This Week in African Tech 🌍

Hey hey, Darius here 👋🏼, good morning and good luck explaining this to your landlord.

Ohio has introduced a bill to ban people from marrying AI chatbots, declaring them "nonsentient entities" that can't hold power of attorney or make financial decisions. Apparently, people have been trying to do this, some with their human spouse's blessing.

While Ohio’s got AI problems, Africa's building AI infrastructure. Altron launched South Africa's first operational AI factory this week, and thankfully, OpenAI finally added local pricing across the continent.

There’s more. But before we get into the details…I have something to share with you.

Tech Roundup

• Revolut, one of the world’s biggest digital banks, is setting its sights on South Africa. The London-based fintech — known for shaking up traditional banking with its sleek “super app” — is pursuing a local banking licence and plans to make South Africa its launchpad for wider African expansion.

• Eighteen years after shutting its Port Harcourt plant, French tyre giant Michelin is making a comeback in Nigeria. The company isn’t reopening factories just yet; instead, it’s rebuilding its brand, expanding offices in Lagos and Abuja, and doubling down on premium passenger and off-road tyres. With Nigeria’s $820M tyre market expected to top $1.1B by 2030, Michelin is betting that innovation and education can steer drivers away from cheap imports, and back to quality rubber.

• French media giant CANAL+ now owns 94.39% of South Africa’s MultiChoice after completing its mandatory tender offer, clearing the way for a full takeover. The company will “squeeze out” the remaining shareholders and delist MultiChoice from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. In return, CANAL+ plans a secondary listing on the JSE, giving local investors a way to stay in the game as it integrates MultiChoice ahead of a 2026 strategy reveal.

• MTN’s mobile money arm processed $2.1B in cross-border payments in the first half of 2025, a milestone in its mission to make African wallets talk to each other. With 283M active accounts and $1.1T in annual transactions, MoMo is evolving from basic transfers to a full-blown digital finance ecosystem spanning loans, merchant payments, and open APIs for fintechs.

• Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) hiked its tech spend by 450.97% since 2021, and the returns are rolling in. Its digital platforms processed ₦35.8T ($24.6B) in H1 2025, up 19% from last year, helping e-business income surge 173% to ₦28.6B ($19.7M). With only 3M active users moving more money than the entire mobile money industry, GTCO’s transformation from legacy bank to digital heavyweight is starting to look like a fintech masterclass.

• Altron has launched South Africa’s first operational AI factory, powered by Nvidia tech and hosted at Teraco. The platform offers local companies everything from infrastructure to training while keeping data within South African borders. Early adopters include Lelapa AI, MathU, and Dataviue, a lineup that signals the country’s push to build world-class AI with homegrown context.

• Super app Gozem is adding another wheel to its ride — mobile money. The company has launched Gozem Money in Togo, partnering with NSIA Bank to offer cheaper, fully interoperable transfers and payments. The platform’s withdrawal fees are five times lower than market rates, a direct challenge to telecom giants TMoney and Flooz that currently dominate Togo’s $1.5B mobile money market.

• OpenAI has made ChatGPT a little more wallet-friendly for Africans. The company launched ChatGPT Go, a new GPT-5–powered tier priced at R149/month, about 75% cheaper than ChatGPT Plus. The plan offers 10x more message limits, image generations, and uploads than the free version. It’s also the first time OpenAI’s subscriptions are priced in South African rands, removing the exchange-rate and payment hurdles that previously locked many users out.

• China’s BYD is taking its EV play global, starting with South Africa. The carmaker plans to build a countrywide network of ultra-fast chargers, each capable of delivering up to 1MW of power and 400km of range in five minutes. Backed by a partnership with Eskom and a fast-growing dealer network, BYD’s move could redefine South Africa’s sluggish EV market and put pressure on incumbents like Toyota and Volkswagen, still stuck in the combustion era.

Deal Roundup

• Kuunda, the Tanzania-born B2B fintech that powers embedded credit for agents and merchants, just raised $7.5M in pre-Series A funding to fuel expansion into the Middle East and North Africa, starting with Egypt. Backed by investors like Seedstars Africa Ventures, 4Di Capital, and Accion Ventures, the company plans to replicate its success in East Africa—where it’s already enabled over $3B in loans—to reach new partners in e-commerce and PoS networks across MENA.

• Moroccan startup Chari has pulled off a double milestone: closing a record $12M Series A and securing a Central Bank license to operate as a payment institution. Backed by SPE Capital and Orange Ventures, Chari can now turn the thousands of corner shops on its platform into financial hubs offering money transfers, bill payments, and even micro-insurance. The YC-backed startup is building what it calls a “merchant super app” and quietly laying the rails for Morocco’s first Banking-as-a-Service play.

• Tunisian fintech PAYDAY has closed its pre-seed round led by UGFS North Africa, with TALYS Group and BioProtection SA joining in, valuing the startup at $3M. PAYDAY blends salary-backed financing with micro-Takaful protection to help workers access credit and insurance safely. With 10K+ transactions since launching in 2024, the company now wants to evolve into a full financial and insurance aggregator for Tunisia and, eventually, North Africa.

• Nigeria’s Rana Energy raised $3M in pre-seed funding to grow its AI-powered Clean Energy-as-a-Service platform. The round mixes $500K in equity from Techstars and EchoVC Eco with $2.5M in green debt from FSDH Asset Management. Founded just last year, Rana already powers 1.3 MW of clean energy for clients like the National Defence College, and it’s gunning for 10 MW across Nigeria, Ghana, and Zambia within a year.

• Ivorian healthtech startup Ades secured $620K from CDC-CI Capital, the investment arm of Côte d’Ivoire’s Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, to supercharge its UMED platform. The 2019-founded startup offers digital consultations, imaging, and home care, already logging 6,000 treatments and 50 company partnerships. The raise will fund tech upgrades and new medical vehicles as Côte d’Ivoire doubles down on healthtech to modernise care delivery.

• Online travel heavyweight Wakanow has acquired Nairabox, Nigeria’s go-to app for movie and event tickets. The deal folds entertainment into Wakanow’s growing ecosystem—joining its fintech arm Kalabash and lodging platform RoomDe—and gives users one platform to book it all: flights, stays, and experiences. It’s a bet that Africa’s next tourism boom will be as much about vibes as visas..

@techsafarihq

@Uber exits Côte d'Ivoire. #techstartup #techtok #uber #mobility

And that's a wrap!

That’s it for this week. See you on Wednesday 😃 

Cheers,

The Tech Safari Team

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