Kenya

Tala lays off 28 staff as loan defaults and customer queries fall

Digital lender Tala has laid off 28 employees from its customer operations team, citing a reduced workload due to fewer…

8 months ago

Kenyan digital lender Whitepath fined $2,000 for unlawful data use in second privacy violation

Kenya’s Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC)  has fined digital lender Whitepath KES 250,000 ($2,000) for violating data privacy…

10 months ago

Safaricom, Kenyan commercial banks propose Pesalink for national payments overhaul

Safaricom and the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) have proposed that Pesalink become the preferred next-generation fast payment system (FPS) in…

11 months ago

Safaricom’s M-Pesa to join Pesalink as Central Bank plans new payment system

Safaricom’s M-Pesa is set to join the Pesalink network, which could significantly reshape Kenya’s digital payments landscape. In a proposal…

11 months ago

M-KOPA appoints former Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri as new board chairman

M-KOPA Holding, a Kenyan startup that offers financing for smartphones and solar systems, has appointed former Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri…

1 year ago

Chowdeck “looking at” South Africa and Kenya for possible expansion

Chowdeck, a Nigerian YC-backed food delivery platform, could consider expanding to South Africa, Kenya, and Ivory Coast.  “We are still…

1 year ago

Kenyan parliament pushes for Safaricom, M-PESA split

Kenyan lawmakers have revived the 2022 Information and Communications (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to split Safaricom, the country’s biggest telco…

1 year ago

Electric motorcycle maker Ampersand raises $2 million to expand in East Africa

Ampersand, a Rwandan electric motorcycle manufacturer, has raised a $2 million Series A extension to expand to other East African…

1 year ago

PrivPay shutdown after Safaricom cut API access over compliance violations

PrivPay, a Kenyan fintech that allowed customers to make M-PESA transactions without revealing their personal details, shut down in May…

1 year ago

Mobius, maker of low-priced SUVs for startups, to shutdown

Mobius Motors, a Kenya-based automaker backed by Playfair Capital, has entered a voluntary liquidation after efforts to rescue the company…

1 year ago

Kenya to issue payment licences: Flutterwave, Chipper Cash could be first in line

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) plans to issue payment licences to fintech startups soon, an important softening of an…

1 year ago

Exclusive: Caantin expands into US after two rebrands and layoffs

Caantin, the Kenyan startup that was formerly called Kibanda and then TopUpMama, has led many lives. Backed by Ventures Platform…

1 year ago

Kenya data analytics startup Gro Intelligence shuts down

Months after the board of the agricultural data platform Gro Intelligence replaced CEO and founder Sara Menker, the New York…

1 year ago

Tanzania targets predatory loans: Central Bank excludes unlicensed apps

Tanzania’s Central Bank will no longer allow unlicensed digital lenders to operate in the country and has told customers to…

2 years ago

Roam secures financing deal with Mogo to grow electric motorcycle adoption

Roam, a Kenyan-based electric mobility company, has secured a partnership with Mogo, an asset financier in East Africa, to boost…

2 years ago

Crackdown on unlicensed companies cuts digital creditors in Kenya to 51

Before consumer protection laws were passed, any lender could run a digital credit business. Kenya has approved the operation of…

2 years ago

Exclusive: Bilha Ndirangu sues IFC-backed Africa’s Talking over removal as director

Bilha Ndirangu, a former director of the IFC-backed Africa’s Talking, is suing the company she cofounded for unlawful termination of…

2 years ago

Kenyan EV startup Roam secures $24m to scale production

Roam, a Kenya-based electric vehicle company has raised $24 million in equity and debt to expand local manufacturing capabilities in…

2 years ago

Exclusive: Fintech giant Flutterwave secures release of $3 million in Kenya

A Kenyan high court has unfrozen $3 million belonging to fintech giant Flutterwave and two of its associates, ending a…

2 years ago