This Week in African Tech 🌍

Hey everyone, Darius here with your Sunday roundup.

This week, the African tech scene felt like it was moving into its next chapter, with major companies navigating the growing pains that come with scale and success. We saw landmark transitions at two of the continent's most iconic startups, as founding CEOs at both Yoco and Wasoko stepped down to make way for new leadership. In South Africa, MultiChoice began a major restructure ahead of its acquisition by Canal+, while Tanzania's largest bank upgraded its entire core system for a new phase of global expansion.

And the growing pains were just as visible. Starlink had to hit pause on new orders here in Lagos and Abuja due to high demand, while regulators in South Africa are bringing in new rules for the now-mainstream e-hailing industry. It's the natural evolution of a maturing ecosystem—a story of new leaders, new rules, and new challenges.

But before we get into the details…

Tech Roundup

• Zimbabwe's digital finance sector is experiencing explosive growth, with digital retail transactions climbing to $5.93 billion in the second quarter of 2025, a 34% increase from the previous quarter. Driven by a combination of government reforms, including the deployment of 152,000 new point-of-sale (POS) machines, and the increased adoption of mobile money services. Authorities are also cracking down on unregulated foreign exchange dealings, pushing more transactions into the formal banking system.

• Nigeria's government made ₦597.65 billion ($399 million) from the information and communication sector in 2024, a 122.31% increase from 2022. This surge in revenue is primarily driven by the country's booming data consumption, which has nearly doubled in the same period. With data now a major non-oil revenue source, the government is looking to continue this growth by improving tax compliance and encouraging greater digital adoption.

• After a decade leading South African fintech Yoco, co-founder and CEO Katlego Maphai is stepping down. Yoco, which provides digital payment solutions to hundreds of thousands of small businesses, will now be led by co-founders Lungisa Matshoba and Bradley Wattrus, who will serve as co-CEOs. Maphai will remain involved in a strategic role, and the transition is intended to help the company scale for its next phase of growth.

• MultiChoice has started restructuring its South African operations to meet a key condition of its R55 billion ($3.1 billion) acquisition by French media giant Groupe Canal+. The reorganization was mandated by South Africa's Competition Tribunal, and will ring-fence the company's local business to safeguard broadcasting and public interest obligations.

• Algeria is making major progress in its digital transformation agenda by accelerating the rollout of fiber optic and mobile networks. On September 11, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications commissioned more than 17,000 new Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) lines and activated three new Mobilis stations in the State of Masila. Construction is also underway on an additional 28,000 fiber optic lines, which are set to be completed by the end of October.

• South Africa's Department of Transport has officially recognized e-hailing services as a new category of public transport with the gazetting of the National Land Transport Amendment Act. The new law requires all e-hailing operators to obtain valid licenses, and it mandates that vehicles be fitted with panic buttons for passenger safety. App developers who allow unlicensed drivers on their platforms could face fines of up to R100,000 ($5,700) or two years in jail.

• One year after its merger with MaxAB, Wasoko co-founder Daniel Yu is stepping down from his full-time role after more than a decade at the helm. The Kenyan B2B e-commerce company, now headquartered in Cairo, will continue to be led by MaxAB co-founder Belal El-Megharbel. Yu will remain involved as an adviser, focusing on his personal projects after helping the two companies merge to create a regional leader in retail-tech.

• Starlink has paused new residential internet orders in parts of Lagos and Abuja due to network congestion. Several areas are now marked as "Sold Out" on the company's website, and prospective customers must join a waitlist until additional capacity becomes available. This is not the first time Starlink has had to pause new orders in Nigeria; a similar freeze in late 2024 lasted nearly eight months due to limited bandwidth and regulatory issues.

• BYD has launched South Africa's most affordable electric car, the BYD Dolphin Surf, starting at R339,900 ($19,500). The car, which is powered by a super-safe blade battery, has a range of up to 232 km and comes with features like a vehicle-to-load (V2L) function that can power your home during outages. An early adopter rebate also includes a free home charger, making it a viable option for daily commuting.

• Tanzania’s largest bank, CRDB Bank, has upgraded its core banking system to Temenos T24, a platform widely used by major African lenders. This is crucial for the bank’s expansion strategy, which includes an upcoming entry into Dubai, as the new system will allow CRDB to operate in multiple languages and currencies, positioning it to better compete for cross-border clients and serve the diaspora.

Deal Roundup

• African fintech startup Kredete has raised $22 million in Series A funding to expand its credit-building and stablecoin infrastructure. The company aims to use the funds to scale its stablecoin-powered money transfer services, allowing for faster and cheaper cross-border payments. The funding, led by AfricInvest Group and other contributors, will help Kredete expand its services to over 40 African countries.

• South African digital identity platform Contactable has raised $13.5 million in new funding to expand its eKYC and digital onboarding solutions across Africa. The company provides a single platform for identity verification, fraud prevention, and compliance, serving sectors like finance, telecoms, and retail. And the investment, led by Venture Capitalworks, will help Contactable accelerate its expansion into new markets and support innovation in areas such as artificial intelligence and payments integration.

• Renewable energy company Odyssey Energy Solutions has secured a $7.5 million funding facility from British International Investment (BII) to accelerate the deployment of solar mini-grids across Nigeria. The investment is set to power the country's rural electrification program, which aims to provide electricity to 90 million people who currently lack reliable access.

• Tunisia's state-backed ANAVA fund has invested $4 million in the Qatar-based Rasmal Innovation Fund to support Tunisian startups. This strategic partnership aims to channel international capital into Tunisia's tech ecosystem and strengthen investment ties between North Africa and the Gulf. The Rasmal fund, which focuses on early to growth-stage startups across the MENA region, has already made an investment in a Tunisian water-tech company and plans to continue supporting the country's growing startup scene.

• AXIAN Group, a pan-African investment firm, has backed Nucleon Security, a cybersecurity startup, in a €3 million ($3.5 million) funding round. The investment will help Nucleon scale its "Zero Trust agentic AI platform," a new technology that acts as an autonomous agent to analyze, decide, and respond to cyber threats in real time. Nucleon Security's solutions are already in use in ten African countries, and this funding will help the company expand its reach across the continent and beyond.

• Tanzanian agritech startup MazaoHub has secured $2 million in an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round to expand its AI-powered, climate-smart farming platform across Africa. The company's "Tech and Touch" model combines AI with on-the-ground support from local agronomists to help smallholder farmers boost productivity and climate resilience. The new funding will be used to produce more soil sensors, expand its farmer excellence centers, and scale its platform that connects farmers directly to buyers.

• Kenyan venture studio Pyramidia Ventures has secured $1.5 million from Dutch impact investor Triple Jump to expand its model of building and scaling climate-focused agritech startups across Africa. The funding, which includes $1.3 million in capital and $200,000 in technical support, will help Pyramidia launch at least two new ventures annually.

• Moroccan e-commerce startup Justyol has secured a $1 million funding package to expand its cross-border fashion platform. Justyol connects Turkish fashion brands with consumers in Morocco, and will use the funds to boost its operational capacity and scale its marketing campaigns. The funding, a mix of equity and debt, will also help the company prepare for a future Series A round as it continues to build out the infrastructure for cross-border e-commerce in North Africa.

• VentureSouq, a venture capital firm based in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), has closed its second FinTech fund to accelerate financial technology innovation across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The fund, which is backed by major institutional investors including Mubadala and Saudi Awwal Bank, will focus on early-stage startups in sectors such as payments, digital banking, and PropTech.

Other Events and Opportunities

• Applications are now open for the MEST Africa Challenge (MAC) 2025. This year, the competition is calling on fintech startups from Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and six other African nations that are building solutions in areas like digital payments and financial inclusion. The winner will receive a grand prize of $50,000 in equity funding, the opportunity to run a pilot project with Absa Bank, and a spot in the MEST Africa incubation portfolio. Apply by September 26.

• The Africa Money & DeFi Summit returns to Accra on September 24–25, bringing together 500+ fintech and Web3 leaders. Applications are open for its Investment Showcase, where selected African startups will pitch to investors for funding and partnerships.

And that's a wrap!

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

Cheers,

The Tech Safari Team

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