Vodacom is leaning harder into pan-African growth. The telecom operator reported a 22.9% jump in headline earnings, driven largely by Egypt and Safaricom, while its total customer base grew by 26 million in a single year. Fintech is also becoming a larger piece of the business, with transaction volumes now crossing half a trillion dollars.

Nigeria is trying to fix its telecom headaches with a mix of infrastructure spending and regulatory pressure. The government says nationwide fibre rollouts, expanded satellite capacity, and reforms around taxes and tariffs should help operators improve network quality over the next few years. Telecom companies that fail to deliver better service, regulators warned, could face consequences.

Kenya’s ride-hailing price wars may be cooling off. Bolt increased fares by 6% last week as rising fuel costs, inflation, and driver protests squeezed margins across the sector. Riders may soon have to pay extra for that “your driver is arriving in 2 minutes” notification.

MTN Rwanda swung back to profitability in Q1 2026 as data usage and mobile money kept climbing. Profit hit $6.8 million, reversing last year’s loss, while fintech revenue jumped 27.6% and active MoMo users grew to 6.2 million. Rwanda may be a smaller telecom market, but its digital economy is moving fast.

Nigeria’s biggest banks lost a combined $1.56 million to fraud in 2025, even as the total number of fraud cases declined. Because fraudsters are getting more efficient, extracting more money per successful attack as digital payments scale across the economy. Banks are now pouring hundreds of millions into cybersecurity and fraud monitoring to keep up.

Kenya is moving to pull crypto deeper into the formal financial system. The proposed Finance Bill 2026 would require crypto exchanges to report users’ identities and transaction data to the Kenya Revenue Authority and would also open the door to cross-border information sharing with foreign tax agencies.

Thirty African startups made the Financial Times’ 2026 list of Africa’s fastest-growing companies, with fintechs and software firms taking nearly 40% of the spots. Egypt’s investment app Thndr topped the ranking for the first time, while Kenya edged past Nigeria in startup representation.

Chimoney, the Nigerian-founded fintech that let businesses send payouts in 41 currencies, is winding down operations after struggling to secure enough funding to keep growing. Founder Uchi Uchibeke admitted the company tried to operate a venture-scale fintech on less than $1 million in capital.

Jiji acquired Bangladesh’s Bikroy, marking the classifieds giant’s first deal outside Africa. The Lagos-headquartered company entered Bangladesh just 13 months ago as a competitor before buying the market leader; the same compete-then-buy strategy it used with OLX Africa and Ghana’s Tonaton. Apparently, Jiji doesn’t just enter markets anymore; it absorbs them.

Bosta, the Egyptian delivery startup handling millions of e-commerce shipments, produced one of African tech’s rarest outcomes: investors getting paid in cash. Beltone Venture Capital and Citadel International exited their stake with a disclosed 75% IRR ahead of Bosta’s planned IPO.

Cauridor raised $2 million from Proparco to keep stitching together Africa’s fragmented remittance rails. The Guinea-founded fintech connects global money transfer giants like Western Union and MoneyGram to mobile money wallets, banks, and cash agents across the continent. It’s chasing a slice of Africa’s $54 billion remittance market, one integration at a time.

MAX raised $8 million in debt funding from Dutch impact investor Triple Jump to scale its electric mobility business across Nigeria, Ghana, and Cameroon. The company now offers EVs, battery-swapping stations, and pay-as-you-go financing after pivoting from bike-hailing.

AFÁRÁ Africa Accelerator will officially launch in Lagos on May 19 with a focus on women-led ventures in Africa’s energy and infrastructure sectors. The hybrid event plans to convene founders, investors, policymakers, and ecosystem players around funding, partnerships, and scaling industrial innovation across the continent. Get tickets here.

The Realistic Optimist will host the Africa-Japan Bridge event in Nairobi on May 21, bringing together founders, fund managers, and investors to unpack how Japanese capital approaches African startups. Japan is now reportedly the fifth-largest source of unique investors in African tech, so expect conversations around what Japanese LPs look for, how their investing style differs, and why more African startups are paying attention. Apply to attend.

 The Orange Corners Nigeria incubation programme is back with up to €30,000 ($34,000) in funding for founders aged 18–35 building in sectors like health, agritech, renewable energy, and the circular economy. The six-month programme also includes mentorship, advisory support, and enterprise training, because apparently surviving as a startup now requires both capital and emotional resilience. Submit applications here.

The 2026 develoPPP Ventures Ideas Competition is looking for startups in five African markets with scalable businesses and early revenue traction. Selected companies can access €100,000 ($113,000) in non-dilutive capital before applications close on June 30, 2026. Get more information here.

UNICEF is opening applications for its 2026 StartUp Lab Accelerator in Ghana, targeting founders building solutions to tackle child labour and trafficking. The program is inviting startups to plug into government frameworks and improve how risks are identified, tracked, and addressed. Selected teams will co-develop tools with public and private partners, then pilot them in real-world settings.

Google has opened applications for the 2026 Hustle Academy, a free training program helping African SMEs scale using digital tools and AI. The format has been streamlined into 60-minute expert webinars followed by 1-day bootcamps designed to be practical, fast, and easy to attend. Find out more here.

UNICEF is offering up to $100,000 in equity-free funding through its 2026 Venture Fund, targeting startups building climate-tech solutions that improve children’s health. The focus is on open-source, frontier technologies like AI and blockchain designed for low-resource and emergency settings. Today, May 17, is the deadline! Get more details.