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Habari fintech friends,
Welcome to the Safari of Broken Deals.
This week, Kenya’s High Court pulled the plug on a $2.1 billion megadeal that was supposed to redefine telecom and mobile money across the continent. The transaction first announced in December 2025 saw South Africa’s Vodacom Group attempt to expand its empire by acquiring an additional 15% stake in Safaricom from the Kenyan government, aiming to bump its total ownership to 55% and effectively take control of M-Pesa’s parent company. For a cash strapped Treasury in Nairobi desperately trying to fund a $39 billion national infrastructure project, the upfront $1.9 billion monetization of future dividends looked like an easy answer to a hard balance sheet.
Then the judges stepped in and hit "Ctrl + Z."
In a scathing verdict, the High Court ruled the entire sale unconstitutional, null, and void. The court found that the government had secretly negotiated a full takeover without public participation, skipped competitive bidding, ignored competition authorities, and monetised public asset dividends behind closed doors, violating fundamental public finance laws. Now, the court has ordered the 15% stake restored to the state, leaving Kenya’s treasury scrambling to figure out how to refund a staggering $1.9 billion it already spent.
Governments across the continent keep treating strategic payment rails and mobile money giants like emergency ATMs, privatizing assets behind closed doors to plug budget holes until the legal system calls them out. When state institutions ignore their own playbook to push deals through, they don't just destabilize local markets; they signal to foreign capital that African regulatory frameworks are moving targets.
If African regulators don't start prioritizing transparency and legal sound governance over quick cash injections, fintech investors will stop taking the legal risk altogether.
When you build market infrastructure on shaky legal ground, you just lease the friction and not securing the future.
— Jovin
Please find another week of fintech news below:
The Rundown
🏦 M&A
Vodacom announced plans to appeal the High Court ruling blocking its $2.1 billion deal to acquire majority control of M-Pesa operator Safaricom.
🚀 Product Launches
Bujeti deployed specialized AI agents into its financial control suite to automate corporate workflows.
BuuPass integrated SafariBucks digital wallet rewards to streamline transport ticketing and loyalty payments in Kenya.
MTN MoMo partnered with FNB Zambia to enable cardless mobile wallet cash-outs at ATMs.
Bujeti rolled out 15 native integrations connecting payment gateways, CRMs, and accounting platforms together.
Nexodius launched a digital finance platform facilitating crypto trades, virtual dollar cards, and utility payments.
FintechNGR expanded policy tracks across three Nigerian cities to address cross-border payments.
💸 Fundraises
Madica invested in five pre-seed startups to expand digital payments and financial inclusion across Africa.
🗂️ Other News
Kenyan fintech Payd resumed platform operations after foreign exchange volatility temporarily disrupted customer payouts.
GoTyme Bank adjusted its instant transaction fee policies to optimize digital banking payment services.
AfriChange obtained an International Money Transfer Operator license from Bank of Ghana for regulated remittances.
Bankit Microfinance Bank rebranded to WayvePay to expand its AI-enhanced digital banking and payments platform.
Quote of the Week
TWIF FAQs
Which pan-African cross-border payments platform founded in 2018 by two entrepreneurs out of San Francisco, pioneered zero-fee peer-to-peer transfers before scaling to a $2 billion valuation backed by Jeff Bezos and FTX?
(Find the answer at the signoff below!)
Editor’s Picks
Before we wrap this up…
Did you guess which pan-African cross-border payments platform founded in 2018 by two entrepreneurs out of San Francisco pioneered zero-fee peer-to-peer transfers before scaling to a $2 billion valuation backed by Jeff Bezos and FTX?
The answer is Chipper Cash. By offering zero-fee P2P cross-border transfers across key markets like Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, and South Africa, Chipper Cash rapidly solved cross-border remittance friction and became one of the fastest-growing fintech unicorns on the continent.
That’s all for today, friends. See you next Monday.
Asante.
