I think Africa is building faster than many outsiders realize. According to the data, solar projects now outpace mega dams. Mobile money trails are becoming credit histories. African investors are backing more of Africa’s startups. And the continent’s skies are filling with more African-to-African routes. Beneath the headlines, a quieter reality is emerging: Africa is wiring together its own energy systems, financial rails and capital networks.
Figure of the Week
Africa added 11.3 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity in 2025, triple what was added in 2024. Source: AP
Graphic of the Week
Credit Gets Smarter
Source: IFC
A really interesting IFC report argues that alternative data and AI are changing how lenders assess borrowers without formal credit histories. The models use signals like mobile money activity, utility payments, digital wallets, gig work records, school fee payments and even airtime top-ups to make “invisible” borrowers visible. This is a space I am watching closely.
Why it matters for Africa:
Africa is one of the clearest test cases because mobile money and digital wallets are already common data trails.
The report maps 448 alternative-credit scoring firms globally, and 15.2% operate in Africa. Among MSME-focused firms, Africa’s share rises to 21.7%.
Transaction data drives most models, and mobile money data is especially important in Africa and South Asia.
The real opportunity is not just faster lending. It is turning informal economic behavior into a credit history.
The Africa examples:
In Ethiopia, Kifiya uses mobile transactions, utility payments, e-commerce activity and agricultural productivity indicators to help partner banks extend uncollateralized credit to MSMEs and first-time borrowers. It has unlocked $340M in credit for 713,000 MSMEs, including $175M for 544,000 female borrowers.
In Zambia, Eshandi uses mobile money patterns, SIM card age, airtime use, school fee payments, betting activity and other behavioral markers to score borrowers. It has disbursed more than $1.5M in loans and serves 400,000 active borrowers, 58% of whom are women.
The gender signal: Women often perform better than the old credit system assumes. Eshandi’s Zambia data show women score slightly higher on machine learning credit scores and are more likely to receive repeat loans. Women received four or more loans at a higher rate than men, 25% vs. 22%.
Bottom line: Africa’s missing credit history may already exist. It is sitting in mobile wallets, payment records, ag platforms and informal business transactions. The next financial inclusion race is about who can read that data responsibly.
What We Are Reading
Africa: AfDB forecasted growth to slow to 4.2% in 2025 due to Middle East-driven fuel and food price pressures before recovering in 2027 (Reuters).
Angola: Landslide at an illegal gold mine in Bengo province killed at least 28 people, highlighting risks in expanding the artisanal mining sector (Reuters).
Benin: President Wadagni took office pledging economic reforms and a stronger security response to rising jihadist threats from the Sahel (Reuters).
Côte d’Ivoire: Eni approved final investment decision for Phase 3 of Baleine oil and gas project to expand output and supply domestic energy markets (Reuters).
Ethiopia: Elections on Monday expected to be dominated by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s party (Reuters).
Morocco: King Mohammed VI pardoned Senegal football fans convicted of hooliganism after the Africa Cup of Nations final, citing humanitarian and bilateral relations (Reuters).
Mozambique: Government disputed $2B in claimed costs for TotalEnergies LNG project delays after audit challenges threaten further setbacks to the $20B gas development (Bloomberg).
Nigeria: Armed bandits attacked Kwara state police station and palace, abducting at least 10 people and killing three in a separate raid (Reuters).
Senegal: Political tensions escalated as President Faye removed Ousmane Sonko as prime minister but Sonko returned to power as head of parliament, deepening uncertainty over economic and governance direction (Bloomberg).
South Africa’s central bank is expected to raise interest rates for the first time since 2023 as higher oil prices from the Iran war push inflation upward (Bloomberg); Government withdrew and reviewed the draft AI policy after fake or AI-generated references were found, leading to suspension of officials and a new expert panel (Reuters).
Sudan: Survivors described mass killings, abuse and displacement during RSF assault on al-Fashir as tens of thousands flee into Chad (Reuters).
Uganda closed its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo for four weeks and imposed strict quarantine measures to contain the cross-border spread of Ebola (Reuters).
Zambia’s state investment firm ZCCM-IH partnered with China’s Wonderful Group to invest $30M to revive a 95-year-old lime and cement facility critical to the country’s copper, construction and agriculture sectors (Reuters).
Zimbabwe: Invictus Energy signed petroleum sharing deal with government to advance the Cabora Bassa gas project and expand exploration of domestic gas resources (Reuters).
Climate in Africa
The Solar Continent
Source: SolarBytes
Africa's energy future is increasingly being built with solar panels and batteries rather than mega dams and coal plants. According to an AP article that cites Electron Intelligence, solar accounted for 173 of the 322 power projects announced across the continent in 2025, while Africa installed a record 4.5 gigawatts of new solar capacity, up 54% year over year.
Why it matters:
Africa added a record 11.3 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity in 2025, triple the previous year.
South Africa, Egypt and Ethiopia led the deployment of renewables, but the growth is spreading. Eight African countries installed more than 100 megawatts of solar last year, double the number in 2024.
African countries imported roughly $4.6B of solar panels and battery systems from China in 2025 alone, highlighting the scale of the buildout.
Mines, factories, telecom towers and industrial sites increasingly generate their own power rather than waiting for national utilities to catch up.
The real story: For decades, Africa's development model assumed electricity would come from massive centralized projects connected to national grids. Increasingly, it is coming from distributed networks of solar panels, batteries and mini-grids deployed where demand already exists.
Innovation in Africa
Africa’s Sovereign Solutions
Source: Bloomberg
Bloomberg’s 25 African Startups to Watch in 2026 highlights a new generation of companies building around infrastructure gaps in healthcare, logistics, fintech, climate and security. From healthcare financing in Nigeria to transport booking in Kenya through Renew Capital portfolio company BuuPass, many are solving problems that governments and traditional institutions have struggled to address.
Why it matters:
Nearly half the funding raised by companies on Bloomberg’s list came from African investors, reflecting a growing role for local capital.
Debt fundraising nearly doubled in 2025, even as venture equity slowed, signaling a shift toward sustainability and operational discipline.
The deeper shift: This is bigger than an AI story or a venture capital story. Africa's startup ecosystem seems to be becoming more local, more disciplined and more focused on building essential systems. Across sectors, startups are increasingly filling gaps in healthcare, transport, payments, lending, payroll, energy and emergency response, infrastructure that existing institutions never fully delivered. Read more: Bloomberg.
Business & Finance in Africa
Africa's Capital Class
Source: Henley & Partners
Africa's millionaire population is projected to grow 65% over the next decade, according to the Henley & Partners Africa Wealth Report 2025. The continent now counts roughly 122,500 millionaires, 348 centi-millionaires and 25 billionaires.
Why it matters:
Africa is quietly entering a new capital formation era.
Five countries: South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya now hold 63% of Africa's millionaires and 88% of its billionaires.
Mauritius posted 63% millionaire growth over the past decade, while Rwanda grew 48% and Morocco 40%. Meanwhile, Nigeria's millionaire population fell 47%, reflecting currency collapse and capital flight rather than a continental trend.
Investment migration inquiries from African investors surged 50% in 2024, driven in part by tightening global access, including a Schengen visa rejection rate for Africans of one in two, more than double the global average.
The deeper shift: Africa is producing a growing class of entrepreneurs, investors and business owners who increasingly need wealth management, investment products, private banking, cross-border financial access and sophisticated asset protection tools. But most African financial systems are still built for deposits and basic retail banking.
The overlooked opportunity: BCG's Global Wealth Report 2026 identifies the affluent segment ($250,000 to $5M) as the fastest-growing and least-served wealth tier across emerging markets. It cites South Africa explicitly as a model for how retail banks co-evolved with local capital markets to build credible wealth management ecosystems, a template that is perhaps applicable to other markets like Kenya, Nigeria and Morocco.
Travel in Africa
The Continental Air Buildout
Source: OAG
According to OAG (Official Airline Guide), Africa’s aviation market continues to expand, with total airline capacity rising 6.7% year over year to 23.9 million seats in May 2026. Ethiopian Airlines remains the continent’s largest airline, while Cairo International Airport remains Africa’s busiest airport.
Why it matters:
African air connectivity is recovering and expanding after years of disruption.
Domestic capacity is growing faster than international capacity, signaling stronger regional and internal demand.
Nigeria posted the continent’s fastest airline capacity growth, while Congo’s domestic market more than doubled.
Intra-African air travel also continues rising, even as Europe remains Africa’s largest international aviation partner.
The bigger picture: Aviation is one of the clearest real-time indicators of economic activity, tourism, business travel and middle-class expansion. More flights usually mean more trade, more movement and deeper regional integration.
Bottom line: Africa’s skies are getting busier, and the continent’s connectivity story is increasingly becoming an African-to-African story, not just Africa-to-Europe.
Explorations in Africa
Zimbabwe’s Elephant Express
Source: FT
I wish I were a travel writer for FT these days. This week, another beautiful piece, this time on Zimbabwe’s “Elephant Express,” which takes travelers through Hwange National Park on an active rail line originally built for freight. The trip offers close-up views of elephants, lions and other wildlife from a slow-moving train.
Why it’s interesting:
Old African infrastructure is being repurposed instead of being abandoned.
The experience blends conservation, tourism and transport into one business model.
It is also a reminder that Africa’s tourism edge is often authenticity, not luxury alone.
The bigger picture: Across Africa, railways once built for extraction are slowly finding new economic identities, from tourism to regional trade to logistics corridors.
Thanks for reading. In case you missed it, check out our piece on Update: Africa's Fuel Crunch and email us at [email protected].
