Author: Elan

Youssef Elgonaid Interview with Youssef ElgonaidCO-FOUNDER and CEO, AFRICAN RAIL COMPANY For decades, South Africa’s freight rail network has been tightly controlled by the state. Youssef Elgonaid, CEO of African Rail Company (ARC), describes the recent move to grant private operators wider access to the system as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity”. Founded in 2013, ARC recently secured conditional approval to run its trains on national lines, building on its existing operations in neighbouring countries. How we made it in Africa editor-in-chief Jaco Maritz spoke to Elgonaid about his journey of building a private rail business on the continent. Topics discussed during…

Angola to host Africa’s Sovereign Wealth Summit as the continent mobilises its own capital for structural transformation – African Business Angola to host Africa’s Sovereign Wealth Summit as the continent mobilises its own capital for structural transformation – African Business

France’s largest telecommunications company, Orange, plans to double the number of solar-powered base stations it operates throughout Africa. Rising energy costs due to the ongoing conflict in Iran are making renewable power an increasingly practical and financially attractive option for telecom infrastructure on the continent. The company says this move is motivated by the growing attractiveness of renewable energy investments, partly due to the war in Iran. Orange SA is transitioning to solar power in 11 countries across Africa and the Middle East. They have already installed clean energy systems in 15,000 locations, which accounts for 30% of their total…

The global cryptocurrency sector is quietly undergoing a profound shift in its security paradigm. In 2025, digital asset fraud sprang to an alarming $17 billion, a 30% year-on-year surge that underscores a structural crisis in retail investor safety. Yet, behind this staggering figure lies a more complex narrative of technological warfare. According to a new report by Binance, the exchange’s artificial intelligence-driven security systems successfully intercepted $10.53 billion in potential user losses between January 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. While the sheer volume of intercepted capital stands out, the underlying mechanics reveal a terrifying reality: the barrier to…

The Toyota Corolla Cross has quietly become one of the brand’s bigger success stories, with sales jumping from 56,666 units in 2022 to nearly 100,000 in 2024. Oddly enough, most buyers are still skipping the hybrid model, even though it improves on the standard SUV in almost every meaningful way. The Corolla Cross Hybrid gets better fuel economy, more horsepower, and standard all-wheel drive without turning ownership into a science project. It’s still a simple, easy-to-live-with Toyota SUV—just one that happens to save you more money at the pump. That’s what makes it such an underrated pick right now. While…

By Tony Anscombe, Chief Security Evangelist at ESET South African businesses have evolved alongside the reality of the country’s physical infrastructure challenges. Organisations instinctively build redundancies for power, whether that takes the form of solar installations and battery back-up solutions, UPS systems or generators. When the grid fails, the failover kicks in. Related to this, most businesses have multiple connectivity failovers because everyone understands operational disruption intimately. And yet, when it comes to digital infrastructure, many businesses treat “security” as a separate, IT-delegated silo rather than a core pillar of operational performance and, in the worst-case scenario, survival. This is…

BFREE founders Julian Flosbach, Moses Nmor and Chukwudi Enyi** For the best experience, download the free Africa Private Equity News app Android | iOS **AfricInvest, through its Financial Inclusion Vehicle (FIVE), has led an investment round in BFREE, a pan-African investor in distressed retail and SME loans. Algebra Ventures joined as a new institutional investor, alongside existing investors Capria Ventures, VestedWorld, Axian CVC, Angaza Capital, 4Di Capital, DotExe Ventures, and other strategic individual investors.BFREE was founded to address a structural gap in African credit markets. For most lenders, non-performing unsecured digital retail and SME loans have had no practical resolution…

African startups raised $110 million in April 2026, down 27.1% from March and the lowest monthly total since March 2025. Startups across the continent secured $708 million through 124 deals during the first four months of 2026, compared with $813 million across 180 deals a year earlier. Investors continued to favor lower-risk and more profitable business models amid high global interest rates. African startups raised $110 million in April 2026, representing a 27.1% decline from March’s $151 million, according to data compiled by Africa: The Big Deal, which tracks transactions above $100,000. The figure marked the lowest monthly fundraising total since March 2025, when startups…

MiniPay, the Opera-backed stablecoin wallet and payments app that operates in seven African markets, has crossed 15 million activated wallets, more than double from the previous year.The 123% year-on-year jump extends the app’s growth after it crossed 13 million wallets by the end of 2025, according to Opera’s Q1 2026 report.Launched in Nigeria in September 2023 as part of the Opera Mini browser before becoming a standalone app last year, MiniPay has emerged as one of the most widely used stablecoin payment products focused on emerging markets, with the majority of its users in Africa, according to Opera. It underscores…

Expedier processed more than $150 million in transaction volume in FY2025, marking a year of steady growth as more individuals and businesses turned to the platform for faster and more cost-efficient international payments. Over the same period, the company grew its user base to more than 200,000, with over 70,000 monthly active users. The platform also recorded an average monthly growth rate of 23.8%, reflecting both continued user acquisition and deeper engagement from existing customers. “Our focus has always been on solving a real problem—cross-border payments that are too slow, too expensive, and too unpredictable,” said Kingsley Madu, Chief Executive…