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**Wazzup. **

In 2016, three 20-something-year-olds asked Nigerians to trust an online platform with their savings. A decade later, their company has paid out more than ₦3 trillion ($2.3 billion) to its users.

Ten years is a long time in any ecosystem. In Africa’s tech ecosystem, it has brought funding booms, painful busts, regulatory shifts, pivots, exits, and plenty of companies that did not make it this far.

Class of 2016, a new TechCabal series, looks at the startups from that era that survived the decade, and the people who backed them when few others did. Starting next week, follow the stories as they roll out ahead of Moonshot in October.

In other news, we’re also looking to hear thoughts from people who found something at the last Moonshot conference that changed their journey. Maybe you met a co-founder, investor, partner, or future employer. If Moonshot played a part in your story, tell us about it.

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• Bolt, inDrive see growth in Nigeria
• Kenya to appeal court decision on Safaricom stake sale
• Safaricom awards shares to executives
• Kenya ranks second in EV charging report
• World Wide Web 3
• Opportunities

mobility

Bolt says driver registrations jumped by 92% in Nigeria after Uber’s exit

Image Source: Tenor

If you’ve moved on from the Uber rapture, it’s a good time to check in on the aftermath. The app may be gone, but its exit is already reshuffling Nigeria’s ride-hailing market, with Bolt picking up many of the drivers left behind.

**What happened? **Bolt, the ride-hailing giant, said on Wednesday that weekly driver registrations on its platform surged 92% after Uber exited Nigeria on September 2. This isn’t surprising for two reasons: gig drivers need to keep earning their daily bread, and Uber’s exit left an established pool of drivers looking for another platform with an existing customer base.

The third ride-hailing platform among the three horsemen, inDrive, also said app installs climbed 96%, citing riders looking for alternatives.

**Between the lines: **If their self-reported data is anything to go by, we’re only thinking about what this means for the current ride-hailing market. Uber’s exit could also change how the market works.

More drivers joining Bolt sounds like good news for the platform, but it could also mean more drivers chasing the same pool of riders. If rider demand does not grow at the same pace, drivers could spend more time waiting for trips or earn less per hour.

**But… **The flip side is that Uber’s former riders now have fewer platforms to choose from, giving Bolt and inDrive a chance to capture more demand. That could push more riders to compare prices, wait times, and driver availability across platforms before booking.

There’s also a longer-term question about pricing. If Bolt absorbs a large share of Uber’s drivers and riders, it could gain more control over the market. But if inDrive and other alternatives continue attracting users, the competition could keep platforms fighting harder for both riders and drivers.

**Post-Uber syndrome: **Shuttlers, a Nigerian corporate ride-hailing platform, is taking a different route into this post-Uber scramble. Its new Pod service lets three or four commuters share the cost of a car. Fingers crossed on how demand takes off there.

**Zoom out: **For now, though, the early numbers point to a market in motion. Uber may have left Nigeria, but its drivers and riders haven’t disappeared. They’re moving elsewhere, and where they settle could determine what Nigeria’s ride-hailing market looks like next.

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M&A

Kenya is fighting to save its $1.9 billion Safaricom deal with Vodacom

Image Source: Tenor

If someone offered to buy a chunk of one of your most valuable assets for $1.9 billion, and then a court said the sale was unlawful, you probably wouldn’t go home quietly. Kenya isn’t either.

What happened? On Wednesday, Kenya’s Treasurysaid it would appeal the ruling that cancelled its sale of a 15% stake in Safaricom to Vodacom, a deal that brought KES 204.3 billion ($1.9 billion) into government coffers. The deal included $1.6 billion from the sale, while the rest was tied to future dividends on the government’s remaining shares.

**Explain like I’m new here: **The deal has been brewing since December 2025, when Kenya agreed to sell 15% of its Safaricom holding to Vodacom, pushing Vodacom’s stake in Safaricom to 55%, but on Tuesday, a three-judge High Court bench hit the brakes.

The courtdeclared the sale unconstitutional and ordered the 15% stake returned to the government, saying Kenyans were not allowed to participate in the due process of that sale, or given enough information.

Yet, John Mbadi, the country’s Treasury Cabinet Secretary, said the government was confident the transaction was lawful and would appeal the court’s decision. Vodacom, the South African telecoms company that increased its Safaricom ownership to a majority 55% in July, said it plans to appeal, too. The High Court’s ruling to void Kenya’s 15% stake sale to Vodacom complicates the deal for the telecom firm.

**Why Kenya is blowing hot with the appeal: **Kenya has been looking for ways to fund infrastructure without putting more pressure on taxes and government borrowing. According to Bloomberg, the Safaricom proceeds were meant to finance a $ 39 billion pipeline of projects, including roads and railways.

**What happens now? **If the Safaricom ruling survives the appeal, Kenya could have to unwind the transaction while figuring out what happens to the financing plans built around the proceeds. Vodacom could also lose the 15% stake that gave it majority control of Safaricom.

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companies

Safaricom’s CEO and CFO awarded 9.24 million shares in the telecom company

Image Source: Tenor

There are many ways to get rich while working a 9–5 job. Getting millions of shares in the company you run is certainly one of the more interesting ones.

Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom’s chief executive officer (CEO), and Dilip Pal, its chief financial officer (CFO), have received an additional 9.24 million shares in Kenya’s largest telecom company. The shares are worth KES 337.3 million ($2.6 million).

**What happened? **Ndegwa and Pal received the shares through Safaricom’s share-based compensation plan, which gives managers company stock as part of their pay. So, unlike a regular investor, they did not spend KES 337 million ($2.6 million) buying these shares on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). The new shares take the combined value of their Safaricom holdings to KES 865.1 million ($6.7 million), according to local Kenyan publication Business Daily.

Between the lines: The award gives Safaricom’s top executives a bigger financial stake in the company, tying part of their compensation to its share price and, ultimately, shareholder returns— a structure commonly used by listed companies to align executives’ incentives with investors.

MTN Group, Africa’s largest telecom company, made a similar move in April, awarding shares to members of its executive committee under its long-term incentive scheme. The idea is clear: executives stand to gain more when the company creates value for shareholders, giving them a financial reason to focus on the company’s performance over several years.

For Safaricom, the timing is worth watching. The company has been trying to grow beyond its traditional telecom business, with M-PESA becoming central to its strategy. Its management has more to manage than subscriber growth and voice revenue. The value created from M-PESA, data, and new businesses ultimately has to translate into stronger earnings and shareholder returns.

The share award does not guarantee that will happen, but it changes how much executives personally stand to gain if it does, encouraging them. The world works by incentives.

**And then there’s Vodacom. **Safaricom has become one of the most important companies in Kenya’s stock market, and its shares are also at the centre of a much bigger ownership story. In July, Vodacom, one of Africa’s largest telecom groups, increased its stake in Safaricom to 55%, giving it majority control. However, Kenya’s High Court on Tuesday ordered the government return the 15% stake it sold to Vodacom, putting that part of the transaction in limbo.

**Zoom out: **So while the lawyers, shareholders, the Kenyan government, and everyone else with a vested interest in that Vodacom-Safaricom saga figure out what happens next, Safaricom’s top two executives have just received a fresh chunk of the company. Not a bad addition to the portfolio.

electric vehicles

Kenya has 235 EV charging stations, the second highest in Africa

Image Source: Tenor

Kenya may be better prepared for electric cars than you think.

The country had 235 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in 2025, giving it the second-largest charging network in Africa after Egypt, which had 300. More than 25 African countries had none. For a country that still has plenty of petrol and diesel cars on its roads, that is an interesting lead.

**What happened? **A survey by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) found that Kenya had 235 EV charging stations in 2025. Kenya’s private sector has driven most of the rollout, with stations concentrated in Nairobi, the country’s capital city, and the towns around it.

**Between the lines: **Kenya is already seeing more electric vehicles on its roads, particularly electric buses, motorcycles, and commercial vehicles, thanks to players like Roam, BasiGo, and Spiro building in the market. Kenya Power, the country’s electricity distributor, said its EV charging infrastructure generated KES 382 million ($2.95 million) in revenue in the year ended June 2025. Charging infrastructure is one of the basic pieces an electric vehicle market needs. People are unlikely to switch to electric cars if they have nowhere to charge them, especially outside their homes.

Charging is becoming a business in its own right, beyond infrastructure for supporting EV adoption. The bigger story, though, is the gap across Africa. More than 25 countries on the continent had no electric vehicle charging stations in 2025, according to ECA, leaving Kenya with an early lead in building the infrastructure for a market that is still developing across the continent.

**What happens next? **The next challenge is taking the network beyond Nairobi and its satellite towns. More charging stations in other cities and along major highways would make EVs more practical for longer trips and give operators more room to expand.

**Zoom out: **Kenya has 235 charging stations and a charging infrastructure economy that is already making money. Egypt is still ahead, but much of the continent has a long way to go.

CRYPTO TRACKER

The World Wide Web3

Source:

Coin Name

Current Value

Day

Month

Bitcoin $76,380

+ 0.74%

+ 19.07%

Ether $2,439

+ 1.55%

+ 28.87%

XRP $1.29

– 0.09%

+ 30.26%

Solana $99.58

+ 2.59%

+ 21.60%

* Data as of 06.35 AM WAT, September 16, 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

  .

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Written by: Emmanuel Nwosu and Yemi Kareem

Edited by: Emmanuel Nwosu & Ganiu Oloruntade

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