AFF INDUSTRY INSIGHT WEEKLY(#E09)

A weekly round-up of reported startup, fintech, digital economy and innovation news from Nigeria and Africa.

Standard Bank to invest up to $200 million in OPay

Standard Bank confirmed it will invest up to $200 million in OPay through a private placement alongside the fintech’s planned New York listing, capped at a 4.99% stake and dependent on the IPO going ahead. OPay’s filing shows first-half 2026 revenue of $467.1 million and net income of $90.9 million, with Nigeria contributing 89.5% of revenue. The two also plan to explore digital banking, lending and payments partnerships, though none of that is binding yet. Read more

Onafriq winds down Baxi agent banking in Nigeria

Onafriq is closing its Baxi agent banking business in Nigeria, citing naira depreciation, rising operating costs, shrinking margins and the growth of instant account-to-account transfers. It is not leaving Nigeria: its cross-border payments network and card issuing continue. Agents have been moved to another principal bank and have 30 days to transfer their funds. The closure follows Uber and Moove pulling out of the country in recent weeks. Read more

Moniepoint UK reports $36,284 in revenue

Moniepoint’s UK subsidiary reported $36,284 in revenue and a $226,172 loss for 2025, according to filings with UK regulators. The company says the revenue reflects only one month of activity after MonieWorld customers were moved to the entity in December, so it is not a full-year picture. MonieWorld itself is being discontinued as Moniepoint refocuses on African businesses. Read more

Kuunda completes a $5 million secondary share sale

Digital lending infrastructure company Kuunda completed a $5 million secondary sale led by E4E Africa, letting early investors cash out while existing backers increased their stakes. Because existing shares changed hands, the deal does not bring fresh capital into the business. Kuunda says it has delivered more than $4.4 billion in credit across over 870 million loans and plans to enter seven more markets. Read more

YoLa Fresh shuts down after failing to raise

Moroccan agritech YoLa Fresh, which linked smallholder farmers directly to retailers, closed after it could not secure follow-on funding. It had raised $9 million in disclosed rounds and served more than 1,000 retailers with about $1 million in monthly sales. Its founders rejected reports that it had raised $20 million. Read more

Microsoft winds down its Nairobi engineering centre

Staff at Microsoft’s Africa Development Centre in Nairobi were told on 12 October that the engineering hub is closing as part of a global restructuring, with nearly 400 jobs reportedly at risk. Microsoft has acknowledged changes to its Kenyan engineering team but has not confirmed headcount or timelines. Kenya’s ICT minister met the company and pressed it to protect local jobs. Read more

Lagos ride-hailing drivers strike for four days

Drivers on Bolt and inDrive in Lagos held a four-day strike from 12 October over fares, commissions and welfare, demanding a 10% cap on platform commissions. Bolt held talks with the union; the union called off the strike but told members to uninstall inDrive, saying the company had not engaged. Coming weeks after Uber’s exit, it shows how thin driver economics remain on Nigeria’s ride-hailing platforms. Read more

CashAfrica brings tap-to-pay to Chicken Republic

CashAfrica has partnered with Chicken Republic to roll out mobile tap-to-pay, starting with 54 Lagos branches before expanding to the chain’s other outlets across 25 states. Customers of partner apps including Kuda, Nomba, OPay, PalmPay and Zenith Bank can pay by tapping an NFC-enabled phone, with no fee to the customer; merchants pay 0.3% to 1.5%. CashAfrica estimates contactless is only about 0.1% of Nigerian payments and wants 5% within 18 months. The real test is reliability at busy counters. Read more

Bolt launches a subscription in Kenya

Bolt launched Bolt Plus in Kenya at KSh280 a month or KSh899 a year, offering 5–10% cashback on rides, free delivery on eligible orders, priority driver matching and three free cancellations a month. Bolt says it covers the cashback cost, not drivers. The move puts it head-to-head with Uber One. Read more

ARC Ride’s revenue grows, but so do losses

Filings show ARC Ride’s 2025 revenue rose 177% to KSh561.6 million, with battery-swapping income growing more than fivefold. Its net loss nearly tripled to KSh378.1 million as administrative and financing costs rose. The results came before its $33.3 million raise in September. Read more

MAX extends its Series B3 to $29 million

Nigerian e-mobility company MAX extended its Series B3 round to $29 million with an investment from US climate investor Nithio. MAX offers electric motorcycles to commercial riders on daily subscriptions and says it reached profitability in Nigeria in January. It operates in 20 cities across Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon. Read more

Eskom enters public EV charging

Eskom opened public EV charging stations at two Durban malls, with a 20% introductory discount for six months. It has 19 public chargers across 14 sites and has identified 84 more potential locations. Private operators have raised concerns about the state utility using its dominant position to undercut them. Read more

Dangote Refinery extends its IPO and picks Botswana for SADC trading

With SEC approval, Dangote Refinery extended its IPO by two weeks to 27 October to give more investors across Africa time to take part. The Committee of SADC Stock Exchanges chose Botswana as the regional trading venue, with Access Bank Botswana issuing depositary receipts that could raise up to $500 million and are expected to trade from 14 December. Kenya and Uganda have already opened their own access routes. Read more

Quickmart ends founder-linked contracts during its IPO

IPO disclosures show Quickmart ended several consultancy and management contracts with founder-linked firms in July, after paying them hundreds of millions of shillings. Eighteen stores are still leased from related parties. All of the KSh15 billion raised goes to the selling shareholders, who also bear the KSh575.6 million (about $4.5 million) cost of the offer. The offer closes on 30 October. Read more

Pepkor’s fintech merger draws shareholder pushback

Some directors and investor Aeon Investment Management say shareholders should have voted on Pepkor’s R21 billion ($1.3 billion) merger of Flash with Shop2Shop. Pepkor’s CEO will hold a 13.2% stake in the combined company. Pepkor says the deal did not need a vote under JSE rules and that the CEO recused himself. Read more

Ethiopia joins PAPSS

The National Bank of Ethiopia and PAPSS announced on 15 October that Ethiopia has joined the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, letting its banks connect to the network for cross-border payments in African currencies. No go-live date or list of first connected banks was given. Addis Ababa will host the PAPSS COWRY payments conference on 26–27 November. Read more

Ecobank links into China’s yuan payment network

Ecobank signed an agreement with China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) to make yuan payments easier for businesses trading between its 34 African markets and China, and opened a new Beijing office. China–Africa trade reached about $348 billion in 2025. Read more

Wise gets formal forex approval in South Africa

The South African Reserve Bank formally appointed Wise as a Category Two Authorised Dealer in foreign exchange with limited authority, ten months after conditional approval. The licence covers remittances in partnership with money transfer operators and transfers under the individual R2 million annual allowance. Wise has not yet given a launch date. Read more

Kenya’s payment bill could slow fintech fundraising

Kenya’s draft National Payment System Bill would require Central Bank approval before any investor acquires 10% or more of a licensed payment provider, with new significant shareholders vetted. The draft sets no deadline for approval decisions, so founders could wait between an investor’s commitment and the money arriving. It also proposes minimum capital of KES 250 million for e-money issuers, with one year for existing firms to comply. Read more

Airtel Money begins trading in London at $7 billion

Airtel Money began full trading on the London Stock Exchange on 14 October at a valuation of about $7 billion, below the $8–9 billion range reported in September. The offer was a sale of existing shares by minority investors, so Airtel Money itself raised no new money; Airtel Africa keeps 77.85%. Nigeria’s SmartCash sits outside the listed company because of Nigerian licensing rules. Read more

South Africa sets a date to open payments to non-banks

The South African Reserve Bank said fintechs, telecoms and retailers will be able to connect directly to the national payments system from mid-2027, without needing a sponsor bank. Rules are due by November, with first participants expected to go live around March 2027. The central bank says the aim is more competition and lower costs, though the real entry threshold will depend on the final rules. Read more

Kenya clears 19 of 21 FATF action items

Kenya’s Financial Reporting Centre told MPs the country has addressed 19 of the 21 action items set by the Financial Action Task Force and aims to leave the grey list by April 2027. Kenya was grey-listed in February 2024, which brings extra scrutiny of its banks and businesses in cross-border dealings. Read more

Ghana collects VAT on foreign digital services at the point of payment

From 15 October, banks and payment providers in Ghana collect the 20% tax on services such as Netflix, TikTok, Uber and cloud software when customers pay with Ghana-issued cards or mobile money. The tax is not new, but the Ghana Revenue Authority says about 100 foreign providers were not charging it, so some prices will rise. Read more

Lagos gives telcos 30 days to vet betting firms

The Lagos State Lotteries and Gaming Authority gave MTN, Airtel, Globacom, 9mobile and value-added service providers 30 days to confirm that gaming companies on their platforms are licensed and tax-compliant. Unlicensed services must be suspended, and the telcos must hand over transaction and revenue-sharing records. Read more

Zambia works to help creators earn from their content

Zambia is developing a framework to help local creators earn from advertising, subscriptions and partner programmes, and is talking to Meta, TikTok and Google. Platforms set their own eligibility rules, so this is a negotiation, not a guarantee that creators will start getting paid. Read more