Today Africa Weekly | December 1 – December 7, 2025

Last week (December 1 – December 7, 2025) felt like that group chat where everyone is typing at once. Money flying here, regulators clearing their throats there, one company suddenly packing its bags for a bigger partner, another quietly walking in with fresh investor love. You look away for a moment, and boom, something dramatic has happened again.

African tech news highlights

Apply for up to $800k capital, in-kind support from Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation

The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation is inviting early-stage social impact startups to apply for up to $800,000 in capital and hands-on support, seeking scalable solutions that can reach at least 10,000 people within five years. The programme offers three years of mentorship, strategy guidance, and board support alongside up to $300,000 in unrestricted funding. Applications are open until December 31.

Standard Chartered empowers 7 Entrepreneurs with $70k

Standard Chartered Kenya and @iBizAfrica have graduated the 8th Women in Tech cohort, awarding KES 9.1 million in seed funding to seven women-led startups building solutions in healthcare, sustainability, and clean technology. The programme drew 84 applications, narrowing down to 15 founders who completed a 12-week accelerator before seven were finally selected for funding.

Nairabox was acquired by Wakanow

The long game paid off for the Nigerian ticketing and lifestyle platform. Founders say the deal was about distribution and continuity not just the cheque, and the acquisition shows exits still happen when product market fit meets the right buyer.

Paramount Africa to shut down

Paramount announced it will close its African arm by the end of December as part of global restructuring. Media and entertainment startups should watch the distribution and partnership windows that this change opens or closes.

Read Last Week’s Edition Here

Key funding round (December 1 – December 7, 2025)

Zazu raises $1m pre-seed round

• Sector: Digital Banking for SMEs
• Lead investor(s): Plug and Play Ventures, alongside African and European angel investors
• Why it matters: Supports millions of underserved African small businesses with modern banking tools built for entrepreneurs.

Pan-African digital banking startup Zazu has secured $1 million in pre-seed funding to speed up its rollout in South Africa and Morocco, with wider expansion planned for 2026. The platform, founded by former Solarisbank executives Germain Bahri and Rinse Jacobs, offers a Mercury-style banking experience designed specifically for African entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Chui Ventures closes first fund at $17.3m, announces $60m second fund

• Sector: Venture Capital and Early-Stage Startup Funding in Africa
• Lead investor(s): Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund, Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, plus other global and local backers
• Why it matters: More early-stage capital for African founders, especially women-led teams, and a push toward scalable tech ventures that blend returns with social impact.

Chui Ventures, a seed-stage investor backing African startups, has closed its first fund at $17.3 million and is already preparing a second, much larger one targeting $60 million. The firm, whose team brings decades of experience across Africa, the US, and the UK, has invested in 18 startups so far. Almost half have female founders, something the firm treats as more than a checkbox.

Gigmile secures seed funding to scale mobility financing for gig workers

• Sector: Mobility financing and asset-backed lending for gig workers
• Lead investor(s): Enza Capital, with participation from Seedstars International Ventures and Norrsken Africa Fund
• Why it matters: Expands access to income-generating vehicles for underserved workers and strengthens economic mobility across informal markets.

Nigerian mobility-financing startup Gigmile has raised an undisclosed seed round to grow its lease-to-own platform, which helps gig workers access and eventually own motorcycles, tricycles, cars, and other vehicles. Founded in 2022 by former Jumia leaders Kayode Adeyinka and Samuel Esiri, the startup has already deployed over 10,000 cars across 13 cities and secured 21 million dollars in combined debt and equity so far.

BasiGo secures new funding from Proparco

• Sector: Electric mobility and public transport
• Lead investor(s): Proparco, the French development finance institution
• Why it matters: Pushes Africa’s shift from diesel buses to cleaner, cheaper electric mass transit while expanding local assembly and charging infrastructure.

The company already operates 100 electric buses in Kenya and Rwanda and offers operators a pay-as-you-go model that separates battery and charging costs from the bus itself, making the switch more affordable. With the new investment, BasiGo is preparing to expand production, grow its charging network, and move closer to its target of putting 1,000 electric buses on African roads.

Rology secures new growth funding

• Sector: Healthtech and AI diagnostics, including teleradiology, remote reporting, and clinical efficiency
• Lead investor(s): Philips Foundation, Johnson and Johnson Impact Ventures, Sanofi Global Health Unit Impact Fund, MIT Solve Innovation Future
• Why it matters: Strengthens access to fast, high-quality radiology across Africa and the Middle East, easing the global shortage of radiologists and improving diagnostics in underserved regions.

Founded in 2017, the company connects hospitals to remote radiologists through a cloud system that requires no setup cost and works from anywhere with a laptop and internet. It already operates in 13 countries, has delivered more than a million radiology reports, and supports both public and private hospitals.

Trends to watch

1. Mobility and asset finance keep attracting meaningful capital: Gigmile’s announcement shows investors are comfortable backing models that combine debt and operational leasing to open access to income-producing assets. That’s a theme we’ve seen growing this year, and it’s accelerating now.
2. Seed and micro-funds are active again: Chui Ventures’ Fund I close and immediate announcement of a larger vehicle signals that seed LP appetite is returning. More funds at the seed level means more time and runway for early founders, but also more competition for quality deal flow.
3. Regulation is moving faster than product teams expected:The CBN’s 72-hour fraud proposal is a reminder that when regulators set operational timelines, startups have to adapt quickly or face customer trust fallout. This will push better fraud tooling, faster dispute workflows, and more conservative reserve management.
4. Exits remain possible, but they look strategic: The Nairabox sale proves acquirers are paying for distribution and network effects rather than just code. Founders should think less about feature parity and more about sticky partnerships and distribution moats.
5. Infrastructure deals matter for the whole stack: Big telco and infrastructure shifts like the Vodacom/Maziv movement affect downstream startups by changing access costs and wholesale dynamics. Keep an eye on how those deals translate to price or availability of bandwidth in key markets.

Conclusion

December opened with a mix of practical growth plays, some investor housekeeping and a couple of reminders that rules and distribution still run much of the show. If you’re building a company that sells to consumers, or that leans on physical assets for customer value, now is the time to tighten operations and think about how you’ll survive a regulator’s timeline and a strategic buyer’s patience.

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