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AI And Mobile Fraud Push Africa’s Cybercrime Losses To $484 Million

Habeeb Ajala
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AI And Mobile Fraud Push Africa’s Cybercrime Losses To $484 Million

Africa’s Cybercrime Losses More Than Double In One Year

Africa’s cybercrime losses jumped sharply, rising from $192 million in 2024 to $484 million in 2025. Criminals increasingly turned to artificial intelligence, mobile platforms, and cross-border networks to scale up their attacks, according to the 2026 African Cyberthreat Assessment Report from the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL).

The report named online scams as the most reported form of cybercrime across the continent. Ransomware, business email compromise, data breaches, financial fraud, and digital sextortion also continued to threaten individuals, businesses, and critical infrastructure throughout the year.

Artificial intelligence added a new layer of complexity to this threat landscape. Criminals used generative AI to automate attacks, impersonate real people, create convincing fake content, and slip past traditional security systems. Based on its full assessment, INTERPOL identified seven major threats currently shaping Africa’s digital security environment.

Ransomware Moves Beyond Extortion To Disrupting Public Services

Criminals now use ransomware for more than just demanding payment. INTERPOL found that attackers increasingly aim to disrupt public services and critical infrastructure too. The most damaging incidents in 2025 clustered in Southern and West Africa, where outdated systems, underfunded cybersecurity units, and weak reporting left many organisations exposed.

South Africa recorded 92% of all ransomware detections across Africa, based on TrendAI data cited in the report. Nigeria also featured prominently after a ransomware attack hit the Nigeria Customs Service in August 2025, disrupting cargo clearance at major ports. That disruption cost an estimated $18 million in storage fees and caused significant delays to imports.

Uganda’s Electricity Transmission Company Limited suffered a suspected ransomware attack that same month, compromising systems used to monitor the national power grid; backup protocols restored services. Namibia recorded two separate incidents in its telecom sector: one attack exposed a national provider’s customer database, while another disrupted core network functions at Paratus Telecom.

Business Email Compromise Turns Trust Into A Weapon

Business email compromise (BEC) continues to exploit one of the weakest points in digital security: human trust. Rather than attacking computer systems directly, criminals compromise email accounts or impersonate senior executives. They target employees in finance, procurement, and payroll, tricking them into transferring money or changing payment details.

Generative AI has made these attacks harder to spot, since criminals can now produce highly convincing messages that mimic an executive’s exact language and tone. TrendAI data cited by INTERPOL showed South Africa accounted for 70% of BEC detections across Africa in 2025, while Nigeria accounted for 29%.

The report highlighted one case from INTERPOL’s Operation Sentinel, where attackers based in Senegal attempted to divert $7.9 million from a petroleum company. Authorities managed to freeze the destination account, but the case showed how cybercriminal networks operating from Africa can target businesses in Europe and North America while spreading their infrastructure across multiple countries. INTERPOL said criminals typically identify employees who handle payments first, then use phishing or credential theft to break into their accounts before sending urgent, seemingly legitimate payment requests.

Online Scams Grow Into Organised Criminal Enterprises

Online scams have evolved far beyond isolated phishing attempts. They now operate as highly organised enterprises, often linked to dedicated scam centres and transnational crime networks. INTERPOL found that 72% of surveyed African countries reported scam centres operating within their borders, with Southern and West Africa recording the highest concentration.

Mobile money fraud ranked as the most common scam type, with 97% of responding countries flagging it as a major threat. Kenya alone detected 123,000 fraudulent SIM cards in 2025, giving criminals a route into SIM swaps and mobile wallet access. Ghanaians lost $1.3 million to similar fraud in just the first quarter of 2025, while Tanzania cut fraud attempts by 19% after tightening SIM registration rules.

Loan and microcredit scams also spread across West and Central Africa. Fraudulent fintech apps harvested victims’ personal data under the pretence of offering quick loans, and many victims later faced harassment and extortion.

Crypto Fraud Grows As Nigeria Becomes A Major Market

Cryptocurrency has become another key channel for fraud. INTERPOL estimated crypto transactions across the region reached $205 billion between July 2024 and July 2025, with Nigeria alone accounting for $92 billion of that total. Criminals exploited rising interest in digital assets through fake investment platforms, fraudulent trading schemes, and deepfake celebrity endorsements. In one major case, INTERPOL’s Operation Serengeti 2.0 dismantled a Zambia-based network responsible for an estimated $300 million in losses affecting around 60,000 victims.

AI Amplifies The Threat Of Digital Sextortion

Digital sextortion has also grown into a serious threat, as criminals combine social media, manipulated images, and AI-generated content to target victims. TrendAI recorded roughly 600,000 sextortion detections across Africa in 2025. South Africa accounted for 30% of these, followed by Kenya at 13%, Côte d’Ivoire at 11%, Ethiopia at 8%, and Angola at 4%.

Criminals typically build relationships with victims on social media before moving conversations to private messaging apps, where they use manipulated or fabricated material to apply pressure. Easier access to AI tools has made this threat harder to fight, since criminals can now generate convincing fake content from publicly available photos alone.

The report also flagged growing targeting of young people. Meta data cited by INTERPOL showed platforms removed 635,000 Instagram and Facebook accounts in 2025 for exploiting children, a tenfold jump from 2023. INTERPOL warned that sextortion is becoming increasingly scalable as criminals combine social media, AI-generated content, and automated messaging tools.

Data Breaches Continue Fuelling Wider Cybercrime

Data breaches increasingly serve as the starting point for other crimes. They give criminals personal and financial information they can later use for identity theft, fraud, ransomware, and business email compromise. The Shadowserver Foundation identified more than 6,000 exploitable vulnerabilities across Africa in 2025, concentrated mostly in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria.

South Africa accounted for 43.6% of detected vulnerabilities, followed by Kenya at 11.9% and Nigeria at 9.1%. Most of these involved outdated or unpatched routers, vulnerable VPNs, and misconfigured web systems. In Namibia, a telecom provider suffered a breach that exposed about 500,000 personal and financial records, reportedly linked to an unsecured administrative portal accessible from the open internet.

INTERPOL also recorded a 62% year-on-year rise in African-origin data appearing on dark web forums. The stolen data included identity documents, SIM card PINs, banking credentials, and mobile money account details, giving criminals plenty of opportunities to reuse compromised information long after the original breach.

Financial Fraud And Synthetic Identities Undermine Digital Trust

Cybercriminals are moving beyond stealing existing identities toward creating entirely synthetic ones, combining real personal information with fabricated details. According to INTERPOL, criminals use these synthetic identities to open bank accounts, secure digital loans, and register SIM cards under false names.

Nigeria’s NIN-SIM policy helped reduce certain types of fraud in 2024, but criminals simply adapted by shifting their activity toward countries and financial systems with weaker identity verification and KYC controls. SIM swap fraud remains another growing vulnerability, since controlling a victim’s phone number can unlock access to financial accounts and mobile money services. Kenya recorded a 327% increase in SIM swap fraud in 2025.

Money mule networks have further complicated the fight against financial cybercrime. Criminals recruit people, often through fake job ads, to receive and move illicit funds on their behalf. A 2025 survey cited by INTERPOL found that almost 77% of fraud-exposed individuals across Africa knew about money muling, but only 12% understood its legal consequences or recognised that participating could make them criminally complicit.

How AI Is Making Cybercrime Faster And More Scalable

Artificial intelligence increasingly acts as a force multiplier for cybercriminals, letting attacks that once required deep technical skill happen faster and at much larger scale. INTERPOL’s member country survey found that 55% of cybercrime cases in 2025 involved AI in some form: 47% involved occasional AI use, while 8% involved frequent use.

Criminals now deploy AI at nearly every stage of an attack, from identifying victims and writing phishing messages to producing deepfakes, generating synthetic identities, and adapting malicious software. Deepfake incidents increased sevenfold across Africa between the second and fourth quarters of 2024 alone. Criminals have used AI-generated audio and video to impersonate government officials, corporate executives, and public figures in fraudulent investment schemes. The report also flagged emerging malware that uses generative AI to adapt its own code, which could make traditional signature-based detection far less effective.

Law enforcement agencies are struggling to keep pace, however. Only 33% of surveyed agencies said they use AI for threat detection, and just 31% use it for digital forensics and open-source intelligence work. Only 8% of intelligence analysts had advanced AI expertise, while 92% of agencies pointed to a lack of technical expertise as the main barrier to adopting AI tools.

INTERPOL Calls For A Stronger Continental Response

With cybercriminals increasingly operating across borders and using AI to automate their work, INTERPOL called on African countries to strengthen both national capabilities and continental cooperation. The organisation recommended greater investment in national cybercrime units, including digital forensics labs, malware analysis platforms, and AI-powered threat detection systems, alongside specialised tools for mobile forensics, cryptocurrency tracing, and deepfake identification. It also called for dedicated teams focused on AI-enabled crime, crypto-asset investigations, and cyber-enabled human trafficking.

Beyond technology, INTERPOL identified cross-border cooperation as one of Africa’s biggest weaknesses in fighting cybercrime. It recommended that countries harmonise cybercrime definitions, evidence preservation procedures, and data-sharing protocols, while setting up a 24-hour regional contact network to speed up the exchange of digital evidence during major incidents.

The organisation also called for closer cooperation among law enforcement agencies, national Computer Emergency Response Teams, telecom operators, banks, and fintech companies. Under this proposed approach, mobile money operators and fintech platforms would integrate real-time fraud alerts with national cybercrime units, while telecom operators would strengthen identity verification during SIM registration and customer onboarding. INTERPOL further urged African countries to strengthen and harmonise their cybercrime laws and create expedited procedures for obtaining electronic evidence across borders, particularly in cases involving ransomware, BEC, and deepfake-enabled crimes.

Three-Year-Old African Fintech Moment Raises $22 Million Series A

Habeeb Ajala
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Three-Year-Old African Fintech Moment Raises $22 Million Series A

Moment Closes $22 Million Series A Round

Moment, a pan-African fintech, has announced the close of its $22 million (around R364 million) Series A funding round. AlphaCode Venture Partners led the round, marking a major step in this latest Moment Series A funding milestone for the company. General Catalyst, MultiChoice, and Canal+ also took part, with Canal+ joining as a fresh investor.

Since its founding three years ago, Moment has raised a total of $55 million, more than R900 million, to build what it calls one of the continent’s most advanced payment infrastructure businesses. The company offers a full suite of payment collection and revenue retention tools to corporate and enterprise merchants. Moment plans to use this new funding to deepen its network, improve its platform, and speed up expansion across Africa.

Why Investors Are Backing Moment’s Growth

Dominique Collett, General Partner at AlphaCode Venture Partners, explained why the firm chose to back Moment. She said Africa’s payment complexity has long acted as a hidden tax on commerce, hitting every business trying to grow on the continent and every household trying to take part in the digital economy.

Collett said Moment is dismantling that barrier at a continental scale, staying compliant while offering a product that the market’s largest enterprises have already tested and approved. She added that AlphaCode is backing Joel Yarbrough, Moment’s CEO, and his team as they build a defining piece of Africa’s financial infrastructure.

Africa’s Fragmented Payment Landscape

Africa’s payment systems remain notoriously fragmented, and payment habits vary dramatically from one market to the next. In South Africa, more than two-thirds of payments still happen in person at retail locations, even though most people there have bank accounts. Nigeria tells a different story, where instant bank transfers dominate, though cash, cards, and digital wallets all compete strongly too.

In many other markets, mobile money platforms have thrived thanks to low bank penetration. But these platforms remain scattered across dozens of separate operators, and no single provider has been able to offer merchants unified collections across every channel.

How Moment’s Payments Platform Solves This

Yarbrough said Moment was built specifically to solve this fragmentation problem. Within three years of launch, he said, Moment now processes payments for 10 million people every month across some of Africa’s leading brands.

The platform supports the full range of digital payment methods that people prefer locally, alongside an in-person payment network that spans more than two million physical locations. Yarbrough said the platform stays highly resilient too, processing 600,000 transactions a day despite the power and connectivity problems that commonly disrupt African markets. He added that Moment built its platform to handle the specific challenges of the African market, helping businesses get paid faster and at a lower cost.

Canal+ Sees Strong Opportunity In African Fintech

Thomas Follin, Chief Diversification Officer at Canal+, said his company examined Moment closely after acquiring MultiChoice. He described the team as genuinely impressed, noting that Moment had driven down costs while improving quality at the same time. Follin said Moment delivers world-class technology for enterprise-grade subscription and billing customers operating across Africa, and that Canal+ now sees a strong opportunity to work with Moment to expand digital financial access across the continent.

What Moment Offers Merchants And Billers

Moment gives billers and merchants, including insurers and subscription platforms, an extensive suite of collection tools. These include recurring payments, customer outreach tools, and failed payment recovery across both digital and in-person channels. Merchants can also link Moment directly to their enterprise billing systems.

Customers can pay however works best for them through Moment, using cards, mobile money, real-time bank transfers, eWallets, recurring bank debits, or in-person payments. Beyond its advanced APIs, Moment also offers low- and no-code tools that help merchants get up and running quickly, letting them collect payments and retain customers without needing heavy technical resources.

A Growing Partnership With Sanlam

Giulio di Giannatale, Technical Lead at Sanlam, said what excites Sanlam most about Moment isn’t just what the company does today, but the roadmap the two companies are building together. He pointed to plans for embedded insurance within payment flows, data-driven collection optimisation, and serving the mass market across Africa with flexible, customer-first payment options.

Di Giannatale called Moment a genuine innovation partner and said this funding round gives Moment the runway to accelerate what the companies have already proven works together. He said Sanlam looks forward to deepening that collaboration across the wider Sanlam group.

By optimising subscription and instalment payments, adding new locally preferred collection methods across Africa, and building smarter reconciliation and back-office clearing tools, Moment aims to help merchants collect payments confidently anywhere on the continent, while getting their money faster than before.

Nigeria’s Fintech Ecosystem Ranks Among Africa’s Largest, Lawmaker Says

Habeeb Ajala
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Nigeria’s Fintech Ecosystem Ranks Among Africa’s Largest, Lawmaker Says

Nigeria’s Fintech Ecosystem Attracts Major Investment

Ahmadu Usman Jaha has said Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem has grown into one of the largest on the African continent. He noted that the country’s expanding payment ecosystem keeps attracting significant investment from both local and international sources.

Jaha made these comments recently in Lagos at the 2026 Stakeholders’ Retreat of the House Committee on Insurance and Actuarial Matters, held in collaboration with the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC). The event carried the theme “Strengthening Financial Safety Nets in an Era of Banking Sector Recapitalisation and Fintech Innovation.”

Fintech Growth Brings New Risks Alongside Progress

Jaha said fintech innovation had significantly improved financial inclusion and payment efficiency across Nigeria. However, he added that this rapid expansion had also introduced new risks and challenges for the wider financial system.

He listed several of these challenges directly. They include cyber resilience, operational risks, consumer protection, digital fraud, and open questions around how far deposit insurance coverage should extend to fintech users.

“Today, Nigeria’s banking industry continues to occupy a central position in our economy, with banking sector assets running into several trillions of naira and serving tens of millions of depositors across conventional banking channels and rapidly expanding digital platforms,” Jaha said. “Likewise, Nigeria’s fintech has become one of the largest in Africa, attracting substantial investment and processing billions of electronic payment transactions annually.”

Banking Sector Remains Central To Nigeria’s Economy

Jaha stressed that Nigeria’s banking industry remains central to the wider economy, pointing to its role in financial intermediation, savings mobilisation, and credit provision for businesses and households. He said this role hasn’t diminished even as fintech companies continue to grow their share of the payments landscape.

Lawmakers Commit To Strengthening Financial Safety Nets

Jaha reaffirmed the House of Representatives’ commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s financial safety architecture through appropriate legislative support. “As innovation accelerates, our responsibility as policymakers is to ensure that depositors’ protection, financial stability and consumer confidence evolve at the same pace,” he said.

He also pointed to the ongoing banking sector recapitalisation programme as an opportunity to strengthen financial institutions. According to Jaha, this process could enhance banks’ capacity to support Nigeria’s broader economic growth ambitions.

“The ongoing banking sector recapitalisation programme presents an opportunity to build stronger, better capitalised and more resilient financial institutions capable of supporting Nigeria’s aspiration to become a one-trillion-dollar economy,” he said.

What This Means For Nigeria’s Digital Economy

Jaha’s remarks highlight a balancing act facing policymakers as Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem continues to expand. Lawmakers must support continued innovation and investment while also building stronger safeguards around consumer protection, cyber resilience, and deposit insurance. As banking sector recapitalisation moves forward alongside this fintech growth, Nigeria’s financial system looks set to face increased scrutiny over how well its safety nets keep pace with digital transformation.

EAAIF Commits $82.8 Million To Boost African Connectivity

Habeeb Ajala
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EAAIF Commits $82.8 Million To Boost African Connectivity

EAAIF Commits $82.8 Million To Boost African Connectivity

The Emerging Africa & Asia Infrastructure Fund (EAAIF) has committed a combined $82.8 million in private debt to expand telecommunications infrastructure across Sub-Saharan Africa. This telecom towers financing package aims to strengthen mobile networks in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) while reinforcing a pan-African fibre-optic network.

According to a statement released on Wednesday, the financing splits into two parts: a $32.8 million senior secured loan to Eastcastle Infrastructure DRC and a $50 million loan to Liquid Intelligent Technologies. Together, these investments target two separate but related problems, weak local mobile coverage and limited cross-border internet connectivity, both of which continue to hold back Africa’s digital economy.

New Telecom Towers Financing To Expand DRC Network

EAAIF’s $32.8 million commitment forms part of a larger $179 million senior secured loan and growth facility for Eastcastle Infrastructure DRC. This funding will pay for 728 new telecommunications towers, growing the company’s network from 1,072 towers to 1,800.

Around 70% of these new towers will go up in rural and underserved communities, where mobile connectivity remains scarce. The project will also fund solar panels and lithium batteries at tower sites, improving energy efficiency and cutting reliance on diesel-powered generators.

The DRC currently ranks among Africa’s least connected mobile markets. Internet penetration sits at around 17%, and a single telecom tower typically serves between 15,000 and 20,000 people, a much heavier load than towers carry in more developed markets.

$50 Million Boost For Liquid’s Pan-African Fibre Network

In a separate transaction, EAAIF committed $50 million to Liquid Intelligent Technologies as part of a broader $450 million restructuring and expansion package. This funding will help refinance and maintain Liquid’s terrestrial fibre network, which stretches over 110,000 kilometres across 25 African countries, including Kenya, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

The investment will strengthen high-speed broadband and cloud infrastructure that supports telecom operators, enterprises, and large-scale data users, according to the fund. It should also improve digital connectivity across national borders throughout the region.

The deal ties into environmental goals as well. Liquid’s parent company, Cassava Technologies, is pursuing a 42% cut in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2030.

Why This Digital Infrastructure Investment Matters

Martijn Proos, Co-head of Emerging Market Alternative Credit at Ninety One, which manages EAAIF, said reliable digital infrastructure remains essential for Africa’s economic transformation. “A robust, reliable digital backbone is the lifeblood of any modern economy,” Proos said. He added that the commitments to Eastcastle and Liquid reflect confidence in Africa’s digital expansion, driven by local access points and pan-African corridors working together to power the continent’s future.

Hardy Pemhiwa, Group Chief Executive Officer of Liquid Intelligent Technologies, described the financing as both a strategic and financial milestone for the company. He said it would strengthen Liquid’s balance sheet and support the continued expansion of Africa’s digital infrastructure.

Peter Lewis, Co-founder and Director of Eastcastle Infrastructure, said the investment would help close the DRC’s telecommunications infrastructure gap while supporting more sustainable, energy-efficient network growth.

About EAAIF’s Role In African Infrastructure

EAAIF operates as a blended finance vehicle under the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), providing long-term debt financing for infrastructure projects across Africa and Asia. The fund currently manages a committed loan portfolio of about $1.6 billion spread across 25 countries, making this latest telecom towers financing one piece of a much larger continental investment strategy.

Telecom Cybersecurity Budgets Now Mandatory Under NCC Rules

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Telecom Cybersecurity Budgets Now Mandatory Under NCC Rules

NCC Introduces New Rules To Strengthen Network Security

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has directed telecom operators to set aside dedicated telecom cybersecurity budgets. The move forms part of a wider push to strengthen Nigeria’s communications infrastructure against rising cyber threats.

This directive appears in the Commission’s new Cyber Resilience Framework for the Nigerian Communications Sector (CRF-NCS). The framework introduces fresh governance, risk management, and operational requirements designed to protect critical telecom infrastructure from increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks. It represents one of the NCC’s most detailed attempts yet to formalise how operators plan and spend on digital security.

Why Telecom Cybersecurity Budgets Matter Now

Nigeria’s telecom networks carry an enormous share of the country’s digital economy, from mobile banking to everyday communication. As cyberattacks grow more advanced, the NCC believes operators can no longer treat security spending as an afterthought. Setting proper telecom cybersecurity budgets, the Commission argues, gives operators the resources they need to detect threats early and respond before they cause serious damage.

What The Framework Requires From Operators

Under the new rules, telecom operators must build formal cybersecurity governance structures within their organisations. They must also allocate enough funding for cyber resilience programmes and weave cybersecurity into their broader enterprise risk management systems.

The NCC made clear that operators can no longer treat cybersecurity spending as an optional cost. Instead, the Commission expects operators to treat these investments as strategic priorities, ones needed to protect network infrastructure, safeguard customer data, and support Nigeria’s growing digital economy.

Where Operators Must Direct Their Cybersecurity Spending

The Commission outlined specific areas where operators must provide adequate funding. These include:

  • Cybersecurity risk assessments
  • Security technologies
  • Employee training programmes
  • Incident response systems
  • Continuous monitoring tools
  • Compliance with regulatory requirements

Each of these areas plays a different role in protecting Nigeria’s networks. Risk assessments help operators spot weaknesses before attackers find them. Security technologies and monitoring tools catch threats as they emerge. Employee training closes the human gap that many cyberattacks exploit, while incident response systems help operators recover quickly when something does go wrong.

What This Means For Nigeria’s Telecom Sector

By setting these expectations, the NCC aims to push telecom operators toward a more proactive, better-funded approach to protecting Nigeria’s communications networks. Properly planned telecom cybersecurity budgets could also reassure customers, investors, and partners that operators are taking digital threats seriously, rather than reacting only after an attack occurs.

As cyberattacks continue to grow more sophisticated across Africa, this framework could set a precedent other regulators on the continent may choose to follow.

Africa’s newest unicorn Moove mobility fintech founders

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Africa’s newest unicorn Moove mobility fintech founders

From Helping Drivers Buy Cars To A $2.1 Billion Valuation

Moove started with a simple goal: help ride-hailing drivers buy their own cars. Six years later, that idea has turned the company into Africa’s newest unicorn. Moove just raised $250 million in a Series C funding round, and that deal now values the mobility fintech startup at $2.1 billion.

Nigerian entrepreneurs Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi founded Moove in 2020. They set out to fix a problem that had held back drivers across Africa for years: limited access to vehicle financing. Rather than relying on traditional credit scores, Moove built a revenue-based model instead. Drivers repay their vehicle loans using a share of their weekly earnings, which opened financing to people banks would normally turn away.

Moove’s Business Model Expands Beyond Ride-Hailing

That original idea has grown into something much bigger. Moove now runs its headquarters out of Dubai. The company finances, owns, and operates entire vehicle fleets, covering everything from everyday ride-hailing cars to the infrastructure that supports autonomous robotaxi services.

Moove’s reach has expanded just as fast as its business model. Investors including Uber and Mubadala Investment Company back the company, which has pushed into Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. Along the way, Moove has raised hundreds of millions of dollars through a mix of debt and equity financing.

Revenue Growth Behind The Unicorn Status

Moove’s financial results tell a similar growth story. According to TechCabal, the company’s annual recurring revenue climbed from $275 million in 2024 to roughly $400 million the following year. That jump in revenue helps explain why investors were willing to back Moove at a $2.1 billion valuation, cementing its place as Africa’s newest unicorn and one of the continent’s biggest mobility fintech success stories.

Nosh Talks Sustainable Fintech Growth at Nigeria Fintech Forum 2026

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Nosh Talks Sustainable Fintech Growth at Nigeria Fintech Forum 2026

Nosh Joins Nigeria Fintech Forum As Platinum Sponsor

Nosh served as a Platinum Sponsor at the recently concluded Nigeria Fintech Forum 2026, held at The Civic Centre in Lagos. The event pulled together leading voices from Nigeria’s fintech world to discuss the trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping the industry today.

Nosh operates as a fintech platform offering gift card trading, crypto conversion, bill payments, and eSIM purchases across Nigeria and Ghana. The company used the forum to join broader conversations about where financial services are headed next, contributing directly to discussions on sustainable fintech growth across the region.

Two Nosh representatives took part in the event. Tosin Akintibu, Product Manager, delivered a keynote on simplifying everyday spending. Mosadoluwa Hezekiah, Marketing Manager, joined a panel exploring how fintech companies are adjusting their growth strategies as the market matures.

Designing Products Around Real Spending Habits

During her keynote, Akintibu explained that fintech products should be built around real customer behaviour rather than an ever-growing list of features. She pointed to how Nosh expanded from helping users trade gift cards into a broader digital payments platform, one where users can convert cryptocurrency, pay local and international bills, and buy eSIMs, all within a single app.

The goal, she said, isn’t simply to add more services. It’s to remove unnecessary steps from everyday financial transactions. “The real gap in fintech isn’t getting people digital assets; it’s making those assets usable in daily life,” Akintibu said.

She added that every product decision at Nosh starts with one question: does this make spending simpler for users? “Our job is to remove friction, not add features for the sake of it,” she said.

Why Retention Now Drives Fintech Growth Strategy

During the panel discussion, Hezekiah shared his view on how growth priorities are shifting across the fintech industry. Customer acquisition still matters, he said, but long-term success increasingly depends on building products that customers keep using over time.

“Acquisition got us in the door, but sustainable growth means designing for retention and lifetime value from day one,” Hezekiah said. He explained that Nosh is increasingly building campaigns and product touchpoints designed to turn first-time users into loyal, repeat customers, since trust compounds over time in this market.

Trust And Compliance As Part Of The Customer Experience

Hezekiah also spoke about how fintech companies should communicate compliance to customers. Rather than treating it as a regulatory obligation, he argued companies should present it as part of a reliable experience. “Customers don’t want to hear ‘compliance’ as a caveat; they want to feel it as reliability,” he said.

At Nosh, security, licensing, and regulatory alignment get framed as core parts of what makes the platform trustworthy, he explained.

Turning to the technology behind digital payments, Hezekiah noted that users rarely think about the infrastructure powering financial services unless something breaks. “Customers don’t wake up thinking about our infrastructure,” he said. “They notice when a transaction is instant, when a rate is fair, and when support actually helps.”

Engaging Attendees Through Nosh’s Exhibition Booth

Alongside the main conference sessions, Nosh welcomed attendees to its exhibition booth throughout the event. Visitors interacted with the Nosh team, explored the platform’s services, and took part in raffle draws.

Prizes included three MacBook Neos, four Redmi 15 devices, four Redmi Note 15 smartphones, and branded merchandise.

A Nosh spokesperson commented after the event: “We’re proud to support platforms like the Nigeria Fintech Forum because they bring together the people shaping the future of financial services. Beyond showcasing our products, these conversations help us better understand the challenges users and the wider ecosystem continue to face.”

What This Means For Africa’s Fintech Future

As Africa’s fintech ecosystem continues to mature, discussions at Fintech Forum 2026 pointed to a growing industry consensus. The next phase of innovation will likely depend less on how many features companies build, and more on how effectively those products solve everyday financial problems. Nosh’s approach, centred on removing friction and building long-term trust, reflects that broader shift toward sustainable fintech growth across the continent.

Africa’s Biggest Fintechs Are Racing To Go Public

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Africa’s Biggest Fintechs Are Racing To Go Public

A New Chapter For African Fintech

Africa’s fintech sector is stepping into a bigger league. Several of the continent’s largest digital finance companies are now preparing to list their shares on major stock exchanges around the world. Bloomberg and other outlets have confirmed that PalmPay plans to pursue a Hong Kong listing, putting it alongside OPay and Airtel Money in what’s shaping up to be the biggest Africa fintech IPO race the continent has ever seen.

This wave of planned listings shows two things at once. These companies have grown to a massive scale, and global investors are hungry for high-growth digital finance businesses in emerging markets.

PalmPay Eyes A Hong Kong Listing

Chinese technology investors, including Transsion, NetEase, and MediaTek, back PalmPay. Reports suggest the company is preparing for a Hong Kong IPO while raising around $200 million at a valuation above $1 billion. Since launching in Nigeria in 2019, PalmPay has grown fast, expanding its payments, merchant services, and agent-banking business across many African markets.

A Hong Kong listing would make PalmPay one of the first African fintechs to tap into Asia’s deep pools of capital. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) has become one of the busiest places in the world to raise equity funding, which makes the timing notable.

OPay Sets Its Sights On A US Listing

OPay, PalmPay’s closest rival in Nigeria, is chasing a US IPO instead. Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, and JPMorgan Chase are advising on the deal. Opera, an early OPay backer, revealed in April that the company’s valuation had climbed to $3.1 billion. OPay is now targeting a $4 billion valuation once it lists.

More than 50 million users rely on OPay today, and the company processes over $12 billion in transactions every month. Those numbers make it one of Africa’s largest fintechs by transaction volume. Its IPO will test how much appetite investors really have for African digital finance, especially since Flutterwave has paused its own listing plans.

Airtel Money Could Fetch A $10 Billion Valuation

Airtel Africa is preparing to list Airtel Money, its fast-growing mobile-money business, in London. The deal could raise between $1.5 billion and $2 billion and value the business at roughly $10 billion. Airtel Money operates across 14 African markets, and digital payments, transfers, and mobile wallets have all grown quickly under its umbrella.

Strong investor interest already exists, with backing from TPG, Mastercard, and the Qatar Investment Authority. More than 52 million users now use Airtel Money, and its revenue has grown by nearly 30% a year. That scale makes it one of Africa’s most valuable fintech assets.

Which Other African Fintechs Could Go Public?

PalmPay, OPay, and Airtel Money lead the pack, but other African fintechs have shown interest in public listings too.

  • Safaricom has explored spinning off or listing M-Pesa, Africa’s largest mobile-money platform, though no formal timeline exists yet.
  • Interswitch has long been seen as a likely IPO candidate in Nigeria. The company once explored a London listing but never followed through.
  • Flutterwave has reportedly paused its IPO plans while it works through regulatory and governance reviews. Given its size and global reach, it remains a strong candidate for the future.

Together, these companies form Africa’s most mature fintech group, with large user bases, strong transaction volumes, and revenue that comes from multiple sources.

What’s Fueling Africa’s Fintech IPO Wave?

Several forces are pushing this listing cycle forward.

Scale and profitability: African fintechs now have user bases and transaction volumes that rival mid-tier global players. PalmPay and OPay have already turned a profit, and Airtel Money drives a major share of Airtel Africa’s revenue.

Pressure to deliver investor returns: Early backers, including Chinese tech firms, global private equity funds, and telecom operators, want to cash in after years of investment.

Growing interest from global markets: Hong Kong, London, and New York have all become more open to fintechs from emerging markets, especially those with strong growth numbers and large potential customer bases.

Tighter regulation: Nigeria’s new POS agent rules and other digital finance regulations are pushing fintechs to adopt more formal governance structures. Public listings require exactly that kind of structure.

Africa’s young, connected population: Rising smartphone use and limited access to traditional banking keep driving fintech adoption across the continent, which keeps global investors interested.

Weighing The Opportunity Against The Risk

This IPO trend offers real upside. African fintechs operate in massive markets, show strong transaction growth, run efficient payments and merchant businesses, and now benefit from clearer regulations in major markets like Nigeria and Kenya.

But risks remain. Currency swings across African markets can hurt returns. Regulations keep shifting, as seen with Nigeria’s evolving fintech rules. Geopolitical tension can shake investor confidence, and telecom-led mobile money platforms keep competing hard for market share.

Investors will weigh all of this carefully. Still, the sheer scale of Airtel Money, OPay, and PalmPay suggests strong potential for long-term returns.

Why This IPO Wave Matters For Africa’s Economy

Success here could ripple far beyond the three companies leading the charge. Billions of dollars in foreign investment could flow into the continent. Africa’s digital financial infrastructure could grow stronger. New liquidity channels could open up for African tech investors, encouraging more local companies to pursue listings of their own. Financial inclusion across the continent could deepen as a result.

Africa’s fintech IPO race marks a real turning point. The continent’s digital finance leaders are no longer just local disruptors — they’re becoming players on the global capital markets stage.

MultiChoice-Backed Fintech Moment Raises R363 Million To Expand Across Africa

Habeeb Ajala
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MultiChoice-Backed Fintech Moment Raises R363 Million To Expand Across Africa

Moment Secures $22 Million In New Investment

Moment, a financial technology company owned by MultiChoice, has closed a $22 million (about R363 million) Series A funding round. AlphaCode Venture Partners led the round. This marks a major milestone in this latest chapter of MultiChoice fintech funding.

The round also drew continued backing from General Catalyst and MultiChoice. Fresh money came from Canal+, MultiChoice’s new owner. This mix of returning and new investors shows strong confidence in Moment’s growth plan.

MultiChoice helped launch Moment back in 2022 as a joint venture with payments company Rapyd, alongside investors such as General Catalyst. The company grew steadily through 2023. It officially launched to the public in 2024.

How Moment Powers DStv and GOtv Payments

DStv stands as one of Moment’s biggest customers. The company handles subscription payments for DStv, GOtv, and previously Showmax, pulling together many different African payment methods into one simple system.

Moment called MultiChoice its “flagship partner.” The broadcaster gave Moment access to its wide network of payment integrations and huge transaction volumes. That support meant Moment had a large customer base and solid operations right from the start.

Since it began, Moment has raised more than R900 million in total funding. The company plans to use this new cash to strengthen its network, improve its platform, and speed up its growth across the African continent.

Why This Fintech Funding Round Matters For Africa

Dominique Collett, General Partner at AlphaCode Venture Partners, explained why this deal matters. She said Africa’s payment complexity has long acted as a hidden tax on commerce. Businesses trying to grow on the continent feel that tax, she added, and so do households trying to take part in the digital economy.

According to Collett, Moment is dismantling that barrier in a way not seen before. It works at a continental scale, stays compliant, and offers a product that the market’s largest enterprises have already tested and approved. She said AlphaCode is backing Joel Yarbrough, Moment’s CEO, and his team as they build what she called a defining piece of Africa’s financial infrastructure.

Africa’s Payment Landscape Remains Deeply Fragmented

Africa’s payment systems are famously scattered, and how people pay changes a lot from country to country.

Most South Africans still prefer to pay in person at shops, even though many people there have bank accounts. Nigeria tells a different story, where instant bank transfers lead the way, though cash, cards, and digital wallets all compete strongly too. Mobile money has grown fast in many other African markets because fewer people have bank accounts there. Yet these mobile platforms remain split across dozens of separate operators, and no single provider can currently offer businesses one unified way to collect payments.

Moment’s CEO On Solving Africa’s Payment Puzzle

Joel Yarbrough said Moment was built specifically to fix this problem. Within three years of launching, he said, the company now processes payments for 10 million people every month across some of Africa’s leading brands.

Local shoppers can pay however they prefer, Yarbrough explained, since Moment supports the full range of digital payment methods used in each market. The company also runs an in-person payment network covering more than two million physical locations.

Canal+ Sees Big Opportunity In African Fintech Growth

Thomas Follin, chief diversification officer at Canal+, said his company examined Moment closely after acquiring MultiChoice. He described the team as genuinely impressed, noting that Moment had driven down costs while improving quality at the same time. Follin said the business delivers world-class technology for enterprise-level subscription and billing clients operating across Africa.

Canal+ now sees a strong opportunity to work with Moment, Follin added, to expand access to digital financial services across the continent.

Future of African Fintech: Why Trust Now Matters More Than Speed

Habeeb Ajala
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Future of African Fintech: Why Trust Now Matters More Than Speed

Africa’s Fintech Story Is Changing

For the past ten years, fintech in Africa has been all about shaking things up. New companies challenged old-style banks. Mobile money let millions of people send and save cash using just a phone. This wave of change helped many people join the formal money system for the first time, and it created some of the continent’s biggest success stories.

But that era is ending. Fintech has already proven it can disrupt old systems. The real question now is: what happens next? The future of African fintech will depend less on shaking things up and more on three things — building strong partnerships, following smart rules, and staying steady when times get tough.

Banks and Fintechs Are Now Teammates, Not Rivals

One big change is happening quietly: fintech companies and traditional banks are joining forces instead of fighting each other. The old idea that fintechs must work alone is fading fast. Banks, insurance companies, phone networks, payment firms, and fintech startups now often team up to build tools that customers actually want to use.

Each side brings something different to the table. Fintechs move fast, try new ideas, and focus closely on what customers need. Banks and other big institutions offer strong infrastructure, large budgets, and deep knowledge of the rules. Together, they’re building better systems.

These teams are already improving things like:

  • Sending money across borders
  • Digital loans
  • Embedded finance (money tools built into other apps)
  • Digital identity checks
  • Open banking

As the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) helps countries trade more with each other, this teamwork will likely grow even faster. Countries can’t trade smoothly across borders if their money systems don’t talk to each other.

Trust Is Becoming Fintech’s Biggest Asset

For years, fintech companies won by being the most creative or the fastest. That’s changing. Trust now matters just as much as new ideas.

Customers care more about how companies use their personal data. Investors look closely at how well companies are run and how they manage risk. Regulators expect companies to answer for their actions. Because of this, keeping data safe and systems running smoothly are no longer just tech-team problems — company leaders now treat them as top priorities that affect the whole business.

The fintech companies that succeed over the next ten years will likely be the ones that mix fresh ideas with dependability. People need to feel sure that the apps and platforms they use every day will stay safe, working, and within the rules.

In short, trust is turning into a real competitive edge.

Good Rules Can Help Fintech Grow, Not Slow It Down

People often assume that rules and regulations hold fintech back. Usually, the opposite happens. Clear, well-made rules build confidence. They protect customers, reassure investors, and create a stable base for new ideas to grow safely. The real challenge isn’t whether governments should make rules — it’s how to make good rules fast enough to keep up with new technology.

Across Africa, government regulators are working through tricky topics such as digital assets, digital identity, cybersecurity, protecting personal data, and cross-border payments. Getting the balance right won’t always be easy, but staying flexible will help.

The best results tend to come from regulators and fintech companies talking to each other often and openly. Tools like regulatory sandboxes (safe testing spaces for new ideas), innovation hubs, and joint working groups can help rules keep pace with fast-changing technology instead of falling behind it.

AI Brings Big Chances — and Big Responsibilities

Any talk about the future of African fintech has to include artificial intelligence. AI is already changing financial services in ways that felt far off just a few years ago. It helps companies catch fraud, sign up new customers, check who deserves a loan, and build financial products made just for each person.

But the excitement around AI shouldn’t hide its risks. Important questions are coming up about how companies manage data, explain their AI decisions, take responsibility for mistakes, and avoid unfair bias. Financial companies must make sure that when AI makes a decision, people can understand why — and that the decision is fair and follows the rules.

For company leaders, the goal isn’t just to start using AI. It’s to use it responsibly. Companies that set up clear rules for AI early on will likely be in a stronger position to use its benefits while avoiding its dangers.

What Comes Next for African Fintech

Africa’s fintech journey is nowhere near finished. The continent still has one of the most exciting environments for new ideas in the world, thanks to its young population, growing use of digital tools, and rising demand for accessible financial services.

But the next wave of winners may look quite different from the last one. The companies that succeed won’t necessarily be the fastest movers. Instead, they’ll likely be the ones that combine fresh ideas with trust, growth with good governance, and ambition with the ability to handle setbacks.

In the end, the future of African fintech isn’t just about better technology. It’s about building the partnerships, institutions, and systems that let good ideas grow safely and last. That path may look less flashy than the disruption of the last ten years — but it could end up changing far more.

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