Brief (503)
Nigeria is advancing its digital transformation agenda through a partnership between NITDA and Google. Director General Kashifu Inuwa and Google’s VP Marcus Jadotte met with key government figures, including Ministers of Interior, Communications, and Education, as well as the National Security Adviser.
NITDA and Google share a vision to position Nigeria as a West African leader in AI and cybersecurity. Their efforts focus on equipping students with digital skills, preparing a future-ready workforce, and improving national productivity.
This partnership is also expected to attract foreign investment, support national security through digital intelligence, and drive inclusive economic growth.
African fintech company Flutterwave has announced a strategic collaboration with Skyee, a trusted Hong Kong-based B2B payments platform, to streamline and scale cross-border transactions between Africa and Asia.
The partnership is designed to simplify global trade for African businesses by offering faster, more transparent, and reliable payment solutions across Asian markets, further reinforcing Flutterwave’s commitment to expanding access to global commerce and empowering the continent’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
This collaboration follows closely on the heels of Flutterwave’s announcement, in early July, of a partnership with Beijing-based financial services provider NoraFirst, aimed at enabling seamless B2B trade payments between Africa and East Asia. It signals the fintech’s growing focus on unlocking new trade corridors across the continent and Asia.
The Africa Money & DeFi Summit West Africa is set to return to Accra on September 24–25, 2025, bringing together top fintech and crypto stakeholders from across the continent and around the world for two days of networking, business development, and investment exploration.
To be held at the Mövenpick Hotel, the summit will connect Africa’s rapidly evolving fintech, decentralized finance (DeFi), and Web3 ecosystem with global investors, technology providers, and industry pioneers.
Startups will gain exposure to investors and accelerators, while corporates and regulators will explore partnerships and emerging policy frameworks in areas like digital currencies, open banking, and responsible crypto innovation.
Visa has announced the launch of applications for its Africa 2025 Accelerator, designed to empower startups building the next generation of financial services across the continent.
The program is open to seed to Series A startups that have a functional MVP or market-ready product and are either based in Africa or planning to expand within the region.
Participants will receive tailored 1:1 mentorship from experienced founders and industry leaders, offering practical insights and hands-on guidance. Startups will also gain access to over US$200,000 in partner credits and service discounts, significantly reducing operational costs and accelerating growth.
Application closes August 15.
Flutterwave, Africa’s payments technology company, has secured a Payment Institution license from the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), officially allowing it to operate in Senegal, it announced July 10.
This license enables Flutterwave to offer its full suite of secure, seamless payment solutions to businesses in Senegal and to those expanding into Francophone Africa.
This expansion allows businesses to offer popular local payment methods, process payouts easily, and access robust APIs and no-code tools like payment links and invoices.
Pan-African logistics technology company Leta has announced its official launch in Ghana, marking a major milestone in its mission to streamline delivery and supply chain operations across the continent.
Leta provides intelligent delivery and logistics solutions designed to automate operations for businesses in sectors such as fast food, grocery, and e-commerce. By leveraging advanced technology, the company helps its clients improve delivery efficiency, reduce operational costs, and enhance customer satisfaction.
As Ghana’s fast-growing retail and food service sectors continue to demand faster and more reliable delivery services, Leta’s entry into the market aims to support local businesses in meeting these evolving consumer expectations.
African payments technology company Flutterwave has announced it has secured 20 new Money Transmitter Licenses (MTLs) across the United States, significantly expanding its ability to offer faster and more reliable cross-border payment services.
The newly acquired licenses mean customers across more U.S. states and territories can now send money more easily and securely to countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, and Cameroon.
The new licenses reinforce the company’s mission to simplify international payments and strengthen economic ties between the U.S. and Africa.
African payments company Onafriq launched its new cross-border payment service on July 3 in Accra. This ushers in a transformative way for individuals and businesses to move money seamlessly across African borders.
The new service directly connects banks, fintechs, and mobile money operators, enabling instant transfers from Ghanaian mobile wallets to Nigerian bank accounts and wallets. This integration allows traders to settle cross-border transactions more efficiently, families to remit money to loved ones, and businesses to streamline payments to suppliers and employees.
The service launch marks a significant step toward reducing reliance on costly and slow traditional remittance channels, making it easier for millions of Africans to participate in regional economic activities.
Liquify, an invoice financing platform for SMEs, has officially announced the close of its oversubscribed $1.5 million seed round aimed at accelerating its expansion across Sub-Saharan Africa.
The round was led by Future Africa, with participation from Launch Africa Ventures, 54 Collective, and Equitable Ventures, along with a group of strategic angel investors. Emerald Africa also extended its debt facility, strengthening Liquify’s liquidity and enabling greater flexibility to support its expanding SME customer base.
With this fresh capital, Liquify plans to scale operations in its Ghanaian hub by hiring across product, technology, and customer success teams. The company will also expand into both Anglophone and Francophone markets, extending its reach to serve more SME exporters across the region.
Egypt and Thailand have strengthened ties in the digital economy with the Egypt–Thailand ICT Networking Event, organized by ITIDA in collaboration with Thailand and the Royal Thai Embassy in Cairo.
The event brought together officials and tech leaders from both countries to explore collaboration in ICT. The forum featured B2B matchmaking sessions, enabling direct connections between Egyptian and Thai tech companies and fostering potential investment, outsourcing, and innovation opportunities.
The event supports Egypt’s digital transformation goals and Thailand’s drive to globalize its software industry.
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EdgeNext, an edge computing and cloud infrastructure provider, has announced a partnership with iXAfrica Data Centres, East Africa’s AI-ready, hyperscale data center provider, to bolster the region’s fast-growing digital economy.
The collaboration merges EdgeNext’s global edge platform with iXAfrica’s carrier-neutral infrastructure at the Nairobi One (NBOX1) campus. The result: a powerful ecosystem capable of delivering ultra-low-latency, high-performance, and compliance-ready solutions to enterprise clients in the finance, media, telecom, gaming, and cloud-native sectors.
The partnership is expected to streamline operations for regional and international businesses while enhancing data compliance, security, and real-time performance.
Payments technology company Flutterwave has partnered with Chpter, an AI-powered conversational commerce platform, to simplify how businesses sell and get paid through social media. The partnership, announced June 19, empowers businesses to seamlessly engage customers, automate sales conversations, and process local and international payments within popular platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook.
Chpter’s platform integrates checkout, customer insights, campaign automation, and AI-driven customer support via virtual agents “Jess” and “Bran”. These AI personas act as 24/7 sales and customer service representatives, delivering data-informed product recommendations and managing inquiries even when business owners are offline.
With payments powered by Flutterwave, businesses can now receive money in real-time via cards, mobile money, bank transfers, and other digital methods, both locally and internationally.
Nigerian HR-tech startup PaidHR has raised $1.8 million in seed funding to deepen its mission of simplifying payroll and workforce management for African businesses. The round, announced June 23, was led by Accion Venture Lab, with participation from returning investors Zrosk, Chui Ventures, and Zedcrest Capital.
The new capital follows a $500,000 pre-seed round in 2022. It will be used to accelerate product development, grow the team, scale across Africa, and expand offerings in compliance automation, HR analytics, and employee financial wellness.
As African businesses increasingly digitalize operations amid economic uncertainty, PaidHR positions itself at the center of a rising need for intuitive, scalable, and inclusive workforce solutions.
The Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), in partnership with 500 Global, has opened applications for Batch 6 of the Egypt Seed Bootcamp, scheduled to run from September 27 to October 1, 2025.
The five-day immersive program is tailored for Egypt-based pre-seed and seed-stage startups, offering founders the tools and mentorship needed to gain clarity, accelerate growth, and develop actionable strategies.
Participants will benefit from one-on-one guidance from global experts and deep dives into critical startup areas, including growth hacking, branding, storytelling, fundraising, team building, and talent development. The deadline for applications is July 13.