For three years, FlexPay sold Kenyans a fintech fairy tale, offering a save-now-buy-later platform built on the promise that Kenyans did not need more debt, only more discipline, and that the company holding their money in the meantime could be trusted with it.

That promise collapsed on 1 September when detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations walked into Roysambu and walked out with two of Flexitech Group Limited’s own directors in handcuffs. Martin Kariuki Maina and Johnson Gituma Mwangi, the latter a co-founder and the company’s long-serving chief operating officer, are accused of stealing over KES 30 M (nearly a quarter of a million dollars) belonging to an unnamed major retail chain.

According to the DCI, the pair were acting as collection agents for the retailer, receiving funds from customers who had purchased and picked up goods from several branches. Instead of forwarding this money to the company, they allegedly diverted it for personal use.

FlexPay’s entire model relies on trust. The platform offers a digitised version of the old East African lay-by system, letting shoppers pay for a fridge or a school uniform in instalments and collect it once the balance is cleared. It identified as a payment facilitation and savings platform, not a lender. The company offers goal-based savings products and a group savings feature known as FlexPay Chama.

That framing did real work for FlexPay. It let the company sit outside the perimeter that usually catches deposit-takers and digital lenders in Kenya, even as its products did precisely what banks and saccos do: collect money from ordinary Kenyans and promise to give it back at a later date.

By September 2023 the company was telling TechCrunch it had signed more than 600 merchant partners and served over 200,000 customers, part of the pitch that carried it into TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield 200 and, later, into the second cohort of Safaricom’s Spark Accelerator in October 2025.

Long before the DCI arrived, customers were already expressing their frustrations. In July, one customer reached out to a Kenyan blogger, desperate for assistance after waiting six weeks for a KES 13 K (USD 100.00) refund. He had contacted the company repeatedly, but was continually met with promises that his refund was being processed without any clear timeline. By August, another customer shared a similar experience: KES 24.7 K (USD 190.00) had not been returned since July. Because of this delay, she was unable to send her child back to school.

These breakdowns in trust became evident through customer reviews on Google Play, especially leading up to mid-2026. Feedback consistently mentioned withdrawal requests taking much longer than anticipated, and customer support being noticeably lacking. One customer shared their experience of waiting for a KES 15 K (USD 115.00) refund from June, which still hadn’t arrived by July. According to FlexPay’s terms, refunds are supposed to be processed within 14 working days, yet many customers reported waiting for months without any resolution.

FlexPay is not the first Kenyan buy-now-pay-later alternative to run into trouble. The sector has seen some turbulence and also been under pressure over alleged predatory lending, fueling the push for regulation. But this case is less about aggressive lending practices or high interest rates, and more about a company that positioned itself as a trustworthy steward of customer savings, a platform that promised financial empowerment without debt, and whose founders now stand accused of simply taking money that was never theirs to keep.

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Ghanaian fintech Seevcash has raised USD 333 K through the Stellar Community Fund (SCF) and affiliated ecosystem programmes, bringing its total support from the Stellar ecosystem across four awards.

Founded in 2022 by Dawuda Iddrisu, Charles Owusu and Cosmos Appiah, Seevcash is headquartered in Accra, Ghana, with a US incorporation, and provides low-cost cross-border payments and peer-to-peer money transfers for African diaspora communities.

The platform allows users to send and request money and manage funds across borders, using blockchain infrastructure including the Stellar network. The company says it has more than 25,000 users across five countries.

Alongside the funding, Seevcash has launched a Visa card that lets users spend their funds online and in person wherever Visa is accepted, building on its partnership with MoneyGram.

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Nigerian startups Trade Lenda and AirSmat have secured a combined USD 450 K investment from Village Capital’s Africa Ecosystem Catalysts Facility, marking the fund’s entry into Nigeria after backing two Ghanaian startups months earlier.

Trade Lenda, founded by Adeshina Adewumi, is a digital financial services platform that provides business loans, embedded finance, and Sharia-compliant financing to SMEs and farmers. The company says it has supported more than 260,000 customers across five Nigerian geopolitical zones, with women accounting for 66% of its users.

AirSmat, founded by Soji Sanyaolu, is a climate-tech startup that converts agricultural waste into biochar-based fertiliser, improving soil health while generating carbon-market opportunities for farmers. AirSmat will use the funding to complete and commission a commercial factory and expand production.

Africa Fintech Foundry sourced both investments for Village Capital.

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Pewbeam, a church-technology startup founded by Dára Sobaloju, has secured investment from Resilience17 (R17) to develop its AI-powered platform for church services.

Based in Nigeria, Pewbeam is building technology that helps churches manage live services in real time, including automatically surfacing relevant scriptures and presentation slides. The company is also developing AI-powered lyrics and Pewnote, expanding its tools for both service teams and congregants.

R17 says it is backing Pewbeam as part of its focus on African technology startups. The investment comes as Pewbeam looks to deepen its AI capabilities and build technology around the operational and presentation needs of modern church services. 

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Nomba, a Nigerian fintech founded in 2016 by Yinka Adewale and Pelumi Aboluwarin, has raised a USD 3 M debt facility from CardinalStone Finance to expand its cross-border payments infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, Nomba provides payment and banking infrastructure that helps businesses accept payments, manage money and move funds across borders. The facility will provide more USD liquidity through Nomba’s banking relationships in Hong Kong and Singapore, supporting trade between Central Africa and Asia.

Nomba currently processes over USD 480 M monthly in cross-border payments and is targeting USD 1 B. It plans to raise another USD 20 M–USD 50 M, while looking to expand into Zambia and Uganda next.

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On Sunday, August 30, a message began circulating across Nigerian social media and messaging platforms, quickly getting serious mileage. It looked official, an “Official Note” from OPay Digital Services announcing that the company would suspend all transactions and account-related services from September 1, 2026, for a “long indefinite break.” Customers were advised to withdraw their funds “as soon as possible.”

Within hours, panic set in and withdrawals spiked. A fintech that serves an estimated 46 to 50 million users across Nigeria, supports over one million merchants and employs more than 7,000 people, was suddenly facing something that looked alarmingly like a bank run.

OPay moved fast. On Monday, it took to X to declare the notice false and inserted app banners notifying users of the falsehood. By Tuesday, it had released a video debunking the rumour. On Wednesday, the company held a press conference in Lagos, its top executives flanked by lawyers, making it abundantly clear that OPay was not going anywhere.

“Dem say we dey shut down September 1, today na September 2, we still dey veri active and transactions still dey go on normal,” said Dotun Adekunle, OPay’s chief operating officer and chief technology officer, speaking in Pidgin. “We dey here, we no dey run wit your money, we dey gidigba.”

But the company’s response went beyond reassurance. OPay has engaged the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Police Force to investigate the source of the false information. It has already commenced legal action against at least one individual.

“Anyone who deliberately engages in similar conduct should expect decisive legal action and the full consequences provided by the law,” said Akinfolabi Rokosu, OPay’s chief legal counsel.

This is not an isolated incident. OPay has faced similar rumours before, in 2024 and again in November 2025, when false claims circulated that it had shut down or that customer deposits had been wiped out. Other major Nigerian corporations, including MTN, Wema Bank and pharmaceutical company May & Baker, have also been targeted by fake shutdown announcements in recent months.

***

Earlier this year, the Central Bank of Nigeria upgraded OPay’s operating licence to national status, along with those of Moniepoint, Kuda Bank and other major fintechs. The upgrade formally recognised that these companies had expanded far beyond their original licence scopes and now operate across all 36 states. OPay, backed by SoftBank and Sequoia Capital and valued at USD 2 B, is preparing for a potential US initial public offering, while also weighing a secondary listing in Nigeria.

Yet for all its regulatory validation and institutional backing, a single piece of fabricated information shared across WhatsApp and X was enough to send millions of customers rushing to withdraw their money.

Olalekan Disu, executive at eTranzact and financial secretary of the Association of Licensed Payment Operators of Nigeria, said the threat goes beyond OPay. “Trust is the foundation of digital payments,” pointing out that when false information about a major player spreads, it does not just undermine one company but discourages adoption of digital payments across the board.

OPay has spent the years since its 2018 launch building a platform that helped millions of Nigerians navigate everything from daily transfers to the cash crisis of 2022 and 2023. Its green agent terminals have become a ubiquitous sight across the country. That infrastructure, and the trust it represents, is now being tested, not by usual regulatory or competitor adversity, but by the speed and reach of misinformation.

The company’s response, involving both state security agencies and the courts, signals that it views this as an existential threat. Rokosu said the action was necessary to ensure accountability and customer protection. But the deeper question is whether any amount of legal enforcement can keep pace with how easily fake news can be manufactured and spread.

OPay is still standing. The false shutdown date has passed, and transactions are flowing. But the episode has exposed a vulnerability that no amount of venture capital or regulatory approval can fully insulate against. In a country where digital finance has become essential infrastructure, the rumour mill is a systemic risk that the industry has only begun to confront.

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Uber officially shut down its ride-hailing operations in Nigeria today, September 2, ending a 12-year presence in Africa’s most populous nation. The company also exited Uganda on the same day, part of a global restructuring that will cut roughly 3,300 jobs, or about 10 percent of its workforce. In a statement, Uber said the decision followed “a thorough review of our business” and thanked Nigerians for trusting the platform since it launched in Lagos in 2014.

It is the latest in a pattern of retreat from African markets where the economics of ride-hailing have become increasingly untenable. In January, Uber shut down in Tanzania after nearly a decade, citing a regulatory environment that made profitability difficult. Last year, it closed operations in Côte d’Ivoire. The withdrawals come as Uber pivots aggressively toward autonomous vehicles, planning to invest more than USD 10 B in robotaxis and aiming to offer driverless rides in 15 cities by the end of 2026.

For Nigeria, the departure is a significant blow to a digital economy that had developed with the platform in an often fraught landscape. Uber estimated in 2023 that it generated an additional NGN 6.1 B (USD 9.6 M) in annual income for Nigerian drivers compared to traditional alternatives.

Yet drivers have long complained that the math does not work in their favour. They face rising fuel costs, vehicle maintenance expenses, and commissions as high as 25 to 30 percent. In March, hundreds of drivers in Lagos went on a three-day strike over low fares and high commissions, logging off platforms including Uber, Bolt, and inDrive. “Drivers operating on platforms such as Uber, Bolt, inDrive, and Lagride face rising operational costs, including high fuel prices and vehicle maintenance,” one union leader said at the time.

The tensions have fuelled a conversation about local alternatives. After the March strike, drivers began discussing the creation of homegrown apps to regain control over pricing and commissions. Those conversations now take on new urgency. Bolt, which has overtaken Uber as Nigeria’s most downloaded mobility app, remains the dominant player. InDrive and local platform Lagride also continue to operate. But Uber’s exit leaves a gap that’s now up for grabs.

Regulatory friction has also mounted. In August, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria suspended Uber and Bolt from operating at airports, causing fares to surge and passengers to face long delays. The ban was later partially resolved, but it underscored the uneasy relationship between global platforms and local authorities.

Uber says it remains committed to Sub-Saharan Africa and that the withdrawals from Nigeria and Uganda will not affect its operations elsewhere on the continent. But the company is also reducing fully remote roles to about 1 percent of its workforce and flattening its corporate structure. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has said the rapid expansion over the past five years created organisational complexity that slowed decision-making. The restructuring is meant to redirect resources toward areas with greater growth potential, including autonomous mobility.

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When Google started sending notifications to Kenyan YouTubers in late August asking for their KRA Personal Identification Numbers by October 1, the reaction was swift. Media personalities shared screenshots of said notification across social media, prompting heated discussions among followers. Actor and content creator Abel Mutua voiced what many were thinking: “You can tax us, but we don’t see where the money is going.”

The tax itself is not new. Kenya’s Finance Act 2023 introduced a 5% withholding tax on digital content monetisation for resident creators, down from an originally proposed 15%. At the time, it was framed as a concession. Kimani Kuria, who chaired the Finance and Planning Committee, said the reduction aligned digital creators with other professionals like lawyers and accountants who also attract a 5% withholding rate. The law took effect on July 1, 2023.

What changed is enforcement. For three years, the tax existed mostly on paper. Creators were expected to self-declare and settle at year-end, a system that relied heavily on voluntary compliance. Now Google is doing the deduction at source, automatically withholding 5% from monthly YouTube earnings before creators see the money. The first deduction applies to September 2026 earnings paid out in October. Creators who don’t submit a verified PIN by October 1 will have their payments held.

The Digital Content Creators Association of Kenya (DCCAK) has asked the National Treasury and KRA to suspend enforcement, calling the rollout an “ambush.” The association argues that creators have been given weeks to comply with an obligation that has existed in law since 2023, with no meaningful consultation on how it would be administered.

The deeper grievance is structural. The 5% is deducted from gross earnings, not net profit. A creator earning KES 100 K loses KES 5 K before accounting for internet data, cameras, editing software, studio hire, or crew payments. For small and emerging creators with thin, irregular margins, that deduction can make it harder to recover production costs. Established creators with predictable incomes may absorb it more easily, but the sector’s growth depends on the newcomers, not the few who have already made it.

There is also confusion about how the withheld amount interacts with annual income tax. KRA describes withholding tax as an advance credit against a creator’s final income tax liability, not a final tax. But DCCAK says creators haven’t received clear guidance on how that credit will appear on their KRA accounts, how to claim it, or how long refunds will take if the withheld amount exceeds what they ultimately owe. That uncertainty leaves creators guessing whether they’re paying 5% or possibly more.

Kenya’s approach puts it ahead of most African markets. Google does not withhold local tax from AdSense payments in Nigeria or South Africa, where creators are expected to declare platform income independently. Tanzania introduced a similar 5% withholding tax on digital content creators through its Finance Act 2024. Nigeria’s withholding tax regulations also apply a 5% rate to royalties paid to creators. But in those countries, enforcement remains patchy. Kenya is the first where a major platform is actively deducting at source.

Despite ongoing protests, the October 1 deadline stands for now, and creators who don’t comply won’t get paid. The tax is coming, whether they are ready or not.

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Kora, the payment infrastructure platform, has joined the International Air Transport Association’s IATA Financial Gateway (IFG), connecting global airlines to Africa’s payment ecosystem through a single, reliable infrastructure layer.

IATA Financial Gateway is the airline industry’s dedicated payment orchestration and management platform. IFG brings together global, regional and local payment partners to provide airlines with the right mix of payment options to maximise acceptance, reduce cost, and better serve customers in every market. Through this integration, airlines and travel agencies using IFG can now accept payments across Africa via Kora, including cards, bank transfers, mobile money, and local alternative payment methods, without having to build or manage multiple complex integrations independently.

Africa is one of the fastest-growing aviation markets in the world. The continent is expected to add more than 300 million new passengers by 2050. Yet global airlines have long faced a fundamental operational challenge when entering African markets: fragmented local payment rails, FX complexity, disconnected settlement systems, and the burden of managing multiple payment service provider relationships across Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Egypt and South Africa. This partnership removes that friction. One connection through IFG gives airlines access to Kora’s full African payment infrastructure, with the settlement reliability and local compliance that enterprise operations require.

Dickson Nsofor, CEO of Kora, said, “Africa is not a market to figure out later. It is a growth opportunity that demands serious infrastructure today. Our partnership with IATA signals that the rails are ready. Global airlines no longer have to choose between expanding into Africa and managing payment complexity. With Kora inside IFG, they get both.”

IATA currently represents over 370 international airlines globally. With Kora now part of IFG, those airlines gain direct access to Africa’s payment stack across all markets where Kora operates.

IATA Financial Gateway (IFG) enables greater flexibility in travel payment processing for the world’s airlines and travel suppliers, helping them build a cost-effective travel payment strategy. Kora’s participation strengthens our ability to serve airlines operating in or expanding across African markets,” said Kamil Al-Awadhi, Regional Vice President, Africa and Middle East. 

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Moroccan proptech startup Agenz has raised USD 5 M in an oversubscribed seed round co-led by Breega, Attijariwafa Ventures, and Saviu Ventures.

Founded in 2021 by brothers Malik and Badr Belkeziz, Agenz operates an end-to-end real estate platform that combines property valuation tools, market analytics, software for real estate professionals, and a transaction marketplace for buyers.

The company aims to improve transparency and efficiency in Morocco’s property market, which has traditionally been fragmented and reliant on informal brokerage networks.

Since launching its transaction platform in 2023, Agenz has grown rapidly, recording more than 730,000 monthly visits by May 2026. The new funding will support team growth, technology development, product expansion, and future international expansion plans.

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Airtel Africa’s mobile money business processed nearly USD 200 B in transactions over the past year as the telecoms operator expands financial services across 14 African countries, putting it on track for a London listing that analysts say could value the unit at up to USD 10 B.

The company’s Sustainability Report 2026, published on Wednesday, showed that Airtel Money’s transaction value climbed 44% to approximately USD 196 B in the financial year to March 31, driven by microloans, international transfers and merchant payments. The customer base grew 21% to 54.1 million users.

Chief Executive Sunil Taldar said expanding access to financial services and connectivity remains central to the company’s strategy. “Across Africa, access to connectivity, financial services and digital education is increasingly essential to economic opportunity,” he said in the report.

The growth positions Airtel Money for an initial public offering scheduled for the second half of 2026. Analysts at CLSA estimate the unit could raise between USD 1.5 B and USD 2 B at a valuation of up to USD 10 B, a fourfold increase from 2021, making it one of the largest fintech listings on a European exchange in recent years.

The mobile money business now has an EBITDA margin of 50.8%, above the broader Airtel Africa margin of 49.3%, and contributes 20% of the group’s regional revenue. However, penetration remains at only 29% of Airtel Africa’s 184 million mobile subscribers, with significant room for growth in Nigeria, where only 2.7 million customers currently use the service.

Airtel Africa has also expanded its digital infrastructure, with mobile network coverage reaching 81.9% of the population, including 73.1% in rural areas. Smartphone penetration rose to 49.5%, while data customers grew to 84.2 million.

The company’s agent network, which supports financial inclusion and local entrepreneurship, expanded by 39% to 2.4 million agents. Women account for 44.1% of Airtel Money customers, the report showed.

Beyond financial services, the Airtel Africa Foundation connected 3,043 schools to free internet through a partnership with UNICEF, up from 2,176 the previous year. The company also converted more than 950 network sites from off-grid to on-grid power, cutting diesel consumption by 9.1 million litres.

Feature Image Credits: Developing Telecoms

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South African small businesses are shifting from a survival mindset to more deliberate, disciplined growth strategies as economic conditions slowly improve, though lingering global uncertainties keep their optimism in check, a report released on Thursday shows.

The latest SME Pulse Report by SME funding startup, Lula, found that entrepreneurs are moving beyond short-term crisis management and focusing on operational optimisation after years of navigating power cuts, high inflation and steep interest rates.

“The story of SMEs in 2026 is no longer one of pure survival, but not yet one of full recovery either,” Lula Chief Executive Trevor Gosling said. “What we’re seeing instead is measured optimism. Businesses are becoming more deliberate about where they deploy capital, which opportunities they pursue, and how they protect cash flow.”

The report points to improving affordability for small businesses over the past 12 months, with easing inflation and greater energy stability restoring some predictability after prolonged pressure.

Business confidence has also improved. The RMB/BER Business Confidence Index rose to 47 in the first quarter of 2026, the highest level in nearly five years, building on gains in late 2025. Inflation has moderated from previous highs, and the South African Reserve Bank has begun cutting interest rates, with the prime lending rate at 10.25% by May 2026.

However, the report cautions that conditions remain fragile. Escalating conflict in the Middle East has driven up global oil prices, threatening to push inflation back up and delay or reverse further interest rate relief. Gosling said the external environment has already shifted rapidly since the report’s data was compiled earlier this year.

“SMEs are operating in a market that can change very quickly and often without warning,” he said. “Businesses cannot afford to become complacent.”

The report also noted a shift in how SME owners view funding. Many still rely on personal savings or credit, but there are growing signs that business funding is being seen less as a last resort and more as a strategic tool for growth. Some businesses are now using finance proactively to secure stock ahead of demand or expand operations rather than waiting for cash flow pressure to build.

“The future of SME finance will not simply be about access to capital,” Gosling said. “It will increasingly be about helping businesses make smarter decisions and giving them the confidence to act at the right time.”

South Africa’s SME sector faces a financing gap estimated at more than ZAR 350 B (USD 18 B), according to the OECD. The Lula report suggests businesses that embrace funding as a growth enabler rather than an emergency measure are better positioned to scale.

The report is based on Lula’s internal affordability, funding and operating environment data, alongside broader SME sentiment research conducted with News24.

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Zipline’s rise in Africa began with the promise of delivering blood and vaccines to remote clinics faster than any road could manage. Nearly a decade later, new peer-reviewed research shows the drones are doing far more than restock medical fridges.

Drone delivery networks operated by Zipline in Africa are linked to lower child mortality, higher farmer incomes and stronger local economic activity, according to three new studies examining operations in Rwanda and Ghana.

In a set of findings released on Wednesday, the autonomous logistics company documented that the same infrastructure built to bypass broken supply chains is now generating measurable returns in farming productivity, child nutrition, and household wealth.

One study, published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science, evaluated a programme in rural Rwanda that used drone-delivered, temperature-controlled pig semen combined with community training. The model increased farmers’ annual income by 17%, generating a 68% return on investment for smallholder pig producers, Zipline said.

Success rates for artificial insemination rose from 48.8% to 74.8% after drone logistics were introduced, the company reported, citing research data.

A separate study, focused on severe acute malnutrition, compared Zipline-served and non-served health facilities in Rwanda over five years. At sites where ready-to-use therapeutic food was delivered by drone, in‑hospital childhood deaths from severe malnutrition fell 22%, the findings show. Visits for severe anaemia in young children dropped 46%.

“The protocol for treating malnutrition has not changed. What changed was whether supplies were there when clinicians needed them,” said Pedro Kremer, Zipline’s head of impact and research. “That is the variable these studies are measuring.”

Another piece of evidence came from a third study examining Zipline’s GH3 distribution centre in northern Ghana. Researchers combined a household survey with satellite analysis of nighttime light intensity, a recognised proxy for local economic activity, and benchmarked the area against 82 comparable locations across the country.

It was found that households within two kilometres of the Zipline hub earned an additional USD 850.00 to USD 1.2 K per year. Liquid asset ownership fell about 27% with every additional 1.5 km from the hub, and improvements in drinking‑water access followed the same proximity pattern. Furthermore, nighttime light intensity near the hub was “significantly higher” than at the 82 comparable locations.

The results come as Zipline accelerates its buildout across the continent. In Nigeria, the company announced plans last month to grow from three distribution centres to 15 by 2028, potentially giving nearly 100 million people faster access to medical supplies. Rwanda is adding an urban delivery system, Platform 2, in Kigali, while Ghana, Kenya and Côte d’Ivoire continue to expand.

“This research shows what communities and governments across Africa have seen firsthand: when essential supplies reliably reach the people who need them, outcomes change,” said Caitlin Burton, Zipline’s chief executive for Africa and emerging markets.

However, an on-and-off debate over cost remains a sticky point. Ghana’s Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh told a press conference in Accra in December that an audit of Zipline’s contract revealed that only 12% of areas served qualified as “hard-to-reach” and only 4% of deliveries could be classified as emergencies.

The minister said the government owes Zipline GHC 174 M (USD 12.5 M) and has raised questions about whether high operational costs are justified.

Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga called the contract a “drain on national resources” and argued the health service should have developed its own drone capacity. Opposition has also come from Parliament’s Health Committee chairman, Dr. Mark Kurt Nawaane, who described Zipline as “a solution to a problem the country does not have” and said the real challenge is a shortage of voluntary blood donors, not transportation.

The company maintains that it runs one of the highest-impact, most cost-effective interventions ever studied, across multiple domains, including immunisations, maternal mortality, and nutrition. The Country Manager of Zipline Ghana, Daniel Kwaku Merki, pushed back against claims that the company’s drone delivery service is being misused to transport non-essential items, insisting that such non-medical deliveries are “extremely rare.”

Zipline’s CEO for Africa and emerging markets, said in Wednesday’s press release that the research shows measurable results across multiple sectors. “Zipline began by improving access to critical health supplies. Today, the same infrastructure is strengthening nutrition systems, agricultural productivity and local economies,” she said.

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Nearly all Egyptian consumers use artificial intelligence to help them shop, but only a fraction trust AI to complete a purchase on their behalf; a paradox that reveals a broader challenge facing the global payments industry as it rushes to build infrastructure for autonomous commerce.

A Visa study released Tuesday found that 91% of consumers in Egypt have used AI tools to assist with shopping, comparing prices, checking reviews and finding gift ideas. Fully 97% say the technology makes online shopping faster and easier. Yet when asked whether they would trust an AI agent to handle checkout, that figure collapsed to just 38%.

The findings, from the annual Stay Secure survey conducted by Wakefield Research, lay bare the gap between consumer appetite for AI-assisted discovery and their reluctance to cede control of the payment itself. The study surveyed 5,800 adults across 17 markets in Central Europe, the Middle East and Africa, including Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.

The trust gap is not unique to Egypt. In South Africa, only 23% of consumers would trust an AI agent to complete a purchase, according to the same study. In Kenya, that figure stood at 29%. Across the region, consumers are embracing AI for research, but they draw a firm line when money changes hands.

“Consumers see fraud protection as a shared responsibility, but they expect financial institutions, governments, and payment providers to take the lead,” said Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president for North Africa, the Levant and Pakistan.

The study also revealed a rapidly shifting e-commerce landscape. Eighty‑five percent of Egyptian consumers have purchased products directly through social media platforms. But as commerce migrates to new channels, fraud follows. Among consumers who reported experiencing a financial scam in the past 12 months, some 36% of respondents, nearly half said the incident occurred on social media, more than on any other platform.

In 2025 alone, Egyptian authorities said they thwarted financial fraud operations worth an estimated EGP 4 B (approximately USD 77 M), according to statements from the Central Bank of Egypt. Across the continent, an Interpol‑coordinated operation in early 2026 involving 16 African countries resulted in 651 arrests and exposed scams tied to over USD 45 M in losses.

The findings arrive as Visa, Mastercard, and other payments giants race to prepare financial institutions for agentic commerce – autonomous transactions executed by AI agents with minimal human involvement. Visa has already begun enrolling banks in its Agentic Ready programme, which enables institutions to process such payments.

But as the Egypt data makes clear, the infrastructure is arriving ahead of consumer trust. Asked who should bear primary responsibility for fraud protection while shopping online, nearly half of Egyptian consumers pointed to government authorities. Only 13% believed consumers themselves should be primarily responsible.

The path forward remains uncertain for payments companies. Consumers have demonstrated they will use AI to discover products and compare prices. Whether they will ever trust it to spend their money remains an open question.

Feature Image Credits: Consultancy-ME

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Nigerian insurtech startup Myka has raised an undisclosed pre-seed funding round from investors including Ventures Platform, TLcom, Shola Akinlade, co-founder of Paystack; Ridwan Olalere, founder of LemFi; and Olumide Soyombo, founder of Voltron Capital.

Founded in 2025 by serial tech entrepreneur Sim Shagaya, Muritala Ahmed, and Oluwadamilola Okenla, Myka is a licensed digital insurance broker that enables consumers and SMEs to discover, compare, and purchase insurance products from multiple providers in real time.

The startup aims to address Nigeria’s low insurance penetration by improving distribution through digital and offline channels that customers already use.

Working with leading underwriters and under the regulatory oversight of Nigeria’s National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Myka offers coverage across categories, including health, vehicles, mobile phones, homes, and businesses, with a mission to expand access to financial protection at scale.

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Nearly five years after its high-profile launch as Africa’s first central bank digital currency, Nigeria’s eNaira is being quietly repurposed. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has acknowledged in a new strategy document that adoption of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) has been slow, and is now repositioning it away from a consumer-facing payment tool toward a backend infrastructure for government disbursements and cross-border settlements.

The eNaira, launched in October 2021 to much fanfare, has struggled to gain traction. According to the CBN’s Payments System Vision (PSV) 2028 strategy, unveiled on June 1, the CBDC currently has “millions of wallets” but has processed only about NGN 22 B (USD 16 M) in transactions. This is a fraction of the nearly 1 quadrillion naira in total electronic payments processed in 2024, and well below the 300 million transactions the bank had envisioned for the digital currency by 2026.

In the PSV 2028 document, the CBN acknowledged that barriers to the eNaira’s success included “limited stakeholder engagement and buy-in” during its design and implementation. The bank conceded that adoption had been slow, with the CBDC offering little that existing bank apps, fintech wallets and mobile money platforms were not already providing more conveniently.

Rather than competing directly with these established platforms, the CBN now wants the eNaira to become part of the infrastructure that underpins Nigeria’s digital payments ecosystem. The strategy, which runs through 2028, places the CBDC alongside initiatives such as open banking, digital identity and cross-border payments frameworks.

The rethink comes amid a broader strategic shift at the CBN under Governor Olayemi Cardoso, who has prioritised stabilisation, trade facilitation and investor confidence.

The PSV 2028 framework, unveiled at a gathering of banking executives and fintech operators in Abuja on June 1, aims to position Nigeria among Africa’s leading payment ecosystems by promoting faster, safer digital transactions and strengthening cross-border payment systems under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The path forward for the e-naira will focus on government-to-person (G2P) payments, such as welfare disbursements and subsidies, as well as cross-border settlements. “Routing every government payment through the eNaira is where the plan argues with itself,” noted one analysis of the strategy, pointing to the tension between the CBDC’s past failures and its future ambitions.

The repositioning reflects a quiet admission that Africa’s first CBDC experiment, once hailed as a landmark step toward a cashless economy, has fallen short of its original promise. Now, the CBN is betting that a more utilitarian role can salvage the project.

The post Nigeria Plans Salvage Job For Its eNaira Digital Currency Flop appeared first on WeeTracker.

Tunisia’s state-backed ANAVA fund has invested USD 4 M in Qatar-based Rasmal Innovation Fund, strengthening ties between North African and Gulf investment ecosystems. Rasmal, which recently secured backing from the Qatar Investment Authority’s USD 1 B fund-of-funds program, focuses on early to growth-stage startups across MENA in fintech, SaaS, healthtech, and logistics.

The partnership aims to channel international capital into Tunisian startups. Rasmal partner Soumaya Ben Beya Dridje, a former ANAVA employee, brings local expertise to the fund, which has already invested in Tunisian water-tech company Aqua Development.

“This reflects our commitment to growing Tunisia’s tech ecosystem,” said ANAVA, which is supported by the World Bank, BII, and KfW.

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Circle Ventures, the investment arm of USDC stablecoin issuer Circle, has invested in the USD 20 M African Blockchain Fund run by CV VC (Crypto Valley Venture Capital), marking a pivotal bet on Africa’s growing stablecoin-driven digital asset ecosystem.

The Cayman-Islands–domiciled fund focuses on early-stage African startups using blockchain for fintech, payments, and data infrastructure. This shift towards infrastructure investment follows a wave of crypto exchange shutdowns across the continent, as capital now flows to startups tackling structural issues like currency volatility, cross-border payment friction, and financial exclusion.

Launched in 2022 by CV VC Africa Managing Partner Gideon Greaves, the African Blockchain Fund has previously backed ventures in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa. Circle’s participation signals growing confidence from global players that Africa’s digital asset future will be built on stablecoin-powered utility rather than speculative trading.

This comes as stablecoins now account for 43% of all crypto transaction volume in sub-Saharan Africa, according to Chainalysis, with Nigerians receiving UD 24 B in stablecoins in 2024 alone; the second highest globally.

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Some customers write a bad review. Sometimes a brand fights back. And sometimes, the fight becomes headline news.

In an era where a single tweet, TikTok, or Facebook post can dent a brand’s reputation, some African companies have taken “defending their name” to extremes; dragging customers and critics to court, threatening multimillion-dollar suits, or even involving police.

From tomato paste makers and biscuit brands to beauty labels and smartphone giants, these five African companies turned what should have been minor customer complaints into full-blown legal battles, and in the process, showed just how thin the line is between defending reputation and torching it.

Here are real cases revealing the perilous line between protecting reputation and silencing dissent:

1. Erisco Foods vs. Chioma Okoli (Nigeria)

In September 2023, Chioma Okoli, a consumer in Lagos, posted a Facebook review claiming that Erisco’s Nagiko Tomato Mix tasted “too much sugar”.

What followed was a chain of legal actions. Erisco filed a petition, the Police arrested Okoli, and the matter turned into a full-blown court case.

Erisco’s CEO, Eric Umeofia, made some forceful statements:

“I am pursuing legal charges against her because I have a conscience. Is she right to falsely criticise my product, and people are supporting her?,” he fumed. “I have over 3000 people in my factory; indirectly, we are paying 20,000 people. I cannot allow this type of ‘syndicate’ to come and destroy my business.”

Okoli’s legal representation countered strongly. She has threatened to demand NGN 500 M (~USD 334 K at current rates) from Erisco for violation of her human rights, saying the company’s actions went far beyond what is reasonable.

The saga has become a lightning rod in Nigeria for debates about weaponising cybercrime laws to muzzle legitimate consumer criticism.

This case also highlighted the potential for the Cybercrime Act in Nigeria to be used in defamation or “misinformation” cases, raising concerns among consumer rights advocates, activists, and legal experts about the chilling effects on legitimate criticism.

2. Nuvita Biscuits vs. TikTok Reviewer (Kenya)

Back in 2018, Kenyan TikTokers and Facebook users began complaining that Nuvita’s biscuits were “shrinking” in size while prices rose.

When a popular content creator posted a sarcastic video showing a tiny biscuit in her palm, Nuvita hit back. They issued public denials, flagging takedown requests, and allegedly pressuring the influencer’s agency to silence her.

The dispute escalated into public rows, removal requests for ads, and reported attempts to pressure or discredit the critic, a classic example of a brand pushing back at a consumer’s public review and commentary.

Rather than quelling the backlash, Nuvita’s combative stance supercharged it, with memes, boycott hashtags, and coverage in Kenyan business outlets dissecting its PR blunder.

The incident became a textbook cautionary tale for Kenyan marketers on the dangers of escalating snarky reviews into corporate vendettas.

3. Van Deventer Inc vs. Sizwe Mdakane (South Africa)

In 2023, a South African law firm, Van Deventer Inc, attempted to use the courts to silence a former client, Sizwe Mdakane, after he posted a negative review of the firm’s service on Google Reviews.

Mdakane complained that the advice he received from junior practitioners at the firm was poor. The firm believed this criticism “implied it was unprofessional, dishonest and untrustworthy,” and sought a court order to force the removal of the post and restrain Mdakane from making further comments.

The Gauteng High Court rejected the application. Judge Stuart Wilson, in his ruling, stressed that what matters in defamation isn’t necessarily the intent of the critic, but how a “reasonable reader of ordinary intelligence” would interpret the statement. He found that Mdakane’s comments, while critical, did not meet the legal threshold for defamation that justifies gagging speech.

The judgment was hailed by legal commentators as a landmark win for consumer speech in South Africa.

4. Native Child Africa vs. Beauty Influencer (South Africa)

In 2021, South African haircare brand Native Child Africa sought an interdict (court injunction) against a local beauty influencer who had posted Instagram Stories calling its products unsafe.

The company argued the posts were false and defamatory; the court granted an interim interdict forcing the influencer to stop posting any further criticism pending full trial.

Consumer-rights groups criticised the move as “corporate censorship via lawfare,” warning it could chill honest product reviews.

The case underscored how South African defamation law can be used pre-emptively to muzzle critics, even before any full evidence hearing.

5. OPPO Kenya vs. AIfluence / Influencers

A more modern twist on review-based conflict is playing out in the influencer economy. In early 2025, OPPO Kenya sued the marketing agency AIfluence over a dispute triggered by content creators who claimed they were not paid for their work promoting OPPO’s Reno12 series campaign.

Influencers like Flaqo Raz publicly shared that they had created three months’ worth of content in only two weeks under pressure from OPPO and AIfluence, only for payments to be delayed or not delivered, even five months later.

OPPO Kenya insists it fulfilled its obligations to AIfluence, making an initial 50 % down payment, then the remaining 50% once work was complete, on 25 October 2024.

Still, with unpaid influencers complaining, OPPO filed suit alleging defamation and brand damage due to the agency’s failure.

The earlier mentioned Flaqo, put it plainly: “How you both have handled the influencer team is absolutely disappointing and downright shameful.”

OPPO insists it paid AIfluence in full and accused the agency of defamation for letting unpaid influencers tarnish its brand.

The post 5 Times African Businesses Fought People For Bad Reviews And It Backfired appeared first on WeeTracker.

Gregory Rockson, founder and chief executive of Ghanaian health technology firm mPharma, is stepping down after 11 years, the founder has revealed. He will transition to the role of Chairman of the board, while Chief Operating Officer Kwesi Arhin will be promoted to CEO, effective Sept. 1, 2025.

The leadership change at one of Africa’s most prominent healthtech startups follows a period of significant restructuring, including a major round of layoffs and a strategic shift toward operational efficiency and new markets.

Arhin, who joined mPharma in 2021 and most recently served as COO, will take the helm. His background in finance and global consulting is seen as aligning with the company’s renewed focus on a disciplined growth model.

The move is a common transition for venture-backed startups, where founders move to a strategic board role as the company matures.

The CEO change caps a volatile period for the company. In September 2023, mPharma laid off approximately 150 employees, which Rockson at the time linked to macroeconomic challenges and a severe devaluation of Nigeria’s currency.

Months later, in January 2024, the company secured USD 13.6 M in new funding from investors, including the Sanofi Global Health Unit Impact Fund.

That capital has supported a strategic pivot, including a recent push into Francophone Africa, where the company reported an annualised revenue run rate of USD 1.5 M within seven months.

Founded in 2014, mPharma manages a network of pharmacies and clinics to improve access to affordable medicine. It has raised over USD 65 M to date and operates in several African countries, including Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya.

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