Author: Elan
…As deals jump 44% Corporate venture capital (CVC) investments in African startups have surged to their highest level in three years, marking a renewed and deeper engagement by global and local corporate investors in the continent’s innovation ecosystem. According to GCV’s Corporate venture capital funding round data, African startups secured 26 corporate-backed funding deals in the first half (H1) of 2025, a 44 percent increase from the previous peak of 18 deals recorded in half-year periods over recent years. …As deals jump 44% Corporate venture capital (CVC) investments in African startups have surged to their highest level in three…
Inside the race to fire up Africa’s power-hungry data centres – African Business Inside the race to fire up Africa’s power-hungry data centres – African Business
It’s that time of the year again when you feel the urge to prove to your friends that you have enough money in your bank account. Everyone wants to have a “Detty December” but forget that their January can be “dirty” too. Detty December is Nigeria’s unofficial end-of-year season. At this time, on the streets of Lagos, there are concerts, parties, and nonstop fun. With the return of the IJGBs (I Just Got Back), the energy gets high, and so does the spending. Everyone is in the mood to enjoy, go out, and treat themselves, often without thinking too much…
In 2025, Nigerians used AI for far more than drafting emails or summarising PDFs. Chatbots became makeshift therapists, romantic intermediaries, and personal consultants. As we wrap up the year, one thing is clear: while much of the world was worried about AI taking over jobs, Nigerians were teaching chatbots to navigate the treacherous waters of the “talking stage” and the fallout of heartbreak. I spoke with seven Nigerians about the most ridiculous things they used AI for this year. Here’s what they told me. The automated heartbreak recovery and emotional auditing AI chatbots became a mirror for Lagos-based UI designer…
Microsoft rolled out several Copilot Studio updates in November 2025, largely shaped by announcements at Microsoft Ignite. The changes reinforce a clear direction: Copilot Studio is evolving from a workflow automation tool into a platform for building and governing AI agents inside organizations. One of the most notable updates is the general availability of GPT-5 Chat in both the US and the EU. This removes a regional limitation that previously affected enterprise deployments and allows organizations to standardize agent behavior across markets. Another key change is the introduction of human-in-the-loop (HITL) controls, now available in preview. HITL allows organizations to…
A MESSAGE FROM OUR SUPPORTERSStandard Bank facilitates largest fibre deal on the continentStandard Bank acts as advisor and facilitates funding for fibre deal of the decade in Vodacom-Maziv joint venture. Read moreHere are summaries of the five most widely read stories the past week on Africa Private Equity News.1. European LP commits $20m to Helios fundSwedfund has revealed a $20 million investment in the Helios Climate, Energy, Adaptation and Resilience (CLEAR) Fund.The fund backs African companies that drive low-carbon growth in areas such as renewable energy, sustainable transport, climate-smart farming, efficient use of resources and digital climate solutions. Read the…
2025 was a watershed year for marketers in South Africa. Consumer behaviour shifted, technology accelerated and brands that once relied on traditional media rhythms found themselves needing to rethink everything from strategy to storytelling to speed. According to Ryan Nofal, Co-Managing Director at Penquin, the industry didn’t just change, it matured. “This year forced marketers to get real about what drives results,” he says. “2025 wasn’t about trends for trends’ sake. It was about clarity, precision and meeting South Africans where they actually are.” From AI to the rise of hyper-local content, here’s his breakdown of the six marketing forces that…
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In brief Solana had an up and down year, highlighted by early all-time highs followed by relative underperformance. Highlights include the launch of President Trump’s meme coin, formation of Solana digital asset treasuries, and the rollout of SOL ETFs. The network is expected to get faster and cheaper with the implementation of Alpenglow. Solana’s native token surged to a new all-time high shortly after the year began, but the 2025 story of the speedy layer-1 network was not all up and to the right: SOL has finished the year in a serious slump, down substantially since this time last year.Nevertheless,…
Nigerian banks and fintech companies have been quietly mandated to automatically generate and update tax IDs for their customers, a move that will affect millions of account holders across the country without requiring any action on their part. An insider with direct knowledge of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) integration revealed that the tax authority has created API services specifically for financial institutions, enabling them to retrieve tax IDs in bulk using the National Identification Numbers (NIN) already stored in customer databases. “A bank has 20 million people. They cannot be waiting for all 20 million to go and…