Beyond the bombs: The hidden costs of US military strikes in Nigeria
This moment feels bigger than the airstrikes themselves. Bigger than the Christmas Day timing, bigger than the words that grabbed attention. It shows a change in how Nigeria is being talked about and treated by a major world power, and that change will have effects long after the smoke clears
How African founders build community before revenue
Most startup stories you hear follow a familiar script. Someone has an idea. They raise money. They build a product. Users come later. But across Africa, the order is often flipped. Many African founders start with people, not products. Conversations, WhatsApp groups, Twitter threads, offline meetups. Long before there is
8 lessons from failed African startups and what they teach us
Startup failure is usually spoken about in whispers. If it is spoken about at all. We celebrate funding rounds, flashy launches, and rapid growth. We share screenshots of dashboards going up and to the right. But the startups that quietly shut down, pivot into something unrecognizable, or simply fade away
Nigeria, Google in talks for new subsea cable to strengthen digital backbone
Nigeria is currently in talks with Google for a new subsea cable that seeks to strengthen its digital and connectivity backbone. This is according to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday. In an interview in Abuja, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Information Technology Development
WASSMAS open applications for $10,000 Grant for West African agro-entrepreneurs
The West African Support for Small and Mid-Scale Agro Startup (WASSMAS) has opened applications for its Agriculture Grant programme, offering funding of up to $10,000 to support small and mid-scale agro-entrepreneurs across West Africa. The initiative is aimed at strengthening agricultural productivity, improving food security, and enabling sustainable agribusiness growth in the
Top 10 African countries poised for EV investment and evolution
While often overlooked in global EV outlooks, the African continent is rapidly positioning itself as a key player, both as a burgeoning market for electric mobility and as a source of critical battery minerals. With volatile global oil prices and aggressive global decarbonization goals, several African nations are implementing proactive
PayPal finally wants to play in Africa
In 2008, the World Bank published a piece titled “PayPal (not) in Africa“. The intention was to call out the fintech platform for sidelining the continent, where millions of entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small business owners desperately needed access to global payment infrastructure. The piece highlighted a glaring absence: while anyone
Paystack revives Consumer App, Zap, 8 months after $190,000 fine
African payments processor acquired by Stripe, Paystack revives Consumer App, Zap, reintegrating the service into its checkout infrastructure less than a year after a clash with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The relaunch marks a strategic recovery for the Lagos-based fintech, which was hit with a 250 million naira
VOLZ closes $5m in Series A, Algeria’s largest funding round in local currency
Algerian travel-tech startup, VOLZ, closes $5m in Series A (600 million dinars) to strengthen its product offerings within the country and expand into new markets across North and West Africa. The funding round was led by a group of private investors, headed by Tell Group, a financial services company. It
Adanna Ukabi, the Architect Shaping the Future of Nigerian Couture
Some people build brands. Others build worlds. And every now and then, you meet someone who is quietly doing both, without rushing to explain herself. Adanna Ukabi is one of those people. Trained as an architect, deeply drawn to fashion, and founder of ADANNA, a made-to-order fashion brand focused on
