...

Among Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) users, 56% experienced an increase in the volume of attacks on their organization when compared to the previous year, and 67% were hit by ransomware.

In addition, 59% experienced an increase in complexity of attacks. This is according to a new survey by cybersecurity firm Sophos. The “The Reality of SMB Cloud Security in 2022’’ study notes that for many of these users, a lack of visibility into their infrastructure, unpatched vulnerabilities and resource misconfigurations make them susceptible to...

SkyGarden, the e-commerce platform has been acquired by Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) Lipa Later for an undisclosed sum. 

Lipa Later says the acquisition re-energizes its commitment to bridging the gap between the merchant and the customer with more empowerment between both parties, merchant and customer, stellar service, stellar tech, and revamped strategies that promise to disrupt the industry.  The move will enable Lipa Later to expand its customer base and solidify its...

OneWeb  announced a distribution partner agreement with Q-KON Africa, a specialist technology company that supplies solutions based on satellite, wireless and VoIP technologies, to offer broadband connectivity services in African countries.

Q-KON Africa connects “off-grid” locations through their satellite broadband service, Twoobii, to core networks throughout Africa reliably and effectively. The OneWeb LEO satellite network will give Q-KON Africa’s Twoobii customers access to high-speed, low-latency broadband to connect...

The African Business Roundtable in partnership with the Federal Government of Nigeria hosted the Nigeria International Partnership Forum in New York, in the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

President Muhammadu Buhari participated in well attended programme which took place on September 22nd at the St. Regis New York Hotel, New York. The theme of the programme “Scaling Up International Economic Partnerships for Nigeria in a Post Covid World” reflected the urgency to launch concrete...

As a Finance Controller you provide technical Controllership guidance to both finance and commercial leaders across countries within Kenya and the Netherlands (with future oversight over other African markets the business is to expand to).

The Controller will be responsible for adherence to globally accepted as well as specific and local accounting policies, financial systems and internal controls. Fancy doing this at the #1 Google Premier partner of East-Africa? Then read on...

In 2022, ransomware continued to reign king and became one of the most common and dangerous threats facing healthcare organisations and software supply chains. The war on Ukraine created heightened concern over zero-day threats wreaking havoc for organisations worldwide.

The cyber gang Conti with Russian-linked ties managed to disrupt financial operations throughout Costa Rica, and it seems there is no end in sight to the hacking group Lapsus$, which has proven itself to be a formidable threat actor...

In years gone by, pages such as these have been awash with articles and opinions about fintechs and their potential to drive financial inclusion and improve the lives of millions of unbanked and underserved communities.

While these opinions have been crucial in raising awareness, the discussion should now shift to the “how”. How are fintechs driving real, measurable financial inclusion? How are they helping people to help themselves? A financially underserved person that has spent his or her life earning and transacting...

Startups have become vital engines of change that can have an outsized impact on an economy. They are crucial in fueling innovation and enhancing economic and digital competitiveness. They improve access to products and solutions while significantly contributing to employment.

In recent years, amid global economic volatility and uncertainty, Africa's startup ecosystem has shown continued growth, attracting record amounts of funding. According to the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association...

Identity theft in South Africa continues to rise, despite numerous warnings and efforts to protect consumers. Reports suggest that someone's identity is stolen somewhere in the world every two seconds.

Recent statistics from the National Council on Identity Theft Protection in the US show that losses from identity theft cost Americans close to $6 billion in 2021. The Federal Trade Commission received 5.7 million fraud and identity theft reports in the same year of which a quarter was related to...

When the early days of the pandemic pushed industries across East Africa into survival mode, it sparked a wave of cloud adoption that has swept through the region. 

Focused at first on ensuring business continuity, investment into cloud technologies and digitalisation has since helped organisations in the region build greater resilience and unlock new business models and revenue streams. Even the most reluctant businesses and their customers have now come online. One of the reasons is that the benefits of greater...

Digitilisation of small businesses supports the overall growth of the economy, given the important role they play in the wider economic picture. 

Micro and Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs)make a substantial contribution to livelihoods and inclusive growth in Kenya. They account for 24% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), over 90% of private sector enterprises and 93% of the total labour force in the economy. Due to their huge contribution to the national economy, there is need to...