Author: Elan

Image Credit: AfCD/AI by Gemini To read this article, you must be a paid subscription member. (Current members login here)   Reserve your digital subscription today Join now for $38 per month Join now for $435 per year for access to: Weekly newsletter with original and curated news, analysis, and perspective Africa’s private capital deals, fundraises, and the investment firms and executives involved Portfolio company news that impacts value and stakeholder participation Job moves and partnerships between leading market participants Exclusive access to Africa Capital Digest’s full content archive If you’d like more information on exceptional value group subscriptions for…

Tampered Ledger wallets cost Singapore users $2.7M: PoliceSingapore police say at least two cases involving tampered Ledger hardware wallets have been reported since Sept. 10, with combined losses of about 3.5 million Singapore dollars ($2.7 million). It places the first local report almost a month before the wider incident became public.It’s not clear from the October 28 consumer alert if the September 10 case was reported to police at the time, or was made retrospectively. If the report was timely, it raises questions as to whether Ledger was informed, or if the Singapore Police Force was in a position to…

Switch off your data and wifi, then turn on your aeroplane mode, open an already installed AI app on your phone, and ask who Nigeria’s president is. It answers in 32 seconds confidently and gets the date wrong. That was the result when Technext tested Google’s AI Edge Gallery on an Android phone with no network. Yes, AI can work without the internet, but only a smaller kind of AI, and users should understand its limits before relying on it. How offline AI works ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini run on remote servers, so they need an internet connection. Offline AI…

To end the month, HBO Max is raising the bar in terms of the quality of its content. One of my favorite new movies of the year, The Invite, is now streaming on HBO Max. It’s a comedy for adults, a genre that feels like a rarity in today’s Hollywood landscape. Speaking of adults, documentaries are a staple for older audiences, and HBO Max has intriguing options. I picked three documentaries that you can finish in one weekend. The first is an insightful look into the famous son of a U.S. president who became a cultural icon in the 1990s.…

Sipho Makhubela, chief executive officer of Harith General PartnersHarith Aviation Consortium has received approval from the Competition Tribunal to proceed with its acquisition of a 100% stake in FlySafair, a South African low-cost airline. The consortium is the acquisition vehicle for the transaction and is led by Harith General Partners, a Johannesburg-based investment company focused on African infrastructure. Harith manages the investment on behalf of the consortium’s underlying investors.FlySafair, which began operations in 2014, flies between 10 domestic destinations. It also operates five international routes connecting Johannesburg and Cape Town with neighbouring African countries.FlySafair will continue to operate independently under…

Mr. President, may I respectfully suggest that your campaign against cocaine and other narcotic drugs include removing dark tint from all vehicle windshields and windows in Liberia, beginning with those in your motorcade Our young people deserve every reasonable measure that can help protect their future. Clear windshields and windows can assist officers conducting lawful checks. Your example would send a powerful message to ministers, other public officials and citizens across Liberia, encouraging them to follow. Leadership carries special weight when the President personally demonstrates the conduct he asks of others. President Sirleaf gave personal weight to the TRC process…

DPI Venture Capital, the venture capital arm of Development Partners International, has closed its Nclude Fund at more than $112 million to invest in technology startups across Africa and the Middle East. The firm announced the final close on October 27, 2026, as it seeks to expand investments in fintech, artificial intelligence and financial inclusion. The fund will provide between $500,000 and $10 million per company, targeting businesses from seed stage through Series C. Nclude was established in Egypt in 2022 as a fund focused on financial technology. DPI became its investment adviser in 2025 following a restructuring that also…

Addis Abeba — Dangote Group, owned by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, has contracted Spanish engineering company Técnicas Reunidas to supply two hydrogen reformers for its fertiliser plant under construction in Gode, Somali region, as the project’s estimated cost rises to more than $4 billion. Técnicas Reunidas announced on Wednesday that it would design, procure materials for, manufacture and deliver the two units within 18 months. The reformers are expected to produce a combined output of more than 200,000 normal cubic metres of hydrogen per hour. The company did not disclose the contract’s value. The equipment will be supplied through TR-Technical,…

In December 2025, when Glory walked into her local Airtel outlet to acquire a 5G Outdoor Unit (ODU) broadband device (Router), the offer and details that followed seemed simple, and the customer care representative recommended the router and presented the setup as flexible. The device was essentially free, and all she had to do was pay an initial ₦25,000 to cover her monthly subscription fee, nothing more,  nothing less. So she was made to believe… Glory filled out the standard onboarding form by writing down her name, address, and National Identification Number (NIN), then handed over her payment and left…

In April, Flutterwave, a pan-African fintech unicorn, secured a national microfinance banking licence through its acquisition of open banking startup Mono. It joined a growing group of Nigerian fintechs moving into regulated banking. In January, Paystack acquired Ladder Microfinance Bank, while Moniepoint secured a microfinance banking licence in 2025. African fintechs are moving from only processing payments to holding deposits, providing credit and offering other banking services. For Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, cofounder and CEO of Flutterwave, African fintechs are becoming banks because payments alone are no longer enough. Speaking at Moonshot in Lagos on Wednesday, Agboola said Flutterwave’s decision to…