All our stories, in order, Dakar time (GMT).
Sunday 27 September
ITU, WIPO, WTO: a delegation of African decision-makers spent four days touring the institutions where digital standards are set. The main lesson: whoever writes today’s standards shapes tomorrow’s markets.
H-1B visa issuances fell by 52% in five months. State Department data shows that no other route has taken over. For Africa, visas have been halved, and those granted to Nigerians have collapsed.
Luno buys Kenya’s GTXN, Yellow Card raises $40 million, Onafriq settles in USDC across more than 40 countries. Dollar-backed cryptocurrencies are becoming payment infrastructure, while regulators are still writing the rules.
The figure made the rounds in the media: Nigerians supposedly spent ₦6.98 trillion on mobile data in the first half. Operators’ accounts show less than half that. And behind the spending lies an invisible tax: that of a network that keeps breaking.
Long confined to surveillance, four-legged robots fitted with cameras and AI are starting to inspect crops, where drones and satellites cannot see well enough. A technology that is still expensive, and that also interests African agriculture.
An unprecedented Security Council debate with the heads of OpenAI, Anthropic and Hugging Face, a call from Macron and the pope for international oversight, and a message from Paul Biya on sharing the benefits: UN week put AI governance front and centre.
Three billion transactions, some twenty countries, around fifty connected operators: the company that links merchants to mobile wallets has been authorised by the Central Bank of Kenya, the continent’s most mature market.
Saturday 26 September
The first bank in East and Central Africa to become a direct participant in China’s yuan payment system, Bank of Kigali promises faster, cheaper settlements with Rwanda’s top trading partner.
With Autopilot, Code and Home, Microsoft’s assistant moves from conversation to carrying out tasks, sometimes without constant supervision. New usage-based billing, a choice of models, spending controls: African businesses need to look closely.
Hackers spent three weeks inside a system that IT provider MIP was in the process of retiring. About 400,000 records stolen, a ransom paid, and data published anyway. Regulators point out that insurers remain responsible.
Savings at 7%, investments of up to 16%, loans from 500 to one million shillings, chamas and accounts at other banks in one app, accessible with just an ID card. Absa Kenya wants to win over a generation that no longer walks into branches.
The data centre race has sent memory prices soaring. In an entry-level phone, memory now accounts for nearly half of the components. The GSMA warns: internet access for the poorest is under threat.
Friday 25 September
Announced in 2017 and promised for 2019, Tesla’s electric truck now has a dedicated factory in Reno, Nevada. The stated goal: up to 50,000 trucks a year. Charging remains the weak point.
The first ECOWAS biometric cards expire in October 2026. The deadline has been known since 2016, but the state is preparing an extension whose length and beneficiaries have not been set, after a cyberattack that halted production.
Thursday 24 September
Kenya’s main independent payment switch now lets banks issue their own cards, physical or virtual, on a local network.
Kenyan Sign Language, Kinyarwanda speech affected by speech disorders: the data needed for AI to serve people with disabilities is missing. A network of researchers wants to fill the gap.
A pilot country in a Smart Africa programme alongside Kenya and Lesotho, Senegal has approved its national plan for making use of data. The goal: move from scattered, unused data to concrete services, notably through AI.
Cheaper, open, available: Chinese AI models such as Qwen are winning over African developers, while American venture capital pulls back. A leading investor sees a huge vacuum left by the United States.
The Bank of Algeria has authorised the subsidiary Djezzy Payment Services to set up as a payment service provider. A first for a telecom operator in the country, made possible by the 2023 banking law. The final licence has yet to be obtained.
Signed in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the joint declaration opens the door to projects in health, education and public administration. With no money, no timetable and no Kenyan AI law to frame it.
The average price of a smartphone sold in Africa has risen by $41 in a year. The cause is the surge in memory chip prices, which undermines the goal of a truly affordable entry-level phone.
Wednesday 23 September
Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria are driving the market. Kenya has just been chosen as Africa’s esports hub by the Global Esports Federation.