ai news with an african lens. twice a week, curated from global and continent-focused sources, fact-checked before it hits your inbox.

the stories

kredete partners with visa africa to advance stablecoin-backed card innovation across africa and the gulf cooperation council

techpoint africa · africa, tech

kredete, a fintech serving african immigrants, has been recognised at the visa africa fintech accelerator cohort 5 demo day for launching africa's first stablecoin-backed credit card in partnership with visa. the card allows users in 50 african countries to spend usdc at over 150 million merchants globally. kredete is now expanding into the gulf cooperation council region.

african lens: kredete's stablecoin-backed visa card directly addresses high fx fees and currency volatility facing african consumers and diaspora communities, with potential to reshape cross-border payments and credit-building for millions of africans at home and abroad.

ai is about to make the global e-waste crisis much worse

rest of world · global, africa, tech

ai's rapid hardware turnover is set to dramatically worsen the global e-waste crisis, potentially adding up to 5 million metric tons of waste by 2030. developing nations like india already bear a disproportionate burden, receiving illegal or mislabeled e-waste from the u.s. and europe, where per-capita e-waste generation is two to three times higher.

african lens: africa is explicitly named as a dump destination for redirected u.s. e-waste following china's 2018 import ban, and african nations are flagged as lacking the regulations and public awareness to protect workers and environments from toxic informal recycling practices.

how a unilag student won red bull basement with a livestock tracker that detects illness early

techpoint africa · africa, tech

unilag mechatronics engineering student jesutofunmi oniyide won red bull basement nigeria 2026 with vital-tag, an iot wearable for livestock that tracks temperature, heart rate, and jaw movement to detect illness early. the device reportedly runs for up to three years on an industrial-grade nickel-based battery and sends health data to farmers via sms.

african lens: vital-tag directly addresses livestock disease losses that devastate smallholder farmers across africa, combining low-power iot design with sms delivery suited to nigeria's unreliable power and connectivity conditions.

standard chartered foundation, village capital and enterprise development centre open applications for this year's women in tech accelerator in nigeria

techpoint africa · africa, tech

standard chartered foundation, village capital, and enterprise development centre have opened applications for the 2026 women in tech accelerator in nigeria, now in its seventh cohort. the programme offers grant funding, business training, and mentorship to women-led, tech-enabled startups. applications close april 26, 2026, with the accelerator running june to august 2026.

african lens: this programme directly addresses nigeria's women-led startup funding gap, offering catalytic grants and structured support to early-stage tech founders, with relevance to talent development, access to capital, and job creation across the nigerian tech ecosystem.

south african fintech adumo investigates alleged source code leak

launch base africa · africa, tech, business

south african payment processor adumo is investigating claims that 15,456 files totalling 14gb of sensitive data, including source code and transaction processing systems, were stolen and listed for sale on a dark web forum for r114,000 (~$6,000). adumo denies its core network was breached, suggesting an external file-sharing system used with integration partners was the source.

african lens: this matters for africa's fintech sector as adumo is a major payment infrastructure player acquired by nasdaq-listed lesaka technologies for $96.2m in 2024; a source code leak could expose vulnerabilities across integrated retail and financial partners throughout the region, and comes amid a broader wave of cyberattacks on south african financial institutions.

end of the $500k barrier for foreign-owned firms: what ghana's new investment law means for tech founders

launch base africa · africa, tech, business

ghana's parliament has passed the ghana investment promotion authority bill, 2026, eliminating the usd 500,000 minimum capital requirement for wholly foreign-owned enterprises and the usd 200,000 threshold for joint ventures. the reform also tightens technology transfer registration rules and introduces a formal investor grievance mechanism for the first time.

african lens: direct policy impact for african tech founders and foreign investors entering ghana: removing the usd 500,000 capital barrier lowers the cost of formal market entry, potentially attracting more foreign tech startups and venture-backed companies to incorporate cleanly in ghana without complex workarounds.

tulupay announces the prelaunch of its pan african first financial operating system (fos) for high interoperability of africa's financial ecosystem

techpoint africa · africa, tech

tulupay, a pan-african fintech company, has announced the prelaunch of a financial operating system (fos) aimed at unifying traditional banking, mobile money, blockchain networks, and cbdcs across africa via a single api layer. the system includes identity verification, payment switching, trade finance, custody, tokenization, and a proprietary blockchain. nigeria's sec has approved tulupay for its fintech incubation program.

african lens: directly relevant to africa: tulupay targets fragmented cross-border payment infrastructure across nigeria, kenya, ghana, and rwanda, and has received regulatory recognition from nigeria's sec, signalling a potential shift in fintech licensing and interoperability for african markets.

glovo set to hold "future of commerce summit 2.0" in lagos

techpoint africa · africa, tech

glovo will host the future of commerce summit 2.0 on april 22, 2026, at the landmark events centre in lagos. the event aims to bring together government officials, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders to discuss digital commerce and logistics in nigeria, with a focus on supporting small and medium-sized businesses.

african lens: the summit directly targets nigeria's smb ecosystem, exploring how digital platforms and logistics infrastructure can drive inclusive economic growth across nigerian cities.

tlamo ai · tlamoai.substack.com