Lesaka goes shopping

Lesaka Technologies will acquire South Africa’s zero-fee digital bank, Bank Zero. The deal includes a 12% equity stake for Bank Zero’s shareholders and up to $5 million in cash.

Here’s why it matters: The acquisition, pending regulatory approval, gives Lesaka access to Bank Zero’s banking licence, modern digital infrastructure, and an opportunity to tap into new revenue streams. It will also help reduce its own debt of over $56 million.

It's a win-win for both parties. Lesaka moves from being a fintech to a fully licensed digital bank, gaining control of deposits and lowering funding costs. Bank Zero gets the scale and capital muscle to reach more customers, faster. By combining Lesaka’s wide distribution with Bank Zero’s tech and license, the merger unlocks new growth paths.

This deal signals Lesaka’s evolution from a payments player to a full digital banking platform. More financial details are expected when Lesaka publishes its year-end results in September 2025.

For competitors, the deal raises the stakes. Traditional banks now face a more agile, tech-driven rival with a banking licence. The integration of Bank Zero into Lesaka’s ecosystem signals a shift in how digital banking services could be delivered. It puts pressure on other digital banks like TymeBank, Happy Pay, and Kuda to deepen their offerings, rethink distribution if they want to keep pace in the market.

The deal still awaits regulatory approval. If this deal passes regulatory approval and is successful, it just might set the tone for the next chapter of digital banking in South Africa.

Eskom, South Africa’s state-owned power company, has said it wants to support Bitcoin mining and host large-scale computing projects like data centres to generate new revenu

CEO Dan Marokane argues that as more businesses and households turn to solar and private suppliers, Eskom’s electricity demand will keep dropping. In 2024, usage fell by 3%, and Eskom expects that trend to continue for the next five years.

In theory, lower demand could ease pressure on the grid and reduce load-shedding. But for Eskom, less demand also means less income—and that’s a crisis for a utility already sitting on R400 billion ($22.3 billion) in debtin debt. The company needs new, energy-hungry customers to replace what it’s losing. Bitcoin miners and data centres fit that profile.

However, Eskom’s electricity is neither consistently affordable nor dependable. Unplanned breakdowns recently pushed outages past 15,000 megawatts (MW), the level Eskom warns would force 21 days of stage 2 load-shedding in winter. The utility has been relying on expensive diesel generators to keep power flowing. That’s not the kind of setup that attracts long-term investment from miners or tech companies.

There’s logic in trying to monetise unused power. But Eskom is trying to pitch a premium service while barely meeting basic supply. Unless it stabilises its operations first, its ambitions in Bitcoin and tech are unlikely to go far. This isn’t a growth plan yet—it’s a survival tactic. And it still depends on Eskom doing the one thing it hasn’t managed: keeping the lights on.

Crypto trading in Nigeria is massive but mostly invisible. Every day, millions of dollars move hands through informal peer-to-peer platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram. There are no protections, little oversight, and scams are common. But people keep using them because they work.

Asset Chain, a Nigerian startup, is betting it can offer something better. It has launched its blockchain network, alongside a new decentralised trading platform that lets users convert stablecoins like USDT to cNGN with zero fees and instant settlement. Trades are automated, no middlemen are involved, and users keep control of their money.

The platform is still invite-only, but Asset Chain is aiming big. It wants to hit ₦100 billion ($65 million) in trading volume in just two months. It also plans to expand beyond digital currencies. The company says users will eventually be able to buy and sell tokenised versions of real assets like property, farms, and bonds.

That could be a big deal. Most crypto platforms and blockchain networks in Nigeria are foreign, which means value flows outward. Asset Chain is building local infrastructure that keeps value within the country. If it works, it could give Nigerians more control over how and where they invest.

For a country where trust in institutions is low and access to traditional finance is limited, a reliable platform for trading and investing directly could be more than useful. It could change the game.

Over 500 million Africans are now online, but as the continent becomes increasingly connected, it has become more vulnerable.

The International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) creates an annual report by using data from African countries to assess its cybersecurity status. The report, now in its 4th edition, pooled data from 43 African countries and global partners, and what it reveals is wild.

In East and West Africa, cybercrime now makes up over 30% of all reported crime . Some countries, like Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria, have seen scam notifications spike by as much as 3,000% in just one year.

These attacks aren’t just hitting individuals. In December 2024, Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics was hit by a cyberattack , raising fears about the potential exposure of sensitive data like population stats, economic reports, and other crucial information. In that same period, Kenya’s Micro and Small Enterprise Authority (MSEA) was hacked and had sensitive data, such as government correspondence, sensitive employee records, and financial statements, sold on the dark web for $100,000.

But here’s the real problem: many countries can’t keep up. Only 30% have a basic cyber incident reporting system in place. Just 19% maintain a threat database. Fewer have legal structures to prosecute or digital units trained to investigate. Most don’t even have the tools to know when they’ve been breached.

What this report says is simple: In Africa, cybercrime is growing faster than most countries’ ability to respond, and because countries lack their own reporting systems, we have to wait for international bodies to tell us just how bad it is.