Business
Africa Go Green Fund Doubles Spiro Financing to $36 Million as Electric Motorcycles Scale
Africa's electric mobility sector has received another significant financing commitment.
Topic
Business
Stories, glossary entries, and explainers connected to business.
MAMBO Take
Inside Kenya's "Startup Graveyard": Twiga Joins a KES 93 Billion Wreckage, and One Number Complicates the Story
This is a labeled analysis piece, not neutral reporting.
MAMBO Explains
Apple TV just came to Kenya for the first time, bundled into a $0.99 cloud storage plan
Apple TV is available for the first time ever in Kenya as of this month, bundled at no extra cost into every paid iCloud+ subscription, including the entry-level 50GB plan, which stays at $0.99 a month, roughly KES 128.
MAMBO Explains
Kenya's High Court just unwound a $1.58 billion Safaricom sale that closed three months ago
Kenya's High Court declared the government's sale of a 15% stake in Safaricom PLC to Vodacom Group unconstitutional, null and void, and ordered the shares restored to the state.
MAMBO Explains
Absa Bank Kenya just made its interim CEO permanent, and the backstory explains why
Absa Bank Kenya confirmed Yusuf Omari as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect on September 10, 2026, following board approval and completion of regulatory clearances.
MAMBO Explains
Apple raised iPhone prices $100, and absorbed a bigger hike itself to keep it that low
Apple raised the starting price of the iPhone 18 Pro to $1,199 and the iPhone 18 Pro Max to $1,299, both $100 more than their iPhone 17 predecessors, and simultaneously discontinued the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max.
MAMBO Explains
iPhone Duo vs Xiaomi 18 Fold: Why the Timeline, Not the Design, Is the Real Story
Xiaomi launched the 18 Fold in China on September 7, 2026, two days before Apple officially unveiled the iPhone Duo on September 9.
Business
Equity surged while Absa slipped in H1 2026, showing digital banking does not make every bank grow the same way
Equity Group's H1 profit rose 32% to KSh 45.5 billion while Absa Bank Kenya's fell 10% to KSh 10.5 billion. Digital adoption is only part of the story.
Business
Transsion is pushing ahead with a Hong Kong listing, putting Africa's smartphone demand in front of global investors
Transsion, owner of TECNO, Infinix and itel, is progressing toward a Hong Kong H-share listing while its African smartphone business remains central to growth.
Business
Safaricom's new board appointments show what Vodacom's 55% control looks like in practice
Safaricom's appointment of two senior Vodacom executives is more than a routine board refresh. It shows how the telco's new majority ownership is beginning to shape governance.
MAMBO Explains
Apple's PlasmaSolve acquisition is about the invisible engineering that makes hardware last
The deal strengthens Apple's ability to simulate coatings and manufacturing processes before committing to expensive production runs.
MAMBO Take
Vodacom's new Safaricom powers go far beyond owning more shares
Vodacom's reported 55 percent stake now comes with stronger board and executive influence over a company that carries Kenya's communications and money.
MAMBO Take
Safaricom's KSh 80.13 billion dividend is a victory for shareholders and a test for growth
The record payout shows renewed confidence after years of Ethiopia investment. It also raises the question of how much cash Safaricom should return versus reinvest.
MAMBO Explains
KRA's blockchain clearance platform could reduce port delays, but only if every agency uses it
TLIP aims to replace duplicated cargo files with one shared record. The technology matters, but agency integration and clean data will decide whether clearance becomes faster.
MAMBO Take
Kenya wants Oracle's cloud and AI expertise. It should negotiate like the data matters
Oracle and the ICT Authority are exploring deeper cooperation on government cloud, AI and certification. Kenya needs skills transfer, interoperability and enforceable data controls.
MAMBO Take
RISE 2026 takes Nigeria's technology debate to Jos, where it belongs
Hosting a major national technology conference in Jos challenges the idea that Nigeria's digital economy begins in Lagos and ends in Abuja.
Should you care?
Airtel Nigeria's one-seat shops show why telecom's future is still physical
The new compact shops reduce the cost of physical retail while keeping registration, support and financial services close to customers.
MAMBO Explains
Rentoza's business rescue exposes the risky economics of gadget subscriptions
Subscription access can make expensive technology feel affordable, but the model needs capital, inventory control, collections and customer trust to survive.
MAMBO Explains
Africa's Laptop LLM Challenge asks AI to fit the computers people already own
Instead of asking developers to find bigger GPUs, the competition asks them to compress, optimise and localise AI for common African hardware.
Business
Uber's Glovo deal now faces the part regulators care about: antitrust
Uber's 14.8 billion dollar acquisition of Glovo parent Delivery Hero faces antitrust scrutiny across Kenya, Nigeria, and North Africa, where it would merge the top delivery rivals.
Business
A R150 million solar bet on the grid South Africa cannot rely on
Nesa Power secured about 150 million rand, roughly 9 million dollars, in mezzanine debt from Maia Capital to expand commercial and industrial solar under long-term PPAs.
Business
Ex-OpenAI and Google engineers just funded a South African AI startup
South Africa's HyperDev, an AI coding platform founded by former OpenAI and Google engineers, raised over 1 million dollars in pre-seed funding as it approaches 100,000 users.
Business
Six Nigerian fintechs crack the world's top 500, and it is not luck
Six Nigerian fintechs made CNBC and Statista's 2026 World's Top Fintech Companies list, over half of Africa's 11 entries, cementing Lagos as the continent's fintech capital.
Should you care?
Kenya's plan to put AI in eight million small businesses, explained
Kenya's MSME ministry is pushing AI adoption across millions of small firms as the Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026 moves through the Senate. The plan, the law, and the catch.
Should you care?
Apple sues OpenAI, and the age of polite AI partnerships is over
Apple's lawsuit against OpenAI turns a friendly AI partnership into a fight over hardware, trade secrets, talent, and who gets to define the next computing device.
Business
Uber is buying Glovo's owner. What it means for Kenya
Uber's agreement to buy Delivery Hero would bring Glovo into the same group as Uber Eats, a major shift for Kenya's food and grocery delivery market.
Business
NVIDIA's RTX Spark wants to reinvent the Windows PC
NVIDIA's RTX Spark platform is a direct challenge to Intel and AMD in Windows PCs, built around local AI, Arm, Blackwell graphics, and huge shared memory.
Business
Intel raises CPU prices, and AMD looks better for it
Intel's 2026 CPU price increases are narrow but revealing: desktop bumps are modest, server hikes are steep, and AMD gets a value opening.
Should you care?Sponsored
PrimeVale is betting that informed property buyers are better buyers
PrimeVale says its new Kenyan property marketplace will pair listings with plain-language guides for first-time buyers. The education-first idea is strong, but trust will depend on verification and independence.
MAMBO Take
America invents it, China perfects it, Europe writes the rules for it
The old line says America innovates, China replicates, and Europe regulates. China's rocket catch shows why that line is useful, and why it is no longer enough.
Business
The AGM that formalises Vodafone's grip on Safaricom
Safaricom shareholders will vote on fourteen resolutions that turn Vodafone Kenya's 55 percent stake into formal boardroom control.
Business
Kenya's new tax rules put software payments under pressure
Kenya's Finance Act 2026 expands the definition of royalty to cover software and digital-platform payments, changing the tax treatment of many cross-border contracts.
Business
KOKO's empire goes on sale, and carbon is the lesson
KOKO Networks' clean-cooking technology is being marketed to buyers after the company lost the carbon-credit approval that supported its fuel subsidy.
MAMBO Explains
Claude Fable 5 came back different. Government policy changed the product
The model's core was not retrained, but its access and guardrails changed. The episode shows how government policy can alter software overnight.
MAMBO Take
AI is not killing every junior tech job. It is breaking the ladder into them
Routine work once trained junior employees. As AI absorbs it, employers demand judgement and architecture before candidates have had a place to learn them.
MAMBO Take
The AI tax is raising Apple prices, but it is not a fee for Apple Intelligence
Consumers are paying an indirect AI tax through scarcer RAM and storage chips. The mechanism is supply-chain competition, not a direct charge for AI software.
MAMBO Take
Africa has a seat at the AI governance table. Now it needs real leverage
A seat at the table matters, but it can become ceremonial. Africa needs coordinated policy, local research capacity and bargaining power to shape how AI is built and deployed.
MAMBO Take
The iPhone Ultra shortage is also a marketing plan
Analyst estimates say Apple's first foldable iPhone could be scarce at launch. That may be a manufacturing constraint, but the sold-out effect still sells the product.
Business
The $2,500 iPhone Ultra: Apple's luxury tech gamble
Apple's rumored iPhone Ultra foldable is being framed by analysts as a premium device near $2,500, with shipment expectations that would test how high flagship phone prices can climb.
Business
African fintech's second wave: from payments to credit
African fintech is moving beyond payment apps into credit, B2B infrastructure, embedded finance, and debt-funded models built around real cash flows.
Business
How stablecoins became Nigeria's trade workaround
Nigerian businesses are using stablecoins as a bottom-up workaround for dollar scarcity, slow settlement, and cross-border payment friction.
Business
Africa links 11 stock exchanges as AELP Phase II launches
Phase II of the African Exchange Linkage Project expands the network to 11 exchanges and more than 50 brokers, pushing African capital markets closer together.
Business
Africa's fintech shakeout: the M&A wave, explained
African fintech is consolidating fast as stronger companies buy data rails, licences, local footholds, and distressed rivals.
Business
EVs could soon beat petrol on cost across Africa
New research says EVs are close to cost parity across much of Africa, with expensive financing now doing more to slow adoption than the technology itself.
Business
West Africa's mega-corridor eyes cleaner, smarter freight
The EU Regional Business Forum put West Africa's Abidjan to Lagos corridor in front of investors, with rail, urban mobility, trade facilitation, and logistics on the table.
Business
BYD retakes the EV crown as June numbers land
BYD delivered 557,090 fully electric vehicles in Q2 2026, ahead of Tesla's 480,126, while NIO posted its best month of the year.
Business
Government banks Sh244.5bn from the Safaricom sale
Kenya has received about Sh244.5 billion from the Vodacom Safaricom transaction, with the money headed into the National Infrastructure Fund.
Business
New leaders at the NSE and Airtel Kenya
The Nairobi Securities Exchange and Airtel Kenya have new leaders, with Tom Mulwa named NSE chairman and Djibril Tobe taking over as Airtel Kenya managing director.
Business
South Africa sets six pillars for its digital economy
South Africa is framing its digital-economy push around six priorities: subsea cables and telecoms, AI, data centres, cybersecurity, startups, and cross-border digital transformation.
Business
Vodacom takes majority control of Safaricom
Vodacom now controls about 55% of Safaricom after completing a $2.1 billion transaction, while Kenya's government keeps a 20% stake.
Business
Volkswagen SA at a new-energy-vehicle crossroads
Volkswagen Group Africa is taking cautious hybrid steps in South Africa while pressing government for clearer new-energy-vehicle policy.