Search Results for: digital economies
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News
Africa’s Trade Ambitions Are Running Into a Payments and Logistics Reality
The promise of the African Continental Free Trade Area has often been measured through projections: larger markets, stronger manufacturing output,…
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News
East Africa Tops Africa’s Growth Charts in 2026, UN Report Shows
East Africa is on course to be the continent’s fastest-growing sub-region in 2026, with GDP projected to expand by 5.8%,…
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News
Africa Faces $1.3 Trillion Annual Financing Gap, But the Funds Exist, Says AfDB
Africa faces an annual development financing gap exceeding $1.3 trillion needed to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the…
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News
A Banking Award for Co-op, a Fintech Prize for Ziidi Trader, and a Bigger Story Behind Both
Recognition for Co-operative Bank of Kenya and the M-Pesa-powered investment platform Ziidi Trader at this year’s African Banker Awards has…
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News
Governments Are Turning Africa’s Mobile Money Networks Into Tax Infrastructure
The next test for African fintech may not come from competition or funding conditions. It may come from treasury departments.…
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News
Africa’s Data Centres Are Growing Around Finance Demand
Africa’s data centre expansion is increasingly being pulled into the orbit of financial services, with banks, insurers and mobile money…
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BUSINESS
AfDB: Africa’s Economy to Grow 4.2% in 2026 Despite Global Headwinds
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has released its African Economic Outlook 2026, projecting continental GDP growth of 4.2% for…
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News
Equity’s James Mwangi Champions Technology-Driven Trade and Inclusion at Africa CEO Forum
Equity Group Managing Director and CEO James Mwangi has called for deeper collaboration between governments, financial institutions and technology players…
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TRENDING
ICANN Opens Application Window For New Generic Top Level Domains
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has opened applications for its New gTLD Programme 2026 Round. The…
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News
Africa’s AI Ambitions Are Starting to Look Like an Infrastructure Strategy
African governments are beginning to frame artificial intelligence, connectivity and digital infrastructure less as isolated technology sectors and more as…
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News
How Kenya’s New Technopolis and SEZ Laws Could Shape Future Investment Projects
President William Ruto has approved three new laws aimed at tightening Kenya’s investment framework and expanding support for technology, manufacturing…
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News
Nairobi Hosts East Africa’s First GITEX AI Summit
Nairobi will host the first East African edition of GITEX next week as Kenya intensifies efforts to position itself as…
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News
Kenya Is Turning Tech Summits Into Investment Infrastructure
Nairobi’s growing role in African technology is no longer being defined only by startup growth or mobile money adoption. It…
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News
Kenya Walks Into the Africa Forward Summit With AI, Energy and Investment on the Table
Kenya has placed transport networks, artificial intelligence and industrial expansion at the centre of its agenda during the Africa Forward…
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News
Mastercard and Yellow Card Partner to Accelerate Stablecoin Adoption Across EEMEA
Mastercard has partnered with Yellow Card to accelerate the adoption of stablecoin-enabled payments across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and…
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News
Kenya’s Planned Microsoft-G42 Facility Faces Delays Over Grid Capacity
Kenya has suspended plans for a proposed $1 billion data centre backed by Microsoft and Abu Dhabi-based G42 after officials…
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News
A Broader Footprint Emerges Through Craft Silicon’s Expansion
Craft Silicon is expanding its footprint beyond ride-hailing, building a payments and banking software business that now spans more than…
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COLUMNS
Adil El Youssefi | How Africa’s Data Centres are Evolving to Support the Continent’s AI Surge
Across Africa, artificial intelligence (AI) has moved from being a futuristic concept to a daily reality. Banks are using it…
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TRENDING
Google and UpSkill Universe Relaunch Hustle Academy to Bring Free AI Skills to All Africans
Google and UpSkill Universe, Sub-Saharan Africa’s leading AI and business skills training partner, have announced a major redesign of the…
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News
MultiChoice Champions Africa’s Creative Economy with 19 New Film Graduates
MultiChoice, through the MultiChoice Talent Factory Eastern Africa Academy, celebrated the graduation of 19 aspiring filmmakers drawn from Kenya, Ethiopia,…
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News
Verto Opens USD Accounts as US-Africa Firms Face Banking Strain
Global fintech Verto has introduced US dollar-denominated business accounts aimed at companies operating between the United States and African markets,…
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News
Kenya Heads Into A Bitcoin Conference With Policy Still Taking Shape
Kenya is drafting rules for digital assets at a moment when Bitcoin is already circulating in small, informal economies that…
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News
Safaricom Hosts a Hard Conversation on Creator Monetization in Kenya at Decode 4.0
Creator monetization in Kenya is becoming a central question as artists and digital creators push for systems that match their…
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News
At Decode 4.0, Safaricom Moves Its Center of Gravity Toward AI and Retools M-Pesa to Match
Safaricom Group Chief Technology Officer James Maitai officially opened Safaricom Decode 4.0 , declaring this the “Year of AI” for…
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TRENDING
Africa Powers Global Mobile Money Milestone as Industry Hits $2 Trillion
The world’s mobile money industry reached $2 trillion in annual transaction volume in 2025, and Africa can claim much of…
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BUSINESS
Kenya Holds Line on 15% Tax for US Firms
Tax policy often feels like an abstract exercise until the invoices start to arrive. For Kenya, the global minimum tax…
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TRENDING
Kibaba Fund Brings Global Exposure Closer, but Not Simpler
Kenyan retail portfolios have tended to circle the same terrain for years. Treasury bills, SACCO shares, a piece of land…
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News
IFC Places $25M Bet on Lightrock’s Africa Fund in Nairobi
The decision by the International Finance Corporation to anchor a $200 million investment fund managed from Nairobi reads like a…
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TRENDING
MTN Passes 300 Million Subscribers as Africa’s Data Appetite Grows
The headline number looks simple enough. MTN now counts 307 million voice subscribers across its markets. Profit has returned. Data…
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News
WhatsApp Banking Begins Taking Shape Across Southern Africa
For many people across Southern Africa, financial life already runs through a phone screen. Messages arrive. Payments get discussed. Remittances…
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Interviews
How LG Is Turning AI Into Everyday Value for East African Homes
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become one of the most talked-about technologies in the world. From global tech conferences to policy…
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TRENDING
Africa’s Renewable Energy Investment Still Far From $100B Annual Target
Africa’s renewable energy investment has accelerated over the past few years. The numbers tell a story of momentum, yet they…
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TRENDING
Huawei Exceeds ITU Partner2Connect Pledge Target, Bringing Connectivity to 170 Million People Globally
Huawei has delivered digital connectivity to 170 million people in remote and underserved communities across more than 80 countries, surpassing…
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News
A New Global Index Places Kenya Near the Top of Africa’s Innovation Economy, Though the Foundations Still Look Uneven
A new ranking has placed Kenya among the most innovation-ready economies on the continent, trailing only South Africa. On paper,…
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News
The African Union Walks Into the AI Arena With Google at Its Side
When the African Union Commission signed its strategic partnership with Google to expand artificial intelligence across public administration, education and…
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TRENDING
Mobile Money, Trade Flows and the Scramble to Measure Kenya’s Economy Faster
There is always a lag in official truth. In Kenya’s case, it runs at least 3 months long. Quarterly GDP…
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News
Konza Technopolis Adds ACTS Research Hub as Kenya’s Science City Enters a More Demanding Phase
When the African Centre for Technology Studies broke ground on a 2.1-acre parcel inside Konza Technopolis on Friday, the ceremony…
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News
Absa’s Retail Push in Kenya Carries More Risk Than It Admits
When Absa Group cut formal ties with Barclays in 2017, it inherited more than a brand problem. It inherited a…
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News
Microsoft Is Putting $50 Billion on the Table and Calling It a Fix for the AI Divide
At the India AI Impact Summit, Microsoft put a number on its ambitions: US$50bn by 2030 to expand access to…
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News
Sh5.28 Billion in Nyota Youth Fund Grants Meets Kenya’s Harsh SME Survival Rate
The Nyota youth fund is built on an admission that would trouble any commercial lender. Of the 120,000 youth-run enterprises…
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News
African Startup Funding in 2025 Hit $3.9B as Local Investors Take Control
African startup funding reached $3.9 billion across more than 500 deals in 2025. On its face, that figure restores a…
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News
Kenya’s Data Gold Rush: How Social Media And AI Labor Are Exposing Citizens’ Privacy
Kenya’s progressive advancement in the mobile money ecosystem, extensive fibre optic connectivity, and a growing tech startup culture has solidified…
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News
African Tech Founders Face Investor Pressure to Prove Adoption Beyond the Pitch Stage
The investment showcase at the Africa Tech Summit did not feel like a parade of polished optimism. It felt closer…
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TRENDING
Peace Technology Enters Africa’s Political and Economic Reality
On a midweek afternoon at the Moniepoint Stage, the conversation drifted toward an uncomfortable comparison. War technology attracts capital at…
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News
Konza Listed in the Global 7 Wonders of Future Cities Initiative
Konza Technopolis has been confirmed as an official participant in the 7 Wonders of Future Cities initiative, a global programme…
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News
Sitoyo Lopokoiyit Steps Into Absa at a Decisive Moment for Retail Banking
When Sitoyo Lopokoiyit takes charge of Absa’s private and personal banking unit on April 1, 2026, he will be stepping…
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News
Africa’s AI Future Tests Ambition, Infrastructure, and Control of Value
The room at the AI & Digital Summit did not sound like a gathering convinced it was witnessing the future…
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News
Cross Border Income Grows Across Africa as Banking Struggles to Keep PaceBanking Reality
By mid-afternoon at the Moniepoint Stage in Nairobi, the room had settled into a familiar rhythm. Founders talking infrastructure, investors…
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News
Cross Border Payments Remain Africa’s Most Persistent Infrastructure Problem
The conversation around African fintech often begins with access and scale. Fincra CEO Wole Ayodele approached it from a different…
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News
The Exit of Sitoyo Lopokoiyit Comes as M-PESA Faces Bigger Questions Than Growth
Sitoyo Lopokoiyit’s decision to leave Safaricom at the end of next month closes a chapter that coincides with an unsettled…
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News
Nedbank Takes Control Of NCBA With Workforce Intact
When a foreign bank moves to take control of a local lender, the first anxiety rarely concerns strategy. It concerns…
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News
After Koko’s Fall, M-Gas Finds a Carbon Market That No Longer Feels Open
Kenya’s carbon market is entering a more guarded phase, and the conversation now runs through cooking fuel. The latest example…
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News
Fibre, Towers, and the Question Nobody Solved Yet
Kenya has spent years building the physical foundations of a connected economy. Fibre routes expanded alongside highways, mobile networks reached…
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News
Kenya’s Technology Growth Faces A Constraint In The Race For Computing Power
Artificial intelligence often enters public conversation as software. Chatbots, automated tools, prediction engines. The visible layer. What receives less attention…
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News
Borrowing Became Easy, Getting Out of Debt Became Harder
Kenya’s financial inclusion story has been told so often it now risks becoming background noise. Accounts are easier to open.…
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TRENDING
Tala Doubles Down on Trust and Technology to Reach 3 Billion Unbanked Adults
A new report backed by digital lender Tala has highlighted both a massive opportunity and a significant challenge in global…
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CLOUD
Choosing a Data Centre Provider in East Africa: A Practical Guide for 2026
Governments and the private sector in East Africa alike are investing heavily in connectivity, cloud services, e-commerce, fintech and digital…
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News
Kenya Built a Global Tax Trap for Big Tech. Washington Just Cut a Hole Through It
Kenya spent years aligning itself with a global tax rewrite that promised to bring digital multinationals into the revenue net.…
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News
Kenya’s tech leap 2025: AI, diplomacy and infrastructure transforming the industry
There is a good reason Kenya is recognised as the Silicon Savannah of Africa. It’s a befitting nickname for a…
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News
Kenya’s heavy 5G use reveals a new data reality
Kenya’s 5G data usage has reached an average of 40GB per subscriber each month. That number stands out. It is…
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TRENDING
Alliance for inclusive AI launches with $100M goal
BFA Global, Caribou, and MSC, three organizations with a footprint spanning more than 150 countries, have announced the launch of…
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News
New Fund to Award $75,000 Grants to Innovators Transforming African Cities
The Million Lives Collective (MLC) and the Judith Neilson Foundation have announced the launch of the African Cities Innovation Fund…
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News
How Streaming Giants Like Netflix Are Reshaping the Tech Investment Landscape
Streaming platforms didn’t set out to influence tech investing, but over time their growth has created a ripple that’s hard…
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News
Kenya’s Electronics Import Ban Targets Toxic Dumping
Kenya is drawing a clear line on what enters its ports. Under draft rules by the National Environment Management Authority…
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News
Beneath the Waves, a New Race for Africa’s Internet Future
The shore outside Mombasa looks ordinary enough — tide-churned, sun-glared, restless with trade wind. But just offshore, beneath the surface,…
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News
How Kenya’s Software Engineers Are Changing the Country’s Tech Future
Kenya now ranks sixth in Africa for software engineering density, with about 1,095 developers per million people. On the surface,…
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TRENDING
Tanzania Internet Shutdowns Cost Economy Over $238 Million, Says Paradigm Initiative
Digital rights watchdog Paradigm Initiative (PIN) has condemned Tanzania’s recent election-period internet blackout and the continued suspension of X (formerly…
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News
How Kenya’s Internet Advertising Growth Became the Fastest in the World and What Comes Next
When PwC’s Africa Entertainment and Media Outlook landed this year, one figure stood out: Kenya’s internet advertising market is on…
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News
Nvidia’s Investment in Cassava Hints at the Real Battle Ahead – Ownership of Africa’s Generative AI Economy
When Nvidia took a stake in Cassava Technologies this week, it wasn’t just another investment headline. It landed in a…
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Social Media
The U.S. Says the TikTok Deal Is Done, Beijing Says It Will Work on It, That Gap Is the Story.
Beijing has said it will work with Washington to resolve outstanding issues around TikTok’s U.S. operations, linking the platform’s uncertain…
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BUSINESS
Millions in Africa Turn to Online Trading Amid Economic Uncertainty
A quiet revolution is reshaping personal finance across Africa. From the markets of Lagos to the tech hubs of Nairobi,…
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News
Thomas Follin’s Canal Plus Africa Diversification Brief: Bring Order to the Most Complex Market on Earth
When Canal Plus completed the deal that folds MultiChoice into its orbit, the company bought more than a pay-TV business.…
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News
MTN MoMo’s Expansion Tests the Limits of Africa’s Mobile Money Map
MTN’s mobile money operation has shifted from a domestic add-on to a continental engine. Its footprint now links markets where…
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News
The Stakes Behind the Isiolo Mandera Fibre and Its Northern Route
The government has reached a pivotal administrative step on a project that reads like a map of competing ambitions. An…
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News
Africa’s Parallel Payment Revolutions: Why Local Stablecoin Systems and Bank Settlement Rails Are Racing to Replace the Dollar
Africa is attempting something few regions have dared to do in public view — unwind its dependence on the U.S.…
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CYBER SECURITY
INTERPOL-Led Cybercrime Crackdown Nets 1,200 Arrests Across Africa
A sweeping cybercrime crackdown coordinated by INTERPOL and AFRIPOL, with support from private-sector partners such as Binance, has led to…
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News
Ghana Re-Elected as ANCA Chair for Second Term, Steering Africa’s Cybersecurity Ambitions Into a Defining Phase
In Rabat on 17 September 2025, the 6th meeting of the African Network of Cybersecurity Authorities (ANCA) delivered a signal…
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News
Wired for Tomorrow: How ITU, Google, and will.i.am Are Rewiring Africa’s Future with AI and Robotics
In a world where artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are reshaping economies and societies, Africa stands at a pivotal crossroads.…
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News
[Survey] Business Leaders Invited to Share Insights on Africa’s AI Adoption
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer the preserve of Silicon Valley or Asia’s tech giants. It is rapidly becoming a…
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News
[Larry Cooke] Stablecoins Are Africa’s Most Useful Crypto, And the World is Finally Catching Up
For many years, countries across Africa have been quietly leading the race when it comes to the practical adoption of…
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News
[Interview] Botswana Bets on Innovation with MIT to Build a Post-Mineral Economy
Botswana has taken a bold step toward redefining its economic future through a groundbreaking partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of…
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News
Mobile Money Savings Growth in Africa Marks a Turning Point in Sub-Saharan Finance — Here’s Why It Matters for the Future
Sub-Saharan Africa has become the epicenter of mobile money—and now, it’s starting to change something even more fundamental than how…
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News
Trump’s GENIUS Act Could Reshape Africa’s Use of Dollar-Backed Stablecoins
President Donald Trump has signed the GENIUS Act, America’s first federal law to regulate stablecoins—digital currencies pegged to the U.S.…
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News
G20 Reforms for African Banks: South Africa Leads Push to Unlock Infrastructure Lending
South Africa is using its presidency of the G20 to push for changes in global bank regulations—calling for relaxed capital…
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News
World MSME Day 2025: How Safaricom is Enabling Kenyan MSMEs to Scale
As the world marks World MSME Day 2025, the spotlight turns to the micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises that form…
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News
How Stablecoin Adoption in Africa Is Redefining Cross-Border Payments and Financial Access
A quiet revolution is unfolding across Africa — one digital dollar at a time. Stablecoins, long overshadowed by Bitcoin and…
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BUSINESS
Africa Must Deepen Its Domestic Financial Markets to Achieve the SDGs
Africa’s journey towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) hinges on developing effective domestic financial markets that provide affordable finance. …
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News
Tech Growth in Africa: What the Latest Economic Data Doesn’t Reveal
The latest report on Global Economic Prospects states that, while a modest economic rebound is expected in 2025, GDP growth…
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News
How Sidi Ould Tah Plans to Revolutionize Africa’s Development Bank(AfDB) with Technology
Winner of the election for the ninth president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) with 76.18% votes in the bank’s…
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News
Safaricom Pushes for Infrastructure Sharing to Bridge Africa’s Connectivity Gap
According to the latest data from GSMA, Sub-Saharan Africa remains the least connected region globally. While mobile internet access is…
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News
Unlocking Africa’s Generative AI Potential: The Path to $103 Billion in Annual Value
Generative AI has rapidly become a transformative force across the globe and is slowly beginning to attract attention for its…
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News
Mobile Internet Gender Gap in Africa Shrinks, But 205 Million Women Still Offline
According to the new GSMA Mobile Economy Report, published by the global association for mobile operators, in 2024, sub-Saharan Africa…
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News
What Kenya Smart Cities Bill Means for Counties
Kenya is positioning itself to decentralize the digital future; hence, counties may be the ones to conceptualize the vision. The…
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Startups
Yango Group Launches $20M Ventures Fund to Support African Startups
Global ride-hailing and tech conglomerate Yango Group has announced the launch of Yango Ventures, a $20 million corporate venture fund…
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News
These Countries are Nearly Cashless Societies According to Research
A recent study by BoxBet ranked the most cashless societies by analyzing key financial and digital payment adoption indicators across…
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News
Kenya’s GDP Projected to Grow by 4.7%, Driven by Digitization – Mastercard
Kenya’s GDP in 2025 is projected to grow by 4.7% year over year, outpacing the global average which is forecast…
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News
Governments Worldwide Increasingly Weaponizing Internet Shutdowns
Last year, the world witnessed an alarming rise in government-imposed internet shutdowns – at least 296 cases from 54 different…
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News
BYDFi: The Best Crypto Exchanges for Secure and Low-Cost Trading
Crypto trading has evolved rapidly over the last few years with the market projected to to reach US$1.8 Billion by…
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News
AI Governance Must Serve All, Especially Global South – PM Modi
India’s Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has said that AI Governance is all about ensuring access to all, especially for…
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TRENDING
Wojtek Piorko: Data Centre Transformation Paves the Way for AI’s Rise in Africa
Africa is on the threshold of a technological revolution, with artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI) reshaping global industries…
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COLUMNS
[Chad Pollock] From AI to RTP: Top Trends Shaping 2025 Payments
Digital payments are on the rise globally, with increasing adoption across websites, apps, and in-store platforms. Looking ahead to 2025,…
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