A Twofold buyout for TaxTim

Even a million-dollar war chest and high-profile founders couldn’t save TradeHub from the toughest test in startups: proving there’s real demand.

State of play: The Egyptian B2B platform, co-founded by Ahmed Gaber (co-founder of Bosta, a leading Egyptian logistics startup) and ex-Meta engineer Ahmed Atef, has shut down just 18 months after its $1.4 million pre-seed round led by Concept Ventures, TLcom Capital, and Armyn Capital.

Why shut down? TradeHub’s initial bet was to connect Egyptian manufacturers with global buyers. When traction faltered, the company pivoted to B2B sales automation, aiming to digitise and empower 10,000 manufacturers by 2024. But adoption was low..

Rather than burn through the remaining capital, the founders chose to return it to investors.. “Continuing just for the sake of trying something else didn’t feel responsible,” Gaber said.

The bigger picture: TradeHub’s fall is a stark reminder that in startups, it’s not just funding or founder credentials that ultimately decide survival; it all comes down to the customers. As the age-old cliché goes, there may be a gap in the market, but is there a market in the gap?

South African tax-tech TaxTim, the digital assistant that has supported South African taxpayers since 2011, is entering a fresh chapter. A private consortium led by Twofold Capital, with South African tech group Octoco, has acquired the company for an undisclosed amount.

Why does this matter? The deal will provide a full exit for non-operational shareholders and a partial exit for co-founder Evan Robinson, who will continue to lead TaxTim’s product strategy. TaxTim has a reputation for helping hundreds of thousands of South Africans file their tax returns and holds partnerships with major South African banks and insurance groups like Capitec, Old Mutual, and Sanlam. 

State of play: TwoFold’s director sees this acquisition as an opportunity to enhance TaxTim’s core services by leveraging AI to make the tax-filing offerings more automated and personalised. The company also plans to expand beyond tax payments and expects the partnership with Octoco to pull this off. 

Between the lines: Acquisitions could mean new opportunities to introduce new products that can reshape the South African financial services market. With insurers like Sanlam expanding into the unsecured loans space through its recent partnership with Tyme Bank, Twofold may also have similar plans to go beyond tax-tech.

After attracting over 10,000 users in South Africa within a month of launch, UK-based crypto firm Luno has brought its tokenised stocks feature to Nigeria. The product, which launched yesterday, allows Nigerians to invest in the shares of companies like Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft for as little as $0.07.

The product works by converting real equities into digital tokens that trade on the blockchain. Instead of buying a full Apple share, investors can own a fraction without the usual hurdles of currency conversion or high brokerage fees.

Luno has proven the demand in South Africa. Within weeks of launch, tokenised stocks became one of its fastest-adopted products despite competition from platforms like VALR, Binance, and AltcoinTrader.

Nigeria presents a different challenge. Nigeria is still one of the biggest crypto markets in the world. Although the country’s crypto sector is booming, it is tightly monitored. Luno will have to contend with rivals like Bamboo, Trove, and Chaka while navigating the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s tightening rules on digital investments.

What does Luno get from this? While Luno is awaiting a provisional crypto licence from the SEC, this move means the company is evolving into a one-stop digital wealth app, where users can manage crypto and ETFs in one place. By bundling these asset classes under a single platform, Luno is betting on becoming Africa’s gateway to global wealth.

MTN Nigeria has cemented its dominance in the fixed broadband market by doubling its subscriber base between May and July 2025. Data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) shows MTN’s users jumped from 14,424 to 29,314 in two months, which accounted for the entire growth of the industry. 

MTN's only rival in the sector, 21st Century Technologies, has been flat at 175 users since May, following a sharp decline from 2,259 in April. This leaves MTN as the undiluted champion in a space central to Nigeria’s digital economy.

This surge can be attributed to MTN’s massive network investments. In the first half of 2025, the company spent over $377 million on 4G upgrades, fibre rollout, and passive infrastructure.

The cost of greatness. The expansion hasn’t come without setbacks. Between January and July, MTN suffered more than 5,400 fibre cuts: 760 in July alone, mostly from road construction and vandalism. Some of these incidents disrupted services across multiple states, forcing the operator into costly rerouting and repairs.

Still, MTN’s dominance is clear. While rivals like Airtel and 9mobile trail the telecom operator in mobile subscriptions, none are making a serious dent in fixed broadband.