KCB wants a bite out of Pesapal

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan was declared the winner of a contentious presidential election on November 1 after claiming 97.66% of the votes. But it wasn’t her landslide victory that defined the moment. The bloodshed and the sickening plot to silence citizens were the highlights in the devastating performance.

Tanzanians went to the polls on October 29 to elect a new leader; however, what faced them was more chilling. The government cut off internet access for five days without explanation, paralysing daily life. Tanzanians couldn’t access financial services, ran out of cash, and eventually faced fuel and food shortages. Following a bold act of protest, at least 700 people were reportedly feared dead in the post-election chaos. 

The way of censorship: Suluhu is not averse to using state power to muzzle dissent, often framing her crackdowns as efforts to maintain law and order. In 2024, the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) suspended Nation Media Group’s website under Suluhu’s orders, accusing it of publishing “prohibited content.”

Between the lines: Her government has also shut down around 80,000 online platforms, claiming they spread harmful content to children, a pretext many see as part of a broader effort to control the digital space. 

This year’s blackout wasn’t Tanzania’s first. In 2020, during the general elections, authorities similarly blocked social media and messaging platforms to stifle dissent and control the flow of information.

Although the five-day blackout was lifted yesterday, according to NetBlocks, an internet observatory, restrictions on social media and messaging apps remain, showing the controlled, deep level of the rot. Right now, it looks like a long way back to redemption for Suluhu, the woman once viewed as an empowering figure; today, public opinion says she is closer to a dictator.

KCB Group, Kenya’s biggest bank by assets, announced plans to acquire a minority stake in Pesapal Limited, one of East Africa’s digital payment processors. The size of the stake isn’t public yet, and the deal still needs regulatory approval, but this move looks like KCB wants to own more of the rails that move money, rather than just being a lender. If the deal happens this year, it will be KCB’s second acquisition.

Pesapal isn’t a small fish: Since 2009, it has powered card, mobile money, and online payments for thousands of hotels, schools, airlines, retailers, and SMEs across Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, acting as the invisible wiring behind everyday transactions.

Not KCB’s first fintech shopping trip. In March, KCB spent $15.4 million to acquire 75% of Riverbank Solutions, a Kenyan digital payments company building revenue collection systems for banks, government agencies, and retailers. 

Before then, KCB’s acquisitions were mostly in banking; in 2019, it acquired 100% shareholding in the National Bank of Kenya (NBK), a stake which it recently sold to Access Bank. In 2021, it acquired Banque Populaire du Rwanda Plc, a commercial bank, and a few other examples, with Savings & Loan Kenya in 1972, and DR Congo’s Trust Merchant Bank (TMB) in 2022. 

The real story: Payments are where the growth is, and as lending margins tighten, banks are realising that whoever owns the payment rails has access to merchants, transaction flows, and real-time behavioural insight. This is what KCB is buying into. The bank is shifting from being one that customers use occasionally to a platform they interact with constantly.

Contrary to unfounded speculation from some quarters, Yellow Card, one of Africa's largest stablecoin payments providers, is not dead. 

After announcing on October 29 that it would shut down its B2C app for retail crypto users, the company clarified that it will focus on providing services to enterprises starting in 2026.

If you hold crypto in your Yellow Card wallet, the startup says you must withdraw it before December 31 or risk getting it locked. Once that happens, users must verify ownership of their crypto before they can access it again.

State of play: Yellow Card’s decision to focus on enterprises didn’t come out of the blue. In several interviews, CEO Chris Maurice has said that stablecoins solve a bigger pain point for businesses struggling with settlement, liquidity, and treasury management. That thinking prompted the company’s pivot from a retail crypto app to a stablecoin infrastructure provider.

Compared to small-scale retail users, businesses are more stable clients and move bigger volumes, which means bigger revenues for enterprise-facing startups like Yellow Card.

Between the lines: John Colson, Yellow Card’s chief marketing officer (CMO), told me there is a growing opportunity in emerging markets where enterprises need cost-effective ways to move money. Demand is strong, he said, aligning with one of my earlier reports. That’s why Yellow Card is moving in fast.

Zoom out: Globally, more companies are turning to stablecoins, even as debates continue over the digital asset’s place in the future of finance. One thing is clear: if you are building in stablecoin infrastructure today, you are still among the early worms.

From January 1, 2026, TymeBank, the South African digital bank, will have a new CEO, Cheslyn Jacobs, a longtime executive at the heart of its growth before its 2018 official launch. He takes over from Karl Westvig, who will step down but remain in an advisory role to support the transition.

Jacobs isn’t new to the system. He joined Tyme in 2012 as sales and distribution manager, when the digital bank was still building its banking infrastructure. He became chief commercial officer in 2022, responsible for revenue growth and customer expansion. Before Tyme, he worked at Standard Bank and Deloitte.

This leadership change comes at a pivotal moment. In May, the company was named in the Financial Times (FT) Africa’s Fastest-Growing Companies 2025 ranking along with Paymenow and Omnisient. Between 2020 and 2023, TymeBank’s revenue soared from $10.67 million to $67.70 million, representing a 610.9% absolute growth rate. 

Zoom out: As power changes hands, the bank says this next phase will involve doubling down on innovation, customer experience, and competing harder for market share.

Source:

* Data as of 06.00 AM WAT, November 4, 2025.

Opportunities

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Written by: Emmanuel Nwosu and Opeyemi Kareem

Edited by: Emmanuel Nwosu & Ganiu Oloruntade

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