Author: Elan
Africa’s artificial intelligence story is mostly told from four cities. Lagos, Nairobi, Cairo, and Cape Town dominate the coverage, commanding the bulk of venture capital, media attention, and startup activity. The concentration is not arbitrary. These cities have the infrastructure, the capital networks, and the institutional density to justify the focus. But the framing has a blind spot. Across Northern Nigeria, a different kind of ecosystem is taking shape, without the headlines, without the high-profile accelerators, and largely without outside investment. What it does have are universities producing large cohorts of engineering graduates, active developer communities, and a generation of…
Practical guidelines for driving UX impact in organizations with legacy systems and broken processes. Brought to you by Measuring UX Impact, friendly video course on UX and design patterns by Vitaly.Imagine that you need to improve the UX of a legacy system. A system that has been silently working in the background for almost a decade. It’s slow, half-broken, unreliable, and severely outdated — a sort of “black box” that everyone relies upon, but nobody really knows what’s happening under the hood.Where would you even start? Legacy stories are often daunting, adventurous, and utterly confusing. They represent a mixture of…
** For the best experience, download the free Africa Private Equity News app Android | iOS **PowerLabs, a Nigeria-based energy and climate tech company, has announced a pre-seed fundraise, led by Breega, with participation from Catalyst Fund, Mercy Corps Ventures, and Kaleo Ventures.Nigeria’s economy is held back by an unreliable electricity grid. According to the World Bank, power shortages cost the country roughly $29 billion each year and many households receive only around 6.6 hours of grid electricity per day. Businesses therefore run on diesel generators or invest in private solar systems. Powerlabs, founded in Nigeria, was created to address this…
Zimbabwe could be pushed back towards a one-party state under proposed constitutional changes that would extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s rule and reshape how leaders are chosen – a move that critics say will weaken key democratic checks. Zimbabwe’s ruling party, Zanu-PF, is pushing the reforms after publishing them in February and holding public consultations at the end of March. They would extend presidential and parliamentary terms from five to seven years, and scrap the direct popular vote for the presidency, instead giving members of parliament the power to choose the head of state. “The changes will morph the country into…
Madica, the pre-seed investment programme backed by Flourish Ventures, has invested up to $600,000 across three new startups in Tanzania, Kenya, and Nigeria.The three companies, Kilimo Fresh, Hakimu, and Biovana, will each receive up to $200,000. They also gain entry into Madica’s 18-month support programme, which bundles mentorship, executive coaching, and two fully funded immersion trips to technology ecosystems in Africa and abroad. On top of that, the founders get access to Madica’s global investor network.This is the latest batch from a programme that has been steadily building a portfolio since launching in 2022. Madica previously invested in startups like…
Nairobi — Air France will increase passenger capacity on its Nairobi route from May, deploying a larger aircraft to meet growing demand for travel between East Africa and Europe. The airline said it will introduce a Boeing 777-200 on the Nairobi-Paris route from May 15, replacing the Airbus A350 and boosting seat capacity by 12 percent. Nairobi is among key cities gaining additional capacity under the airline’s 2026 summer schedule, alongside Asian destinations such as Tokyo, Singapore and Bangkok, as carriers adjust networks to shifting global travel demand. The route links to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, Air France’s main…
In brief Bitget launched IPO Prime, a platform offering tokenized exposure to pre-IPO companies. The first offering is preSPAX, a Republic-issued token tied to SpaceX’s post-IPO performance. The token provides economic exposure without equity ownership, voting rights, or company endorsement. Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget launched IPO Prime on Friday, debuting the platform with preSPAX—a token that provides retail investors exposure to SpaceX’s future public market performance.The Republic-issued token offers economic upside tied to SpaceX’s eventual IPO or acquisition, marking a new intersection between crypto infrastructure and traditional pre-IPO investing.The preSPAX token mirrors potential economic gains from SpaceX upon a qualifying event…
Defaulting on a loan with some digital lenders can turn into relentless phone calls, frozen accounts, office raids, threats, and, in some cases, public shaming. In 2025, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) introduced fines of up to ₦100 million ($72,000)—or 1% of annual turnover—for lenders who resort to harassment and intimidation as loan recovery tools. Those defaults, when they pile up, become the bad loans quietly eating into a lender’s balance sheet. Nomba and Globus Bank say their credit model is built to stop that from happening, and the numbers, so far, back them up. The Nigerian…
Jimmy Westenberg / Android AuthorityTL;DR A US trademark filing for Garmin’s unannounced CIRQA Smart Band was recently spotted. The trademark describes the device as a wearable that measures physiological data, bio-signals, bodily behavior, and recovery. As you may have heard, Fitbit is preparing to expand its wearable lineup with a Whoop-like fitness band. However, we know that Fitbit isn’t the only company looking to make its debut in this category. An earlier leak revealed Garmin also plans on launching a display-less fitness wearable called the CIRQA Smart Band. If you were hoping to learn more about this mysterious CIRQA band,…
DRC raises $1.25bn in first eurobond issue – African Business DRC raises $1.25bn in first eurobond issue – African Business