Author: Elan
China muscles in on West African cocoa market as tariffs repealed – African Business China muscles in on West African cocoa market as tariffs repealed – African Business
In brief ECB board member Cipollone warned Friday that stablecoin growth could strip European banks of retail deposits, on top of the fees and transaction data they’re already losing to mobile payment platforms. Two-thirds of card payments in the euro area route through non-European schemes, and 13 of 21 eurozone countries have no national card scheme of their own. The ECB named 36 payment service providers for a digital euro pilot starting in the second half of 2027, days after the European Parliament voted 416 to 169 to begin formal legislative negotiations. European banks are losing the payments war in…
Most of us left the university with a degree and a vague idea of what might come next. Norah Kimathi, a graduate of informatics and computer science from Strathmore University, Kenya, is leaving with a company, a growing list of awards, and robots that could change how deaf students learn science. When we spoke over a video call, she was between university deadlines and startup meetings, slipping effortlessly from discussions about artificial intelligence to stories of dismantling household electronics as a child. Instead, she spoke with the matter-of-fact certainty of someone who has spent years solving problems that most of…
Google Photos is great until you hit its 15GB cap, shared across Gmail, Drive, and Photos, which fills up faster than you’d think. Yes, you can optimize how Google Photos uses your storage, but it’s not a permanent solution. Now, if you’re an Amazon Prime member, you’re already sitting on the real fix: unlimited, uncompressed photo storage through Amazon Photos. I made the switch, and I think it might actually be the better app. Related 8 Google Photos Features You’re Not Using—and You’re Missing Out Smarter search, creative tools, and effortless sharing—all in one app. Amazon Photos offers unlimited storage…
Legacy ERP infrastructure is becoming an active constraint on the company’s ability to invest in, and benefit from, AI’s capabilities, says Courtney Hounsell, Client Experience Manager at Braintree. Migration is not modernisation. Unfortunately, many companies have merged the two, and the result is a gap that’s creating incoherence and a lack of visibility, constraining their ability to benefit from AI and its capabilities. Cloud migration has been sold as digital modernisation, but this only changes the address of the system. Real modernisation changes architecture, data models, integration logic, and the capacity to generate value. Companies want their modernisation projects to…
Tamer El-Raghy, managing director of ARAF** For the best experience, download the free Africa Private Equity News app Android | iOS **The Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF) has secured an additional $90 million in committed capital to scale climate-resilient agribusiness companies across Africa. Returning investors Green Climate Fund (GCF), FMO and Proparco, which have supported ARAF since inception, were joined by new backers Swedfund, BIO, FASA and a family office investor.ARAF invests in fast-growing food and agribusiness ventures that help smallholder farmers adapt to climate change.“Climate change is a fact of life, and climate resilience for farmers is the difference…
Share this story Send it to someone who should read it. In Brief Launch Africa Ventures has closed 15 new investments in 2026, adding fresh early-stage capital to a continent where first cheques have become harder to secure. The pan-African venture firm says the new deals span AI, future of work, B2B commerce, supply chain, embedded finance and other infrastructure-led sectors. The new investments include Agridex, Udu Technologies, Fincart, Tayar, Khaime, Anavid, Mainstack, Growwr, Yamify, Legendary Foods and Masunga, alongside follow-on rounds into existing portfolio companies. Launch Africa Ventures has closed 15 new investments in 2026, adding fresh early-stage capital…
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Japan’s House of Councilors approved Cabinet Bill 57 by majority vote on July 15, completing Diet passage of legislation that will move regulated crypto activity into the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.The legal framework is now in place, but traders may still wait until 2027 or 2028 for the new market rules and 20% tax rate to take effect.The official upper-house record says the core crypto provisions take effect on a date set by Cabinet order within one year of promulgation. Enforcement during 2026 would start the tax rules on Jan. 1, 2027; enforcement during 2027 would move that start…
Oluwatobi Ajayi built Ivorypay, a stablecoin payment infrastructure provider, on the conviction that Africa’s payment challenge is not simply the lack of another consumer-facing app but the absence of reliable infrastructure for businesses to receive, convert, hold, and settle value across markets. His view is that African businesses can already find customers beyond their home markets. What is unresolved is how they can receive payment quickly, cheaply, and scalably. Consumer payments have advanced. Cross-border business settlement still lags. Africa’s consumer payments story has largely been told already. Mobile money turned phones into bank accounts for hundreds of millions of people;…