This Week in African Tech 🌍

Hey hey, Darius here 👋🏼

You know that feeling where you walk into a meeting 20 minutes late and someone's already presenting the slides you were supposed to present?

Regulators in Ghana have been living that life.

Over 3 million Ghanaians were already trading Bitcoin and stablecoins before the country had a rulebook. So this week, Ghana's SEC admitted 11 companies into a 12-month regulatory sandbox, with top performers eligible for a full licence

Better late than never.

Let’s unpack the rest of this week’s news…

Tech Roundup

• Nigeria’s broadband market is looking increasingly like a one-horse race. MTN Nigeria added 13,433 fibre subscribers while smaller rivals bled users. SWIFT lost 44% of its base, and 21st Century’s subscribers dropped by more than half. With ₦1 trillion (~$715 million) in capex in 2025, MTN is doubling down on fibre and 5G as competitors struggle to keep up.

• Kenya’s largest bank, KCB Group, is waiting on regulatory approval to acquire a stake in payments startup Pesapal. The move would give the lender deeper access to merchant payments across East Africa, where businesses increasingly accept card, mobile money, and bank transfers through fintech platforms.

• Ghana is putting its new crypto law into practice with an 11-company regulatory sandbox run by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Startups will test products for 12 months under supervision, with the best performers eligible for licences. The move signals Ghana’s ambition to become one of Africa’s first fully regulated crypto hubs.

• African innovation hub CcHUB says it deployed $4.18 million in grants in 2025, supporting 3,312 startups across 49 countries and training more than 25,000 people. The organisation says every dollar it invests attracts roughly $5 in external funding. In a tougher venture market, ecosystem builders may be doing more heavy lifting than ever.

• Ride-hailing platform inDrive is offering Nigerian drivers healthcare starting at ₦1,300 (~$1) per month through a partnership with healthtech startup Heala. Drivers can consult doctors, get prescriptions, and access diagnostic tests directly from the app. For a workforce that rarely gets employer benefits, even basic healthcare could be a big upgrade.

• Nigeria’s Central Bank has formally written AI and machine learning into its anti-money-laundering rules, pushing banks and fintechs toward automated compliance systems. The shift reflects a digital financial system where manual monitoring no longer cuts it. Institutions now have 18–24 months to roll out AI-powered monitoring, or risk regulatory heat.

• Kenya and Rwanda are working on a fintech licence passporting framework that would let payments companies operate in both countries with a single licence. Regulators say the plan could cut compliance hurdles and speed up cross-border expansion. If it works, East Africa’s fintech scene may start looking a lot more regional.

• Microsoft plans to train 3 million Africans in AI this year, focusing on countries like South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, and Morocco. The initiative comes as the company pushes Copilot and Azure across the continent, and as Chinese rival DeepSeek gains traction with cheaper AI tools.
  

Deal Roundup

• AI adtech company, Converted, has acquired Egyptian fashion marketplace Mitcha as it expands a data-driven commerce ecosystem across the region. The deal brings Mitcha’s network of designers and shoppers into Converted’s platform, which links advertising, payments, and order verification to measure actual sales instead of just clicks. Mitcha founder Hilda Louca will join Converted to lead partnerships and regional expansion.

• Yazi, a South African AI-native WhatsApp research platform, raised its first institutional funding round at a $1.6 million valuation led by 3 Capital Ventures. The company lets organisations run AI-moderated interviews and surveys directly through WhatsApp, where most users are in emerging markets.

• NjiaPay raised $2.1 million in seed funding led by Newion Partners to expand its payment orchestration platform across Africa. The software lets merchants manage multiple payment providers through a single API while routing transactions to reduce failures. As Africa’s payments ecosystem gets increasingly fragmented, orchestration layers like NjiaPay are becoming the quiet infrastructure holding it together.

• Cape Town–based Orca Fraud raised $2.35 million in seed funding led by Norrsken22 to scale its real-time fraud monitoring platform. The system embeds intelligence directly into live payment flows, helping banks and fintechs catch suspicious activity without slowing transactions. Orca already monitors over $5 billion in monthly transactions across 70+ countries.

• Lagos-based Cybervergent raised $3 million in seed funding co-led by Ventures Platform and Atlantica Ventures to expand its AI-driven cybersecurity platform. The company helps organisations monitor risk and compliance across complex cloud systems and multiple regulatory regimes. With 150+ enterprise customers and thousands of mapped security controls, Cybervergent is betting African companies want automation (not spreadsheets) for security governance.

Post of the Week

Events

• Tech Unite Africa 2026 returns to Oriental Hotel on March 26, bringing startups, investors, and tech companies into one networking-heavy expo. The event will feature exhibitions across AI, fintech, cybersecurity, and cloud tech, plus a regional pitch competition tied to the global Startup World Cup. The winner heads to San Francisco to compete for a $1million investment prize. Secure your seats here.

• The African Diaspora Investment Symposium 2026 is happening at Santa Clara University from March 25–27, aiming to connect African innovators with Silicon Valley capital. Organised by the African Diaspora Network, the gathering will bring together investors, founders, and policymakers to explore partnerships across fintech, AI, health, and trade. Register to attend here.

• The Finnovex East Africa 2026 will convene financial services leaders in Rwanda on March 25 to discuss the future of digital finance in the region. The summit gathers bank executives, fintech founders, and tech providers to unpack trends like AI-powered banking, open APIs, digital lending, and fraud prevention. With 150+ senior leaders expected, it’s part strategy session, part networking arena for the region’s fast-evolving fintech sector. Get more information.

Opportunities

• The Lagos Innovates Female Founders & Funders III programme is now accepting applications from women building startups in Lagos. The six-week hybrid programme offers mentorship, investor readiness training, and access to VCs, plus over ₦9 million (~$6,500) in prizes. Applications close April 4.
  

• Kenya-based nonprofit Assistive Technologies for Disability Trust has partnered with the Judith Neilson Foundation to launch a $500,000 fund backing early-stage assistive tech startups in Africa. The Momentous Pilot Fund will support up to five startups building tools for mobility, communication, education, and accessibility.

And that's a wrap!

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

Cheers,

The Tech Safari Team

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