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    SolarAfrica Secures $94m to Bypass South Africa’s Grid Woes

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    SolarAfrica Secures $94m to Bypass South Africa’s Grid Woes

    South Africa’s commercial sector has spent years bracing for the next “load shedding” schedule. Now, the private sector is increasingly taking the country’s energy security into its own hands.

    SolarAfrica, a Pretoria-based renewable energy provider, has reached financial close on a R1.5bn ($94m) debt package to fund SunCentral 2, a 114 MW solar project in the Northern Cape. The funding, provided by Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) and Investec, marks a significant milestone in the company’s transition from on-site rooftop installations to utility-scale “wheeling” models.

    The project is the second phase of the broader SunCentral cluster, which aims to reach 1 GW of capacity at full scale. With first power expected in 2026, the initiative highlights a growing trend in emerging markets: private firms building the infrastructure that state utilities can no longer reliably provide.

    The “Wheeling” Pivot

    While on-site solar (panels on factory roofs) has been the standard for a decade, it is often limited by space and intermittency. SolarAfrica is betting on wheeling — a model where electricity is generated at a high-yield location (like the sunny Northern Cape) and transported across the national grid to industrial customers elsewhere in the country.

    For South African businesses, this offers two distinct advantages:

    1. Zero Upfront Capex: Companies sign long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) rather than buying the hardware.
    2. Scalability: Businesses can source a higher percentage of their total energy needs from renewables than rooftop space would typically allow.

    “Businesses want power they can trust — clean, affordable, and predictable,” says David McDonald, CEO of SolarAfrica. By moving to a one-to-many bilateral wheeling model, the company is positioning itself as a private utility for the country’s industrial hubs.

    Infrastructure as a Moat

    One of the primary bottlenecks for renewable energy in South Africa is not the lack of sun, but the lack of grid capacity. The national utility, Eskom, has struggled with a transmission network that wasn’t designed for decentralized, remote power plants.

    To mitigate this, SolarAfrica is investing a portion of the $94m directly into the Main Transmission Substation (MTS). This substation is engineered to handle up to 2 GW of power evacuation. By building the “plug-in” point themselves, SolarAfrica is essentially de-risking its future phases and creating a gateway for other renewable projects to connect to the grid.

    The Financial Breakdown

    The R1.5bn injection is a project finance deal involving two of South Africa’s major financial institutions:

    • Rand Merchant Bank (RMB): Acting through FirstRand Bank.
    • Investec: Providing corporate and institutional banking expertise.

    This follows the financial close of SunCentral 1 in late 2024. Together with the upcoming SunCentral 3, Phase 1 of the development will total 342 MW. The company currently has a total pipeline of 3 GW under development across the country.

    Project PhaseCapacityStatusEstimated Delivery
    SunCentral 1114 MWFinancial Close (2024)2025/2026
    SunCentral 2114 MWFinancial Close (Feb 2026)2026
    SunCentral 3114 MWDevelopmentTBD
    Total Phase 1342 MW––

    While the funding is a win for SolarAfrica, the project reflects a broader “privatization by stealth” occurring in the South African energy market. As the government eases regulations on private generation, firms like SolarAfrica are moving from being “alternative” providers to becoming the backbone of industrial energy.

    However, the success of these projects remains tethered to the stability of the national grid. SolarAfrica’s investment in the Main Transmission Substation is a pragmatic admission that to sell power, they must first ensure the wires can carry it.

    Jumia Hits Positive Working Capital: The Most Important Chart in African Tech

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    Jumia Hits Positive Working Capital: The Most Important Chart in African Tech

    For years, the narrative surrounding Jumia (NYSE: JMIA) was one of sprawling ambition — a bid to be the “Amazon of Africa” by conquering every vertical in every market. The Q4 2025 results released today confirm that the era of expansion-at-all-costs is definitively over. Under CEO Francis Dufay, the company has executed a calculated contraction, trading vanity metrics for unit economics.

    The headline figures are robust: Revenue is up 34% year-over-year to $61.4m, and Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) climbed 36%. However, the real story lies in what Jumia has chosen to destroy.

    The Great Decoupling

    The most significant data point in Jumia’s report is not its growth, but its intentional decline in specific areas. The company has aggressively pruned its digital services arm, JumiaPay.

    In Q4 2024, the JumiaPay app processed 1.6 million orders. In Q4 2025, that number dropped to virtually zero. This was a deliberate strategic choice to stop incentivising low-margin digital top-ups that inflated transaction volumes without contributing to the bottom line.

    By discarding this “low-quality revenue,” Jumia has purified its GMV. The 31% growth in physical goods orders is organic, driven by consumers buying actual products — electronics, fashion, and home goods — rather than discounted airtime. This shift suggests a stickier, more valuable customer base, evidenced by a reported 422 basis point improvement in repurchase rates.

    The Algeria Exit and Geographic Austerity

    Continuing the trend of ruthless geographic optimisation, Jumia announced today it will cease operations in Algeria in Q1 2026. This follows the 2024 exits from South Africa and Tunisia.

    Algeria accounted for roughly 2% of the group’s GMV. While the exit will incur short-term termination costs (employee severance, lease breaks), it frees the company to redirect capital toward its core markets — specifically Nigeria, which delivered a standout performance with 50% GMV growth despite macroeconomic volatility.

    The strategy is clear: defend and grow the markets that offer a path to profitability, and amputate those that drag on working capital.

    The “Upcountry” Moat

    Jumia’s logistics network is arguably its only defensible moat against potential global entrants. The report highlights that 61% of orders in Q4 2025 came from “upcountry” — secondary cities and rural areas outside the capital hubs.

    This is a critical differentiator. While competitors and informal couriers saturate easy-to-reach capital cities, Jumia has built the infrastructure to serve the underserved interior. This distribution network allows them to capture demand where retail infrastructure is weakest, effectively insulating them from competitors who lack the appetite for complex African logistics.

    Financial Discipline: The Burn Rate

    The company’s cash preservation efforts have yielded their strongest results to date. Liquidity stands at $77.8m. More importantly, the net cash used in operating activities plummeted to just $1.7m in Q4 2025, down from $26.5m in the same period the previous year.

    This was aided by a positive working capital contribution of $9.6m — essentially, Jumia is managing its payables and receivables to finance its own operations, a hallmark of a maturing retail business.

    The China Connection

    One of the less-discussed strategic moves is Jumia’s China expansion. The company opened an office in Yiwu — the world’s largest small commodities wholesale market — in 2025, and gross items sold from international sellers grew 82% year-on-year in Q4. Direct sourcing from Chinese manufacturers gives Jumia a lever that marketplace-only platforms lack: the ability to curate product availability and compress cost for its vendor base. It also creates an alternative to the supply constraints that have historically limited growth in certain product categories.

    Marketing and advertising revenue, while still small at $2.9 million, rose 42% year-on-year. At roughly 1% of GMV, Jumia’s advertising yield is materially below what comparable platforms in more developed markets achieve — which the company rightly flags as upside. Scaling sponsored products on top of a growing GMV base is one of the cleanest paths to margin expansion available to it.

    The customer engagement signal

    Beyond the headline growth numbers, the more meaningful data point may be what is happening at the cohort level. Jumia says 46% of new customers who placed their first order in Q3 2025 made a second purchase within 90 days — up from 42% for the equivalent cohort a year earlier. That four-percentage-point improvement in early-stage retention, combined with a 422 basis-point year-on-year improvement in overall repurchase rates, suggests the company is acquiring stickier users than it was twelve months ago.

    Quarterly active customers grew 26% year-on-year to 3 million, adjusted for the exited markets. Physical goods orders reached 7.5 million in the quarter, up 32%. The shift in geographic mix is also worth noting: orders from upcountry (secondary city) regions represented 61% of total orders in Q4, up from 56% a year earlier. Jumia has long argued that urban saturation makes secondary cities the real prize in African e-commerce. It is starting to show in the numbers.

    Launch Base Africa’s Views: 

    The most insightful part of the latest release from Jumia is the Positive Working Capital Contribution of $9.6 million.

    While the revenue growth and cost-cutting are positive, the management of working capital is the technical masterstroke of this quarter.

    Why it is different:

    1. Self-Financing: In retail, if you can sell goods and collect cash from customers before you have to pay your suppliers (or pay them slowly), you generate cash float. Jumia achieved a $9.6m positive inflow from this dynamic.
    2. Survival Mechanism: For a company with a finite cash pile ($77.8m) and a history of high burn, generating cash from operations (rather than raising equity or debt) is critical. They reduced their operating cash burn to a negligible $1.7m primarily because of this working capital efficiency.
    3. Supplier Power: It signals that Jumia has gained leverage over its suppliers (“improved bargaining power with large third-party accounts,” as noted in the Cash Position section). They are likely negotiating longer payment terms while maintaining or speeding up collection times from customers.

    The intentional destruction of JumiaPay volume (1.6m orders to ~0): It takes immense discipline for a public company to voluntarily report a 99% drop in a volume metric (Total Orders for JumiaPay). Most executive teams would fear the negative headline. However, Jumia’s leadership correctly identified that these orders were “empty calories” — high volume, zero margin. Cutting them exposes the true health of the core e-commerce business, which is actually growing.

    Francis Dufay has staked his tenure on a specific target: Adjusted EBITDA breakeven in Q4 2026.

    With an Adjusted EBITDA loss of $7.3m in the current quarter (halved from $13.7m last year), the trajectory is plausible. However, the path remains fraught with external risks, from currency devaluation in Nigeria to global supply chain shocks.

    Jumia is no longer trying to be everything to everyone. It is a smaller, leaner operation focused on moving physical boxes to underserved towns. The hyper-growth story is dead; the profitability story has officially begun.

    Egypt’s Beltone Buys Baobab Group in $235M Deal to Expand Into Nigeria and Francophone Africa

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    Egypt’s Beltone Buys Baobab Group in $235M Deal to Expand Into Nigeria and Francophone Africa

    Cairo-based Beltone Holding has officially completed its acquisition of Baobab Group for €197.6 million ($235.9 million), a move that finalizes one of the most significant cross-border financial deals between North and Sub-Saharan Africa in recent years.

    The transaction, executed through the firm’s investment arm Beltone Capital, gives the Egyptian financial giant an immediate footprint across seven African markets, including Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and Senegal.

    The Breakdown

    • The Price Tag: €197.6 million for 100% of the shares.
    • The Reach: Beltone enters Nigeria, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Madagascar.
    • The Prize: Baobab Group manages a loan book of €848.8 million and serves 1.6 million clients.
    • The Exit: The deal allows previous majority shareholders, including UK-based private equity firm Apis Partners and Abler Nordic, to fully exit their positions.

    From Broker to Pan-African Platform

    Historically known as an Egyptian brokerage and asset manager, Beltone has spent the last 18 months repositioning itself as a technology-led financial conglomerate. This acquisition isn’t just about geography; it’s a bet on microfinance digitization.

    As of late 2025, approximately 50% of Baobab’s loans were processed through digital platforms using automated credit scoring. For Beltone, the goal is to export its data-driven model from Egypt — where its venture capital arm (BVC) has been aggressively backing logistics and fintech startups — into the faster-growing markets of the WAEMU (West African Economic and Monetary Union) zone.

    Nigeria remains the centerpiece of the expansion. In March 2025, just before the Beltone deal moved into its final stages, Baobab Group consolidated its Nigerian operations by buying out Alitheia Capital and Goodwell Investments.

    Now under Beltone’s umbrella, Baobab Nigeria — which holds a national microfinance license — is looking to scale from its current 38 branches to over 100. The focus will be on MSMEs (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises), a sector that serves as the backbone of the Nigerian economy but remains chronically underbanked.

    A Growing North-South Corridor

    This deal highlights a broader trend: Egyptian tech and finance players are increasingly looking South for growth as their domestic market matures.

    In 2024, Beltone Venture Capital emerged as one of the continent’s most active early-stage investors, backing firms like Trella (logistics) and Grinta (healthcare). By acquiring Baobab, Beltone moves from being a minority investor in startups to an infrastructure owner in seven African nations.

    “This acquisition fuels our data-driven regional expansion into high-growth African markets,” said Dalia Khorshid, Group CEO of Beltone Holding. “We are committed to a transformational impact in financial services backed by data science.”

    What to Watch Next

    The integration phase will be the real test. Beltone plans to layer its “comprehensive financial solutions” — which include consumer finance, leasing, and factoring — onto Baobab’s existing micro-lending infrastructure.

    The success of this deal will depend on how well an Egyptian corporate culture can adapt to the regulatory nuances of the Francophone WAEMU region and the competitive, high-stakes environment of Nigerian fintech.

    When a Multilateral Bank Goes Seed-Stage: Afreximbank’s Startup Gamble

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    When a Multilateral Bank Goes Seed-Stage: Afreximbank’s Startup Gamble

    For decades, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has been the go-to lender for massive infrastructure projects and sovereign trade deals. But in a move that signals a shift from “big iron” to “big data,” the Cairo-headquartered bank has officially entered the venture ecosystem.

    On February 2, 2026, the bank announced the eight finalists of its inaugural Afreximbank Accelerator Program. Out of 1,600 applicants, these startups represent the bank’s bet that Africa’s industrialization will be driven as much by code as by commodities.

    Traditionally, multilateral development banks (MDBs) avoid the “Seed to Series A” space, viewing it as too volatile for their balance sheets. Afreximbank is breaking this mold. By launching a dedicated accelerator, the bank is positioning itself as a strategic gatekeeper for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

    The program isn’t just about “mentorship.” The carrot at the end of the stick is a potential $250,000 equity investment from the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), the bank’s impact investment arm.

    Startups in the Afreximbank Accelerator (2026)

    The selected cohort focuses heavily on “unclogging” the pipes of African commerce — logistics, payments, and supply chain transparency.

    StartupCountrySectorCore Value Proposition
    OnePort 365NigeriaLogisticsDigital freight management for air, ocean, and land.
    GebeyaEthiopiaAI & TalentAI-driven marketplace for Africa’s service and creative economy.
    Fincart.ioEgyptE-commerceOperating system for SMEs in emerging markets.
    ZowaselNigeriaAgritechTransformation of agribusiness trade and finance.
    FlunaAfrica-focusedTrade FinanceDigital infrastructure for agricultural trade.
    CapsaNigeriaFintechAlternative finance marketplace for liquidating invoices.
    Daba FinanceIvory CoastInvestingUnified capital mobilization platform.
    TimonNigeriaPaymentsGlobal travel and payment wallet for African travelers.

    This accelerator is not a standalone experiment; it is the logical progression of a more aggressive investment strategy. Late last year, FEDA led a $100m funding round into Spiro, an electric mobility company.

    While the accelerator focuses on smaller checks ($250k), the Spiro deal — where FEDA contributed $75m — shows that Afreximbank has the liquidity to follow its winners through the entire growth lifecycle.

    Why this matters for the ecosystem:

    • De-risking for private VC: When a multilateral bank anchors a startup, it provides a “seal of approval” that can attract conservative global capital.
    • Regulatory fast-tracking: Finalists gain access to Afreximbank’s network of government stakeholders, potentially smoothing the path for cross-border licensing.
    • Infrastructure integration: Startups like OnePort 365 and Capsa can theoretically plug directly into the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), a project Afreximbank built to bypass the need for third-party currencies in intra-African trade.

    The “Uncommon” Challenge

    The risk for Afreximbank lies in the cultural clash between a 30-year-old multilateral institution and the “move fast” ethos of Seed-stage startups. Heavy-duty compliance and “standard investment processes” can often be the death of a startup needing bridge funding.

    However, by decentralizing the program across hubs in Cairo, Abuja, and Nairobi, the bank is attempting to stay close to the ground.

    “This inaugural cohort represents the future of African enterprise,” says Haytham Elmaayergi, Executive VP at Afreximbank. “We are proud to nurture the solutions needed to unlock trade across Africa and the diaspora.”

    What’s next?

    The three-month intensive kicks off in March 2026. All eyes will be on the “Demo Day” in late Q2, where we will see if the bank is ready to sign the checks and if these startups can handle the weight of being the continent’s “official” trade-tech champions.

    Ejara Charts New Leadership Path After Passing of Founder

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    Ejara Charts New Leadership Path After Passing of Founder

    Ejara, the Cameroon-based fintech that has become a leading voice for non-custodial crypto investment in Francophone Africa, has appointed co-founder Tierno Tall as its new CEO. The appointment follows the death of the company’s high-profile co-founder and former CEO, Nelly Chatue Diop.

    The leadership transition, announced recently by the company, aims to ensure continuity for the startup’s 200,000+ users and its international investors. Tall, who previously served as Chief Operating Officer and Head of Product & Growth, has been a core part of the founding team since Ejara’s launch in 2020. Baptiste Andrieux, the third co-founder, remains in his role as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

    Nelly Chatue Diop was buried on January 31, 2026, in Jebale, in Cameroon’s Littoral Region, near Douala. She passed away on January 8, 2026; however, the cause of her death has not been disclosed. Her passing represents a significant loss to the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) financial ecosystem, where she was a rare bridge between decentralized finance and traditional banking.

    The leadership change coincides with a notable strengthening of the company’s financial base. According to data from the French company registry, Ejara SAS (registered in France and holding a Digital Asset Service Provider (PSAN) license from the AMF) significantly increased its share capital this month.

    The registry shows that the company’s capital increased from €600,000 in August 2025 to €1,500,000 as of early February 2026. This more than two-fold rise signals continued confidence during a period of leadership transition. To date, Ejara has raised over $10m in venture capital from investors including Dragonfly Capital and Anthemis.

    Bridging the DeFi-TradFi divide

    Nelly Chatue Diop was a structural figure in the regional financial ecosystem, successfully operating across both decentralized finance (DeFi) and traditional banking. At the time of her death, she held several influential roles:

    • Independent Director at NFC Bank: Appointed in July 2025 to a board tasked with privatizing the state-bailed-out “zombie bank” within two years.
    • President of the Cameroon FinTech Association: Acting as the primary liaison between the startup ecosystem and the regional central bank (BEAC).
    • Chair of Makeda Asset Management: Leading efforts in the tokenization of real-world assets.

    Tall now steps into the CEO role at a time when the region is grappling with modernizing its capital markets. While Chatue Diop was the public face of the company’s regulatory and advocacy efforts, Tall’s “in-depth understanding of the teams and strategic challenges” will be tested as Ejara looks to maintain its influence in the Web3 sector.

    Strategy and Continuity

    Ejara’s growth has been built on a “non-custodial” model — allowing users to “own their keys” — a strategy that gained significant trust following the 2022 collapse of centralized exchanges like FTX. The platform targets the mass market in the CFA franc zone, with entry-level investment tickets as low as 1,000 FCFA ($1.60).

    In a statement, the company emphasized that the mission remains unchanged:

    “Ejara’s leadership is in clear and solid continuity… Our investors continue to place their trust in us; our team remains fully mobilized, and our mission remains unchanged.”

    For the CEMAC region, the loss of Chatue Diop is a material setback. For Ejara, the focus now shifts to whether Tall and Andrieux can sustain the momentum of the region’s most prominent fintech export while navigating the complex regulatory roadmap Chatue Diop helped initiate.

    Multiple-Entry Visas for VCs: Can Egypt’s New Startup Charter Slow Founder Exodus to Riyadh and Dubai?

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    Multiple-Entry Visas for VCs: Can Egypt’s New Startup Charter Slow Founder Exodus to Riyadh and Dubai?

    For the past five years, Egypt’s tech ecosystem has operated as an involuntary talent academy for Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Founders would raise pre-seed rounds in Cairo, then quietly relocate to Riyadh or Dubai before their Series A, citing everything from currency controls to a tax system that treated software companies like textile manufacturers.

    This week, the Egyptian government signalled it wants that conveyor belt to stop. At a ceremony in Cairo, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly launched the Egypt Startup Charter — a 58-page framework that promises regulatory overhaul, $5bn in venture capital mobilisation, and crucially, the kind of procedural simplification that has eluded North Africa’s largest economy for decades.

    The ambition is explicit: create 5 unicorns, support 5,000 startups, and generate 500,000 jobs by 2030. Whether Egypt’s notoriously complex bureaucracy can deliver on paper what it’s promising in PowerPoints remains the central question.

    The tax truce

    The Charter’s most immediate impact centres on taxation. Under legislation enacted in early 2025, startups with annual revenues below EGP 20m ($415,000) will pay a flat turnover tax of 0.4–1.5%, replacing Egypt’s traditional profit-based system that required complex accounting and invited aggressive audits.

    The package includes:

    • Five-year audit immunity for qualifying startups
    • Zero capital gains tax on asset sales and dividends
    • Quarterly VAT filing (down from monthly)
    • 2% unified customs rate on imported tech equipment
    • 90-day company liquidation process (previously could take years)

    The tax structure mirrors Indonesia’s approach under its 2020 Omnibus Law, which consolidated startup taxation into a simplified regime. However, Egypt’s implementation will face a test that Indonesia’s didn’t: an over 100% inflation rate over the past three years has left founders deeply sceptical of government stability.

    “By taxing revenue rather than profit, the state is effectively removing the incentive for startups to hide their books,” one Cairo-based fintech founder, who preferred anonymity, confided in Launch Base Africa. “It’s a ‘don’t look under the hood’ deal that allows us to focus on growth rather than audits.”

    The Gulf in the room

    Egypt’s reforms arrive as regional competition for tech talent has intensified. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 offers foreign founders:

    • 30-year corporate tax holidays for regional headquarters
    • Golden visas with immediate family inclusion
    • SAR-denominated accounts immune to devaluation

    Egypt’s counter-argument rests on market access and cost arbitrage. The Charter emphasises Egypt’s 108 million domestic consumers, free trade agreements covering 1.5 billion people (including the African Continental Free Trade Area), and engineering talent costs 40–60% below Gulf equivalents.

    The Gulf has capital, Egypt has customers. For a fintech serving Egyptian SMEs, success depends less on a Dubai licence than on users who understand cash-flow volatility.

    The catalytic fund structure

    The Charter’s financial architecture centres on a five-year, five-pillar funding initiative:

    1. Fund of Funds expansion — Managed by MSMEDA (Egypt’s SME development agency), targeting venture capital funds with government co-investment

    2. Early-stage matching — The Innovation Support Fund will mirror angel investments at a 1:4 ratio and match corporate venture capital at the same rate

    3. Growth capital — Direct investment via EgyptVentures, a state-backed VC targeting Series A/B rounds

    4. Scale-up Champions Program — For companies that have raised $10m+, offering government procurement access and regulatory fast-tracking

    5. Regional/sectoral funds — Dedicated vehicles for governorates outside Cairo and priority sectors (fintech, agritech, climate tech)

    The total mobilisation target is $5bn by 2030, though the government’s direct contribution appears capped at approximately $400m, with the remainder expected from foreign development finance institutions and private capital.

    “It’s not a cheque-writing exercise,” the fintech founder added. “The state is positioning itself as an anchor LP, not the primary source of capital.”

    The MSMEDA filter

    To access Charter benefits, startups must obtain certification from MSMEDA, Egypt’s SME development agency. The criteria:

    • Company age under 7 years
    • Built on “innovation or new business models”
    • Scalable growth potential
    • Registered legal structure allowing equity investment

    MSMEDA offers two tracks: a regular review (timeline unclear) and a fast-track for companies nominated by accredited VCs, accelerators, or incubators, with approval promised within days.

    This gatekeeper model has precedent in France’s La French Tech certification and Singapore’s Startup SG programme. However, Egypt’s version introduces ambiguity around the “innovation” threshold — a potential chokepoint if interpreted conservatively by bureaucrats accustomed to manufacturing SMEs.

    Twelve sectors, one strategy

    The Charter identifies priority verticals, with varying degrees of infrastructure readiness:

    Mature ecosystems:

    • Fintech — 76.3% financial inclusion rate, regulatory sandbox operational since 2019, $334m invested in 2024
    • E-commerce — $9.1bn market growing at 10.2% CAGR, social commerce at 28% annual growth

    Emerging opportunities:

    • Agritech — Arable land expanded 15% over two decades, 7bn cubic meter water deficit driving precision agriculture demand
    • Healthtech — Universal health coverage rollout creating digital health records infrastructure
    • Climate tech — 42% renewable energy target by 2030, regulatory support for solar/wind projects

    Underdeveloped potential:

    • DeepTech — 30,000 AI specialists training target by 2030, but commercialisation pathways remain unclear
    • Proptech — 22.8% vacancy rate in housing, but legacy title registration systems create friction

    The sectoral focus includes Innovation Alliances — university-industry partnerships receiving EGP 25–60m ($520k-$1.25m) annually for three years, modeled on Germany’s Fraunhofer Institutes.

    The implementation gap

    Egypt’s startup community has heard reform promises before. In 2023, proposed tax exemptions were diluted during parliamentary review, leaving founders with marginal benefits. The 2020 SME Development Law (№152) promised streamlined licensing but implementation varied wildly across governorates.

    This Charter’s institutional architecture attempts to address that inconsistency:

    • Ministerial Group for Entrepreneurship — 15 government agencies coordinating policy, chaired by the Minister of Planning
    • Permanent Cabinet Unit — Dedicated bureaucratic “SWAT team” for startup issues
    • Startup Ecosystem Observatory — Data collection body with quarterly KPI reporting
    • Board of Trustees — Independent oversight including private sector representatives

    “The Ministerial Group is the key variable,” the founder further noted. “If they have actual enforcement power, this works. If they’re just a coordinating committee that sends emails other ministries ignore, we’re back to the old Egypt.”

    The proof point will arrive by end-Q1 2026, when the first MSMEDA startup certificates are scheduled for issuance. These unlock the 0.4–1.5% tax rate and access to the catalytic fund pools.

    The brain drain calculus

    Egypt’s diaspora represents both validation and warning. Companies like Swvl Holdings Corp (transport), Widebot (artificial intelligence), and Taager (social commerce) all maintain Egyptian engineering teams but have relocated holding companies abroad.

    The Charter attempts to reverse this through:

    • Multiple-entry visas for founders and investors from 180+ countries
    • Visa-on-arrival for holders of US/UK/Schengen/GCC permits
    • Seven-day work permit processing for foreign talent
    • Specialized free zones for export-oriented tech services

    Yet these measures compete against Saudi Arabia’s recently launched Digital Nomad Visa and the UAE’s remote work permits, both offering tax-free personal income.

    The regional positioning

    Egypt’s startup ecosystem ranked third in Africa by deal value (after Kenya) in 2025, according to Launch Base Africa’s data. The country has produced at least two unicorns: MNT-Halan (fintech, $2bn+ valuation) and Fawry (payments, listed on Egyptian Exchange).

    Since 2019, Egypt has recorded countless venture-backed exits, predominantly through acquisitions by Gulf entities. This “feeder ecosystem” dynamic is precisely what the Charter aims to disrupt.

    Comparative metrics:

    • Egypt: $2bn VC investment (2020–2025), 108m population, $396bn GDP
    • UAE: $6bn+ VC investment (2020–2025), 10m population, $507bn GDP
    • Saudi Arabia: $4bn+ VC investment (2020–2025), 36m population, $1.1tn GDP

    Egypt’s cost advantage remains pronounced: senior engineers command $30–40k salaries versus $80–100k in Dubai. Office space runs $10–50/sqft versus $50–500/sqft in DIFC or ADGM.

    The credibility deficit

    The Egyptian government’s challenge isn’t convincing founders that reform is desirable — it’s convincing them it’s durable. Currency devaluation (the pound has lost 50% against the dollar since 2022), IMF bailout conditions, and sudden policy reversals have created deep institutional mistrust.

    The Charter includes annual review clauses and sunset provisions requiring parliamentary renewal, mechanisms intended to signal long-term commitment but that could also enable future backtracking.

    What success looks like

    By the government’s own metrics, the Charter will be judged on:

    • 5 unicorns by 2030 (currently 2)
    • 5,000 startups supported (versus ~800 currently active)
    • 500,000 jobs created
    • $5bn in VC mobilised

    More immediately, watch for:

    • Q1 2026: First MSMEDA certifications issued
    • Q2 2026: First Catalytic Fund commitments announced
    • Q4 2026: Tax audit immunity tested in practice
    • 2027: First major startup choosing to return headquarters to Egypt

    The Egyptian ecosystem’s structural advantages — market size, talent depth, cost efficiency — have never been in dispute. What’s been missing is the institutional scaffolding that allows those advantages to compound rather than dissipate across borders.

    Egypt’s startup charter represents the most comprehensive attempt yet to build that scaffolding. Whether it succeeds depends less on the elegance of its design than on the grinding, unglamorous work of implementation: training tax officials, digitising permit systems, and ensuring that when a founder shows up at a government office, the bureaucrat behind the desk has actually heard of the new rules.

    For a region that has watched billions in Egyptian talent value accrue to Gulf balance sheets, the stakes extend well beyond Cairo. If Egypt can prove that regulatory reform beats resource wealth in building sustainable tech ecosystems, the implications ripple across emerging markets from Lagos to Jakarta.

    The exodus isn’t over. But for the first time in years, Egypt has given its founders a reason to delay buying that one-way ticket.

    Africa’s 100 Most Active Tech Startup Investors — Ranked by Deal Activity (2025)

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    Africa’s 100 Most Active Tech Startup Investors — Ranked by Deal Activity (2025)

    Africa’s startup ecosystem is often described in terms of headline-grabbing megarounds and unicorn valuations. But those moments are built on quieter, more consistent activity: the investors who show up repeatedly, write early cheques, anchor difficult rounds, and keep deploying capital when market conditions tighten.

    The data reveals a bifurcated ecosystem. Local and pan-African funds such as Digital Africa and Launch Africa Ventures continue to drive volume at the earliest stages, absorbing the risk of experimentation and market discovery. At the other end, European development finance institutions and global corporate venture arms — including Norfund, BII, Visa, and Google — are increasingly acting as anchor investors for capital-intensive sectors where scale, regulation, and infrastructure matter more than speed.

    To make sense of these dynamics, the investors in startups are grouped by deal intensity and role within the ecosystem: Ecosystem Titans with double-digit deal counts, high-activity institutional and DFI investors providing patient capital, and venture funds and private capital firms focused on helping startups scale beyond local markets. Together, they form the capital stack that defines how Africa’s startups were funded in 2025.

    The list below shows who is shaping the market — not in theory, but in practice.

    🏆The Ecosystem Titans (10+ Deals)

    These organizations are currently the most prolific backers of early-to-growth stage startups in Africa, often providing both equity and critical grant/debt facilities.

    1. Digital Africa / Fuzé (13 deals) — Leading the “pre-seed” wave across Francophone and Anglophone Africa.
    2. British International Investment (BII) (11 deals) — Primarily focused on infrastructure, clean energy, and scaling fintech unicorns.

    🏛️ High-Activity Institutional & DFI Investors (5–9 Deals)

    These organizations provide the “patient capital” required to build heavy infrastructure and stabilize the market.

    3. Norfund [Clean Energy, Financial Inclusion, and Green Infrastructure]

    4. Y Combinator [Early-Stage Generalist & High-Scalability Software]

    5. Flourish Ventures / Madica [Global Fintech, Inclusive Finance, and African Pre-Seed]

    6. Visa / Visa Ventures [Fintech, Payment Infrastructure, and Digital Commerce]

    7. AfricInvest [Mid-Cap Growth, Pan-African Private Equity, and Healthcare]

    8. All On [Off-Grid Energy and Solar Innovation in Nigeria]

    9. Renew Capital [Early-Stage, Impact-Focused, and Gender-Smart Investing]

    10. IFC (International Finance Corporation) [Agribusiness, Healthcare, and Large-Scale Digital Infrastructure]

    11. Seedstars Africa Ventures [High-Growth Early Stage and Digital Transformation]

    12. CEI Africa [Clean Energy Access and Mini-Grid Financing]

    13. develoPPP (Germany) [Sustainable Development and Public-Private Partnerships]

    14. Norrsken (Norrsken22 / Norrsken Foundation) [Growth-Stage Tech and Impact-Driven Entrepreneurship]

    15. Beltone Venture Capital [Fintech and Consumer-Facing Tech in Egypt and North Africa]

    16. E3 Capital [Low-Carbon Economy, Digital Connectivity, and Energy Access]

    17. E Squared Investments [Social Impact, South African Entrepreneurship, and Equity]

    18. Launch Africa Ventures [High-Volume Seed Investing across Pan-African Tech]

    19. P1 Ventures [Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Tech-Enabled B2B Services]

    20. Catalyst Fund [Climate Resilience and Adaptation-Focused Fintech]

    21. 4DX Ventures [Fintech, E-commerce, and Logistics Growth]

    22. Enza Capital (Early- to growth-stage pan-African tech, with a strong focus on fintech and digitally transforming core African industries)

    23. Nubia Capital [Impact-Heavy Seed and Early-Stage Startups]

    🚀 Leading Venture Capital Firms & Private Funds (3–4 Deals)

    The “engine room” of the ecosystem, these firms specialize in helping startups bridge the gap from local success to regional dominance.

    24. Endeavor Catalyst [High-Impact Scale-ups and Network-Driven Growth]

    25. Den VC [Generalist Early-Stage and Enterprise Tech]

    26. Google (Africa Investment Fund) [Digital Transformation, Ecosystem Support, and AI]

    27. Speedinvest [Deep Tech, FinTech, and Industrial Tech]

    28. FMO (Netherlands) [Sustainable Financial Institutions and Renewable Energy]

    29. HAVAÍC [High-Growth, Post-Revenue African Technology]

    30. Plus VC [Early-Stage Generalist with a MENA-Africa Bridge]

    31. Fireball Capital [Growth-Stage Tech and Venture Fund-of-Funds]

    32. Mirova (Gigaton Fund) [Clean Energy Financing and Decarbonization]

    33. A15 [Consumer Tech and Early-Stage Ecosystem Building in Egypt]

    34. M-Empire Angels [Seed-Stage Tech and Egyptian Angel Networks]

    35. AAIC Investment [Healthcare, Medical Technology, and Life Sciences]

    36. Verdant Capital [Hybrid Equity/Debt for Financial Services]

    37. Algebra Ventures [Technology-Driven High-Growth Egyptian Startups]

    38. Partech / Partech Africa [Multi-Sector Series A and B Growth Equity]

    Download the full list here

    Five Months In: Why West Africa’s Fintech Giants are Still Holding Out on Interoperable Payments

    Staff Writer
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    Five Months In: Why West Africa’s Fintech Giants are Still Holding Out on Interoperable Payments

    Five months after the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) officially activated its ambitious regional instant payment system, the landscape of West African fintech remains a house divided. While traditional banks and microfinance institutions are flocking to the Interoperable Platform for Instant Payment Systems (PI-SPI), the region’s two most dominant players — US-backed unicorn Wave and telecom giant Orange Money — appear to be navigating a complex dance of strategic holdouts and regulatory compliance.

    The PI-SPI, launched on September 30, 2025, was designed to be the “Great Connector” for the eight-nation West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). The goal was simple: allow any citizen to send money from a bank account in Togo to a mobile wallet in Mali instantly and for free. But as the system matures, the very companies that pioneered digital finance in the region are being accused of “circumventing” its spirit to protect their bottom lines.

    The “Poisoned Chalice” of Free Transfers

    The most vocal criticism has centered on Orange Money, particularly in Senegal. While the company claims full compliance with the BCEAO’s rules, users and lawmakers argue that the “free” transfers mandated by the platform have been offset by a stealthy hike in withdrawal fees.

    The controversy reached its height last week when MP Saliou Ndione publicly confronted the operator. Ndione alleged that Orange Money has effectively transformed a regulatory win for consumers into a commercial opportunity.

    “The mechanism is simple: instead of paying 0.8%for sending, customers now pay 1% for withdrawals,” Ndione noted. “Since free transfers are already guaranteed through this infrastructure, Orange Money can no longer charge for sending. The strategy consists of shifting charges to withdrawals, which were previously free.”

    Orange Money’s official stance is that the fee structure is a nudge toward a “cashless” society. In a response to the inquiry, the company stated:

    • Transfers between Orange Money accounts: Free.
    • Withdrawals: 1% fee (capped at 5,000 CFA francs).
    • Merchant and Bill Payments: Free.
    • The Goal: To encourage digital usage without requiring systematic physical withdrawals.

    However, for a region where the informal economy still relies heavily on cash, the 1% withdrawal fee is viewed by many as a “regulatory detour” that keeps the ecosystem closed.

    The Absentees: Strategy or Setback?

    When the PI-SPI launched, the “guest list” of authorized institutions was notable for its omissions. While Coris Bank and Ecobank were quick to integrate across all eight member states, heavyweights like Wave and MTN MoMo were conspicuously absent from the initial cohort of 31 providers.

    Five months later, the list has expanded to over 70 participants, yet the integration of these “disruptors” remains uneven. For Wave, a company built on a $1.7bn valuation and a promise of radical simplicity, the PI-SPI presents a double-edged sword:

    1. The Opportunity: Access to the deposits held in traditional banks (a long-time hurdle for fintechs).
    2. The Threat: The loss of its “closed-loop” advantage. If every bank app can now do what Wave does for free, Wave’s competitive moat shrinks.
    ProviderPI-SPI Status (Feb 2026)Primary Revenue Strategy
    Traditional BanksHigh adoption (BOA, Coris, UBA)Transaction fees & Float
    Orange MoneyAbsent but claims compliance (with fee shifts)Ecosystem lock-in & Withdrawal fees
    WaveAbsentHigh-volume, low-margin transfers
    MicrofinanceRapidly Joining (Baobab, Cofina)Financial inclusion for rural areas

    The Integration Paradox

    The fintech giants are currently fighting a battle for relevance as traditional banks use the PI-SPI to launch a counter-offensive. Armed with the new infrastructure, banks are beginning to offer the same “instant” and “low-cost” features that were once the exclusive domain of fintech disruptors.

    The absence of major players like Société Générale and UBA from the initial stages also suggests that the path to full interoperability is as much a technical hurdle as it is a strategic one. For a system meant to connect hundreds of disparate financial institutions, the speed of adoption by the “old guard” banks has actually outpaced the agility of the “new school” fintechs.

    As the PI-SPI gains ground, the market is splitting into two camps: those embracing the open ecosystem to capture new transaction volumes, and those attempting to preserve their closed networks through fee restructuring.

    For the West African consumer, the promise of a truly borderless payment zone is closer than ever, but the final mile — converting those digital credits into affordable cash or usable currency — remains a battleground of “transparency and dialogue.”

    Profits in the Gulf, Compliance Headaches at Nasdaq: The $35m Race to Save Swvl’s Ticker

    Staff Writer
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    Profits in the Gulf, Compliance Headaches at Nasdaq: The $35m Race to Save Swvl’s Ticker

    Four years ago, Swvl was the poster child for the post-SPAC reckoning. After a $1.5bn merger in 2022, the Dubai-headquartered mobility startup saw its valuation evaporate by 99%, forced into a brutal retreat from markets across Pakistan, Spain, and Kenya.

    But as of February 2026, the “Uber of buses” has completed a metamorphosis. No longer chasing mass-market commuters in volatile currencies, Swvl has reinvented itself as a lean, profitable provider of “Transportation-as-a-Service” (TaaS) for the Gulf’s enterprise giants.

    The latest proof of this pivot arrived today: a $1.5m three-year contract in Saudi Arabia to manage mobility for healthcare facilities.

    The Healthcare Pivot

    The new Saudi deal isn’t just another contract; it’s a move into “mission-critical” logistics. Swvl will now manage the transport of medical staff, patients, and equipment across the Kingdom’s healthcare network.

    This follows a flurry of recent wins in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC):

    • UAE: A $5.5m five-year contract signed last week.
    • Kuwait: A $2.2m entry contract to manage workforce shuttles.
    • Saudi Arabia: A milestone of 100,000 bookings with Bank AlJazira.

    By focusing on healthcare and corporate campuses, Swvl is targeting sectors where reliability is more important than price — and where clients pay in hard currency.

    The “Dollar-Pegged” Hedge

    For Swvl, the move to the Gulf is a survival strategy against the Egyptian pound. While Egypt remains the company’s largest market by volume (generating $4.76m in Q3 2025), the GCC is the engine of its profit.

    The strategy is working. Swvl has now posted three consecutive profitable quarters — a rarity for mobility startups.

    • Revenue Growth: H1 2025 revenue hit $10.19m (up 26% year-over-year).
    • Margin Expansion: In the GCC, gross margins more than doubled last year.
    • The Hedge: “Dollar-pegged” revenue (from Saudi and the UAE) now accounts for roughly 34% of the total portfolio, up from just 18% in 2024.

    By the Numbers: The 2026 Financial Picture

    By the Numbers: The 2026 Financial Picture

    MetricStatus (Q3 2025 – Q1 2026)
    Net Profit$0.21m (Third straight profitable quarter)
    Recurring Revenue85% of total income
    Market Cap~$21m (Down from $1.5bn peak)
    Cash Reserves~$5m (Lean, but improving)

    The Nasdaq Sword of Damocles

    Despite the operational turnaround, Swvl is still fighting for its life on the public markets. In late 2025, the company received a deficiency notice from Nasdaq for failing to maintain a minimum market value of $35m.

    Nasdaq has granted Swvl a 180-day grace period to regain compliance. To stay listed, the company’s market value must close at or above $35M for at least 10 consecutive business days before the April 29, 2026 deadline. If Swvl fails to meet this threshold, it faces delisting to the “pink sheets” (OTC markets). For a company aiming to be a global enterprise partner, delisting is more than just a loss of prestige:

    Swvl must now prove to investors that its new B2B model can scale beyond the Gulf. The company has teased ambitions for the UK and US markets, but those high-cost environments are a world away from the captive corporate markets of Riyadh and Dubai.

    The Verdict

    Swvl’s “asset-light” approach — providing software and routing without owning the buses — has successfully stopped the bleeding. It has transformed from a cash-burning consumer app into a specialized logistics firm. However, with a market cap ($14.7M) hovering around its annual revenue, the “new” Swvl is a micro-cap survivor rather than a tech titan.

    Survival is the new unicorn status. Swvl has stopped trying to be everything to everyone and started being a logistics partner for companies with hard-currency budgets.

    The question for 2026 is no longer whether Swvl can survive, but whether its razor-thin profit margins can eventually justify its place on the Nasdaq.

    Helios Investment Partners Reaches $250m Second Close for African Climate Fund

    Staff Writer
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    Helios Investment Partners Reaches $250m Second Close for African Climate Fund

    The funding gap for African climate initiatives is vast: currently, public finance covers only 10% of the continent’s requirements. To help bridge this divide, London-headquartered Helios Investment Partners has secured a second close for its Helios Climate Fund, bringing total commitments to approximately $250m.

    The latest backer is Proparco, the private sector financing arm of the French Development Agency (AFD). While the specific size of Proparco’s contribution to this fund was not disclosed, the commitment follows a $20m investment the DFI made into Helios’s sports and entertainment vehicle in 2024.

    The Lowdown

    Helios Climate is a dedicated vehicle designed to scale African companies focused on the low-carbon transition. Unlike generalist private equity funds, this vehicle targets specific decarbonization themes across the continent.

    • Ticket Size: The fund plans to write checks between $20m and $50m.
    • Strategy: A mix of significant minority and majority stakes.
    • Sectors: 15 sub-themes including renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and green mobility.
    • Geography: Pan-African.

    The Investors

    Helios has successfully crowded in a heavy-hitting group of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and institutional players. The second close includes:

    • European DFIs: EIB (EU), FMO (Netherlands), BII (UK), SIFEM (Switzerland), Swedfund (Sweden), and BIO (Belgium).
    • Institutional/Private: Standard Bank, InfraCo, and the Emerging Markets Climate Action Fund (EMCAF).

    The Context

    Africa is disproportionately affected by climate change despite contributing the least to global emissions. However, private capital has historically been slow to enter the space due to perceived risks. By securing $250m, Helios is positioning itself as one of the few large-scale private equity players capable of executing “large-cap” climate deals on the continent.

    Helios Investment Partners is already a dominant force in African PE. The firm has invested over $2.5bn across 39 companies in 35 African countries. This climate-specific fund represents a shift toward specialized impact, moving beyond the traditional infrastructure and telecom deals that have historically defined large-scale African investment.

    For the African tech and growth ecosystem, this is a signal that “climate tech” is moving out of the purely venture-led, early-stage bracket and into the private equity growth phase.

    With ticket sizes up to $50m, Helios isn’t looking at “garage-stage” startups; they are looking for established companies in sectors like green mobility and agritech that need capital to dominate regional markets. The challenge will be finding enough “investment-ready” companies at this valuation to deploy $250m effectively without overpaying in a relatively thin market.

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