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Breaking News Today – Monday 24 August 2026
African Start-up News Headlines: Business News Today African Private Equity Group Gains Controlling Stake in Global Edu-Tech Group Alterra Capital Partners, a Private Equity group that has already invested roughly $1.9–2 billion across 20 odd companies in Africa, is set to acquire control of Unicaf, an online and blended learning platform focused on sub-Saharan Africa.
Former British soldier builds a $1 billion lending business in Kenya
Wayne Hennessy-Barrett arrived in Kenya in 2013 with little experience in finance and no loan book to speak of. What he did have was a question for the small traders he met in the country's informal markets: what do you need? The answer was simple. “I walked around and asked people what they needed,” Hennessy-Barrett
Former Goldman Sachs banker turns to Africa's funding gap
Grace Legodi has worked on both sides of the finance industry. She studied finance at the University of Cape Town, worked in mergers and acquisitions at Goldman Sachs in New York and Johannesburg, and later moved into venture capital and entrepreneurship development. She is now using that experience to fund early-stage businesses in Southern Africa
Founder Fridays : Booi Industries
Certain engineering problems can be solved on paper. Others demand years of understanding what happens when people, machines and rock meet underground. For Delisile Booi, that challenge began in 2007, when he started researching the limitations of conventional mining methods and looking at how engineering could make underground operations safer and more productive. That early
Geely launches its Riddara electric bakkie in South Africa
Geely has launched its Riddara electric bakkie in South Africa, with prices starting at R611,900. The Chinese brand is bringing three versions of the double cab to the local market, with one rear wheel drive model and two all wheel drive models. The range topping Riddara Apex RD6 4WD produces 315kW and 595Nm. This makes
African startups are making money by solving everyday business problems
African startups are increasingly building products for other businesses instead of trying to get millions of individual consumers to use their apps. The shift is showing up across areas such as payments, accounting, payroll, procurement, logistics and business software. For a startup, selling to another business can mean fewer customers are needed to build a
Cameroon Seeks US Capital for $3bn Hydropower and Digital Projects
Cameroon is using its first bilateral Economic and Commercial Dialogue with the United States to seek US capital and expertise for major infrastructure projects. The portfolio includes the $3 billion Grand Eweng hydropower project, a proposed new airport for Douala and large-scale data and cloud infrastructure. The meeting is taking place in Yaoundé on August
Kenyan fintech Flowt is using AI to help small businesses get working capital
Kenyan fintech startup Flowt is using AI to assess small businesses for working-capital loans, using the financial information they already generate through banks, accounting systems and M-Pesa. The Nairobi-based startup has raised an undisclosed pre-seed round from Delta40 Fund I and Impacc, with grant support from the Argidius Foundation. Flowt was founded by Elana Laichena
Huawei Considers 4,000MWh Battery Storage Project in Egypt
Chinese technology group Huawei is considering battery energy storage facilities with a combined capacity of 4,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) in Egypt. The proposed project would include local production of battery energy storage systems and several utility-scale storage facilities connected to the national power grid. The proposal was discussed on 23 August 2026 during a meeting between
The Mining Wrap
Mining technology and investment remained active this week, with new equipment contracts, startup developments and project milestones emerging across the industry. Several major developments also point to continued investment in automation, processing and mine expansion. Mining Technology And Startups Booi Industries Develops Autonomous Underground Mining Systems South African mining tech startup Booi Industries is developing
Breaking News Today – Friday 28 August 2026
African Start-up News Headlines: Business News Today Global Coal Demand increasing Driving Prices Higher Coal prices have surged by over 6% today, moving towards the $140 per ton level this morning, and reaching a two-month high. This as growing global energy demand intersects with ongoing concerns over supply. Coal remains the world’s largest source of
Rwanda puts $1.6 million into electric transport
Rwanda has launched a $1.6 million project to support electric transport. The programme will run from 2026 to 2030.Rwanda’s environment authority launched the project on August 26. It will focus on electric mobility policy, demonstration projects and the wider use of electric vehicles. For small businesses, the programme could affect delivery costs and motorcycle operations.
Kenyan Startup Flowt Raises Pre-Seed Funding for Climate Smart Lending
Kenyan startup Flowt has closed an undisclosed pre-seed funding round to expand its AI-driven financial intelligence platform and provide working capital to climate-smart businesses in Africa. Founded by Elana Laichena, the Nairobi-based startup uses AI to analyse financial records and turn them into data that lenders can use to assess small businesses. The round was
AFC Capital Launches Climate Resilient Infrastructure Fund in Nigeria
AFC Capital Partners has launched the Infrastructure Climate-Resilient Fund Nigeria (ICRF Nigeria), a new investment vehicle aimed at channeling capital from Nigerian institutional investors into climate-resilient infrastructure projects in Nigeria and across Africa. Announced in Lagos on August 24, 2026, the fund is registered with Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission as a closed-end investment fund.
Telviva launches Viva, a digital agent for South African businesses
Businesses still have staff spending their time answering the same questions, transferring calls and looking up information for customers. Telviva wants Viva to handle some of that work. The new digital agent can answer calls, respond to WhatsApp messages and access information from a company’s existing systems. The South African cloud communications company says it
NCBA and BasiGo team up to finance 1,000 electric vehicles in Kenya
Getting more electric vehicles onto Kenya’s roads is becoming less about whether the technology works and more about whether operators can afford to buy the vehicles. NCBA Group and electric mobility company BasiGo are now trying to make that part easier. The two companies have agreed to finance 1,000 electric vehicles, giving public transport operators,
Libya Signs Production-Sharing Deal With Chevron for Area 106
Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) has signed a production-sharing contract with Chevron for Area 106, a 7,437-square-kilometre onshore exploration block in the Sirte Basin. The agreement formalises months of discussions between the two sides and follows Chevron’s selection as the preferred developer of the block in Libya’s first oil and gas licensing round in 17
Visa is testing stablecoins for cross-border payments in the DRC
Sending money from one African country to another can still be a frustrating process. There are different currencies, different payment systems and banks involved in moving the money. All of that can add time and cost to a transaction. Visa is now testing whether stablecoins can make some of that easier in the Democratic Republic
Nigerian Voice AI Startup Intron Launches Sahara v2.5 for African Languages
Nigerian voice AI startup Intron has launched Sahara v2.5, an updated voice AI platform designed to handle conversations where people switch between English, French and African languages. The release expands Sahara’s speech recognition, text-to-speech and voice-agent capabilities, taking its coverage to 31 African languages. Intron says the update is designed to improve accuracy when users
Djibouti Launches Digital Platform to Connect Job Seekers and Employers
Djibouti’s Ministry of Labor, responsible for Formalization and Social Protection, has launched Djibouti Emploi, a digital platform designed to connect job seekers, employers and public agencies. The ministry unveiled the platform on August 24, describing it as a single portal for employment-related services. It is intended to make it easier for companies to recruit workers,