Author: Elan

Every year, millions of phone numbers get reassigned to strangers, and the accounts tied to them often stay behind. If you’re switching numbers or carriers, a short audit now can save you from handing someone the keys to your email, bank, and messaging apps. Why should you audit it? Recycled numbers turn forgotten logins into open doors A phone number feels like a personal possession, but treat it as a reusable resource. When you cancel a line or let a prepaid plan lapse, the number goes through an aging period and then returns to the pool. In the United States,…

Digital tools can help home-based makers test products and reach customers without opening a physical store. Image supplied by Cricut South Africa. A creative side hustle can start with a single personalised gift, a referral from a friend or an order placed through WhatsApp. Turning it into a sustainable business, however, requires more than creative ability: founders must understand their costs, price their time, develop reliable sales channels and recognise when the business is ready to scale. Side hustles have become an important part of the South African income landscape. According to the Old Mutual Savings and Investment Monitor 2026,…

By PwCIn a volatile deals market, successful acquirers are not simply those who find attractive targets. They are those who arrive prepared: clear on strategy, realistic about value, disciplined in diligence and ready to protect the business from disruption before, during and after the deal is done.Too often, buyers approach acquisitions through a narrow financial lens. Historical earnings remain essential, but they rarely tell the full story. A business’s value is often shaped by factors that do not appear clearly in the financials, including how it operates, how it serves customers, and the capabilities that underpin its performance. When these…

Femi Ogunjimi co-founded the Nigerian financial firm CardinalStone in 2008. He now focuses on its private equity arm, CardinalStone Capital Advisers, which invests in companies across West Africa. He spoke to How we made it in Africa editor-in-chief Jaco Maritz about his journey as an entrepreneur and investor.Topics discussed during the interview include:The 30-year plan Ogunjimi drew up for his lifeWhy he left Goldman Sachs to build an investment bank in NigeriaLaunching the firm in the middle of a stock market crashWhat investing in Nigerian companies has taught himLessons from building and running a business

BlackRock says AI could create a new class of stablecoin customer: machines that spend continuously without human approval.The world’s largest asset manager sees increasingly autonomous AI systems purchasing data, accessing software, and acquiring computing resources on their own, potentially adding a new source of transaction demand to digital assets beyond trading and human payments.That prospect sits at the center of BlackRock’s new report, The Machine-Native Economy, which argues that artificial intelligence could eventually change who initiates economic activity. Instead of people making individual payment decisions, software could execute thousands of small transactions to complete a task.Stablecoins enter that market with…

The Central Bank of The Gambia has directed all banks in the country to phase out non-Gambian employees and replace them with suitably qualified Gambian nationals, with full compliance required by December 31, 2026. Nigerian banking giants maintain a significant presence in The Gambia, operating through major subsidiaries such as Guaranty Trust Bank (Gambia) Limited, First Bank Gambia Limited, Access Bank (Gambia) Limited, and Zenith Bank Gambia Limited. Some of these have notable foreign directors and staff on their payroll. The directive, dated September 16, 2026, was issued in a letter addressed to the Managing Directors of all banks and…

The web is evolving beyond menus, forms, and endless clicks toward experiences shaped around human intent. For UX designers, understanding this shift means re-evaluating their role, moving from designing visible interfaces to guiding transparent, intent-driven AI experiences.Ever since the commercialisation of the Graphical User Interface pioneered by systems like the Xerox Star and popularised by the original Apple Macintosh, software has relied heavily on point-and-click interactions. If you wanted to book a trip, buy a pair of shoes, or research a health symptom, you were expected to navigate a labyrinth of user interfaces. You click menus, adjust range sliders, fill…

By AVCAThe AVCA Summit Agenda and Speaker Page are now live and ready to explore.Taking the stage this October are some of the influential voices challenging assumptions and shaping Africa’s sustainable investment landscape:Souleymane Ba — Partner, Co-Head of Climate Investment Strategy, LeapFrog InvestmentsSelma Cherif — Partner, Investor Engagement & Sustainability, BluePeak Private CapitalMatthieu Ducorroy — Head of Equity and Funds Division, EIBDavid Ekabouma — Chief Executive Officer, GreenMaxFabrice Essono — Managing Director, Okoumé Capital – GSWF Private EquityJérémy Hajdenberg — Co-CEO, Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P)Shurong (Sharon) Li — Vice President, Gemcorp CapitalAlex Maddy — Managing Director and Head of Responsible…

As killings of whistleblowers and activists go unpunished, South Africa’s delayed legislative reforms expose a fatal lack of political will to protect those exposing corruption. Speak up and lose your life. That is the risk faced by whistleblowers and human rights defenders in South Africa. Five years have passed since Babita Deokaran was killed outside her home in Johannesburg. While the hitmen who carried out her killing have been convicted and sentenced to between six and 22 years in prison, those who ordered it remain free. Deokaran’s death in August 2021 sparked public debate over the protection of whistleblowers in…

Africa’s weak public markets are limiting the exit options available to venture-backed startups, forcing investors to rely heavily on acquisitions, private transactions and strategic consolidation to realise returns, investment experts have said. The challenge was highlighted at the Lagos Venture Finance Summit 2.0, where the investment experts examined the state of liquidity in Africa’s private markets. To them the limited number of startup listings should not be viewed solely as a venture-capital problem because the weakness extends to African capital markets more broadly. “This is not a VC issue. It is not a startup issue,” Michael Famoroti, head of research…