Meta may exit Nigeria

They say good things come in threes—apparently, so do fines.

Nigerians may soon say goodbye to their beloved platforms—Facebook and Instagram—as Meta has threatened an exit after being stacked with nearly $300 million in fines (by three government agencies!) and what it describes as excessive, unworkable data regulation demands.

The news confirms our reporting in August 2024 that the tech giant was considering “withdrawing certain services” in Nigeria.

What Did Meta Do? Meta has been hit with a series of fines by Nigerian regulators for various violations. The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) fined Meta $220 million for anti-competitive practices, including abusing its dominant market position, denying Nigerians control over their personal data, unauthorised data transfers, and applying different standards to Nigerian users compared to those in other countries. 

The Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC) imposed a $32.8 million penalty for breaching data privacy laws, specifically for enabling unauthorised transfers of personal data and applying lower data protection standards to Nigerian users. Additionally, the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) fined Meta $37.5 million for running unapproved and non-compliant advertising campaigns on its platforms.

Why does it matter? For many Nigerian businesses, these platforms are vital components of growth strategies, customer acquisition, brand awareness, and direct sales. Meta’s exit will leave thousands of individuals, digital marketers, content creators, and business owners scrambling - not to talk of the social and economic ripples it may trigger. Although it may nudge them to alternative social interaction platforms like TikTok, Telegram or Google Meet. 

Meta’s threat to exit Nigeria exceeds more than just a corporate reaction to a fine; it highlights the power tussle between global tech companies and national governments over digital sovereignty.

Right hook, left jab, and an elbow strike. The clock is ticking, and Meta is teetering on the edge of surrender. Will they stay or walk away?

When the dam breaks, the floodgates open. For Elon Musk, the floodgates are open.

After Somalia and Lesotho, Starlink, the Musk-owned satellite internet provider, is now available in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo)—this is according to Musk who posted “Starlink available in Congo!” on X on Sunday.

But the country’s telecom regulator says it will grant Starlink an operating licence in the “coming days” and Starlink's availability map says the satellite ISP will be live in May 2025. 

DR Congo will be the third African country to grant Starlink passage in less than two months since the US tariffs kicked in—making it four in total for 2025, the same number of African countries Starlink added by August 2024. DR Congo is singing a different tune after previously banning Starlink. Why?

Like Lesotho, DR Congo asked for a US favour to bring in Starlink in exchange. The country is currently in the middle of a conflict, facing opposition from M23, a rebel group allegedly backed by Rwanda, fighting for control in the mineral-rich country for years. DR Congo has asked the US government for support in its fight against the M23 in exchange for its minerals. Trump has said that the US will initiate peace talks between the two countries (not declining the offer, of course.)

What’s driving this fast business? With US President Trump’s tariffs and Elon Musk’s official role heading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—plus his influence as a senior advisor to Trump—Starlink is doing business at the right time with a key person (Musk) at the right place.

There's something curious about Musk's recent ridiculous amount of goodwill with African regulators. Why do these regulators think that a Starlink passage is good enough for a trade negotiation or some favour with the US? This shows the level of closeness Musk has with Trump right now. Through the DOGE, Musk has been in direct negotiation lanes with world leaders.

Now there’s talk that Musk may step back from DOGE to refocus on Tesla, his electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing company, after shareholder pressure. If he does, does Starlink still carry the same weight in trade circles? 

And then, what will it be for African governments and regulators that can no longer play the Starlink card?

It's either to sink or swim—entirely on their own.

In a funding market still gasping for air, a Nigerian fintech pulled off a rare feat. 

LemFi, known for helping Africans send money across borders, raised $53 million Series B funding in January 2025—and with it, delivered a 29x return to one of its early investors, Silverbacks Holdings.

Big exits are rare. Africa recorded just 43 of them last year, down nearly half from 2022. By late 2024, the continent was still struggling to hit even that number. So when an investor cashes out with this kind of return, it turns heads.

But this isn’t just about one deal. LemFi’s success is part of a broader trend—Nigerian fintechs are proving they’re not just good at raising money; they’re also capable of paying it back. And now, it’s arguably the only sector consistently delivering returns. Another recent example was the Nigerian fintech unicorn, Moniepoint, which delivered a 53x return for Oui Capital, one of its early investors.

Silverbacks is playing a different kind of game. While it searches for potential in the fintech sector, which investors seem to have conviction about, it also looks elsewhere. It invests in fashion, sports, even traditional boxing, and partial exits and huge returns like Lemfi gives it wiggle room to go after interesting businesses in other non-conventional sectors. 

It’s clear the firm is betting on African culture as much as African code. But what matters most here is that exits like LemFi’s give investors a reason to stay interested in Africa. They close the loop and show it’s not all risk. And for founders hoping to raise in a cautious market, stories like this one are the best kind of proof that the ecosystem can still deliver.