Africa is not standing still. Some bottlenecks are breaking. Others are emerging. The cell towers are built, but 64% of the population remain offline. Stablecoins are being used as real money, not traded as hype. Ghana and Rwanda are working at turning fintech passporting into practice. Kenya put stock trading inside M-PESA. Gold is being formalized. Mineral corridors are clustering for scale. And offshore, West Africa is testing whether a new UN treaty can translate into real ocean sovereignty. Progress is real. Friction remains. The next phase requires great execution.
Figure of the Week
In Africa, only 9% of people lack mobile broadband coverage, but 64% still are not using mobile internet. Source: GSMA
Graphic of the Week
Coverage Isn’t Access
Source: GSMA
Figure 1 from the GSMA, Accelerating Smartphone Adoption in Africa (2025) report is fascinating.
In Africa, the coverage gap fell from 41% in 2015 to just 9% in 2024
That means most Africans now live within reach of mobile broadband networks.
But the usage gap rose to 64% in 2024
The usage gap refers to people who live within network coverage but are not using mobile internet. Translation: The infrastructure is largely there. The adoption is not.
Why? According to the report:
Smartphone affordability remains the biggest barrier. Many cannot afford internet-enabled handsets or ongoing data costs.
Digital skills, relevance and safety concerns also slow uptake.
Why It Matters
According to the report, closing the usage gap by 2030 could add about $700B in GDP across Africa. It is no longer towers. It is devices, affordability and digital inclusion.
What We Are Reading
Africa: African Development Bank (AfDB) to develop new risk-assessment framework called New African Financial Architecture to unlock up to $4T for continental projects (Bloomberg); West African crude oil prices fell as high freight costs and weak spreads reduce Asian buyers’ demand for regional cargoes (Bloomberg).
Angola: Non-oil tax revenue expected to surpass oil income in 2026 as government broadens tax base and formalizes economy (Bloomberg).
Chad closed its border with Sudan to prevent conflict spillover after RSF fighters crossed into its territory (AP News).
Egypt: IMF unlocked $2.3B in loans for the country after program reviews despite reform delays and market jitters (Bloomberg).
Ethiopia: Tigray faced rising fears of renewed war as tensions between the federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front escalated, worsening the economy (AP News).
Eritrea: AfDB to invest $58M to expand clean electricity and boost rural economic growth (AfDB).
DR Congo: President Tshisekedi appoints new chairman and CEO at state-owned copper and cobalt mine Gecamines (Bloomberg).
Gabon: Dollar bonds fell after Fitch warned of default risk amid uncertainty over IMF loan request (Bloomberg).
The Ghananian government aimed to channel 127 tons of artisanal gold annually into formal trade through its GoldBod platform to curb smuggling and generate more than $20B in foreign exchange each year (Reuters).
Mozambique: World Bank to provide $10B in financing to support economic growth and job creation through 2031 (Bloomberg).
Somalia offered to renew U.S. access to ports and airports for military use, reaffirming the U.S. role as a security partner (Bloomberg).
South Sudan: President Kiir appointed ninth finance minister in under six years, Salvatore Garang Mabiordit (Bloomberg).
Sudan: Paramilitary RSF attack Darfur town Misteriha, killing at least 28 and wounding 39 amid ongoing civil war (AP News).
Zambia: Officials said sovereign debt risk perceptions are overblown, raising borrowing costs by nearly three points (Bloomberg).
The Zimbabwean government has immediately suspended exports of raw minerals and lithium concentrates to curb leakages and push for more local processing and value addition (Reuters).
Venture Capital in Africa
The VC in Africa section on stablecoins is written by Matthew Davis of Renew Capital.
Stablecoin: World Sits. Africa Uses.
Africa Leads the World in Real-World Stablecoin Adoption: According to the BVNK Stablecoin Utility Report 2026 and related market research, Africa is a global leader in the practical, everyday use of stablecoins. The region stands out for using these assets out of economic necessity rather than just speculation - i.e. they don’t hold it, they use it.
Some key findings from the report as it relates to Africa:
Highest Adoption Rate: Africa recorded the highest stablecoin ownership rate among the regions surveyed, with 79% of crypto users holding stablecoins.
Gender Parity: While men globally are more likely to own stablecoins (60%), Africa is the only region where women are equally likely to own them, at 51%.
Income and Salaries: Africa shows the highest global desire to be paid in stablecoins, with 95% of Nigerian respondents stating they would prefer receiving payments in stablecoins over the Naira.
Primary Use Cases
Remittances: Users save an average of 40% in fees (and up to 85% in some corridors) compared to traditional remittance services like Western Union.
Inflation Hedging: Stablecoins are used as a "digital dollar" to preserve wealth against local currency depreciation.
Cross-Border Trade: Small businesses and freelancers use them to circumvent slow and expensive legacy banking rails, with 75% of those paid in stablecoins saying it improved their ability to do business internationally.
As VC investors, we’re watching this because Africa’s high stablecoin adoption signals an untapped market for modern financial infrastructure where "acceptance drives acquisition." While Western crypto use is often speculative, in markets like Nigeria and South Africa, stablecoins are used to bypass outdated or broken legacy banking, a fact underscored by the 60% of users in emerging economies who specifically bought digital assets because a merchant accepted them. This allows fintechs to scale rapidly by leapfrogging traditional credit card rails and consolidating a user's diverse financial needs onto a single, high-utility digital ecosystem.
Fintech Passporting Goes Live
Source: Intelpoint
One year after signing Africa’s first fintech passport MoU, Ghana and Rwanda are now finalising operational agreements to ease cross-border payments and test regulatory interoperability in real time.
The goal: enable cross-border licensing and reduce friction in payments between both countries.
Current state: Cross-border payments in Africa remain slow and expensive, a direct drag on AfCFTA ambitions.
Zoom out: Fintech captured 47% of Africa startup funding in 2024, but regulatory fragmentation remains one of the most significant bottlenecks to scaling.
What I’m Watching
For the first fintechs officially operating under the passport.
Cross-border transaction volume between Ghana and Rwanda.
Reduction in licensing timelines and compliance costs.
Expansion beyond bilateral to multilateral corridors.
Read more: GBC Ghana Online and Finance in Africa.
Minerals in Africa
Corridors Create Scale
What a pretty map. In Africa at the Core of Critical Minerals, the authors argue Africa must shift from mine-by-mine development to region-by-region clusters.
The idea: Four cluster archetypes.
Resource clusters built around high-grade deposits
Processing hubs that capture value beyond raw ore
Innovation clusters focused on AI, automation and R&D
Logistics corridors linking mines to ports and power
Where this is already happening:
DRC-Zambia Copperbelt as a copper and cobalt anchor
South Africa as a platinum group metals and battery processing hub
West Africa iron ore and bauxite corridors tied to new rail
Morocco building a battery manufacturing ecosystem
Why it Matters:
Shared rail, ports, power and processing reduce costs, improve ESG performance and increase bankability. Corridors like Lobito and the Trans-Guinean Railway show how infrastructure unlocks stranded assets. The bottom line is that clusters create scale, scale attracts capital, capital drives industrialization.
Explorations in Africa
Africa Aims to Protect The High Seas
Source: Dialogue Earth
The UN-backed High Seas Treaty is now legally in force as of January 17 after more than 80 countries adopted it. The treaty has been in the works for nearly 20 years and now for the first time, there is a binding legal mechanism to create marine protected areas in the high seas, waters beyond national jurisdiction that cover nearly 43% of the planet.
Africa’s move:
The Economic Community of West African States has proposed one of the first high seas marine protected areas along the Atlantic curve from Senegal to Nigeria.
The zone sits where the Canary and Guinea currents meet, one of the richest fisheries ecosystems in the Atlantic.
A marine protected area would restrict industrial fishing or seabed mining so fish stocks and biodiversity can recover and spill over into surrounding waters.
The tension: The treaty creates the legal tool but it does not create enforcement capacity. Many West African marine protected areas already struggle with weak monitoring, limited patrol capacity and underfunding. Real protection requires ships, satellite tracking, legal systems and long-term financing.
Bottom line: The global rules were written in New York. The test now is whether they can be enforced from Dakar to Accra, supporting sustainable food security and millions of blue economy jobs. Read more: Dialogue Earth.
Thanks for reading. It’s a work in progress, but we recently launched an African events page to help you keep up with key events on the continent. If you have events coming up, please be sure to let us know. See you next week
Email us at ([email protected]) if you have some scuttlebutt we should follow up on.
