The collapse of Koko, a clean-cooking company that operated in Kenya, has raised difficult questions about the sustainability of carbon-credit financing and placed renewed attention on the challenges facing businesses that depend on environmental markets. For Circle Gas, the company behind Koko, the situation highlights how a business designed to deliver climate benefits can struggle…

CashAfrica is bringing mobile tap-to-pay technology to Chicken Republic outlets, highlighting the growing adoption of contactless payments in Nigeria’s quick-service restaurant industry. The move reflects efforts by payment technology providers and food businesses to make transactions faster, more convenient and better suited to increasingly digital consumer habits. Tap-to-pay technology allows customers to make payments by…

When a startup collapses, the story rarely ends with a shutdown announcement. Behind the headlines are unpaid employees, disappointed investors, unsettled debts, abandoned customers and founders forced to confront the consequences of a business that could not survive. The unfinished business of a startup’s collapse often reveals how much responsibility remains after the company stops…

South Africa’s fintech industry is entering a new phase of competition as financial technology companies look beyond payments to become the primary financial partners of consumers and businesses. While digital transfers, mobile wallets and card transactions remain important, the battle for customer loyalty increasingly depends on savings, credit, investments and personalised financial services. The shift…

Cascador and Sterling have launched a $200 million fund aimed at reducing the risks associated with lending to startups, a move that could help address one of the major financing challenges facing emerging businesses. The initiative is designed to improve access to credit for startups and growth-stage companies that often struggle to secure loans because…

Nigeria’s fast-growing digital finance industry has made borrowing easier for millions of people, but it has also raised questions about loan affordability, transparency and consumer protection. OPay, one of the country’s prominent digital financial services platforms, sits within this broader debate as regulators and consumers pay closer attention to the risks associated with digital lending.…