Author name: Oluebube Elechi

News In Brief, Startups

OneDosh Raises $3 Million Pre Seed to Build Stablecoin Payments Between US and Nigeria

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OneDosh has raised $3 million in pre seed funding to build stablecoin powered infrastructure for cross border transfers, starting with the United States to Nigeria corridor. Founded in February 2025 by Jackson Ukuevo, Godwin Okoye, and Babatunde Osinowo, the startup grew from the founders’ own headaches moving money across countries. Ukuevo, the chief executive, said cards were blocked, accounts were frozen, and transfers stalled under currency controls. The team concluded that demand is there, but the underlying systems are outdated. OneDosh is live in the U.S. and Nigeria. It lets users send money between both countries, hold value in stablecoins, and spend through a stablecoin linked card that can be added to Apple Pay and Google Pay and used wherever Visa is accepted. Alongside the consumer product, the company is building programmable stablecoin rails that connect wallets, cards, and markets into a single settlement layer. It says the rails are designed to make cross border payments simpler for individuals and businesses that move funds often. The founders bring compliance and payments experience from firms such as ZeroHash and Plaid, plus product experience from Amazon. Next, OneDosh plans to use the funding to expand into new corridors, strengthen liquidity partnerships, and hire senior talent as it scales operations. The round comes as stablecoins gain ground across Africa as a tool for day to day value storage and cross border spending this year.

African Changemakers, Editors Pick

Inside GB Agboola’s Playbook for Building Africa’s Payment Rails

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On a good day, paying an African business should feel as easy as sending an email. In practice, it rarely does. A merchant in Lagos selling to a customer in Nairobi. A startup in Accra charging cards from London. An enterprise in Johannesburg settling across multiple currencies. The promise of digital trade is there, but it often breaks down into familiar friction: incompatible payment methods, uneven regulations, slow settlements and failed transfers. That problem is where Olugbenga “GB” Agboola has spent most of his career. As co‑founder and Chief Executive Officer of Flutterwave, Agboola has helped build one of Africa’s most consequential pieces of financial infrastructure: payment rails that quietly move money across borders, currencies and systems. It is the kind of work most people only notice when it fails, and the kind that determines whether Africa’s digital economy can scale at all. Agboola may not the loudest figure in African fintech. But his work sits at one of the sector’s hardest truths. Commerce cannot scale smoothly if money cannot move smoothly. A Builder From the Systems Layer Agboola’s professional trajectory points to someone comfortable operating deep in the systems layer. Before Flutterwave, he worked on fintech products at global firms including PayPal, gaining exposure to how payments infrastructure works at scale. Flutterwave was founded in 2016 by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Agboola and Adeleke Adekoya, with Aboyeji as the first CEO and Agboola initially serving as CTO. The idea itself was straightforward. The execution, however, was not. Africa’s internet economy was growing rapidly, but cross‑border payments between businesses remained fragmented and expensive. Each new market required rebuilding integrations, renegotiating bank relationships and navigating different regulatory regimes. Flutterwave leaned into an infrastructure thesis: abstract that complexity away and let merchants focus on selling. The CEO Seat Came With a Different Job By 2018, Flutterwave had become one of the companies used to explain Africa’s fintech momentum. That same year, Agboola stepped into the CEO role. His mandate was clear. Expansion beyond Nigeria and a sharper focus on fixing cross‑border payments across the continent. Flutterwave’s positioning evolved from a promising startup into a pan‑African infrastructure company. That shift became impossible to ignore in February 2022, when Flutterwave raised $250 million in a Series D round, pushing its valuation above $3 billion. The round was a global signal that Africa’s infrastructure‑led fintechs could attract serious capital and scale rapidly. But in payments, the real test often begins after the valuation headline fades. Scale brings scrutiny, and infrastructure companies are judged as much on controls as on growth. When Scale Brings Heat Flutterwave soon entered a period of public scrutiny, marked by allegations, internal turmoil and cross‑border legal challenges. For a payments company, such moments are existential. Bank partnerships, regulator confidence and enterprise trust are all at stake. This is the part of fintech building that rarely makes glossy pitch decks. Payments companies operate in regulated, high‑trust environments. When pressure mounts, systems and governance are tested in real time. During this period, Flutterwave also worked to strengthen its regulatory footing at home, securing a Switching and Processing Licence from Nigeria’s central bank. Licences at this level are quiet symbolic. They shape how a company is classified, who it can partner with and how regulators view it as it evolves from startup into infrastructure. The Bet He Is Still Making Flutterwave’s story has included rapid growth, controversy and the kind of scrutiny that follows any payments platform once it becomes too important to ignore. Through it all, Agboola’s focus has remained consistent. He has chosen to stay in the hardest layer of fintech. The one where success is measured not only by visibility, but by whether money moves cleanly, securely and predictably every day. It is not glamorous work. It sits at the intersection of regulators, banks, merchants and markets, each pulling on the same system. But it is the work that makes everything else possible. As Africa’s digital trade expands, the founders who matter most will not be those who promise disruption alone. They will be the ones who can keep the rails steady through growth, scrutiny and change. GB Agboola is still building for that standard.

African Changemakers, Editors Pick, Founder Stories

Odunayo Eweniyi: The Operator Who Made Saving Cool Again

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 At the start of every year, millions of Nigerians open a notes app and write the same promise: I will save more. By February, reality intervenes – rent is due, transport costs spike, family needs appear unannounced. Saving becomes aspirational rather than practical. Odunayo Eweniyi built her career by refusing to ignore that reality. As co‑founder and Chief Operations Officer of PiggyVest, Nigeria’s largest digital savings platform, Eweniyi helped turn saving money from a good intention into a repeatable habit for more than six million users. Not by moralising discipline—but by designing for how Nigerians actually live, earn, and spend. However, PiggyVest grew by treating that reality as the starting point, not an excuse. And at the centre of that work is Odunayo Eweniyi, co-founder and Chief Operations Officer, one of the operators who helped turn saving money from a wish into a routine many nigerians can actually keep. A Familiar Idea, Executed Relentlessly PiggyVest’s origin story is notably unglamorous and that is precisely its advantage. Launched in January 2016 as Piggybank.ng, the company started with a single focus: savings. Investments came later, after a rebrand to PiggyVest in 2019. The sequencing mattered. While many fintechs raced to expand product suites, PiggyVest chose depth before breadth. The core insight was simple: Nigerians already save. They just do it informally—through kolo, rotating savings groups, and self-imposed restrictions. PiggyVest didn’t attempt to replace those habits. It digitised them, added structure, and removed friction. That restraint reflects Eweniyi’s operational philosophy: innovation works best when it feels familiar. When Operations Become the Product In fintech, trust is not a slogan, it is an outcome. And outcomes are operational. As COO, Eweniyi sits at the fault line where ambition meets execution: delayed withdrawals, support backlogs, policy breakdowns. These are not theoretical risks; they are existential ones. A savings platform does not get second chances. PiggyVest’s early identity was built around consistency. Users could save daily, weekly, or monthly, mirroring irregular income patterns. But convincing someone to save is only the beginning. Once you accept their money, you inherit a promise: it must be secure, accurately tracked, and accessible when expected every time. That promise is operational, not marketing-led. Under Eweniyi’s stewardship, PiggyVest focused less on hype and more on reliability, gradually converting trust into routine. Quiet Capital, Clear Signals PiggyVest’s funding history mirrors its strategy. In 2018, the company raised $1.1 million, led by LeadPath Nigeria, with participation from Village Capital and Ventures Platform. It was not a headline-grabbing round, but it sent a clear signal. At the time, PiggyVest was still early, still focused, still committed to a single behavioural shift: helping people save consistently. Growth would come later. In a market that often rewards noise, PiggyVest chose iteration. When the Numbers Speak for Themselves Today, PiggyVest no longer needs to explain its relevance. In 2025, the company reported ₦1.3 trillion paid out to users, a 56% increase from ₦835 billion in 2024. Its user base crossed six million. These are not vanity metrics; they represent repeated financial behaviour at national scale. People download apps out of curiosity. They only trust them with money over years if the system works. Crucially, PiggyVest reached this scale without trying to be everything at once. Savings came first. Investments followed only after trust was established. Designing for Real Life, Not Ideal Users Much of consumer fintech assumes tidy financial lives—predictable income, stable expenses, surplus cash. Nigeria rarely offers such conditions. PiggyVest’s product logic reflects lived experience: small amounts, automation, intentional friction against impulsive withdrawals, and group-based structures that resemble offline savings circles. Informal systems are not alternatives to banking in Nigeria, they are the system. PiggyVest’s innovation was not disruption for its own sake, but better rails for behaviour people already trusted. Building Beyond the Balance Sheet Eweniyi’s influence extends beyond PiggyVest. She is also a co‑founder and general partner at FirstCheck Africa, an early-stage investment platform backing startups founded or co‑founded by women. The move is less about branding than ecosystem correction. In African tech, access to early capital remains uneven. Writing the first cheque often determines who gets to compete. By shifting from founder to early investor, Eweniyi is helping reshape participation, not just outcomes. The Power of Boring Done Well African fintech has no shortage of ambition. What it lacks are enough builders who win by making discipline feel achievable for millions. Eweniyi is not a loud symbol or a motivational trope. Her work is quieter and more durable. She represents a class of African founders who understand that the most transformative products are often the least glamorous: systems that hold, routines that repeat, and trust that compounds. In a market obsessed with speed, Odunayo Eweniyi built endurance.

Africa Focus, African Changemakers, Editors Pick

How Nathan Nwachuku and Maxwell Maduka Are Rewriting Africa’s Defense Story

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When African governments think about securing power plants, mining sites or national borders, the instinct has long been to look outward. Imported systems, foreign contractors and long procurement cycles have defined the continent’s defense infrastructure for decades. Nathan Nwachuku and Maxwell Maduka are building in the opposite direction. The Nigerian founders of Terra Industries are part of a small but growing group of African entrepreneurs tackling one of the continent’s hardest problems: how to protect critical infrastructure using locally built, locally operated defense technology. Their bet is that security, like payments or energy, works best when it is designed close to the realities it serves. Founders Building for the Hardest Layer Founded in 2024, Terra Industries reflects its founders’ appetite for complexity. Defense technology is capital‑intensive, highly regulated and politically sensitive. It is not a space that rewards quick wins or surface‑level innovation. But Nwachuku and Maduka chose it anyway. Rather than building consumer software or light enterprise tools, they focused on the systems layer of security. The kind that operates across land, air and water. The kind that must work continuously, quietly and without failure. Their approach combines hardware and software, integrating surveillance drones, automated watchtowers, unmanned ground vehicles and maritime monitoring systems into a single operational platform. At the center is ArtemisOS, Terra’s proprietary software layer that allows security teams to detect threats in real time and coordinate responses with fewer personnel. For the founders, the objective is reliability. Local Manufacturing as Strategy, Not Symbolism One of Terra’s most deliberate choices is where it builds. The company operates a 15,000‑square‑foot manufacturing facility in Abuja, where much of its hardware is produced by African engineers. For Nwachuku and Maduka, this is not a branding exercise. It is a strategic decision aimed at reducing dependence on imported defense systems while building technical capacity locally. In a sector where supply chains are often global and opaque, local manufacturing gives Terra tighter control over deployment, maintenance and iteration. It also aligns with the founders’ broader view that Africa’s security infrastructure should not be permanently outsourced. Investor Confidence in a Difficult Category That vision has attracted serious backing. Terra Industries recently raised $11.75 million in funding led by U.S. venture capital firm 8VC, with participation from Valor Equity Partners, Lux Capital, SV Angel, Leblon Capital, Silent Ventures and Nova Global. The round signals rare investor confidence in an African defense‑technology startup operating at an early stage. Alex Moore, a partner at 8VC and board member at Palantir, sits on Terra’s board. His presence places the company, and by extension its founders, within a global conversation about data‑driven security systems and modern defense infrastructure. For Nwachuku and Maduka, the capital is a tool, not a milestone. It will be used to hire more engineers, expand manufacturing capacity and deploy Terra’s systems across additional African markets. Why Their Timing Matters Africa holds close to 30% of the world’s critical mineral resources, yet insecurity continues to slow infrastructure development and industrial expansion. As global supply chains look increasingly to the continent, the cost of insecure assets is rising. The founders see this clearly. Their argument is straightforward: security infrastructure is economic infrastructure. Without reliable protection, power plants stall, mines shut down and transport corridors fracture. By building security systems designed for African conditions and governance realities, Nwachuku and Maduka are positioning Terra not just as a defense company, but as a foundational layer for long‑term growth. Building Quietly, Building Hard Things Terra Industries is still early. But its founders are operating in a category where patience, discipline and credibility matter more than speed. Nwachuku and Maduka are not trying to out‑market global defense giants. They are trying to out‑understand the terrain, the risks and the institutions they serve. In African technology, the most consequential founders are often those building in spaces few are willing to touch. Defense is one of them. And Terra’s founders are building there, deliberately.

News In Brief

CBN Upgrades Opay, Moniepoint to National Status

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Nigeria’s central bank has upgraded the operating licences of several leading fintech companies and microfinance banks, bringing their regulatory status in line with how widely they already operate across the country. The Central Bank of Nigeria said the move covers firms such as Opay, Moniepoint, Palmpay, Kuda Bank, and Paga, all of which have now been approved to operate nationally. Speaking in Lagos at the annual conference of the Committee of Heads of Banks’ Operations, Yemi Solaja, director of the CBN’s Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department, said many of these institutions had long outgrown their earlier regional licences. In practice, he noted, their services were already being used across Nigeria through mobile apps and large agent networks. Founded and scaled by local founders who focused on everyday payments and small businesses, these fintechs built momentum by serving informal traders and consumers often overlooked by traditional banks. As their customer bases expanded, the gap between licence limits and real activity had became harder to ignore. As a result, the regulator has moved to formalise their reach. With national licences, the firms are now subject to higher capital requirements and stricter supervision. National microfinance banks must maintain minimum capital of ₦5 billion and keep physical offices where customers can raise complaints knowing there is a clear point of contact. Overall, the licence changes reflect a broader effort by the regulator to match Nigeria’s fast growing digital finance sector with stronger oversight, while still supporting financial inclusion at scale.

News In Brief, Startups

Trove Takes Brokerage Operations In House With UCML Securities Purchase

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Nigerian investment platform Trove Finance has acquired UCML Securities Limited, bringing its brokerage services in house as it looks to gain more control over how trades are executed and regulated. Although the value of the deal was not disclosed. Following the acquisition, UCML Securities has been rebranded as Innova Securities Limited, which will now operate as Trove’s Securities and Exchange Commission licensed broker dealer in Nigeria. Founded in 2018, Trove Finance started by working with third party brokers to give Nigerian investors access to local and global markets. A model that helped the company grow quickly while staying compliant. Over time, however, higher trading volumes and a wider range of products made closer oversight more important. Chief executive Oluwatomi Solanke said owning a licensed broker allows Trove to take direct responsibility for trade execution, compliance, and governance, while also improving how quickly new features are developed. Trove says it has processed more than ₦500 billion in trades since launch and has been downloaded over 400,000 times. as the platform is among a group of early African digital investment startups focused on widening access to global markets for retail investors. With the purchase of UCML Securities Limited, Trove gains greater visibility into settlement timelines and regulatory processes. Some staff from UCML, especially in compliance and operations, have moved into the newly renamed Innova Securities Limited to support continuity. Existing user accounts opened through previous brokerage partners will remain active and will be moved to Innova gradually. New users will be onboarded directly under the new structure. The move follows a broader shift among Nigerian fintechs toward owning licensed infrastructure as companies mature and face closer regulatory attention.

Africa Focus, News In Brief

Startup World Cup Regional Competition Set for Abuja in May

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The Startup World Cup’s regional competition is scheduled to hold in Abuja in May, giving African startups a chance to pitch for a place at the global finals and compete for a $1 million investment prize. The competition will run as part of the RegTech Africa Conference and Exhibition in Nigeria’s capital, in partnership with Pegasus Tech Ventures, the organiser of the global Startup World Cup pitch series. Startups across sectors such as fintech, regtech, payments, AI, cybersecurity, digital identity, healthtech, agritech, e-commerce and climate tech can apply to compete. The Abuja event will select one top startup to represent the region at the Startup World Cup global finals, where companies pitch for investor backing and international exposure. Finalists in Abuja will pitch live to a jury of venture capitalists and industry leaders, according to the organisers. RegTech Africa chief executive officer, Cyril Okoroigwe said bringing the Startup World Cup qualifier to Abuja is meant to tighten the link between innovation, regulation and capital. He framed the competition as a route for founders to reach global investors and partners while building solutions that can scale across African markets. For startups, the draw is not only the prize money. The audience typically includes regulators, corporate decision makers, investors and ecosystem partners, which can speed up pilots, partnerships and fundraising for companies building in heavily regulated sectors like finance, identity and cybersecurity. Applications are open, and the organisers urged startups to register early.

News In Brief, venture capital

Hashgraph Ventures Pledges $1 Million to Hedera Africa Hackathon

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Hashgraph Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Abu Dhabi, has pledged $1 million to the next Hedera Africa Hackathon, adding fresh backing to one of the continent’s largest Web3 focused developer programmes. The pledge comes through the wider Hedera ecosystem. Hashgraph Ventures, part of the Hashgraph Association, is a Swiss non profit that supports training, certification, and innovation programmes for Hedera powered solutions. The firm said it backs early stage ventures and projects building real world tools and solutions across blockchain, artificial intelligence, and deep technology. Additionally, organisers said the new commitment takes equity investment commitments tied to the hackathon to $2 million, following participation from United Gulf Financial Services (UGFS). Alongside, they also stated that the next edition will run with a $1 million prize pool, contributed by The Hashgraph Association and the Exponential Science Foundation. By way of background, the first Hedera Africa Hackathon ran between August and October last year, using a hybrid format across more than 20 African cities. Organisers said it drew 13,000 developers and produced 1,300 project submissions. During the programme, teams built Hedera powered concepts across sectors including finance, healthcare, telecoms, sustainability, agriculture, and manufacturing, with attention on how AI can work with areas like IoT, robotics, and quantum computing. Commenting on the pledge, Kamal Youssefi, president of The Hashgraph Association, said the commitment reflects support for scalable adoption of distributed ledger technology, and follows what he described as strong outcomes from the earlier programme.

Africa Focus, News In Brief

Egypt Brings Banks, Startups, and Regulators Together for AI Everything MEA in Cairo

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AI Everything MEA Egypt 2026 is set to hold in Cairo on February 11 and 12, as Egypt and its partners push to make artificial intelligence a working layer inside the economy, not a side project. The event, organised by GITEX GLOBAL and hosted with Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and ITIDA, will bring together technology firms, banks, startups, regulators, and investors, with expected participation from over 60 countries. This timing is closely linked to Egypt’s National AI Strategy 2025 to 2030, which treats AI as a long term national priority. The strategy focuses on practical building blocks like access to computing power, local model development, stronger data governance, and faster adoption across key sectors. Official estimates tied to the plan put AI’s potential contribution to GDP at $42.7 billion over the coming years. Investment momentum is part of the backdrop. Foreign direct investment is estimated to have risen from $10 billion in 2023 to $47 billion in 2024, while Egyptian startups raised $330 million in the first five months of 2025, according to figures referenced in strategy and ecosystem tracking. Finance is expected to be a major theme with sessions to focus on how banks, payment providers, and fintechs are using AI for risk checks, fraud detection, customer support, and compliance work. For African markets where digital payments keep growing, these tools often decide how fast trust, inclusion, and cross border flows can scale. The programme also introduces a Chief AI Officer track for enterprise leaders, with closed door discussions on deployment, governance, and alignment with national priorities.

News In Brief, Startups

Chipper Cash Reaches Operating Break Even After Two Year Restructuring

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Chipper Cash, the African fintech best known for cross border transfers and consumer payments, said it covered its operating costs in the fourth quarter of 2025 after a two year restructuring that trimmed spending. Co-founder and chief executive Ham Serunjogi shared the update via a LinkedIn post, saying the company’s operating revenue was enough to fund day to day expenses. However, it did not state the figures. The shift comes as many African consumer fintechs move from growth at all costs to tighter margin control, especially as venture funding has slowed and regulators have increased scrutiny of payments firms. Chipper’s rebound is tied to a smaller set of priorities. A source close to its operations said Nigeria and Uganda are among its strongest revenue markets, alongside demand for US dollar virtual cards. Those cards have gained traction as more Africans struggle to pay for global subscriptions and services with local bank cards, particularly in markets where foreign exchange access is uneven. Two former employees familiar with the company’s finances said Chipper is now profitable and has about 24 months of runway, Although the company did not respond to a request for comment. Chipper was founded in 2018 and expanded across Africa, the US, and the UK. It rode the 2021 venture peak to a reported $2.2 billion valuation before later being marked down, with Forbes placing it in a $250 million to $500 million range as global tech valuations fell and some backers, including FTX and Silicon Valley Bank, collapsed. The wider trend is clear showing how fintechs are prioritising products that generate predictable revenue and can survive long funding winters especially in current volatile FX environment.