👨🏿‍🚀TechCabal Daily – IPO gold rush, fintech gridlock

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**Wazzup. **

Terra Industries is having quite the year.

The Nigerian defence-tech company, which has raised $52 million this year, has secured another $1 million contract, this time to provide autonomous surveillance and site protection for a gold, lithium, copper and nickel project in Kaduna. The deal comes less than two weeks after Terra announced $2 million in contracts to secure two Nigerian lithium mining operations.

The company is clearly finding a business beyond defence, and mining security looks like an important part of it.

If you want more on what Nigerian tech companies are building and where the industry is heading, watch the latest episode of Headlines by TechCabal. Hosts Eme Agbor and Muktar Oladunmade are joined by Abiodun Adetona, founder of Nigerian AI startup Decide, to discuss the company’s AI spreadsheet analyst, what it takes to build AI products from Nigeria, and how the technology is changing everyday data work.

Read smart insights about Francophone Africa’s tech ecosystem—weekly.

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• Dangote Refinery’s IPO proves too hot to handle
• Twiga Foods enters administration
• Egypt’s Beltone VC eyes LNKO exit
• Spiro and Yadea partner to co-build e-bikes
• World Wide Web 3
• Opportunities

Fintech

Dangote Refinery’s IPO rush crashes fintech apps in Nigeria

Aliko Dangote’s ‘IPO for the people’ crashes fintech apps in Nigeria. Image Source: Bloomberg

If you’re Nigerian, the news about Dangote Refinery’s initial public offering (IPO) has likely cluttered your notification bar. For weeks, everyone with an opinion about investing has been talking about the Dangote Refinery offer—to own or not to own.

On Monday, when the doors finally opened, two of the fintechs that had been inviting people in struggled to let them through.

**What happened? **The Dangote Petroleum Refinery IPO opened on Monday, and users trying to subscribe through Bamboo and Cowrywise, Nigerian digital investment apps, reported problems logging in, slow-loading apps, and error messages. The fintechs acknowledged the disruption and said their engineering teams were working to restore access.

Explain like I’m new here: In September, Dangote Refinery, the oil refinery built by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, announced that Nigerians could buy into its ₦2.15 trillion ($1.6 billion) IPO through approved fintechs including Bamboo, Cowrywise, Flutterwave, Moniepoint, Paga, and PiggyVest, alongside banks and mobile money operators. The company issued 4.1 billion shares at ₦525 ($0.4) each, with a minimum purchase of 10 shares, costing ₦5,250 ($4).

It was a big deal: The low entry point brought investing closer to people who may never have opened an account with a traditional stockbroker. For many younger Nigerians, fintech investment apps provide an easier entry point into the capital market because they eliminate a lot of mysterious stockbroker jargon. After one know-your-customer (KYC) process, a user has a functioning Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) account to store their shares.

And there was demand. Bamboo said it opened more than 236,000 new accounts in the days leading up to the IPO, with about 152,000 of those accounts funded and trading.

Why this is disappointing: Dangote positioned the public offering as a chance for Nigerians to participate in a large corporate fundraising exercise, and fintechs were supposed to make that participation easier. Rather, the launch became a stress test of whether these platforms could handle the crowd they had spent weeks building.

Investors haven’t missed their chance: Your IPO dreams aren’t over if you couldn’t get through on Monday. The offer stays open until October 13, and shares aren’t being allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. If the IPO is oversubscribed, investors will receive a portion of shares based on total demand and get refunded for any shares they don’t receive.

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Startups

Twiga Foods enters administration after years of trying to save the business

Twiga Foods CEO Charles Ballard (centre) and exectives. Image Source: Twiga Foods

Twiga Foods, the Kenyan business-to-business (B2B) commerce startup, has spent the last three years cutting jobs, changing its business model, acquiring distributors, and reshuffling its corporate structure in a desperate attempt to make its business cheaper to run. It still wasn’t enough.

What happened? According to a September 11 gazette notice, GT Flow Limited, the company’s legal entity formerly known as Twiga Foods One Limited, entered administration on August 17. Mohamed Mohamed, a court-appointed statutory administrator, has now assumed control of Twiga’s businesses and assets.

Putting a business into administration effectively means ceding control to an independent evaluator or company, whose sole job is to do one of two things: try to steer the company back into operations again, and when it cannot, find a way to responsibly shut it down so investors do not end up walking away with their tails between their legs.

Twiga’s creditors have also been asked to submit their claims within 30 days.

Explain like I’m new here: Twiga launched in 2014 with the idea that it could fix the mess in Kenya’s food supply chain by using technology to connect farmers and manufacturers directly to the small shops and kiosks. The idea attracted serious money. Twiga raised about $185.4 million, including a $50 million Series C in 2021 and a $35 million convertible bond in 2023.

**So, what was the problem? **Unlike money, food is physical. Someone still has to buy it, store it, move it, pay suppliers, manage warehouses, and get it to retailers. Twiga had built farms, warehouses, delivery fleets, and other pieces of that supply chain, making the business expensive and more complicated. By 2023, it was cutting jobs and moving away from some of its in-house infrastructure. Founder Peter Njonjo left as CEO and later exited the board in 2024.

Then Twiga tried to become lighter: In 2025, it acquired controlling stakes in three fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) distributors—Jumra, Sojpar and Raisons—giving it eight existing distribution centres across Kenya. It also created a new holding structure, internally called newco, to centralise procurement, logistics, and technology.

**But the problems persisted. **However, that newco restructuring yielded little positive change. In August 2023, Twiga laid off about 300 employees. By 2025, it was on its last leg, when it paused operations in Nairobi for two months.

**Bigger than Twiga: **Across Africa, B2B commerce startups learned that the margins are thin and customers are price-sensitive. MarketForce, another Kenyan B2B commerce startup, eventually shut down its RejaReja business in 2024 after downsizing operations. MarketForce had raised $42.5 million.

Kenya’s Wasoko and Egypt’s MaxAB took a different escape route to escape the harsh climate; they merged, creating what the founders called a “merger of equals” in a year when the e-commerce sector was starved of consolidation deals. Before that deal, both companies had cut staff, exited markets, and closed hubs.

**What’s the moral lesson? **Technology can digitise physical supply chains, especially in local and cross-border commerce. We’ve seen this countless times. But it doesn’t mean that the physical infrastructure needed to make it work disappears with tech. That infrastructure is what costs money to maintain.

Twiga played for years and became one of Kenya’s most-funded, celebrated e-commerce startups. But soon—applying a bit of rational optimism—Twiga could be no more. Yet, it was quite a run.

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Venture Capital

Beltone Venture Capital eyes 3x exit from Moroccan eyewear startup LNKO

Beltone getting ready for another exit. Image Source: Pinterest

Here’s a secret: if you want exits for your venture capital (VC) firm, back eyewear startups in Africa. If it worked the first time, it’ll probably work again.

The first time, it was Saviu Ventures in 2025, which sold its 22% stake in Lapaire, the pan-African eyewear retailer, and exited the business. Saviu said its first fund, which backed Lapaire, returned multiple times its investment to limited partners (LPs).

Now, Egypt-based Beltone Venture Capital is looking to do an encore. It is seeking to exit Moroccan eyewear startup LNKO, which it backed in February 2025. The only difference between the two deals is that Saviu’s took seven years; Beltone is looking to exit LNKO after just over a year.

Egyptian VC firms—or at least Beltone—are never shy about disclosing a few multiples. Beltone is weighing a sale of its entire LNKO stake at roughly 3x its initial investment. The firm did not disclose the amount it invested or the size of its stake, and the sale has not closed.

**A prolific investor. **Beltone Venture Capital, the VC arm of Egypt-based financial services group Beltone Holding, has closed five exits since its 2023 launch. It exited Cathedis, a Moroccan last-mile delivery platform, at a 100% internal rate of return (IRR) in 2025. In August, it also partially exited BirdNest, an Egyptian proptech company, at a 3.5x return.

**State of play: **Beltone’s expansion strategy goes beyond startup investments. In February, Beltone Holding acquired Baobab Group, a pan-African lender, for $227 million. Three months later, Baobab was generating 53% of Beltone’s operating revenue and gave the group a presence across seven African countries. Buying an established business gave Beltone a ready-made regional footprint, rather than building one country by country.

**Between the lines: **The VC firm is already preparing for its next deals. Beltone Venture Capital expects to close three Egyptian startup investments worth about $1 million over the next two to three months, with another six or seven investments targeted for 2027.

If the LNKO sale closes, Beltone will have another exit to add to its growing list, and more capital to put back into the next batch of startups.

Mobility

From competitors to friends? Here’s what we think of Spiro and Yadea’s camaraderie

Image Source: Tenor

All’s ~~not~~ fair in business and war—even a little camaraderie. So what’s this newfound bromance we hear is brewing between electric bike (e-bike) manufacturers Spiro and Yadea?

If you’re confused, you’re not alone. We were too. The two companies have announced a partnership.

**Why is that surprising? **Back in June, Yadea, the Chinese electric two-wheeler manufacturer, entered Kenya through a partnership with KIFA, a local distributor, putting it in direct competition with Spiro, Africa’s most-funded e-mobility company that operates electric motorcycle fleets across the continent. Yadea’s KIFA motorcycle was built for boda boda riders, leaving both companies chasing a similar customer.

Three months later, they’re partners. Yadea will supply Spiro with electric two-wheelers and bring its manufacturing and research and development (R&D) capabilities to the partnership. The companies will also co-build motorcycles for African roads and commercial use.

Here’s what made us raise an eyebrow. In May, Spiro acquired Coexlion, a UK- and India-based engineering company with 28 engineers and experience in electric two-wheelers, battery systems, vehicle integration, and industrial design. At the time, Spiro said the deal would strengthen its R&D and localisation capabilities, with plans for an R&D centre in Kenya.

So no, the Coexlion deal probably wasn’t a wasted investment. Spiro bought engineering talent and product development expertise. Yadea brings something different: manufacturing scale, a large existing product portfolio, and years of experience making electric two-wheelers at scale. The two capabilities can coexist.

There’s also a twist to the Kenya story. Yadea may have entered the country as a competitor, but this partnership could turn it into a supplier to Spiro. Spiro gets access to more bikes and engineering expertise without having to build that capability itself.

The bigger play is scale. Spiro raised $270 million in June and said it wants to expand its industrial footprint and battery-swapping network. Yadea gives it a manufacturing partner as it tries to put more electric motorcycles on African roads.

So, competitors? Yes. Friends? Apparently. Business partners? Definitely.

CRYPTO TRACKER

The World Wide Web3

Source:

Coin Name

Current Value

Day

Month

Bitcoin $77,354

– 0.08%

+ 22.90%

Ether $2,485

– 0.85%

+ 32.45%

KiiChain $0.07779

+ 0.73%

+ 21.12%

Solana $100.76

– 0.18%

+ 33.82%

* Data as of 06.30 AM WAT, September 15, 2026.

Opportunities

• The Citi Foundation is offering $500,000 grants to 50 organisations that help low-income young people build AI and other job skills. The grants can support programmes that teach skills such as prompt engineering and digital content creation, help young people find jobs, provide access to devices and software, or add AI tools to existing employment programmes. Applications close on October 6, 2026, at 5 p.m. Lagos time.

  Apply here

  .

• The stablecoin payment strategy Flutterwave built

• Follow the Money: The 1.19% real return: Is investing ₦100,000 in Nigerian Treasury bills still worth it?

• Ask An Investor: “$200k isn’t enough”: Madica’s Emmanuel Adegboye on the brutal reality of early-stage funding

• The real AI economy is being built by ordinary people

• South Africa’s finance minister Enoch Godongwana tears into his own government’s ICT policy drift

Written by: Emmanuel Nwosu and Yemi Kareem

Edited by: Emmanuel Nwosu & Ganiu Oloruntade

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