Nigerian fintech company Paga is expanding access to its Direct Debit service, allowing businesses to collect recurring payments directly from customers’ bank accounts, including accounts held outside the Paga network. The development marks another step in the company’s ambition to become a major provider of financial infrastructure for businesses across Nigeria. The expansion is being…

Nigerian health technology company Helium Health has secured a $2.5 million grant from Google.org to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) solutions aimed at improving maternal healthcare and reducing pregnancy-related deaths across Nigeria. The funding, worth approximately ₦3.4 billion, will support the expansion of HeliumMum, the company’s maternal healthcare initiative, which uses AI-powered tools to identify pregnancy…

Nigeria’s gift card trading market is creating new opportunities for digital commerce, but concerns about fraud, delayed payments and unreliable exchange rates continue to affect consumer confidence. Against this backdrop, Nigerian fintech platform Prestmit is positioning trust, transaction security and faster payments as key parts of its business strategy. The platform allows users to buy…

OPay’s planned entry into the United States stock market has suffered an unexpected setback after a reported regulatory inquiry from China prompted the Nigeria-focused fintech to withdraw its proposed $304 million initial public offering (IPO). The development came on October 30, 2026, just as the digital payments company was preparing to begin trading on the…

Safaricom is strengthening its position in Kenya’s digital lending market as growing demand for short-term mobile credit drives higher revenue from its M-PESA overdraft service, Fuliza. The telecommunications company generated KES 4.9 billion (approximately $38 million) from Fuliza in the six months to September 2026, representing an 86 per cent increase compared with the corresponding…

Nigeria’s small businesses could gain better access to financing if banks begin treating business transaction data as an alternative to traditional collateral, according to Uzoma Dozie, Chief Executive Officer of Sparkle Microfinance Bank. Speaking on the sidelines of the Africa Financial Industry Summit (AFIS) 2026 in Luanda, Angola, Dozie argued that Nigeria’s conventional lending system…