This Week in African Tech 🌍

Hey, Maryann here 👋🏽 

May closes out on a high note with major stories and bold moves. The US is eyeing remittances with a controversial new tax, Egypt’s fintech space is buzzing with activity, and Kenya’s Equity Bank just carried out one of the largest fraud-related purges in recent memory. On the brighter side, we’re seeing fresh partnerships, funding rounds, and some historic firsts lighting up the continent.

There’s a lot to unpack, but before we get into it….we have a quick announcement.

Now, on to this week’s roundup….

Tech Roundup

• The US House of Representatives has passed a bill introducing a 5% tax on remittances sent abroad by non-citizens, including green card holders and temporary visa holders. The tax could hit Africa hard, with over $90 billion in remittances sent to the region in 2024.

• COREangels has launched a $10 million fund for early-stage startups in the Middle East and Africa. At its fifth investment committee in Cairo, the fund selected eMaisha Pay, RentBeta, Aqua Offers, Monak, and Reeple to receive up to $150,000 each.

• Egyptian fintech Valu has received approval from the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) to list its shares, following a $27 million raise from Saudi investors. The company plans to use the funding to expand its services and strengthen its digital offerings.

• Kenya’s Equity Group has fired more than 1,200 employees after a lengthy investigation uncovered staff colluding with fraudsters in wire fraud schemes. The scheme has cost the bank over $15.4 million over the past two years.

• Egyptian healthtech startup Rology has signed a partnership deal with the University of Hyogo in Japan. They’ll work together to improve how medical scans are done, build useful tools for doctors, and share knowledge between the two countries.

• South African energy startup Plentify has partnered with Conlog, the biggest smart meter company in Africa, to bring smart energy solutions to more than 50 million homes across Africa.

Deal Roundup

• Egypt’s Qardy has been acquired by Catalyst Partners Middle East in a $23.15 million deal, the country’s first SPAC merger. The move makes Qardy the first fintech in Egypt to go public through this structure, with Catalyst issuing shares in exchange for Qardy’s equity.

• Nigerian healthtech Tespire has secured funding from Alternative Bank to scale its research project, Asibiti. The project targets one of the most complex challenges in Nigeria’s health system.

• African super app MaxAB-Wasoko has acquired Egypt’s Fatura, previously owned by EFG Finance. The deal will see Fatura fully integrated into MaxAB-Wasoko’s platform and unified under a single brand.

• Nigerian construction tech startup Cutstruct has raised $1.5 million in a seed round led by CRE Venture Capital. The funds will support its plans to scale across Nigeria, upgrade its platform, grow its supplier network, and boost delivery capacity.

Other Events and Opportunities

• Servercore wants to meet up. This month, we’ll be hosting a meet-up back in Kenya with Servercore. It’s happening on June 4th and the topic of the night is Cybersecurity. Come join us for night of real world insights with industry experts, networking with developers and product teams, light snacks, drinks, and great people. And security-focused content you can use right away. You can reserve yourself a spot here.

• The Africa Cloud and Security Roadshow is coming to Kampala Serena Hotel on June 5, 2025, bringing together CIOs, cloud experts, and cybersecurity professionals for a focused day of insights and networking. With tailored sessions addressing regional tech challenges and keynote speakers from across Africa, the event is designed to spark high-level conversations that influence real technology decisions. Register here.

And that's a wrap!

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

Cheers,

The Tech Safari Team

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