Author: Elan
Spiro electric bikes were never meant to be sleek showroom toys. They were designed as workhorses for riders who burn through 150 kilometres a day and cannot afford breakdowns. That blunt reality has shaped the company’s engineering choices more than any global EV trend. That’s the crux of my conversation with Rahul Gaur, Director for the West African region at Spiro: the firm’s edge is not in radical invention but in ruthless localisation. Its current range includes the Ekon series, the Alpha+ and the Davido Collectible for the elites. They target commercial riders first. Okada operators. Delivery fleets. The people…
On Thursday, November 27, 2025, far from the usual long windy queues of the banking halls to the slow banking servers, and the numerous cases of wrong transactions that have plagued the banking sector, a new and promising chapter in the banking landscape is unfolding. Bank78 MFB, officially announced its entrance into the banking sector in grand style. The exclusive launch event, which was held in Lagos, brought together top industry players, financial institutions, and regulatory bodies, including representatives from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Dubbed Nigeria’s first fully private digital bank, Bank78 MFB is set to be Nigeria’s…
The right documentary can wow you, entertain you, and even make you question what you thought you knew—about your own brain, the simmering planet beneath your feet, or weirdo musical geniuses wearing flower pots on their heads. Netflix has a documentary and docuseries lineup that’s full of this kind of stuff, and much more, but sifting through it all can be a daunting task. Well, just leave that to me. If you’re in the mood to learn, this weekend I’ve picked a few cool docs that’ll do that without you even knowing it. 3 How to Change Your Mind If…
Isha Doshi, partner at TLG Capital ** For the best experience, download the free Africa Private Equity News app Android | iOS **TLG Capital has closed a $15 million facility for Kijenge Animal Products, an Arusha-based agro-processing platform. The transaction was structured alongside CRDB Bank to refinance legacy obligations and unlock working capital for production. A core element of the transaction is the decision by TLG Capital and Kijenge to bring on board Manufacturing Africa, a programme funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and delivered by McKinsey & Company, BDO and partners. Manufacturing Africa will provide…
Osama Bari, CTO at D24 Fintech, shares his views on how blockchain technology will evolve in 2026 The blockchain market is on track to continue its growth in 2026, with estimates from McKinsey putting it on track to reach $2 trillion by 2030. “2025 was the year we saw blockchain finally become enterprise infrastructure,” says Osama Bari, Chief Technology Officer at D24 Fintech. “But blockchain isn’t single-purpose; there are various ways in which the technology can continue to drive change in the year ahead.” Below, Bari outlines the five trends set to dominate the discussion in 2026. The modular blockchain era Bari:…
Magda Habib Interview with Magda HabibCO-FOUNDER, DAWI CLINICS Lives in: Egypt The Starbucks of healthcare. This is how a chain of clinics in Egypt that Magda Habib has co-founded and built to 30 branches has been described. Her husband disagrees, saying McDonald’s is a better comparison, arguing that Starbucks is too expensive in the North African country. Similar to these global chains, her ambition is for Dawi to be a household name that offers a consistent standard of medical care at a price middle-class Egyptians can afford. After leaving her role at Egyptian payments company Fawry – where she worked…
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For years, dollar-denominated stablecoins have been pitched as an accessible way for people in emerging markets to preserve the value of their income in economies where local currencies lose value quickly. Freelancers often choose to get paid in stablecoins, giving them easier access to US dollars. Yet the biggest barrier has been the gap between how non-crypto-savvy clients pay (via traditional fiat rails) and how freelancers want to be paid (dollar-denominated digital currencies they can directly access). This mismatch has limited the real-world utility of stablecoins for the global gig economy. To bridge this gap, Ruul, a global startup that…
Global payments giant Visa has partnered with Aquanow, a global digital assets company, to extend its stablecoin settlement capabilities across Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA). Rather than relying solely on traditional banking rails, this partnership allows Visa’s network of issuers and acquirers in the region to settle transaction obligations using stablecoins, specifically USD Coin (USDC). It combines Aquanow’s digital assets and infrastructure with Visa’s traditional technology stack, enabling banks to transfer funds using blockchain technology instead of relying on legacy fiat wire transfers, and will support 365-day settlement capabilities. “By harnessing the power of stablecoins…
CAPTCHAs were meant to keep bots out, but too often, they lock people with disabilities out, too. From image classification to click-based tests, many “human checks” are anything but inclusive. There’s no universal solution, but understanding real user needs is where accessibility truly starts.The Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA) has become ingrained in internet browsing since personal computers gained momentum in the consumer electronics market. For nearly as long as people have been going online, web developers have sought ways to block spam bots.The CAPTCHA service distinguishes between human and bot activity to…