Airtel brings Starlink down to earth

Show of hands if you've been burned from participating in a group savings exercise (ajo, esusu, chamas, or stokvels if you're South African) before? Perhaps, a member of the group refused to contribute when it was their turn, or worse, the person holding the money for the group disappeared with it?

A few African startups, both past and present, have pitched their tent to solve this problem for consumers. Some of them have abandoned the plan entirely; case in point, Esusu, a Nigerian fintech used to digitise esusu groups, before it shifted focus to a credit-building app for home-renters. Others are still playing in the market, trying to figure a way to hit nirvana. But one startup—Egypt’s MoneyFellows—seems to have figured this out.

Lack of trust, credit-scoring models, and non-existent escrow systems plague these businesses. And ultimately, payments are the bread and butter of fintechs, so understandably, many businesses follow the money.

But given its longevity doing business in Egypt, MoneyFellows has seen its fair share of good and bad, and after eight years, it says it is profitable. 

On May 5, the fintech raised $13 in a pre-series C round.

So what is working for MoneyFellows? It's not just building an app to manage gam’eya (Egypt's version of esusu); legal contracts, central bank oversight, and credit scoring. Users who join a savings “circle” sign a contract, payouts are handled by a bank partner, and the system is monitored by Egypt's Central Bank through a sandbox. MoneyFellows ranks users based on who’s most likely to keep contributing; those ranked higher get paid first, and the cycle continues.

That setup builds trust—and trust is everything when money’s involved.

MoneyFellows then makes money by managing the spread between borrowers and savers. Early collectors—basically loan takers—pay a fee. Late ones save and collect at the end of a circle's tenure. That spread, multiplied across millions of users on the platform, is where the business makes sense.

A business model like MoneyFellows’ is not risk-free; but what makes it work is the structure. Some fintechs that have tried to digitise ajo in Africa have provided no means to contain the risks which create a trust deficit.

Now, it’s taking that playbook to Morocco, a market that already knows a thing or two about digitised group savings.

Starlink just partnered with a telecom operator in Africa for the first time since it launched on the continent in 2023—and it's not with Safaricom.

On Monday, SpaceX partnered with Airtel Africa to offer Starlink’s satellite internet in nine countries, including Nigeria, Kenya, and Rwanda. The partnership will target rural areas where mobile networks and fibre lines often don’t reach, continuing the trend of mobile networks teaming up with satellite operators in Africa.

ICYMI: MTN South partnered with satellite operator Lynk Global to test direct-to-cell phone calls. Another telecom operator, Vodacom has long partnered with Amazon's Kuiper to bring satellite internet to South Africa.

The deal appears to be a win-win. Airtel brings a subscriber base of 163 million and a footprint in 14 countries. Starlink brings the tech that beams fast internet from space. The partnership helps both sides: Airtel can improve its service across markets where it already operates, while Starlink gets a faster way to grow its African presence by using Airtel’s network and customers.

Sounds great, but not so fast. Equipment costs for users are still high, and whether rural customers will afford or adopt the service at scale remains a big question.

There’s also the challenge of making everything work together—Airtel’s mobile network and Starlink’s satellites aren’t built the same way. It’ll take time and effort to sync them, especially where Airtel lacks infrastructure. That’s for them to sort out; we’ll be watching.

Starlink’s partnership with Airtel is a bit of a bummer for Kenya's largest telecom operator, Safaricom which wagged its tail for a partnership with Starlink in 2024 but got passed over. We wager that Elon Musk still had a bone to pick with Safaricom after it tried to get regulators to kick it out of the country. Now, Starlink thinks its plan to connect every African to space internet will work well with Airtel's strength.

For Airtel, it’s a strong headline and a shot across the bow to rivals like MTN (which already has its own satellite buddy, Lynk in South Africa). But for Safaricom? Ouch.

Carrefour, Kenya's largest B2C e-commerce platform by net sales, has partnered with Equity Bank and American Express (AmEx) to bring reward-based incentives to online shoppers in the country.

The deal means Equity Bank-issued Amex cards can now be used at all Carrefour stores nationwide—and shoppers will earn reward points with every swipe. These points can be redeemed for discounts and other treats, making this a sweetener for price-conscious customers.

Why does it matter? Beyond the points and perks, this move says a lot about AmEx’s growing interest in Africa. Since initially entering Kenya in October 2014 via an Equity Bank partnership, Amex has been focused on deepening its services for retailers and merchants as a way to grow its footprint on the continent. In August 2024, it collaborated with Nigerian payments giant Flutterwave to allow Nigerian merchants receive payments from AmEx cards.

With Carrefour in Kenya and its growing online presence and foot traffic, AmEx will get prime access to Kenya’s spenders, both in-store and online.

It also hints at a bigger play: encouraging more Kenyans to use cards. Right now, only about 28% of online shoppers in Kenya pay with cards generally—most still prefer mobile money. But here's AmEx trying to make Kenyans use credit cards more.

Yet, it doesn’t mean we should throw the plan out of the window. Young, urban consumers and frequent shoppers may find the reward incentive intriguing. Additionally, the flexible credit line in some of Equity Bank-issued AmEx cards, like the Gold Card, could capture the imagination of the upwardly-mobile Kenyans—the reward incentive is simply an attraction point.

The deal will allow Equity to strengthen its merchant network and give customers more flexibility. Carrefour adds value for frequent shoppers in a tight economy. And AmEx gets another flag planted on a continent where, save for a few highlights, it’s been mostly absent.